Meet the CEO: BitCo’s Jarryd Chatz

Meet the CEO is a regular feature on TechCentral. The aim is to introduce our readers to the people behind the news by providing insights into the leaders shaping South Africa’s ICT industry. Our latest interview in the series is with BitCo CEO Jarryd Chatz.

What was your first-ever job?
I was a retail store manager in Cape Town within the Vodacom Chatz Franchise Group, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the store’s sales, managing the staff, deals, bundles and offers — and ensuring that customer service was of high quality and there was satisfaction in the shopping experience.

Who is your greatest role model, and why?
My father, Selwyn Chatz. He has built everything he has himself. He has grown his business from the nothing to what it is today, one of the country’s largest dealer channels. My goal is to grow BitCo hopefully to the point where it’s larger than my father’s business — he’s still a shareholder in BitCo, so he stands to benefit as well.

I started learning about business from him from the age of 12. He used to give me financial packs of his company and I would read through them and ask questions. From a young age, I started getting involved in understanding business, reading income statements and balance sheets, etc. It was a really nice learning curve which set me up in life as it’s now a large portion of my role.

What’s your favourite quote?
“If one day speed kills me, don’t cry because I’m smiling.”

What phone do you currently use, and why?
An iPhone X. I’ve been using an iPhone since the first one came out. All my devices are Apple and are synced so it allows me to operate effectively. I upgrade my phone to the latest model every year to get the latest features and get an optimal user experience.

What are you currently reading?
The Hard Thing About Hard Things, by Ben Horowitz. It’s about making that hard decisions in business for example identifying who to promote, when to promote and why should you do it. You find sometimes that a person is really great in their current role and once they are promoted to a managerial position, they battle to grasp the new role because they don’t have that skill yet.

What are your three favourite books?
I don’t read much but I’m really enjoying the book I’m currently reading (see above). I used to enjoy fiction when I was a kid, especially Anthony Horowitz’s books.

What’s your favourite movie?
I’m a Marvel fan — I like The Avengers series.

What is your most treasured possession?
It’s going to sound funny, but it’s my reputation. We all only have one and once its tarnished then that’s it, it’s difficult to come back. I really don’t want to be seen as a bad person, especially from an ethical point of view.

What has been the highlight of your career so far?
Growing BitCo from where it was four years ago to what it is now. The company has quadrupled in value in the past four years. It’s been such an adventure running it, especially with the great team I have.

What is your greatest regret?
Not starting fibre-to-the-home services sooner.

How do you cope with stress?
There are days where I don’t, but stress is part of the job. I usually stress because there’s work to be done and I know if I just put my head down and focus on what needs to get done then the stress will go away. I get such relief when I complete tasks and they don’t hang over my head. As a telco, we operate 24/7, 365 days a year, so I work almost all the time even when on holiday. It comes with the territory.

What skill or talent would you most like to possess that you don’t already?
Knowing the intricate details of network engineering — the very technical side of the business.

What phrase do you most use/overuse in business?
Fibre, fibre, fibre. Out business has evolved from a PBX vendor to a wireless carrier.

What’s your favourite place in the world, and why?
The bush. The Kruger National Park gives me the opportunity to switch off from the world and relax because there’s no cellphone signal.  — (c) 2018 NewsCentral Media