INSPIRATION
FORENTREPRENEURS
BY ENTREPRENEURS
withJSEAltXEntrepreneurs
Conversations Siyabonga
lVlapoko
-40160-7
tsBN978-0-981
cw studiesundertaken
Andrca Krauschaar,youth
and strntegyresearchdirector
at consultancy YouthDynamixTrax,
categorises SouthAtiica's young peopie
of the 1970sas famoustbr being 'thc
strugglegenemtion'.whilc the youth
ofthe 1980srvereotien called'the lost
generation'.But today'syouth nearly
, 1 0 ' ,o l S o u r hA l r i ( a i p o p u l a t i orng e d
I,1to 35 is 'the go-gettergeneration'
and they believe they can achieve
arythingthey put their mindsto.
lnlo this final categorytalls Siyabonga
Mapoko.a youngequitytrader
turned di-qitalsigr]agecntrepreneur.
He believesthat every entrepreneur,
successfulor other\\'ise.has a story to
tcll andeachhasvaluablelessonsfor
the rvouid-bebusinesspeople
rvith dteamsand ambitions of their orvn.
He tracked dor,vnthe most successful
and recordedtheir storiesas guidelines
lbr the budding entrepreneur.
The prefacecontainsa quotationfront
JosephMalshallWaclc.L S financial
rvizard and trader:
"lf I wantedto becomea tramp.I \ ould
s e e ki r r l b r m r , t i odnr d . r J \ ' .c r - Ln r r h .
m o . r \ u c c e . : h r tl r a m pTc n u l J r - u . l r
I wantedto becomea failure.I l ouLd
seekadvice from men rvho had ner er
succeeded. If I wantedto succeedin
all thjngs, I would look around me fbr
those who are succeedingand do as
they havedone."
Author Mapoko introcluc'es
a conversation with l2 SouthAfrican
entrepreneurslradil'rgwar stories.
Pullingno punchesthey sharebusiness
lessonsleanredfron thc trenches.
I One CEO turned a R20.000 personal
overdralt into a companyr,vithan
annualturnoverof R l00m a year
by r Another CEO came to
SouthAfiica llom UK and
pioneereda company rvith
a R220mrevenuestream
in under fi r'c years
r A 63 year-oldCEO,
almostbankrupt12 years
ago. runs a conpany today
makingR300ma year
r Anotllerhad a crazyidea
to starta no frills airlinein
a heavil\ tradednlarket.In
fbur lears he rr asracking Forewod
up an annualR?00mir
year incone.
EachCEO hasa Jilterent
stor) but the\ illl ha\e a conmon thread The book'shappeningrvasassisted by
- passion.attitudellld principles.They the folk behindAltX, the Johannesburg
sharetheir no nonsensc -quidance on Securities Exchanse'salternativc
of today ho$ to gro\\ a bu:iness.raisecapita). exchange1br smallelcompanies
developa lianchiscmodel.gain markct war]tin-g to list. si1nilarto the LSE s
shareand nanaserapidgrorvthrvhich AINL ITcontainsan e\ceLlento\ erview
can be of -\ltx b\ \oah Grccnhill-dre JSE's
overu,helning.Thc] drill do\\'ninto ihe headoi narketingandbusiness
harshrealitiesol letrenchments. hon tcr dereloprenl. [t:eli an entrepreneurial
d e a ls i t h t h eb u . i r c . . c r , c l er.r l - e - c r c r' -t endeii,Lrur.Ah\ o\ ercantenarket
ma\ be positioned.and \\ hat ir rake.i(, ri-i:irrnai ;nil business\cepticisrr.
becorncl greatleaderandde\ elrrpi::r r:, i: no\\. atiertbur )ears.successful
. ,i : . r . q - . r . s c . . . . - _ _ . . - l3\ LrnJe\pcctatiot]s.
bu:ilerr:eL.:lr- ''Br
I I Decenber2007theAlrX
F r . ra . : i r : r : 3 : : : a ; : : : t : - : . . : a ' : : : , . a boaited75 companiesrvith a combiled
s h L r, , \i a : : , . i : : : t : : : . : - r . marketcapitalisation of R30bn."reports
e\.I-d i: : r: ... .. .:.'l Gleenhill.
t h o s et h r r = e : a ! J : . t r . - , l r l r d Mapoko rvas"taken aback" by thc
as resull!. \een aLi '.: r.a'h. lor generousmeasurehis interviervecsrvere
businessieaJer. lr.okins tbr iiesh rvillingto sharetheir knorvledgeand
the book as inspjration and tor ihe re\t ol us who sectetsfor success.
look on in rr rrnier. "Although the CEOs featurcdoperate
Cot,rersLLtious ofters r aluable insights in different industriesthey seemto htve
to success.Entrepreneulship commonattitudesand principles. says
p l t r ri J c . . ' n r
"l Lhc
grcrie't lrontier. Mapoko."Whcn I interviewedthein I
of opportunitl in any economy. and couldfeel and seethcir passion.It is my
e s p e c i r l l t . o r n e n r e r g i n ge , o n u m i e ' i n hopethat readersrvill heartheir voices
Africa and elservhere. and sharetheir passion.' nwl