The second Timepledge.org event was held in Kampala, Uganda just last week on the 6th of November (the first took place the week before in Nairobi, and 140 entrepreneurs attended a very crowded session), and I got more than I came for.

The training as on “How to Pitch to Investors” and we had over 30 people in attendance, which is great.
When I was asked “what is the expected attendance?” my answer was that if ONE entrepreneur showed up, I will dedicate to that person the same attention and care than it there were 100 people. Numbers, in this case, don’t matter. Purpose does.

The training covered how to know what investors, partners and clients want to hear and present them in the best way possible. It was an amazing experience but what made it more exciting was that I met some of the people that we had given grants to at FinTechStage.

The giving was born out of an experience I had at a Swift Conference that was held in Kampala, where I had gone to for a speech, some 7 years ago. There, I met a young Ugandan student and our conversation gave me a glimpse of what life meant for the locals. It left a mark.

A few months later, the lady reached out that she needed help with her tuition fees and I went ahead to help. My assistance to her brought forward a realization that others too needed to be helped and that was what birthed the series of grants we gave out at Fintechstage in 2015.

We gave about 40 grants in that period and some even got the funding for two years. The lady I met that day has graduated and many of these other people are doing so well.

So when I met some of them at the Timepledge event in Kampala, I was more than excited! I had to contain my emotions. It reminded me of how amazing it feels to invest in the lives of others. There is no better feeling than that.

Matteo.