Reframed by Mustard

Our mission and messaging at Mustard has always been centred on Africa. Since our founding we have been striving to create brands that stem from the continent, with the intent of changing its perceptions. But is this action bigger than the strong views and beliefs we hold about narratives?   We believe that the most powerful initiatives in history, which have moved the most people, have all been s...

Statistically and practically speaking, entrepreneurship is all about failure. The vast majority of startups fail in a relatively short space of time, and even those that last only do so by successfully moving from one failure to the next.   If this is true, why do we tend to hold startup failures in a negative light? Why do we mostly only hear about them in the context of fraud and illicit activi...

Even as we have expressed an increasing desire for “authentic” as opposed to authoritative brands in the 21st century, our generally accepted model for building businesses has remained stuck in the past. Most of us are still asking exactly what authenticity means in this context, and how a founder can bake it in from the start when creating their venture’s identity?   In this episode we speak to D...

The old saying goes that “ beauty is in the eye of the beholder ”, but is this entirely true? When it comes to the area of design, can the word “objective” ever be used appropriately? In the realm of logo design, is there a standard to which all should aim to reach? And, are there principles and analogies from mathematic that we can apply to help us reach them? In this episode we speak to the awar...

This week we revisit one of our most downloaded episodes, to re-assess the relevance of its takes on brands, in light of our recent conversations about African VC. In this episode we spoke to Nigerian designer and brand influencer Mr. Funsho, to discuss his philosophy of branding, and how its value is perceived today by startups, industry veterans and everyday consumers in Nigeria. Does the cultur...

The African VC space - like almost all others around the world - will see a general decline in 2023, due to monetary policy changes. But did the industry have solid fundamentals to begin with prior to the effects of these changes? Does the overwhelming presence of multilateral organisations and development finance institutions as investors in the space suggest that it did not? And if not, into wha...

Crystal Palace F.C. recently became the first club in the British Premier League’s history to appoint an official creative director, in the form of Mailroom talent agency’s founder Kenny Annan-Jonathan. The move appears to be a relatively novel trend, with US sporting teams such as the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers having only secured people in similar roles within the past three years;...

The Beatles, Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson were perhaps the most recognisable faces in the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s respectively amongst young people. However, in today’s influencer era one could argue that Kim Kardashian is on top, or at least thereabout. In this episode we speak with Orlando Baxter, a veteran US comedian known for his Drybar comedy specials, to discuss the road to becoming an inf...

"_Africa is a resource-rich continent, specialising in fuel, mineral and agricultural exports… [It] exports proportionally more primary products than most other regions… However, African countries currently do not have a competitive advantage in any sectors [high up the value chain]._”   This quote written by the OECD in a March 2022 report, is a depressing truth when we consider that many African...

Andrew and Ndubuisi use this episode to expose the goings on behind the scenes at MUSTARD. They take stock, reflect on the team’s growth to date, and outline some of the plans for venture launches and initiatives for the tail end of the year. Where are we on the journey to build the first global consumer brands that stem from Africa? What do we aim to do over the next three months, and what is the...

As the cost of engineers has risen and stable apps have become more important to early startup success, surely the growth of dev agencies allowing founders to pay for product builds with equity instead of cash has been good news? Not so according to Prateek Sanjay, who has referred to dev agencies that call themselves “ investors ” as “ scammers ”. Furthermore he stated “ LinkedIn needs to kick yo...

In today’s attention-focused commercial landscape does a celebrity co-founder or investor guarantee success? Would Mo Salah and an Egyptian startup equal global success? If so, why did Beyonce - one of the biggest female artists of all time - and Ivy Park fail? When the money and audience attention for a venture is so large, are there other clear factors that can lead to its downfall? Andrew and N...

We have all experienced and been made aware of the hero’s journey story arc, whether or not we have actually yet come across its name. Its story outline is present in the films we’ve watched, the books we’ve read, and it is likely behind any tale we’ve heard, whether true or false, especially if we found it particularly resonating. With all this in mind, what is the hero’s journey, and if it is so...

