YT YouTube2Text

YouTube2Text → Transcripts → Brand, Trust & VC: how Keji Mustapha (CMO Partech) rewrites venture marketing | KLIMB Podcast

Brand, Trust & VC: how Keji Mustapha (CMO Partech) rewrites venture marketing | KLIMB Podcast — Transcript

by KLIMB · 11,392 words · 1,622 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

Open in transcriber Summarize with AI Download SRT/VTT

Full transcript

0:00And I love what you're doing at Climb.
0:01It's just sexy and it's fun and it's uh
0:04yeah, really cool. I love brands. So
0:06yeah,
0:06>> thanks a lot. And do you think that this
0:09very first job is somehow helping you a
0:12little bit today?
0:12>> Absolutely. It's relationships and today
0:15I uh very proud to report that we are
0:18the largest fund uh investing purely in
0:20Africa. We're not a tourist VC.
0:27>> Welcome to the climb podcast.
0:28>> Thank you. Thanks a lot, Kenji, for
0:30coming in.
0:31>> Um, I'm really happy to do this episode
0:33with you because I I noticed like just
0:36over WhatsApp your energy and just the
0:40overall good vibes that you're going to
0:41share. So, I'm quite excited about it.
0:43>> Well, I hope I don't disappoint, but
0:45thank you for having me here. This is
0:46cool and I love what you're doing at
0:48Climb. It's just sexy and it's fun and
0:51it's uh yeah, really cool. I love
0:52brands, so yeah.
0:53>> Thanks a lot. Well, I do have a lot of
0:55uh different questions. Um, the first
0:58one probably for me, uh, and I'm gonna
1:01switch a little bit to the ones I sent
1:02you.
1:03>> Okay.
1:03>> Um,
1:05I love to start with this one is what
1:07was like your very first job? Like even
1:11the the one that is not linked to what
1:14you're doing today.
1:15>> My very first job, unsurprisingly,
1:19was working in a shoe store. That was
1:22like my first paid job. I had a lot of
1:24random jobs before then as in you know
1:28that are I don't know jobs that were
1:30kind of newspaper rounds babysitting but
1:33like my first paid job was working in a
1:35shoe store because I love shoes and I
1:37love fashion and my parents made it very
1:40clear that they weren't going to give me
1:42any more pocket money to spend on shoes.
1:44So I thought well if I get a job in a
1:46shoe store then I can get lots of
1:48discounts [laughter] and I can have lots
1:50of shoes. So yeah, that was my very
1:52first job.
1:53>> Okay. And do you think that this very
1:56first job uh is somehow
2:00helping you a little bit today? Like did
2:02you learn something that is core and
2:04that is follow that has followed you
2:06like throughout your career even if it's
2:08something small?
2:09>> Absolutely. It's relationships and just
2:12yeah making people feel comfortable
2:14because I think the thing about buying
2:15shoes is it wasn't like a glamorous shoe
2:18store. I'm not talking Louis Vuitton or
2:20anything like that, but you know, people
2:22come in with really clear expectations
2:24of what they want.
2:25>> Uh, and you don't always have the exact
2:29shoe that matches what they want. So,
2:30it's really about listening to the
2:32things that they're saying, but the
2:33things that they're not saying. Um, and
2:36that's true in the work I do now. Uh,
2:38and so, yeah, I would say that I still
2:41have bits of that that I take with me um
2:44into what I do today.
2:45>> Yeah, that's cool. I mean my very first
2:48job was actually working at Datlu. I
2:50don't know if you Oh yes. Yes.
2:51>> So I was working at a sales man there in
2:55the collective sports area.
2:57>> So football, rugby, handball, basketball
3:00and stuff.
3:00>> And yeah, pretty much the same thing. I
3:02think this is the first time I learned
3:04how to just
3:05>> build connection with people I don't
3:07know and just trying to understand their
3:09needs and trying to just uh you know
3:12work out a solution for them. And it's
3:14just is pretty much just the base of
3:15every business. Just they people they
3:18come in, they have a problem and I'm
3:19trying to find the Yeah. Exactly.
3:21>> Also, I think it's a it's you're trying
3:23to get people to part with their cash,
3:25right? So, I think there's a lot of
3:26psychology in there, too. And yeah, I
3:28think everybody should work in sales at
3:30some point. Um because it's not
3:32glamorous. It's very humbling, but it'll
3:35teach you a ton about yourself and about
3:37people. So,
3:38>> definitely.
3:38>> I love that we have this in common.
3:40[laughter] Look at this. How fun. Um,
3:43and then of course when I looked at your
3:45LinkedIn, you're not doing anymore like
3:48selling shoes today and you've worked uh
3:51in a ton of different companies. um
3:54mostly from what I understood in the VC
3:57ecosystem
3:58and the first question probably is even
4:01for me even if I know about investment
4:03firms private equity venture capital I
4:06don't even know what's the difference
4:07between [laughter]
4:09you know [gasps] I get it like it's the
4:11same area but if you can just explain uh
4:15to me like what is a venture capital
4:19very simply
4:20>> whoa okay um venture capital is
4:22essentially
4:24an industry whereby you have two sides
4:28of the coin. You have founders who are
4:31building you know gamechanging
4:33life-changing companies and then you
4:35have investors who are investing money
4:37into these founders into their companies
4:39for them to scale. Um and the third
4:42piece of it is that you have then
4:43limited partners who are the investors
4:47above the investors. So it's their
4:48capital that we're deploying into the
4:50startups and scaleups that we back.
4:52Okay. And so what was your role in this
4:56industry since the very beginning? Like
4:58how do you how did you start working in
5:00this industry?
5:01>> Uh I got into venture um well fun story
5:06and sat at home one day. I'd been an
5:08operator. I'd been on the operator side
5:09and then one day an email lands in my
5:11inbox from Angel List and it was a role
5:15uh head of network at a fund. I was like
5:18I don't really know what that means. Um,
5:20but I loved the job spec. It was
5:23essentially we need someone to come in
5:25and think about how we add value to our
5:27portfolio companies. We need this person
5:30to be curious and there's no playbook
5:33and it's white space and you basically
5:36have to figure it out. So, you're
5:38essentially going to be CEO of this new
5:40little thing. It's kind of
5:42>> uh and I I don't know the language in
5:44the job spec it just totally spoke to me
5:46because I love creating things from
5:48scratch. I love when things don't exist.
5:50I love problem solving. So, it's kind of
5:52like and I get to just meet people all
5:54the time. Like, that's great. Um, and
5:57that's how I got into it. And fun fact,
5:59the job spec was actually written, I
6:01later found out, by an incredible woman
6:04who I'd gone to prep school with when I
6:06was like 10, 11. And it was just crazy
6:09that like, yeah, she was the one who
6:11wrote the spec that I guess changed my
6:13trajectory. Um and so I started MVC uh I
6:18think the January 2017.
6:20>> Okay.
6:21>> Wild. Um and yeah, I joined this fund
6:23called Connect Ventures and they're
6:25single stage um so seed stage firm uh
6:29investing from London across Europe. Um
6:32and they're very thesis driven. So they
6:34were backing product first founders,
6:37founders who are obsessed with product
6:39and user experience. Um, and yeah, I had
6:42the privilege, absolute privilege and
6:45joy of thinking about how we add value
6:48to those portfolio companies, how we
6:49help them scale, how we help them learn
6:51from each other, and essentially not
6:53have to reinvent the wheel. Um, and so I
6:55did that for just over four and a half
6:58years before I joined my current firm,
6:59Part.
7:00>> Okay.
7:02>> And did your role evolve from this job
7:04to what you're doing today? Is it
7:06different?
