Matt Brown Show

Let’s talk about trash, yes, trash doesn’t seem to be much more than last night’s take out, or a black plastic bag that gets picked up once a week. And we all know the saying “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” and Gift Lubele took that literally and is revolutionising the way we see rubbish. Gift is has recently been voted as the top 100 most influential young african entrepreneurs and from humble beginnings in a local johannesburg township, he has built a thriving tech startup that is on a mission to become the world's largest recycling company with no owned infrastructure. Join Gift and myself as he takes us on the journey of his success from choosing between transport and food to being the founder of Kubito which is not just a recycling company but rather a green innovation company that is changes waste into innovation by working with entrepreneurs in the townships to create a multitude of items from recycled waste. Listen in and discover the trials and tribulations of coming from a humble b

Sharks. They say you shouldn’t swim with sharks, but today we are going to do just that! You get work and you get play and you’d think that both require very different attitudes and approaches, but what if I told you that you could approach both with a more wholesome and well-rounded philosophy for happier and more effective outcomes? Gavin Moffat is a successful South African entrepreneur, scuba diver and marketing and communications expert. He is also the author of “Swimming with Sharks”, a book about guidelines on how to survive and thrive in today’s business world with a strong mentality and a smile. With a healthy attitude towards learning, Gavin takes us on a journey of self discovery and reflection. The journey ultimately leads to a mindset that adapts to the changes in your working and everyday life, giving you the tools to work in a team, analyse, reflect and adapt. Follow myself and Gavin into this exciting episode for a happier and more effective way to work and play. So without further ado enter G

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Education. The schooling system was built for an age where once you leave school you go and get a job. This was great 50 years ago but today the system is not built for a world that is driven by exponential technologies like AI, blockchain, robotics and quantum computing. For the large majority you are being schooled for irrelevance. Mckinsey Global Institute study found the nearly 1 billion jobs (that’s 1/5th of the worlds workforce) will be taken by robotics process automation (RPA) and artificial intelligence (AI) by 2030. If the youth want to be financially independent, then an entirely different mindset is required, and that entrepreneurship is the best vehicle for making that happen. The only challenge is that entrepreneurship rarely if ever taught at schools. This is why I founded the Dreamers Dojo powered by Digital Kungfu to provide structured learning interventions at schools in South Africa and around the world. Support the show

Forgiveness. Nelson Mandela once said “Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.” Candice Mama talks about the importance of both holistic emotional experience and forgiveness. We must address our hurt and pain - hold ourselves accountable to our emotions before we can seek healing. Forgiveness is not simply acknowledging someone’s apology, it is navigating a labyrinth of honesty, self reflection and acceptance. To free yourself of the chains of resentment you must forget what you cannot forgive and forgive what you cannot forget, this is the path to self healing. Forgiveness does not make you weak, if anything it is an attribute of the strong. Do not forgive because they deserve forgiveness, forgive because you deserve peace. In this episode of the Matt Brown Show, Candice talks about her incredible experience of forgiving Eugene De Kock the former South African Police colonel, torturer, and assassin, who when active under the apartheid government murdered her father and s

Culture. Culture eats strategy for breakfast. Every single time. You see while a product can be copied your business's culture cannot - so culture is arguably the single most important thing you can build that will differentiate your business in the markets that you play in. But building a world class culture is not an easy thing to do. In this episode I chat to Brad Shorkend and Andy Golding, authors of “We are Still Human [and work shouldn’t suck]” about the importance of culture and how we can build relevant businesses, exceptional work experiences for human beings in a world that has gone digital crazy. We also unpack their creative process that saw a year of Saturday’s become 3 years, culminating in this how-to guide - essential reading for anyone looking to add / bring meaning to their work. In terms of accountability, while we are all custodians and contributors to organisational culture, Andy and Brad lay the responsibility for showing up and consistently adhering to culture squarely at the doors

This episode of the Matt Brown Show is proudly sponsored by Exelia Technologies. Exelia is committed to delivering innovative business enabling solutions; ensuring cost effective results and specializing in AI, Blockchain, real-time cloud-based dashboard solutions, ERP systems, data mining solutions, mobile apps with vast experience and expertise in native and cross platform development. Consulting services in both business and technology fields are also offered, encapsulating the total solution offering as a package and our goal is to build sustainable long-term partnerships with our clients thereby being viewed as an extension of their teams for more information checkout. http://www.exeliatech.com Support the show

