South Africa’s wealthiest people in 2007
The Sunday Times of South Africa recently announced South Africa’s billionaire’s club (In South African Rand, divide by ~7 to get to USD). You can find the article here (You may have to register to get to the list).Here is the top ten list:1. Lakshmi Mittal of Mittel Steel SA – ZAR27bn ($4bn),2. Nicky Oppenheimer of Anglo American – ZAR16bn ($2.3bn),3. Patrice Motsepe (African Rainbow Minerals and Sanlam) – ZAR13.5bn ($2bn)4. Rembrandt Trust – ZAR8.3bn ($1.2bn)5. Elephant Consortium (Telkom SA) – ZAR5bn ($700mm)6. Bill Venter of Allied Electronics – ZAR4.2bn ($615mm)7. Giovanni Ravazzotti (Ceramic and Italtile) – ZAR4bn ($586mm)8. Ackerman Family (Pick n Pay Holdings) – ZAR3.7bn ($542mm)9. Bruno Steinhoff (PSG Group and Steinhoff) – ZAR3.7bn ($540mm)10. Laurie Dippenaar (Discovery, FirstRand and RMB) – ZAR3.3bn ($483mm)Here is another list of South Africa’s wealthiest people. There’s some overlap.I wonder why Elon Musk (worth at least $300mm and should be in the top 20) and Mark Shuttleworth (sold to Verisign for $575mm) are not listed. Elon may not be deemed as a South African anymore. I think Mark still lives in South Africa.What to get on the list? Then you may find a few tips in this Secrets of a self-made billionaire Forbes article.Any one else that you think they missed?
New Google Maps Mobile – hold on to your GPS for now
Google (GOOG) recently announced a new version of Google Maps, called Google Maps with My Location. It’s still in beta. I installed it on my Blackberry 8700g (T-Mobile, no GPS) and tried it out this morning. It uses your service providers’ cellphone towers to approximate your location. My accuracy ranged from between 600m to 1700m. Well, my trusty Garmin C330 is way better with an accuracy of < 49ft (15m). In any case, I think it’s a great life saver if you are in a new place without a map or GPS. Btw, it also displays real-time traffic information — a real live saver for me with the horrible traffic here in Atlanta.Here’s a short overview from Techcrunch. OM Malik also wrote about it, as well as Scobleizer (good comments) and AppleInsider (discussing when it will work on the iPhone).Here is how Google describes the new features:
Laurie Olivier – Venture capitalist learned to handle risk fighting off snakes
Laurence (Laurie) Olivier, an Atlanta VC and ex-South African, was recently profiled in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Laurie is a partner in Veritas Venture Partners. Veritas has investments in the following Atlanta based companies: Clickfox, CytoDome, and Asankya. Laurie serves on the board of these companies. He is the Chairman of the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce – Southeast Region and on the board of the Atlanta Venture Forum. Laurie is also instrumental in organizing the annual U.S.-Israel business exchange in Atlanta.In South Africa he currently serves as a technology commercialization advisor to the major government controlled research organization and the University of Pretoria. Laurie was born and raised in South Africa, and holds a B.Engineering (Electronics) from the University of Pretoria, and a B.Com (Hons) and Dip. Datametrics from the University of South Africa.Here is an extract from the Nov 23, 2007 article. Read the rest here.
Venture capitalists, particularly those who concentrate in early-stage investments, need diamond-hard nerves. Laurence “Laurie” Olivier, an Atlanta venture capitalist, got some good training early on. Growing up on a farm in northern South Africa with leopards, baboons and the ultradeadly black mamba, Olivier learned how to confront risk. “The biggest daily problems that we faced were snakes,” he said of his days on the farm in Groot-Marico, near the Botswana border and 150 miles north of Johannesburg. “There was seldom a week that had gone by where we did not kill at least a snake or two inside or very close to our house — some of the most poisonous snakes on earth, like the black mamba and the puff adder. “Olivier, who is distantly related to the famed British actor of the same name, is in somewhat less dangerous territory now, though still in a high-risk line of work: He runs the U.S. operations of Veritas Venture Partners, an Israeli venture capital firm with $100 million in assets under management that invests in early stage high-tech firms. An electrical engineer by training, Olivier, 47, was a former executive at Anglo-American Industrial Corp. in South Africa, where, in 1988 — at age 28 — he was tapped to run that company’s new business development unit. That work helped lay the foundation to what would eventually become his second career as a venture capitalist in 2000, the year he left Anglo-American to join Veritas.”My challenge was to find new businesses that we could start from scratch,” Olivier said. “One way to find new businesses was to scout for technologies, and one way of scouting for technologies was to actually invest in venture capital.”
Careers in Africa conference, Houston Nov 16-18, 2007
Have you ever wanted to work in Africa? The Careers in Africa recruitment summit in Houston is a great place to meet and interview with senior delegates from South Africa’s leading companies. Participating South African companies include:
- Africon,
- Anglo Platinum,
- Barloworld,
- Eskom, and
- Sasol.
Participating US multi-nationals include: Chevron, GE Oil&Gas, and Cameron.Other prominent companies include: Lafarge, Toyota, and Orascom.
Just-in-time (JIT) training for entrepreneurs
I think that the exponential increase of on-demand video (youtube.com, Yahoo! video) will allow entrepreneurs to learn on-the-fly from some incredible sources. The problem with Youtube is that it takes time to find quality videos, like this Sellingpower interview of SAP Americas CEO, Bill McDermont.The Stanford’s Educations Corner is an entrepreneur’s best friend. It contains wisdom, knowledge, tried-and-tested experience from very well-known and experienced business people like John Doerr (Kerner Perkins), Carly Fiorina (former HP CEO), and Guy Kawasaki (Garage Ventures). This month’s Futurist click-of-the-month is SciVee.tv. This is a great example of a site aggregating some quality videos.
