CUT hosts the annual Herman Mashaba Lecture on Entrepreneurship
The Faculty of Management Sciences hosted its 8th Annual Herman Mashaba lecture, delivered by Dr Michael Jordaan under the theme: ‘How Entrepreneurs can save South Africa.’
Dr Michael Jordaan is one of South Africa's most respected business leaders and co-founded Bank Zero. He was previously the CEO of First National Bank (FNB), after which he founded Montegray Capital.
When deliberating on his lecture, Dr Jordaan said that entrepreneurs form the backbone of private companies and are far better at creating growth and prosperity. “The difference between the state and private business is that the state produces expensive goods and services, whereas entrepreneurs create abundance at lower prices. Entrepreneurs can make decisions fast and they also take much bigger risks, private companies and entrepreneurs are better at creating economic growth and prosperity, while the state is better at protecting people and their property rights, thus creating a social safety net while,” said Dr Jordaan.
He further stated that the role of entrepreneurs is to solve other people’s problems, and making money is a personal objective. “In a world full of problems, what we need is a world full of entrepreneurs, let us then consider entrepreneurship.”
Michael indicated that entrepreneurs are good at execution. “Having ideas is great, but the rare skill is the ability to execute them. To be a successful entrepreneur, you need to have paying customers. The goal is to create a motion machine, and without paying customers or money, the entrepreneurial motion machine will stop quickly.”
