Alexander Thomson-Payan is a Babson Alumnus (Class of 2006) and Founder of Thomson Group International (TGI).  TGI is a pan-African holding company based in Luanda, Angola with offices in Miami, London, and Hong Kong. TGI's portfolio companies operate in Telecommunications, Logistics/Supply Management, Transportation, Mobile Technology, and Real Estate Development sectors.  In 2007, Alexander at the age of 22 raised over $100,000 from his friends and set on a journey to Angola to start Electrix, a mobile phone distribution company and TGI's first venture. Prior to this experience, he worked at Brightstar, Inc. the largest telecommunications distribution company in the world, now sold to SoftBank.   By 2015, TGI portfolio companies generated over $2 million monthly from selling phones and supplying oil explorers with supplies.  Alexander serves as the Honorary Consul of Colombia to Angola, Vice President of Global Shapers, a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization, and a Board Member of the US-Angola Chamber of Commerce.  Additionally, he founded an NGO called 100% for Love. This charity based in Angola wherein 100% of all received donations will go directly to feeding children in hospitals, orphanages, and villages.   He is multilingual and fluent in English, Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Mandarin (he studied 9 hours per day when he was young). In this episode, he shares his bi-nationalistic background (American dad and Colombian mom- born in Saudi Arabia), his career development with an outstanding mentor a Brightstar, Inc. to becoming an entrepreneur of his own.  He provides some fascinating insights on Angola, several industries he has worked in, advice to aspiring entrepreneurs (specifically for Africans in Diaspora), and more.  son Alumnus (Class of 2006), and the Founder of Thomson Group International (TGI). --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/doerswithin/message