7:07>> Yes and no. I mean my role at connect
7:09evolved over the time I was there and I
7:12I took on more things and a bit of the
7:14brand side of things as well and the
7:15people op side of things as well. Um at
7:17part it's it's largely the same. It's
7:19just on a bigger scale because part is a
7:22a multi-stage investment firm. So we
7:24invest right from seed through to
7:26growth. Um we're headquartered here in
7:28Paris. What a beautiful city. Um and
7:32yeah, we basically get to invest in
7:35because we're a generalist firm, we
7:37invest in everything from, I don't know,
7:38SAS to space, uh across these five fund
7:41strategies. And what I think is really
7:43exciting about part is that all the fund
7:47strategies are independent of each
7:48other. Um so that's really our
7:50philosophy. We're independent in
7:51thought. We're independent thinkers. Um
7:54and but what makes it extra special is
7:56although those fund strategies are all
7:58independent of each other, there's this
8:00alliance uh in the platform, the
8:02collective intelligence that we get
8:04from, you know, yeah, getting to
8:06experience all the different stages of
8:08of company maturity. Um and so yeah,
8:12although we're generalist in terms of
8:13the sectors we back, we are very much
8:15specialists in terms of the stage. So we
8:17deeply understand seed, we deeply
8:19understand the early venture stage, and
8:20we deeply understand growth.
8:22>> Okay, get it. Yeah.
8:24>> And so you today you're working as a CMO
8:27for part.
8:29>> I know what is a CMO in my SAS
8:32[laughter] my SAS the SAS customers that
8:35we have but what is the role of a CMO
8:37for partic
8:39>> well I'll start by saying it's
8:40definitely not uh what a CMO and a B2B
8:43SAS or consumer uh company's doing. Um
8:47which is actually quite scary because
8:49there's no playbook to borrow from.
8:51Essentially, I wear multiple hats at
8:54part. Um,
8:55>> and I'd say being a CMO there is
8:58essentially I have one job is to build
9:00compounding trust with the personas um
9:03that we want to partner with. And
9:06essentially what that looks like is I'll
9:09come [clears throat] back to that what
9:10it looks like in a minute, but I'll talk
9:11a little bit about the personas I
9:13mentioned earlier founders and LPs. Um,
9:15and these are the two people I guess
9:18that we serve and they are very
9:21sophisticated and very skeptical. So
9:25being a CMO at a fund isn't the same as
9:28you know in a B2B SAS or or consumer
9:30marketing where you're, you know,
9:32building funnels and ad campaigns and
9:34all that stuff. Like you can't hack
9:36that. If you're trying to build trust
9:39that compounds over time, you basically
9:42have to come at it from a different uh
9:44perspective. And so what that means is I
9:47I think we focus on sort of three key
9:49three key principles. Excuse me, I lost
9:51my words. Um which is always
9:54interesting. Um one is we're really
9:57curating and thinking of curation as a
9:59competitive advantage. And when I say
10:01curation, it's you know everything we
10:02put out whether it's stories, whether
10:04it's reports, whatever the case may be,
10:07is essentially a belief statement. It's
10:09what we believe. So we tend to stay away
10:12from like trends trends and things like
10:14that because our investment teams are
10:16focused on the investing rightly so. Um
10:18but instead we love to surface and
10:20showcase the stories from the founders
10:23all the operators that are in our wider
10:26world. Um and the reason we focus on
10:28them is because that gives us the
10:31credibility to say we know what works or
10:33what doesn't because we're working with
10:35the people that are doing it. Um, so
10:37that's the first one is is really around
10:39curation. The second one is really
10:41around
10:42>> um and I love this term from this
10:45producer Brian Eno. It's really around
10:47building seniors. And seniors and not
10:50audience, right? And seniors is
10:52essentially like creating the spaces and
10:55the rooms where smart people want to
10:57convene and converge. And so our job is
10:59then to make sure that we're creating
11:01these and designing these experiences
11:03where the brightest, smartest founders
11:06may be under the radar ones and
11:08operators too want to come and hang out
11:11with other smart cool people. Okay.
11:13>> Um and then we could talk about that a
11:16little bit later. And then the third is
11:17really around, you know, we we talked
11:20about B2B SAS marketing, consumer
11:22marketing where you're really thinking
11:23about, oh, optimizing this quarter or
11:26this H1 or whatever. For us, it's the
11:28infinite game, right? Like the metric of
11:31success is really did the founder we
11:33wanted come to us when they were ready
11:36to raise. Um, and so it's really around
11:39like, you know, sometimes we've been
11:40chatting with these founders, they've
11:41they've experienced our events, they've
11:43read our content, they've hung out with
11:44us for two, three years or whatever. Um,
11:46and then when the time comes for them to
11:48decide, okay, I I want to partner for
11:50the long haul, that's when we should
11:52hopefully be the call that they make.
11:54Um, and so yeah, I think those are the
11:56three main ways how like VC marketing um
12:00differs a little bit from uh startup and
12:02scaleup marketing.
12:03>> Okay, I see. It's interesting because a
12:06lot of the the three pillars that you
12:09shared are strategies when it comes to
12:13marketing in general that are a lot
12:15related to inbound content. In the end,
12:18you want people to at some you want to
12:21create stuff that at some point will
12:25spark something in your potential
12:27personas. Mhm.
12:29>> Um, but it's not like as a VC firm, you
12:32don't need to go out there and say,
12:33"Hey, do you do you I mean, do you want
12:35our funds?" You know, you know, you
12:37don't have any outbound strategies when
12:39it comes to marketing. Of course. I
12:40mean, from what I understand. And so, a
12:43lot of the things that you're saying are
12:45things that are also super long-term,
12:48uh, from what I understand. So you have
12:50to think about stuff that you're going
12:52to be doing today so that in three years
12:54potentially someone is going to be oh I
12:56had a a good call with that person. I I
12:59went to this event it went well and now
13:01I'm building my startup and it makes
13:02sense to go with partic.
13:04>> That's exactly right. So it's this
13:05craziness where you're thinking about
13:07today what do we want to
13:10>> what belief statement do we want to put
13:11out there? You know what kind of
13:13experience do we want to create and
13:15curate? Uh things like that. But yeah,
13:17it's really you won't know about it
13:18until later when they come to you. Um,
13:21and that's exactly why I mean it's
13:22different, right? Because events aren't
13:24for lead gen or demand gen. They are
13:26purely relationship accelerators. Um,
13:30content is not for SEO purposes per se.
13:34It's it's really, you know, to to show
13:36how you think, what you believe and and
13:38the like. Um, I don't know. Social is
13:41not about optimizing reach or anything
13:44like that. It's really about like, you
13:46know, showcasing our portfolio,
13:47showcasing the kind of individuals that
13:49you would be in in in cahoots with, I
13:53guess, if you if you decided to partner
13:54with us. Um, we're not really thinking
13:56about, you know, qualified leads, per
13:59se. We're thinking about did that
14:00founder remember us when the time came
14:03for them to make a decision of who they
14:05wanted to partner with. And same for
14:06LPs, too. So, yeah, it's a little bit
14:08different. And then there's inspiration
14:10you can take from SAS and consumer
14:13consumer in particular, right? because I
14:14think consumer marketing I find super
14:17interesting and it's very brandled led
14:19um which I I'm very much a brand person
14:21as I said earlier uh so yeah there's
14:23inspiration you can take from it but
14:24it's it's a completely different sport
14:26and I think understanding that from the
14:28outset is uh one of the hardest things
14:31but once you get it it's like okay
14:33>> you can just focus
14:34>> I think this is the way um I mean this
14:37is how I think you should be looking at
14:39building content uh creating events and
14:43overall like as you said focusing on the
14:45relationships that you build with your
14:47customers and even for us we're working
14:50with a lot of B2B B2B SAS customers and
14:54a lot of the time
14:56customers they focus a little too much
14:58on the metrics that you see like the the
15:00rich as you said on social uh the
15:02performance of their campaigns and stuff
15:04and we forget to take a step back and
15:06and just look at our brand and what do
15:09we want to just put out there and does
15:12it make sense really and taking the step
15:15back I think it's super essential
15:16because this is what makes your brand
15:19different on the market and then also
15:22the all your content that you're going
15:24to be putting out there is going to be
15:25super different and super unique because
15:27you want to build that content not just
15:30for SEO or LLM you want to build that
15:33content because it makes sense for you
15:35or because it tells a story and because
15:38this is just like who you really are as
15:40you said like your core belief
15:41>> yeah And and this is something I think
15:43we tend to forget because it's so easy
15:45to jump into conclusions, jump into, oh,
15:49I saw my Samrush dashboard. I mean, it's
15:52saying that I need to invest in those
15:54keywords, but does it really make sense
15:56like from a pure like DNA of the company
16:00and stuff?
