In this episode, Kane Jackson speaks with filmmaker Martin Oetting about his documentary "Purpose," which explores reimagining economic systems that prioritize wellbeing over GDP growth. Born in West Germany to a politically engaged family, Martin brings personal insight to this challenge of creating economies serving people and planet.

The conversation covers Martin's seven-year journey creating a film following two economic pioneers: Katherine Trebeck (Australian economist in Scotland) and Lorenzo Fioramonti (Italy's former Economic Development Minister). Martin's project was sparked by the 2016 US election, which made him question how supposedly successful economies could produce profound societal dysfunction.

Martin articulates the fundamental shift wellbeing economy advocates propose: measuring what truly matters to people (family, health, security, meaningful work) rather than just money made. He discusses translating complex economic concepts into compelling narratives and his vision for making "economics a popular sport" through community dialogue. Despite current setbacks, Martin maintains that purposeful action toward better systems remains both possible and necessary.

1. The Purpose of "Purpose" (03:15-06:54) - How West Germany's post-war validation through economic growth informed Martin's interest in alternatives to GDP as our success yardstick.
2. What Really Matters (06:54-09:53) - How people universally value family, health, security and work, yet economic measurements fail to reflect these priorities.
3. GDP's Flaws (07:48-09:53) - How this convenient but flawed short-term solution became permanently embedded, counting aggregate money without measuring distribution, equality, or wellbeing.
4. Trump's Election as Catalyst (10:03-12:43) - How this pivotal moment made Martin question America's economic "success" despite social and democratic dysfunction.
5. America as Cautionary Tale (12:43-14:26) - How countries still point to America's GDP growth while ignoring declining life expectancy, crumbling infrastructure, and democratic instability.
6. The Time-Poverty Paradox (15:18-17:35) - How growth-obsessed economies rob people of time to contemplate alternatives, leaving economics to specialized "oracles."
7. Wellbeing Economy Framework (18:06-23:30) - Society collectively deciding what goals matter, setting measurable indicators, then inviting all actors to compete on finding solutions.
8. Trickle-Down Economics Critique (23:30-25:49) - The false promises and communication challenges in our "post-truth sound bite world."
9. Storytelling for Change (25:49-29:52) - Martin's quest to translate economic, academic and political work into relatable art forms through film, stage shows, and writing.
10. Academic Responsibility (27:16-29:52) - Critique of academics speaking only to peers rather than making work accessible to the public.
11. Advertising Techniques for Academia (29:52-31:26) - How focusing on outcomes rather than specifications could help communicate complex ideas.
12. Political Navigation Lessons (31:26-33:56) - How Martin's directness works in certain contexts but limits political effectiveness.
13. Filmmaking Journey (34:18-40:05) - The ups and downs of Martin's process, from initial joy through pandemic isolation to distribution challenges.
14. Creator Perspective Challenges (40:05-44:42) - The psychological challenge of spending thousands of hours with creative material and maintaining fresh eyes.
15. Strategic Optimism (45:23-49:06) - Balancing daily doubts with purposeful action and present-moment awareness.
16. Individual Action Steps (49:54-53:36) - Creating study groups, making economics a "popular sport," and questioning GDP growth alternatives.
17. Respecting All Life (55:04-57:13) - Martin's wish for universal respect for all living beings and recognition of our interdependence.

In this compelling episode, host Kane Jackson speaks with Nikki Tugano, founder of Seen Culture, who strategically navigated the venture capital landscape as a solo non-technical founder to secure funding for her tech startup. From her formative years in the Philippines to becoming a recognised force in the tech world, Nikki's journey demonstrates how unique perspectives and psychological insights can become powerful business advantages.

The conversation reveals how Nikki leveraged her background in psychology and commerce to understand human potential at scale, why self-awareness creates competitive advantages in business (particularly given that while 95% of people believe they possess it, only 10-15% actually do), and how her experiences of being underestimated motivated her to build a platform that captures hidden value in organisations. Through strategic decisions like reinvesting every dollar into her company, Nikki illustrates how entrepreneurs transform constraints into catalysts for innovation.

This insightful discussion examines the psychology behind funding decisions, the business case for recognising diverse contributions, and what becomes possible when systems are designed to unlock potential rather than perpetuate traditional patterns.

Nikki discusses how being raised by her grandmother and growing up as an only child cultivated her independence and internal locus of control - traits that became entrepreneurial assets.

How understanding attachment styles and psychological patterns equipped Nikki with exceptional self-awareness and relationship navigation skills essential for leadership.

Why psychological understanding provides more business value than traditional commerce education, given that business fundamentally operates through systematic people dynamics.

Analysis of Harvard Business Review findings showing the gap between perceived and actual self-awareness, and how this creates opportunities for conscious leaders in startup ecosystems.

Strategic analysis of how affinity bias, confidence perception, and gender dynamics influence funding decisions, including why women's demonstrated self-awareness doesn't always translate to funding success.

How Seen Culture quantifies overlooked contributions in organizations using data-driven approaches similar to sports analytics, creating measurable business value.

Nikki's approach to startup bootstrapping, including reinvesting every dollar into the business, utilizing accelerator resources, and maintaining singular focus on mission execution.

How encounters with bias provided valuable market research, revealing gaps in traditional business practices and validating the need for Seen Culture's solutions.

How early life experiences created a higher tolerance for uncertainty and challenge, providing advantages in the high-stress startup environment.

The multiplier effect of recognising hidden talent - how democratising recognition creates better problem-solving capacity across organisations and society.

Nikki's evolved perspective on building diverse teams, using sports team composition as a model for understanding how different strengths create competitive advantages.

