What’s your one top tip for doing a deal?
Be honest. Dishonesty or lack of disclosure tends to backfire very badly at some point during the transaction.
What was your first job?
Working as an actuarial student in the UK.
How much was your first pay cheque, and how did you spend it?
I was paid £900 for my first two weeks at the actuarial job. I used it to repay a friend who had lent me money to pay the rental deposit for where I was living. With the next cheque I started paying down my student debt.
What is the one thing you wish somebody had told you when you were starting out?
Beware of your own blind spots. It’s very important to be self-aware so that you know your own limitations and the things that you actually don’t know. In doing so, you can improve on your weak areas and build teams around you that support your strengths.
If you could fix only one thing in South Africa, what would it be?
I would fix our education system. Everything starts with education, and if we can get that right for our youth in South Africa, we can start building a strong nation.
What’s the most interesting thing about you that people don’t know?
I come from Springbok, a small town in the Northern Cape; or, maybe, that both my father and mother worked for the police.
What’s the worst investment mistake you’ve made?
Acting on a “stock tip”. By the time you buy, all the information is already in the price. The market is super-efficient like that.
What’s the best investment you’ve ever made? And how much of it was due to luck?
Buying my first home, renovating it and selling it for twice the amount in less than three years. The luck part came probably in getting a buyer at the right time.
What is the hardest life lesson you’ve learnt?
It’s not all about the money. Money can hold you hostage and you can find yourself making decisions you regret.
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Patience, which can lead to procrastination. In most instances, trust your gut feeling or intuition rather than letting critical decisions simmer, or waiting for things to play out. If you are super-confident about a certain route, you have done the work and are not making an emotional decision — back yourself and execute fast.
What is something you would go back and tell your younger self that would impress them?
That one day you will have a device not much bigger than your wallet that allows you to send and receive e-mails, make calls, do payments, monitor and record information about exercise/physical activity, browse the internet and engage socially. I am giving my age away now …
Was there ever a point at which you wanted to trade it all in for a different career? And if so, what would that career be?
I enjoy what I do and would not want to trade my career, but if I could have had another career I would have loved to be an architect.
If you were President Cyril Ramaphosa, what would you change, or do, tomorrow?
Privatise our energy supplier.
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