16:01>> Yeah. And I think also the way I think
16:03about it is ultimately you're not trying
16:05to sell sell or serve every sell to or
16:09serve everyone, right? And I think you
16:11know a lot of a lot of VCs actually
16:14marketing peers that I speak to um
16:17sometimes when I come out of those
16:18conversations I think to myself like
16:20interesting that you know their
16:23investment teams are like yes all
16:24founders all founders all LPs but it's
16:26like that's actually not possible right
16:29because you want your tribe to choose
16:31you and for them to choose you then they
16:33have to believe also in what your
16:36beliefs are too to feel like yeah this
16:37is the person that like I like how they
16:39think they think like me or maybe not
16:41like think like me in a in a what's the
16:44word in like a biased sense but think
16:46like me of like okay I like their point
16:48of view and I like the way they're
16:50thinking about things and I feel like oh
16:52they could challenge me and they could
16:54elevate my thinking um and so yeah it's
16:56I think a lot more time should be spent
16:59on thinking about
17:00>> how this content or whatever it is
17:03you're putting out whether a podcast or
17:06written or whatever how does this
17:08actually help the right people
17:10>> like self- select to want to be in our
17:12tribe as opposed to trying to speak to
17:15everyone in which case you're speaking
17:16to no one and they might as well just
17:17give up already.
17:19>> Yeah, completely get it.
17:21>> And so you were mentioning branding and
17:24it's important to you and important I
17:26mean of course to your role today I
17:28guess. Um when I look at part I I feel
17:32like this is a VC firm that I would like
17:34to work with for them you know just like
17:36because I I love the branding. I love
17:38like just when I go on your website it
17:40feels different from other VC firms you
17:43know
17:43>> and thank you.
17:45>> I feel like this is also something that
17:46is lacking a lot in this investment
17:49financial ecosystem. We're tending to be
17:52a lot focusing towards this. It's
17:55serious. It's organized. It's
17:57structured. And so all the branding that
17:59we see out there, most of the time it's
18:01blue and white and that's that's about
18:04it. [laughter] You know, I mean there
18:05are also of course VC firms that invest
18:08and especi especially when I look at
18:10some VC firms that we work with from the
18:12crypto ecosystem. They have super crazy
18:14branding sometimes. [laughter]
18:15>> So true.
18:16>> Um but anyway, so I'm just wondering how
18:19do you look at brand for part? I know
18:22that you guys rebranded not so long ago,
18:25a few years back already,
18:26>> but um how do you see
18:30the looking back at it, how do you see
18:33this investment in your branding? How do
18:35you a little bit like measure the ROI of
18:38it? Because it's super hard to to
18:40measure the ROI of your rebranding. Yes.
18:42>> So that's the first question and then I
18:43have other other related questions.
18:46>> Yes. Yes, you're right. Uh so we did we
18:47did a refresh a couple of years ago. Um,
18:50and that was awesome. Uh, how do we
18:53measure the ROI? Well, I mean, start
18:55from why did we do the refresh, right?
18:57And I think when I joined part, it's
19:00amazing when you're a new person because
19:01you can basically, you know, say things
19:03and ask questions and everybody gives
19:06you a pass because you're like, well,
19:07I'm new, I don't know. Um, and so I I I
19:11did like a listening tour with founders,
19:13with LPs, and with our team as well, and
19:16was trying to understand like, you know,
19:18what they thought about our brand
19:19identity and if they thought it was a
19:21fair representation of us. Um, and the
19:23resounding uh feedback was that no, they
19:26did not think so. It
19:28>> we had blue and white. [laughter]
19:31>> Very corporate.
19:32>> I didn't know.
19:34>> No, this is good. No one should know. Um
19:36[laughter]
19:37and um and yeah, what was clear to us
19:40was, you know, they they the the
19:42feedback was, well, your identity
19:44doesn't reflect what we know you to be.
19:46You're bold and you're risktakers and
19:48you're sharp and you're you're
19:51differentiated and you're independent
19:52thinkers and you're pioneering new
19:54things. And so it was kind of like,
19:55okay, we need an identity that really
19:57reflects that. Um and we did the work
19:59and and the ROI was three-fold. one I'll
20:04start with the team there was such an
20:06excitement from the team and if you
20:08imagine I mentioned earlier we have five
20:10fund strategies a seed fund a venture
20:12fund an Africa fund a growth fund and a
20:14growth impact fund so across the
20:17spectrum you've got very different vibes
20:19right like the seed fund edgier and you
20:22know cooler and the growth fund a little
20:24bit you know more put together
20:26structured sensible um but we needed an
20:28identity that could flow across those
20:30five strategies so the ROI was like you
20:33know chatting with the team was hearing
20:35right from seed through to growth was ah
20:37this is great this really feels like us
20:39it feels punchy it feels fresh it feels
20:41bold um so that was one that was great
20:44because if your team are excited then
20:46you know you're excited essentially
20:48that's a good starting point um the
20:50second one was from our founders um you
20:53know them also saying like kudos we now
20:56we actually like you know we can really
20:58tell people about part because actually
21:00part of the challenge when I joined was
21:01I'd meet people in different ecosystems
21:04and they'd be like, "Oh, part has a
21:05growth fund. Part has a seed fund. I
21:08thought you only did Africa. I thought
21:09you only." And so again, you know, it
21:11was an opportunity to use our website um
21:14essentially as our store window to let
21:16people know exactly where we invest, how
21:18we invest, how the strategies work and
21:19the like. So ROI there was again clarity
21:22um having new founders that aren't in
21:25our portfolio that I would just meet be
21:26like, "Oh, it's so cool that you guys
21:27invest from seethrough to growth. That's
21:29really really awesome. tell me more
21:31about your Africa strategy. So that was
21:33uh a second and then the third it was
21:36really obviously quantitative looking at
21:38the website seeing that people are
21:40spending more time on the website now.
21:42So I think before we did the refresh
21:45roughly about 45 to 50 seconds was spent
21:48on the website and largely looking at
21:49the portfolio page um and the team page.
21:52Now we have on average a minute and a
21:55half spent on the website almost double
21:56the time which is kind of cool. And of
21:59course they're looking at the team and
22:00they're looking at the portfolio, but
22:01actually the the second highest page
22:04people spend time on is our fund
22:05strategy. So it shows that people wanted
22:07to really understand what we do and now
22:09they have a place to help them do that.
22:10Um so yeah, the the the uh web traffic
22:14is is that too. And then I think the
22:16final piece is really which just sounds
22:18really crazy is the swag, the merch.
22:21>> Okay.
22:21>> Um
22:22>> being proud of just showing off.
22:24>> Yes. And when we have some LPs being
22:28like, "Oh my god, can we please have
22:29your sweatshirt or can we have this or
22:31that or whatever other merch we have?"
