Why black businesses die before the 2nd generation takes over

Vusi Thembekwayo September 30, 2025
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Vusi Thembekwayo

@vthembekwayo

About

I'm Vusi Thembekwayo, a global business strategist and venture capitalist who architects disruption, not just talks about it. For over a decade, I've delivered over 480 keynotes across six continents, from the Oxford Union to Harvard, and to sold-out arenas in New York, London, and Dubai. I've sat in boardrooms with Fortune 500 CEOs making decisions that drive real transformation. As founder & CEO of MyGrowthFund Venture Partners, I back exceptional founders building scalable businesses across Africa and beyond. I was a Dragon investor at 28, a JSE-listed company director before most people finish their MBA, and the youngest African entrepreneur to appear on the cover of Entrepreneur Magazine. I also featured on CNBC, Bloomberg, and Inc. 500. Here, you'll gain unfiltered insights into leadership, strategy, disruption, and the founder's mindset. Real strategies for navigating chaos, scaling ventures, and leading with conviction. Not theory. What actually works when the stakes are high.

Video Description

Vusi Thembekwayo flew 21 hours to the Bahamas “not to play,” but to remind founders that this is the easiest era to build—there’s more money chasing deals than there are good deals. But capital backs companies that are scalable and sellable. Vusi breaks the business game into levels: the professional doing the work, the self-employed operator with a tiny crew, the exhausted business owner drowning in decisions and family politics, the entrepreneur who writes scalable rules, and finally the founder who sets vision, builds capacity, and gets out of the way. He argues we’re brilliant at starting movements, but the real work is building multi-generational businesses—treat customers better, codify systems, track the right KPIs, and design experiences that are relevant, convenient (with three clear choices), responsive, and reliable. Trends create spikes; culture and image create margin—know which game you’re playing. With humor, stats, and graphs, Vusi shows the flywheel: build, scale, sell, reinvest. He grounds it in story—watching his father lose everything, guarding a home with two German shepherds, and, at 17, asking Nelson Mandela one question: “What is your dream for humanity?” Mandela’s answer becomes the founder’s creed—have faith: believe in the impossible, trust the invisible, and walk into the unknown. If you’re stuck, Vusi says, document the playbook, upgrade the team (even when it’s family), obsess over customers, and choose founder over firefighter. The money is out there. Build something worthy of it. Book Vusi for a Keynote address to help you scale your business: https://vusithembekwayo.com/book-vusi/ Join an elite community of ambitious entrepreneurs and unlock group mentorship with me here: https://vtclub100.mn.co/plans/1430414?bundle_token=712f723000082e50c1ef7883ba98a172&utm_source=manual Join our community to scale your business and learn from our business mentors https://schoolofscale.co/ Connect with me on: Instagram: https://instagram.com/vusithembekwayo/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VusiThembekwayoPage X: https://twitter.com/vusithembekwayo?lang=en LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vusithembekwayo/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@vusithembekwayo_official?lang=en Official Website: https://vusithembekwayo.com/

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