………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

BONZY
SALESMAN
Creator. Innovator. Educator
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

a passionate advocate of creativity, design and innovation

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

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INTRODUCTION
This dossier is addressed to managers of accelerators,
incubators and those leaders who work within
entrepreneurship development programmes.

It is a call to collaborate and partner towards creating

a vibrant and interdependent entrepreneurship
ecosystem in which the players can not only survive
but thrive through healthy and [] interdependence on 

each other.

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LETTER OF
INTRODUCTION
I am a strategist-designer wishing to rise above his
current role and assume a more active role within
the local entrepreneurial ecosystem.
I believe in the power of ideas. And the power of
communities. I also believe that an ecosystem approach
is the only effective way to make lasting change at the
systemic level.  can contribute to greater success across the system.
For the past 10 years, I have been helping startups and
small to medium enterprises launch campaigns and
bring products to market. This experience has enabled
me to develop a deep understanding of the nature of
challenges faced by entrepreneurs.
Over the past 3+ years, I have been compiling and
documenting methods, frameworks and tools for
startups - which I will be distilling into workshops,
courses designed to cater to the needs of the various
stakeholders within the ecosystem.  
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In the near future, I wish to work with leaders from
academia, industry and the startup ecosystem to
design and develop programs and interventions that
will foster an environment that is conducive to
innovation and creativity.
I believe that by empathizing with the people they serve,
entrepreneurs, leaders can be in a position to design,
develop and implement better support programs that
I also wish to do practice-oriented research to help
organizations in the public and private sectors improve
their practice and performance through better strategy
and management.
My areas of interest include:
• Innovation Entrepreneurship Education
• Ecosystems & Platforms
• Team Building & Culture (Collaborative
Communities of Practice)

ABOUT
Founder at AfriGrid where we enable delivery
BONZY SALESMAN service providers, government and social/aid
agencies to make last mile deliveries and provide
Digital product designer and creative strategist.
critical emergency and relief services in areas with
Founder @Afrigrid. A designer, developer and
no clearly defined street addresses.
storyteller.
As the founder and product manager AfriGrid - and
I’m a digital product designer and a creative
through my experience as a freelancer - I have
strategist with a background in marketing and
acquired an array of skills and over 10 years of
systems design.
experience.
Empathic, ‘people’-person who is optimistic,
I’m therefore able to provide specialized services that
resourceful and doesn’t give up easily.
go beyond our core offering to a few select partners
and clients.
I use my design, development and marketing skills
to help my clients design, launch and manage digital
These include:
products, services and strategies that give them a
• Web Design & Development
competitive edge.
• API Development
• Digital Marketing (Campaign Design +
Management)
• Content Strategy


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MANDATE:
As an ECOSYSTEM CATALYST, my mandate is to support
local entrepreneurs by engaging with a variety of
stakeholders to increase the overall wellbeing of the
ecosystem.

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Vision
To turn the local entrepreneurial ecosystem into a vibrant and
interdependent [………….] by passing on my knowledge, experience and
insights to others in order to grow the ecosystem.

Mission
To contribute to the growth of the ecosystem by passing on my knowledge,
experience and insights to others in order to grow the ecosystem.


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INNOVATION
ECOSYSTEM BUILDERS
The defining characteristics of innovation ecosystem
builders is their long-term and system-wide approach
to fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in their
locale.

They work with different stages of entrepreneurs in

different industries to turn their inventions into
businesses. Others work with idea-stage social
entrepreneurs and startups in accelerators as well as
post-revenue impact entrepreneurs looking to scale.
• Translators
• Diplomats
• Negotiators
“True and good ecosystem builders are
comfortable acting as translators,
diplomats and negotiators between
different actors across the ecosystem. They
are authentic, put entrepreneurs first
(always!), are self-critical and make a
conscious effort to engage all stakeholders
who want to contribute.”

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RESPONSIBILITIES CAMPAIGNING
The following are some of the responsibilities of an Ecosystem builders invite, welcome and engage new
ecosystem builder/catalyst: members.
• Relationship Management
• Networking MARKETING & PR
• Campaigning Awareness raising, continuous education and
• Networking & PR storytelling about ecosystem activity.
• Triage
• Ecosystem Health TRIAGE
• Liaison Match resources and individuals appropriately.

RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT ECOSYSTEM HEALTH

Relationship management with and among key
stakeholders of the ecosystem.
NETWORKING
Continuously engaging with all stakeholders of the
ecosystem in order to be aware of trends, challenges,
risks and opportunities.
Measure and report on ecosystem health.
LIAISON
Be informed about and report back on global and
national trends, coordinate with other ecosystem
builders and relevant international organizations
(research institutions, foundations and so on).

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STAKEHOLDERS
There can be no separation between the parts and
the whole. The parties can be recognized as different
but completely woven in the strategy as a whole.

