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The Nitpicker Podcast

The Nitpicker Podcast

A Ficus Tree Production

Welcome to the Nitpicker Podcast, where we share interesting stories of interesting people doing interesting things! Hosted by Carol Musyoka!

30 - I Think I Am The Permanent Secretary | Prof Bitange Ndemo's First Day on the Job, And Other Short Stories
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  • 30 - I Think I Am The Permanent Secretary | Prof Bitange Ndemo's First Day on the Job, And Other Short Stories

    Professor Bitange Ndemo reflects on a life he says was shaped more by curiosity and “fortunate accidents” than planning: from a disciplined, polygamous upbringing in West Kitutu and a mother who pushed reading despite never schooling, to studying in Minnesota and working at Medtronic on early digitisation systems.

    He recounts being abruptly appointed Permanent Secretary for Communications in 2005, then helping drive Kenya’s shift from expensive satellite internet to undersea fibre—opting to “go it alone” with UAE partners and local investors—leading to a major drop in voice and data costs when the cable landed in Mombasa in 2009 and enabling online work and AI-related opportunities. Prof also describes government facilitation of M-PESA by engaging the Central Bank and allowing innovation ahead of regulation.

    He later returned to academia, became a full professor, and was unexpectedly appointed ambassador to Belgium, where he learned diplomatic caution.

    He discusses marriage, men’s health habits, and how a pre-diabetes scare at 130kg pushed him into marathon running, and he argues AI, data, and productivity could help tackle poverty.


    Credits:  

    Gab Master (AKA The Host) - Carol Musyoka  

    Ball Juggler (AKA The Producer) - Kui Njoroge 

    Assistant Ball Juggler (AKA The Assistant Producer)- Zawadi Njeru 

    Whip Cracker (AKA The Director)- Kui Njoroge  

    Kissungu Mingi (AKA Script Writer)- Zawadi Njeru & Kui Njoroge 

    Lights, Camera, Action – Snapnest Photography  

    Motion Graphics - Nyambura Irungu 

    Social Media – Israel Pola  

    The Big Kahuna (AKA Executive Producer)- Carol Musyoka  

     

    The Nitpicker Podcast – A Ficus Tree Production. 

    The views and opinions expressed by the guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of The Nitpicker Podcast or its affiliates. Any mention of people, products, services, or organisations does not constitute endorsement. 

    Sat, 07 Nov 2026 - 1h 36min
  • 29 - He Had 27 Missed Calls From the President | Joe Mucheru Thought It Was a Scam Caller.

    What does it take to wire a nation? One man's father started as a caddie carrying someone else's golf clubs. That man went on to put Google on African soil, became Kenya's tech minister, and has now moved $11 billion into the pockets of people banks forgot about. This is the story of Joe Mucheru — the invisible architect behind the internet you're using right now.


    He pitched Google to buy WhatsApp before Facebook did (they didn't — and publicly apologised). He mapped a continent that showed a highway running through State House. He smoked out 400,000 ghost children and 5,000 ghost police from the government payroll. And he's now building a savannah golf course in Chaka with his father's name on the gate.


    This is a conversation about infrastructure, legacy, and the stubborn belief that Africa deserves a seat at the table it built.


    Credits:

    Gab Master (AKA The Host) - Carol Musyoka  

    Ball Juggler (AKA The Producer) - Kui Njoroge 

    Assistant Ball Juggler (AKA The Assistant Producer) - Zawadi Njeru 

    Whip Cracker (AKA The Director) - Kui Njoroge  

    Kissungu Mingi (AKA Script Writer)- Zawadi Njeru & Kui Njoroge

    Lights, Camera, Action – Snapnest Photography  

    Motion Graphics - Nyambura Irungu

    Social Media Manager - Israel Pola

    The Big Kahuna (AKA Executive Producer) - Carol Musyoka


    The Nitpicker Podcast – A Ficus Tree Production. 


    The views and opinions expressed by the guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of The Nitpicker Podcast or its affiliates. Any mention of people, products, services, or organisations does not constitute endorsement.

    Sat, 03 Oct 2026 - 1h 42min
  • 28 - The Only Emergency is a C-Section! | Mbuvi Ngunze on Fires, Boardrooms, and Why He's Not Done Yet

    Mbuvi Ngunzehas sat in both seats: the one that makes the call, and the one that knows when to challenge it.

    In this episode of The Nitpicker Podcast, he walks us through the August 2013 JKIA fire — the crisis that tested every muscle of preparedness he'd built — and then takes us inside the boardroom: the CEO-Chair relationship, the characters around a board table, and why the only emergency in the world is a C-section.

    From growing up in a home that produced two corporate leaders, to becoming CFO of Bamburi at 31, to running internal communications across 80,000 staff at Lafarge in France, to leading Kenya Airways through one of its most visible crises — Mbuvi's career has been about building and consolidating, not founding.

    We also get into why he took an eight-year break from corporate life, why "retirement" is the wrong word for today's over-50s, and why that saxophone is still in the box.