We expect to disseminate science to the widest possible audience, thereby bringing the YouTube generation–who are the next generation of leading scientists–the best science using a medium they have adopted and use on a daily basis,” says University of California, San Diego, pharmacy professor Phillip E. Bourne, one of the directors of the SciVee project.
Apple’s iTunes now contains a section called uTunes. uTunes contains audio lectures from prominent universities like MIT, Stanford, Duke and Berkley.Another interesting site is slideshare.net. On this site you’ll find lots of very well articulated business presentations. Again, you’ll have to search a little to get gems like this one:View on SlideShareWhich sites do you use for your JIT training?
South Africa vs England in the Rugby World cup finals
South Africa plays England in the 2007 Rugby World Cup finals, Oct 20, 2007. South Africa were the world champions in 1995 beating New Zealand in a triumphant final on home turf.Go Bokke!!!UPDATE: South Africa is the 2007 Rugby World Champions.
US-Africa Business Summit 2007
The Corporate Council on Africa’s sixth US-Africa Business Summit, taking place in Cape Town in November, will see some of the world’s top business leaders discussing trade and investment opportunities in Africa, best practices, and how best to grow business in ways that will promote sustainable growth on the continent.
Patrick Lencioni – The three signs of a Miserable job
Pat said that this was the first time that he will give this keynote on his new book: “The Three signs of a Miserable Job.” He is also the author of “The 5 dysfunctions of a team”.I think work is under-focused on in our lives. Work is thought of that other thing we do. Popular TV shows don’t show people working. People on Dirty Jobs seem happy with their jobs. This is amazing because they have bad jobs. CEO, execs, football players are unhappy. Is your job fulfilling? Misery at work is universal – clock watching, Sunday night blues, ahhh I have to go to work tomorrow.People need to be reminded more than being instructed. – Samuel JacksonThe 3 signs of a Miserable job
- Anonymity – All humans have a need to be known. If we feel anonymous we don’t feel appreciated. Managers should care about their people. We have to life coach the people who work for us. Why aren’t we all doing it? We’re too busy. Interest needs to be genuine. [The handouts read, accountability instead of anonymity — funny…]
- Irrelevance – You make a difference in some one else’s life. As managers tell people how they make a difference.
- Immeasurement – Measure for themselves why they’re doing what they are doing. Salespeople like their jobs because they know where they stand. We all have a need to measure. This is what I do, and this is how well I’m doing.
Someday I what to retire. Don’t wait until you retire to start your ministry. The way you treat your people will influence the people around them. Management is ministry!Pat’s final comment: Work becomes a great source of fulfillment and ministry.[amtap book:isbn=0787995312]
Andy Stanley – The most powerful man in the room
[Note: ok I couldn’t do the real live blogging thing. The WiFi connection wasn’t strong enough, sorry…]Andy Stanley started off with a confession – I’m nervous talking @ Catalyst. He said, “We are like peers. You guys are like the leaders. What am I going to talk about next year?”Then he started his talk on “the most powerful man in the room”.If God trusted you with leadership — you wield power (we like to use the word influence). Our words have power. Whether you like it or not — you have power as a leader. How do we use it to honor God? Double-edged sword of power. Regulation is not the solution to control power. Same problem in churches. Always work in teams. Follow we, instead of follow me. Not the solution.What do you do when it dawns on you that you are the most powerful person in the room?This is the moment in the life of a leader that makes or breaks us and shapes our character. It says so much about your confidence in God. You have no idea how God wants to use you. Your fear of power (abuses you’ve seen) may be what God wants to use. God wants to entrust even more to you. Biography – read story of Moses. I (Moses) don’t want to be in a position of power — maybe God wants to use you.John 13: 1-7, 12-17, so he got up from the meal, and he wrapped a towel around his waist.What’s your first move when you become a powerful person? Jesus sheds his symbol of authority his robe. Jesus disciples were stunned by his humility. Jesus sheds all his authority (his robe is the symbol) and became a humble servant.What do you do if it dawns on you you’re the most powerful? Jesus just gave as an example. Your first line of respond is to shed symbols of authority and show humility.Don’t leverage your power for your own sake, but for the sake of the other people (in the room). Look for opportunities to leverage your power for the other people in the room. If you don’t apply this principle it shows your weakness. Jesus didn’t do it. [Note: Later in the day Rick Warren said a similar thing: He leverages his fame and influence to give people (the poor) influence who don’t have any.]George Washington story – he surrender his power. If he decides not to be King he would be the greatest person in the world. Supreme example of a leader that can be trusted with power — he gave it up.Legacy of your leadership will be to decide: I’m not greater than my Master and Saviour. He leveraged His power for the benefit of the others (disciples) in the room. We should do the same.
Catalyst 2007 – Convergence of next generation leaders
I’ll be attending the Catalyst 2007 conference at the Arena in Gwinnett County, just North of Atlanta, Oct 4-5, 2007. This conference usually draws over 10,000 people and is aimed at sharing leadership insights with young, upcoming leaders. It’s a great event with an impressive list of speakers including:
- John C. Maxwell – author of many leadership books including, 21 Irrefutable laws of leadership,
- Andy Stanley – Senior Pastor of North Point Christian Church,
- Dave Ramsey – Radio host and NY best selling author,
- Tim Sanders – Former Chief Solutions Office, Yahoo!,
- Patrick Lencioni – NY Best selling author: Five Dysfunctions of a Team), and
- Rick Warren – Pastor and author of The Purpose Driven Life.
My plan is to do some live blogging for the first time. Let’s see what happens. Hope to see you there.
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