Some of the stakeholders that ecosystem builders/

leaders work with include:
• Academics and Researchers • Start-up Building Initiatives
• Idea-stage social entrepreneurs • Centers and Co-working Spaces
• Startups in Accelerators • Accelerators, Incubators & Programmes
• Impact Entrepreneurs • Economic Development Agencies
• Government

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MOHLOMI INSTITUTE
The Mohlomi Institute is a manifold ethical
space that brings together representatives from
government, private sector and the general
public to work in a collaborative partnership
and model high calibre tri-level strategic
initiatives.

The mandate of the institute is to advance

innovation and servant leadership through Ultimately, its aim is to assist entrepreneurs
opportunities for professional learning based and system leaders in maximizing their
on research, effective practice and sound achievements as ecosystem players.
policy.

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MOHLOMI
INSTITUTE
Collaboration is our catalyst for
innovation.
We gather organizations, startups, and individuals
that might not otherwise work together, and give • Events
them a place and a process to get things done. • Learning
• Workshops
JOIN. BUILD. LEARN
We work with organizational leaders from academia,
We are a world-class network of like-minded, industry, and startups - designing together is what
collaborative individuals and companies. We makes collaboration possible.
endeavor to discover the unknown by building real-
world prototypes together.

Simply put: we learn by doing.

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 ……………………….


“Innovation, almost by definition, requires an

eagerness to upend the status quo and an ability
to rapidly market-test products or services with
the potential to do that.
”

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SERVICES
A growing toolkit of methods, frameworks and tools designed to assist entrepreneurs
move from idea to product to business and from talent to teams to organizations.

Three main services:

• Research
• Instruction Design
• Go-To-Market Toolkit

RESEARCH INSTRUCTION DESIGN GO-TO-MARKET TOOLKIT

We do practice-oriented research
to help organizations in the
public or private sector improve
their practice and performance.
We design and develop programs
and courses as well as innovative
pedagogical materials to be
taught by accelerators and
incubators.
We design and develop methods,
frameworks and tools that enable
our clients to break away from the
competition and stand out in the
marketplace.

• Courses • Methods
• Programmes • Frameworks
• Pedagogical Materials • Tools

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THE APPROACH
STRATEGIC DESIGN
…………………………………………………………… Ecosystems are defined here as social organisms in
constant relation, with modes of organization with
I propose that strategic design is complex nature and dynamics - capable of setting up
a process for creating strategies to survive over time.

that generate value for the Socio-technical apparatus can be practices and
different actors of an innovative mechanisms (artifacts, processes or systems) aimed
at dealing with the urgent need to obtain a
entrepreneurship ecosystem. meaningful effect for social organisms.

Design can contribute towards the creation of socio- • artifacts

technical apparatus, which - based on the constant • processes
creative reconstruction of existing technologies - • systems

result in the production of new meanings.

The creation of organizational strategies rooted in the

culture of strategic design - considering the
epistemological presuppositions of the paradigm of
complexity.
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It is a process that accepts and aims to deal with
uncertainty , randomness, unforeseeability
and contradictions - through a dialogic
cooperation between the multiple actors tied to
the strategy and affected by it.

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The Strategic
Design
Process

Figure 01: The Strategic

Design Process

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THE [] PROCESS

The process is iterative, non-linear, and delimited in
time, over five moments of collective creation:
• Inspiring
• Imagining
• Inventing
• Implementing
• Incubating
The intention is to offer an alternative model
It is a process of collective construction, developed by to traditional strategic planning that still
multidisciplinary teams, in which the strategist-
follows Cartesian thinking in its inception.
designer can play different roles:
• Antenna
• Visionary
• Experimenter This process is designed specifically organizations
• Connector and operating in turbulent and uncertain environments to
• Entrepreneur plan their strategies in order to sustain themselves in
the long-term.

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STRATEGIC
DESIGN
It is a process of conceiving strategies that changes
the focus from decision making to sense making. As a
result, the strategy design team must determine the
strategy’s meaning, that is, the purpose linking the
actors in a common direction, as part of a dialogic
cooperation process.

As such, based on the purpose, the process of

constructing the meaning is split into different:
• Operation scenarios Each one of these results is a prototype
• Value Proposals launched into the environment to obtain
• Business Models answers therefrom and give rise to learning -
• Implementation Plans thereby updating the strategy.
• Initial Investment Execution

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ROLES
There are five roles that the strategist-designer can
fulfill along the different moments:
• Antenna
• Visionary
• Experimenter
• Connector Theme: Expanding the repertoire of tools available to
• entrepreneur/Mentor the meta-team.

In this process, he/she obtains insights concerning

THE ANTENNA behavior, motivation, problems and opportunities in
Linked to receiving signs of changes in the socio- daily life and produces summaries to expand the
cultural environment. For this reason, the designer repertoire of the team developing the organizational
interacts with the interpreters, encouraging the strategies.
design discourse, and undertaking research on the
socio-economic environment. • Insights
• Opportunities
• Summaries

Mainly active at the INSPIRING moment.

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THE VISIONARY THE EXPERIMENTER
Linked to capacity to comprehend the challenges Linked to the belief that everything cam be
and search for innovative responses. tested.

