Fail Forward Friday

• Fail Forward #25 | Mixing Business & Love, Can Your Relationship Survive? | Malesela, Tebogo & Roche

  What happens when your better half becomes your business partner? In this explosive Fail Forward Friday episode, Malesela, Roche, and special guest Tebogo Mahlo pull back the curtain on the messy, chaotic, and sometimes beautiful reality of mixing love and entrepreneurship. 💔 Tebogo’s Shocking Confession: She jumped into business with her partner just two months into dating, what could go wrong? Spoiler: Everything. Resentment, power struggles, and even romance dying, all because they didn’t set one crucial rule. 💼 The Couple Who NEVER Separates: Meet the married duo who work side-by-side 24/7, share one phone, and still keep the spark alive. How do they switch from boardroom battles to bedtime cuddles without losing their minds? 🤯 "Why Is John Texting You at 9 PM?!" The real reason most business-power couples crash and burn isn’t money, it’s unspoken jealousy, blurred boundaries, and the danger of bringing fights from the bedroom to the business. ⚖️ CEO vs. Lover: Can a woman truly lead in business while her man takes the back seat? Or does society, and ego, always get in the way? The panel clashes over who should call the shots. 💣 "We Almost Broke Up Over a Client Handshake!" The unexpected moments that nearly destroyed partnerships, and the hard lessons that saved them. 🚨 Final Verdict: Should you ever go into business with your partner? Malesela says HELL NO. Roche and Tebogo disagree, but their reasons will shock you. Fail Forward #25 | Mixing Business & Love, Can Your Relationship Survive? | Malesela, Tebogo & Roche

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• Fail Forward #24 | Project Titan: Apple Car That Never Was: The 10-Year Disaster | Malesela & Roche

  `What happens when a continent that sparked the Industrial Revolution finds itself lost in the digital one? In this powerful episode of Fail Forward Friday, Malesela Molepo and Dr. Roche Mamabolo dive deep into two stories that, on the surface, seem miles apart, one about Europe’s quiet collapse in global tech innovation, and the other about Apple’s secret electric car dream, Project Titan, that crashed after 10 long years and billions of dollars. Europe’s Blunder: The Innovation Engine That Stalled Malesela unpacks a haunting reality: Europe, the birthplace of the web, scientific enlightenment, and technological foundations, is no longer in the conversation when it comes to leading innovation. Despite inventing the matches, it never lit the fire. Why? Fragmented languages, stifling regulations, brain drain to the U.S., and a cultural tendency to preserve rather than disrupt. It’s a sobering parallel to Africa’s own innovation hurdles. But there’s hope—and it starts with understanding the price of playing it too safe. Apple’s Project Titan: A $10 Billion Dream That Died in Secret Then Dr. Roche steps in with a jaw-dropping autopsy of one of Apple’s most guarded failures, Project Titan. From 2014 to 2024, Apple secretly worked on building an electric, possibly self-driving car. 5,000 engineers. A dream born from the whispers of Steve Jobs. But in the end—no product. Just a quiet all-hands Zoom call where the project was officially buried. Why did it fail? A lack of vision clarity. A divided dream, was it a car? Was it software? Was it AI? A team of global superstars with no true coach. And all of it while rivals like Tesla, Google, and OpenAI surged ahead. Lessons That Hit Home This episode isn’t just about Europe and Apple. It’s about us. What stops innovation? Fear of failure? Cultural silence? Lack of vision? You’ll hear the heartache of missed opportunities and the rally cry for entrepreneurs, innovators, and dreamers: Break things. Fail faster. Lead with clarity. The Big Takeaway Innovation waits for no one. Regulate too soon? Stagnate. Hesitate too long? Obsolete. And if your team isn’t rowing in the same direction, even stars can’t save you. Dramatic. Insightful. Unapologetic. If you’re building something, dreaming of something, or even just curious about why some of the biggest names and places in the world couldn’t keep up, you need to watch this episode. Because sometimes, the biggest failures don’t explode. They die in silence. Fail Forward #24 | Project Titan: Apple Car That Never Was: The 10-Year Disaster | Malesela & Roche

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• Fail Forward #22 | Being an Introverted Entrepreneur: Building in Silence | Malesela, Roche & Tebogo

