In this episode, Ed Magema, co-founder of Universe and senior strategist at NCBA sits with Barrack to unpack his journey from a humble childhood of strong tea mornings and githeri lunches to developing elite study systems that took him to Harvard. He explains why he chose to leave the U.S. during the era of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, return home, and build his career in Kenya. Ed opens up about his first failed print-media startup, his rise as a strategy consultant at Dalberg, and how he became one of the early builders behind Cheaper Cash, helping scale it to a million users in under a year before walking away due to toxic culture. He shares the depression that followed, how writing How to Get Into Harvard became therapy and service, and how he reinvested his savings and Harvard network into building Universe, a homegrown media-tech platform for Africa’s creators. Ed breaks down his current money philosophy (10% emergency fund, 30% investments, the rest for life and family), his belief in building over hoarding, and his long-term mission to become a dollar billionaire by constructing an African-owned media + data ecosystem that can shape narratives and power the continent’s role in the AI era. An inspiring conversation about conviction, resilience, and the courage to build from where you are.

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How Ed Magema Beat the Odds and Got Accepted Into 6 Ivy League Universities

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