Rafiki.works (Baobab '24)

A daunting first appearance as a guest on the in-person, immigrant founders podcast, hosted by Asim Amin of Plumm 🧘♂️ 🖤 We chatted about mindset amongst founders, the shift in startup experience from Cape Town to London, #opentalent strategies, the #futureofwork, and why we believe that what we're building at Rafiki.works (Baobab '24) is increasingly needed for independents in Africa and companies globally 🌍 Thanks for the opportunity to keep pushing my boundaries Asim! 🫡

The hardest part of fundraising as an immigrant founder isn’t just raising capital. It’s walking into a room and feeling like you don’t belong.   HERE’S WHY IT’S CHALLENGING:   I’ve been there. You don’t sound like the investors you’re pitching to. Your name stands out, sometimes in a way that makes you self-conscious. And deep down, you wonder if these differences will cost you the deal.   There were moments I thought, “Maybe I need to fit in more.” I considered changing my accent to sound more British. I even thought about shortening my name to something “easier” to pronounce.   But no matter how much I tried to fit in, it didn’t feel right — and it didn’t work.   WHAT CHANGED:   After countless pitches, I realised the problem wasn’t that I stood out. The problem was that I thought standing out was a bad thing. Once I embraced my differences, everything shifted.   Instead of trying to fit in, I focused on what made my story unique. Instead of masking my accent, I let my ideas speak louder than anything else. Instead of overexplaining my presence in the room, I let my vision lead the conversation.   The truth is, the UK is one of the best places to stand out.   It’s a country that values grit and rewards fresh perspectives. London, in particular, is full of people who don’t “fit the mould” and are thriving because of it.   THE WAY FORWARD: Here’s what worked for me:   → Stop trying to blend in. → Pitch to the right people. → Turn rejections into redirection. The UK gave me the space to realise that standing out was my greatest strength.   If you’re an immigrant founder, remember this: You don’t need to change who you are to succeed.  You just need to own it.

This morning, we attended IHR - In-house Recruitment's breakfast event for Talent Acquisition industry suppliers, investors, and advisors 🥐 It's always refreshing to hear the latest thoughts, struggles or opportunities around direct sourcing strategies for freelancers, and how companies are approaching contingent workforce management strategies 💡 A big thank you to Jonathan Claire for the opportunity. #hrtech #freelancestrategy #futureofwork

What does your job look like in 10 years? 🤷♂️ What forms of education will prevail? 👩🎓 Thought leader Nuri Demirci Lopez, Principal Product Manager for Microsoft 365, touches on some interesting trends that will undoubtedly affect us all in his book, The Inevitable Future of Work 📖 Check out some snippets around these major trends and workplace shifts already happening below 👇 #futureofwork #freelanceeconomy #ai

From our recent chat with Rafiki friend and content specialist, Byron Grealy ✍ As traditional workforces shift, and the demand for specialist freelancers and fractional experts continues to rise, the opportunities for previously overlooked demographics rise too ✊ With traditional, often expensive & exclusive education no longer being a necessity to land great jobs, and an increasing move to skills-based hiring on a granular level, DIY-styled education and online bootcamps open up a world of career opportunities for freelancers willing to constantly upskill 👩🎓 Out of competitive necessity, freelancers are often ahead of the curve when it comes to the latest technical trends or adoption of various software, making them high-impact players for any team lucky enough to leverage this talent 💥 What do you think the #futureofwork will look like? What about education? 👀 #freelancetalent #opentalent

