From a PhD in biomedical engineering to investment banker, digital agency boss to partner in the development of an innovative heart valve, Murray Legg would seem to have done it all. And well before his 30th birthday.

It is difficult to define or place in a box someone with such diverse interests, who clearly knows what he is about and what he wants to achieve.

Despite his investment banking background, Legg is not all about the money. It’s not that he’s money-shy and he is certainly not ambivalent about it: he simply has a pragmatic approach to money.

“For me, it’s more about passion than monetary return,” he says. “If I can add value to people’s lives by prolonging their life or creating a new industry in marketing, and if I do it well, I’ll be compensated for it. We’ve got a great country with a unique history and circumstances to use as a platform to address the world’s problems.”

SA Cardiosynthetics, which Legg co-founded with cardiac surgeon David Wheatley, is probably the venture that has the greatest potential to live up to this vision.

Having recently been granted a patent in 11 major territories, the company’s new heart-valve replacement technology appears well on track to make its mark on the medical industry by offering a longer-term solution to a problem affecting many hundreds of thousands of people every year.

That apart, he has partnered with lifelong friend and 2013 200 Young South African nominee Mike Sharman to establish a digital agency called Retroviral, which specialises in creating online viral marketing campaigns.

A spin-off of this is his third business venture, Webfluential, which has introduced a new concept in peer and influencer-driven marketing.

Legg has two words of advice for the country’s youth: dream big. He lives this motto as well as promotes it and his achievements are evidence that determination and passion have clear rewards.