Stop Waiting for Sponsors. Do This Instead.

The Magic Wand Fallacy

I want to look you in the eye and ask you a serious question.

If I handed you a magic wand right now—a wand that could grant you either the perfect opportunity to showcase your talent, or unlimited resources (money, sponsors, equipment)—which one would you choose?

Take a second. Don’t answer yet.

Right now, many of you are screaming “Resources!” You believe that if you just had the capital, the camera, or the laptop, you would blow up. Others are whispering “Opportunity,” believing you are a hidden gem just waiting to be discovered.

Friend, I have news for you. Both answers are traps.

I used to believe in magic wands. I thought success was something that happened to you when the stars aligned. But I am just teasing. You and I know that magic wands don’t exist.

However, the pain of feeling “stuck” because of your environment is very real. I see so many brilliant young minds who are exceptionally gifted but feel suffocated because they are not in an environment that claps for them.

But what if I told you that the “clap” is the last thing you need?

The Boy with the Broken Radio

To make you understand this, I need to take you back to a time before I founded my companies. Back to when I was just a boy with a strange habit.

While other kids were playing football, I had an unexplainable obsession with trash. Specifically, faulty electronics.

I wasn’t looking for a job. I was just possessed by a deep curiosity. I wanted to know how things worked. I would walk up to neighbors and ask, “Do you plan to fix that broken torch? That dead radio?” If they said no, I would persuade them to give it to me.

I became a collector of broken things.

My goal wasn’t to sell them. I just wanted to open them up. If I couldn’t fix them, I would harvest the parts—a capacitor here, a speaker there—and try to invent something new. I was building from the scrap heap.

Then, the test came.

A neighbor living adjacent to my house saw my “collection.” He assumed I was a genius repairman (I wasn’t). He brought me his expensive, faulty radio and asked me to fix it.

Here is the truth: At that moment, I knew barely anything about the specific components of a radio.

I was scared. I thought, Samuel, you are about to destroy this man’s property. I could have said, “Sorry, sir, I don’t have the tools,” or “I don’t have the training.” Those would have been valid excuses for my lack of resources.

But I realized something that day: The radio is already broken. The worst I can do is leave it broken.

So, I didn’t act like a novice. I took the radio. I opened it up. For four hours, I sweated over that circuit board, testing components blindly, tracing lines with nothing but logic and grit.

And you know what? I fixed it.

The “Trade-Over-Aid” Reality

Why am I telling you this story?

Because many of you are sitting on your hands right now, waiting for a “Sponsor” to come and give you a perfectly functioning radio. You are waiting for the perfect conditions to start your business, launch your channel, or build your app.

You are waiting for resources.

But Friend, resources follow resourcefulness.

I didn’t wait for a workshop. I didn’t wait for a degree in electrical engineering. I used the “broken” environment around me to build my capacity. I traded my curiosity for experience.

If I had waited for a “major sponsor” to support my creative project back then, I would still be waiting today.

Your Immediate Action Plan

I don’t want you to just survive; I want you to build. Whether you are a student with zero capital or a professional looking to pivot, here is your homework for this week.

1. Identify the “Broken Radios”: Look at your immediate environment. What problems are people ignoring? What is “broken” in your industry? Stop looking for the shiny opportunities; look for the trash. That is where the money is.
2. Audit Your “Scrap Heap”: You think you have no resources, but you have time, you have the internet, and you have a brain. Write down three things you can offer right now without spending a dime.
3. The “Courageous Yes”: The next time an opportunity comes that feels slightly bigger than your current capacity, say YES. Then, go home and spend “4 hours” figuring it out. That is how you grow.

The Transition You Need to See

I had to cut the story short because I don’t want to overwhelm you.

But the leap from fixing a neighbor’s radio to building Gownex Technology and Samuel Olumuyiwa Limited didn’t happen by accident. There was a specific transition point—a moment where I stopped being a “hobbyist” and became a “strategist.”

I moved from fixing radios to building systems. And that shift is exactly what separates the hustlers from the CEOs.

In the next post, I am going to reveal exactly how I made that transition and how you can turn your “side hustle” into a global institution.

Friend, don’t keep this to yourself. Share this with someone who is currently complaining about “lack of capital.” Follow so you don’t miss the blueprint for the transition, and tell me in the comments: What is the “broken radio” you are scared to touch right now?

I can’t wait to see you reach greater heights. Cheers to the growth ahead.

Samuel Olumuyiwa #ThePrincipal