22:33It's kind of crazy. It's like, "Wow,
22:35okay, that's cool." Like, because then
22:37again, they're self- selecting, right?
22:38If you're wearing that walking through
22:40the streets of London, Paris, New York,
22:42wherever,
22:43>> you're basically like saying like,
22:45"Yeah, I I I'm part of this tribe. I'm I
22:47associate with them and, you know, I'm
22:49proud to show that." So yeah, those are
22:52all the ways that I think we've kind of
22:54looked at the impact of that investment
22:56on our refresh and um yeah, I was super
22:59proud of the work. It's cool. Yeah.
23:01>> So we need to do a merch swap. I'm going
23:03to bring I'm going to bring you a tote
23:05bag when you gave me something.
23:07>> I'll bring you something else. Well,
23:09I'll look through our little atellier
23:10and see what we have and see what might
23:12work best for Michael. I used to be a
23:14stylist in another life, so I'll happily
23:16pick something that works for [laughter]
23:18>> Sounds good.
23:20Um and so I had other questions related
23:23to that. Yeah. And so you did this free
23:25brand.
23:27You you somehow understand how you
23:30measure the importance of it and the
23:31impact. And now it's been like what
23:34three years, four years.
23:36>> Two years actually did it in 2023.
23:38>> Okay. And so I'm just curious like two
23:41years now um later.
23:45Do you feel like at some point you're
23:47going to be needing a new refresh? And
23:50how do you anticipate that need? Because
23:53maybe it's not the case for a VC firm,
23:55but for all of the B2B customers, every
24:00two years or three years, they will
24:02they're like, maybe we need a refresh,
24:04you know, maybe we need something. And
24:06it's also because their marketing ch is
24:08changing somehow. Their product offering
24:11is changing. They they released a ton of
24:13new features. they're not providing the
24:14same service as before and they have a
24:16lot of different momentum. It's a it's a
24:18little different of course because as a
24:21VC from New York you're changing every
24:23two years like your strategy or maybe
24:25you are I don't know. So yeah just
24:27curious about this. Do you anticipate
24:29the need or do you feel also that the
24:31work that you have done can last for a
24:33long time which is also a good sign of
24:36how the branding was executed? Yeah, I
24:39mean I think the work that we've done
24:41can definitely serve us for the next
24:43maybe five odd years. Um but it's also
24:46dependent on if we add new fund
24:47strategies. So watch this space, see
24:49what we do next. Um because part of the
24:52reason why we had to do a refresh was
24:55because the last time one was done
24:57before my time, we I think only had two
25:00or three fund strategies then. Um, and
25:02so as you add more to whatever it is
25:05that you're offering, then you have to
25:07think about like how do you crisp up
25:10your value proposition and your
25:12positioning and the like. And so for us,
25:15I don't think that's going to change so
25:18much um in the next couple of years. I
25:21mean, I hope not because [laughter] it
25:22took a lot of took a lot of work to do
25:24that. Um but I think as a general rule
25:27my thinking is usually you're doing a
25:29refresh um every sort of five six years
25:33um or a rebrand if you've completely
25:35pivoted from what you were doing before.
25:36So we have some portfolio companies who
25:38actually it's not a refresh they're
25:40doing it's a complete rebrand because
25:42they're actually doing more or they've
25:44pivoted to to another audience or
25:47they've added new
25:49bolts and nuts to what they were
25:51offering before. um you know the they're
25:54going into a new market whatever the
25:55case may be. So I think there there is a
25:57distinction there and and I think it is
25:59you do have to spend a lot of time
26:00thinking about like are we doing a full
26:03rebrand which has pros and cons. The
26:06cons largely being like you've banked a
26:08lot of equity and whatever you had
26:10before and so if you're going to do a
26:11rebrand it's usually going to be a name
26:13change or you know a full pivot in that
26:15sense or is it a refresh which is
26:16literally just like you know refreshing
26:19what you had before the core of who you
26:21are has remained the same but you know
26:22you need tighter language around it and
26:24the like. So yeah, I think um I don't
26:26know if that answers your question. No,
26:28please. I have a tendency to do that.
26:30>> Uh and so um
26:33um it makes me think also of one other
26:35thing is so you have a lot of uh
26:38companies in your portfolio.
26:40>> Amazing ones. Yes.
26:41>> Yeah. And so as a CMO because you're
26:43talking about marketing but more for the
26:45fund from what I understand do you still
26:48have a say on the maybe just advising
26:51some sometimes some of your companies on
26:54their marketing just approach or just
26:56also their branding. Do you is it also
26:59part of your job?
27:01>> Not really. I mean, if they ask some
27:03some uh founders or teams will ask like,
27:06"Oh, you know, we're thinking about
27:07doing a rebrand or we're thinking about
27:08like going into this new market or and
27:11I'm happy to be a think partner to
27:13them." Um, but largely they just get on
27:15with it themselves. I think what I think
27:16of myself as is a node essentially and
27:19myself and my team is a node. So that if
27:22they're like, "Oh, we're thinking about
27:23this." the best thing we can do for them
27:25is connect them to another portfolio
27:27company that's just a step ahead or as
27:30you know a couple of steps ahead and you
27:32know that's part of that collective
27:33intelligence right it's not for me to
27:35give them the advice but it's for for me
27:36to figure out how to connect them with
27:38their peers who can help them learn what
27:41they need to learn and and also just
27:42give them a safe space to have a
27:44conversation and just like you know
27:47share the crazy ideas that they wouldn't
27:49necessarily bring to the board um and I
27:51think that's far more valuable than me
27:52sitting there giving advice. Um,
27:54>> lead by example.
27:56>> Well, exactly. And like I said,
27:57>> someone that that did it already.
27:58>> Well, exactly. Someone that's done it
28:00already. Someone who's literally walking
28:01a mile in your shoes. Um, and someone
28:04who's a true peer because there is still
28:06this to some extent, you know, it's not
28:09always the case, but there's still
28:10sometimes where you feel like, oh,
28:11there's this power dynamic like I do I
28:13want to tell my investor that I don't
28:14know what I'm doing on marketing. Is
28:15that going to make me look weak? Blah
28:16blah blah. Whereas, if it's like, hey,
28:18speak to your peer fully confidential.
28:20I'm not in there. Um, I think that's the
28:21best thing we can be for. Yeah, that
28:22makes sense. [laughter]
28:24>> And it's not me sherking, it's me trying
28:26to really do what's best for our
28:28portfolio.
28:29>> And and so you mentioned your team. Um
28:33so how is the your team today? Do you
28:36have different people? You mentioned
28:37also that you have different funds.
28:39Yeah.
28:39>> So does that mean that there is someone
28:41in representing each fund? And then I'm
28:44also curious about the different funds
28:45you mentioned because
28:47>> um you you mentioned different stage of
28:50growth for each fund and then there is
28:52the Africa fund which is not a stage of
28:54growth it's specific to to a market. So
28:58I'm curious to also to understand why
29:00did you decide to make it specific?
29:02>> So two completely two different question
29:04one [laughter] about one about the team
29:05and then we can talk about the Africa
29:07fund.
29:07>> Okay. So my team um no we actually
29:10support all the fund strategies
29:12globally. Um which is with a very lean
29:15team. So uh yes we we work very hard. Um
29:19we have a focus on PR and comms. Um so
29:22that's helping new portfolio companies
29:24with their press releases and you know
29:26we have relationships with journalists
29:28that they don't necessarily have. So we
29:29tap into that for their benefit.
29:32>> Um we have events you know like I
29:34mentioned we curate a lot of
29:35experiences. So, uh, we have an events
29:38function as well. Um, and then we have
29:40our portfolio community. Um, so we have
29:42like a community person as well who's
29:45helping, um, you know, connect the dots
29:47with a portfolio. Um, and so that's kind
29:50of how the team shakes out. And then I
29:51sit above all of that kind of wearing
29:52three hats.
