In this episode, Graham speaks with Johan Potgieter, seventh-generation ostrich farmer turned chartered accountant, now founder of Thornberry Consulting and CEO of Lion Cage Consulting in Cape Town.
Johan and Graham dig into what actually builds business value: not a number a founder has fallen in love with, but a defensible one, built years before a deal is on the table. They talk candidly about the mistakes founders make when they wait too long, and why the numbers a business runs on have to hold up to scrutiny, not just optimism.
This is also a conversation about values in practice: what it means to walk away from lucrative but misaligned clients, why patience is a strategy rather than a weakness, and how a farm upbringing teaches you to think in seasons and cycles rather than quarters.