The EmployedEntrepreneur
You do not have to choose between your salary and your dream. Your job can become the foundation you use to build strategically.
- Income
- Security
- Experience
- Structure
- Expression
- Impact
- Wealth
- Legacy
Every week I meet people sitting on brilliant ideas — held back not by talent, but by fear, by not knowing where to start, and by the belief that they can't afford to begin.
I've lived the alternative. Across more than a decade in corporate banking, I built businesses on the side — using my salary to fund them, my skills to run them lean, and my network to land my first clients.
This is the playbook I wish I'd had: how to grow something real without gambling everything you've worked for.
What you'll walk away with
Practical, hard-won and built for the real world — not theory from people who've never had to make payroll while holding down a 9-to-5.
Beat the fear that freezes you
Move past "perpetual paralysis" and use fear as a tool to de-risk — not an excuse to wait.
Build lean with what you have
Validate your idea before you spend. Start small, test demand, and grow from proof — not guesswork.
Turn your 9-to-5 into leverage
Use your income, skills and network to fund and de-risk your venture instead of betting the house.
Decide under uncertainty
Simple frameworks — OODA, the Eisenhower Matrix, the 10/10/10 rule — to choose with confidence.
Raise capital creatively
Presales, deposits and costing that actually adds up — so you never run out mid-project.
Protect your time & integrity
The discipline and boundaries that keep both your job and your business — and you — sustainable.
If this sounds like you, this book is for you
Pre-order your signed first-release copy.
Pay now to reserve your copy. You'll get an instant confirmation, and we'll send delivery or collection details before dispatch this spring.
- Includes: signed first-release copy for early pre-orders
- Delivery: free collection · PostNet R110 · courier R150
- Release: Spring 2026
What happens after you pre-order
- You'll first see the cart so you can adjust quantity, then continue to secure checkout.
- You receive payment confirmation immediately.
- Your copy is reserved, signed first-release prepared before dispatch.
- Books are released in Spring 2026.
- You'll get collection or delivery details before dispatch.
Hi, I'm Thembi
I am a software development leader, MBA, entrepreneur, independent director, speaker and coach. By day, I lead engineering teams in corporate banking. Alongside that, I founded and run 10B's Connection House, an events and production business, and Venuapp, a tech start-up serving the food ordering and delivery space at events.
I am living proof of this book. I have built businesses while still employed, and I now share practical lessons on business, leadership and technology with a growing audience on YouTube and beyond. This book captures what I learned doing it the hard way, so you can build with more wisdom, structure and confidence.
Responsible ambition for employees and leadership programmes.
Give your people a practical, responsible roadmap for building income, impact and resilience — without leaving their jobs.
Available for bulk orders, leadership conversations, HR learning sessions, women in leadership events and graduate programmes.
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10 books
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25 books
Ideal for department-wide learning and entrepreneurship programmes.
50+ copies
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