Matt Brown Show - CLIPS!

 Pizza. They say you can’t buy happiness but you can buy pizza and in my world that’s kind of the same thing. When John Nicolakakis took over the reins of Roman’s Pizza from his father, he had only one goal: To create the biggest pizza brand in South Africa. Billions a year in system-wide sales into this journey, and the company’s aggressive expansion plans have never wavered. In fact, if ever there was a poster child for the mantra ‘go big or go home’, Nicolakakis would be it. John came onto the Matt Brown Show to share his story about building Romans Pizza into a network of over 250 stores in three countries and we also has a bit of fun in the studio by throwing him into a blind folded pizza tasting test and he shows us a new way of taking out the trash in the studio with a base ball bat. The Injustice League just doesn’t get old for me. 

Taken From MBS(Episode 125):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=732wuWTKPnc&t=2985s

 Perseverance. Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding on the 20th. But imagine not getting a lucky break day after day for 7 years straight. How would that make you feel? Would you quit, or would you persevere? Many entrepreneurs would and do give up for one simple reason: Rejection sucks. But here’s the thing about rejection: When you are rejected it doesn’t mean you aren’t good enough or worthy enough, it just means that you need to get up and try again. This is the single biggest quality I have noticed in highly successful people I have interviewed on this show. Our guest today is none other than Danny K who is the embodiment of perseverance. He is a four-time South African Music Awards winner, singer song writer, actor and philanthropist. He has been featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show, has been a brand advocate for Nelson Mandela’s foundation and collaborated with some of the world’s most well-known music artists. But despite his celebrity status, his story is in fact also one of many rejections, and an unwavering ability to persevere despite all the odds. There are so many nuggets and pearls of wisdom on this episode of the Matt Brown Show, so without further ado. 

Taken From MBS(Episode 123):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEY5Kw01Hlg&t=1306s

 Journalism. Journalism is in fact history on the run and the courage of journalism has to be respected because journalism is the protection between people and any totalitarian rule. The story of South Africa’s possible state capture by Zuma and the Gupta’s is very well known but what you may not know is how one small team of journalists were largely responsible for shining a light on the on happenings inside the presidency, which ultimately lead to the avoidance of state capture. Alec Hogg is one of those journalists. In this episode of the Matt Brown Show, we explore how the world of misinformation, fake news and social media can influence the business community of South Africa and affect the economic fabric of an entire country. As entrepreneurs, it is vital to understand that information and knowledge are two currencies that will never go out of style. 

Taken From MBS( Episode 121):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ug-1ndAbKFQ&t=11s

 Some say that startups go to corporates to die. But is that the full story? I reached out to arguably two of the biggest players in Africa’s startup ecosystem to get their views on exactly where we are at in terms of our startup ecosystem and it’s development and we explore how corporates are dating the world of startups to solve some of their biggest innovation and disruption challenges. Our panelists are non-other than Zach George, the co-founder and MD of Startupbootcamp Africa and Stuart Van Der Veen, the head of Disruption and Innovation for Nedbank Corporate Investment Banking. They also smash the shit out of our Rainbow Dash mascot in the studio with a baseball bat. 

Taken From MB (Episode 119):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YAd3S6Ge0I&t=2296s

 Hey guys, so entrepreneurs must deal with pain more than most. You know, the pain of cash flow, the pain of failure, and the pain of just well, having to make it on your own. And so, when the proverbial shit hits the fan, it’s easy to think we’re suffering more than most – but that’s just not the truth or reality. You see, regardless of how bad things get in your life, there is always someone who is worse off than you are. In today’s episode, I chat to Cathy Davies, an entrepreneur who the transforms the lives of ordinary people and celebrities. In her new reality TV show called Outpatients on FOX Life she shares the real stories of ordinary people who are dealt some really unbelievably bad blows and yet despite everything have the strength inside of them to push through incredible pain and despair to achieve their dreams. This particular episode of the Matt Brown Show is really one about perspective – because sometimes the right perspective makes things possible. 

