It is natural for entrepreneurs to feel emotionally invested in their business ideas and projects. After all, these ventures often represent a significant investment of time, energy, and resources. However, this emotional attachment can also lead to several dangers when it comes to evaluating the viability and sustainability of a business.

For one, it can distort an entrepreneur's perception of reality. If an individual is emotionally invested in a business idea, they may be more likely to overlook potential flaws or weaknesses and instead focus on the potential benefits. This can lead to an unrealistic assessment of the business's chances of success, potentially leading to costly mistakes down the line.

[`Read more ...`](https://sedem.substack.com/p/why-emotional-detachment-is-essential)

Why Emotional Detachment is Essential for Fair Business Assessment

Building a community around a digital product is essential for driving growth and success. According to data from the productivity tool, *[Notion](https://www.simple.ink/blog/notion-stats#.)*, the company's community has grown to over 4 million users in just three years, with a consistent growth rate of over 100% year-over-year. This strong and loyal community has been instrumental in driving the success of the business.

So, why is building a community so important? There are several reasons:

[Read more...](https://sedem.substack.com/p/community-before-scale-why-you-need)

Community Before Scale: Why You Need a Tribe to Succeed with Your Digital Product

As designers and creators, we often look to nature for inspiration. From the curves of a seashell to the symmetry of a snowflake, the natural world is full of stunning examples of form and function. When designing user interfaces, incorporating elements from nature can be particularly helpful in creating human-friendly experiences.

One of the fundamental principles of good user interface design is ***usability***, which is the extent to which a product can be used by its intended audience. When a user interface is designed with usability in mind, it is intuitive and easy to use, allowing people to accomplish their goals quickly and efficiently. Drawing inspiration from nature can help us create user interfaces that are intuitive because many of the design principles found in nature are also effective in user interface design.\
[Read more...](https://sedem.substack.com/p/the-natural-touch-how-drawing-inspiration)

The Natural Touch: How Drawing Inspiration from Nature Can Improve User Interfaces

Innovation + Product

Product Growth Associate

Enterprise Design Thinking Practioner

Product Strategy Micro-Certification (PSC)™️

Enclave is an innovative online platform designed to connect event organizers with suitable event spaces seamlessly. Our primary focus is on simplifying the booking process through natural language understanding and AI recommendations.

Product Lead

Code and Cocktails is a tech and design festival that celebrates innovation, creativity, and collaboration in the industry. Code and Cocktails is more than just a festival; it's a platform that connects tech enthusiasts, designers, entrepreneurs, and innovators to celebrate the endless possibilities of the industry.

Lead Organizer

Empowering students and fresh grads to gain valuable real-world work experience through a platform that connects them with ambitious startups and companies, this venture aims to democratize the process and level the playing field for young talent.

Unlocking the full potential of tech talents across Sub-Saharan Africa by fostering dynamic developer
communities and empowering them to create innovative solutions utilizing cutting-edge technology
through our annual cross-country hackathon series, with the team at Hacklab

Ecosystem Manager

Organized fireside chats with industry leaders and entrepreneurs to empower student entrepreneurs. Built partnerships and secured sponsorships for learning and growth opportunities. [Context: Curated events for student entrepreneurs.]

Director

Collaborated with a cross-functional team at the business incubator to develop and implement initiatives that helped spur the growth of startups and SMEs and ultimately contributed to the development of a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem

Managed and led the Stanbic Aspire Business Academy, which nurtured the ideas of student entrepreneurs. Successfully equipped 70+ Ghanaian university students with the necessary knowledge and skills to start and run successful ventures.

Business + Community

Contributed to brand success as a digital strategist by elevating brand assets and crafting impactful marketing materials that aligned communications and product offerings. Resulted in major insurance brokers adopting our SaaS for operations across 3 African countries (Ghana, Liberia, and Zambia).

Expertly planned, budgeted, and executed digital campaigns to drive brand awareness and cultivate a positive image among industry leaders, resulting in the brand winning the prestigious "Insurtech of the Year" award.

Product + Marketing

* Led a month-long remote project, collaborating with a cross-functional team consisting of product managers, software engineers, product designers, and SEO specialists.

* Successfully managed project planning, scope definition, and resource allocation to ensure on-time feature completion.

* Facilitated effective communication and collaboration within the team, enabling the delivery of high-quality results.

* Managed risk assessment and mitigation, maintaining project alignment with objectives and client expectations.

* Coordinated regular stakeholder communication and provided project updates.

* Championed continuous enhancement of project management methodologies and provided invaluable mentorship to team members.

Product Manager

I lead a team of skilled developers and creatives in designing and developing custom software solutions
by utilizing data and business analysis to identify business problems and opportunities for growth for founders and startups.

Collaborated with a cross-functional team to revamp and successfully roll out BMS service, resulting in a 10x sales increase in the first quarter.

Restructured company strategy and messaging to align with the objective of becoming a market leader in AI-powered customer engagement tools

Led a successful brand refresh effort to position the brand as growth-focused and drove the creation of innovative products and services tailored to the African market using agile methodologies, cross-functional teams, and market research

Constructed a comprehensive and succinct pitch deck that initiated the seed round fundraising process for the company.

Sedem Balfour

2023