Founder Diaries Podcast

Kenyans have an interesting relationship with debt, and this minisode breaks it down into 3 categories ✅Those who've seen debt go badly for someone else and want nothing to do with it ✅Those who know debt could be useful but have no idea how to actually access it ✅Those who understand debt as a tool and use it deliberately to grow their business. This isn't an episode trying to convince...

his minisode was sparked by a conversation with Manish about running digital ads — and it turned into a bigger question that keeps coming up across so many businesses: how do you actually penetrate your market? The instinct for most founders is the same playbook — get influencers, run Facebook and Instagram ads, and hope for conversions. But the businesses that grow faster often think differently...

Anne Muhia is an entrepreneur, founder of Winners Arena Africa, and in this episode, she takes us through one of her earliest and most painful business lessons: a butchery story, and how she navigated employee theft at the time. From there, we trace Anne's full journey: from working as a group finance manager, to quitting impromptu, starting her own business, and how motherhood has shaped who...

Back in Season 1, we talked about McDonald's and how they arrived at the 3 things on their menu. This minisode is a callback to that idea, and a challenge: do you actually know what your 3 things are? Go into your numbers and look at what genuinely brings you the most profit and what you sell the most of. If you had to trim your entire business down to 3 products or services based on demand an...

This minisode was sparked by an insight from someone who's worked in mergers and acquisitions, reviewing businesses being valued, bought, or sold. It's something that's easy to overlook as a founder: running a separate P&L for each branch of your business, instead of housing everything under one. She shared how a well-known brand runs every single branch like its own separate busin...

Today's episode looks a little different. We're switching seats — Yvonne is on the guest chair this time, interviewed by Victoria, Founder of Vspa, Thao Tree, and Titii Kenya. If you've ever wanted to know our host a little better, this is your chance. The conversation covers Yvonne's full entrepreneurial journey, building Beauty Square and Sage from the ground up, her journey into...

Ever taken a whole weekend off and still felt exhausted? That's usually because rest isn't one-size-fits-all — and most of us are only resting in one dimension while running on empty in the rest. In this minisode, we break down the different types of rest based on where your exhaustion is actually coming from, so you can identify what you really need.✅ Physical rest ✅ Mental rest ✅ Emot...

This minisode breaks down a simple, repeatable formula for growing revenue that applies to pretty much any business model. When most founders think about increasing revenue, the instinct is usually: open a new branch, spend more on marketing, hire more staff, or add more products. But there are 3 key drivers that can move revenue without necessarily requiring more input into the business. We also...

O`rnella Nthambi wears many hats — makeup artist, content creator, beauty educator, and entrepreneur and in this episode, she takes us through the full journey of building Makeup City and Makeup City Academy from a passion project into a business that's sustained her for over a decade. Her very first hustle wasn't in beauty at all. In high school, she sold viazi karai to her fellow student...

There's usually one thing every founder already knows they should be doing to increase revenue and it's usually the thing that keeps getting pushed to "next week." In this minisode, we challenge all founders that instead of juggling 5-6 major tasks a day and touching a hundred things without finishing any of them, pick that one thing you already know needs to happen, and make it...

A quick follow-up to Minisode 4 ("Great CEOs Are Lazy") — this time breaking down a simple rule for evaluating the players on your team. Every team has three types of players: A, B, and C — but it's not always obvious where each person actually falls. Here's the test: ask yourself, if this person left your business today, what would you do? This one simple question can cut throug...

This episode carries a little extra meaning for us — Caine Wanjau and DigiTax were our very first sponsors on Founder Diaries, and we're honored they believed in this vision from the start. Watching both DigiTax and this show grow since then has been a full-circle moment. Caine is the Co-Founder and CEO of DigiTax, an electronic invoicing and tax compliance platform built to make tax complianc...

The one problem that will never fully go away in your business is people. The one asset that will save you is also people. That contradiction is something every founder eventually has to sit with because people come with different stimuli, temperaments, and backgrounds, and what works for managing one person won't work for another. After 7 years in business and a lot of hires — some right, som...

