We’ve been having a lot of discussion within our company on whether it’s possible to raise large scale VC in South Africa for an Internet Startup. Sure, if you have a solid business in SA, which is breakeven or profitable, and looking for international expansion, then you can raise a large amount of VC. But if you’re an Internet company developing a global platform, which needs to use VC money to scale, is it possible to raise the funding in SA?

I can only think of one example of a local company that wasn’t profitable (I don’t think they are?) in the IT space that has raised funding locally in a big way, and that was FireID. However, that wasn’t in the Internet B2C or B2B market.

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First it was mySpace, then Facebook, then Twitter, and now the buzz among the Internet Technology front runners is Foursquare. It’s a simple concept - wherever you happen to be - a restaurant, the beach, a place of interest etc - tag yourself, that you’re there. And let all your contacts (similar to your facebook friends concept) know where you are down to the metre, and what you think of the place.

To try sucker you into “playing” foursquare more often, they give you points when you check into places, and you can become the mayor of the place etc.

Sounds stupid to me, although… [Read more →]

Watching the Cape Argus yesterday, which is South Africa’s most popular cycle race (109 km) reminded me of a book i’ve just finished reading called “Full Engagement” which is all about keeping your energy levels maximised.

The most memorable part of the book was a section discussing what makes the top tennis player in the world stand out from the Top 50. The conclusion? It’s not about talent. It’s about how much you recuperate between points. That 10 seconds of energy recuperation during points adds up to a massive amount of energy over a 3 hour game, and seperates the greatest tennis player with the greats! They give the example of Ivan Lendl - he wasn’t the most talented, but because he knew how to recuperate energy between points, he was number 1.

So I’m guessing it’s the same for the cyclists using the slip stream - the more they conserve their energy during the race, the better they sprint at the end.

As I arrived at the finish line at around 8.30 am, I saw a pack of riders whizz past. I found out a few minutes later that Lance Armstrong was one of them. And then I heard that he finished the race, jumped on a motorbike, sped off to the airport, jumped on his private jet, and was halfway to Europe (and that’s not an exaggeration) while some of the other cyclists were still finishing the race! Now that’s jetsetting!!

What could possibly be making Google think that EricEdelstein.com is German content or German based, and that they should be displaying Adsense Ads in German !!!!!!

Happy New Year! I’m spending a quiet NYE in beautiful Cape Town. (well, I’m not sure HOW quiet it will be!). I’m sure many of my international readers will be visiting Cape Town (& the rest of South Africa) during 2010. Here’s to a peaceful, successful, happy 2010 filled with laughter, health, wealth and good times.

Happy New Year everyone, and looking forward to continuing the discussions here in 2010, and hopefully meeting up with many of you who visit Cape Town this coming year.

To 2010!