Relating to successful entrepreneurs

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Posted on 28 March 2011 Entrepreneurship

I’ve got a bone to pick. We have some really successful SA entrepreneurs that are flying the SA flag abroad, doing amazing things with tech, space and money in terms of VC, but the problem with them is I can’t relate to them. Not one bit.

San Francisco - home to Silicon Valley

Guys like Mark Shuttleworth, Roelof Botha and Elon Musk are the guys we should be looking up to for inspiration and learning from their success stories, but instead we having to put up with stories of SA startups getting millions of dollars in funding, making tons of buzz, but have no clue on how to actually make money, nevermind ever actually selling a company. If some of the SA startups do make money, these startups literally copied international products that were succssful and we then actually are proud of them. What?!

Let me explain a little more…

As an entrepreneur, I want to look up to Shuttleworth for inspiration, but how many people do you know personally that sold a company (in 1999!) for $575 million and then thought, “yeah, I’ll pop into space for a couple of days, that should be fun”? You can’t relate to that. Do you even know what $500 million is?

Roloef Botha is the same. Partner at Sequoia Capital, was on the board of directors of Youtube before it sold to Google, was CFO of Paypal before their acquisition by eBay just to mention a few. What?! This oke can spot a billion dollar company pretty much after it registers its first .com domain from GoDaddy. And you want me to lookup to and try and relate to this guy?

What about Elon Musk? Imagine me meeting this guy. “Hi Elon, so, what do you do?” “Hey Jason, well I’m the co-founder of Paypal, SpaceX and Tesla Motors.” Elan is one of the most influential people on this planet. Not a chance would I even know where to start trying to go about getting to the heights he has achieved.

So where do we start?

The companies and founders in SA that seem to get all the buzz and SA startups do lookup to are Springleap, Yola, Evly and to extent Twangoo / Groupon SA. We can definitely relate to these guys as they are in SA, push other entrepreneurs via Silicon Cape and other initiatives to build startups and get their stories told over and over. So where is the problem?

Springleap and Twangoo are exact replica’s of Threadless and Groupon. There is no innovation or much thought there. Just the balls to copy someone else. There stories include building a startup, getting investment and one selling the company with the other profitable to an extent. Possibly a success story in terms of them actually making money, but the part they don’t teach when telling their story is how to copy another startup and also make money from it.

Yola and to an extent more than Evly have had huge amounts of VC capital invested in them, but they are not profitable and for the foreseeable future won’t be either. Success story? Yes, in terms of getting investment and knowing how to spend bucket loads of cash, but making money? Vinny Lingham himself has a track record of making money with his previous startups and investments, so he is definitely someone to look up to, but definitely not Evly. Yet all we see, read case studies and hear from these days as an entrepreneur in the tech and startup scene are from these companies.

What I’m trying to say is lets hear more from the guys that are actually making money from their original, innovative startup. How did they go about getting investment if they did and how they actually giving the VC a return on it. You know what the sad truth possibly is? The companies that make the biggest noise are the ones hiding the real truth that they aren’t making money, just spending it.

I want more from the successful, profitable and innovative startups in SA and less from the viral buzz to the pivot my ass startups.

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Don’t forget about Ta-da lists!

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Posted on 16 February 2011 Web

I’ve been looking around for a todo list app that I could just list random things without necessarily attaching dates to. Simple lists like business ideas, restaurants in Cape Town I want to visit, cool names for bands, gadget wish list etc.

I use Things on my Mac and iPhone for important work related to do’s that have due dates, but it doesn’t really fit the bill for those random lists I mentioned above. There is also Teudeux which has a great web and iPhone app, but is also attached to a specific date or someday list. Remember The Milk is another, but has way too many features for my liking.

Remember 37 Signals Ta-da lists? It’s integrated into Basecamp, but also has a stand alone version, which is actually free! It’s one of the most simple to-do list apps with no dates or reminders, just simple name that list and add items. It works great on the web, but has an even better mobile version that works great on the iPhone, which is where I actually want to keep all these lists.

