This is probably my fourth blog post, and I’ve been thinking a lot about how founders, especially in the early stage, can easily get pulled off track. When I left the corporate world and started building my own companies, a close friend asked me a simple question that changed how I approached everything:
“What’s your mission?”
I had never articulated or written one down. I’d been successful. I’d built teams. I’d built products. But I didn’t have a compass. So I sat down and created one—not just a mission, but a filter to help me know what to say yes to, and more importantly, what to walk away from.
Because I’m that guy who gets excited. About new teams. About new products. About new people. I’m curious and I’m creative. I see the possibilities, and I want to help. But there’s a big difference between what’s exciting and what’s fulfilling. And if I don’t have that compass in front of me, I can find myself chasing shiny things instead of building what I’m truly here to build.
I’ve learned this the hard way.
When I was at Facebook, I joined the video team working on a project called Confetti. It was exciting. Big audience. Millions of people. I got to work in mobile, travel to Hollywood, meet celebrities, and show off some flashy design work. My ego loved it.
A good team. A fun project. But I needed more than fun.
But after a few months, something started to feel off. I had worked on SaaS products, on ad tools, on secure file storage—things that made people’s lives easier, more productive, more secure. Things that added value. With Confetti, as fun as it was, I kept asking myself: “What’s the deeper value here?”
And I couldn’t find it. It was exciting, but it wasn’t me. It wasn’t the kind of work I wanted to be known for.
So I left.
And that’s when I came back to my compass.
Here’s what I landed on:
To create an open and connected world where everyone has access to the tools they need to communicate effectively, understand each other, and make informed decisions.
The Problems I Care About Solving
1. People lack understanding, self-discipline, or motivation for self-improvement.
2. People don’t know how to communicate their needs or intentions in ways that build fulfilling relationships.
3. People rely on surface-level bias when making decisions—especially in relationships and business—and it holds us all back.
This compass guides me now. It’s how I built Meetamor, an emotional intelligence app that helps people grow in how they love and connect. It’s how I created Nafasi Connection, a startup hub in Nairobi where we help founders scale solutions in fintech, Web3, and AI. These aren’t just cool business ideas. They align with my values. They push my mission forward.
When the mission is clear, the right people find you.
And this isn’t a static document. It evolves as I evolve. But when I’m in doubt, when someone pitches me a new opportunity or I’m tempted to pivot, I ask:
Does this move me closer to what I’m here to build?
So now I’m curious—what’s your mission?
Have you written it down?
Do you use it to filter your decisions?
If not, maybe it’s time.
I’m happy to help you write it if you need a sounding board.