Matt Brown Show - Conversations That Power The Business World.

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail 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 succes...

Send us Fan Mail 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 o...

Send us Fan Mail 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 Stri...

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail 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 throug...

Send us Fan Mail 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 W...

Send us Fan Mail 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 pr...

Send us Fan Mail 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 &a...

Send us Fan Mail 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 Labusch...

Send us Fan Mail 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 ha...

Send us Fan Mail Weed. In September this year, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the country’s highest court, on Tuesday morning ruled that the personal use of cannabis is not a criminal offence. In a unanimous decision, the court ruled that the ban on private possession and consumption, and cultivation of the plant for own use is unconstitutional. It found that the country’s cannabis ban...

Send us Fan Mail Blind spots. We all have a blind spot and it’s shaped exactly like us. In Africa, blind spots are everywhere, yet for some reason we do not see what often lies right in front of us. Enter the Kasinomic revolution. The KasiNomic Revolution is a murmur in the streets, a grassroots economic rising which has grown organically despite government and business regulation, and which is th...

Send us Fan Mail Blockchain. Blockchain is as significant now as the Internet was 25 years ago. As a technology, the blockchain promises to break old business models and to do that there will always be persuasive reasons not to take the risk. But if you only do what worked in the past, you will one day wake up and find that you’ve been passed by. For entrepreneurs, the blockchain space is arguably...

Send us Fan Mail Artificial intelligence. AI is likely to be either the best or worst thing to happen to humanity and in the context of AI, it seems that our technology is on the path to exceeding our humanity. Artificial intelligence (AI) is on the rise both in business and in the world in general. But where are exactly when it comes to AI and how beneficial is it really to your business in the l...

Send us Fan Mail Influence. You don’t have to be a person of influence to be influential. As entrepreneurs we are very much in the business of influence: influence of customers, our people and ultimately influence over ourselves in the choices we make every day. The nature of influence has changed in recent years, with the birthing of a global movement towards the sustainable enterprise and a grow...

Send us Fan Mail Change. The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. If we truly want to change the world, we have to change our thinking. It is said that we should have an open mind when it comes to the subject of change, butt the trouble with having an open mind, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it. Identity politics has long permeated and...

Send us Fan Mail Pride. You know no entrepreneur is an island. We all need help on our respective journeys, but all too often pride seemingly gets in the way and we don’t step up to the plate and ask for help when we need it. To help bring the value of what can transpire when we do ask for help, I reached out to Craig Collins, the CEO of Cradle Technologies, a startup who has recently been selecte...

Send us Fan Mail Communication. Since the advent of social media the way that we communicate has fundamentally changed both in society and in the context of business. When Mike Stopforth co-founded Cerebra communications, he challenged what communications could represent for brands across Africa. Over the course of 14 years, Cerebra became an award-winning social media communications agency that w...

Send us Fan Mail Uncertainty. When it comes to business, there is nothing certain but the uncertain. You see, feeling unsure and lost is a part of starting a business, and it’s virtually impossible to avoid feelings of doubt and fear as an entrepreneur. You see here’s the thing about uncertainty: you will not win the fight againstuncertainty by becoming certain, instead your certainty will come as...

Send us Fan Mail Imperfection. One of the basic rules of the universe is that nothing is perfect. Perfection doesn’t exist. Ironically though, we live in society where social media platforms like Instagram has created an entire sub culture that is seemingly designed to support the idea of perfection being attainable and even worse valuable. But here’s the thing. There’s no need to be perfect to in...

Send us Fan Mail New York. New York is always a good idea – especially if you want perspective on your own business. My agency Digital Kungfu, recently landed a client in New York called Forward Lane a heavily funded fintech startup that is making waves in the AI and financial intelligence space here in the states. The great thing about New York is that is puts your own hustle into perspective – y...

Send us Fan Mail Cartoonists. They say that cartoonism is simply organized gossip but in South Africa, a simple cartoon represents far more than trivial gossip – for Jonathan Shapiro AKA Zapiro his cartoons have become nationwide talking points for over 25 years. He has been published over 27 times, was the first cartoonist to win a category prize in the CNN African Journalist of the year Awards,...

Send us Fan Mail 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 f...

Send us Fan Mail Dreams. Dreams are not what you see in your sleep, dreams are things which do not let you sleep. But having a dream and then achieving a dream are very different things. They say that every artist needs their own religion because to do anything noteworthy today really does require a massive amount of guts, determination and perseverance. Here’s the thing about dreams. They don’t w...