Here are some of the lists I’ve just started:

  • Restaurants to visit in Cape Town
  • Business ideas
  • Gadget wish list
  • Movies to watch
  • Series to watch
  • Books to read
  • Cities to visit
  • My bucket list (You know, things I want to do before I’m 30)

My new favourite mobile app, Ta-da lists!

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How’s this amazing coffee art in my flat white?

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Posted on 19 January 2011 Cape Town

One of the first real pieces of coffee art I’ve gotten in my cappuccino. Common Ground Cafe in Rondebosch (above the Common Ground Church) is awesome. Relaxed vibe, great coffee supplied by Origins, simple yet tasty food and great views of of Cape Town & Rondebosch Common. You can’t go wrong.

Some top notch barista skills at Common Ground Cafe, that’s for sure.

Sidenote: Check out http://artinmycoffee.com for some amazing coffee art.

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How to get Netflix working in South Africa

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Posted on 13 January 2011 Web

NetflixFirstly, what is Netflix? Netflix is a video streaming service in the US that for a monthly fee, allows you to watch unlimited movies and tv series. The service costs $7.99 which is around R60 a month. That’s 3 DVD’s from your local video store.

The problem we have with Netflix is you have to be located in the US to use the service. In order to get Netflix to work here in South Africa, we need to actually browse and use Netflix via a server that is physically located in the US. Sound complicated? Not really. Enter the VPN (Virtual Private Network).

One thing about all of this is both Netflix and the VPN you are going to use have trial accounts. Netflix offers a 1 month free trial and the VPN has a 7 day money back guarantee. So try it out and if it doesn’t work properly or you can’t see yourself using it, cancel it all without spending any money.

How to setup a Netflix account from South Africa

To set this up, you’ll need a valid US mailing address and a Credit Card. They run automatic checks on the address to make sure its a deliverable address. Use Fake Name Generator to grab a Zip Code and State, then find the exact address of a post office in the US using USPS. Post being delivered to a post office is definitely going to work. :)

Enter your Credit Card details and your Netflix account should be good to go! (There is a Paypal option, but you most probably have a South African Paypal account, which won’t work.)

Using a VPN to access Netflix from South Africa

You going to need to sign up for a StrongVPN account. They have a number of packages and payment plans, so choose the one that suits you best. (Choose the cheapest!) I signed up for the Lite PPTP 3 month account ($21). Once you have your account setup, read StrongVPN’s How-to guide to getting your different machines or devices setup. If you having problems with setting up the VPN connection, use their live chat feature. They available for support 24 hours a day!

Download the Netflix app (iTunes link) for your iPhone and iPad in order to browse and watch movies from these devices. To connect your iPhone or iPad to your TV to watch movies, either get yourself a set of AVI or HDMi cables to connect to your TV or if you plan on getting an Apple TV, Airplay will allow you to tap a button and start watching the movie on your TV!

You can also watch movies via your web browser that has Microsoft Silverlight support. (For Mac, only Firefox and Safari has Silverlight support. Windows has support for Internet Explorer, Firefox and Google Chrome.)

Some tips and observations

1: I’ve managed to watch movies via my Macbook and iPhone. With iOS 4.3 coming out, Airplay will be available to 3rd party apps. What this means is with an Apple TV (mine is on its way from the UK) I’ll be able to just tap a button on the Netflix iPhone app (if they implement the new feature) and stream movies on my TV!

2: Apple TV and my XBox 360 have Netflix integrated into them, the problem is you cannot setup a VPN connection directly on these devices. So other than hacking your router to use the VPN directly, I can’t see any other way to get the native Netflix app on the Apple TV or XBox 360 to work here in SA. But with an iPhone, you’ll be able to use Airplay to view movies on your Apple TV via Netflix!