29:53>> Okay. [laughter]
29:54>> All fronts. Yeah. Which is cool. And
29:56then we have amazing external people
29:57that we work with as well. So, you know,
29:59like on our brand refresh, we work with
30:00fantastic team at Cotto. Um, on our
30:03editorials, we work with fantastic
30:04editor. uh externally. So yeah, that's
30:07how we sort of bridge it with a lead
30:09team.
30:09>> Makes sense. And so and now about this
30:12Africa fund. I'm curious.
30:14>> So our Africa strategy is very close to
30:18my heart cuz I'm a Nigerian uh and uh
30:21yeah, it's great to see that ecosystem
30:23really booming. Um that came about
30:25because one of the things that we like
30:27to think of ourselves as as pioneers. So
30:29you know our our one of the founders of
30:31partic Philipe um he met Surreal and
30:33Tijan the two partners that run it and
30:36they just had this really strong
30:37conviction way before anyone was looking
30:39at that as that emerging market that you
30:42know Africa is a massive continent and
30:45by I don't know 2030 20 40 or whatever
30:48one in however many people is going to
30:51be from the continent and they really
30:52believed that you know we were at an
30:54inflection point where there's a growing
30:58upward mobility. And so these
31:00individuals are going to be very
31:03tech-savvy. They all have mobile phones,
31:05but they're very underserved. And so
31:08there came the idea like well what if we
31:09set up a fund that was investing across
31:11the continent um backing the future
31:14giants uh and and addressing sectors
31:18that are fundamentally broken across the
31:21continent but if they can be fixed would
31:24have massive you know high impact right
31:27so that's like fintech that's health
31:29tech that's edtech um and so yeah they
31:32thought okay why don't we try it and
31:34today I uh very proud proud to report
31:37that we are the largest fund uh
31:39investing purely in Africa. We're not a
31:41tourist VC. We have a dedicated team
31:44spread out across Africa, Nairobi,
31:46Lagos, Dhaka um serving that uh market
31:51and it's very very cool to see.
31:52>> Yeah, that's nice. Very very nice. You
31:54mentioned Nairobi. So fun fact about me,
31:56not related at all to the podcast.
31:58>> Oh, I love a fun fact. Tell me.
31:59>> But so my father is from India.
32:02>> Oh, okay.
32:03>> And my mother is from Poland.
32:05>> Okay. [laughter] Yeah, that's quite a
32:06mix. And um and my father didn't grew up
32:10actually in the Comor Islands.
32:12>> Okay.
32:13>> And so next to Madagascar.
32:14>> Yeah. Yeah.
32:16>> And uh and so the the I mean from India,
32:19you have a lot of I think it's the same
32:21wording. Diaspora.
32:22>> Yeah. Diaspora.
32:23>> Diaspora. And so we have a lot of family
32:25in Kenya. And so I have my uncles, my
32:28aunts, my cousins, they all live in
32:30Nairobi.
32:31>> No way. Do you get to go often?
32:32>> No, I have to go.
32:34>> What? Yeah. I I went to I went to India
32:37quite a few times. I went to Commerce
32:38Islands but never to Kenya. So I have to
32:40go.
32:41>> You have to go. I mean
32:42>> I'm going to check my see my family and
32:44see the one from [laughter]
32:46>> Yeah. Well, we have an awesome team
32:47there. They would be more than happy to
32:49welcome you and have a cup of tea with
32:51you and
32:52do a safari of course in Kenya. So yeah,
32:56>> I have to
32:57>> I'm going to hold you to this. I'm going
32:58to check in with you like mid 26 like
33:00>> 2026 is going to be the time.
33:02>> What's happening? Have to do it. I'm
33:03manifesting this for you.
33:04>> Yeah. Yeah. [laughter]
33:06I met with them a lot of times. I mean,
33:08but most of the time it was in France.
33:09They came to France a lot a lot of the
33:11times. And last time was during my
33:13wedding a year ago. So
33:15>> muzzle.
33:16>> So yeah.
33:17>> Well, you won't regret it.
33:19>> Yeah, I'm sure. I'm sure [laughter] it's
33:21going to be cool.
33:21>> I love that fun fact. Fun fact even.
33:24>> Yeah. You can't tell when you look at my
33:26face. It's impossible.
33:27>> But that's kind of a good thing, right?
33:29Like it's like I'm an international man
33:31of the world.
33:32>> [laughter]
33:33>> where I'm from.
33:36>> Yeah, definitely.
33:38Um, okay. So, we covered uh a lot of the
33:42part uh stuff. Um, then I have Oh, yeah.
33:46I have related to the team. I had a one
33:48other question um about also you're not
33:52hiring like tens of people but anyway
33:55when you started to hire some people in
33:57your team uh or for next hire what is
34:01something that you look for like from a
34:03cultural perspective
34:05>> that is a great question um and
34:08ironically I don't think it's changed
34:09much from when I was an operator to to
34:12now I think the things that I really
34:14optimize for is intellectual curiosity
34:17Can you go deep on something and be
34:20interested in learning lots of new
34:21things? Because our our roles are very
34:23generalist, right? Like we call it
34:25marketing in BC, but it's brand, it's
34:27community, it's very generalist. So I
34:30think intellectual curiosity is super
34:32super important. Um and agency like just
34:34to be able to try new things and crack
34:37on and go from there. Um I think also
34:42I like to use the older I hire for
34:46attitude not aptitude because I think
34:49you can teach skills and they can be
34:50learned but you can't teach that
34:53intellectual curiosity that I was
34:55talking about right like you either have
34:56it or you don't. So you can't teach a
34:58growth mindset. You either have it or
34:59you don't. Um I mean you can develop
35:02your growth mindset but you meet the
35:04people who just have it naturally. Um,
35:06and then above all, I guess, is this
35:08someone with like a good, sad as it
35:12sounds, sense of humor and fun. You're
35:14going to work long, long, long hours.
35:17And ultimately, it's that question like,
35:19would I want to be trapped in an airport
35:20for eight hours with this person? And
35:22that is literally what I'm thinking when
35:23I'm interviewing people. I was like,
35:26>> yeah, like you you're great.
35:27Technically, you can do all the things,
35:29but my god, your personality is a bit
35:31grating on me. And if I'm going to have
35:32to spend hours and it's the same, right?
35:34And it's [clears throat] the the the
35:35interviewee or or the prospective
35:37candidate should be thinking the same
35:39about me like she's too high energy. I
35:41cannot deal with this. I cannot be
35:43trapped [laughter] with her like every
35:45day and her happiness is going to grate
35:47on me. In which case, you know, self-
35:49select out of the process. Um but yeah,
35:51those are the things that I think over
35:53and over again I I look for. Um and then
35:55I think humility is also really
35:58important. Um because if you are trying
36:02new things, if you are exploring new
36:05ideas, wanting to test new initiatives,
36:07a lot of stuff's going to fail. So, you
36:10know, you need to be humble enough to be
36:11like, okay, that didn't go well, but
36:14excited enough to be like, let's go
36:15again. Let's try something new. So, I
36:17think um yeah, those are the things that
36:18I really look for.
36:19>> Okay. Yeah, makes sense. Uh and one
36:22related question to from this one is if
36:26you had to um go back in time and um
36:31give an advice to your younger self,
36:33what would you pretty much say?
