Leaders Perception Magazine is currently running an interview series called – Innovate & Elevate: Inside the Entrepreneur’s Toolkit
Today, we had the opportunity to interview Janga Bussaja – Philosopher/ Social Entrepreneur @ Planetary Chess.
Today we are joined by Janga Bussaja, Philosopher and Social Entrepreneur at Planetary Chess. Planetary Chess is a decentralized autonomous organization in the process of building a LLM that addresses societal biases. Janga has an incredible backstory, having been born and raised in Beaumont Texas, and having gone through a mid-life crisis that led him to the Black Underworld for 13 years. Janga has since emerged with a valuable contribution to society in the form of Planetary Chess. We asked Janga to tell us a bit about the essential tools and technologies he relies on to manage his business effectively, any unconventional or creative approaches he has implemented, and how he addresses the learning curve and potential resistance from his team when implementing new tools or technologies.
Interviewee Name: Janga Bussaja
Company: Planetary Chess
Janga Bussaja’s favourite quote: “When you put your fate in the hands of another person…you can’t be mad about the results.” My HS Basketball coach said this after a tough loss where the referee made a questionable call. It’s always stayed with me as a lesson to do your work early. Things happen outside of your control but when you take care of business and do all you can, then it’s easy to live with the results.
The Interview
Thank you so much for joining us today! Tell us a little bit about yourself. What is your backstory?
Janga Bussaja : Thank you so much for the invitation! I was born and raised in Beaumont Texas. My grandmother was very influential in my life from an early age. She instilled in me the joy of seeking knowledge, wisdom and understanding. I could only go outside to play basketball on Saturday’s after I read a chapter of Proverbs in the Bible. My parents were hard workers in the refinery industry. They was never together and my father lived in the neighboring town of Port Arthur. I graduated at the top of my class and went on to Prairie View A&M to graduate with a degree in Electrical Engineering. I tore my ACL twice and gave up on hoop dreams to work at Siemens Energy. It was a great opportunity. I had a little bit of a mid life crisis a few years later.. turned my back on society and lived in the underbelly of society, in the Black Underworld, for 13 years. I’ve emerged from that life what I believe is a valuable contribution to society in the system I’ve created named Planetary Chess.
What are the essential tools and technologies you rely on to manage your business effectively??
Janga Bussaja : Planetary Chess revolves around two technologies: Crypto & AI. Planetary Chess is a decentralized autonomous organization in the process of building a LLM that addresses societal biases. I utilize a myriad of AI tools in managing this stage of the project. With recent updates in the AI space, some of these tools could themselves become profitable little enterprises. One tool that has been invaluable in helping me build relationships with the media is now a custom GPT named “Media Magic Mike”. On one of the GPT index site, it shows a few different metrics that reveals that it’s actually being used more in Brazil than in the U.S! I thought that was interesting but it works really well, especially in replying to queries like those from HARO. But Chat GPT, Bard and Claude have all been very good mentors as well. They’re awesome business development specialists. I’m diving into the open source tools as well which is amazing for me because I struggle mightily with coding but thanks to my AI mentors, I’m able to navigate through most of the complexities in installing and operating these tools. More than a few of my tasks could one day soon be automated with minimum oversight. It’s all very interesting as this project gets set to launch. It’s much like Bitcoin in the way that once it’s takes off, it’s in the control of the community who uses it.
Are there any unconventional or creative approaches you’ve implemented that significantly contributed to the growth and success of your business??
Janga Bussaja : Sure. Planetary Chess blends literature, art, gaming and technology to empower individuals There’s 8 years of research that went into the creation of Planetary Chess and I recently wrote a very thought provoking research paper but beyond the theoretical aspect, my practical experience of the subject matter was attained through the most unconventional means…as a criminal. This however lends some degree of credibility to the “theoretical” aspects of the conversations revolving around social sciences. Also, I believe “Media Magic Mike” has a certain creative flair that could disrupt public relations a bit. It too, is the result of practical and real world analysis. Within its training data are dozens of media wins. There are agencies that build their whole business around helping their clients make successful pitches to the media, I know this tool could make their lives much easier as well as any entrepreneur who has the time to learn and access the tool themselves. It’s still a work in progress
How do you address the learning curve and potential resistance from your team when implementing new tools or technologies? ?
Janga Bussaja : I’m a one person team at the moment but I’m a little bit of a tech geek so with new technology, I usually take a few weeks and isolate myself to a garage and break down the technology in totality. Ive done this with Bitcoin, different themes within crypto and now with AI. Once I get a good grip on it, I can explain to others in simplest terms. I had some success with this in Blockchain Technology, which can be incredibly difficult to understand. It’s all about being able to put in a way that people do understand it. I had tons of analogies I would use to help people understand Bitcoin and help have their “ah ha” moments. That reminds me of my grandmother. Our pastor used to say, “you’ll catch that one about half way home.” She hated when he said that and she told him, ” Make it plain passa, I don’t wanna wait to get it on the way home.”
Leaders Perception would like to thank Janga Bussaja and Planetary Chess for the time dedicated to completing this interview and sharing their valuable insights with our readers!
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