The room was filled with founders, policymakers, and ecosystem builders gathered around a shared objective: increasing the probability that companies are built and sustained here.

I really like how the City of Detroit is approaching their entrepreneurship programming. It is quite deliberate: municipal grants, residency stipends, coworking access, and roles like Director of Entrepreneurship are all designed to reduce friction and create density.

As someone who is both an entrepreneur and a policy analyst, I find myself more than curious. From the inside, the strategy feels coherent. Capital is being deployed, networks are forming, and leadership is aligned around making Detroit competitive for builders.

But the city reveals itself differently once you leave that room. Moving through Detroit with the Director of Youth Affairs, Jerjuan Howard, the layers begin to separate.

Institutional support, ecosystem energy, and neighborhood reality do not fully overlap—they operate in parallel. Jerjuan’s work—through debate programs, public space, and the Howard Family Bookstore—exists at the level where rebuilding becomes physical and immediate.

His question at the end of the day to me, “Do you plan to stay?” left me reflecting on what I hope to gain from and give to Detroit.

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I am taking my first few months in Detroit slow, learning her soul.

Detroit is a useful contradiction because it was not a peripheral city trying to become relevant. It was relevant—technologically, industrially, and culturally—at a scale that reshaped the global imagination of production. And then it ceased to function as the kind of system it had been.

The 1950 census lists Detroit at 1,849,568 residents. [2] By the 2020 decennial census, the city’s population is 639,111. [3] A structural unwind.

The misleading part is that the city is still physically large. The Census Bureau profile reports Detroit’s land area at about 138.7 square miles. [4] Detroit is large enough to fit the combined land areas of San Francisco, Boston, and Manhattan within its borders—and it actually ranks 64th in the United States by land area.

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I guess we are finally here: our first episode!

I started working on The Lessons Conversation in 2023 while working within the United Nations in New York.
At the time, the goal as the Synthesis and Lessons section the UNDP Independent Evaluation Office was simple: advance organizational learning in UNDP, across the UN, and partner institutions.

I was mandated as host, and over time, it became clear to me that there was far more to unpack.

When I left the UN, I requested to continue the work independently. In doing so, I also realized how much I didn’t yet understand [about international relations, and more]. That realization led me to begin writing the Lessons book series.

Today, that series is complete, and set for publication on July 6.

Along the way, I also delivered a TED Talk—World 2.0: What works, in What Context, Under What Circumstances, and Why—which further shaped the direction of this work.

Now, this platform evolves again.

For the next year, I am [attempting to] commit[ting] to recording consistently:

• Lessons Daily — short, 30-minute explorations

• Extended episodes — deeper conversations with guests

• Audiobooks — bringing the written work to life

This is both a continuation of the conversation and a discipline—of thinking, researching, and articulating ideas in real time.

Occasionally, I will be joined by others through three segments: Leaders’ Legacy, Community Voice, No Names. For now, this is a more direct body of work.

If you’ve been following the journey—thank you.
If you’re just joining—welcome.

Today’s lessons is about why there are no Apple Stores on the African continent.

Read the full article: byntha.com/numbers

And until next time, keep learning!

I was mandated as host, and over time, it became clear to me that there was far more to unpack.

When I left the UN, I requested to continue the work independently. In doing so, I also realized how much I didn’t yet understand [about international relations, and more]. That realization led me to begin writing the Lessons book series.

Today, that series is complete, and set for publication on July 6.

Along the way, I also delivered a TED Talk—World 2.0: What works, in What Context, Under What Circumstances, and Why—which further shaped the direction of this work.

Now, this platform evolves again.

For the next year, I am [attempting to] commit[ting] to recording consistently:

• Lessons Daily — short, 30-minute explorations

• Extended episodes — deeper conversations with guests

• Audiobooks — bringing the written work to life

This is both a continuation of the conversation and a discipline—of thinking, researching, and articulating ideas in real time.

Occasionally, I will be joined by others through three segments: Leaders’ Legacy, Community Voice, No Names. For now, this is a more direct body of work.

If you’ve been following the journey—thank you.
If you’re just joining—welcome.