I am honoured to publish an interview with Tendai Joe of WhenPages.com, as part of the Africa Series.
Please tell me about yourself (your name, age if
you like, and current occupation or position, business/es you are running, and
so on.
My name is Tendai
Joe, am now 30 years old born 06 November 1982. I am the Founder and Director
of Whenpages.com which falls under my SA registered holding company, Zambezi
technologies. Our ownership of Whenpages.com is at 83%.
Whenpages is a social
events and venue listing service, streamlined for the socially connected online
user. Our service helps event organisers to easily list and promote their
events on our site for free, at the same time allowing venue owners a free
business listing service. Users can easily discover and share events on web or
via mobile platforms. We added a RealTime Blogging feature that can help the
growth of citizen journalism at events or anywhere else. We are building
Whenpages.com as a web platform supported by mobile applications for
iPhone/iPad, a mobisite plus an android app.
We would like to make
Whenpages.com one of the leading Location and Time based services in Asia,
South America and Africa. Our main targets include AFCON Cup to be held here in
early 2013, as well as the FIFA World Cup in 2014 (Brazil). Whenpages.com is
built from my flat, in Pretoria as we are still looking for incubators and/ or
investors.
I am an experienced
social media consultant who has worked with companies including Telkom, SAB
Miller, Vodacom and the Nelson Mandela Foundation. I have also organised events
for the past 10 years, with my biggest event being the Y Generation Forum that
was held at Vodaworld, Midrand in February 2011. I have also also been part of
the digital marketing teams for US international artists like USHER (Orlando
Stadium Concert 2012) and N.E.R.D (Standard Bank Arena 2011). However I did not
study anything IT related; I taught myself from the basics.
Justification
One respected tech analyst once said, “The integration of social media into location-based services is going to change the way brands are able to engage and communicate with consumers.” We would like to help uncover the value of location. The real value for location-based services is to find out what consumers want to do and where they want to go. There has to be some sort of tangible things that the user gets in return for consistent engagement and we have created mobile incentives in the form of special discounts for top engagers. We are trying to trying to build models based on user foot streams to connect them to their passions, tastes, interests, events and other people in a game-changing and more relevant way.
One respected tech analyst once said, “The integration of social media into location-based services is going to change the way brands are able to engage and communicate with consumers.” We would like to help uncover the value of location. The real value for location-based services is to find out what consumers want to do and where they want to go. There has to be some sort of tangible things that the user gets in return for consistent engagement and we have created mobile incentives in the form of special discounts for top engagers. We are trying to trying to build models based on user foot streams to connect them to their passions, tastes, interests, events and other people in a game-changing and more relevant way.
We want to provide a
streamlined service for the hospitality and entertainment industry, taking
advantage of the booming smart phone penetration in Africa and the whole world.
Whenpages has been
touted as a “Game changer” by the Founder and CEO of VentureBeat [Silicon
Valley]’
Please tell me about your childhood: how did you
get to where you are today?
I was born at Nyadire
Methodist Hospital in Zimbabwe. I am the 5th in a family of 10
children. My father is Mozambican, my mother Zimbabwean. My childhood is a long
story. I stayed in the Darwendale
farming area and then Chegutu and then Mudzi. I started my primary schooling at
a farm school owned by a South African farmer, David Bezuidenhout, which was
called Munhondo Primary. I did not go to crèche just like any other child in
that area.
When we moved to Chegutu in 1992, I attended David Whitehead Primary
School, and then dropped out and was on the streets for 3 and half years. I
went back to school in 1995, attending Pfupajena Primary. I was good in class,
which helped me to cope. My family moved to Mudzi in 1995, when my father was
retrenched from work. I then completed my primary education at Goromonzi
Primary School. I then attended Kotwa High School which was about 18km away
from home, and had to stay near the school. We were struggling and food was a
problem. I only attended one term in form one and was supposed to drop out, but
my will was to get an education. Through the support of my brother, I went to
buy old clothes and sold them to get enough money to attend school for the
second term. From there I told my teacher, Mr Mutanho, that I was going to drop
out. During that time I would never share with anyone that I used to be a
street kid because I knew people would judge me. I wanted to be judged for my
potential. I was to become head boy at school and a prefect throughout my high
school.
At the end of 1998, Mr and Mrs Manunure informally undertook to help me
attend school and I ended up staying with them until I completed my O-Levels.
At O-Level, I passed with 6As and 3Bs. I failed to get a scholarship to
proceed, and became depressed. I started hating life and school. My A-level was
not smooth sailing. There were times when I would have no roof over my head. An
evil headmaster at Kotwa Secondary School, Mr Shonhiwa, refused to recommend me
for a scholarship even though he knew my struggles very well. (I only forgave
him in 2007; before that my plan was to one day go back for him and let him
know what he cost me).
In 2005 I migrated to
South Africa illegally. (See my bio on WhenPages.com)
What is your best memory from that time?
I have many memories :)
What influences and which people in your
childhood contributed to where you are and the person you are today?
My mother
My brothers Stann and
Richie (Eldest in the family)
The Manunure Family
(Foster Family )
Mr Mutanho (High
School Class teacher)
Mr Mukupe (Teacher)
Cosmas Mairosi
(Friend )
Paddy Gomo (Friend)
Do you feel like you have arrived, or do you
have much more to achieve?
I have not yet
started achieving what I want to achieve in life.
Whom did you look up to as a child?
My brother Stann, and
actors Jean Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris :)
Who is your inspiration now?
Nkosi Johnson ( May
he rest in peace), Nelson Mandela, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, Biz Stone.
What else would you like to achieve in your area
of influence?
I would like to build
a very successful tech company with a footprint around the globe. My areas of
interest include mobile game and app development as well as web platforms.
What are other things you would like to do (for
example travel, bungee jump, etc)?
I love having fun.
Hiking, adventure bike rides, travelling and anything that challenges my mental
and physical abilities.
Is there any advice you would give to your
younger self (say, you at age 21)?
Tendai, do not do
things for other people, live your life and chase your dreams. You live once and no day is worth spending sad.
What does your day usually look like?
I tweet a lot you
know that right? You'd better know that sometimes I am paid to tweet :)
I work for between 14
to 16 hours a day. For example right now it is 12:53am and I am responding to
your interview questions and I still have another interview to answer. (ST: oops!)
I plan my day around
the tasks at hand. If I am not attending meetings and tech conferences, I am
usually at home, talking to my designers and developers about Whenpages.com
work. There is a lot of testing, design and redesign that goes into the
platform. Sometimes I panic, sometimes I get stressed, sometimes I get angry,
but still I get to calm down and remind myself I am leading my team, so I have
to play ball. Most of my days revolve around Whenpages.com.
Most of my meetings
are in Sandton, Fourways, or Sunninghill, so I usually travel to Johannesburg
for those.
What do you love about Africa?
I love Africa for its
diversity. Africa is rich in every sense.
Which is your favourite place in Africa, and
why?
My favourite place in
Africa is my bed. When I get to sleep, and I know I am in Africa, I feel at
peace :) I love Africa as a whole; I wish there
were no borders. By the way, my Granny was Malawian who married a Mozambican
and they had my father. My father married a Zimbabwean and had me and my
siblings. You see how African I am? And my child shall be a greater African :)
Is there anything that you would like to see
change in Africa?
Africa needs to stop
war. Africa needs to start embracing technology. Africa needs to achieve 99%
Literacy. That way we will be able to advance socially and economically.
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