Last week, our Head of Sales Noi Omaboe attended the Sifted Summit, where he connected with founders, investors and old MBA classmates. Noi’s key takeaways were: 🤖 Generative AI: GenAI is increasingly being used in prospecting and sales. While helpful for the top of the funnel and prospecting, it'll be interesting to see how GenAI applications work at the bottom of the funnel in the future and ultimately help close qualified leads. “Have GenAI work for you and not with you” – Aiofe Murphy, Director, HubSpot 👩💻 Engineers & Product Teams: Taking AI specialists and embedding them into product teams is a way to gradually implement AI into businesses without having too many cooks in the kitchen or a full-time team of AI Engineers. Hiring AI engineers requires creativity, ensure your teams are still thinking and not just doing. When it comes to hiring “Zag when everyone is zigging” – Harry Jones, Co-Founder Motorway 🌍 Remote Hiring: When it comes to remote hiring, having all employees in a universal time zone (UTC) regardless of location is a simple yet effective way to integrate a global talent pool. Talent clouds across Africa, such as Rafiki's managed marketplace within South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria, are also perfect for European and UK-based companies looking to diversify their teams. 🌅 The Horizon: The final panel predicts there will be 2 – 3 LLMs that establish themselves as leaders. Application building is where the next frontier will come from. For European start-ups to reach the levels of their Silicon Valley counterparts, companies need missionaries and not mercenaries. “Europe needs a deeper talent bench to get companies to the next level” – Cameron McLain, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Giant Ventures #sifted #worktrends #hiringtrends Rafiki.works (Baobab '24) sources, manages and pays freelance and fractional specialists across various African design, engineering and marketing verticals. We're also building a SaaS for global freelance collaboration and simplified project management and payments for multiple freelance resources. Get in touch to learn more!

A screenshot from Harvard Business Review's recent piece on changing workforce trends and the increased adoption of Blended Workforces. ➡ Blended Workforce: a mix of permanent full-time jobs, part-time, temporary employment, consultants, and freelancers on various contracts. ⚡ Significantly, 52% of Gen Z workers and 43% of Millennials were freelancers in 2023. And the shift is catching on globally: Notably, over half of those Gen Z workers who freelance are making a career out of freelancing—performing freelance work for at least 40 hours per week across a portfolio of different types of work. One-third said they have been working like this for over two years. ⚡ Integrating and managing this workforce will be one of the main managerial challenges in the years ahead. Traditionally, the role of freelancers/contractors is staff augmentation: They add capacity on a temporary basis and perform outsourced, noncore work as employees of a third party. This is changing very quickly, with company-wide freelancer strategies becoming more about innovation and investments in efficiency. So when the purpose is not augmentation but innovation, companies need a different approach—one that fully integrates expert freelancers into a highly cohesive team. Full-time, in-house teams are, and will, continue to become significantly smaller (at least within tech), while contingent workforces will continue to grow. Managing this shift, across freelancer collaboration, project management, payments, and benefits, will be the challenge for freelancers and companies alike. What a time to be alive. #freelanceeconomy #futureofwork #worktrends Nicholas Boswell | Rafiki.works (Baobab '24)

Check out our bite-sized summary of the past 3 months 💭 From content strategies and community growth to revenue, founder frustrations, and fundraising 👇 #rafikiworks #futureofwork #hrtech

Why are companies increasingly adopting #opentalent strategies, creating #talentclouds, and leveraging a new way of work to meet the rising demand from our next generation of technical talent? What should independent talent, both freelance and fractional, know, and how should they position themselves for career success? + 3 super interesting podcasts featuring John Winsor, Jeremy Johnson Harvard Business Review, Open Assembly for anyone intrigued by our changing workforce, future of work trends, and the space Rafiki is building in 🛠

Freelance & fractional rates vary hugely across disciplines and engagement structures in South Africa...🇿🇦 What should international clients expect when hiring a fractional product designer with Rafiki? 🤔 As a freelance Creative Strategist, how much should you be charging, and how should you decrease your rate to lock in longer-term fractional opportunities? 🫰 We collated mid to senior-level freelance and fractional specialist rates across South Africa based on Rafiki.works (Baobab '24)'s 250+ applications into our network and research across various disciplines, markets, and engagement structures. Drop a comment if you'd like to take a look at the working doc below 👇 #freelancerates #fractionalwork #futureofwork