Sean W.

Experience

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  XT Computing

  May 1999 - Feb 2000

  Co-Founder

  My very first company during a break between colleges. An incredible experience. Started with a blank canvas, built a business, customer base and then was able to sell my shares and exit to fund some of my studies in South Africa

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  Obzside Scuba

  Aug 2002 - Jul 2009

  Founder

  I founded this company with one of my best friends while we were still studying at UCT. The original company name was Sean Squared Scuba. We had an incredible experience running this business, the highlight being our bi annual trips to Mozambique for all of those years. The biggest group we took had 51 people and involved a gruelling bus ride from the campus at UCT all the way to Tofo in Mozambique. Im not sure Im up for a repeat of such a trip anytime soon but it certainly helped me and my team get very good at working with groups, planning complicated and extensive itineraries and doing some amazing scuba diving along the way. We used to be one of the only dive operators in Cape Town to put out 40 diver per day in the cold Atlantic :) A feat that I am very proud of still. Once again a great lesson in logistics planning and implementing. Show less

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  RENTAROOM CAPE TOWN

  Feb 2004 - now

  Co-Founder

  Rentaroom Cape Town has been a passion project ever since I Studied at UCT in Cape Town. In Feb 2000 I started my degree at UCT and had a great deal of difficulty finding safe secure and equipped housing. Options were limited, the quality low and the price was significant. Rentaroom was founded with the aim of solving these problems and creating a safe clean fun living environment for study abroad students and interns to make the most of their time in Cape Town without all the challenges of poor housing options! Show less

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  Volunteer Adventure Corps

  Feb 2007 - now

  Program Director

  VACorps was conceived of through the many experiencesI had prior to 2006. The time spent with Study Abroad Students, the time spent with Rentaroom guests, the time spent working independently with Faculty and Staff at American University. I met Oliver Hagan while he studied abroad at UCT and we put all of these ideas together to come up with the concept of VACorps. It changed a lot along the journey to where we are now, but it remains my focus and passion!

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  Dive Morrungulo

  Jun 2009 - Oct 2010

  Co-Founder

  When the recession hit diving operations and we were struggling, I came upon an opportunity to re locate our operations to Mozambique. This was a dream come true in a sense as I got the chance to open a Dive Centre in Paradise. We spent our initial setup phase searching the ocean for new and unexplored dive sites, setting up business operations in a foreign country. Practising Portuguese and learning a tremendous amount. After the World Cup arrived in Cape Town in 2010 and VACorps really started to grow I had to take the decision to focus on Cape Town and sold the business. Show less

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  The Foreign Exchange

  May 2014 - Sept 2017

  Co-Founder

  Inspired by the many amazing Restaurants and Bars that I visited over the years on Visits to The USA. We decided to bring a little of this glory to Cape Town South Africa. We had a city famous Beer Pong night each Thursday and Quiz Night on Tuesday. After a few years struggle though it was decided we needed to pass along the baton to a more experienced industry player and sold the business.

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  Drifter Brewing Company

  Sept 2015 - Jun 2022

  Co-Founder

  Drifter Brewing Company was conceived by Nick Bush and bears the name of the Sailing Yacht that his father built in the 70's. I was one of the original 6 investors, and was luck enough to join Nick on two trips to China to purchase the equipment for the business. When there we realised just how incredible China is and how many opportunities for cost savings exist. A brewery in the USA for example can end up paying 10 times what we ended up paying for our full production brewery. A savings like this translates into a much more profitable business down the line. In the last year I have performed the role of CFO for Drifter. Sadly, the extreme economic environment post COVID has lead to this company wrapping up operations. But its been a wonderful journey. Show less