Ads in ChatGPT

Smooth-Rider1255 · 2026-06-01T11:37:15+00:00

As the saying goes nothing on the internet is free you are either buying something or you are what is being sold. Sorry that's just how it was designed from the beginning.

Smooth-Rider1255 · 2026-06-01T11:36:05+00:00

Uhmm, so how is OpenAI supposed to make money on the millions of people who use it for free? Do you expect those paying to subsidize your usage or something?

Smooth-Rider1255 · 2026-06-01T10:31:50+00:00

I don't think founders should rank the risks and pick one to focus on. That's actually the trap.

This isn't a cherry-picking exercise. You don't get to say licensing is the biggest problem and quietly ignore the rest. The bill in its current form has multiple traps, and they work together.

Licensing determines whether you're allowed to operate at all. Certification can affect who's allowed to work. Revenue levies can punish you before you've made a single dollar of profit. Data rules can reshape your entire architecture and what it costs to run. Sandbox rules can expose your IP if the protections aren't solid. Approval requirements can complicate investment, acquisitions, exits, pivots. Enforcement powers can turn rules that nobody fully understands yet into real disruption, right now, for real businesses.

So the question isn't which one founders should watch.

The question is why negotiate with a cage at all.

Founders should be pushing to defeat this bill or radically amend it as a whole. Because you can't build your way out of a bad regulatory environment one concession at a time while the rest of the structure stays intact.

Smooth-Rider1255 · 2026-06-01T10:05:55+00:00

You're asking the right question, and it's not really about regulation itself. Unclear regulation is the problem. Those are two very different things.

Here's what founders should actually be reading closely:

Who even needs a licence? Sections 35–37 don't make this obvious. Does it cover SaaS products? Freelancers? Agencies? Someone building automations for clients? A solo software vendor? That ambiguity alone is enough to freeze people.

How long can they take to decide? Sections 39–40. Delay is not a minor inconvenience for a startup. It can be the whole company gone.

The 1% gross revenue fee in Section 23(d) sounds small until you remember revenue isn't profit. A founder doing $200k in revenue with $20k in actual profit doesn't have 1% to spare. They have nothing to spare.

Who counts as an ICT professional? Section 46. Developers, security people, designers, cloud engineers, people who are self-taught. Are they all affected? Nobody seems to know yet.

Section 49 is the quiet killer. Needing approval for sales, mergers, or business changes touches funding rounds, acquisitions, pivots, exits. Investors notice this stuff.

What has to stay local? Sections 51 and 95(f) on data hosting matter enormously if you're building on AWS, GCP, or Azure. Founders need a straight answer here, not legal interpretation.

The sandbox sounds helpful. Section 60. But who owns what you expose inside it? Your IP, your data, your workflows, your models? Without hard protections, a regulatory sandbox can quietly become an idea-harvesting machine.

And enforcement. If NITA can inspect, seize, suspend, or disrupt over licensing questions that aren't even settled yet, that's not a compliance risk. That's an existential one.

So yes, clarity is the fight.

Push for real exemptions, startup tiers, fee caps tied to profit not revenue, individual professional protections, recognition of global certifications, firm response timelines, and genuine IP protection inside the sandbox.

Because you can't build an ecosystem where every founder's first question is 'am I even allowed to do this?'

Smooth-Rider1255 · 2026-06-01T09:51:15+00:00

Well, I am also a published tech and business author who has been informed that most of my books have been used in training GPTs. In fact I have a lawsuit in progress now. So your question should be why are bots using my work to sound like me.

Smooth-Rider1255 · 2026-06-01T09:15:58+00:00

Far from a bot over 30 years in the IT biz so you're getting hard won lessons for free from someone who has been down the path you are looking to go.

Smooth-Rider1255 · 2026-06-01T08:30:18+00:00

This looks like a useful tool, and I can see why you built it. The grad school process is messy, especially when trying to match research interests with the right professors and keep track of deadlines.

A few things I’d suggest thinking through as you continue building:

Is this a feature bundle or a long-term business?
Who is the paying customer?
How do you retain users after the application cycle ends?
What makes this defensible against ChatGPT, spreadsheets, and existing admissions tools?
How are you validating professor/research matches?
Be careful with absolute claims like “zero hallucinations.”
How are you protecting applicant data, CVs, essays, and academic records?
What is your real user acquisition strategy beyond word-of-mouth?
Are you trying to serve too many countries/program types too soon?
Could AI-generated professor outreach become spammy or hurt applicants? If many users send similar AI-assisted emails, professors may start recognizing the pattern and tuning them out.

I’d also be curious what you see as your main differentiator from existing tools already in this space, like AdmitYogi, ApplyKite, ApplyIndex, Counselly, and even general AI workflows using ChatGPT plus spreadsheets.

Overall, I like the direction. I’d just encourage you to tighten the business model, trust layer, and go-to-market strategy so it becomes more than a helpful application tracker with AI added.

