In this episode, I’m joined by Alisa Sydow (Professor of Entrepreneurship at ESCP Business School) to unpack what women founders are really navigating in Africa’s entrepreneurship ecosystem beyond the usual “barriers list.”

We discuss:

• Why purpose is powerful—but can also limit growth if it makes founders neglect commercial fundamentals.
• The overlooked role of founder identity (and why some women subconsciously place business last).
• The gap between policy and lived reality in finance access (including stories shared by founders in 2025).
• A practical, grounded view of product uniqueness, market fit, and why the local market is often underestimated.
• Why “trendy” international calls for proposals can distort markets and push founders toward the wrong models.

If you mentor founders, invest, design entrepreneurship programs—or you are building yourself this is an episode to bookmark.

Syntropy isn’t about the tropics—it’s about the physics of life. In this episode, Samuele sits down with Sven Verwiel, CEO & Co‑Founder of Forest Foods (Kenya), to unpack syntropic agroforestry: a regenerative farming approach designed to compound productivity over time through stratification (vertical layers) and succession (time).

We go from field reality to unit economics: what it takes to regenerate degraded soils, why syntropic systems can reach ~200–230% land‑use efficiency, and how Forest Foods is proving a commercial model with outdoor production, zero chemicals, and strong market demand for premium quality.

We also discuss livestock integration (pasture‑raised chickens), the hardest founder challenges (land access, capital, logistics, cold chain), and why regenerative agriculture must become a career path that attracts the next generation.

Key topics: syntropy vs entropy, soil regeneration, agroforestry design, profitability, go‑to‑market, scaling regenerative food systems in Africa

In this episode, Samuele speaks with Apollo Gabazira—Country Director at CARE International (Uganda) and an award‑winning regenerative farmer—about what it takes to make farming profitable, scalable, and youth‑attractive in East Africa.

Apollo shares the Asaba Farm System and its “quad model”:

1. dairy as a foundation

2. agronomy and circularity (turning waste into value)

3. skilling youth through hands‑on learning

4. community extension through local one‑stop hubs (“Farmers Point Outlets”)

We also unpack Apollo’s most actionable insight: the 80/20 rule in dairy—focus on nutrition and reproduction to shift the majority of outcomes, from milk yield to economics.

Finally, we zoom out to the bigger levers: what must change in policy, access to capital, and public‑private collaboration so regenerative and climate‑smart agriculture can become the norm—not the exception.

Key topics: profitable regenerative farming, extension models, youth skilling, policy, capital, SME partnerships.