From Milking Cows After Graduation to Owning East Africa's Largest University

From milking cows after graduation to owning East Africa's largest private university.

Simon Gicharu couldn't find a job after graduating so he sold milk to feed his family. While doing his rounds he kept noticing the same thing. Thousands of Kenyans who wanted to study but couldn't get into public universities. Too few slots, too much competition, too many people left out.

In 1994 he opened a small commercial college in Thika with whatever he had saved. No investors. No family money. Just fees from the first students paying for the next term.

He kept reinvesting. Certificates became diplomas. Diplomas became degrees. The college became Mount Kenya University, chartered in 2008, now operating across Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi. Hundreds of thousands of students later, it is the largest private university network in East Africa.

The man who couldn't get a job built the institution that gives everyone else one.

He never waited for Nairobi to notice him. Never held out for a big investor or a government deal. He saw who was being ignored and served them before anyone else thought to.

Your breakthrough is probably sitting inside the problem you keep complaining about. Simon just picked his up and built a university with it.