If there's one number every founder should have top of mind, it's not just revenue — it's your growth rate. In this minisode, we break down why growth rate matters more than most founders realize, and how to actually track it. Here's what we cover:✅ How to calculate your business growth rate✅ Why you should track it both month-to-month and year-over-year✅ What growth rate reveal...

Manish earned a place at Delhi School of Economics — one of the most selective universities in the world, admitting less than 1% of applicants. He dropped out in his first semester, knowing it wasn't the right fit, and decided to build his first company instead. Years later, he shares moment that became the starting point for Craydel, Africa's #1 AI-powered study-abroad platform, built to...

Not every profitable business looks exciting on Instagram and this minisode proves it. We asked a question on my TikTok page: what are some unglamorous ways people are making good money? The comments did not disappoint. In this minisode, we highlight some of the most interesting responses, including: ✅ Portable toilet rentals ✅ Selling popcorn ✅ Loan/financing businesses for boda boda riders ✅...

They say there are two things that can quietly shut a business down over time: taxes and calamity. In this minisode, we get into why staying informed about taxes isn't optional it affects your business every single day, whether you're paying attention to it or not. Choosing to ignore it doesn't protect you; it just makes you easier to take advantage of. Here are the tax lessons learned the hard wa...

Some businesses don't just survive they become institutions. In this episode, we sit down with Daniel Rea Song, Marketing and Business Development Director at Misono and son of the founder, to unpack over 30 years of the Misono journey: the story, the lessons, the mishaps, and how a single restaurant became a household name. Daniel takes us back to where it all started — his father's journ...

Paying yourself isn't a luxury it's the entire point of building a business. In this minisode, we break down a founder's toolkit for wealth creation: three things you need in place to protect yourself financially, even as a small business owner. Here's what we cover:✅ Pension ✅ A two-tier emergency fund — one for you personally, one for the business✅ A salary that actually cover...

Every founder hits a funk - the days where motivation disappears and getting anything done feels impossible. In this minisode, we're sharing a personal reboot strategy: three simple things I do every working day to jumpstart out of a slump and back into productivity. None of this requires a complicated morning routine or hours of free time just three small, repeatable habits that compound over...

Today`s episode features Ivy, a business coach who works with founders to build scalable, legacy-ready businesses. Her work is centered on helping founders put the right systems in place, hire the right people, and build something that can grow beyond their own limitations; something they can eventually pass on or sell. Ivy takes us through her own entrepreneurial journey, starting with selling ca...

Being busy is not the same as being productive, and this minisode might make you a little uncomfortable. We're reviewing the book Great CEOs Are Lazy, whose core idea is simple but hard to swallow: CEOs aren't paid to be busy, they're paid for the 20% of work that produces 80% of the results. The real job isn't filling your calendar, it's learning to be ruthlessly efficient wit...

Motivation runs out. Systems don't. In this minisode, we talk about consistency not as a personality trait, but as something you can engineer. Borrowing a behavioral strategy from the author of Profit First, we break down "habit sandwiching": stacking a new habit between two things you already do without fail, so there's no room for excuses. If there's a habit you've been...

This week, we're switching things up with a roundtable conversation featuring four incredible founders, each building in a completely different space: 🔹 Val Njoroge — Co-Founder, Africa's Pocket & Panda Towers 🔹 Patricia — Founder, Party Lounges (Furniture & Décor Rental) 🔹 Liz Gitari — Founder, Ogolaw & Wakili Lux | Podcaster, The Green Brief KE 🔹 Waithera Mugo — Founder, [Commercial Law Firm...

We started our businesses to make money but why does profit always feel like an afterthought? In this minisode, we break down key insights from Profit First, and one formula in particular that flips things. SPONSOR SPOTLIGHTThis episode is brought to you by:Beauty Square KE — Your go-to destination for premium, quality beauty essentials. Visit and patronize at beautysquareke.co PARTNER HIGHLIGHT...