36:36[laughter]
36:36>> So many things I would say. Don't buy
36:39those shoes. They did not work. No. Um I
36:42think
36:44like if I'm being honest I think
36:48having been in this industry for you
36:52know well both operator and VC side for
36:54over I don't know 10 12 years or so
36:58I think I've definitely suffered a lot
37:00from imposter syndrome right because
37:02when I'm looking around the room I'm a
37:04black woman [laughter]
37:06uh sat around a table or in rooms where
37:08there's no one that looks like me right
37:10And you know, I'm in rooms where the
37:13other people that are in there are sort
37:15of beating the drum and beating their
37:16chest like I'm the smartest person. I
37:18know this, I know that. So then it would
37:20make me think like, oh, okay, well, I
37:22disagree with that and I disagree
37:23instinctively because of XY Z, but you
37:25know, but they're way smarter and, you
37:27know, they must know what they're
37:29thinking. Um, they must know what
37:31they're saying and I must be wrong. Um,
37:33but what I've learned over the years is
37:35actually that's not often the case. And
37:38so what I would say to my younger self
37:40is maybe just believe your own hype just
37:42a little bit. Like don't turn into a
37:44narcissistic megalomaniac kind of type,
37:46but don't always assume that you're the
37:49dumb one or they're smarter because of
37:51the fact that you know they've been in
37:52these rooms for longer or whatever. I
37:54think yeah, trust that your
37:56unconventional thinking and
37:58unconventional approach is just as
38:02relevant and your perspective matters
38:04just as much. If anything, it's really
38:07valuable to bring a different
38:08perspective so that you have that um you
38:11know diversity of thought. So that's
38:12what I would say.
38:13>> I agree. I agree. [laughter]
38:15I mean I think everyone is fighting with
38:16the imposter syndrome at some point.
38:19>> I know right. and uh [laughter]
38:21and and there is this um I don't really
38:23really um recall like exactly the quote
38:25or something but it's like when I'm
38:27scrolling on Tik Tok late at night, you
38:29know, and at some point I had like Tik
38:31Tok with um Barack Obama's during an
38:34interview and he was saying that um u at
38:39one moment he was sitting at a dinner
38:41table with like the world leaders, you
38:44know, and so everyone is at their best
38:46in their category pretty much and he was
38:49like you realize that the people around
38:52you, they're not better than you. Uh and
38:56even if they did like crazy studies or
38:58they're the world leaders of ex
39:00countries or something, sometimes
39:02they're even like uh maybe there are d
39:06them some dumb people in the room as
39:09well, you know, and so and you realize
39:11that you know sometimes when you feel
39:13like you are surrounded by people just
39:16because of their status, you realize
39:18that it doesn't mean anything because
39:20you are you're also realizing that
39:22you're in the same room.
39:23>> Yeah. And so if you're in the same room,
39:25it means something.
39:26>> That's so true.
39:27>> Can I ask you the same question back?
39:30What would you what advice would you
39:31give your younger self?
39:32>> Um
39:37um
39:40I think um when I was like um
39:45when I was like uh in high school or
39:47something. Uh I mean this is also my
39:51take on on generally on how I uh grew my
39:55maturity as a person is I realized that
39:59there were like phases in my life where
40:01I at some point from one day to the
40:03other I became mature like at another
40:06level like it's something that I
40:08realized
40:10>> and um and for instance there was like
40:12this big big big u step lap or something
40:17from the end of the high school to when
40:19I started in college um at the end of
40:22the high school I I was like u in this
40:25you know character of being fun being
40:28just the guy that is like good at sport
40:30and not so good at school
40:32>> and that was pretty much who I was like
40:34my identity that I set for myself and
40:37then when I went to college I was like
40:40wow like nobody knows me now and you
40:43know I don't have the I can reinvent
40:45myself and so I would say like pretty
40:47much the advice is don't be afraid to
40:49reinvent reinvent yourself as you grow
40:52up because you're going to be changing
40:54to at some point to a new job and it's
40:56going to be the exact same status quo.
40:58Nobody knows you. So you don't have to
41:01come in with your backpack of everything
41:03that was big and heavy in your backpack.
41:06You can let stuff, you know,
41:08>> leave the baggage at the door.
41:09>> Yeah. You can leave stuff at the door
41:11and you can come in and be whoever you
41:13are pretty much. And so the advice is
41:15pretty much this is at some point you're
41:18going to be stepping into a different it
41:20can be so many different things. It can
41:21be a different city can be a different
41:23job. It can be at a new a new girlfriend
41:26or or something and you can come in and
41:28be the person that you want to be. And I
41:30think this is something that I'm
41:32realizing along the way. And uh it's so
41:35true because when I came into I mean I
41:38started college I was like you know what
41:40I think I'm going to be good at this
41:43specialty which is which was like
41:45business and sports management. So I was
41:47like okay I'm going to do it and I'm
41:49going to be the best at it. And I was
41:50like amongst the best you know at school
41:52and I was like you know all of the
41:54sudden I got like A+ and stuff in and I
41:57was like okay I can be smart you know
41:59just this simple stuff.
42:00>> I'm not just the jock.
42:01>> Yeah. Exactly. [laughter]
42:03So yeah,
42:04>> I love that. Yeah, you can always
42:05reinvent yourself and I think uh that's
42:07a great philosophy to live by.
42:09>> Yeah. Do you have like a favorite tool
42:12that you you live every every day you
42:15live with it?
42:16>> Notion.
42:17>> Notion.
42:17>> And there's so many tools I love, but
42:19Notion is the one that springs to mind
42:20because I'm obsessed with this app and
42:22I've been a power user since day one uh
42:26professionally and personally. And my
42:28family always take the piss out of me
42:32because I put everything on a notation.
42:34All our holidays, all the experience,
42:35anything I design and then when they
42:37send a note like what times I'm like
42:38check the effing notion and now it's a
42:41quote and they will quote it back to me
42:43like check the effing notion of like
42:45yeah so notion
42:46>> I get it
42:47>> love.
42:48>> I get it. That's when one question
42:49related to work that I forgot to to ask
42:52is like as a CMO and generally when you
42:55uh take on more responsibility in your
42:57careers and stuff, what's a pro tip for
43:00selling projects or ideas internally?
43:05>> Well, I think the pro tip is really
43:06communicating well. Um, and that means
43:09starting with the why, bringing people
43:11along on the journey, assuming that they
43:13don't, they're never going to be as
43:15invested in it as you are because you've
43:17spent hours, days, months thinking about
43:19it. To know me is to know that that is
43:22what I'm like. I'm thinking about work
43:2324/7. Not because I'm, you know, I'm a
43:26workaholic, but because I love what I
43:27do. So when you think about that and
43:31you're trying to bring people along on
43:32the journey and get buy in internally,
43:35don't go in assuming that they have
43:37thought of it as much as you have
43:38because they haven't. They have their
43:39own jobs. So really thinking about okay,
43:42how am I going to communicate this?
43:44What's the why are we doing this? Why
43:45does it even matter to you? How are we
43:47going to do it? What does it look like?
43:51When is it going to be done? It's, you
43:52know, there like literally five
43:54questions, but run it as a productize it
43:57essentially. Um, and yeah, I'd say
44:00that's the that's what I I live by and
44:03uh I would say that's what I would
44:05recommend.
44:05>> Okay, makes sense. Um, I'm just
44:08reminding something. I just reminded
44:10something. Um, I saw also on your
44:12LinkedIn profile that you lived in New
44:14York.
44:15>> Yeah.
44:16>> Yeah, sure.
44:16>> You lived in London. Did you are you
44:18living in Paris or do you or other
44:20cities? Did you live in other cities as
44:22well? And so anyway, the question behind
44:24it [laughter] is like I'm just wondering
44:28how do you decide
44:30where is the place that you call home
44:32and like what's your advice about it?
