When radio was first introduced to the market in the 1920s it was a flop, nobody bought it. Radio manufactures were frustrated that they have invented the single coolest piece of technology in like forever, talk about a game changer. They thought this has to be the most disruptive thing in the world but no one…
Having started the business 15 years ago in 2004, he left teaching and decided that he wants to be an entrepreneur selling computers. This at a time when computers were not something that township people were familiar with. Luvuyo Rani quit his job and, partnered with his brother, Lonwabo Rani who was fixing phones at…
When she left being a CEO of a major bank in Botswana to start Sally Dairy, Mme Lorato Ntakhwana quickly learned the challenges of entrepreneurship. Leaving corporate, let alone being a CEO of a major bank to being a CEO of a startup, is not easy. The biggest challenge is downgrading your lifestyle and freeing…
Unlike wild creatures, which operate largely on autopilot, humans usually avoid repetition, seeking novelty. By living our lives on autopilot, we dim our creative spirit and deprive the human specie of our creative genius. The Runaway Species: How human creativity remakes the world is a deep-dive into the creative mind, a celebration of the human…
Between Tesla Motors and SpaceX, Elon Musk has become a legend. But to achieve his current enormous success, Musk had to ignore smart advice and pass under a multitude of storm clouds. What many don't realise is that Tesla Motors and SpaceX both narrowly escaped bankruptcy. Tesla Motors nearly died due to delays and cost overruns, at…
Sello is walking down a country road when he spots Farmer Jacob standing in the middle of a huge field of corn doing absolutely nothing. Sello, curious to find out what's happening, walks all the way out to the farmer and asks him, 'Excuse me Farmer Jacob, could you tell me what you are you…
Recently I was working on preparing my company financial statements and tax returns. I realised that we measure a lot of indicators on our financials. We measure what is measureable and we deem what is measurable to be more important. We don't quiet measure ethics in our financials. Most companies seek to be more profitable.…
Today, I was in the Gautrain, everyone, well almost everyone was on their phones, laptops, earphones and some gadget. People are glued to their screens checking out stuff or listening to stuff. We have all heard the news that attention spans are shrinking. According to research, the average attention has decreased from 12 seconds in…
In 1907, 112 years ago, in a small studio in Paris, a young painter named Pablo Picasso sets up his easel. Usually penniless, he has taken advantage of a financial windfall to purchase a large canvas. He starts working on a provocative project, a portrait of prostitutes in a brothel, an unvarnished look at sexual…
Karabo is a seamstress. She has been in business for twenty years now, long enough to see the world of business and marketing turned upside down. Fifteen years ago Karabo took out a three line advert in the local newspaper every week. She finally cancelled that three years ago when it was yielding two calls…
When you enter to eKasi [township], any Kasi, you get to pass about 4 car washes on the same street. These car washes wash cars the same way, charging the same price, using same process tools and processes etc. Different car wash names but the process, prices and tools are the same. The same goes…
If you want to stand out, do the thing that’s in short supply, that's scarce, that in limited supply, here are some of the rules: When everyone is fighting for attention, be the one who earns permission. When everyone is quick to blame others, be the one to forgive others. When everyone is rushing through,…
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