Full Name: Patmanathan ‘Pat’ Pillai
Position: Founder and CEO of LifeCo UnLtd SA
Main Activity of the Company: LifeCo UnLtd SA invests in impact businesses to deliver social, environmental, economic and financial benefits
Date and Place of Birth: September 7, 1964, Cape Town
Education: BPaed (Arts) (education), University of KwaZulu-Natal; corporate finance, franchising strategy, certificate programme in business project management and entrepreneurship, Wits Business School; impact investing in Africa, University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business
First Job: Waiter at Woodstock Holiday Inn, in Cape Town
Size of First Pay Packet: R110 a month
First Job with Present Group: Founder and business development manager
Value of Assets under Your Control: R118-million
Number of People under Your Leadership: 25
Management Style: 50% empowering, 30% consultative and 20% directive, depending on the situation and the people involved
Personal Best Achievement: Fathering an amazing son
Professional Best Achievements: Merger with UnLtd Group in 2010, founding the Global Social Entrepreneurship Network and setting up the African Venture Philanthropy Alliance (AVPA), a sister organisation to the established EVPA (Europe) and AVPN (Asia)
Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Life: My son, my mother and my grandfather
Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Career: Black Consciousness leader Steve Biko; Roger Jardine, a man who never forgot his roots in Riverlea and Eldorado Park and helped us to structure our organisation; and Rich Benton, our UK trustee
Person You Would Most Like to Meet: Michelle Obama
Businessperson Who Has Impressed You Most: Jamshedji Tata, founder of Tata Group in 1868; Robert Bosch, founder of Bosch Group in 1886; and Mohammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank in 1983
Philosophy of Life: Give value first
Biggest Ever Opportunity: Having the means to relaunch LifeCo UnLtd at the age of 33
Biggest Ever Disappointment: The failed first launch of LifeCo at the age of 23
Hope for the Future: A sustainable nation of champions
Favourite Reading: Entrepreneurial biographies, alternative economics and literature on indigenous succulents
Favourite TV Programme: National Geographic
Favourite Food/Drink: Tea, a good mutton curry and dessert
Favourite Music: Anything from the 1980s and 1990s
Favourite Sport: Hiking and mountain climbing
Favourite Website: Https://www.ted.com, https://www.goalcast.com, https://www.news24.com/ and https://thegiin.org
Hobbies: Yoga, cooking and gardening
Car: Suzuki
Pets: Five golden retrievers
Miscellaneous Dislikes: Corruption, pollution, noisy people, motorbikes and inauthentic people
Favourite Other South African Company: Harambee
Favourite Foreign Company: Bosch and Tata
Married: To Carmen Di Rito
Children: Vaughn, 31
Clubs: University of Johannesburg Athletics Club