Of Relevance

Renting offices is expensive, and often problematic. You have to tie yourself in to a lease, pay a deposit and ensure that your business is viable enough at all times to support it: there is very little flexibility. Which is why, I guess, the concept of sharing office space has taken off hugely in the US. There is a whole culture around it, and there are many permutations of the same offering.

The gist of it is that instead of tying yourself to a long lease, you simply rent a space for a desk in a big office, and share it with others who are there under the same arrangement. The advantages are obvious:

• You pay only for the space you use
• You share the office with other cool people
• You are not tied to a lease
• You can add space as you can afford it (if your team grows, for instance)
• You often get the benefits of a receptionist, and business equipment
• You have access to good bandwidth, that you for per usage

You can explore the world of coworking by following the links from this excellent wiki on the subject

Well… Gareth Knight, Brett Haggard and myself would like to arrange a space like that for web workers in Joburg. We still have to finalise details, but the space would probably be in the Rivonia/Sandton area, and would cost about R1000 – R1500 per desk, per month. There wouldn’t be a lease, and I’m sure there would be some sort of crowd law that would ensure that everyone is creating a fun atmosphere, that is conducive to producing good work.

Gareth is going to be running a start up, Brett will run Hypertext Media (custom magazine publishing) and I will play around with some new ventures that I am starting soon.

We are trying to gauge the interest of others who would want to participate, so that we know how big a space we need to find. If you are a freelancer, work from home or runs a small company and want to save on office rent and mix with a cool crowd of people, get in touch with us. You can email me at eved AT ideabank.co.za or leave a comment below. There is no obligation, but please only express interest if this is genuinely something you would want to do. Let us know how many people you would be bringing with you, and if you have a finite time for which you need the space.
We would probably get this going from January or February.

I attended the Internet Solution conference, Internetix, on Tuesday and I just wanted to blog some thoughts around it.

Conferences are a dime a dozen, of course, but I don’t think I have ever attended one in South Africa that I enjoyed as much. Which got me thinking as to why exactly Internetix was such a success, and whether that success can be replicated by smaller companies.

Some factors that contributed to the day:

The venue: held on Dimension Data’s Campus, where IS sits, the conference venue is ideal for a conference of this size. The auditoriums are world class, the technology is (mostly) spot on and the networking spaces are top notch.

The speakers: For starters, the speakers were from various disciplines. Amongst many more, the speakers included Ravi Naidoo talking about S African creativity, Mark Gevisser talking about the future of S Africa under Zuma and Justin Spratt talking about the future of telecommunications under the power of Voip. There was a panel made up of the key telco people in S Africa (representing IS, Icasa, Telkom, and Neotel. Alan Knott Craig was part of the panel in his personal capacity) and Roy Blumenthal talking about the need for personal creativity. Tying it all together was the thread of the “What if” question…an excellent way to allow diverse topics to co-exist, while not boring the audience. All speakers had knowledge, passion and experience in their field, and it showed.

The attendees: This was probably the highlight for me. The conference was extremely well attended (I heard that there were probably more than 1200 people there), but I felt as if I was walking into a friend’s private party. It seemed as if half of the Geekretreaters were there. Obviously my advantage is that I have cool friends who actually attend events like Internetix, but even if I didn’t, the venue and the setup was very condusive to mingling, breaking out and socialising.

No agenda, hidden or otherwise: Ultimately, Internet Solutions put on a show for its clients and other people for the purpose of opening up the audience’s minds, and daring us to ask the “What if” question. No pushing of product. Even if there was an agenda you could immediately tell that it wasn’t to :

• make money
• push IS capabilities

This made for a conference that was neutral and accessible. And interesting. I also got the feeling that a lot of the attendees were there as IS’s guests (I was, thanks to Justin Spratt). But I think that even those who did pay, forked over only about a R1,000 or so. This makes for a nice change from the R5,000 ticket prices that are the norm these days.

South Africa needs more events like these: gatherings for 500+ people, with varied and top notch speakers, thought provoking tracks and affordable prices. I can’t imagine that the big corporates would struggle to make it happen. But I know of other, smaller players who are trying to shake up the conference industry, such as Gareth Knight the organiser of Tech4Africa happening in August 2010, Netprophet and Tedx.
Let’s hope the trend continues.

Nothing like a need for self promotion to make one dust off their much-neglected blog….

I’ve launched my latest baby, the Internet Guide. It’s an online e-mag in .pdf format, aimed at South African Internet users, focused on all things web.

I’ve wanted to do a magazine like this for a long time – a while back I came *this* close to doing a tangible, printed one, but it didn’t happen. The idea stuck around though, and launching it online is an acceptable alternative, for now.