3: When you are connected via the VPN, your browsing experience is slower (Speeds seem to vary though). You literally only need the VPN to bypass the location checking of Netflix, so once a movie gets past connecting to the Netflix server and is checking your connection speed, turn off the VPN. You’ll be watching movies in the same time as it takes Youtube to load on your connection. I also found that I only had to do this once and every subsequent movie I tried, I never had to be on the VPN to get it to work.

4: I’m still learning all the tricks of how to get all my devices working. Initially I couldn’t get any movie playing on my iPad (it would just say loading and never play), but I tried it again this morning and it’s working!

5: You can’t really start watching a movie on your iPad and then turn off the VPN. The app doesn’t have proper multi-tasking, so it cuts out and starts the movie from the beginning and does their location checks again. I did however find that once I started watching a movie on my iPhone, turned off the VPN and then started browsing other movies, the movies just worked!

6: I also managed to get Netflix to work using the Boxee app you can download for your Mac or PC. I’m not sure if it will work if you have the actual Boxee device, as it will need the ability to setup a VPN connection.

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Using the Mac App Store in South Africa

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Posted on 7 January 2011 Web

Mac App Store
The Mac App Store is designed to help you find, buy and download applications for your Apple Macbook much the same as the original App store works for your iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch!

How to download and install the Mac App Store

Download the Mac App StoreThe Mac App Store is an OS update, not a downloadable program that you can install.
Click on the Apple logo (top left of your screen) > Software Update. There should be an OS update waiting for you to download and install.

To check if the Mac App Store has been installed, it will appear in the menu when you click on the Apple logo. (App Store…)

Once the Mac App Store has been installed, its time to start downloading apps! In order to download apps, you will need an iTunes account that allows you to download the free apps or purchase paid-for apps. Each country has their own App Store as different rules regarding content apply to different territories. For example all games in South Africa need to go through the Film & Publications Board for approval before being available for purchase. This means the SA store has very few games and applications!

The best thing to do is to setup a U.S. iTunes account as the U.S. app store has all the applications, games and utilities.

How to setup a U.S. iTunes account to download apps from the Mac App Store

Step 1: Open the Mac App Store, by clicking the Apple logo (top left) > App Store, or clicking on the Mac App store icon in your dock.

Step 2: Make sure you are logged out of any iTunes account. You should see “Sign in” under Quick Links, which means you aren’t logged in.

Step 2

Step 3: Try to download a FREE app from the Free apps section. (Very important step!)

Step 3

Step 4: The Mac App Store will ask you to sign in with your Apple ID, or create new Apple ID. Click “Create Apple ID”.

Step 4

Step 5: Make sure you see the U.S. flag in the bottom right corner. You need to be in the U.S. Store in order to create the account. If not, click the flag and select the United States and repeat the process from Step 3.

Step 5

Step 6: Fill in your email address (which will become your Apple ID. This needs to be YOUR email address, not a bogus email address) and the rest of the details and click Next.

Step 7: If you have followed all the steps correctly, you should be able to select “None” as a payment method. When filling in your billing address, you will need a valid US address. The easiest way to find a valid address is to search for a Mcdonalds, KFC, Walmart, Holiday Inn or any US business using Google maps and then use the address, zip code and state to enter as your address.

Step 7

Step 8: You’ll then get an email from Apple to verify your account. Click on the link in the email, login with your Apple ID (email address) and password. Your account is now verified!

That’s it! Now that you have a U.S. account, you can now load your account with iTunes vouchers to purchase any apps from the Mac App Store!

Where to buy iTunes gift cards

Buy your iTunes gift cards from these websites. I have bought a number of vouchers from these stores before so they come recommended.

To load the gift card into your account, click “Redeem” under Quick Links and enter the voucher number. That’s it!

The iTunes vouchers also work in the iTunes store, so you can also purchase music, TV series and movies as well apps for your iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch! Open iTunes and browse the store. Just login with your newly created U.S. account and you good to go!

So there you have it. Enjoy downloading apps for your Mac instantly and also have the benefits of buying music, movies and iPhone games from iTunes!

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