Last week, I had the privilege of attending a special brunch with the rather inspiring Bozoma Saint John, Ghanaian-born Chief Brand Officer at Uber. While she was enthralling us with her amazing life story, I spent some time contemplating the brand she works tirelessly to promote: Uber.
Whether you see it as a transport company or a tech company or both, one thing is true about the global firm: they did not exist before March 2009.
I don’t know if I am properly communicating the significance of what I am saying. Before March 2009, this organisation that moves people from A to B every minute of every day in 633 cities across the world – this company that employs more than 12000 people– DID NOT EXIST… until two guys had an idea.
Yeah, just an idea. As recently as February 2009, Uber was just an idea in the minds of two guys. These two guys then took this idea – this intangible thing that did not exist – and turned it into a multinational that makes over 6 billion dollars a year. They made something out of nothing.
I bring this to our attention because of how recently it happened. Less than nine years ago, the two founders of Uber had nothing. Today, each of them is personally worth over 5 billion US dollars. Just think about that for a moment, ok? If someone came to you today and told you 9 years from now, you will be a billionaire, would you believe them? You would probably look at your present circumstances and laugh in the person’s face.
But this is the reality about the infinite potential that God has endowed you with.
The Bible tells us in Genesis of how God made the Heavens and the Earth in the beginning. Chapter 1 Verse 2 says the world was “empty and without form”, before God, with his immeasurable power of creation, brought everything on Earth into being, starting with light, and ending with Man and Woman. Now, the Bible also says we were made “in His own image”, which means we were also made with the ability to create – to make something out of nothing.
Uber is proof of this. So is Facebook, which didn’t exist 14 years ago. So is Ashesi University, which didn’t exist 16 years ago. So is Multimedia, which didn’t exist 23 years ago. All of these innovative, industry-leading businesses were mere ideas, until human beings just like you, used those ideas to create something out of nothing.
I often think of the events described in Genesis as Year Zero in the history of the world. For Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp, 2009 was Year Zero in the history of Uber. Mark Zuckerberg’s Year Zero was 2004. Patrick Awuah’s was 2002. KwasiTwum’s was 1995. My dear friend, your Year Zero is 2018.
None of these visionary - and now wealthy – innovators knew at the beginning of their Year Zeros that they were about to become successful. But not knowing certainly did not stop them from creating.
So today, my message is quite simple: do not let uncertainty block you from your glorious destiny. Many millennia ago, God made you in His own image. Since then, He’s just been waiting for you to choose your Year Zero.
I know how daunting it can be when you assess yourself and realise you have insufficient resources, insufficient knowledge, insufficient time to start pursuing your dreams and turning your ideas into a business. But I need you to remember that God took emptiness and turned it into Earth - and He made you in His own image - so even if your circumstances are “empty” and your vision is “without form”, you need to take that kernel of an idea you’ve been growing on the back of your mind, and start creating.
My name is Kojo Yankson, and God made me able to create something out of nothing, so I’m creating my Year Zero out of 2018.
GOOD MORNING, GHANAFO!
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