44:35>> Uh okay to take all the questions in
44:37turn. Yes, I lived in New York a very
44:39short stint uh less around six months or
44:41so that um home is London. I'm a
44:44Londoner born and raised. I'm a Nigerian
44:46but I'm a Londoner born and raised. Uh,
44:48London will always be home because all
44:50my formative memories are there. But I
44:52do love traveling to other cities and
44:54right now I split my time between Paris
44:56and London. So I do one week in Paris,
44:58one week in London. Euroar is amazing.
45:00Um, and then I hop to Berlin every so
45:02often because one of my team members
45:04sits in our Berlin office.
45:05>> Okay. Okay. I see. Um, so back to my
45:08questions. Uh, yeah. Um, what if you
45:12were not doing what you're doing today?
45:14What would you do? can be something
45:16completely different because uh for
45:18instance I already answered it in
45:19another podcast for for me I'm going to
45:21be at some point I think a sports
45:23photographer.
45:24>> Oh okay that's neat.
45:26>> I want to be on the NBA courts and like
45:28shooting [laughter]
45:30>> free tickets to be a courtside
45:34[laughter]
45:35>> smart by the way. Um well I mean I'll
45:39start by saying I've had multiple
45:41careers. I mentioned that I was African.
45:43So I started off life as a lawyer uh and
45:46realized it was just I think I was too
45:48sparkly for that profession and it was
45:51too conventional for me. Um then I moved
45:53into fashion and PR and styling which I
45:56loved but wasn't cerebral enough. Uh
45:59then I joined an NGO which was amazing
46:01very missiondriven family planning um
46:04NGO and then to tech startup. So I've
46:08already lived many lives. I think the
46:10thing that's left um which I dabbled in
46:13very uh a couple of years ago with my
46:15sister um I'd be a founder. Uh I'd be
46:18running a company building something
46:20great that really really makes the end
46:23user just think ah
46:25>> how did I live before this product or
46:28solution came into my life? Um yeah I
46:32think it's in my DNA. My father's an
46:33entrepreneur and I've been running very
46:35tiny little businesses since I was a
46:37little girl. Selling cakes, selling ice
46:39cream, selling whatever. So, I think
46:41that's what I would be doing.
46:42>> Is it going to be more like on the B2C
46:44side? Probably. Do you feel
46:46>> ironically? One would think it would be
46:48B2C and and I said that the company my
46:52sister and I had together was like a
46:53consumer business. Um, but because I
46:55don't really love being on social all
46:57day, if you're going to build a consumer
46:59business, you need to love social,
47:00right? Um, it makes me think maybe not.
47:03Um, and I love B2B products. I love B2B
47:06SAS. Uh, I don't know. Whatever it is,
47:07it's going to be product first with the
47:09user experience at the heart of it. And
47:12yeah, just a really slick, seamless
47:14experience that solves the problem that
47:15they came to us for.
47:16>> Okay, makes sense. [laughter]
47:19>> I don't know if that's a copout. You're
47:20looking at me like, Kedi, that was not
47:22>> Well, that's all you're getting from me
47:24today, Michael.
47:24>> You can do it. I'm sure. [laughter]
47:27um looking I mean it's going to be 2026
47:31soon. Is there like uh you know at the
47:34beginning of each year we have like I
47:36don't know how to say that even in
47:38French like what's the word like uh
47:40>> resolutions.
47:41>> Resolutions. Exactly.
47:42>> What's it in French?
47:43>> Resolution. That's why I even forgot
47:46[laughter] in France.
47:47>> Um and so what were some res resolutions
47:51you had at the beginning of this year?
47:52And so we're ending the year. Did you
47:55manage to accomplish them?
47:57>> Well, I'm going to say something very
47:59controversial. Your resolution shouldn't
48:01start on New Year's Day.
48:03>> Yeah.
48:03>> Because if you're starting on New Year's
48:05Day, you're already behind. So, your
48:06resolutions should start about November,
48:08the year before. Okay.
48:10>> Um, so my biggest resolutions for this
48:13year, and I think some of them I did
48:14well, some I didn't. about the three one
48:17was really to focus because I think in
48:20the role we have this kind of role in
48:22this kind of world there's a trillion
48:24things happening at once and you can
48:26stretch yourself really thin and you
48:28know I love to solve problems I love to
48:30be helpful and so then you're like yes
48:32of course I can help you with that yes
48:33let's help let's launch this initiative
48:35let's and then you end up like
48:37completely like tapped um so focus was a
48:41big one I'd say I achieved maybe 70% of
48:44that I was I definitely said no a lot
48:46more this year. Um, and no is a full
48:48sentence and it was kind of cool to
48:50express that. Um, the second one was I
48:53I'm a big big big tennis fan and
48:55obviously living between Paris and
48:57London, I don't get to play as much
48:59tennis as I used to and I used to play
49:02my play on my club team. Um, so my
49:06resolution was even if I'm not playing
49:08in the team anymore, I have to make sure
49:10I'm on court at least four times uh
49:13every week that I'm in London. Um, and
49:16so I would say I did not hit four times
49:18a week. I hit two times a week, which is
49:21so that's 50% there. Um, it was a
49:24stretch goal for anyway that was
49:25ambitious. Um, uh, so that was the final
49:28the second one. And the final one was
49:30really just like spending time. This is
49:33gonna sound crazy. I love products. I
49:36think I told you that. Um, and as my job
49:37got busier, I've had less and less time
49:39to spend on the wonderful product hunt.
49:41I love Product Hunt because you get to
49:43discover [laughter] new products and you
49:45get to geek out and play around with
49:47them. Um, and obviously with the advent
49:49of AI, there's so many new things all
49:51the time. So, um, yeah, that's the one
49:53that I've actually done the least on.
49:55I'd probably say I hit that about 20
49:5625%. Um, but also it wasn't my fault.
49:59It's just because like all the AI tools
50:01I'm having to get deep in them and learn
50:03them and I really hoped that I would be
50:05able to make it through this
50:06conversation without mentioning those
50:08two letters. But sadly you this is your
50:10fault. You brought me here.
50:12>> So
50:13>> at some point I had learned the
50:14productant Chrome extension you know and
50:17when you open a new tab you have all the
50:18news
50:19>> and I was like every time I wanted to do
50:22this instead of you know working
50:24[laughter]
50:24it's not it's too much.
50:25>> It's so addictive.
50:26>> Yeah it's addictive. new
50:29and it also like then informs your
50:31thinking. It's like oh wow I could do
50:33this thing like yeah product hunters are
50:35shout out to the people that run that.
50:36Um
50:37>> what was your top resolution for 20
50:40>> um
50:42uh
50:44I mean uh
50:45>> putting you in the hot seat.
50:47>> No. Yeah. I mean like everyone but it's
50:49like the the most uh conventional stuff
50:51to say like focusing on health, focusing
50:53on you know eating well and stuff but
50:56this is the most I mean I did good at
50:59some point and then I did bad. I mean
51:01it's where I'm juggling. Um, but anyway,
51:04I think I had a big focus on of course
51:06building climb this year and I managed
51:08to build something that I'm quite proud
51:10of because uh we're we're 12 now I think
51:14and I think I started the year with also
51:17uh saying that I need to communicate
51:19about climb a lot more and I had no I I
51:23have never done like a podcast episode
51:25before and I started the year like doing
51:27one with Steph Ber. Ah, step.
51:30>> So, yeah. So, that was the first one and
51:32now I've done like 15 of them like uh
51:35>> and I must say you've had this is not in
51:37any way reflection as in why I'm here,
51:39but you've had incredible people on the
51:42podcast. I I I have geeked out on all
51:44the episodes. I'm so happy.
51:46>> Massive kudos to you.
51:47>> So, yeah. And so, you're going to be
51:49part of them. So, [laughter] you know, I
51:51selected you precisely.