Kate Kirgizova's observation of Nikki's commitment to her mission - reinvesting every resource while maintaining unwavering focus on creating systemic change through technology.

In this compelling episode of Chasing Financial Equality, host Kane Jackson explores the revolutionary world of impact-driven finance with Cameron Neil, founder and CEO of Lend for Good, and Holly Smith, a Gen Z team member reshaping traditional finance perspectives. Together, they discuss how their crowd lending platform is addressing the $5 trillion "missing middle" gap in global finance - the critical funding void between philanthropic grants and traditional investment.

The conversation delves into the generational dynamics of their partnership, the shift from community-focused banking to profit maximisation, and how Lend for Good is creating alternatives to traditional financial systems. Neil shares his journey from establishing Australia's fair trade movement to building financial infrastructure for impact enterprises, while Smith offers insights on how Gen Z approaches impact investing and values-driven finance in Singapore and beyond.

Holly Smith's emotional journey finding her place in impact investing in Singapore, and how Lend for Good provided a space where she could bring her full self to work.

Cameron Neil describes his "dad, servant, builder" identity and how it guides his approach to creating impact-driven organizations and movements spanning multiple generations.

Holly Smith discusses how Gen Z approaches finance differently, prioritizing values in every aspect of life and viewing finance as a tool for change rather than just profit generation.

Cameron Neil explains how small businesses and impact enterprises get trapped in a funding gap between philanthropic support and traditional investment, leading to a $5 trillion annual shortfall that continues to grow.

Discussion on how banking has transformed from community-focused institutions with local bank managers to globalised profit centres, and its impact on small businesses and communities.

Discussion on building distributed, networked solutions (the "mycelium" approach) rather than centralised systems, and reimagining finance to serve society rather than the other way around.

Exploration of how Lend For Good navigates FinTech regulatory challenges while staying true to their mission, including their decision to prioritise impact over traditional compliance paths.

The closing segment where both guests share their vision for global change - improving financial literacy and removing money from politics - as the most impactful changes needed today.

When we talk about innovation, disability is rarely part of the conversation — but it should be. In this episode, Kane Jackson speaks with Pete Horsley, founder of Remarkable Tech, to unpack how inclusive design and disability-led innovation are reshaping the future of technology, business, and society.

With 16% of the global population living with a disability, Pete shares why accessibility isn’t a niche issue, it’s a massive missed opportunity. Drawing on decades of work in the sector and personal experiences with his sister Jo, Pete reveals how the disability community has long been at the forefront of technological breakthroughs we all benefit from today — from keyboards and speech-to-text, to remote work.

Together, Kane and Pete explore:

•⁠ ⁠Why the charity model of disability support is broken

•⁠ ⁠How Remarkable Tech is accelerating disability innovation globally

•⁠ ⁠The business case for accessibility and inclusive design

•⁠ ⁠Why remote work and AI have transformative potential

•⁠ ⁠What we all miss out on when we exclude people with disabilities

Whether you're a founder, policymaker, technologist, or just someone who wants to help build a more equitable world, this conversation will change the way you think about inclusion, design, and the future of tech.

What happens when a teenage mum becomes a PhD-holding gender equality commissioner responsible for over 300 organisations and nearly half a million workers? You get Dr. Niki Vincent — a quiet revolutionary whose life's work has been to transform the systems that hold inequality in place.

In this episode of Chasing Financial Equality, Dr. Vincent joins Kane Jackson to unpack how personal struggle becomes political insight, how to drive institutional change with both compassion and compliance powers, and why data only matters if it leads to action.

From dismantling discrimination in police forces to reshaping public sector policy across Victoria, Niki reveals the hard truths about systemic bias — and how the Gender Equality Act is forcing organisations to face them. Together they explore why gender equity is not just an ethical obligation, but a structural redesign issue that intersects with finance, class, race and power.

Expect practical insights, moving personal stories, and an inspiring call to make equality not a side project — but business as usual.

Ever wondered why humanity's progress is stunted, despite advances in technology, infrastructure and knowledge? Why socio-economic disparities are widening? Why life is scarier, harder and less hopeful than ever before? Why a rapidly increasing portion of people are afraid to bring children into this world? 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻! My recent conversation with Erinch Sahan, former chief executive of the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) and the business lead at Doughnut Economics Action Lab (DEAL), dives into the uncomfortable engrained fallacies of the profit-centricity in companies, the effect of a brazen shareholder primacy and discusses how both shape an economy that supports a privileged few at the expense of the many. In this episode, we name the finance industry as the biggest extractor of wealth in today's economy, stifling innovation and increasing socio-economic inequality, and, we identify that all we do to improve the world for future generations is doomed unless we fix the finance industry. Erinch outlines how every problem we face as a civilisation starts and ends at the finance industry and we explore how founders of humanity’s next greatest businesses will redesign industries for the collective good and unleash a torrent of hidden potential that will take humanity forward and off this terrifying path. We discuss how humanity's collective survival depends on transforming the finance industry from being a system that feeds narrow and privileged self-interests to one that fuels holistic prosperity for all of earths citizens. This thought-provoking conversation has implications for all of us - entrepreneurs, employees, investors(!!) and, the most important people of all; consumers. It’s crucial each of us understands and works every day towards changing the status quo because a sustainable future for all of us depends on reshaping the finance industry and corporate world. Do you think you're ready to acknowledge that nothing else we do to improve the future for humanity matters unless we fix finance? If so, join us as we dive into the very hard and very deep issues that humanity MUST fix. Transforming the future 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙨 with transforming finance! If you're invested in solving climate, in improving diversity, in pursuing equality, in breaking down power structures and jamming a stick in the cogs of colonialism and its patriarchal systems, you'll find a welcome friend in this episode.