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Nick Cannon joined Forbes at the third annual Under 30 Summit in Botswana.
Ilan Godfrey for ForbesBy his early twenties, Nick Cannon was a millionaire. Just a few years after booking his first TV gig on sketch comedy show All That at age 18, it was the 2003 film Love Don’t Cost A Thing where he received his first multi-million dollar check. Along with starring in films, Cannon also built his early career by creating and hosting his own series The Nick Cannon Show, and eventually, Wild N’ Out, which has been running for some two decades now.
Cannon has continued to make money from a variety of outlets—he reportedly earns $100 million a year from a variety of projects produced by his production company, Ncredible, including Wild ‘N Out and hosting The Masked Singer—and told Forbes’ Chief Content Officer Randall Lane that he sees himself as a jack of all trades when the two sat down at the third annual Under 30 Summit in Botswana earlier this week (he kicked off the festivities with a DJ set the night before, another one of those trades).
“A lot of people in my peer group at the time were just having fun, but I really was driven to say this is what I want to do in my life and speak those things into existence,” Cannon said of his early career.
Cannon had an ironic piece of advice for youngsters around the world and especially in Africa—where 72% of the population of 1.2 billion people is under the age of 30: “Don’t take anyone’s advice,” he said.
Today, he likes to call himself an “entrepretainer” (entrepreneur and entertainer), but he says his success came from not listening to his mentors and peers, like producers telling him to stay at his former job as host of America’s Got Talent instead of going on to create his own show.
Cannon was one of the many entrepreneurs and leaders to solicit their best advice at the summit: Under 30 alumni like Melanie Keita, founder of Melanin Kapital which connects small African businesses to investors, spoke about the opportunities for bringing more blockchain to Africa and Bola Adegbulu talked about how the continent is getting ahead with AI.
And 25-year-old South African actress Ama Qamata emphasized the importance of building a trustworthy team, but knowing “your team works for you and you don’t work for them.”
Emerging entrepreneurs also took the stage: 30 entrepreneurs across industries like technology, finance and entertainment were selected to present their businesses to a panel of judges during the Pitch Battle, which Forbes co-organized in partnership with Johannesburg-based investment firm Alpha & Omega Group and its founder Brett Lyndall Singh, a Forbes Africa Under 30 Lister.
The finalists included Dadirai Mushayandebvu, who showcased her tech and finance company, Skweeker Solutions and social impact entrepreneur Tutaleni Ilonga, who pitched his game development company Edu-Game Namibia, which is aimed at teaching others how to create both digital and physical games. But it was Moagi Onkabetse of the Culture & Entertainment category who walked away with the top prize, a media package with Forbes, for his business Aurora Media Group, which is a media holding company that produces content on Aurora TV, Aurora Radio, Aurora Sports Digital and more channels spanning on-demand, broadcast and network entertainment.
On the final day, many boarded flights with the event’s official airline partner, Air Botswana, for a day trip to the Okavango Delta for a safari drive. Others got to see firsthand the process of diamond cutting and polishing at Okavango Diamond Company.
Special thanks to our connectivity partner, BTC, for helping us bring this event to life—to those in Botswana and around the globe.
Talk soon,
Alex & Zoya
P.S. The Under 30 Summit Africa was a warm-up to our flagship Under 30 U.S. Summit. This year, Forbes is taking Cincinnati, Ohio where we’ll bring you a roster of A-list founders, investors and performers—and of course, priceless opportunities to network with accomplished Under 30 listers and mentors. Last year’s line-up included Kendall Jenner, Bad Bunny, Halsey, Rainn Wilson and more. Snag tickets before June 1 to get an early access rate of 85% off here.
No, AOC Isn’t Rich—Yet.
The youngest woman ever elected to Congress is worth much less than most of her (older) colleagues.
EVIN MAZUR/MG21/MET MUSEUM/VOGUE/GETTY IMAGESWe all remember congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez walking the Met Gala carpet last year in her show-stopping “Tax The Rich” dress. In honor of the annual event, which happened this past Monday at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, Forbes reported on the dichotomy between AOC’s high-profile life compared with her $125,000 net worth—significantly less than a number of Met attenders, like, for instance, new billionaire Kim Kardashian.
