Becoming an Entrepreneur

Starehe Institute has always held a special place in my own memory. It was during my time there in the years 2006 and 2007 that I learnt how to use a computer efficiently. I became so adept at using computers that I could navigate through the Windows operating system without using a mouse.

It was also at Starehe Institute that I started developing a sense of who I am and what I believe in. I attribute that improved self-awareness to the inspiring quotes and motivational books I devoured while in the institute. Boy, didn't I enjoy reading quotes by prominent figures in history!

But my Starehe Institute experience that I treasure most was the entrepreneurial initiative I embarked on with my classmates Stephen Mutevu and Kennedy Munene. The three of us, after learning how to design websites, banded together to create an educational website we called Gskool.com. Our mission was to offer on the website quality lessons in such subjects as biology, physics, chemistry and geography.

Soon after we set up the educational Gskool website, Mutevu and Munene applied for Google ads. Their application was approved, and sooner than later, we had on Gskool.com a number of Google ads that could earn us money depending on the number of visitors clicking the ads.

Now, Google states clearly that website admins are not meant to click Google ads on their websites. They are not even supposed to test if the ads are working. Ad clicking is a preserve of website visitors, not admins. Mutevu, Munene and I didn't get to know that back in 2006.

So when we had Google ads on Gskool.com, Mutevu and Munene began clicking them in earnest. And their excitement mounted as they checked Google ads account for Gskool and saw their earnings rise. They must have thought they were destined to become rich while still teenagers in Starehe Institute.

But alas! A few days into their ad clicking venture, they received a bombshell from Google that the ads account for Gskool.com had been disabled because the ads' clicks were coming from the same location, what Google refers to as invalid clicks. Mutevu and Munene, clever as they were, just couldn't outfox Google's software engineers.

To be honest, I was actually happy to hear that the Google ads account for Gskool.com had been disabled since both Mutevu and Munene had denied me access to the Gskool admin portal in spite of me having contributed a substantial amount of content for Gskool. Much of the stuff in the physics section of the website had been my own work.

But my efforts in founding Gksool.com were not in vain because when I was applying to MIT, Cornell, Stanford and Dartmouth in 2006, I sent CD-copies of the Gskool website to those top American colleges. I did that so as to impress the admission officers.

Even when I went for my MIT interview, which was conducted in Nairobi by an MIT graduate named Eston Kimani, I mentioned my work in creating Gskool.com. A week or so after the interview, Eston phoned me to inquire if I was the one who had created Gskool.com. He seemed impressed by the website. Unfortunately, I wasn't accepted at MIT or in any of the other three American colleges I applied for admission in 2006.

Our entrepreneurial initiative in founding Gskool.com left a lasting impression on me. Later on in 2011 when I was dropping out of the University of Nairobi, I wanted to set up an educational website similar to Gskool.com. I envisioned it to contain engaging content in the school subjects I was knowledgeable in: maths, biology, physics, chemistry, geography and economics.

With time, it crystallized in my mind that what people need is stories. I therefore eventually changed my plans and created a blog for sharing human-interest stories. Since hymn-singing is one of my passions, I added on the blog a videos' section for sharing the hymns that I produce. I also created a pop-up window for inspiring my blog visitors with the quotes that invigorate me.

Setting up this blog has been a challenging but exhilarating experience. I have encountered so many technical hiccups as well as rejection and criticism from people. But thanks in part to the transformative education I received at Starehe Institute, I have weathered the storm and created a blog with such original content that Google approved my application for displaying its ads on the blog.

Now that the blog is running smoothly and attracting visitors from around the world, I have faith that it shall flourish like flying termites after an evening rain. Or to borrow the immortal words of King David in Psalm 27:13, I am confident that "I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living". Hooray, I am an entrepreneur at last!

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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed the above story about me becoming an entrepreneur, you might also enjoy another one on "Blooming Where Planted" that I wrote several years ago. Just click on that link in blue to dive straight into the story.