  In this captivating episode of Fail Forward Friday, Malesela and Roche sit down with the quietly formidable Tebogo Mahlo, a thoughtful entrepreneur and insightful researcher, to unpack a subject often left in the shadows: what it truly means to be an introvert in business. With a calm intensity, the conversation unfolds like a slow-burning drama. The trio bravely ventures into the lesser-explored emotional landscapes of entrepreneurship, where silence speaks volumes, and where the power of deep thought often gets mistaken for weakness. They confront the limitations that introverts face in the bustling, loud world of business, the pressure to network, the fatigue of constant social interaction, and the misjudgment of quiet as a lack of drive. But then, the plot twists. They reveal the hidden strengths of the introverted entrepreneur, the art of listening, the gift of reflection, the ability to connect deeply and authentically. Drawing from personal stories and the lived journeys of other introverts who have carved bold paths in business, they shine a spotlight on a truth rarely told: sometimes, the quietest voices carry the most revolutionary ideas. This is not just a conversation, it’s a reminder that success doesn’t always shout. Sometimes, it whispers. And those whispers? They change the game. Tune in to witness a dialogue that is as soulful as it is stirring.

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• Fail Forward #21 | Was Gautam Adani’s Billionaire Success Built on Sand? | Malesela, Vuyani & Roche

  In this gripping episode of Fail Forward Fridays, Malesela and Roche are joined by the sharp-witted and fearless Vuyile to unravel one of the most staggering business sagas of our time, the meteoric rise and turbulent storm surrounding billionaire Gautam Adani and his empire, the Adani Group. Once hailed as India’s infrastructure king and one of the wealthiest men on Earth, Adani's story is not just one of ambition, it's a tale drenched in controversy, whispers of corruption, market manipulation, and a shadowy empire that seemed too big to fail… until it almost did. What happens when the world’s spotlight turns on a man who built his fortune on borrowed power, political proximity, and high-stakes deals? What truths lie beneath the gloss of his billions, and who dared to expose them? From explosive allegations to stock market chaos, from the Hindenburg Research report to the global shockwaves that followed, Malesela, Roche, and Vuyile connect the dots, dig into the details, and ask the hard questions: Is this the cost of rapid success? Or is there a bigger game at play? This isn’t just a business story. It’s a high-stakes thriller. Tune in for a conversation that might just change the way you see power, money, and failure. Because sometimes, the higher you rise… the harder the world watches you fall. Fail Forward #21 | Was Gautam Adani’s Billionaire Success Built on Sand? | Malesela, Vuyani & Roche

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• Fail Forward #20 | Don't Say in Private What You're not Will to Repeat in Public | Malesela & Roche

  In this explosive episode of Fail Forward Friday, Malesela and Roche dive headfirst into the fiery world of public blunders, scandals, and career-ending missteps. The duo kicks things off with the dramatic expulsion of South Africa’s ambassador to the U.S., Ebrahim Rasool, whose candid remarks about the new U.S. administration’s "supremacist" leanings sparked a diplomatic inferno. The hosts debate whether Rasool’s timing was off or if the U.S. was just waiting for an excuse to flex its political muscle. From there, they dissect Adidas’ jaw-dropping blunder of congratulating Boston Marathon runners for "surviving" the bombing—a tone-deaf move that left the internet gasping. The conversation heats up as they tackle Kanye West’s infamous "slavery was a choice" comment, questioning whether his unfiltered ego or a deeper misunderstanding led to his Adidas deal imploding. The drama escalates as Roche and Malesela unpack Elon Musk’s controversial Nazi salute, a moment that left the world questioning whether it was a spontaneous misstep or a revealing glimpse into his beliefs. The hosts clash over whether Musk’s power blinds him to consequences or if the public is too quick to judge. Then, they shift to the shocking insensitivity of corporate ads, like Clicks’ racially charged hair campaign and the infamous "feed a child" ad, which likened black children’s living conditions to dogs. These examples expose the dangers of echo chambers and the dire need for diversity in decision-making rooms. The tension peaks as they revisit Will Smith’s Oscar slap, a split-second emotional explosion that overshadowed his career-defining win and left audiences divided on accountability versus human frailty. Closing out the episode, the hosts reflect on the brutal lessons learned from these high-profile failures. Roche emphasises the power of self-awareness and humility, quoting former President Kgalema Motlanthe: "Don’t say in private what you’re not willing to repeat in public." Malesela counters with the harsh reality that ego and unchecked power often lead to self-destruction, as seen with figures like Papa John’s founder John Schnatter, whose racial slur tanked his empire, and John Lennon, whose claim of being "more popular than Jesus" backfired spectacularly. The episode ends with a fiery call to action, urging viewers to learn from these cautionary tales before their own missteps go viral. One thing’s clear: in the court of public opinion, there’s no undo button.

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