On Our Radar:
-Feeling lonely? A chatbot might be here to help. The bot is named Psychologist, has a profile picture of a woman with a blonde bob and is part of a cohort of characters on Character.AI’s platform. The chatbots, including “teenage Voldemort “ and “sassy Elon Musk,” are drawing in millions of young people looking for someone to talk to. But the faux-therapists aren’t trained like a real person would be, and some have made dangerous diagnoses to their “patients.” (The Verge)
-Katy Perry’s Met Gala look—a gown with butterflies, flowers and moss trim—was a show stopper. The only problem? It wasn’t at the show. Instead, it was an AI-generated photograph of Perry that tricked users all over the internet. This follows last month’s congressional hearing with singer FKA Twigs, who spoke about the dangers of AI on artists’ authenticity, especially if the created byproducts are out of the artist’s control. (Forbes, Variety)
-The ability to pivot is a key characteristic for all entrepreneurs. But for those who started companies during the pandemic, it’s never been more important. Take the hand sanitizer market, which jumped from $1.03 billion in 2019 revenue to $6.3 billion in 2020. Now, as the hand-sanitizer obsession has cooled, founders like Amy Welsman had to rethink their business plans. Welsman’s strategy includes re-focusing on her initial target consumer, mothers, with safe-for-babies, hand-moisturizing, sustainably-packaged sanitizer. With the change, she hit $570,000 in 2022 revenue and surpassed $1 million in 2023. She’s projecting to double that this year. (Wall Street Journal)
One Minute With Jemima Myers:
We’re bringing you the scoop on a new Under 30 community member. Up this week: 2024 Europe Media & Marketing lister Jemima Myers, the founder of a marketing agency called Social Chameleon. She shares why she turned her side-hustle into a full-time business.
The following has been slightly edited for length and clarity.
Where did you get the inspiration for launching Social Chameleon? Social Chameleon was a natural progression from my career as a freelance marketer. Over an 18-month period I had grown my freelance client base to the point where I was working 16-hour days. I remember sitting down and having to make the decision between not taking on any more clients, or establishing an agency and hiring help so that I could continue to grow. I registered ‘Social Chameleon’ on Companies House the next day.
How did you know it was time to grow your side-hustle into a full-time career? When I ran out of hours in the day!
Is there one business rule you live by to grow your company? Keep moving. Luckily, I’m an ideas person, but in the past, my ability to keep implementing new ideas and ‘moving forward’ was hindered because I had too much on my plate with day-to-day tasks. Earlier this year, we spent a lot of time restructuring and bringing in more operations and team management staff, which has freed my time up for planning Social Chameleon’s next steps.
Is there a business, founder, or leader out there you admire most and want to emulate? To be honest, no. There are a lot of founders and leaders that I follow because I’m interested in the work they are doing or admire what they have achieved, but there isn’t one person who I want to emulate. Every business is unique and my leadership style has to suit the unique needs of my company.
What is something that you do every single day? I walk at least three times a day. This time is really important for me to clear my head, let my mind wander. Often, I unintentionally think-up solutions to problems I’ve been racking my brain over. These walks also help structure my day into sections.
What’s something you can’t live without? The Notes app. Anyone who’s had a start-up or scale-up knows that the day-to-day often feels like you’re spinning hundreds of plates and you have to keep running back and forth between them to make sure that they all keep moving.
My Notes app is the closest thing I have to a visual representation of my brain. I jot down every idea or task so that when I’m tired or my brain-fog sets in, my notes app is the back-up.
What’s your favorite social media platform? This might be boring, but I definitely find myself tapping into LinkedIn the most these days. Even outside of typical work hours I find myself reading articles on tech innovation in marketing or best practices in people management. Like most people, I also like a healthy social media ‘stalk’ every now and then. Except, in my case, it's not exes - it’s competitors! Again, LinkedIn helps me stay updated on what other agencies their founders are doing. I’m naturally very competitive so this keeps me really motivated.
Is there one creator or small business you think is doing social media marketing really well right now? Fei Er Cottage (@feiercottage) is an independent Chinese restaurant in London. They’ve really nailed capturing user attention in the first few seconds with fun ‘click-bait’ style scenarios which then evolve into funny videos around their food.
What’s a hot take you have about your industry or life in general? 90% of metrics in the marketing industry mean absolutely nothing. And in the midst of the digital marketing boom we’ve lost sight of the really important stuff, like how is marketing actually affecting or contributing to your bottom line?
What’s your favorite thing to do outside of work?I love traveling but I don’t do enough of it for leisure. When I was in school, my dream was to be an archaeologist so there are a lot of places still on my bucket list like Egypt and Peru where I’d love to switch off from work and nerd-out.
What’s your best way to unwind at the end of a long day? Either cooking or spending time with my partner. I have to be doing something that requires my focus, otherwise my mind and attention will start to creep back towards work.
