BACKSTORY: Ryan Switala of Liberty

Ryan Switala, head of simple life solutions, Liberty

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

People who have built up a good reputation and have the trust of their negotiating counterparty seem to be much more effective in making the deal happen. 

What was your first job? 

I was in high school and my older sister worked for pocket money at the Juicy Lucy chain. The business needed some extra people and she suggested I came along. Though I tried hard and was diligent, I was a pretty bad waiter. 

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

My first “real job” pay cheque was probably about R12,000 a month. As I was close to completing university the excitement of having sufficient financial freedom to buy a car (a VW Polo) meant that a substantial portion of the first pay cheque went into paying the deposit. 

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

To take a long-term view about your career. As practical examples, focus on building skill sets for the long term rather than early “progression”, and be prepared that a person you join a company with as a graduate might well land up being your company’s CEO in the future. 

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

I wish that everybody in the country could have an employment opportunity that matches their potential. There are millions of talented people who either don’t have employment at all or are forced into jobs that don’t align with their potential. 

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

I am really interested in sports science. In the past few years I have developed a friendship over the internet with an entrepreneur in Canada who is building cycling sensors aimed at measuring the aerodynamics of riders, and has been consulting to various Tour de France teams. It has been a fascinating journey learning from and informally collaborating with him. 

What’s the worst investment mistake you’ve made? 

Probably a tech business equity stake. It was a small amount, and I understood there was a chance I would lose the money, but it was more an emotional than a rational investment and broke many of my own “rules” I had set for myself. 

What’s the best investment you’ve ever made? And how much of it was due to luck? 

“Investing” in getting my wife to marry me. According to her, 100% luck; according to me, 100% skill, lol! 

What’s the best book you’ve read recently and why did you like it? 

The Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman — it’s an easy-to-read and hilarious crime comedy series. 

What is the hardest life lesson you’ve learnt? 

You can’t judge a person’s character when things are going well — it’s when things go wrong that you really see who they are. 

What phrase or bit of jargon irks you most? 

“Let’s double-click on that.”

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

I think some of the technological innovation we are witnessing is truly like living in the future and would be hard to believe, even for the 10-year-younger me. 

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

Companies have access to either debt or equity as sources of capital to invest to grow and create value for the future. If you apply this to an individual level, young people in South Africa can create opportunity and value for themselves via tertiary education, but there is mainly only one source of capital (student debt) and that is not accessible for many. If I were president, I would create an “equity”-style source of capital for students with which they can study for free, but in exchange they need to share a portion of their future earnings (for instance, in the form of an additional income tax applied to their earnings).