BACKSTORY: Zapper CEO Brett White

What’s your one top tip for doing a deal?

Ensure the other party wins too: if either party feels slighted, it does not bode well for a good working relationship.

What was your first job?

Junior art director at TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris in Durban.

How much was your first pay cheque, and how did you spend it?

R8,000, and I went shopping for some "cooler" clothes.

What is the one thing you wish somebody had told you when you were starting out?

Enjoy the journey, the destinations are never what you expect.

If you could fix only one thing in SA, what would it be?

Eliminate unethical and ineffective leadership.

What’s the most interesting thing about you that people don’t know?

I’m a creative at heart and I enjoy illustrating.

What is the one investment you wish you had made, or made earlier?

I wish I’d jumped on bitcoin and ethereum when I first heard of them.

What is the hardest life lesson you’ve learnt?

Not to live in my head, regretting a past that can’t be changed or a future that may never happen.

What is something you would go back and tell your younger self that would impress them?

That I would be married to an amazing woman, with two beautiful children, living in Cape Town, and running an awesome fintech company.

Was there ever a point at which you wanted to trade it all in for a different career? And if so, what would that career be?

Yes, several. And I did. Right now, no. I love working in tech, it scratches my itch to solve problems, be creative, and work with new technologies.

If you were President Cyril Ramaphosa, what would you change, or do, tomorrow?

Do the brave and right thing: put politics aside and immediately remove all the corrupt, self-serving and unqualified people in positions of power.