Internet and Tech billionaires around the world share amazing stories of success and struggle they went through for that success. What about the South African stories?
The determinants of success or failure: Ideas are plentiful, but only a few people are willing to risk everything to create something different. South Africa is at an “ideas” tipping point. The stories that will be told by successful individuals will be captured on camera, placed on YouTube and instantly the risk takers will be viewed by millions. It’s time for our own Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerbergs to emerge. We have them. But have you heard of Justin Stanford’s story, Zibusiso Mkhwanazi, JP van der Spuy, Tshepho Mashigo, maybe Justin Hartman? Or better yet Vinny Lingham? Most South Africans haven’t, and that’s a pity.
My name will soon be mentioned with these pioneers, I will call them friends, or at least industry buddies, guys I know on a first name basis or something like that, wait I know, il attend conferences with them, yes that’s it. The reason is simple, I’m willing to take the risks, I’ve made that leap and I will land on soft ground.
But with every name there’s a story, I mean how did these South African Internet Entrepreneurs “make it”? how did their ideas take off in a South African internet climate that’s as cold as the North Pole? Maybe someone should take the time to ask them, to get their stories out there and inspire a generation of entrepreneurs that will take this internet monster buy the dragon horns, tame it and ride it!
I have a story, it’s dramatic and filled with hardships, failure and basically all the ingredients for a moving success story, only thing is that the success part hasn’t quiet taken place yet. Regardless, it’s important to know what it takes to pursue a passion and live a dream. Similar to the likes of Justin Stanford, Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs to name a few, I didn’t like what I was studying at Stellenbosch, it was great, but just not for me, but I kept at it for the years I was required to, more to tell the truth. But always my passion was entrepreneurship, I wanted to start something, not just become part of an already existing machine, it didn’t move me at all. When I was in high school in Durban, I started making t-shirts that sold like hot cakes, my mother saw that I was doing well and helped me out with capital to get t-shirts to print on, some ink and screen printing equipment, some of which I stole from the school art department. I loved making money from work I had done, but that venture soon bored me and I stopped, later on in varsity I started an events company with two friends, we did well, were able to feed ourselves and party often, perhaps too often for students.
We made contacts with the right people in the club scene and were able to throw parties in clubs without paying for the venues and keeping the money we made at the door. It was good and a small success. That also came to an end and so did mu varsity career and I had to find a job, that’s how it works. I got into an online marketing agency in Cape Town and that’s where I fell in love with the internet. The possibilities literally drove me insane. I wanted to be a leader in this industry, to somehow make a success of my life through the internet, the ideas were endless, I’d read up about young internet entrepreneurs daily, I still do. After working for three different companies in the online marketing industry, I found myself without a job, far from home and coming close to becoming homeless. I experienced a few nights of no food at all during my job hunt, some friends were good enough to give me their couches for some time and my lovely girlfriend basically fed me. It was/is the struggle of my life. I was in a city far from home and too ambitious to just give up and run home. After a year or more of constant rejection from companies I finally gave up.
I moved to Johannesburg for two months to live with a good friend under the hope of finding a job in my line of work in the bigger city, but that came to nought too. It was during the days on my friends couch that I came up with Three internet business ideas, All three inspired by three successful and brave internet entrepreneurs, namely Alex Tew, Tony Hsieh and Google’s’ Larry Page and Sergey Brin. I have started with the first project Adbuzz, an online advertising platform, very simple, nothing fancy, but a great way for businesses to be noticed without spending hundreds of thousands on advertising and also not being listed as just another company on a boring online directory that no clients or customers even visit.
These three projects are going to be my life’s work. I haven’t made a single cent yet, but success is along the path, the ideas are great and the risk is huge. The passion is burning and the faith is endless. South Africa could do with a public internet success story, I’m willing to hand it over.
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