Breakfast with Jaisin Naidoo
Breakfast with Jaisin Naidoo
Jaisin Naidoo is a South African social entrepreneur who is all about connecting the third world to the rest of the global community.
A engineer by trade, his first major venture was CellCom Mobile, which started out as a way to help, and quickly became a profit making endeavor.
The entity was then acquired by Venture Beyond (VENBEYCAP) and Courtney Jordan Holdings, companies both owned by American Entrepreneur Courtney Jordan. Although, the amount of the acquisition was kept private at the time. It was confirmed by Naidoo that the company sold for $20 million USD in 2015. After the acquisition, Naidoo took a year to travel and to another to find the point to life. It rocked his core to know that something he started to do good turned into a profit driven company.
Here over coffee I had a chat with the young entrepreneur about startups, advice, and his latest ventures and how he found his balance.
1) Tell us about your experience since the sell?
During my time in leadership, I started getting frustrated as those around me were more concerned about turning a profit and less about the mission. Once I sold, I had so much, I didn’t know what to do. I had no outlet to give and just had me, and this account with these numbers. I was lost, without a cause. So I took time for myself and decided to seek enlightenment. While traveling in Bali I found a true center. In this world nothing happens with out trade, be it money in exchange for time, goods or services. Or in a small village that grows crops and exchanges those for a home builder services. I found out that I could be both the giver and the receiver. That we all, get consumed with those that are doing less than, that we start to feel guilty for what we have. I thought that the only way to help was to give to no gain. Now, I see the true value in business and it’s place in the world.
2) How important do you think the name of a startup is?
I think it’s important, although if you want a .com domain, it’s almost impossible to find a good name these days. It’s increasingly difficult even with .com.au. So, rather than the perfect name, I think it’s better to find a name that is good enough, register the domain and spend your time building the product. I like short names that are somewhat descriptive. I’m not a fan of misspelling a word and using that as a name. There are other arguments for having a generic name because if the company evolves over time, it isn’t limiting.
3) When did you know you wanted to be an entrepreneur?
I’d always wanted to do things myself back since high school. I knew no one could see the way I could and every job i had was like chewing glass. Even the simplest things I just knew, I could do it a different way and in a better way. But when you work for someone you work on their vision.
4) How did you first get started as an entrepreneur?
I had a passion to help, and my focus was on that. As a engineering student, i saw how technology changed lives, how connection to others, inspired hope and expanded the mind. How a simple device that fits in our hands could save a life. My passion would turned into my profit .
Breakfast with Jaisin Naidoo
5) What do you think your key skill is personally, what do you think you are best at?
When I am involved in something, I give it full focus. I see a lot of people fail as they are distracted and doing too many things.
6) Have there been any business trends in the last 10 years that you have really been kicking yourself for missing out on?
Not really. I’m pretty pragmatic about starting a business. Most businesses fail because of bad timing or a model that doesn’t work for countless reasons. However, even if you pick a trend and are in the perfect market at the right time, everything is going to have to go your way to create a successful business. Even if someone created Uber a year before Uber came they probably couldn’t have raised enough money, and there is a high likelihood Uber would have come anyway and steam-rolled them.
7) Do you think that entrepreneurs are born that way, or is it something that develops through your upbringing?
I think there are certain traits that make someone more likely to start a business; however, I think upbringing and experience plays a big part. I’ve met quite a few company founders now, and in general they are different in so many ways. I guess the successful ones share a common trait; they had a go and rode a wave.
8) What does a typical working day look like for you, from start to finish?
The day is usually pretty varied working on the my new product, visiting a venue, or working on countless other things that are going on.
9) After EatNow was acquired, did you splash out on any big purchases?
Besides the traveling, I bought a house pretty quickly, but that was the main thing.
10) What single piece advice would you give to people thinking about starting their own business?
Make sure you’re up for the fight. In most cases I don’t think it’s a “give it a year and see” thing. Usually, it takes a long time, and the theme of the back story is persistence.
Originally published at www.millennialaires.com.
