J A S O N N J O K U O N FA I L U R EF R A N C I S E . M A D O J E M U

I A M J A S O N C H U K W U M A N J O K U , F O U N D E R O F I R O K O . A R G U A B L Y O N E O F T H E M O S T A W E S O M E I N T E R N E T C O M PA N I E S I N A F R I C A . A S A P R O F E S S I O N A L ( A N D C E R T I F I E D ) G E E K I R E A D C H E M I S T R Y AT T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F M A N C H E S T E R , I N 2 0 0 5 , I E M B A R K E D O N M Y J O U R N E Y O F B E C O M I N G A M O D E R N D AY C A P I TA L I S T. T H E S E A R E M Y O P I N I O N S . I O W N T H E M A N D M A K E N O E X C U S E S F O R H AV I N G T H E M .

J U S T M E . J A S O N N J O K U .

J A S O N N J O K U , C E O I R O K O T V

• Njoku launched iROKOtv in 2011 (dubbed by CNN as the Netflix of Africa). Having grown his business from his London bedroom, to a YouTube channel, to a stand-alone venture-capital-backed, dedicated movie platform,

J A S O N N J O K U , C E O I R O K O T V

• Njoku has built one of Africa's most talked about, and arguably one of the most well-funded, internet companies on the continent.

• A successful entrepreneur is a rare thing indeed – there are many more failed ones; I was once one myself.

J A S O N N J O K U , C E O I R O K O T V

• There are too many criteria to list but a few I could cite would be the ability to exist on very little sleep; the ability to take risks without living in fear of the consequences; and the ability to focus, always, at all times.

J A S O N N J O K U , C E O I R O K O T V

• To be a successful entre-preneur, I gave up everything - I moved home with my mum at the age of 29, I had no car, no girlfriend, no disposable income, and no time for anyone or anything outside of my little Nollywood idea.

J A S O N N J O K U , C E O I R O K O T V

• It was only this time, when I stripped everything from my life, that I actually found myself on the path to success

J A S O N N J O K U , C E O I R O K O T V

• My wife persuaded forced me to do a little spring cleaning this weekend. As I was going through my things rubbish, I came across this old account statement for an iROKO Partners Ltd bank account in London.

• If you look at the date its 13 July 2010. The statement is for June 2010. That’s right. £60.25 paid in. £60.00 (my feeding money) paid out. And an ending balance of £0.25. That’s right folks. I literally had £0.25 in my account thats $0.42 or N63.

J A S O N N J O K U , C E O I R O K O T V

• Needless to say life has improved somewhat, but as I go about trying to frame this statement, it definitely reminds me of how far in such a short time one’s life can improve. It doesn’t have to be as dramatic, but improve life can.

• It also should serve to demonstrate to anyone, anywhere right now toiling away in obscurity on a little project or something no one gives a flying f*** about that as long as you believe in yourself and your project then success (whatever that may mean to you) is or may be just around the corner.

J A S O N N J O K U , C E O I R O K O T V

• All you have to do is find the inner strength to stay in the game

• At this point I had toiled for 6 long years. Fast forward another 4 years and everything has changed. But then I didn’t know that. It was only pain.

• Founders. Never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever give up. On yourself. You may migrate from project to project and you will never know which one is ‘the one’. But one day, someday. Your stars will align.

H O W W E D E A L W I T H FA I L U R E

• When we read about the winners of the Bible we see very few people who seemed to be consistently successful in their faithfulness to God.

• There was Joseph, who rarely wavered in his trust of the Lord, and we have men of great faith like Samuel, Daniel, and John the Baptist.

H O W W E D E A L W I T H FA I L U R E

• We also have the example of Esther, the heroine of the book of Esther, a woman of Jewish ancestry who saved the Jews from genocide when she was the Queen of Persia.

• It is likely that even these few failed at times, but their failures are rarely recorded in Scripture.

H O W W E D E A L W I T H FA I L U R E

• More often than not, the great saints of the Bible failed many times, but even so they all had one thing in common—they never gave up.

• Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, failed early and often but they never quit and they became the patriarchs of the entire Jewish race. King David, Moses, and the Apostle Paul all were guilty of grievous sins.

