“A few years ago, Kenyan porn movies were ridiculed for their bad production, terrible sound and physically off-putting actors.

But with the market demand growing, local porn manufacturers and consumers have become more sophisticated. Search statistics show that Kenyan pornography accounts for 45 per cent of our country’s Internet search requests for porn.

Leaked texts reveal how Nairobi Women’s Hospital scams patients

Cindy, 28, is one of hundreds of young girls in the major towns around the country who are starring in locally manufactured pornographic movies. On a regular working day, though, between 9am and 5pm, you can find Cindy at her office in Nairobi’s central business district, making sales calls for her employer. She has a college diploma and a day job, and with her aggressive nature, she can claw her away up the corporate ladder. So why choose the sex trade? “Rebellion,” she says.

“We grew up in a time when a parent’s words were law. I have two siblings but I was the child who was always getting punished for speaking up. You can call me my family’s black sheep. I grew up continuously trying to prove myself,” she explains.

At some point, she got tired of continuously trying to get people to look at her a certain way and plunged right into the down and dirty world of adult entertainment.

Her first ‘professional’ outing was as a dancer at a private party six years ago. For four years she did several short stints as an exotic dancer.

Then, two years ago, a male ‘friend’ who was visiting the country for a few weeks from Europe asked her if he could film her while having sex. He paid her Sh15, 000.

“I liked it. I wasn’t bothered about what he was going to do with the footage at the time. But whenever I was broke over the next few months, I would think about how easily I had made that money. Eventually, I asked around from friends at the strip club and I acted in my first blue movie. I have done a handful of them since,” she says.

All through, she has maintained a series of day jobs as a marketer. “There is money in the industry but it is flooded with middle-men seeking to make money out of it. I don’t think one can survive only on the acting. You need a second job,” she says.

At the top of the food chain are the producers. Some producers of local movies and television shows also double up as producers of blue movies. Then there are the pimps who seek out the girls to act in the movies. Male actors, I am told, are never in short supply. Once a troop has been assembled, the producer sources a location. This can be anything from a hotel, a residence or a swimming pool to cars and even shopping malls in the night. The location will depend on the movie budget. For high budget movies that often find their way to European counties, an actor can make up to Sh20, 000 per scene in contrast to as low as Sh1, 000 in a low-budget production.

Like any job, there are parts of being a porn actress that Cindy doesn’t like. “There was a producer who lured me to his production with the lie that he would get me a spot in a local television show that he produces.

There are also those ones who promise to pay with proceeds from sales only to turn around and tell you that the movie failed to go through.”

Once shot, the movies are distributed via a number of avenues. Essie is a self-made porn actress who conducts her business on phone and laptop. She will send you a sex video of herself for Sh200 and naked photos for only Sh100 via WhatsApp. A willing client can easily purchase locally manufatured porn in various dialects.  There are no hard statistics on the expanse of the industry but a spot check reveals that it is deep-running.

There isn’t a single profile that can fit the Kenyan porn star. There are prostitutes, university students seeking to make some easy money, confused young women giving away parts of themselves in an attempt to please the men in their lives, and a few professionals running parallel careers. Mostly, it is about the money and sometimes about the fame for those women who believe that any kind of attention is good attention.

Cindy has heard of instances of beastiality and bondage and submision plays, especially with Caucasian men, which pay more and says that how far down the rabbit hole a woman goes, all depends on her dignity. She admits that she doesn’t have the healthiest love life, having jumped from relationship to relationship.

Her family is aware that she doesn’t keep the best company but they do not know the details of her activities as a Kenyan porn movie maker. After some thought, she says that if they found out that she was shooting porn, she doubts that they would be surprised. “I have done a lot of things,” she says.”

The following feature on Kenyan porn movies was first published in the Saturday Magazine.

Don’t hire unqualified early employees.

