Gaborone, Botswana · Work began 2020
We help Botswana founders build and grow companies.
We help founders in Botswana register, organise and grow their companies.
How we got here.
Oduetse Obert Machete
Known publicly as Machete.
After years of running projects for other people — including telecoms and construction work across Emerald, LTC Group and RH Engineering — Machete started the work that became School of Dropouts in 2020. The same pattern kept repeating: Batswana businesses were not short of talent, but they were often short of the infrastructure needed to keep moving.
The first companies were friends and family. The next were strangers who heard about us on WhatsApp. Each one taught us something practical about how CIPA, BURS, councils, PPRA and banks work when a real founder has to navigate them.
Today, Machete remains close to the work: he signs off on major engagements, writes the manuals, teaches the short courses, and stays connected to the questions founders send us. He is Google-certified in Project Management, AI and Digital Marketing.
Why we chose the name.
A dropout, in our reading, is not someone who failed the system — it is someone the system failed to contain. The founders we work with are dropouts from ordinary, not from life. The misfits, the forgotten, the different.
The firm was built to give those founders the legal, financial and operational foundation that turns a calling into a company — without them having to learn the bureaucracy themselves.
How we help businesses.
We help with compliance, finances, marketing and business decisions.
Company registration, tax, licences and PPRA support.
Bookkeeping, tax filing and financial statements.
Branding, content, websites and bid-writing.
A 90-day programme for founders ready to share the load.
The team.
The firm is founder-led, with a small team of LEA-trained specialists supporting registration, tax, bookkeeping, marketing and tendering. We would rather show real people and real work than use placeholder profiles, so team introductions will be added as they are ready.
Machete stays close to the decisions and the details.
We explain what needs doing, what it costs, and what happens next.
The work links compliance, finance, marketing and advice instead of treating them as separate problems.
Practical support for Botswana businesses.
We start with the problem in front of us. Is the company not compliant, not finance-ready, not clear about its offer, or stuck because every decision still sits with the founder? The answer determines where we begin.
Then we make the next step concrete. That might be a filing, a business plan, a tender category, a clearer brand, or a 90-day engagement. We do not promise a funding approval, a tender win, or a particular business outcome.
The aim is simple: leave the founder with a business that is easier to understand, easier to operate, and better prepared for the next decision.
“School of Dropouts made the business registration process simple and straightforward. They guided me through every step, helping me get Koi Analytics officially registered quickly and with confidence.”
Gaborone, where it all begins.
Visit us in Gaborone.
Find us at Main Mall, Gaborone. Not sure where to start? Message us on WhatsApp.