Anteneh’s Corner

Tips how to live by Haim Ginnot. It’s Idealistic for sure and the practicality of modern life might not agree, but something to think about at least.

For entrepreneurs : “ it’s just as hard to build a mediocre company as a transformative one. Both will take 100% of your time. So you might as well work on a bigger idea. “

“Ladder of love” : an ancient practice that can bring fulfillment to your modern life. Late night beautiful reading. If you want to read the full article, you have to ask for it :)

From my Substack feed.

We’ve been cooking. 🍲💻 Over the past few months, the team at Shega has been reimagining what it means to build at the intersection of content, data, and intelligence : rethinking what it means for Ethiopians and Africans to access and consume insights and make informed decisions, day and night (literally, as you can see in the picture :) ). We’ve gone deep, exploring what it really takes to deliver insight that matters, and how our solutions can become engines of clarity and decision-making. Now, we’re putting the final touches on what’s next. A new evolution of Shega is coming. If you’d like to be the first to know, get early access, and stay in the loop — [ join the waitlist here]. 👇 https://tally.so/r/w2GRGb Stay tuned.

I took this while walking last week. People be calling their business as such and you’r still overthinking things ?

Favorite Read of the Week: “Why Are We Lying to Young People About Work?” We’ve sold a dangerous myth — that passion makes work effortless. That if it’s hard, it must not be right. That struggle is a sign of misalignment, not growth. But the truth is: everything meaningful requires effort. From building careers and relationships to raising kids and chasing dreams — the work is the way. If you care about work, purpose, discipline, or today’s young people future, take 10 minutes and read this. It’s long. It’s worth it. It might just shift your lens. 👉 https://open.substack.com/pub/maalvika/p/why-are-we-lying-to-young-people?r=580w8&utm_medium=ios

Good Morning ☀️

Learning mode: ON. The world is changing fast—and there’s no better time to grow with it.

A key lesson that keeps becoming clearer this year for me : Speed matters. Momentum.

The latest trend in the Ethiopian startup ecosystem (and the one I’m most excited about): Building for the world, from Ethiopia. We’re now seeing startups emerge not just for the local market or even Africa—but with global ambition baked in from day one. In 2025 alone: • Beemi – A gamified livestreaming platform that just closed a $1M round. One to watch. • Better Auth – An authentication framework for developers that joined the latest YC batch and is likely raising a multi-million dollar round. The product is resonating deeply with the dev community and is currently the most upvoted YC startup. Call it product-market love. • [Undisclosed YC W25 startup] – Another Ethiopian co-founded startup in YC’s W25 batch that closed a multi-million dollar round (not public yet, so holding the details). This is a testament to how far Ethiopia’s tech ecosystem has come, but more importantly, it reflects how the world itself is changing. The odds have never been higher for ambitious, execution-driven talent anywhere in the world to build world-class products. The gap between Silicon Valley and the rest of the world is shrinking fast. And with AI, I can’t wait to see it shrinking more.

I’m not usually one to give advice. But if there’s one thing worth checking in on — it’s this: Are you being consistently curious? Because curiosity driven actions is often what separates those who move forward. Just find out.

One of my biggest “aha” moments this year about how fast the world is changing came during a call with my cousin in Grade 12. She’s preparing to study abroad, and during our conversation, I asked her where she got the university code she was submitting in common application platform —because the system wasn’t picking it up. She instantly sent me a screenshot—not of a website, not from a browser, but from free version of Microsoft’s desktop Copilot. That was her go-to. And it hit me: This new generation isn’t just using AI—they’re growing up with it. They’re not “searching.” They’re prompting. They expect their devices to think with them. They believe in AI by default. Meanwhile, I spent 15 minutes Googling and navigating the university site just to double-check the code—because I wanted to be absolutely sure it was correct. That small moment made me pause and reflect: How will learning, working, and decision-making evolve when AI becomes second nature to entire generations?

Fiverr CEO says “ AI is coming for your jobs. Heck, it’s coming for my job too.” Full email in the comment.

I asked ChatGPT o4 “what is favorite version of myself? "

This feels a personal attack.

Carl Jung. Happy holidays for those of you celebrating.

🤝

Let me put this as clearly—and as humanly—as possible. The next five years will be the most defining period of our century. The world as we know it is about to be completely transformed. Nations, organizations, corporations, and individuals must relinquish all assumptions and prepare to think in radically new ways. We are stepping into a half-decade that will reshape everything—economies, technologies, power structures, and culture—in ways we can barely imagine. Old laws will be broken. New standards are being set. Existing levers of influence, leverage, and control will no longer hold. For those who are truly looking, the past 2–3 years already feels like a century. No, I don’t have the answers. But I know this: The ‘simplest’ and ‘wisest’ thing one can do right now is to become fully—radically—curious. Surrender. Indulge. Question everything. Unlearn. Reimagine. #AI