Building to Learn

While in school, you probably worked hard on a lot of projects. Why? Because it was fun, or you were curious about what you'd learn. Maybe it was a group project, a research paper, or a school play. You put in effort, enjoyed it — and money was never in the picture.

But what happens after school?

Suddenly, hard work with no pay doesn't make sense anymore. You have bills to pay. And beyond that, more money is just...nice. You can afford a better apartment, that fancy vacation, buy nice things.

So we double down on what we already know or what is assured. We chase stability, and stop exploring or being curious. Learning takes a backseat.

But I’m starting to think that’s short-sighted. Growth shouldn't be something we leave behind in school or leave up to chance at work. We need to be intentional about it.

Smart companies already do this. They spend millions on R&D efforts trying to figure out what to do next. They know, without this, they face the risk of becoming obsolete.

Why wouldn't we do the same. Why should we stop investing seriously in learning things that genuinely interest us?

This is a privilege.

It's obviously not possible for everyone. Sometimes, it's just not feasible. There isn’t enough time or energy. We might have other pressing commitments. And it's not always free to learn. Unfortunate, but true.

However, I would still advocate if you have the slightest capacity, it's worth trying. Especially in your youth. It took me a long time to realise this. After getting into the job-market, my drive to learn new things dwindled. I was learning, but it all stayed within my comfort zone. My excuse was 'I was specializing'.

I decided to challenge myself

Last month, I gave myself permission to work hard on something that would potentially not have monetary gain. The idea is to learn how to develop an idea from scratch, build it out and get users. I want to learn the ins and outs of what it takes. Not just see people doing it on Youtube.

What am I building?

An expense manager that automatically tracks all my transactions. I know, I know. It sounds like yet another expense manager. But this one is different.

It's specifically designed to serve the Kenyan market. It automates tracking of all M-Pesa transactions (Kenya's most used digital wallet) and provides detailed insights of spending habits. The polish will be right up there with the best expense management apps on Play Store.

Will I make money from it?

That's not the main point. I'm building it because:

I want to make something that helps people manage their money better.
I want to see if I can create something people actually use.
I think it will be cool to build a mobile app as a web developer.

I'm just a month into this, and I'm already learning a lot. It's interesting interacting with a mobile's native features, like SMS capturing (since I'll be tracking transactions based on transaction receipts). I'm also learning that designing for mobile is significantly different than designing for desktop. You can't just present the user with all the features, you have to be strategic about it, while still making sure they find them.

As I'm pursuing this project, the framework I'm using is:

I'll time box it: So that it doesn't run forever.
I'll write down what I learn: It might be useful to me or others in future.
I'll share it with others: I'll post my work online and get real feedback from real users.

I don't know what will come of this, but my hope is to build something that solves a real problem for people. And in the process, become the kind of builder who can do that again and again.

You don’t really know something until you’ve actually tried it. Experience always trumps theory.