In what seemed like a journey characterized by perseverance / hope / love, Roland (not real name) had no idea that the setbacks that came his way, were just a class lesson preparing him to shoot for the skies.
After completing his undergraduate level at Makerere University, this young but ambitious graduate sought to bring to life, his passion for entrepreneurship. And to achieve that, he deemed it fit to sail this journey with a companion, he then got himself a girlfriend (the journey would have been so lonely if he didn’t)
Life as we know, didn’t go as straight as he thought it would. Faced with the struggle of collapsing entrepreneurial ideas/start-ups, this journey was one he will forever remember, most especially the hollow space his girlfriend left when she couldn’t wait any longer on this dream which seemed like it had taken forever.
Having scooped a cheque worth USD 500,000 in seed funding on one of his ideas, this graduate has finally taken this story off his chest revealing to one of his friends – Ms Trentah Raihanah (HANAH on Twitter) about how he got to where he is now. Read the story below, as shared by Ms Raihanah:
“ He has a startup that has just got a cheque of $500K in seed funding. But there is a paining story to that good news.
This guy was a dreamer and still is. He didn’t want to look for a job and always believed he would be an entrepreneur. That has always been his dream.
He thought of how lonely his journey ahead would be amidst the scolding of his parents to go look for a job. He decided to get a girlfriend. He got his girlfriend, now ex-girlfriend after campus before graduation.
He had many startup ideas that he wanted to bring to life but chose one to focus on that required the least resources to get up. In the resources that he needed, was knowledge. He embarked on learning how to code, and a lot about business building.
It took him a year to get started on writing serious code. He had just graduated from university, Makerere University in a degree that is not related to business and even IT. But his dream required IT and business knowledge. He chose to learn it by himself from YouTube, books and online articles.
The startup he chose to focus on, took in a lot of time and resources than he expected that he didn’t even have. Truth is, he told me, the startup failed and didn’t see even its first day much as he burnt almost 2.5 years on it.
He had this girlfriend of his (now Ex) be there for him many times when he had little to nothing in his wallet. The girlfriend had a job that paid her 250K per month with accommodation and a daily allowance. Her workplace was even near home but she chose to not commute from home as she needed some independence. The guy could meet her at her place. The guy was staying at home.
Truth is, the girl had no idea about what the boyfriend was doing but all she knew that it meant a lot to him and she had to support him with the little she could when the guy was stuck.
The guy much as he tried to ensure his startup sees its first day; he gave it his all and tested almost every idea and wrath of entrepreneurship on that startup. He built a network of people and friends, learned a lot about business through that startup. But it didn’t work.
He, on many times thought of looking for a job. But he knew if he got a job, it would be hard to come out of employment. After closing down works on his first idea with all the efforts, he became a freelancer IT person. He could do IT related work for clients and got something. The dream lived on. He could not get clients on a consistent basis so he used the time he didn’t have clients to build a prototype of his other idea.
He got his idea accepted in some Ugandan startup accelerator. He thought he would get funding from it but it was all disappointments.
As people in a relationship, they had issues but later worked them out. Guy had even made up his mind that he will marry the babe and the babe knew it. Their love was deep and if I could say, then to them it seemed true. No money but have a dream and hope one day things would work out and the guy would make it and they would have their dream life.
The promises in brokenness surely are just many😅. But this guy was a dreamer and put in his last sweat to dream bigger and effort to ensure he achieves his dream.
Fate makes it, babe was sucked from her job and had to first stay at home for 3-4 months. She was not earning. It meant the guy was to help her on some expenses as a girl. He tried whenever he had but on many times when the babe was in need, guy didn’t have 😅. Sometimes the babe could understand, sometimes she could be put off and got wondering if this guy would really make it someday.
The babe later got a job from another company. This is a bigger and established company but the pay is meager. They were both happy that now she has got a job. The job was quite far from her home. Actually in another district but still in the same region of her fatherly home.
