The One-Eyed Man with Mike Stopforth

My guest for this episode is Nicola van Ast, CMO at Melon Mobile, and co-founder of Growthink Group (where - full disclosure - she is my wonderful wife Anna's business partner).

Nicola is one of the brains behind Melon's bold, cheeky and by all accounts extremely effective takeover of other trusted and loved SA brand's billboards - including Lyft, Veldskoen, Expresso, and Faf de Klerk. We talk about where the idea came from, what it took to bring it to life, and what we can expect from Melon in the weeks and months to come. Nicola's LinkedIn profile · Melon's 14-day trial offer · Growthink Group · MikeStopforth.com · Connect with Mike on LinkedIn · Follow Mike on Twitter · 48h crisis communication consultancy

My guest on this week’s show is Dean Oelschig. I met Dean on Twitter in the early days of social media, where we’d share notes on advertising, rugby, and just about any other topic both cared about, and which we inevitably argued about. We still argue about everything.

Dean is a pure ad man and the founder of Halo Advertising. Halo has built an excellent reputation over the last decade and has done extraordinarily well in recent years, with some truly standout and award-winning, above-the-line creative work.

In this episode, we discuss why creativity matters more now than ever and how advertising agencies can better assist clients in producing brave and meaningful work. We also discuss the problems with purpose-based marketing and Halo’s exciting upcoming conference, Conspicuous, where Mark Ritson will be the keynote speaker.

Enjoy the conversation. Halo's website · Halo's Creative Marketing Newsletter · Connect with Dean on LinkedIn · MikeStopforth.com · Connect with Mike on LinkedIn · Follow Mike on Twitter · 48h crisis communication consultancy

Aasiyah Adams is the inspirational founder of Abaguquli4IR and called herself the Gig Economy Driver. What does that mean?

Well, few people are more passionate about equipping the unemployed, small and informal business owners and traders, and aspirant entrepreneurs with a platform to accelerate or incubate their businesses or ideas for business.

She does this by providing entrepreneurship skills, applications, programs and tools in all functional areas that prepare this critical notch of the South African economy for the Gig Economy.

In this episode, we discuss her background, her interest in digital literacy, the challenges of her work, and making a meaningful impact at scale. Abaguquli 4IR's website · MikeStopforth.com · Connect with Mike on LinkedIn · Follow Mike on Twitter · 48h crisis communication consultancy

Do you truly understand your customers? How seamlessly and effectively are you integrating customer feedback into your operations and strategy? Are you measuring success in CX?

My guest on this week’s show is Michael Renzon. Mike is the CEO & co-Founder of inQuba which is a Customer Journey Management SaaS platform.

Mike has built multiple successful internet, technology, content and Customer Experience. He is an Endeavor Entrepreneur, and honestly one of the most intriguing minds I’ve ever had the pleasure of engaging.

I first met Mike on a ski trip with mates over a decade ago and was struck immediately by his monk-like disposition. He doesn’t speak often, but when he does he has a deeply thoughtful, zen-like impact on the room.

We’ve since collaborated on conferences and shared many deep conversations about work and life so it was only a matter of time before I convinced him to be on the show.

In this episode, we talk about customer experience, how thinking in the field of CX has evolved, and where we can expect it to go in future. inQuba's website · MikeStopforth.com · Connect with Mike on LinkedIn · Follow Mike on Twitter · 48h crisis communication consultancy

It's hard to know where to start on this one. Psychedelic-assisted therapy has been such a revolution in my personal health journey that it's really difficult for me not to sound like a zealot when discussing the topic. Could psychedelics be the revolution the mental health industry so desperately needs? Maybe. Are there dangers to be cautious of? Absolutely. But in my mind, these dangers are no different to those inherent to any of the powerful drugs readily prescribed by thousands of doctors to millions of patients around the world every day.

But don't listen to me, listen to my guest. Not only does he understand this topic intrinsically, but cares perhaps more than anyone I've met about the integrity of the work being done in this field and on the frontier of mental healthcare. Brad Kallenbach is a Clinical Psychologist and co-founder of Equanimity Wellness - Africa’s first psychedelic-assisted therapy centre based right here in Sandton. Brad is also a co-founder of Reach (beta), a mental health tech app that offers real-time, science-based tools for anxiety regulation and emotional mastery. The Equanimity Wellness Centre · MikeStopforth.com · Connect with Mike on LinkedIn · Follow Mike on Twitter · 48h crisis communication consultancy

Do the names League of Legends, Counter-Strike, Dota, Fortnite, and Call of Duty mean anything to you? If not, you could be missing out on something massive.

The global esports market was valued at $1.39 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach $3.96 billion in 2023. The global esports audience is expected to reach over 500 million in 2023. Esports and gaming compete with the biggest sponsorship opportunities in traditional sports and many brands have zero idea how to participate.

