The story of how Alan Knott-Craig bought Mxit from Naspers and Herman Heunis

mylesillidge

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The day Alan Knott-Craig bought Mxit for R330 million

In his new book, Life Lessons, How to Fail and Win, Alan Knott-Craig Junior tells the story of how he bought Mxit from Naspers and Herman Heunis for R330 million.

Mxit was founded by Herman Heunis in 2005 as a way for South Africans to message each other without having to pay for expensive SMSes.
 

A business biography that follows the life of Alan Knott-Craig as a serial entrepreneur in the telecoms and tech spaces, tracking his wins and losses, and the lessons along the way for both business and life.

Known in Stellenbosch business circles as the 'Weapon of Mass Financial Destruction' after a major flop at Mxit, he was able to rebuild his own confidence and that of his peers by becoming a shrewd, highly innovative and successful businessman, true to his own principles and convictions.

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Alan Knott-Craig Vs Alan Knott-Craig?
What's the connection between the two?

"Knott-Craig’s plan was to make Mxit a prepaid airtime distribution channel and encourage users to move to Cell C.

A few months before buying Mxit, he reached an agreement with former Cell C CEO Lars Reichelt to sell airtime.

However, Reichelt left Cell C in July 2011, and his successor, former Vodacom CEO Alan Knott-Craig, did not see sense in the deal. It was downhill from there."
 
Alan Knott-Craig Vs Alan Knott-Craig?
What's the connection between the two?

"Knott-Craig’s plan was to make Mxit a prepaid airtime distribution channel and encourage users to move to Cell C.

A few months before buying Mxit, he reached an agreement with former Cell C CEO Lars Reichelt to sell airtime.

However, Reichelt left Cell C in July 2011, and his successor, former Vodacom CEO Alan Knott-Craig, did not see sense in the deal. It was downhill from there."
Sr vs Jr. One was smart, the other a dunce...
 
However, Reichelt left Cell C in July 2011, and his successor, former Vodacom CEO Alan Knott-Craig, did not see sense in the deal. It was downhill from there
That must have made for awkward Sunday Lunch with the family.
 
Interesting on what he remembers about his time at Mxit a decade ago. From ex-staff I did not hear anything good about working with Jnr.

Ironically, I was working at a company that was about to be merged with in the dying months; then their due diligence revealed some interesting facts about real Mxit user activity. Deal feel through, this was mid 2014.
 
The worst decision in telecoms history. The writing was already on the wall. Interesting how his own father sealed it.
 
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