The BIG5D Podcast

The BIG5D Podcast

The BIG5D Podcast features interviews with entrepreneurs, business leaders, investors, and others driving the adoption of digital marketing and commerce tools by small businesses in Africa and the Middle East. The "Big Five" in this context are search, social, mobile, location, and payments. This podcast is produced by BigFiveDigital and The Africa B2B Tech Report. Send inquiries to info@bigfivedigital.org

  1. JUL 26

    Episode 57: Bianca Waterberg, Nspyre

    Episode 57 of the Big5D Podcast again turns to the May 2025 BigFive Summit in Cape Town for a great conversation about tech and business in Africa. This conversation, recorded at Innovation City Cape Town on 6 May 2025, features a primer on how to choose a digital marketing agency partner led by Summit Co-host Amanda Louw-Bester (Pragmattica Consulting) and featuring Bianca Waterberg, the founder and CEO of the Cape Town digital agency Nspyre, which specializes in paid media and SEO. Really, it all comes down to clear and effective communication. As Bianca puts it during this conversation, "You want your agency to explain things to you clearly." The conversation also gets real about spotting red flags in a potential agency partner. And overpromising, for example, by guaranteeing immediate results that are nearly impossible to deliver, is high on the list of red flags to watch for. Our Sponsor This episode of the BIG5D Podcast is sponsored by Dialog (localdialog.com). “Answering your 'local' questions with unique data & insights”

    51 min

  2. JUL 15

    Episode 56: Keshni Morar, Founder Institute

    In Episode 56 of the BIG5D Podcast, we talk about venture building with Keshni Morar, the MD-South Africa, Founder Institute. The conversation jumps off from a LinkedIn post Keshni wrote about #Statuptruth in which she laments how too many startup founders fail to appreciate the need to carefully manage the funds they raise from investors. “$1M in funding doesn't make you rich,” Keshni wrote. “It makes you responsible.” Keshni’s post goes on to recount the story of one founder who spent VC money on a “founder wellness” trip to a tropical island. The substance of Keshni’s post is that venture funding is runway, not revenue. We hope you enjoy this episode, sponsored by NSPYRE (nspyre.co.za)

    42 min

  3. JUL 7

    Episode 55: Live from the BigFive Summit -- GTM for SMEs

    Episode 55 of the Big5D Podcast once again turns to the May 2025 BigFive Summit in Cape Town for a great conversation about tech and business in Africa. This conversation, recorded at Innovation City Cape Town on 6 May 2025, features a panel on Go to Market Strategies for SMEs led by Summit Co-host Amanda Louw-Bester (Pragmattica Consulting). The panel features three entrepreneurs who have seen it all and can at the very least steer small business founders away from obvious mistakes in the early stages of their business journey. The panelists offer a wide array of insights for founders on everything from tactics to avoid to tactics not to overlook, especially in a business's early stages. The panelists joining Amanda are Bernadene Appalsamy, Ledger Leap; Tim Shoko, Umlilo Energy; and Remi du Preez, Polygon. This episode of the Big5D Podcast is supported by the 2025 BigFive Summit sponsors. Absa Group (absa.africa) Dialog (localdialog.com) Nspyre (nspyre.co.za) Networds (networds.co.za) AfriGIS (afrigis.co.za) Pragmattica Consulting (pragmattica.co.za)

    33 min
  4. Episode 54: Live from the BigFive Summit -- Supporting Startup

    JUN 18

    Episode 54: Live from the BigFive Summit -- Supporting Startup

    Episode 54 of the BIG5D Podcast again turns to the recent BigFive Summit in Cape Town for source material. This episode features a panel discussion of the kinds of support, in addition to capital, that African startups need to be successful -- things like best practice sharing and mentorship, among others. Sharing their views are Lucie Fink, CEO of Thinkroom Consulting; Egla Ntumba of MsFit Ventures, and Thapelo Ntite, Co-founder of Botlhale AI. This discussion originally took place on stage on 8 May at Innovation City Cape Town.

    41 min
  5. Episode 53: Jamie Wyngaard, Loop

    JUN 8

    Episode 53: Jamie Wyngaard, Loop

    Episode 53 of the Big5D Podcast comes from the recording of an on-stage interview with Loop Co-founder Jamie Wyngaard at the 2025 BigFive Summit in Cape Town. Loop is a South African fintech startup that has digitized payments for African minibus taxi drivers using WhatsApp. Loop's broader ambition is to become a payment solution for emerging markets. Episode 53 of the BIG5D Podcast is supported by The 2025 BigFive Summit Sponsors. The Summit's sponsors were led by Premium Sponsor Absa Group and also included Dialog, NSPYRE, Networds, AfriGIS, and Pragmattica Digital Consulting.

    16 min
  6. Episode 52: Zach George, Launch Africa Ventures

    MAY 29

    Episode 52: Zach George, Launch Africa Ventures

    Episode 52 of the Big5D Podcast comes from the recording of a Fireside Chat (sans fire) that we recorded with Zachariah George at the 2025 BigFive Summit in Cape Town. Zach is the Managing Partner of Launch Africa Ventures, the Cape Town venture firm that has invested in African startups including Happy Pay, Peach Payments, Kuda Bank, Moove, Gozem, and many others. Zach has a very clear perspective on Africa Tech. He believes there needs to be more funding for tech startups that comes from within Africa, in particular South Africa. And he also thinks fouders in Africa need to take a different view on venture capital. Do not chase it before you are ready. Be ready to boostrap until you have a product with a clear path to market and impriving unit economics. And for the love of everthing that is good, do some basic research on a fund before approaching it for an investment.

    44 min

  7. 11/19/2024

    Episode 51: Tinashe Ruzane, FlexClub

    This episode of the BIG5D Podcast is presented by Local Knowledge. Episode 51 of the BIG5D Podcast, features a conversation about using the subscription model to help South Africans gain access to automobiles in a non-traditional manner with Tinashe Ruzane, the co-founder and CEO of FlexClub. FlexClub helps South Africans access vehicles when they need them on a pay-as-you-go basis (they partner with major car rental platforms in South Africa). Ruzane, a former Uber executive, explains why car subscriptions make more sense in a market like South Africa where the need for vehicles is high but accessibility is very limited.

    34 min

  8. 09/09/2024

    Episode 50: Neal Polachek

    This podcast usually talks to guests with a foot on the ground in Africa or the Middle East. For this episode, we make an exception. Neal Polachek is an old colleague who has co-founded Dialog, a business doing groundbreaking research around small business use of AI. Dialog is learning not just how many SMEs are using AI but why and what the outcome is of this usage. The bottom line is no surprise. Time is the SME's most precious resource and AI gives them back an abundance of time. Dialog is currently US-based but will be expanding globally.

    41 min
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About

The BIG5D Podcast features interviews with entrepreneurs, business leaders, investors, and others driving the adoption of digital marketing and commerce tools by small businesses in Africa and the Middle East. The "Big Five" in this context are search, social, mobile, location, and payments. This podcast is produced by BigFiveDigital and The Africa B2B Tech Report. Send inquiries to info@bigfivedigital.org

Information

  • Creator
    The BIG5D Podcast
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2025
  • Episodes
    53
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved
  • Show Website
    The BIG5D Podcast