To those who have asked why it’s a .pdf file, as opposed to a simple blog, here is my reasoning:

• A pdf file can easily be printed and taken offline. It’s the best compromise to not having a printed magazine, as the reader can decide whether he will read it online, or whether he wants to read it at leisure when not in front of the computer. The magazine is designed to be as printer friendly as possible ie. not too many graphics, colour blocks etc. I print it in black and white, and it looks great.

• The alternative was to simply publish a blog. But I felt that was counterproductive. I want the magazine to be read by people who are not yet too familiar with blogs, rss feeds etc. The whole point of the magazine is to bring those people “up to speed”. We have a lot of catching up to do in South Africa, and I want to play an active role in helping the masses become very comfortable in the online world.

• A pdf file is the easiest way to ensure compatibility with various platforms. It is also easy  to distribute, pass on etc. And since I have Indesign, it is also relatively easy to create.

You can download the file from Scribd.com here, or print/view it below (although a bit too small to read here!).

If you want to get involved, please contact me directly at eved@ideabank.co.za.

The magazine does have a blog, but it’s not very active. You can find it at www.internetguide.co.za. If you subscribe to the feed, you will not miss a single issue (pheww…I sound like  a publisher already!).

And please, please, please: if you like the e-mag, spread the word. It’s not going to be easy to reach the very people I am writing this for (the less-than-savvy-Internet-users) so I need all the help I can get!

Internet Guide 01, January 20 2009

The era of user generated content is, of course, well upon us. And the one thing that users generate more than almost anything else is criticism.  So it make sense that we learn how to deal with it effectively. And yet, the way criticism is given, and the way it is received is still a cause of much discomfort on the web.

Giving criticism is easier than receiving it, and yet even here I have noticed the South African blogosphere struggle. I know from my own experience that I have no problem criticising – sometimes rather aggressively, I admit – corporations, or people I do not personally know. And yet, I am very loathe to hand out criticism, of any kind, to my online friends and acquaintances, whether in public or in private.

I suspect that the reason we struggle to criticise those we know is because few of us can be trusted to handle criticism well.  Most of us get very defensive, with the minimum of provocation. Witness these two comments (which really made me laugh) as an example, taken from an iMod blog post:

Reader in a comment : “Hi. I have also blogged about this at http://xyz”

Author: “Oi Walter, you trying to hijack my thread? ;)”

Reader: “Dont be silly – why would I try do that? just adding my 2 cents worth.If you think I am hi jacking your thread – and its not of benefit to the cause please delete my comment.”

Ironically, it is essential to receive constructive criticism at all stages of a business’ lifecycle, even if your business is simply your personal brand. So by withholding it from those of our friends who need it the most, we are in fact causing them more harm than good.

The situation actually gets worse before it gets better. because not only do we not criticise each other effectively, but we also tend to do the opposite, which I’ll formally refer to as “ass-kissing”. A friend or colleague launches a new feature on his website that he is sooo proud of, and we all trip over each other to congratulate him, and to tell him “It rocks” or that he’s “a genius” or “wow, awesome, dude!”. Whereas, in fact, maybe the new feature is not really all that hot at all. Maybe, in fact, it is quite awful.

I guess it is a two sided game: we have to be able to receive criticism before it is given to us. And certainly not everybody does. Witness some of these examples of how differently criticism was handled:

• QVC
  Donn Edwards wrote a blog post that was critical of the way in which QVC (Quality Vacation Club)lured him to a timeshare presentation with the promise of a prize. Instead of ignoring the blog post, with the hope that it would go away, the QVC CEO decided to sue with a vengeance (for anything between R450,000 to R1,500,000 depending on the mood of the lawyer).  The result has been so much negative online discussion regarding QVC, that they got themselves into a mess they will never come out of. Or at least not for a very long time.

• Blog Survey
  I (and some others) wrote a very critical post about the original botched result of the SA Blog survey. Although the parties in question did not appreciate my view point, or my tone, they both reacted with utter professionalism and acted on some of my criticism. Specifically, I had private communication with Amanda Reekie (whose company did the survey analysis), where she made it very clear that she was committed to righting all wrongs, and would welcome as much criticism as it took to get there. How mature. I certainly learnt a lot from the way she handled her crisis, and I commend her for it.

• Google story
  When Entelligence issued a press release saying that basically they were screwed over by Google with respect to their Yellow Pages account, I wrote a story on the matter for Thought Leader titled “Google does evil”, and outlined the story from Enteligence’s point of view. I was ripped apart by journalist friends who, in an email thread, made it very clear that such allegations cannot be made based on a one sided press release. I stuck my ground, defended myself throughout the day, alleging that as a blogger I had the right to draw my own conclusions, and was not bound by the same limitations as a newspaper journalist. Yet as the day wore on, I actually took the time to think about their points, and ended up amending the post. And I do think that was the right thing to do, although it took a lot of people a lot of emails to get me to see that. I hope I listen more often!

