Modau empowering entrepreneurs one insightful podcast at a time

By Royal Ibeh, Bird 

On a typical day, South African podcaster Mashudu Modau can be found in his new studio at 27 Boxes, Melville, Johannesburg.  The studio is a recent milestone in his trajectory and is dedicated to his podcast network ‘Lutcha’, a name translating to ‘Youth’ in some Nguni languages.  According to Mashudu, “Lutcha is an African podcast network making podcasts on topics that matter.

The idea was born after the inception of his entrepreneurial podcast, ‘MashStartup’, four years ago. The platform, now one of the leading youth entrepreneurship podcasts in South Africa, started out of Modau’s frustration over the lack of authentic documentation of the journeys of entrepreneurs and the process of building a business. 

“I felt there was room to be open and honest about what it really took to build something that mattered,” he says. After running his podcast for two years, he realised there were similar shortcomings in traditional media, which would also benefit from the introduction of more meaningful conversations and content. That is how the Lutcha network came about.

The vision
“We want to build the ultimate unconventional guide for the unmuted generation. A media company focused on documenting and advancing young Africans in every way. Our studio is merely a tool to help us do that. With the best technology and incredible community, we are at the beginning of building something special,” he says proudly.

A man of many hats, Modau is also the creator of ‘Founder’s Sauce’, founded in 2020. Having an ear to the ground gave him a better perspective on what startups needed, prompting him to create the initiative to provide an avenue through which startups could access resources.

“I have always believed South Africa’s ecosystem was too fragmented and confusing for entrepreneurs to navigate. We built the ultimate map of resources, insights and support to help anyone build something,” says Modau.

Empowering entrepreneurs
Additionally, he is a community, content and collaborations manager at Yoco. His work across the board is aimed at empowering entrepreneurs by providing access to resources and information, earning him the title of South Africa’s ‘Youth Startup Evangelist’. 

With the rise of his podcast, Modau has collected plenty of insight into youth entrepreneurship in South Africa, along the way. Something he keeps seeing is the importance of community.

“The best entrepreneurs are the ones who deeply care about solving a big problem for a significant market better than anyone else has. Working hard is important, luck helps but networks/communities are the most important enabler for your growth. Tech is not the future, it is the now and young Africans are using it to build some special things,” he points out. 
As a seasoned podcaster, well aware of global podcasting trends and developments, he feels that the South African podcasting industry needs to grow in terms of adoption. The big question regarding the topic then becomes, how will the adoption of podcasts grow as a medium of communication with people across the continent?

“Getting people access to the devices, the data and the information to move from traditional media to new media will be the major challenge for the space for a very long time. But this is a challenge for the continent and podcasters will not be the ones to fix it,” says the podcaster.

In his view, podcasters should prioritise building meaningful communities rather than reaching large numbers of people through their content. Niche audiences who care deeply about a subject matter, are far more valuable than mass audiences who do not care at all. 

Impactful contribution
For Modau, “impactful contribution” is the only way he sees the continent developing.  “Creators, entrepreneurs and small businesses shape so much of our world through what they make and build. Supporting them and enabling them should be everyone’s priority,” he urges.

His role as a Community, Content and Collaborations Manager at Yoco allows him to connect Yoco to the small business development ecosystem and the ecosystem to the work Yoco is doing- with the ultimate vision of enabling people to thrive. 
“Yoco is the best place to really understand the state of small businesses, what they truly need and how we can be part of the change for them,” he says.

Succeeding while lifting others along the way is what Modau believes his purpose in life is all about. He believes we all have a role to play in shaping the world we want, and it starts with people being empowered to do and build the things they believe in. 

Source: bird.africanofilter.org

Creating  a successful podcast

A podcast is a digital audio file, which can be downloaded from the internet and listened to on various digital devices such as slick expensive box sets, or as cheaper, conversational programmes.

Editorial standards such as accuracy, impartiality, harm and offence and privacy need to be applied with the same rigour to podcasts as any other content.  The challenge of creating a podcast is to find the right balance between pushing the boundaries of creativity whilst maintaining editorial integrity.

Knowing who your podcast is for is key to success. You should also be spontaneous, conversational and less scripted. Be intimate and engage the listener on a one-to-one basis. Create a sense of community by cross promoting other podcasts. Good storytelling. Lastly, pique curiosity by having the freedom to say what you want.
Source: bbc.com