Expected explosive growth in the African telecommunications and Internet industries prompted former Internet Solutions CEO Angus MacRobert to invest in start-up firm three6five, even though a year ago he seemed doubtful of the company's survival.
Six months ago, MacRobert quit SA's largest Internet service provider and a key component of the Dimension Data group, after spending about eight years steering it through some very difficult times.
This period saw IS transform itself from a pure Internet service provider to a “new-age telco”, when it began to take on the incumbent Telkom head on and through the opaque regulatory period caused by the sudden liberalisation of the telecommunications industry.
However, six months before that, Jeff Fletcher had quit IS, where he had founded its idea generator unit “IS Labs” and had been instrumental in promoting the company's new media and social networking services. Fletcher, along with George Stylianou and Mauritz Lewies, founded three6five, a consultancy and professional services firm.
“Ironically, Angus (MacRobert) tried to persuade us not to start the firm because he was worried about the effects of the world economic fallout at the time,” Fletcher says.
Ironic twists
Another twist of irony was that the idea for three6five did not come out of the IS Labs Web site, but from the three founders' talking about the future of the industry, Fletcher says.
Clients include Convergence Partners, the venture capital firm that has Andile Ngcaba as its chairman and who is also chairman of Dimension Data SA. Fletcher says 60% of three6five's revenue comes from SA and the balance comes from work it has done in other African countries such as Ghana and Tanzania.
MacRobert says his investment and participation with three6five stems from his belief that the African telecommunications sector is due for a massive shake-up in the near future. “The incumbents who are not able to be flexible enough or adapt to the new situation will die.”
MacRobert says businesses, such as Dark Fibre Africa (in which he does not have an interest), are already proving this through their aggressive roll-out of networks.
He says his investment is through a shelf company and he plans to buy into another three or four other companies, although all of these are established businesses.
Related story:
Angus MacRobert quits IS
Share