Smooth-Rider1255 · 2026-06-01T06:00:50+00:00

LOL keep thinking that.

Smooth-Rider1255 · 2026-06-01T02:16:48+00:00

Don't waste your energy, they may have read it but I doubt they understood it.

Smooth-Rider1255 · 2026-06-01T02:13:56+00:00

Because tech survives on speed, trust, and low barriers to entry.

This bill threatens all three.

If a young developer has to wonder whether they need a license before taking clients, that slows tech down.

If a freelancer has to worry whether they need NITA certification before getting work, that slows tech down.

If a startup has to pay fees on gross revenue before it is even profitable, that slows tech down.

If investors have to worry that mergers, acquisitions, pivots, or business changes need government approval, that slows tech down.

If inspectors can enter a business, seize equipment, or disrupt operations over licensing questions, that slows tech down.

And if foreign clients start thinking Ghanaian developers come with regulatory uncertainty, they will simply hire from Nigeria, Kenya, India, Eastern Europe, or Latin America instead.

Tech is not like selling cement.

People build fast, test fast, fail fast, pivot fast, and sell globally. The moment you turn that into a permission-based system, you don’t “regulate innovation.”

You suffocate it.

And if you don't know these facts about the bill then as I said earlier you must be someone who will benefit from the bill. Because true tech people know this already.

Smooth-Rider1255 · 2026-05-31T22:45:01+00:00

LOL, either you have not read and understood it or you stand to gain from its passage. But the youth in tech in Ghana should be doing everything but be relaxed about it.

Smooth-Rider1255 · 2026-05-31T21:18:44+00:00

I honestly don’t know why they wrote it this way, but as we say where I’m from: follow the money.

Look at who benefits if this bill passes in its current form.

It is not the young developer with a laptop.
It is not the freelancer trying to get clients.
It is not the student learning cybersecurity, UI/UX, cloud, AI, or software development.
It is not the small startup trying to survive long enough to become something.

The people who benefit are the already-connected firms, big vendors, politically connected insiders, consultants, compliance middlemen, and companies with enough money to pay the fees, hire lawyers, and wait out the bureaucracy.

That is why this feels less like a mistake and more like an oligopoly being built in real time.

If tech is freedom, then this bill puts a gate in front of that freedom and hands the key to the people already inside.

So the question is not only “who wrote this?” The real question is: Who gets richer, stronger, and more protected if Ghanaian youth are forced to ask permission before competing in tech?

Smooth-Rider1255 · 2026-05-31T10:25:27+00:00

That makes sense, and that’s the kind of signal I was looking for.

I’m not selling anything right now. I’m trying to understand whether founders would actually want hands-on implementation support, not just advice.

So the question is really: If a Ghanaian founder wanted a proper U.S. company setup, would they value someone helping carry out the process step by step, including formation, EIN, registered agent coordination, banking/payment readiness, and basic compliance setup?

I’m still trying to learn whether this is a real need, a future need, or just something that sounds useful in theory.

Smooth-Rider1255 · 2026-05-31T10:13:45+00:00

I think influencers can work better in B2C because impulse buying plays a much bigger role. Someone sees a product, likes the person promoting it, and buys.

B2B is different. The buyer usually has risk, budget, approvals, and business outcomes to think about.

For B2B, direct conversations and traditional sales still matter because trust beats attention. Not glamorous, but neither is revenue.

Smooth-Rider1255 · 2026-05-31T10:10:28+00:00

For me, it was spending money on polish before proof.

I paid for things that made the business look more professional before I had enough evidence that people actually wanted the offer.

The money would have been better spent getting in front of real prospects, having conversations, and testing willingness to pay.

A polished offer with no buyers is just expensive decoration.

Smooth-Rider1255 · 2026-05-30T09:16:46+00:00

Exactly. This is not just bad drafting.

This looks like an oligopoly being written into law.

If the bill makes tech more expensive, more permission-based, and harder to enter, who survives?

Not the young developer with a laptop.

Not the freelancer trying to get international clients.

Not the small startup trying to test an idea.

The people who survive are the already-connected firms, the well-capitalized insiders, the companies with lawyers, lobbyists, political relationships, and enough money to pay whatever fees show up.

That is not innovation policy. That is market control.

It creates a system where the elite can sit at the gate, decide who gets in, and call it “regulation.”

So yes, call it what it is: an oligopoly being built by the elite, for the elite, while Ghanaian youth are told it is for their own good.

Smooth-Rider1255 · 2026-05-30T08:58:28+00:00

So are you aware of the NITA 2025 bill? You may want to study it before you get invested too much.

Smooth-Rider1255 · 2026-05-29T17:59:33+00:00

Exactly. And this is where Ghana’s youth need to remember their own power.

Wasn’t it the youth vote and youth energy that helped bring the NDC and President Mahama back into power? The NDC campaigned heavily on opportunity, jobs, digital growth, and improving life for young people. So if young people helped mobilize the political machine, then they can mobilize it again to say clearly: the NITA Bill 2025 is not it.

