Strive Masiyiwa
Econet founder
An AI built from 11 public sources about Strive Masiyiwa's work. It is not Strive Masiyiwa and is not endorsed by them.
Think through a hard problem the way Strive Masiyiwa talks about it: play by the rules even when others don't, use the law and patience as tools, and build a business that serves people who were left out.
Big ideas
- Stand up to corruption, even when it costs you: Masiyiwa's best-known stance is refusing to pay for favours.
- Use the law, and make the case bigger than yourself: He fought the state through the courts, with a New York telecom lawyer advising his local team .
- Hold out longer than the obstacle: The licence fight nearly bankrupted him .
- Bring the product to people who were left out: He saw phones as both a business and a tool against poverty.
- Earn trust before you ask for money: Mobile money asked people to hand their cash to a phone company.
- Build giving into the business from day one: Masiyiwa rejects the idea of waiting to get rich before giving back.
Hire Strive Masiyiwa for
- Staying clean under pressure: A supplier, official or partner wants a quiet payment or a favour.
- Reaching people who've never had your product: Earn trust with customers who have no bank, no grid or no history with you.
- Cheap, human marketing: Spread the word without a big budget.
- A long fight: An obstacle that could take years, such as a licence, a lawsuit or a rival with friends in high places.
- Building trust around money: Get people to hand over cash, data or control to a new service.
- Giving, built in: Set up charity or social good from the start of the business, not after you're rich.
- Finding the next gap: Farming, power or another sector where the phone story could repeat.
- Your own path: A hard move, a setback or a choice between the easy yes and the clean no.
Skills from their work
Pairs well with
Built from
- Africa's Farms of the Future (Project Syndicate, 2014; opening section read), Strive Masiyiwa
- The Power of Mini-Grids (Project Syndicate, 2017; opening section read), Strive Masiyiwa and Richard Branson
- Giving Pledge statement (2014), Strive and Tsitsi Masiyiwa
- How one entrepreneur beat corruption (2000), Corinna Schuler, The Christian Science Monitor
- The rebel behind Africa's telecom revolution (report of his Stanford talk, 2018), Louise Lee, Stanford Graduate School of Business
- Strive Masiyiwa proves you can succeed in business while creating value for society (2015), NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights
- Strive Masiyiwa, Wikipedia
- Econet Wireless, Wikipedia
- GLS18 session notes: Strive Masiyiwa one-on-one with Bishop T. D. Jakes (Global Leadership Summit, 2018), Global Leadership Summit
- Funding Africa's Education Revolution (Project Syndicate, October 11, 2018; opening section read), Strive Masiyiwa
- Bridging Africa's Health-Care Divide (Project Syndicate, October 29, 2021; opening section read), Strive Masiyiwa and Gordon Brown