My advice to you: chat with more experienced entrepreneurs and people currently doing the job that you’re hiring for at another startup to properly understand the qualifications for the role. Talk to anyone who will give you advice. They’ll help you identify the right skill sets and help you set key performance indicators and deliverables for the role, allowing you to hire more effectively and gain proper expectations.

Also, even the earliest employees are helping set company culture. Your early employees must have the right skills, but equally important they must have the right personality and attitude to help you build the company and environment that you want to create.

Find a co-founder.

Going at it alone with no experience is difficult on all fronts. When it comes to startups, it’s true that two heads are better than one. Don’t start your company alone! While owning 100 percent rather than 50 or 33 percent may seem appealing, you’re probably increasing your likelihood of owning 100 percent of nothing.

Don’t protect your ideas — share them.

This is where a lot of guys get it all wrong, too. They spend valuable time and money working to protect my ideas and strategies for implementation, thinking someone might try to copy them.

What I know now is ideas aren’t as valuable as they seem. Rather, it’s the ability to execute that’s valuable. No one is going to steal your idea because no one is as passionate about reinventing the moving process. In fact, hundreds of people probably already have your idea, but couldn’t or wouldn’t execute it.

source:entrepreneur

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFpNVVtKnK4

I came across this post and as a budding entrepreneur I found it to be really helpful. It was a Q&A session with one and only Mark Zuckerberg (if you don’t know who that is, please go back to your cave).

When it comes to onboarding new employees with whom he’ll work directly, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg bears in mind a single guiding principle that he says has never steered him wrong.

“I will only hire someone to work directly for me if I would work for that person,”

Zuckerberg told an audience gathered in Barcelona yesterday for the fourth installment of ‘Q&A with Mark,’ an ongoing series of town hall-style discussions.

While employers generally have more work to do than staffers to get it done, Zuckerberg says business owners should resist the urge to settle for lesser candidates in the name of manpower.

“Over the long term,” he said, “you’re only going to be better if you get someone really good.”

At the same time, Zuckerberg has always striven to keep a streamlined team and to do as much work as possible himself. Facebook serves over a billion people, for instance, but counts a team of fewer than 10,000.

“My first move when I was building Facebook wasn’t to hire a team of engineers to go build a product,” he explained. “I generally each step along the way have tried to do as much as I can myself.”

source:entrepreneur 

The Standard: A gospel singer who sat for the 2014 KCSE has returned a mean score of D+. After winning two Groove awards for the best song in Nyanza in 2013 and 2014, singer Christine Otieno now has another achievement, earning herself a KCSE certificate after scoring a D+ grade.

The Sonko wa Masonko and Thuond Mula singer was aiming for a C+ and above when she sat the KCSE exams last year, but that was then, now she is satisfied, even elated about her D+ feat.

“Though I had hopes of scoring a C+ and above, I am nonetheless grateful,” the singer said cheerfully while breaking the good news to the Standard’s Pulse.

“The knowledge acquired in the process will go a long way in helping me run my business and is a stepping stone towards undertaking a business management course that I had wanted but could not due to lack of a form four certificate,” the singer explained. The singer sat her exams at New George’s School, Nairobi.

Commercial Bank of Africa, has taken pole position as the Kenya’s largest bank by customer numbers to vindicate its innovation of offering savings and loan products through the mobile phone.

“We are delighted to announce that we signed on our 10 millionth customer this week, and this cements CBA’s credentials as the category leader in this space,” said Mr. Isaac Awuondo, CBA’s Group Managing Director.

“ M-Shwari is leading the revolution towards a cash-light economy in East Africa, and today it ranks as one of the world’s most successful full service mobile banking deployment that has managed to reach scale in just over 2 years. M-Shwari, Kenya’s first truly mobile-centric banking service was launched in partnership with Safaricom Limited on November 27, 2012.