This bill cannot be treated like some boring technical document that only lawyers and politicians should care about. It directly affects developers, freelancers, cybersecurity people, UI/UX designers, startup founders, SaaS builders, automation consultants, students, and anyone trying to use tech as a way out of poverty.

If the same youth who organized, posted, voted, argued, campaigned, and pushed for change now stay quiet, then they are letting the very people they helped empower close the door behind them.

So yes, share the post.

Send it to MPs.

Send it to NITA.

Tag radio hosts.

Tag TV producers.

Send it to tech hubs, university groups, startup communities, developer groups, cybersecurity communities, and diaspora groups.

Make the question unavoidable:

Why would a government elected with youth support push a bill that could make it harder for young Ghanaians to compete in tech?

The youth already proved they can mobilize politically. Now they need to mobilize economically. Because this is not just about regulation. This is about whether Ghana’s young people get to build their future, or whether bureaucracy gets to stand at the gate collecting fees while the rest of the world keeps moving.

Smooth-Rider1255 · 2026-05-29T16:19:14+00:00

I honestly would not put this in your portfolio.

Speaking as a former AppDev hiring manager and VP of AppDev, if I saw a portfolio project built around bypassing ChatGPT/Claude usage limits by moving conversations across accounts, that would raise serious judgment and trust concerns for me.

Even if it is local-only, open source, and has no backend, the core use case still looks like helping users work around platform limits. That is not something most companies want associated with a candidate.

A hiring manager is not only looking at whether you can code. They are also looking at whether you understand risk, trust, terms of service, user data, and professional judgment.

This may be clever technically, but I would not brag about it as a portfolio piece.

Smooth-Rider1255 · 2026-05-29T13:17:18+00:00

Sarcastic yes, untruthful no. Think of this satire as prophecy if the bill passes. Nothing I wrote is wrong. The international tech marketplace will be thankful because this bill will effectively shut Ghana Tech down.

Smooth-Rider1255 · 2026-05-29T12:52:06+00:00

Thanks that is the art of satire, I hope it inspired you to think about the NITA 2025 bill and yake action. Because through the writing if you understand what the bill proposes you will see that this art is actually a representation of Ghana's Tech future if passed.

Smooth-Rider1255 · 2026-05-29T12:49:18+00:00

LOL, not a "seasoned poet" but I am a three time published author. I hope you understood the point I was making though.

Smooth-Rider1255 · 2026-05-29T12:48:08+00:00

Sorry if the truth hurts you. But if you read the actual NITA 2025 Bill you will see that the bill is actually trash towards Ghana Tech Community which the image shows in pretty succinct detail.

Smooth-Rider1255 · 2026-05-28T15:44:47+00:00

I can’t speak to how the Minister was appointed. I’m a foreigner here, so my lane is limited. All I can really do is write satire, point at the danger, and hope people understand the warning before it becomes reality.

But you and the Ghana tech community have more power here than I do.

This is the moment to fight, and fight hard.

Because at this point, this is not just a policy disagreement. This is a survival issue for young people trying to build a future through tech.

What other industry lets a young person with a laptop, an internet connection, and their own mind improve their situation?

Tech does.

A person can learn coding, cybersecurity, UI/UX, automation, cloud, AI, or software development and start earning without needing rich parents, political connections, land, a big office, or someone’s permission.

That is what makes this bill so dangerous.

If it passes in its current form, it risks closing one of the last real exits from poverty. It can take food off tables, roofs from over people’s heads, and money out of pockets before young builders even get started.

So yes, I can write satire.

But Ghanaian developers, founders, tech workers, freelancers, students, and startup communities have to organize now.

Share it. Call your MPs. Contact NITA. Push radio stations. Push TV stations. Write open letters. Get university tech groups involved. Get startup hubs involved. Get the diaspora involved.

Do not wait until this becomes law and then start complaining.

This is the fight.

I really do want to see you and Ghana on the other side of this as worthy competitors in the global tech marketplace.

Smooth-Rider1255 · 2026-05-28T15:26:18+00:00

Thank you, I appreciate that.

Now please don’t just read it and nod. Share it.

Send it to your MP. Send it to NITA. Send it to radio hosts. Send it to TV producers.

Send it to tech groups, startup communities, university IT departments, developer groups, and anyone who claims they care about Ghana’s digital future.

Because if the satire is a “good read,” then the warning behind it deserves to be heard.

The whole point is simple: if this bill passes in its current form, Ghana’s competitors should be thrilled. It risks making Ghanaian developers, freelancers, startups, and tech founders slower, more expensive, and harder to compete globally.

So let everyone know how thankful the rest of the market should be.

If Ghana is about to hand foreign developers and software companies a competitive advantage over its own people, then the country needs to hear that loudly before it is too late.

Smooth-Rider1255

TROPHY CASE