Despite what some might eloquently pronounce in a TED talk, when it comes to the nitty-gritty of raising capital, is there any place for something as ‘airy-fairy’ as narratives? Speak to enough founders who have been involved in the exercise, and you will likely find that most refer to capital raising as one of the most gruelling things they have done. Additionally, most will advise that the proce...

What comes to our minds when someone mentions “Africa”? Assuming most have moved past thoughts of Band Aid, have these been replaced with those that are more commercial in nature? Are there any inspiring brands from Africa that come to mind, and - if so - are we more likely to consider them so through an “impact” lens or a competitive one? Are all of Africa’s countries still living in the future p...

The term ‘authentic brand’ has become a cliche over the last two decade or so, to the point that some imply that most brands that were built beforehand were and are lacking in it. But does anyone every really start a company with the aim of being inauthentic? Can the story of a venture ever feel genuine, unless it is based on a real person? And with that in mind, is there any difference in approac...

At Apple’s most recent WWDC event the Vision Pro - their new augmented and virtual reality headset - was finally revealed, which many commentators believe will bring about mass consumer adoption in its space. The Vision Pro is not the first AR or VR product. Most recently Facebook changed its name to Meta and began investing billions in an effort to define and conquer this industry, in October 202...

For as long as we can remember our mission and messaging at Mustard has been centred on Africa. We have been striving to create brands that stem from the continent, with the intent of changing its perceptions. But how does this mission relate to our strong and persistent thoughts on narratives? Does our belief that all ventures should be built with their narrative first apply only to Africa? Which...

We often encounter investors, people in tech media and others members of the public, who speak passionately about wanting to invest, cover and revere startups who are making genuine product innovations. But from the viewpoint of an electrical and electronic engineer (Ndubuisi Kejeh) and computer scientist (Ricardo Tannus), just how often is innovation occurring in the consumer product space? Is th...

We talk about brands a lot at Mustard, so much so, many we come across struggle to believe that we were started off as a group of engineers focused on building physical products with founders. Furthering their disbelief, we are now aiming to drop the mention of products in our strapline: ‘ better products, better brands and perceptions for Africa ’. In this episode Andrew and Ndubuisi discuss the...

Regardless of whether or not you think AI will eventually destroy humanity, you would likely agree that key parts of our technological landscape are being shifted by it. But given that Africa is perceived to have a less developed technology space than the West and most other parts of the world, can we foresee Africa playing any part in the what people are calling the AI revolution? Ndubuisi and An...

Most will likely agree that Open AI’s Chat-GPT has quickly changed the technology landscape, but its rapid integration to SaaS tools and mention of getting a connection to live Internet data has caused many in the space to shout for regulation. Renowned tech investor and commentator, Chamath Palihapitiya recently wrote an article arguing that “ Federal oversight is necessary—not just to keep peopl...

In this episode Ndubuisi and second-time podcast guest and Catena co-founder Ricardo Tannus, think through the conclusion of Tripp Mickle’s book ‘ After Steve: How Apple Became a Trillion-dollar Company and Lost Its Soul ’. According to Tripp, the passing of Steve Jobs and “ Ive's departure in 2019 marked a culmination in Apple's shift from a company of innovation to one of operational excellence,...

Africa exports proportionally more primary products than any other region in the world according to the OECD, and stated in their March 2020 report titled *‘How Africa can move up the value chain’*. However, despite its prevalence at the bottom of the value chain, with respect to its abilities at the top of the value chain, the OECD stated that ”*African countries currently do not have a competiti...

About a year into us launching our idea-stage investment vehicle to build the first global consumer tech brands to stem from Africa, Ndubuisi and Andrew take stock and speak frankly on some of the issues that have been faced so far. Topics covered include: the early issues we faced trying to incorporate a vehicle to invest in the ideas of people as opposed to existing companies; why Africa still d...