The partnership has seen M-Shwari deposits throughput gross over Kshs 153 billion since launch, affirming the trend in Africa of the growing convergence between the financial services and telecommunications sectors as the greatest catalyst to accelerated financial inclusion amongst the world’s under-served populations.

“This milestone goes beyond a mere number and two institutions. It shatters the myths about how to scale social innovation in banking to expand financial inclusion by offering a simple and affordable model to reach out to millions of Kenyans who want to save or borrow in a convenient, fast, reliable and affordable manner, to help them meet their daily needs” said Mr Awuondo.

Backed by a dynamic mobile phone based credit scoring system, CBA has extended loans amounting Kshs 29 billion, processing an average of 50,000 loans per day over the last two years without demanding security or the need for clients to visit a bank branch to apply for the loan.

The demographic indicators show, 59% of M-Shwari customers are male while women account for 41 per cent of the customer base, with the highest usage witnessed among 24-35 year age group.

Women are however using the savings product more, while men over of 40 years are saving at a higher rate than their younger male counterparts.

Do your research

Make sure you know what the company does and any recent news about it. It’s apparent within the first few minutes of an interview if you don’t fully understand the company. However, if you’ve done your research and there is still something you don’t understand, then feel free to ask your interviewer!

Get there on time

We’ve heard every excuse in the book here at HQ. Bottom line is to get there on-time. In fact, 5 minutes early if it’s an in-person meeting or video call. Whether it’s an in-person interview, phone, or video chat, keeping your interviewer waiting will never work in your favour.

Be clear and concise

Don’t ramble! Get your “about me” elevator pitch down to 2 minutes. This can cover past work and educational experiences and a peak into what you’re looking for next. Conversations are 2-sided, so make sure you give your interviewer a chance to talk!

Ask questions

On the note of 2-sided conversations, give your interviewer an opportunity to tell you about him/herself. Hear what he/she thinks will challenge you the most in this role, learn more about the company, and find out more about his/her background. The better questions you ask, the more likely you are to be remembered.

Follow up

Always make sure to grab a businesses card or get the contact info of your interviewer so you can circle back. Thank your interviewer for taking time out of their day to speak with you. Show them that the conversation you shared was meaningful by either reflecting on a point that was brought up, bringing something new to the table, or asking a question.

When applying to jobs, many companies will ask you for a recommendation. For college students, this can be tricky. If you haven’t had lots of prior job experience, who do you turn to?! Luckily, many employers will accept high-praise from professors, coaches, and advisors. These can be a great resource, and will definitely be better than bribing your roommate to forge a letter praising your skills.

Even though you may feel buddy-buddy with some of your superiors, there is still an art to asking for a letter of recommendation. Here are some quick Campus Job’s do’s & don’ts:

DO ask someone who has had enough interactions with you, that they can actually write something of value. “I’m not sure if you remember me, but I would love it if you could write a recommendation for me.” If you have to preface asking with “not sure if you remember me,” this person is probably not your best bet.

DON’T wait until the last minute. People are busy, things get lost in the pipeline, and you should account for this when asking. “Hey, I was wondering if you could write me a recommendation letter. The application is due tomorrow so if you could do it tonight, that would be great!”

DO remind him/her of your interactions together and why you chose them. “Hey Coach Q, throughout the years you’ve provided me with some invaluable lessons, and I feel as though you’ve seen what I am capable of as well.”

DON’T come across as braggy. “Hey Boss, over years I feel I’ve been the best floor sales rep, and I’d like you to confirm by writing me a recommendation.”

DON’T feel uncomfortable if a professor or former employer asks you to draft a copy of the letter for them. The busier they are, the more helpful this is for them. When writing the letter on their behalf, be honest about your capabilities and keep them relevant to your experience. Sometimes talking about yourself can be tough, so draft a list of your strengths and weaknesses beforehand.

But what’s our biggest secret you ask? Build your resume and experience up with part-time jobs and internships so that you have an army of former employers willing to gush about just how amazing you are.

source:campusjob