The Springbok who kicked South Africa to World Cup glory and started his own tech company

Many people will have fond memories of former Springbok fly-half Joel Stransky kicking his pivotal drop goal in the 1995 Rugby World Cup final, but fewer know he runs his own tech firm with nine divisions.

Stransky was born on 16 July 1967 in Pietermaritzburg, to parents who had immigrated from England and Czechia.

He played rugby while attending high school at Maritzburg College, where he was coached by schoolboy rugby icon Skonk Nicholson.

Following compulsory military conscription, he studied a BComm degree at the University of Natal in the 1980s but dropped out to focus on his rugby career.

Stransky was part of the first Natal team that won the Currie Cup in 1990. Over the next three years, he played overseas for Italian teams L’Aquila and San Donà.

Between 1993 and 1996, he earned 22 caps for South Africa. The most famous of those was the 1995 Rugby World Cup final, where his drop goal in extra time carried the Springboks to victory.

After the World Cup, he would go on to play two seasons for Leicester Tigers from 1997 to 1999. With injuries becoming an issue, he switched to coaching.

Upon his return to South Africa after 2002, Stransky became a part-time television commentator on SuperSport and started his business career on the commercial side of sports at MegaPro.

Speaking to Leader.co.za, Stransky said he would regret his decision to drop out of university as it made his initial direction in business challenging.

However, in an interview with CEOWise’s Dan Newman, he explained that his exposure to the steep learning curve in the corporate world was valuable to his entrepreneurial ambition.

“You learn about governance, procedure, processes, and little things that ultimately make you a better entrepreneur,” Stransky said. 

He joined up with Altech Netstar in January 2007, initially as Sales and Marketing director. One year later, he was appointed managing director.

However, he resigned soon thereafter to join Steinhoff in a marketing position, before taking on the role of Hertz South Africa CEO between December 2010 and 2012.

Pivotal’s beginnings

In 2012, Stransky co-founded Pivotal Capital, later renamed Pivotal Group. The company began as a venture capital business with its main focus on legally leveraging personal data. 

However, Stransky told Newman the limitations of privacy legislation — like Popia — saw the company pivoting into technological innovation.

The company’s first product was a biometrics tool called OneVault, which offers various identity verification solutions, including remote voice authentication.

Thereafter, it moved into building and managing call centres, supported by its own fully-hosted telephony platform.

The Pivotal group has expanded to include nine businesses, including several tech-oriented divisions such as Pivotal Analytics and Knovation.

Stransky described three key principles he and his fellow Pivotal co-founders wanted the firm to be built on.

“We wanted to watch our kids play sports in the afternoons, we never wanted to fill in another leave form, and we wanted to drink real coffee [in the office]. That is the type of culture we wanted to drive,” he said.

Stransky said his management style was fully inclusive, open and transparent, and consultative. “It was on the rugby field that I learned how important it is to surround yourself with good people,” he said.

“[That is] something that I endeavour to do in business too. I don’t surround myself with sycophants. I expect people to challenge me and to make me think.”

He also told Leader.co.za that sport taught him it was getting the little things right that ultimately assured success. “The scoreboard will then take care of itself. Business is no different,” he said.