Taken From MBS(Episode 116): 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozMbXqENWD8&t=2s

 Much in the world of entrepreneurship is relative. For example, when you are a startup and a solopreneur you’ll most likely have cashflow problems and you’ll battle to pay yourself a salary. Then you have Robbi Brozen, the founder of Nando’s who had 38 stores across the country and couldn’t pay his staff. It’s all relative. Let’s take Silicon Valley for example, there are so many headlines about startups raising hundreds of millions of dollars from VC’s that it’s easy to think that you’ll raise the same kind of money from VC’s in Africa. But you won’t. The markets are chalk and cheese. But the one thing that isn’t relative is that entrepreneurship is very much about pain and regardless of whether you are a startup, Robbie Brozen, a startup in Silicon Valley or just an ordinary entrepreneur trying to make a living – we all have to push through the challenges that lie before us as we look to achieve personal and business success – whatever success might mean to you it is stories like Tim Ohlsen’s, the CEO of Eldo Energy, that gives us the perspective and inspiration we need to go out there and make it rain. 

Taken From MBS( Episode 115): 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpL0SB1HoDg&t=28s

 Grit. The difference between entrepreneurs who make it and those who don’t. This theme has been a consistent one of the last three years of doing this show and yet stories about entrepreneurs who do whatever it takes to break through the obstacles that lie in their way just never get old. The story of Jonathan Kohler is no different and it is a story that truly brings to life what it takes to build a monster of a business. As the saying goes, only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. 

Taken From MBS( Episode 114):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPEnOUCM0Us&t=1632s

 It is said that to live a creative life we just lose our fear of being wrong. As an entrepreneur it is about knowing where your blind spots are and this is easier said than done. Let’s take creative companies and agencies for example. They are so busy building the brands of other companies they very rarely build their own brand which is one of the greatest paradoxes in the business world today. Yet most creative agencies do not acknowledge this blind spot even exists because as the saying goes, when you are stuck inside the bottle you can’t read the label. So what you need is perspective to break through and that often means working with experts and skill sets you don’t have on the payroll. Lauren Woolf is the CEO of Mrs Woolf, a strategic consultancy that helps creative companies identify their blind spots and helps them to unleash and direct their creativity toward building their own brand. Oh, and pay attention to a new segment on the show called the Justice League where Lauren gets busy with a baseball bat in the studio. 

Taken From MBS(Episode 113): 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUS0pUxUURw&t=1489s

 Some say that startups go to corporates to die. But is that the full story? I reached out to arguably two of the biggest players in Africa’s startup ecosystem to get their views on exactly where we are at in terms of our startup ecosystem and it’s development and we explore how corporates are dating the world of startups to solve some of their biggest innovation and disruption challenges. Our panelists are non-other than Zach George, the co-founder and MD of Startupbootcamp Africa and Stuart Van Der Veen, the head of Disruption and Innovation for Nedbank Corporate Investment Banking. They also smash the shit out of our Rainbow Dash mascot in the studio with a baseball bat. 

Taken From MBS(Episode 119):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YAd3S6Ge0I&t=2296s

 Whats up hustlers, so trying to define media is a very difficult thing to do because in todays world media is evolving so quickly. For context, as of April 2018, total worldwide population is 7.6 billion The internet has 4.2 billion users There are 3.03 billion active social media users. That works out at a new social media user every 15 seconds. Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp handle 60 billion messages a day. This is just a quick snap shot of the media driven world we are living in. But as much as the world changes, some things stay the same. Like making sure you, the entrepreneur, have a great story to tell on the plethora of media channels that you have at your disposal. One entrepreneur has seemingly survived all of this change in media and today is responsible for household entertainment shows like Shark Tank, Strictly Come Dancing, Come Dine With Me and many, many others. Duncan Irvine runs the biggest TV production studio in Africa and by all accounts is a living legend in the media space. In this episode, we’ll explore his very personal and quite frankly unbelievable journey in producing content for the some of the biggest shows in the world today. Strap yourselves in for a cliffhanger. 

Taken From MBS(Episode117):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqiJnUQPs-g&t=37s