7/31/2019 Brainstorm Magazine - Growing Something out of Nothing - Featuring Rob Sussman - November 2012
1/5
7/31/2019 Brainstorm Magazine - Growing Something out of Nothing - Featuring Rob Sussman - November 2012
2/5
Enreprener Rb Sssnk while fnd his pssinB since he did, he hsbeen nsppble.
byLsl Ss
GrowinG SomethinGout of nothinG
7/31/2019 Brainstorm Magazine - Growing Something out of Nothing - Featuring Rob Sussman - November 2012
3/5
inDePthPersonality profle
November 2012 brainstorm
Visitors to the ofces of
Integr8 might notice
that all the teacups on
the shelves are lined
up with the corporate
logo neatly facing for-
ward. Not a single one
is chipped or cracked, because a company
slack enough to tolerate broken cups will
also tolerate business proposals sent out
with coffee stains on them.
Integr8s joint CEO Rob Sussman is
deadly serious as he tells me this, thensees my expression and grins. Im fanati-
cal about everything being organised. I
know its anal, but I believe its important,
he says. If you make a big thing about little
things, then the big things become impor-
tant as well. The ofce has to be immacu-
late. I can drive myself berserk so I must
drive my people absolutely crazy. I some-
times have to apologise and say this is how
I am, everything has to be perfect, but its
worked well for us.
Sussman founded and grew the Integr8
group with his brother-in-law Lance Fanaroff.
Its a real family business, with his wife Tamithe chief marketing ofcer, his mother-in-law
the client relationship manager, his mother
running the companys property portfolio,
Fanaroffs brother running the IT rental divi-
sion, his sister in ofce administration and a
brother-in-law working as a project manager.
The group has about 540 other employees
too, making it the largest privately-owned
ICT company in Africa.
Sussman is only 38 and looks younger,
with gelled, spiky hair and a lean body
honed by daily workouts. I used to be the
wd Rb Sssn, Iner8, sys he hs priclrindse h ndersnds hw cpers hink.
phrphySa Gll
youngest guy in the boardroom, but now
the average age is 26. So Im the old, grey-
haired one, except I dont have any yet, he
jokes, nger-combing his funky hair and
sipping a Diet Coke.
Hes come a long way since his inauspi-
cious school days and directionless adoles-
cence in Cape Town.
I did computing in Standard Eight and
dropped out, thinking it wasnt for me. We
had to code to make a green turtle run
around a screen and we spent ages doing
that. At the end, you had a turtle runningaround and I thought, What on earth was
that all about?
A a-a He also dropped out of biology and ac-
counting, worrying his mother by his lack
of academic prowess. But his father was
unfazed. My father was very chilled and
laid-back. If Id followed my dad, Id be
working on Greenmarket Square or renting
out chairs on the beach, he says. Schoo
didnt interest me. I didnt like the academic
side or the structured environment. Later
I also learned the corporate environmentwasnt something I enjoyed. Im more in
tune with the entrepreneurial world.
Most of his friends went to university
but Sussman didnt. He had no plans at
all, so he enrolled for the easiest-possible
year-long business course, then skipped
most lectures.
His life was going nowhere, but when his
father decided to move on, his entire world
changed. You know how people say you
have an ah-ha moment? Well, I got a prop-
er klap as a wake-up call. Within the space
of six months, my parents got divorced, my
older sister went to live in Johannesburg
my younger sister went to live in Israel and
the family house was sold. My mom and
I moved into a guest house and shared a
room with our dog. I thought if theres ever
a time to wake up, its now.
Losing his whole family support system
was the turning point. He enrolled for elec-
tronics at a technical college, followed by a
7/31/2019 Brainstorm Magazine - Growing Something out of Nothing - Featuring Rob Sussman - November 2012
4/5
November 2012 brainstorm34
if iD foLLoweD my DAD, iD be workinG on GreenmArket
SquAre or rentinG out chAirS on the beAch.RoB SuSSmaN, INtEgR8
inDePthPersonality Profile
three-year course in electrical engineering.
I excelled. I learned to listen in class, stud -
ied hard and did my homework every day.
Gg alA job with IT company Bhekisizwe taught
him how to build computers. He also
took a Microsoft course and lobbied his
managers to let him launch a Microsoft
business unit. When they refused, Suss-
man quit to set up a Microsoft integration
company on his own.
I realised I had a particular mindset that
understood how computers think. I justkind of get it; maybe Im wired that way. So
I went on my own and started selling com-
puters to friends and then to businesses.
Despite his lethargic start, Sussman
quickly got his act together. I missed out
on the phase of partying and drugging. I
didnt smoke and I didnt drink. I was too
busy working and looking after my moth-
er. Saturday nights consisted of movies
with my girlfriend and my mom.
