GOING GLOBAL

Posted on April 30, 2021

“The experience I gained in South Africa enables me to do the job that I do here in Silicon Valley,” says University of Pretoria (UP) alumnus Christiaan Kuun, a senior manager with Cisco’s Corporate Development & Investments team based in San Jose, California.

Kuun is the liaison between the companies that Cisco Investments has invested in and the broader Cisco organization. “I work closely with our portfolio companies to identify key areas of value for both organisations, as well as Cisco’s ecosystem of customers and partners.”

Essentially, the job requires two essential things, says Kuun: a technology background and strong business and go-to-market expertise. “My engineering background is something I rely on quite often. The coursework I completed at UP, specifically in computer networking, computer architecture, artificial intelligence, and software engineering, has turned out to be most relevant for my current role.”

Cisco’s Corporate Development and Investments group is responsible for making strategic investments and acquisitions on behalf of Cisco.

“The reason our team has a focus on start-ups is that we believe that it is one of the best ways to track future trends that can have an impact on Cisco’s business,” Kuun says, “Through investments, we can learn from companies about how they go to market. By partnering with our portfolio companies both parties are better informed and positioned to participate in new markets and technology segments."

Kuun is well known in South African broadband circles, thanks to his work at the South African National Research Network (SANReN). Between 2007 and 2013 he worked as programme manager at the CSIR where he oversaw the construction of a national telecommunications network that helped to connect South Africa’s research and tertiary education institutions.

Kuun says he has always been impressed by how quickly new technology is adopted in South Africa and admires the country’s broader tech industry.

“However, there are several factors inherent in doing business in South Africa that make it more challenging to build global businesses,” he says. “Firstly, the South African market is quite small, especially when you compare it to markets like the US. In markets like the US, companies (including technology start-ups) can build up a solid balance sheet just by expanding within the country, which they can then leverage to go global. Secondly, access to capital in the US is in a league of its own. If companies want to expand, there is going to be a lot of capital available to support that.”  

Furthermore, Kuun says, the value that founders can extract from their professional networks is world-class. There are plenty of experts at tech giants that have helped companies grow into multi-billion-dollar businesses. In fact, this is a key part of the value add that Cisco provides to its own investment portfolio. By making its experts accessible to new founders, Cisco is able to give them incredible guidance as they build their businesses.

“There are similar experts (and companies) in South Africa who have all shown they know how to do business on a global scale.  It’s just that in the USA, there is an entire industry built around making these skills available to founders.”

As for his career, Kuun says the most important lesson he’s learned is to actively seek feedback on his performance. Receiving regular feedback has helped Kuun improve his skillsets significantly.  

- Author Xolani Mathibela

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