FundFind - South Africa's new and exciting crowdfunding platform which officially launched on the 22nd of April 2013 is growing from strength to strength.

Crowdfunding is a relatively new concept to South Africans and many are nervous to give it a go, but with the challenges that we face when searching for funding for our various ventures, crowdfunding is likely to become the latest trend in creative, charity and entrepreneurial…

Pitch Competitions can be great, but watch out how you play the game.

Over the last few months, I've stepped onto the stage a good number of times to pitch my startup, Perk. Many times I've worked hard to get that spot, other times people have asked me to come forward to share my presentation. Having experienced the highs and lows, I think it is time to give a little insight into what pitching entails, and whether it is really…

At a recent StartupWeekend type event I mentored at, I noticed that many people don't know how to quickly test a business model. Plenty had an idea, but had no way of knowing what the next step is. All you need to ask is What? Who? How? Why? and then test every answer and update.

What?

In one sentence, what problem are you solving? What is the pain point that you are relieving? Keep it super simple. It should describe what you do. "We help X do…

I am happy to announce that the Cliquidity Beta is live and would like to invite the Silicon Cape community to join the public beta and share some feedback.

Looking for people you cliq with?

Discover interesting people using online personal…

The hardest part about finding a name for a startup is finding a decent free domain. In most cases,  the available domains is one of the main determining factors for which name you choose. With an awesome domain normally going for over $10 000 US it’s no wonder why startups are looking for variations away from the norm. The global village doesn’t help much either…

The most common alternate spellings…

Adzuna, the venture-backed next generation job search engine, has launched publicly in South Africa with the aim to transform the way people search for jobs in South Africa. The site, launched by the team behind Gumtree.com, has gained significant traction in the UK with its social job hunting tools, real time labour market data and powerful search. Adzuna now aims to take its technology and free, open data to South…

Because I’ve raised more than $300 million, I’m often asked by entrepreneurs to raise capital for their startups or growing businesses.  Many entrepreneurs believe it happens overnight. But what amazes me even more is the lack of understanding of the process of raising capital. 

I’ve written about the …

There are a couple of key roles to fill in an IT startup. I’ve often recall a great blog on “5 People you commonly find in a startup” by John Sharp in conversations as I feel that knowing what your strengths are and what sort of team you need around you can be key to business success. The 5 types are:…

Whether you want to see it this way or not, every entrepreneur and investor is in the raising money business all the time. Unless you’re a startup or business that is printing money by generating revenues from paying customers, you’re always in the raising money business. Period.

Even if you’re doing well in your business, the natural…

There are plenty of secrets to raising money for any business. In Startupmentals: The Secret to Raising BIG Money for Your Startup or Growing Business — I write about the power…

As I continue to analyze various modular structures of a business model, a Lego-style model vector popped up on my radar: gamification.Gamification is nothing new. Obviously, the airline industry has been conducting components of gamification in their frequent flyer loyalty programs. Some high-tech companies have taken it to another…

by Nanine Steenkamp

Free social network initiative Bonfiire will be officially launched on February 28 as the South African-developed Beta version aims to become an established critical discussion community network.

The test phase was activated in October 2012 when co-founders Johannes Jonker and Nico de Wet adapted the idea from the VryeMatie, which was already a running platform of opinion…

by Nanine Steenkamp

South African startup MiName is looking to protect users from marketing exploitation by rewarding them with cash for being connected to brands they are interested in hearing from.

The founders of MiName, which allows users to decide what marketing they receive and rewards them if they make a purchase, believe the key to their product is its distinctiveness.

“From what we…

Having funded more than 25 companies, I can tell you some reasons why I chose not to fund some entrepreneurs: 

1. Too early in the startup cycle 

If you’re looking for money, don’t come to me if you’re still in in the ideation or seed stage of the startup cycle — especially if you have not built a brand name for yourself as an entrepreneur with a track record. If you come to me looking for capital and you’re a programmer asking for money to develop your app, I am going…

It’s nice to discover, after writing about something, especially when it comes to raising capital — that other entrepreneurs have done it the same way you did.

In my book, Entrepreneur Myths: The Startup Reality, I discuss the process of raising capital for your business as well as the pitfalls and myths of raising money. In one chapter, I discuss the simple notion that writing a business…

What does it mean to be an entrepreneur revolutionary? What does it mean to be an entrepreneur copycat? As an entrepreneur, do you create markets? Or do you ride the markets with a better value proposition? Do you want to be considered a revolutionary or evolutionary? Which is better?

One flaw in thinking I noticed among entrepreneurs in the high-tech sector — and especially while running a venture capital fund in Silicon Valley — is the incredibly romantic notion of wanting to be a…

If you’re going to be an entrepreneur copycat of anything, you must consider copying the business models that work. Few entrepreneurs spend enough time learning about business models within their sector — and even more importantly, outside their sector. 

When trying to figure out your business model as a startup, you have to look at it from a different perspective than an existing company, or even a company in an emerging or…

When I played soccer in my younger days, I had the privilege of playing with my twin brother. We played every day for hours. This is one big reason I became such a good dribbler and overall soccer player. Another reason is because we loved playing one-on-one against each other. We kept score too.  So if I won one day, I knew he would play the next day harder than ever. Neither one of us liked to lose  — even if it was to his twin brother.

As an outside observer, if you saw us playing…

I never liked playing in rain as a kid. I should like rain because I love nature. Rain drives life. But I still don’t enjoy rain because I absolutely hated playing soccer in the rain. While my brother had fun sliding around on the soccer field with our teammates after a heavy dose of rain, I sat on the sidelines cleaning my soccer cleats from the mud. Maybe, I don’t like rain because I have this thing about wearing muddy shoes. Maybe it’s because I still remember the day we lost our last…

The wiser I get, the more I understand the power of fundamentals.  One of the most important lessons my father taught me was the power of fundamentals applied to anything. He taught us to apply fundamentals in soccer, and now I am using some of the same principles and applying them to business — especially the fundamental theories and applications of startup acceleration, launching products, product development and marketing.

But my father went beyond the fundamentals. He taught us…