51:53>> Ah, smart. So no, I'm so happy with the
51:57and the first thing is I'm so happy
51:59about it because it enabled me to meet
52:02like amazing people from different
52:04backgrounds, different industries and I
52:07mean I went to London so many times also
52:10to record episodes
52:12>> and it just opened my mind on also the
52:15possibilities that you can achieve as
52:19someone uh personally uh fighting this
52:22imposter syn imposter syndrome. I was in
52:24the same room of the people running like
52:26you know brands at revolute lovable
52:29>> lovable notion I know
52:31>> so it's quite crazy and at some point I
52:33wanted to be working for those those
52:35companies you know like a lot of the
52:36people like you know at some points you
52:38might be like you know if I can be like
52:40a designer at Revolute that could be
52:42cool so and now I'm just interviewing
52:44the guy so it's kind of crazy and and
52:47I'm going to have also amazing other
52:49episode coming in I have one that is
52:51going to be released in two weeks with
52:52Netflix
52:53>> oh Cool.
52:54>> Um, one next week with type form.
52:58>> Type form.
52:59>> Yeah, type form.
52:59>> You asked me about one product and I
53:01said notion. But type form I love. And I
53:03also love it because it's in Connect's
53:05portfolio. So I had Yeah, I had the
53:07privilege of of getting to know those
53:09founders there. But I love that product.
53:11>> Yeah, it's super cool.
53:12>> Beautiful.
53:13>> So that's amazing. Uh, I'm going to be
53:16doing one with the senior uh head of
53:19brand studio at Intercom and they're
53:21doing a super great job. Intercom these
53:23days at running their brand
53:26>> evolving their website. It's kind of
53:28crazy what they're doing.
53:30>> So uh and also getting to record some
53:32episodes in San Francisco early 2026. So
53:35yeah, that's kind of crazy. So overall
53:37like the resolution of growing climb has
53:40been like fully checked and I'm so happy
53:44about it.
53:44>> That's awesome.
53:45>> So that was the big one and then making
53:48sure that my wedding is strong and
53:50[laughter] other stuff. Happy wife,
53:52happy life or whatever they say.
53:54>> So, yeah, I'm I'm on track.
53:56[laughter and gasps]
53:56>> Well, kudos to you. That's really,
53:58really cool and you should be really
53:59proud of yourself.
54:00>> Thank you. Um, one other question I have
54:04is, is there like a personal project
54:07that you have on the side that you you
54:10you're working on that is making you
54:12also proud every day or something that
54:14you want to achieve? Anything?
54:16>> I mean, I have a couple of projects on
54:18the side. Um, I think the one that I'm
54:21probably most proud of. Okay, so
54:24actually I'm going to take a completely
54:25different track. One of the causes is
54:27massively close to my heart is
54:29homelessness. Um, and so I, you know,
54:32volunteer at different like shelters and
54:35things like that. Um, and a passion
54:38project on the side is really trying to
54:40get, so where I live in London,
54:42beautiful part of the city, there a
54:44number of incredible bakeries there
54:46>> and they throw out an insane amount of
54:48food every single day. Um, and so we're
54:51trying to lobby to see how we can get
54:54those organizations to be willing to
54:56give the the food that they're going to
54:58throw away to like the soup kitchen
54:59where we volunteer. Um, so that's one.
55:02And then also trying to think about how
55:04we can help um yeah homeless folks find
55:08shelter over especially over the winter
55:09periods because a lot of um shelters
55:12operate like during the day. Uh sorry
55:14not during the day in the evenings not
55:15during the day necessarily but that
55:17means during the day they just like
55:18outside it's cold they're not really
55:20able to do much. Um, so I I recently
55:22stumbled across um I met someone at a at
55:25an event who is also thinking about that
55:28and so trying to figure out okay well
55:29what happens during the day and how can
55:31we actually like create spaces where
55:34they can come and learn and upskill and
55:36and you know community right like meet
55:38others um and my church is really great
55:40at that so we're going to use them as
55:42inspiration but that's yeah that's
55:43something else. [laughter]
55:45Did you think about reaching out to Too
55:48Good to Go for the first project?
55:51>> Yes, Too Good to Go in London.
55:53>> I think they have a Yeah. something in
55:55the UK.
55:56>> No, we did not. Um I don't know why. Uh
55:58I'm not fully like I don't run
56:01but um I would love to know more and can
56:04we can we chat offline and can you share
56:06more so that I can get in touch with
56:07them? Um because that would be amazing.
56:09I think like
56:09>> I think this is the the core of what
56:11they're doing.
56:12>> Yeah, there's two good to go. There's
56:13also uh is it Oolio?
56:15>> I don't remember. Am
56:16>> I mixing it up? Okay.
56:17>> The market.
56:18>> No, because I think there are two of two
56:19of them that I I knew of um that I heard
56:21of. I don't actually know like how they
56:23partner, but I would love if you're
56:25listening out people from two good to
56:26go. Um would love to chat with you so
56:29that you can help us uh help those in
56:31need.
56:31>> Nice. Sounds good. One last question. We
56:34didn't talk about AI during the whole
56:36thing, which is a good thing
56:37>> by design. So, we don't have to talk
56:39about how AI is going to change your
56:41life and stuff. I'm going to be uh
56:44asking the question the other way
56:45around. What is something that you're
56:49doing today that you would never like to
56:51let AI replace?
56:53>> Building meaningful connections and
56:55relationships with humans. Um because
56:57ultimately, uh I will end where I
57:00started which is we're in the business
57:02of building brand in BC, right? Not
57:04marketing per se. And brand is all about
57:07compounding trust. And compounding trust
57:09comes from spending time with people
57:12over and over and over again. Getting to
57:14know them deeply. Um and getting to know
57:17what makes them tick. And
57:19>> uh I think the whole relational part is
57:22something that just can't be replaced by
57:25AI. Humans like humans. [laughter]
57:28>> Well, I hope so. Um and those who don't,
57:30well, they can self- select out of uh my
57:33uh world. Um, but yeah, I think the
57:35relational part of it and and building
57:36meaningful connections and authenticity
57:39and trust that I don't think AI can do
57:42that just yet.
57:43>> I hope never. [laughter]
57:45>> Perfect. We can end on this on this
57:47quote.
57:48>> Nice happy note to end on. This was so
57:50much fun, Michael. Thank you.
57:51>> Yeah. Thanks a lot. It was really nice
57:53to have you on. And so I'm really happy.
57:55I mean I learned a ton of different
57:56things uh about you of course about what
57:59you're doing at partake about the
58:01different uh you know strategies that
58:03you have your take also on brand uh it
58:06was quite interesting also a reminder
58:08for us to just look at also what is
58:11really meaningful and what is our belief
58:13pretty much when it comes to you know
58:16telling stories and sharing content that
58:18is meaning meaningful to personas and
58:20and not just you know looking at just
58:22metrics and stuff. We talked also about
58:25imposter syndrome. That was cool. Um and
58:29then some other stuff. So yeah, very
58:31happy about the discussion. Thank you.
58:33>> Thank you. This was fun.

About this transcript

This page contains the full transcript of Brand, Trust & VC: how Keji Mustapha (CMO Partech) rewrites venture marketing | KLIMB Podcast by KLIMB, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 11,392 words across 1,622 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.

What you can do with it

Use the transcript to take notes, quote the speaker, build a study guide, generate a summary with ChatGPT or Claude via the YouTube Summary tool, or export it as a timed subtitle file with YouTube to SRT. You can also re-open it in the transcriber to choose a caption track available on the video.

Free YouTube transcript tool

YouTube2Text is a free YouTube transcript generator — no signup, no daily limit. Paste any YouTube link and get the full transcript instantly, with timestamps, click-to-jump, caption language selection, AI prompts for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, and exports to TXT, SRT, VTT, or Markdown.