Matthew Davison

IIE Bachelor of Commerce
The IIE’s Varsity College Cape Town
GRADUATED CLASS OF 2018
Company: Travel Tractions

Describe your daily duties:
I help South African startups and international travel companies with their marketing. On a day to day basis, I manage a small dynamic team at Travel Tractions. We create engaging content and work with PR, influencers and blogs to garner exposure for our clients. We also work on a variety of internal projects within Travel Tractions that identify gaps in the travel market and fill them with MVP’s to launch into viable internet properties and businesses. We also invest in startups that show potential in the travel market and align with our values.

Why did you choose the qualification you studied?
I always wanted to do marketing and law but I enjoyed human resources for the aspect of psychology so made this my major instead.

Is your qualification relevant to your job? If so, did your studies adequately prepare you for your job?
Yes, very much so. I feel that the IIE BCom prepared me well for many of the things I have to deal with as a small entrepreneur.

What is your greatest achievement to date career wise?
Last year, I invested and helped with the marketing and growth of Vibescout.com, which grew by 2000% YoY and went through Y Combinator startup school and Google Developers Launchpad in Johannesburg. I have the pleasure of working with some of the top travel websites in South Africa.

What are your future career plans?
I started Travel Tractions to be the best search engine marketing agency in the world, and I’m pretty fixated on that goal. I would love to turn one of our internal projects into a million-dollar business within the next 10 years.

What advice would you give to students who are looking for or about to embark on their first job?
Do it while you are studying. Most people do barman or waitering jobs which are great, but if you could get a job that will help you in your field while studying, that's going to put you in a way better positions and you won’t need to start from the bottom as an intern.