The guy’s things had not worked out still but occasionally got clients as a freelancer. He tells me the babe got the new job last year as it was ending. The job is not paying her well, almost the same amount she was being paid in her former job. She is being paid 270K net after NSSF. Guy promised her, they will build their own company and she wouldn’t get that pennic pay or even have to look for jobs. Guy was and still is a dreamer.
When the babe got this new job in a bigger company, I think it was one of her resolutions to cutoff this broke dreaming dude whose things are not happening. Earlier this year, babe started misbehaving. Issues out of nowhere started coming and babe could just make the guy’s calls busy at night. Communication started being a problem.
The guy went to meet her face to face and see how they can walk it out. He says they met in town. I realize, guy really loved this babe and meant all he said to her. But the babe now saw herself as above the guy. Babe spoke in tongues and in her words; it seemed she didn’t need the guy anymore.
To understand that this guy had loved the babe and trusted her, he had registered his new company with his girlfriend as a co-founder alongside his other friend. Imagine! Babe had 30% of this guy’s startup ownership just for being her girlfriend.
The misunderstandings escalated and guy was getting stressed every time going forward. The guy to understand the babe had moved on, one time he called her phone at night and heard the voice of a man talking in the background. At night around 11pm. Guy asked her who that is and where is she, babe just hanged up and switched off her phone.
In the morning guy called again and it was the man that picked. Man told the guy “Hun is busy preparing breakfast so please call her later” Heartbreak. Guy felt like the earth should swallow him. This babe when she got the job, started dating a workmate and even started cohabiting. So she was commuting from her new guy’s place to their workplace. They both had the same job but the guy is earning just a little above.
Guy was really heartbroken; I got my heart skip on hearing him jazz the story at this stage. In the next days after guy had started to see more signs that it is now over and babe had moved on, it was a great moment of denial from the guy. He kept on calling the babe as he had a lot of questions but no answers. It was his turn to understand women before fearing them. Talked to the babe’s sisters to help talk to her and understand things but babe had already moved on and her sisters could not help.
The most hurting moment that this guy says that he will never forget is when he spent the whole day calling the babe but babe was not picking. When the babe picked, he asked him “I told you I am married and cohabiting. I moved on. What else do you want. We are no more. I am sorry that I can’t help. Do you want to confirm it that I am married? Wait and call at night.” Guy was really still living in denial. He still called at night but babe couldn’t pick.
She then later texted him and told him “We are now going to have sex. I will let you know when we are done.” I also fear my gender wallaahi, how could you say that to someone’s son. Hmmm!. Then after like 15-20 minutes, guy got a new text. “First round is done. Come join us for the second one.” I can’t lie, I also got broken by that statement, Now how about him? I know why he couldn’t forget it.
This friend of mine tells me, he spent the whole night awake. He never got a single second of sleep that night. He calls it the worst night of his life ever. Now that is life. He kept it all to himself because he saw it embarrassing. Today, he decides to let the cat out.
But, amidst all the love issues he had going on, there was some investor he was pursing to get them financing for their startup.
On Friday, last week, they received their cheque of $500K investment into their startup at just 20% of ownership. That is 10% less than the 30% he had given to his girlfriend, now ex.
He told me he moved on but it still pains. He is not thinking of falling in love again soon. He needs to first build his dream. Love is stressing and he is so heartbroken to date.
The babe, now is the broke one with her new guy that both can’t make one million Uganda shillings in a monthly salary. That’s the life she saw better.
He told me he told the babe of the news and sent her 2.5M on mobile money as an appreciation for the help she offered him when they were still happy. That was another time to confirm to me of how men never forget women who were there for them at hard times irrespective of how the relationship ended. (Almost her 10 months salary as just appreciation) ” -story end-
Roland’s story serves as a daily reminder that setbacks and heartbreaks can be the fuel that propels us forward. When we face adversity, we have a choice: we can let it defeat us, or we can use it as motivation to push ourselves harder than ever before. Roland chose the latter, and it paid off in a big way.
Over to you, dear reader.