Hardships. Hardships often prepare ordinary people for extraordinary lives. But what happens when you put a non-criminal and one of the world's top experts in personal growth, into one of the toughest prisons in the UK? In 2017, that's exactly what happened to Peter Sage - well known international & serial entrepreneur, author, philosopher and teacher - when, during a civil matter, he was found in contempt of court. That’s when Peter did the extraordinary deciding that he was not a prisoner but a secret agent of change. What unfolded next both transformed the lives of his fellow inmates and has also become a masterclass in how to turn adversity to your advantage. In this episode of the Matt Brown Show we discuss Peter’s book “The Inside Track: An Inspirational Guide to Conquering Adversity” a compilation of the 11 letters he wrote to his elite coaching students from the confines of his prison cell. Support the show

Disruptology. This is the study of the discipline of disruption in business. Self-confessed naive optimist and change-advocate, Juanita Vorster has studied the world of disruption and change, how work used to be and where it is likely going to be heading. A successful business owner with designations of Certified Director (SA), Certified Ethics Officer, and Chartered Public Relations Practitioner, she is uniquely positioned to give practical guidance on how to stay ahead of the curve of change and how to remain relevant in the face of a world permeated with robots and artificial intelligence. She regularly inspires audiences to embrace change, welcome disruption, and kickstart innovation. In this episode we discuss the importance of learning, unlearning and how to prepare yourself and your loved ones for the future. Support the show

The Cloud. When it comes to the Cloud, there is no actual computer in the sky, the Cloud is just a computer somewhere else. In this episode, I chat to Brett StClair, Ex-Googler turned digital banker, leading mind on Digital transformation and distributed trust and now CEO of Siatik. With a curriculum canon that spans 2 decades of leading Google Mobile, Youtube, Google Display and Google’s Cloud Computing across Africa and rebuilding Barclays Africa Digital Business. Brett Shares his insights into the world of IT services and the opportunities for entrepreneurs and business owners in Cloud adoption the potential of Cloud computing. If you want to learn about how to build a business to scale then this one’s going to float your boat and your business. Support the show

Comedy. A profession intended to entertain and make people laugh- and as is said, a day without laughter is a day wasted. However, each day brings with it its own challenges, disappointments and mountains to climb; but everytime you are able to find laughter in a difficult situation, you win. Today we are joined by Nik Rabinowitz, a comedian who has managed to be moderately successful, sporting a list of achievements the likes of which many can only aspire to. For instance, he once posed nude. Not because anyone asked him to, he just did it. Also, he represented South Africa at the Jewish Olympics, which is like the Special Olympics, with more accountants. He has made appearances on international stages in: Australia, Canada, Holland, the United Kingdom, London’s Royal Albert Hall, the US and Zimbabwe. In this episode of the matt brown show Nik Rabinowitz - and I wax lyrical about life, genealogy, kids and wives and chat only for 1 minute about his current show “Dry White” currently running at theatres around

Pitching. In any pitch for new business, it’s not the best product that wins but the best pitch. Whether you’re looking for clients, investors or employees, you need to know how to pitch your products, services and ideas in a way that is most likely to secure you the deal. Justin Cohen’s internationally acclaimed six-step formula is designed to do just that. Justin is the author of 4 books and 8 audiobooks. He hosts a CNBC Africa TV show in which he interviews some of the world’s top experts on success. As a leading authority on human potential, with a postgraduate degree in psychology, Justin Cohen speaks and trains in the fields of motivation, sales, customer service and leadership. Over the past seventeen years he has presented in 20 countries, and in virtually every industry, to an average of 8000 people annually. Justin is a Certified Speaker Professional and a Southern African Speaker Hall of Fame inductee. Having taught and refined his Pitch To Win programme for five years, and having helped win numero

www.digitalkungfu.co.zaMark Twain once said: “Thunder is good, thunder is impressive; but it is lightning that does the work.” If you’ve been following this show you’d have noticed me alluding to a big market making initiative that my company Digital Kungfu is going to be taking to market. Well that day is finally here, we have officially launched the Digital Kungfu Lightning Strike – a lead generation system built specifically for technology businesses to help them generate leads and maximise their market share. This system has been in development for the past year with our tech clients in the United States and across South Africa. Nadine Todd grills Matt Brown about the inner workings of the Digital Kungfu 2.0 Support the show

Transformation. Real transformation isn’t a future event, it’s a present-day activity. The irony is that most people choose to stay the same and settle for the status quo and don’t challenge themselves to become more than what they currently are. If you don’t make a conscious choice to grow yourself every single day this can have a disastrous impact on your business, because your business can only grow to the extent that you do. Our guest today is Caroline Ravenhall, who spent the best part of a decade working closely with Richard Branson but despite all the trappings of a successful career she found herself on the day of the launch of Virgin Airlines in South Africa, staring down the abyss of total burnout and with Richard Branson about to do one of his dare devil entrances. The threat of Burn out for entrepreneurs is very real, so I invited Caroline onto the show to talk about her recovery and incredible transformation to today where she is a captivating professional speaker, leadership development facilita