In SA, the esports and gaming landscape is emergent, vibrant and an exciting unmined possibility for forward-thinking brands. In this episode, I speak to SA esports pioneer Barry Louzada about his vision for what the industry could look like, now and into the future. Mettlestate · MikeStopforth.com · Connect with Mike on LinkedIn · Follow Mike on Twitter · 48h crisis communication consultancy

Today we are talking about mental health. If you follow me or if we follow each other online, you will have noticed that this is a topic that I care deeply about and have spoken about increasingly over the last couple of months and years, and it has been a feature of my entrepreneurial journey. It's been a feature of my life, really.

But I've realized that not only is it helpful for me to talk about it, and to share some of my story, but there's also sort of a widespread stigma around talking about mental health issues, especially amongst men, especially amongst businessmen and I'm really committed to changing some of that stigma and creating spaces where we can talk about some of the stuff that we're struggling with, in the same way that we would talk about all the other topics that are tough to tackle in the business world. My guest today is somebody who also cares specifically about creating new spaces and new spaces at scale, to assist you in whatever capacity you need.

Alon Lits is the founder and CEO of Panda, a revolutionary app dedicated to bringing mental health resources to more people in a more accessible and affordable way. Before Panda, Alon was the country manager for Uber in SA. We talk about his new venture, experience gained from his Uber journey, and more in this inspiring episode. Panda mental health app · MikeStopforth.com · Connect with Mike on LinkedIn · Follow Mike on Twitter · 48h crisis communication consultancy

2022 was a significant year in the world of crypto, the collapse of FTX being a watershed moment.

But what does this mean for Bitcoin and crypto in general? Has anything changed? Could it be that all the negative press and naysaying is actually good for decentralised finance?

I ask Simon Dingle, arguably SA's leading expert on crypto, these questions and more. His answers may surprise you.

Enjoy! Connect with Simon on LinkedIn · The Zarp stablecoin website · Simon's book, Beyond Bitcoin · MikeStopforth.com · Connect with Mike on LinkedIn · Follow Mike on Twitter · 48h crisis communication consultancy

What do we really mean when we call things artificially intelligent? Is AI significant progress or a significant threat? And when does SkyNet some online?

My guest is Daniel Hulme. Daniel was a guest lecturer on my Master's program back in 2019 and by some distance, the most impactful certainly for me. The reason is that he covered in his talk the very foggy topic of artificial intelligence, and specifically how it's understood and approached by business.

I firmly believe that one of the things going really wrong in digital transformation is a lack of consistent unified definitions for all of the trends and technologies that drive disruptive change. So much money, time and effort have been spent on these things that everyone at the boardroom table seems to have a different definition for.

Daniel is the CEO of a business called Satalia, which focuses on developing workable AI solutions for businesses around the world. It was also incidentally recently acquired by WPP, which is the same network that bought my agency. Dr Daniel Hulme's Singularity University profile · MikeStopforth.com · Connect with Mike on LinkedIn · Follow Mike on Twitter · 48h crisis communication consultancy

Erik Kruger is a prolific author, public speaker, podcaster, YouTuber, video creator, the guy is everywhere. And that's very intimidating to people like me who are in his industry, it also makes it virtually impossible to introduce.

So I'll introduce him like this instead, Erik Kruger is also my friend, he is a person that I've come to know over the last couple of years as a profoundly authentic, accessible, interesting human being genuinely committed to personal well being personal mastery, and to finding ways to change the world for the better. And he really means it.

Erik and I have been meaning to have this conversation for a very long time, and I thought it perfect to insert it towards the end of this Glenlivet original by tradition series.

We talked about Erik's approach to modern leadership and how he helps company leaders, organizations, entrepreneurs, senior business leaders, reconfigure recalibrate their headspace around leadership and around change. We also spoke extensively about Erik's approach to producing content.

And I think there are some incredibly valuable insights and gems in the practical tips, the approaches, the strategies that he shared, not just for individuals who want to build a personal brand, or create the same level of impact and network and influence that Erik has, but also for organizations for brands that want to replicate this kind of success.

So often, we see brands creating really beautiful content, but creating it once and never been able to scale it beyond that. And Erik share some really great insights about how to avoid those pitfalls and mistakes.

Yeah, this is a conversation that I love. It's filled with a lot of insight. It's filled with a lot of great experience. And I trust that you'll enjoy it as much as I did. If you do, please go straight from this conversation and follow Erik online.

He's at ErikKruger.com Visit ErikKruger.com · Connect with Erik · MikeStopforth.com · Connect with Mike on LinkedIn · Follow Mike on Twitter · 48h crisis communication consultancy