The One-Eyed Man with Mike Stopforth

This episode is a live recording from the Cape Town launch of my new book, 52 Big Questions for Business Leaders. This was hosted by my good friend John Bradshaw at Exclusive Books in Cavendish. In the discussion we explore the genesis of the book, we unpack some of the most provocative questions, we tackle what it means to lead in uncertainty, and we explore how asking better questions can unlock...

In this episode of The One-Eyed Man, I sit down with Charlotte Otter. Charlotte is the author of the brand new book We Need New Leaders, host of the Speech Bubbles podcast, and a powerhouse in executive communications. Her book is a bold and visionary work that helps leaders from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds master reputation management as a bridge to career success. Charlotte’s also a...

My guest on this episode is Dale Hefer, CEO of the IMC (the Integrated Marketing Collective) Conference. Dale is a former SA Businesswoman of the Year (awarded during her time running her ad agency Chillibush, which she sold in 2014). She is a best-selling author and a still life artist whose prints sell around the world. Dale launched the Nedbank IMC in 2019, and under her leadership, it has beco...

My guest on this week’s show is Prof Greg Fisher. Greg is the Larry and Barbara Sharpf Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. He is also a visiting lecturer at the Gordon Institute of Business Science in South Africa and, more recently, the author of a fantastic book titled The Principles of Entrepreneurial Progress. The book catalogues twelve princip...

Old Mutual is the headline sponsor of this year’s edition of the SingularityU South Africa Summit. In this three-part series, I speak with some of OML's most interesting movers and shakers, understanding how they are moving the needle at the intersection of leadership, technology and impact. My guest on the final episode of the series is Dhesen Ramsamy, the Group Chief Technology and Data Officer...

Old Mutual is the headline sponsor of this year’s edition of the SingularityU South Africa Summit. In this three-part series, I speak with some of OML's most interesting movers and shakers, understanding how they are moving the needle at the intersection of leadership, technology and impact. My guest on part 2 of the series is Nobesuthu Ndlovu, the director of SMEs at Old Mutual. Suthu is an intui...

Old Mutual is the headline sponsor of this year’s edition of the SingularityU South Africa Summit. In this three-part series, I speak with some of OML's most interesting movers and shakers, understanding how they are moving the needle at the intersection of leadership, technology and impact. My guest on this first Vuyo is a growth-focused CEO with an impressive track record spanning over 25 years,...

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 abo...

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 don...

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,...

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 Expe...

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 d...

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...

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 abo...

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!...

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 s...

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,...

What are the conditions that need to be created to develop innovative thinking, innovative products, and innovative organisations? Is it about a type of space, or a type of structure, or a type of culture? Or is it a combination of all of those things? My guest on the One-Eyed Man podcast today is Kieno Kammies, a well-known media personality and broadcaster turned entrepreneur, innovator and teac...

Do you remember your first formal job interview? I do. It's not great memory. I did a horrendous job of representing myself and my enthusiasm for the position I was applying for. That's understandable if you consider the typical job interview setup. There's a young, uninitiated, nervous person being faced with a panel of influential decision-makers- people who appear to have it all together and li...

And we’re back! This is the One-Eyed Man, my name is Mike Stopforth, and today we’re jumping head first into the second half of our #originalbytradition series brought to you by the Glenlivet. We took a short pause to extract and share some highlights from the first five episodes, and of course to give away some premium Glenlivet prizes, so if you missed that, please follow me on Twitter, LinkedIn...

If you’re anything like me then many of your proudest moments as a South African are closely associated with sport. Whether it’s underdog victories or feats of individual brilliance that inspire us and give us hope, it’s hard to ignore how sport is inextricably woven into the fabric of the tapestry that tells the story of the proverbial new South Africa. One such moment recently was seeing our ath...

My next guest in our Original By Tradition series brought to you The Glenlivet can only be described as superhuman. Imagine running two successful production businesses, maintaining roles on various industry boards and panels as a lobbyist and commentator, public speaking, mentoring and training up and coming talent, producing and appearing in a wildly popular and impactful TV show, and raising a...

"The only social responsibility of business is to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits. So long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say engages in open and free competition without deception, or fraud." - the words of famed economist Milton Friedman from his seminal essay on the topic of social responsibility and what businesses should be re...

In this second episode in our #originalbytradition entrepreneurship series, brought to you by The Glenlivet, I talk to Neo Moleko and Brad Symons from Manaka Coffee. What would make a couple of old school friends start a new coffee brand when the likes of Seattle, Vida and even Starbucks exist as competition already? Well, these two will tell you it’s a firm belief that African innovation and orig...

I am thrilled to tell you that we're partnering with the Glenlivet to bring you a series of conversations with innovative entrepreneurs over the next 10 episodes. The whiskey connoisseurs amongst you will know the Glenlivet as an award winning sought after collection of Speyside single malt Scotch whiskies, just like that collection, this series of conversations, we'll have a little something for...