So imagine for a moment that you are a geek, or tech-loving entrepreneur: and
you happen to live at the very bottom of a continent, where the most basic infrastructure is sporadic. You’re very very far away from Silicon Valley, Singapore, Bangalore, Tel Aviv, Helsinki, Cambridge, Mumbai, Shanghai or some-such global tech hotspot.
Frankly, the banks don’t give a flying fig for your woes young bootstrapper: if you fail you’re screwed.. (IF you happen to be lucky enough to have landed a high interest loan from these risk-averse behemoths, in the first place). The government has more pressing issues than focussing on developing the conditions that foster an economic environment favourable to start-ups. The very efficient taxman is gonna come knocking on your door, even if you land on your bum. There is very little room for failure here. Crime and xenophobia aren’t exactly welcoming attractions for talented immigrants. Firing someone is virtually impossible; so you better do it yourself, or have bloody good instincts. EISH!
Imagine too that the cost of your telecoms is 399% higher than the global average!
WTF :-/
Mmm.. now imagine wanting to start your own business in the tech sector. Sounds like fun hey?!
For South Africans, at home with lions roaming our streets and hardcore adventure tourism a speciality.. we eat this kind of challenge as a condiment on our boerewors roll. Mrs Balls of course.
Being courageous enough to believe that you can succeed as a tech start-up here, you may be either insane & naive.. or you maybe, just maybe, you’re one of those fearless creative visionaries who doesn’t believe the excuse of impossible. Sound exhilarating? Or just exhausting? This is the frontier that we ZA geeks must play in if we choose to stay local and work global. We have our work cut out for us.
For those up for it, there are some lessons that we can learn from places that have made it in spite of their challenges, in fact mostly BECAUSE of their challenges.
I’ve been hanging with some interesting venture capitalists online & off-, from different parts of the world who have been starting to pay attention to South Africa. Interrogating them unrelentingly.. all for a good cause of course! To find what works. There is potential and opportunity ripe for the picking here. IF we can use our “boer maak n’ plan” creativity to overcome formidable obstacles in our path; we may well become one of the most efficient and lean tech hubs on the planet.
Creative genius a necessity however. As is visionary leadership strategy. It’s not going to be easy, but it could be fun!
The debate has raged on whether geography determines your success, particularly from this article in the from the NY Times. And to some degree there is something to be said for being in a place that attracts both the risk-happy rich and geeks who are happy to reconstruct & recode reality. These two single factors will create a ‘silicon valley’ no matter what other factors are at play.
Could we turn on the charm and make ZA a place where the best & brightest minds love to be, and the lifestyle makes this a delicious playground for the wealthy to call home? Is this an impossible dream?!
The seemingly insurmountable has been done here before – let us not forget that South Africa has been called the Miracle Nation (thanks to the leadership genius of Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu). Could be time to revive that flagging tag..
Inspired by the challenge from Guy Kawasaki – do we try to re-create a Silicon Valley of the South, or do we aim for kicking their butt? That’s true entrepreneurship. LOL.. sounds utterly absurd from where we sit now, barely a blip on the tech radar.
But watch this space 
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March 6th, 2007 at 12:26 pm
Max, Seems like great minds think alike. Since my return from the UK I have started championing the creation of a silicon Valley for SA. The only difference is that my idea is without geographical bounds and will (as long as Telkom and Neotel play along) work almost everywhere. (I do however have a strong preference for the Garden Route, as it is fast filling with creative entrepreneurs, just waiting for a business / technology incubator to set up shop.
Anyway, enough self promotion. I agree with you wholeheartedly, SA has some of the greatest minds and need not stand back for anyone. As you say, our unstoppable perseverance pays off now and then, and something might just happen.
March 6th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
I like golf. It is a loner’s dream! Allows one to practice visualisation.
Temporal = Action = Energy = missed putt.
March 8th, 2007 at 5:57 pm
Aye Lassie
As another Garden Router (hehe) braving the new fronteir where no financial institution dares to go. I can only say I applaud each and every word written in this post and would like t add this thought. Has the time not come for us to set up an investment institution to help develop and fund our fledgeling but very creative industry. Or in a truly South African way lets start a Stokvel.