While the ambitions of most of those attending the 5th Annual Africa Business Conference at Harvard Business School were likely of the more earthly nature, Mark Shuttleworth, who delivered the morning keynote, said his high-flying approach to challenges has terrestrial applications.
"I never, ever subscribe to conventional wisdom. Conventional wisdom is perhaps the most dangerous thing out there for the entrepreneur," Shuttleworth told the audience at the March 8 conference.
Shuttleworth paid a reported $20 million as the second person to buy a ticket into space. He underwent eight months of training before lifting off on a ten-day mission that began April 25, 2002. But he served onboard as more than just a passenger. He also conducted experiments on sheep embryos and stem cells as well as HIV protein crystallization. As part of the trip, Shuttleworth sponsored an educational program called "Hip to be Square," aimed at encouraging South African students to take an interest in science and math.
The herding instinct is often obvious in business as well as in the movement of capital, he said. But an entrepreneur simply trying to march in step with the rest of the market will probably never see runaway success, he said.
| As an entrepreneur, it's very important to think small. |
| — Mark Shuttleworth |
A secure opportunity
Shuttleworth grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, and founded an Internet consulting business in his last year at the University of Cape Town in 1995. The company's attention quickly shifted to Internet security, and it became the first to build a full-security e-commerce Web server that was commercially available outside the U.S. At 26, Shuttleworth sold his company, Thawte, for $575 million to U.S. rival VeriSign in April 2000, after achieving a 40 percent market share in the Internet digital certification industry. When he sold the company, he reportedly gave each of his 37 South African staff members 1 million rand, about $153,000 at the time.
Shuttleworth acknowledged that Africa seemed to many to be an unlikely place for the birth of such a company. "It was hard to suggest to [potential investors] that one of the leaders in the trust world could be a small firm from Africa," he said.
"As an entrepreneur, it's very important to think small" even as one measures one's success and practices by global standards, he said. "It's in the details that the magic happens."
He also said that as African entrepreneurs seek investors, it is critical for them to understand the perception and realities of the African business climate. "It's perceptions about Africa that are going to drive global investment in Africa," he said. "As we delve into Africa, we have to understand what the world thinks."
Local power
Shuttleworth said he is optimistic about opportunity in Africa because, he believes, people in many countries are starting to demand better government, stability, and democracy, even if that is not the picture of the Continent most frequently broadcast elsewhere in the world.
"We will see a trend toward the democratic handover of power," he predicted.
He said the stability and predictability that Africans will begin to demand of their governments are, incidentally, the same characteristics most foreign investors are looking for. However, he said, it is a mistake for Africans to think that the Continent will be best served by waiting for foreign investors to do the heavy economic lifting. "The reality is that success is always driven domestically," Shuttleworth said.
He gave as an example the boom that occurred in Russia, where he spent several months training before flying with the cosmonauts, after the Soviet Union crumbled. He said the boom was fueled by Western greed and a grab for former Soviet assets. "What we're seeing now is a second boom in Russia, but that boom is being fueled by domestic investment," he said. "What Russian people are seeing now is opportunity all around them—small opportunities."
The European market
In terms of global opportunities for African entrepreneurs, Shuttleworth said he believes the natural target is Europe, given the historical ties between the two continents. "I'm not sure I would be in the queue to get into China," he said. "We understand European thinking, even if we differ with it."
Shuttleworth recalled his flight training in Russia. Entrepreneurs shouldn't allow fear of the unknown to deter them from launching their ideas, he said. "Walking out to the launch pad wasn't frightening; thinking about it the night before was frightening," he said. "I think the same is true for any entrepreneur."