Indistinguishable From Magic

Welcome to The Art of The Impossible, the weekly newsletter where I unearth five pieces of content which I hope will both inspire and embolden you.

When I was in the depths of working in startups, I always wished I could find some respite and inspiration on my weekends, and this newsletter is the thing I wish existed so I do hope you enjoy it.

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PODCAST

This week’s recommendation is The Startup Leap podcast hosted by investors Yvonne Bajela and Maria Rotilu.

In this episode, they speak to Dare Okodjou, founder of Onafriq, Africa’s largest digital payments network - formerly MFS Africa - with 500 million wallets across 42 countries and over $300m raised in funding,

Dare shares his entrepreneurial journey from working at MTN Group, leading mobile money innovations to founding Onafriq in 2009 with the vision of making cross-border payments seamless.

The conversation delves into the challenges faced in the early days of the business, including navigating work permits and bond loan issues, assembling a team, and raising initial funds. Dare also discusses the strategic moves behind the rebranding to Onafriq, key partnerships, the role of culture and people in scaling operations across Africa, and the significance of maintaining focus. He also talks about future opportunities in the mobile money payment space, the role of stablecoins, and his personal strategies for managing stress and maintaining work-life balance.

Watch/listen here.

QUOTE

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

Arthur C. Clarke

This week, I saw a tweet from Ben Gilbert, co-creator and co-host of the great Acquired podcast. And it reminded me of the great story of Shazam’s early days - read the full story/interview with the Shazam founders here.

INTERVIEW

Professor Brian Cox: The Quantum Roots of Reality

“We don't have enough knowledge to precisely calculate what is going to happen, and so we assign probabilities to it, which reflects our ignorance of the situation.”

What do snowflakes, glowing street lamps, and Einstein’s “crazy” idea have in common? Physicist Brian Cox unwinds the surprising origins of quantum mechanics—the theory that shattered classical physics and redefined our understanding of reality.

From Kepler’s insight in a 17th-century snowstorm to Planck’s revolutionary leap in 1900, Cox traces how curiosity and confusion gave rise to the most baffling theory in science.

Watch the interview here.

READ

Why Being The Dumbest Person in the Room is a Bad Idea

I wrote a thing! It has been a while since I wrote an actual post but I want to start writing more and there are a few topics I would like to cover. First up is confronting the advice that many give about being the dumbest person in the room. Read the post for free here and let me know your thoughts!

I also enjoyed Jessica Livingston’s (co-founder of Y Combinator) commencement speech…

If you have ambitious plans, a lot of people will be skeptical. You'll seem like you're getting above yourself, except perhaps to your parents. And even they will usually be too conservative. Plus, most ambitious ideas seem wrong at first. If a new idea was obviously good, someone else would have already done it.

Read the transcript of Jessica’s commencement speech here. You can also watch it here.

FILM

Python: The Documentary

From a side project in Amsterdam to powering AI at the world’s biggest companies - this is the story of Python. Featuring Guido van Rossum (creator of Python), Travis Oliphant, Barry Warsaw, and many more, the upcoming full-length documentary traces Python’s slow-but-steady rise, its community-driven evolution, and the language’s impact on... almost everything! Coming soon.

Watch the trailer here.

As always, thank you so much for reading this newsletter and for listening to the podcast. If you have a minute spare, I would so appreciate a review of the pod or a heart on this newsletter - both help others to find it and my goal is to inspire as many people as possible with the stories I share.

Thank you and I hope you have a lovely weekend.

Danielle

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