Mark McNaught is changing the world one person at a time. From being picked on at school for being too shy, to finally finding his voice at Stellenbosch University, this young tech entrepreneur is making people’s dreams come true.

He calls himself a “machine learning engineer”. However, “changer of lives” is perhaps more appropriate, considering this engineer has helped establish two businesses that employ local talent, both in South Africa and Edinburgh, Scotland, where he and wife Lisa are based.

His love project, Feel Good, is run by Johannesburg partner and one of his closest friends, Welcome Chuma, a former security guard whom Mark met at the boom gate of his apartment complex, Cottonwoods, in Rivonia years ago. Welcome, whom Mark describes as “the greatest political analyst and street-smart businessman” he’s ever met, is also the inspiration behind the name ‘Feel Good’. “When you look at Welcome, you see the biggest smile, all the time, and you have no idea what he’s actually going through. The Feel Good brand is a reflection of how he makes others feel – you look at him, and you feel okay,” says Mark.

The brand, which was launched on 1 August 2022, currently operates from Cottonwoods as a mobile coffee shop and co-working space. Following Covid, Mark saw the potential to repurpose unused spaces and turn them into community hubs for those living in complexes and apartment blocks. The idea is to create more such ventures in other complexes and spaces over time.

“Welcome and I have been video-calling, texting and chatting about logistics. We’re focusing on the coffee service for passers-by, such as parents of the local school, as a starting point. The main idea was that we’d start something, and now we’re just trying to figure out how to do sales and business.” Mark says business has been a bit slow, but it’s fulfilling its purpose, namely to give people with potential an opportunity, and to learn from them at the same time.

Mark completed his Mechanical Engineering degree at SU in 2013 and his Masters in Industrial Engineering in 2015. For now, though, he is working in the field of tech teaching. Among others, he recently landed a contract to provide technical training courses to some business executives at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States.

“At SU, I learned all the problem-solving skills I would need for life. The course was rigorous and the engineering standard top-class. Stellenbosch gave me the confidence to go and chase my dreams,” Mark says. He adds that timing and continuous learning are everything: “Choose your time and be patient, things will come your way if you invest in your education and keep on learning and progressing. My SU education was a critical part of my journey.”

Through his second business, the start-up Tech Battalion based in Scotland, he continues to change lives. “We’re using people from South Africa. Not all of them are likely candidates – I specifically choose people who don’t have a tech career right now, but are interested in something like that. They build some of the tech courses that are then used to train the best in the world,” he explains. “I’ve spent hours and hours plying my trade in software and machine learning, and now I apply that with the people I employ.”

Mark and Lisa are active sportspeople, love dogs and braaiing (especially when there’s rugby on, much to their neighbours’ annoyance!), and are faithful Christians. The couple hope to start a family soon.

A true SU ambassador, Mark’s core value is compassion: “My life should propel others further than I’ll ever go on my own. That brings me all the joy I could possibly have.”

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