He/she is the one who catalyzes the innovation
process, removing people from their zone of comfort.
The visionary shares his/her design repertoire with
the team of designers, envisages possible futures and
imagines scenarios capable of encouraging
constructive discussion in the work group.
• catalyzes the innovation process
• shares design repertoire with the team
• envisages possible futures
This role creates visions for the future, based on the
interpretation of the design discourse surrounding
people’s real experience, to inform and influence the
process of formulating and visualizing the strategy.
The experimenter is the one involved in the process
of discovering alternatives, testing innovative ideas
and establishing relations with users to design with
them.
• discovering alternatives
• testing innovative ideas
• establishing relationships
The experimenter develops and prototypes the
imagined solutions in order to make them technically
feasible.

He/she uses this communication to bring together

disagreeing stakeholders.

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THE CONNECTOR THE MENTOR
The [ ] of this role is to determine the
physical, human and strategic resources [ENTREPRENEUR]
necessary for innovation, understanding the Linked to the monitoring of the strategy’s design,
interactions, problems and opportunities in the seeking to support entrepreneurs in their
establishment of the project network. implementation.

The role seeks to integrate different ways of thinking, • monitoring the strategy’s design
philosophies and approaches originating from • supporting entrepreneurs
different groups of stakeholders. As a result, the • lobbying
connector encourages synergy, collaboration and
participation by people - putting people’s tacit He/she acts as a lobbyist: seeking support, in and
knowledge in motion. outside of the organization, to implement the new
strategy.
• knowledge
• processes
• design methods …………………………………………………………….
Being a multi-disciplinary strategist implies the ability
to hold any and/or all of the different roles
He/she is the leader of the process to transfer throughout this process .
knowledge, processes and design methods to the
organization.

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BONANG SALEMANE
STRATEGIST-DESIGNER
Maseru, Lesotho

Over the past few years, I have been compiling and EDUCATION BACKGROUND
documenting methods, frameworks and tools which I • Incubation: Entrepreneurship
have compiled into module that can be combined to Vodacom Innovation Park |
create programmes, courses as well as innovative Maseru, Lesotho 2016
pedagogical material for accelerators, incubators and
academia. • BCom: Informatics
University of Pretoria
I wish to work with leaders and academia to do Pretoria, 2009
practice-oriented research that will inform the design
and development of interventions that will foster an • Diploma: International Baccalaureate |
environment that is conducive to innovation and Machabeng College
creativity. Maseru, Lesotho, 2005

OBJECTIVE: To work with forward-thinking

Countries of Work Experience: Lesotho
organizations that can benefit from my skills,
expertise and experience on a project basis.

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EMPLOYMENT RECORD
Summary of employment record - including relevant activities performed under each position/role.


EMPLOYING ORGANIZATION SUMMARY OF RELEVANT

TITLE & TITLE/POSITION COUNTRY ACTIVITIES PERFORMED

Cognitio Media Group

2017 - present • Project Management
Position: Digital & Brand • Designing Strategies and
Strategist Lesotho Campaigns
• Copywriting
Contact: N/A • Presenting & Pitching

Vodacom Innovation Park • Teaching Branding and

2016 - 2017
Position: Teaching Assistant Marketing
and Consultant Lesotho • Consulting on Branding and
Design
Contact: Rhett Power • General Startup Advisory

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 EMPLOYING ORGANIZATION SUMMARY OF RELEVANT
TITLE & TITLE/POSITION COUNTRY ACTIVITIES PERFORMED

AFRINET
Position: Web Designer and • Designing Mockups
2012 - 2015
Developer Lesotho/South Africa • Converting Mockups into
Functional Templates
Contact: N/a
• Implementing Templates
into Content Management
Systems

CUSTOM-IT CONSULTING
2012 - 2014
Position: Web developer
Contact: Mr. Thato Molise
Lesotho • Managing Digital Projects
• Requirements Gathering
• Liasing With Clients
• Coding Functional
Prototypes
• Implementing Prototypes
into CMSs

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REFERENCE TO PRIO
WORK/ASSIGNMENTS
References to pro work/assignments that best
illustrate capability to [handle] proposed task.
Prototyping & Digital Product Design
Designing Mockups; Converting Mockups into
• project management
functional templates; Implementing templates into
• teaching & consulting
dynamic themes
• prototyping and product strategy
• project management
Project Management
• maintenance & reporting
Managing Digital Projects; Requirements Gathering;
Liaising with Clients; Coding Functional Prototypes;
Implementing Prototypes into CMSs
Project Management
Maintenance & Reporting
Project Management; Designing Strategies and
Managing the Website; Liaising with Clients; Content
campaigns; Copywriting; Presenting and pitching
Management
Technical Maintenance, Digital (SEO) Marketing,
Teaching & Consulting Reporting
Teaching Branding and Marketing; Consulting on Managing the Website, Liaising with the Copy Editor,
Branding and Design; Advisory Weekly Content Updates, Reporting (Analytics), Technical
Maintenance
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NEXT STEPS
If you would like to further or discuss any of the issues
raised in this document, please do not hesitate to get in
touch with me.

My email address is bonzy@bonzysalesman.com and I

can also be contacted on +266 5935 5535.

Thank you.

Bonang Salemane

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