Forget Becoming The Top Dog: New Book By Vusi Thembekwayo And Michael Hinton Argues The Underdog Has The Edge
Being the smaller player is not a handicap to overcome on the way to the top. It is the advantage.
That is the argument of Underdogs: How small players can become business titans, the new book by speaker, investor and entrepreneur Vusi Thembekwayo and business advisor and finance educator Michael Hinton, published by Jonathan Ball Publishers.
The book takes on the conventional wisdom that business, and life, is about becoming the “top dog”. Vusi Thembekwayo and Michael Hinton argue instead that the greatest competitive advantage is the willingness to think differently, embrace adversity and keep moving when everything seems stacked against you.
“We have all been taught that the goal is to be the biggest player in the room. I think that is the wrong goal,” says Thembekwayo. “The underdog is hungrier, listens harder and has less to protect. In business, that is a real advantage, and most people who have it do not realise it.”
Underdogs makes its case through the stories of businesses and organisations that started with the odds against them, including Nando’s, Hyundai, Canva and Under Armour.
From each, the authors draw out the mindset, habits and values that allowed ordinary people to achieve far more than anyone expected of them, and turn these into practical lessons on innovation, leadership and perseverance.
For Hinton, who has spent more than 25 years working with Africa’s leading brands and boardrooms and lectures at GIBS, the lessons apply directly to the owners of small and medium-sized businesses.
“None of the businesses in this book began with perfect circumstances. What they had was the discipline to keep going and the willingness to do things differently from the big players. That is available to any business owner, whatever the size of the business,” says Hinton.
The pairing of the two authors is deliberate. Thembekwayo brings the perspective of an investor who has backed and built companies across several continents; Hinton brings the eye of a finance specialist known for turning complex numbers into stories, and solutions,that people can act on.
The result is, in the publisher’s words, part inspiration and part playbook.
“This is not a book about luck,” says Thembekwayo. “Every story in it is about choices people made when the odds were against them. Those are choices any business owner can make.”
“If this book teaches readers to look at their own setbacks differently, as material to work with and not as reasons to stop, then it has done its job,” adds Hinton.
Meet the Authors
Vusi Thembekwayo and Michael Hinton will be in conversation at three Exclusive Books launch events, each followed by audience questions and a book signing. Doors open at 18:00 for 18:30.
- Thursday 15 October: Exclusive Books, Sandton, Johannesburg
- Thursday 5 November: Exclusive Books, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town
- Thursday 12 November: Exclusive Books, Gateway, Durban
Book Details
Title: Underdogs: How small players can become business titans
Authors: Vusi Thembekwayo and Michael Hinton
Publisher: Jonathan Ball Publishers
Publication date: 12 October 2026
ISBN: 9781776195961
Recommended retail price: R340
Available at bookstores nationwide and as an ebook, and the Audiobook will be released soon.
About the Authors
Vusi Thembekwayo is the group CEO of MyGrowthFund Venture Partners, a Dubai-headquartered venture capital firm. He is a bestselling author and sought-after global speaker who has delivered more than 480 keynote speeches across six continents.
Michael Hinton (www.michaelhinton.co.za) is a Chartered Accountant, entrepreneur and finance educator who has spent more than 25 years helping Africa’s leading brands and boardrooms make sense of their numbers.
A lecturer at GIBS and other leading business schools, he is known for turning complex financial concepts into clear, story-led lessons that business owners can act on.
