Navigating life's next steps: my week of exploration and learning 🌍.

I was not supposed to write about this, but after talking with 5 + people in my close friend/family circle I thought it could be helpful to others going through a similar situation.

Managing your time under constraint with a clear goal is hard but known. This is what school/university and then work has taught us.

Managing your time with no constraints and without a clear goal is wayyyy harder 😳.

Whether you have quit a job, sold a company, finished your studies, etc., finding your next move can feel very overwhelming. Most people would rather jump into the first simple path instead of having a proactive reflection.

Others will fill their schedules with futile activities to delay the moment they have to address their existential questions.

In decision making there is a famous “exploration vs exploitation” concept.

Exploitation involves leveraging known information to make the best possible decision based on current knowledge. This is, for instance, taking a very similar job, doing something you already feel comfortable with, etc.

Exploration involves trying out new actions or strategies to gather more information. The goal is to discover potentially better options that have not yet been tried.

While exploitation is the way to go 90% of the time, it’s important to have exploration phases in your life if you want to avoid mid-life crisis.

The question is: how do you effectively explore?

The answer: systematize your search.

What does it mean? That means finding routines that help you explore in the right direction.

For me this is how it looks like:

• Scheduling daily slots to read about fintech, startups etc.

• Taking 20 minutes each day to connect with fellow entrepreneurs on LinkedIn (close network or outsiders)

• Daily lunches with friends/entrepreneurs/investors

• At least 2 hours/day learning about a technical matter (Next.js, blockchain, machine learning, etc.)

• At least 1 call a day with someone I can learn from.

This week alone I:

• Learned about cashback apps like Joko from Louis (Technical lead there) and learned from his hiring challenges.

• Talked with an Insurtech founder in Botswana (more about that below) who completely opened my mind about Insurtech in Africa.

• Learned about the technicalities behind crypto trading platforms with Arnaud, CTO at Aplo, a successful crypto fintech managing $1B+ through their platform.

• Learned from Nima, CEO of Silver (the French/German leading SMB lending company that has raised $200M+) about regulation in Europe and how he started his company.

• Had a call with the CTO at Glow, a successful insurance company for SMBs in the US that raised $25M+.

  

  Call with Ramzi, working in a leading US SMB’s insurance company.

• Had a drink with my former cofounder Anas, we exchanged a lot of business ideas and had fun.

• Learned from Tristan, a friend and founder at Shotgun (the leading music ticketing platform in France/Brazil and soon US) and his unique challenges when scaling in different countries + sales techniques.

• Had an insurance masterclass from Kays, founder at Kayros, an insurtech company based in Paris. I feel like I gained 10 years of understanding in this space in 1 hour.

In 1 week, I literally gained several years of understanding in the Fintech space + created meaningful relations.

Imagine doing that for several months…

Learnings from an insurtech founder in Botswana 🇧🇼

This week I had the chance to exchange ideas with Arun, founder at Alpha direct, an insurtech company based in Botswana.

FYI, insurance business model is simple: they make money by paying out less in claims than they collect in premiums + by investing this money.

Insurance companies have several challenges:

• Create insurance products that adapt to changing needs.

• Distribute their products effectively

• Keep their paying customers

In France, our insurance experience is quite simple: go to a website like Alan, Luko, Axa, etc., sign up and pay.

If you try to replicate this system in Botswana, you’ll certainly fail for a simple reason: a lot of people are still offline.

The whole insurance experience has to be rethought in parts of the world like Botswana, and this is what Alpha Direct has understood.

Imagine:

• You enter a supermarket or gas station.

• An in-store agent provides you with a detailed pamphlet showing the insurance products available.

• You select the insurance product you want to buy.

• You pay for the product at the store's checkout.

• You open the product box and find an activation card inside.

• You scratch the card to reveal a unique activation code.

• You enter the code using SMS, WhatsApp, our webpage, or our mobile app. Alternatively, the in-store agent can help you using a connected tablet.

• The policy activates instantly within seconds.

• Your billing date, KYC, and pre-inspection details are entered digitally.

• You receive an SMS confirming your coverage and providing digital policy information.

• You leave the store with your policy activated, enjoying peace of mind.

Local constraints make you much more creative, and a founder with no real local knowledge will 100% fail.

The goal of my trip startin in July is simple: connect the dots between business opportunities and the reality of the market.

Refer a friend 🤝

If you arrived here, it means 2 things

• You really enjoyed this newsletter

• You are very courageous

Either way, I would really appreciate if you can share this newsletter at least one person you know ❤️