Khaleesi of Content | Pumulo Ngoma

Happy New Year! May this be a year of unprecedented abundance. May every good seed become a tree, and every tree become a forest. And may ways be made where there were none.

Know what you stand for and stand for it. Don't change strategy midway when you see others winning. That's not your path to victory. Reiterate your goals to yourself. Nothing sweet about short-term gains in a long-term game.

@elormkdaniel How does their system differ from YouTube?

Most streaming platforms rent space on third-party delivery networks to get their content to you. Netflix decided that wasn’t good enough so they built their own. They spent roughly $1 billion over a decade building a once-secret content delivery network called Open Connect, consisting of over 17,000 servers strategically placed across 158 countries.  While competitors pay companies like Akamai and Cloudfront to move their data around the world, Netflix owns the pipes. Here’s why that matters. Even at the speed of optical fiber, it takes approximately 100 milliseconds for data to complete a roundtrip between Los Angeles and London.  Multiply that delay across millions of simultaneous streams and you get buffering. Netflix’s solution was to stop sending data across the world entirely. Instead, they place their cache servers directly inside ISP data centers bringing the content physically closer to you before you even press play.  By the time you hit play on a popular show, a copy of that video is likely already sitting on a server less than a mile from your home. Then there’s how the video itself is delivered. Netflix doesn’t send you one fixed quality stream. It uses adaptive bitrate streaming dynamically adjusting video quality in real time based on your current connection speed.  Your internet slows down for two seconds and Netflix quietly drops the resolution, buffers ahead, and steps the quality back up before you notice anything. You never see a loading spinner. You just watch. Netflix accounts for approximately 15% of global downstream internet traffic and at peak times, up to 15% of worldwide internet bandwidth.  All of it flowing smoothly, because a decade ago they made a bet that owning their infrastructure was worth a billion dollars. And it was.

People get behind a big vision. People want to back something incredible. If you're delulu, you better not hide it. They're thinking: what does this crazy person know that I don't. What does this person see that I can't?

@BusInsiderSSA Vambo AI. Tiyeni mobility. Terra.

Name one African startup you believe will change the continent.

@affido Thanks for bringing me back to this tweet @affido. Congrats to @moniepoint 🎉

@iammilorex They've turned the corner.

Time for a payment Fintech in Nigeria. A 🧵. @TeamApt, is one of Nigeria's Banking agent leaders. In 2018, they processed $160M in transactions per month. 3 years later? $2.4 bn+ per month. All from deposits, withdrawals, airtime and bill payments. #startups

@thisliberty @joshuaneall This channel on YouTube is just sublime: @everyframepaint" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">youtube.com/@everyframepai… Directing: Film Techniques & Aesthetics by Michael Rabiger Film Directing Shot by Shot: Visualizing from Concept to Screen by Steven D. Katz Then Sculpting in Time and In The Blink of an Eye (on editing).

‘THE BEAR’ Season 3 premieres tonight at 6pm PT.

@Birdyword @arjun_ramani3 @wearenotpoets

My piece with @arjun_ramani3 this week. The combination of automation and Chinese industrial dominance limits the opportunities for manufacturing-led models in the developing world. How much can the growth of services exports fill the gap? economist.com/finance-and-ec…

@perseusmlambo Definitely agree that a skilled workforce is a big factor. I think there're a few diff models Zambia could pilot. But priorities should be: 1. Screen quota system 2. Investment in commercial production 3. Two way tax relief.

In response to the policy

Rather than just exist in the world, Zambia (read Africa) should define and state what our unique vision for the world is. One way to do that, is through creating a viable tv & film industry.

@asayf Right, but they didn't make the Vision Pro in isolation. They have 2nd Mover advantage.

One thing quite a few people are missing, surprisingly, is that Meta Quest is on its 3rd version. Apple Vision is on its first version. Imagine, it’s third.

Woke up and mapped out some topics for my newsletter. After a creative slump, writing about my obsessions gives me so much energy.

Journalling first thing in the morning gives my day so much structure.

Progress demands sacrifice. Stay in your comfort zone or pursue your purpose. You can't have both.

Sho. Doubt means there's room for improvement. I'm asking the hard questions and listening for the difficult answers.

Courage is really what creates confidence. Take bold risks, make bold moves, to overcome fear.

If you want the odds to be in your favour, force them in your favour by changing the odds. You need volume. More calls, more emails, more of what you're doing. 1000 not 1.

Something I'm not ashamed to say is that the African film industry lacks an obsession with excellence. We're very comfortable with the mediocre. You cannot be ashamed for demanding excellence. Higher standards is how the industry rises.

The joy of working in your purpose should always be protected at all costs.

One thing about Steve Jobs - obsession with quality - quality is paying attention to the things no one cares about.

True purpose is returning to the play of childhood in adulthood.