Whispers of an entrepreneur

Mobile Communication - Apps run the world With 900 million mobile subscribers in India, over 600 million in Africa and just over 1 billion in China, there are more mobiles in the developing world than any other devices for communication. This brings a treasure trove of opportunities for builders of mobile applications. Applications or better known as Apps – essentially pieces of software that can be purchased as stand-alone modular products according to the requirements of the user, are revolutionising the way in which we consumer software products. When you think back, all software used to come from the big software companies, you had operating systems, antivirus software and business software packs. The Netscape guys are one of the pioneers of what we today view as the App revolution and the App market. Taking nothing from Apple and its iTunes Store, they well and truly made software a wide appealing consumer product. The folks from Netscape gave us a free browser tha...

You really have to be quite crazy to leave the cushy and plush working environment of an established corporate or government department to become an entrepreneur. To go against conventional wisdom and advice to start something with no certainty of a future – let alone income potential to sustain you; where people actively and to your face wonder about your sanity. “How can such a promising person be so stupid” or “How can you be so foolish” or many other similar statements. When I took the leap, I was well on my way to rising within the Department of Science and Technology in Pretoria. They had offered me the position of Assistant Director (No idea, about the title) at the tender age of 26. I still have the letter to decline this offer – I must admit over the years when things got more than I can bare, I sometimes wondered about that letter and how life could have been had I not sent it and just reported to my new designation. With only FAITH as your north star and a drea...

We have had the elections and the results have been tallied, the African National Congress (ANC) has won – no surprise there. The Democratic Alliance (DA) has progressed and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has become a formidable player and second contender to the leadership/rule of South Africa – who would have thought. I have mentioned before, I have great admiration for Juju , et al. as a functioning business; though I may not agree with their strategies and vision, I do admire their tenacity and entrepreneurial spirit. The most noteworthy thing for me was the rapid decline and apparent irrelevance, at least according to the voting stats, of political parties like Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) , Congress Of the People (COPE) and the United Democratic Movement (UDM) . Looking at it from a corporate outlook, this poses some interesting food for thought. If we take these three political as struggling companies, clearly with blood in the water, it would be time t...

I always find it extremely hard to find good service in South Africa. People are either rude or just unaccommodating - during these many public holidays the family and I had lunch at the Waterfront in Cape Town. We decided to make a picnic of it - buying food and sitting somewhere we could see the boats and feel the buzz of Cape Town life. We saw a great potential eatery – they had the proteins we like as well as veggies; key in our new eating plan, thanks to Dr Tim Noakes. Well – we enquired from the attendant, behind the counter, how their menu works. Do we choose the portions and incorporate any of the veggies? Or, do we get a meal that comes with the veggies? Seemingly, this was just too much to take – the gent just looked at us and moved over to the next customer. Feeling perplexed I decided to look out for any poster with information at the eatery. I found nothing that could help me. We then decided to ask another attendant, this time a lady. Posed the same ques...

During the past weekend, I got reminded of the things I am thankful for; a kind of taking stock of what is important as well as the journey that has led to this moment in my life. Praying hands Cleaning my cupboard I came across old business cards of lives I have lived and responsibilities I have had. Some were challenging, others simply infuriating but in all the positions and jobs I have had, valuable knowledge was accumulated, experienced gained and lessons learnt. My latest journey has been the most challenging, coinciding with my responsibilities as a husband and father - I was no longer able to take on the major risks of the past, risks that made me well off as well as broke me in more ways than just financial. Though a little wiser and more risk averse, I have taken a few gambles with some disasters and triumphs – effects of which were exacerbated because of my young family. The lows became so much more bitter and the highs were duly needed. As the husband, I am r...