AKA from former hero to below-zero with the intention of rising from the ashes as the superhero

Don’t stress, I’m not going to recount every second. I don’t have the fucking time for that.

So, where to start? Probably with –R10 000 in the bank, a potential eviction letter from our landlord, the odd anxiety attack (5 today), a couple of other lawyery-type letters we keep juggling and worst of all, the constant pursuit for good wine under 50 bucks.

Actually, delete all of that shit. In six years between my business partner and I, along with some smart entrepreneurs and a US partner who keeps telling us what wealth we’ve built, we have created a series of ventures that address some Africa’s burning problems, like a largely uneducated continent of youth, food security, poverty, etc.  Yesterday we sat in front of a couple of 35-year-olds, talking about our digital start-up ventures across a bunch of critical verticals. I saw them eyeing us and probably thinking, ‘you old codgers, you’re lucky if you can start-up your car’.

But here’s the truth of it. We read and learn non-stop. We pivot quicker than a hooker spotting a trick across the road. We are obsessed with making a contribution, leaving a legacy, leaving things better than when we arrived. We are fearless.

We do understand what the bloody Blockchain is and how cryptocurrency works. We take the best of business literature and conflate ideas from the likes of Firms of Endearment, Exponential Organisations and WTF What’s the Future. We believe in…what we do, collaboration and sharing ideas without damn NDAs around every corner.

I, more so than my partner, have decided that news completely sucks and being a news junkie will not further my creativity and impending brilliance in any way, but great podcasts will. Thank you, Tim Ferris, Sam Harris, Reid Hoffman and Gimlet for The Pitch. I learn good stuff every day.

What about social media. Well since our social lives differ radically from every millennial, we have zero interest in seeing where you are, what you ate, who you ‘did’, and sharing our movements every digital second of the day. This probably definitely adds a few productive hours to our day.

Did I mention that I aim to learn a very decent and highly impressive word a day? You wouldn’t say so with all the expletives I’ve used, but hey, sometimes nothing less than a fuck will do. The latest word, FYI is Scintilla. Look it up if you don’t know it.  

Nothing is beneath us. Wash the dishes, do the invoicing, buy milk for the office and deliver the documents.

Always positive, always focused, always learning and always true entrepreneurs.  

Janice Scheckter, MD of Indigo New Media is 55 - in case you didn't get that.

Dedicated to my business partner Mark Greeff, our long-suffering life partners, and every over-50 start-up entrepreneur out there.