    Credits

    Gab Master (AKA The Host)- Carol Musyoka  

    Ball Juggler (AKA The Producer) - Kui Njoroge 

    Assistant Ball Juggler (AKA The Assistant Producer) - Zawadi Njeru 

    Whip Cracker (AKA The Director)- Kui Njoroge  

    Kissungu Mingi (AKA Script Writer)- Zawadi Njeru & Kui Njoroge 

    Lights, Camera, Action – Snapnest Photography  

    Motion Graphics - Nyambura Irungu  

    The Big Kahuna (AKA Executive Producer) - Carol Musyoka  

    The Nitpicker Podcast – A Ficus Tree Production. 

    The views and opinions expressed by the guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of The Nitpicker Podcast or its affiliates. Any mention of people, products, services, or organisations does not constitute endorsement. 

    Sat, 05 Sep 2026 - 1h 01min
  • 27 - Me, I Love Money! | Cris Njoki Stands On Business - And It Shows.

    Cris Njoki, founder and CEO of IKOJN (yes, the J is silent — you'll learn), joins Carol on the Nitpicker Podcast for one of the most refreshingly honest conversations we've had about building a business in Kenya from the ground up. 

    From waking up at 4 AM to dig through bales at Gikomba, to getting scammed on her very first China order, to watching her first physical store pay itself back times ten in month one.  Cris does not sugarcoat, and she does not shy away from loving money. 

      

    In this episode: 

    How social media became Ikojn's entire foundation (before it was cool) 

    Why she opened a store during COVID while everyone else was closing 

    The China story. The bike story. The impound story. (Yes, all three.) 

    What it costs to build a brand that's also you 

    Why cashflow is king, and what happens when you find out you've been running a hobby 

    And: does she stress? (Genuinely, barely.) 

      

    Cris is the kind of founder who'll tell you she loves money loudly, train her own seamstresses, buy a motorbike for delivery, regret it immediately, and keep going anyway. 
     
    This one is for the builders. The early risers. The ones saving up to start. And the ones who want to be ikojnic. 

      

    🎧 Listen. Learn. Maybe buy something from Ikojn. 
     

    📲 Find Cris: @crisnjoki  

    🛍️ Find Ikojn: @ikonjlive | www.ikonjlive.com  

    📍 Stores: Yaya Centre | Imara Mall | Greenhouse Mall 

     

    Credits: 

    Gab Master (AKA The Host) - Carol Musyoka   

    Ball Juggler(AKA The Producer) - Kui Njoroge  

    Assistant Ball Juggler (AKA The Assistant Producer) - Zawadi Njeru  

    Whip Cracker (AKA The Director) - Kui Njoroge   

    Kissungu Mingi (AKA Script Writer)- Zawadi Njeru & Kui Njoroge  

    Lights, Camera, Action – Snapnest Photography   

    Motion Graphics - Nyambura Irungu

    Social Media Dude -Israel Pola

    The Big Kahuna (AKA Executive Producer) - Carol Musyoka   


    The Nitpicker Podcast – A Ficus Tree Production.  

      

    The views and opinions expressed by the guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of The Nitpicker Podcast or its affiliates. Any mention of people, products, services, or organisations does not constitute endorsement.

    Sat, 15 Aug 2026 - 1h 15min
  • 26 - "If I Don't Do It Now, I Never Will" - Ritesh Doshi Bet On Himself And It Keeps Paying Off!

     Ritesh Doshi didn't plan to build a coffee empire. After investment banking across three continents and running Nairobi's first food delivery startup (Naked Pizza, later sold to Pizza Hut), he took nearly two years off to figure out what he wanted and ended up buying his local neighbourhood coffee shop.


    Spring Valley Coffee now has 10 cafes in Nairobi, one in London, and over 250 hospitality partners worldwide. But the story behind it is about more than coffee. 


    We get into: 

    Why a $22.50 bag of Kenyan coffee in Brooklyn — where the farmer got less than 9% — became the business thesis 

    What burnout really feels like, and the one question that snapped him out of it 

    How his grandmother's biscuit recipe and his mother's hospitality ended up in the business 

    Sharon: the staff cook who taught herself to roast by peering over the roaster's shoulder 

    Why Spring Valley has no loyalty program, no sales team, and no paid media — and doesn't need them 

    Keeping a soul inside a 126-person, two-country operation 


    Ritesh is building a business on three rules: do the right thing, make incredible coffee, delight everyone. Simple on paper, rare in practice. This one will stay with you. 

     

    Credits:  

    Gab Master (AKA The Host) - Carol Musyoka  

    Ball Juggler (AKA The Producer) - Kui Njoroge 

    Whip Cracker (AKA The Director)- Kui Njoroge  

    Kissungu Mingi (AKA Script Writer)- Zawadi Njeru & Kui Njoroge 

    Lights, Camera, Action – Snapnest Photography  

    Motion Graphics - Nyambura Irungu  

    The Big Kahuna (AKA Executive Producer) - Carol Musyoka  

     

    The Nitpicker Podcast – A Ficus Tree Production. 

     

    The views and opinions expressed by the guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of The Nitpicker Podcast or its affiliates. Any mention of people, products, services, or organisations does not constitute endorsement. 

    Sat, 18 Jul 2026 - 58min
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