H O W W E D E A L W I T H FA I L U R E

• Many of the Apostles, who had direct contact with Jesus Christ and saw who He really was were less than consistent in their faith until they were filled with the Spirit.

• And then the Old Testament gives us the story of Rahab, a woman who had less than a stellar reputation, who is honored for her courage and faith in HEBREWS 11:32.

T H E B I B L E R E C O G N I Z E S T H AT A S H U M A N S W E A L L FA I L .

• JAMES 3:2 tells us that;

• "For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle (control) the whole body as well."

T H E B I B L E R E C O G N I Z E S T H AT A S H U M A N S W E A L L FA I L .

• Proverbs 24:16 (NKJV)

• For a righteous man may fall seven times And rise again, But the wicked shall fall by calamity.

S O L E T ' S TA K E A L O O K AT H O W W E S H O U L D D E A L W I T H FA I L U R E I N O U R L I V E S .

• First of all, if we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ we have been reborn as a new spiritual person "en Christo," (in Christ) and we now share the very nature of Christ; having been given the gift of eternal security.

S O L E T ' S TA K E A L O O K AT H O W W E S H O U L D D E A L W I T H FA I L U R E I N O U R L I V E S

• We could end this discussion right here—our loser days are over!

• But it doesn't end there, because we still have a life to live and the Bible tells us that this life is a testing ground that will determine the level of true zoe happiness that we will have, AND will determine how we will be blessed when we are living in eternity with God

S O L E T ' S TA K E A L O O K AT H O W W E S H O U L D D E A L W I T H FA I L U R E I N O U R L I V E S

• Even though we have the gift of salvation, in our temporal life we will still sometimes fail.

• Often we fail because we give in to our sin nature, but sometimes we fail even when we seem to be doing the right thing.

• The only people who rarely fail are those who are unwilling to try anything.

E V E N P E R S O N S W I T H A S T R O N G FA I T H A N D C O M M I T M E N T T O G O D W I L L S O M E T I M E S FA I L .

• In 1CORINTHIANS 10:12; the Bible warns us that we should never become so over-confident that we think we can't fail.

• "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall."

• A prime example of over-confidence was Peter, who had bragged about how he would defend Jesus to the end, but chickened out when Jesus was arrested and hauled before the high priest.

E V E N P E R S O N S W I T H A S T R O N G FA I T H A N D C O M M I T M E N T T O G O D W I L L S O M E T I M E S FA I L .

• Somebody once said; "To fall is not to fail, unless you fail to get up again."

• So the question is not whether you will sometimes fail, but how you will react when you do fail.

• One of the worst things we can do is become consumed by worry and guilt over past failures, because this will just compound into even more failure

E V E N P E R S O N S W I T H A S T R O N G FA I T H A N D C O M M I T M E N T T O G O D W I L L S O M E T I M E S FA I L .

• Paul who had a record of murder and mayhem against the early Christians before his conversion put it this way in PHI 3:13; "...but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead."

• That was one of the secrets of Paul's success; he forgot about past mistakes and looked toward the future.

– J O H N N Y A P P L E S E E D

“Lessons we learn from failures should make us better able to handle

adversity in the future. ”

L I F E I S A T R A I N I N G G R O U N D

• Remember that this life is like a training ground, and just like an athlete who trains for competition, we are going to fail sometimes as we grow.

• But like the athlete who learns from his mistakes and listens to the coach, we must listen to the Word of God.

L I F E I S A T R A I N I N G G R O U N D

• The Bible tells us that those who do not heed His Word are doomed to failure.

• PRO 1:7 tells us; "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction."

L I F E I S A T R A I N I N G G R O U N D

• If we are willing to follow the ways of God, even though we fail sometimes God will always be there to help us up.

• Remember, if we are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ we are members of God’s Royal Family, and we can never mess things up so badly that He will give up on us

L I F E I S A T R A I N I N G G R O U N D

• PSALM 37:23-24 tells us;

• "The steps of a man are established by the LORD, And He delights in his way. When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, Because the LORD is the One who holds his hand."