Truth. In the context of entrepreneurship, the truth is rarely pure and never simple. Unless you’re Allon Raiz with a Twitter account. Allon is the founder of Raizcorp, a business prosperator that supports the growth of entrepreneurs. Raizcorp currently looks after about 500 businesses across South Africa, Angola, Zimbabwe and Tanzania, and about 12 000 businesses have gone through Raizcorp’s programmes over the years. He is more exposed to the realities of entrepreneurship than anyone I know and has a clear view on the truth behind the challenges we have to overcome on a daily basis. He has been tweeting a bunch of unbelievably insightful stuff on Twitter and so I reached out to him to explain some of the underlying reasoning and thinking behind some of his tweets. The producers of the Matt Brown Show went through two years of his tweets and selected 20 of the best ones which we discuss on the show. We’re calling this episode “Twenty tweets to setup your best year yet”. Support the show

Mind power. The only time you fail is when you fall down and stay down. You get two types of entrepreneurs: those who live in cause and those who live in effect. If you are at cause you are largely the victor and in control of your destiny. If you are living in effect, you inevitably wind up being the victim of your circumstances and at the whims of the world around you. Richard Wright is very much a man with a cause, how to survive brand cancer for the third time. When he was told he had only 6 months to live, he had a choice. To let the effect of cancer determine the future of this life or to be at cause and do everything in his power to overcome his illness. Today, Richard is only the 118th human to survive pituitary cancer of the brain in history and has completed an incredible 11 Iron Mans. This is a story of human potential and living proof that the power of the mind truly is one of the greatest gifts you have in your possession. Because, when your back is against the wall and you are facing fear head o

Sales. You know in many respects, sales is not about selling anymore, instead it’s about building trust and educating at the same time. With sales being the lifeblood of any business it’s important that we do sell and sell well. But for many of us, the science of selling is not understood very well if at all. For instance, did you know that there are 48 different kinds of sales profiles of which you have one? Up until meeting Tanya Kunze, I did also didn’t know that neuroscience plays a big role in your ability to sell. Tanya bring psychology, maths and science into business development and is the CEO of Swift Coaching, which for almost three decades has coached and trained sales teams on four different continents. She is one of the leading speakers on neuroscience-based conscious business development and a published author of two sales books and was recently elected as a global LinkedIn Goodwill Ambassador. On this episode, we dive into the world of neuroscience and sales and explore how you can improve your

Ethics. Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do. But the ethics of any company and individual can be tested, especially in the pursuit of profit and when under pressure. Google was famous for including the words ‘don’t be evil’ in their code of conduct, but in April last year they removed it in order to expand in China. Being 'evil' is very tempting. Brands and businesses are constantly tempted to exploit consumer data and values for profit. Take Google; the temptation to sell out their values, in the form of submitting to China’s state censorship to secure a shot at the massive Chinese market, was just too alluring to pass up. Similarly, beauty brands, including fan favourites MAC and Revlon, agreed to animal testing (a practice they reviled in their home markets) to gain entry to lucrative markets (China again) that insist on the practice. As we head into 2019, it’s worth our while to examine the trends that highlight the potential brands have t

Forgiveness. Nelson Mandela once said: “As I walked out the door towards the gate that would lead to freedom, I knew that if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison.” Imagine the scene. You are a successful business man with a 40,000-acre farm, 9 sports cars and multiple successful businesses. Then one day, everything is taken from you. Rusty Labuschagne has been through a trauma few have experienced anywhere in the world. In 2003, the successful Zimbabwean businessman, who ran a safari outfit, flew his own aircraft and had a fishing resort on Lake Kariba, was framed by a poacher, the police and the courts and wrongfully convicted of drowning a poacher. He served 10 years in Zimbabwe’s prisons, including notorious Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison during the Zim dollar crash, with food shortages, no running water and people dying around him daily. On this episode of the Matt Brown Show, Rusty shares his lessons about forgiveness, gratitude and finding true freedom in life. There

Reflection. Reflection is one of the most under used yet powerful tools for success. My good friend Allon Raiz, the CEO of Raizcorp recently put out a tweet which said: “Holidays in the past used to be about R&R, rest and recreation, a 20th century concept. I think R&R needs a new definition for the 21st century. Rest and #Reflection. Quality quiet time to reflect is so hard to find and is critically important in today's manic fast paced world. In this, the final episode of the Matt Brown Show in 2018, I invited the hugely entertaining and quirky Carmen Murray, to host the show and we reflect on what has gone down this year, on the Matt Brown Show and what I’ve learnt from yet another incredible year running this podcast. Before we jump into the action, I’d just like to say thank you to each and every one of you have spent time this year listening and now watching the show, thanks to your support the show has consistently been in the top 20 podcast in the country for over 18 months now, has been