If his girlfriend tolerated his mother
joining them on dates, she was deni tely
a keeper, I say. She was, and theyre still
together two decades later.
Hes also still very close to his mother,
and treated her to a European cruise for
her 68th birthday, where she attracted
envious glances from old dowagers con-
vinced she was travelling with a toy boy.
Despite good looks and easy charm,
Sussman says hes only had two girl -
friends, one from 16 to 18, and Tami from
the age of 18. Im very much a long-term
player, he says. I pick something and I
give it a proper go.
Tami now wants children, and Sussmanis happy to oblige. My wife wants kids, so
kids shell get, he says indulgently. The
reason they are still child-free is because
they have both focussed so hard on build-
ing the business.
What really kick-started his career was
when one of his sisters introduced him to
her boyfriend, Lance Fanaroff. Fanaroff was
a businessman importing glass at the time,
but when he won an IT networking contract,
he commissioned Sussman to conduct the
work. As the scope of the job grew, they
joined forces to launch a company, initially
working with business partner Mark Levy
who later left to form Blue Label.
b ad sThis was at the height of the dotcomboom, and they sold the business to a big
ger company with big dreams of listing
But that plan burst along with the dotcom
bubble, leaving the trio with nothing.
We had nothing. No customers, no in
come, no money, Sussman recalls.
The trio each stumped up R150 000
to create another company, Integr8IT, in
March 2001.
They continually reinvest the prots
into the business, rather than splurging
on luxuries. I ask if he has any extrava
gances at all, and his answer is the gym
Hes serious. Not a ashy car, luxuryhouse or baths in champagne, but tness
sessions. Trying to uncover any vices in
this good, clean-living Jewish boy is a
hopeless challenge.
He lives in an apartment in Cape Towns
Mouille Point, built when Integr8 rst invest
ed in commercial property developments
That shows how Sussman is happy to dip
into various ventures rather than being an
IT devotee. I think Im an entrepreneur, he
says. I like to grow things out of nothing.
He didnt come from money or a fancy edu
cation, he says proudly, pointing out wha
a successful enterprise they have grownfrom three initially small investments.
Hes also learned the importance o
a properly structured corporation, over
coming his initial dislike of such formal
ity. I have gured it out, he grins. I now
realise why corporate systems exist to
enable companies to grow.
His growth plans are hugely ambi
tious, with an aim of doubling in size ev
ery year for the next three years. Tha
could involve listing or a take-over by
a larger company. Not chasing growth
7/31/2019 Brainstorm Magazine - Growing Something out of Nothing - Featuring Rob Sussman - November 2012
5/5
with 550 PeoPLe, itS not A cLoSe-knit
fAmiLy buSineSS. itS not SittinG ArounD
with PizzA by the PooL.
RoB SuSSmaN, INtEgR8
inDePthPersonality profle
would be unfair to the young employees
who want to learn and join the manage -
ment team and become partners and
directors, he adds.
I chase success, and I dont think suc-
cess is money. Money can come from suc-
cess, but you can inherit a lot of money and
it doesnt make you a success. For me,
success is growing things out of nothing.
idas acyWhat he is growing now is ZunguZ, an
application developed to let Facebook
users securely transfer money to and
from their Facebook contacts.
Integr8s ideas machine usually begins
when Sussman comes up with some-
thing new and proposes it to Fanaroff.
Instead of picking holes or shooting it
down, Fanaroff tends to stretch things
into even greater possibilities. As much
as I present an idea, he catapults it even
further. I plant the seed, he waters it and
I have to trim it back. Its a fantastic rela-
tionship and works really well.Discussing the creation of new ven-
tures makes Sussman realise that that
is what keeps him interested in being at
the helm even though Integr8 has grown
into a serious corporation. Yet some-
times he questions whether being join
CEO is still the perfect role.
With 550 people, its not a close-kni
family business. Its not sitting around
with pizza by the pool, he says. As the
business grows, its no longer about youits about your people and what they de
mand and their careers. You doubt your
self. You sometimes sit in a meeting and
think, I wonder if Im the right guy for the
job now? We have put brilliant people
in the right roles to run the business on
a day-to-day basis and a lot of them are
better than I am.
Yet hes very much the leader, and
still loving it. As our evening interview
ends, he tells me hes going straigh
back to work. I cant wait to see whats
happening and whos done what. Work
isnt work its what I want to do. It s mypassion, he says. I get into bed at nigh
with my laptop and work.
Which is one thing that may have to
change, or those elusive children could
remain some way off yet.
Youll be astonished by how naturally and simply
a PBX from Connection Telecom can change the way
your business communicates. To find out how to
transform your companys telecoms into something
special, for less than youd think, give us a call.
Communication without constraints.
An amazingtransformation
Tel: +27 878 200 200 | Fax: +27 21 657 5161 | email: [email protected] | www.connection-telecom.com