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An Englishman in SA

Having worked himself out of a job at Prezence, the company he founded, Tim Bishop decided to take on a new challenge at Deloitte Digital.

By Lesley Stones
Johannesburg, 29 Oct 2013
Tim Bishop, Deloitte Digital, says, in business, he waves the South African flag, but when it comes to football and rugby, he's English. Photography: Karolina Komendera
Tim Bishop, Deloitte Digital, says, in business, he waves the South African flag, but when it comes to football and rugby, he's English. Photography: Karolina Komendera

A tough choice faces anyone who grows their venture into a successful company with external shareholders and a strong team.

'Should I stay or should I go' becomes a question that niggles as you wonder if you can sever the ties and leave your baby in someone else's hands. That was the dilemma facing Tim Bishop, as his company Prezence was increasingly influenced by its shareholder Primedia and he had pretty much worked himself out of a job. When his contract with Primedia ended, Bishop could have renewed it, but it also left him free to tackle other adventures.

"I was at a crossroads because I loved what I did and I loved where we had got to, but I felt the team was so powerful, it didn't need me as much as it used to," he says. "For my next career step, there was an opportunity to step up to a different level because there's life in this old dog yet. I still wanted to do cool things."

Initially, Bishop wanted to take time out, but quickly realised he couldn't. "I thought that was a bad idea because, in digital, whenever I took a day off, I felt I'd lost ground, so a year off would be catastrophic."

As he pondered his options, he was invited for coffee with Deloitte executives who had followed his career. Coffee turned into a contract, and, in March, Bishop became the chief technical officer for Deloitte Digital, its technology and innovation business. His role is to develop mobile apps for enterprises to communicate and engage with consumers using the lower-end handsets that dominate in Africa. "What's exciting is that, as the CEO of Prezence, you get sucked into so much operational stuff, and at Deloitte, there's this fantastic framework of a beast around you that just runs and operates, so I can just do great stuff all day without worrying about the operations."

Bishop is based in Stellenbosch and lives with his wife and two children in Blouberg. He began his career as a digital designer in his native UK. "One of my passions was music, so I started doing new media and designing Web sites and Internet marketing for bands like Oasis, Depeche Mode and Annie Lennox. The Internet was so new that we were one of the pioneers of music on the Internet. It was really cool and when we opened in South Africa, we had a head start on everybody by being super-creative with a portfolio as long as your arm."

Quality gap

He chose to base the bulk of his business in SA because he had lived here for four years as a youngster when his father came on a contract in 1981. "They say Africa gets in your blood and it was somewhere I wanted to get back to. I came here and saw so many talented people but there was a disparity between the talent and the quality of digital work, so I thought we could tap into that by opening an office. I very much wave the South African flag from a business point of view, but from a football and rugby point of view, I'm English," he laughs.

Prezence began building online communities and databases for companies including Ster-Kinekor, UIP and Sony to sell music, movies and games online. While that was fun, it wasn't particularly lucrative, so Prezence also developed content for an entertainment portal and sold content to Telkom and Vodacom for their portals. "The content side of the business really boosted revenue, which let us be a lot more innovative than most and gave us a lead on the competition," he says.

One of my passions was music, so I started doing new media and designing Web sites and Internet marketing for bands like Oasis, Depeche Mode and Annie Lennox.

Tim Bishop, Deloitte Digital

The words 'arrogant' and 'Brit' are often coupled together, and I remind Bishop that he jokingly described himself as a prime example in a recent interview. "I think it's what other people called me because of the way I came to Africa and said, in a not very direct kind of way, that they don't know what they're doing and we have to show you how. One of my competitors referred to me as an arrogant Brit and I took it as a compliment," he says. "Looking back, I really don't know what I was thinking. I'd never go to a country and start up a company on my own now, so I must have been a bit cocksure. But as you get older, your propensity for risk gets less. I also have kids now, so my life has changed."

His only regret is that ensuring the business was solid before he started a family took so long that he's now an older father than he wanted to be. At 44, he may have trouble keeping up with six-year-old Tate, who has inherited his father's love of cars and is a champion go-kart racer.

Hackathon

Bishop's car collection includes an Aston Martin, Jaguar, MG Roadster and a Ducati, which are now gathering dust because of many conflicting demands on his time.

"Deloitte Digital is keeping me very busy, and I'm trying to balance that with coming to Joburg and going to Durban and my little boy's racing and my little girl wanting to go clothes shopping, and my wife," he says. He also occasionally mentors for various projects to help young entrepreneurs, but that's taking a back seat, as is his desire to give something back in return for the opportunities SA has given him.

There's a great opportunity here because, if you're good, you can stand out and make a difference.

Tim Bishop, Deloitte Digital

One effort he is leading through Deloitte Digital is to run a Hackathon event in aid of charity. "Hackathon is where we invite clever people to come and create apps for big businesses, but this year we want to do Hackathon for the greater good and create technologies for people who could never afford technology," he says.

"In 2002, when I came here, people were thinking I was an absolute madman coming to this weird place where everybody gets killed. But there's a great opportunity here because, if you're good, you can stand out and make a difference. It's been incredibly good for me and I'd like to think I'm good for it, that I can give back and help make this country even greater."

First published in the October 2013 issue of ITWeb Brainstorm magazine.

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