Top Grit & Growth Lessons from Season 2 (Part 2)

In anticipation for the start of season 3 of our podcast, Grit & Growth, we’re recapping some of the effective entrepreneurial learnings from season 2. While these tidbits are a great start, you’ll definitely want to be sure to check out the full episodes so you can hear our guests’ unique perspectives and personal experiences in totality.?

Episode 11: A Conversation with Jon Levin: Listen to the inspirational chat with Dean of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Jon Levin. He shares his thoughts on the future of business and how he believes that businesses have both a significant opportunity to develop and deploy technology to improve people's lives as well as a responsibility to mitigate its potential harm.

Episode 13: Scaling Your Business: It’s All About The People: Sachin Dhanani, co-founder of Kenyan-based Danco Capital, got essential guidance from HR expert, Claudia Salvischiani, when he was struggling with the growth of his business. She advises, “If you have 50 people, you must have HR. When I say you need HR, you need strategic HR. You need somebody who understands the business strategy and helps you translate that business strategy into organization, people, and culture.”

Episode 15: Masterclass: Latest Insights on Driving Business Growth: Listen to researcher, Stephen J. Anderson, share key takeaways from his studies with African entrepreneurs. From why remote coaching works to the importance of networking with other entrepreneurs, Anderson’s knowledge can be helpful to anyone looking to grow their business.

Episode 16: Survival and Growth Through Franchising in Africa: Hear from Grace Munyirwa who shares his pivot to strengthen Vine Pharmaceuticals by franchising. While franchising is hugely popular around the world, in Africa it’s still very early days, with little to no formal legal structures, franchise associations, training, or local history to build from. And get advice from Chiagozie Nwizu, a franchise expert in Africa, who is trying to close that knowledge gap.

Episode 17: Corruption in Africa: Entrepreneur, Soji Apampa, is helping other entrepreneurs avoid corruption by encouraging them to do the right thing from the start. “For many wise organizations, they just bite the bullet from the start and do the right thing, and they can avoid the bulk of it. But if you pay once, they keep coming. And imagine you do that with four or five agencies, then you're totally at their mercy,” he says.

Episode 18: Navigating Corruption: A Case Study from India: Indian entrepreneur, Rajah Koppala, of Avis Vascular Centers is trying to be virtuous in a sea of corruption. Saumitra Jah helps entrepreneurs do so by advocating for strong, consistent leadership, making sure your employees are on board with “doing the right thing,” and finding partners in your industry to face obstacles together.

Episode 19: Marketing: Who are your actual customers?: Nick Musyoka learned that you need to distinguish between the user and the decision-making unit. Musyoka’s research for Sonar Imaging revealed that patients were the users and doctors were the decision-making units—so the company’s marketing also needed to focus on a group that would probably never set foot inside a clinic.?

There’s so much more to learn from each episode this season. Make sure to check them all out, and get inspired to continue on your own entrepreneurial journey. Stay tuned for next season, which starts next week on April 4!