In 2024, I stood at a crossroads that many professionals eventually face the choice between a structured, predictable path and an uncertain, demanding one.
I had two clear options:
A: Enroll in a PhD program
B: Start a fintech
Both were valid, both were meaningful but they were fundamentally different. One offered structure, recognition, and a defined journey. The other offered uncertainty, risk, and no guarantees. I chose to build a fintech today known as Twezimbe.
At the time, it felt like a bold decision. In reality, it has proven to be one of the most difficult and stretching experiences of my life. There is a stage in every startup journey often referred to as the valley of death. It is not a single moment it is a phase. A prolonged period where progress feels slow, resources feel insufficient, and the future feels uncertain. I have lived through that phase.
Every stage presents its own challenge:
- Capital is never enough. You are constantly balancing ambition with limited resources.
- Talent is difficult to attract, align, and retain especially when the vision is still taking shape.
- Product development is a continuous cycle of building, testing, failing, and rebuilding.
- Trust takes time to earn but is required immediately to move forward.
Each of these is not just a business challenge it is a personal test. There are days of progress, but also days of doubt. Moments when things begin to work, and moments when everything seems to stall. And yet, this is where the real work happens.
Somewhere along the journey, I began to see something clearly: This experience is my real PhD. Not in the academic sense, but in the depth of learning, discipline, and transformation it demands. Every mistake becomes a thesis; forcing you to analyze what went wrong and why. Every setback becomes a case study; requiring reflection, adaptation, and better decision-making. Every small win becomes a defended argument; proof that you’re thinking, your approach, and your persistence are beginning to work.
Unlike a traditional program, there is no curriculum, no lecture notes, and no fixed timeline. The learning is continuous. The feedback is immediate. The stakes are real. I did not enroll in a program, I stepped into one. And in many ways, I chose an option that gave me two in one: building a fintech while undergoing a personal and professional transformation that no classroom could fully replicate.
This journey has reinforced one of the most important lessons in leadership:
Strategy is choice. It is not just about what you decide to do but what you decide not to do. The safer option the structured path offers protection. It reduces uncertainty. It provides clarity.
But it rarely forces transformation. It allows you to operate within known boundaries, to grow incrementally, to stay within a system that has already been defined. The alternative the uncertain path demands something different.
One of the greatest illusions in professional life is the belief that growth happens in comfort.
It does not. Real growth happens when you are exposed when your ideas are tested, when your assumptions are challenged, and when your limitations are no longer hidden. Building Twezimbe has been that kind of exposure. It has required learning beyond theory into execution. Beyond planning into action. Beyond comfort into resilience. It has been demanding, at times overwhelming, but ultimately transformative.
Many professionals will, at some point, face a similar decision not necessarily between a PhD and a startup, but between comfort and challenge, certainty and growth. If you are standing at that crossroads, consider this: Do not just choose what is safe. Do not just choose what is familiar. Choose what will grow you.
Looking back, the decision was not just about starting a fintech or pursuing a PhD. It was about choosing the kind of growth I wanted. And while the journey is far from easy, it is shaping not just what I build but who I become
I remain Mr. Strategy