• Web assessments
  A big part of my services as a web strategist is a site assessment review, which is a thorough analysis of a client’s website. Before I take on the project though, I have a long conversation with my clients to make sure that they understand that I am going to be truthful, and therefore invariably harsh. I always say that if they think their website is close to perfection, and will not stand to hear anything but, then I am not the person to deliver this particular task.  The funny thing is, that every one of my clients thus far has absolutely, and completely declared themselves open to criticism. And they paid good money to receive it. And almost every single one was taken aback and become defensive about the points I made. (Although, in the long run, I think it is safe to say that most of them will admit I was right, or at least “righter” than them. That’s because an outsider who does not have emotional involvement with a project can be more objective about it.)

So, my hope for us online colleagues for 2009?

• That we become more open to, and welcoming of, criticism.
• That when we do criticise, we tone down our displeasure (this is what I need to work on!)
• That we do not blindly support our colleagues, but that our praise is sincere and heartfelt. That we voice loudly our objections when they are justified.
• That we think for ourselves and shed our sheep-mentality of following the opinion of the crowd.
• But that, if after listening to others’ criticism we still maintain our original point of view, we have the power of our convictions to defend it.

And that we have  a rocking 2009, of course!

You can’t go very far in the local blogosphere without stumbling across a conversation on the lack of funds for web entrepreneurs, lack of online innovation, lack of skills etc.

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I have been trying to come to grips with this problem for some time, but to not much avail. The simple fact is that South Africa lacks angel investors to seed an entrepreneur’s idea, and there is little incentive for a strong angel network to establish itself.

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Part of the problem is that few people, especially the “youngsters”, have both the technical and the business skills to take an online project forward, successfully. They can develop a “killer app”, but have no idea how to take it to market. Sometimes, they’re not even sure if there is a market.

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I was discussing these issues with Dr. Jill Sawers who is the Manager of Entrepreneurship at the Innovation Hub, and she has now spearheaded an exciting initiative to bridge some of these gaps.

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The Maxum Incubator, together with University of Pretoria and IdeaBank (my company) are organising the fist pre-incubation offering for young online entrepreneurs.

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All successful applicants will receive:
•    Free plug and play shared office space for a 3 months (a R500 deposit, telephone costs and  consumables will be for your own account)
•    Attending Izazi entrepreneur forums (opportunity to network with like-minded entrepreneurs)
•    Exposure to experienced business mentors and Maxum management team who will guide you in the process of deciding what is necessary to convert your proposed business concept/prototype into a real, viable business opportunity
•    An opportunity at the end of your pre-incubation period to decide whether your business idea has the potential for making money and become part of the Maxum Business Incubator programme
•    If your business opportunity is good enough, you will be introduced to venture capitalists who may be interested in investing in your business

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Basically, it is a foot in the door of a very connected Hub. You will work on your idea while utilising Maxxum’s office space and bandwith, and you will work together with MBA graduates to fine tune your business plan and prototype.

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Once you have a the foundations in place, you wil be introduced to the venture capitalists who have been identified specifically for their interest in funding online start up businesses.

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It is an ideal opportunity for someone in the Pretoria vicinity to become ingrained in both the tech and business spheres at the same time. Plus, the Innovation Hub is a great place to work (my office is across the road, so I am there often) and the energy and vibe are invigorating!

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If you are working on an online venture, if you need some guidance, help or will be needing funding to take your product to market, I strongly suggest you review this opportunity.

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Five simple application steps:
1.    Prepare a 5 slide PowerPoint concept, or a five point document, that outlines your proposition and illustrates commitment to the business enterprise (see accompanying example) and forward this, together with “Assessment of potential ICT Entrepreneurs” form,  to gsetumo@theinnovationhub.com. The business idea must demonstrate technological innovation in at least one of The Innovation Hub’s focus areas: ICT, biosciences, electronics, advanced manufacturing and materials, or energy and the sustainable environment.
2.     As an IT start-up or “Techie with an idea” you will present to a group of MBA students who, if they see an opportunity of building a business around your idea, will engage in a discussion with you over a glass of wine/beer/cool drink after your presentation.
3.    If you agree that this is a business opportunity, you will put together a business proposal and submit this to Maxum for entry into the pre-incubation programme.
4.    If the plan looks viable, you will present to the Selection Advisory Panel who will discuss  the feasibility of your concept.
5.    Should your application be successful you will be invited to pre-incubate your business idea and locate your business in Maxum’s pre-incubation premises at The Innovation Hub in Pretoria. And….if your business proposal is good enough, you will be linked up with Venture Capitalist who may consider investing in your business.

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Important dates to remember:

• 1 September 2008:    Deadline for receipt of applications to be submitted to Maxum

• 8 October 2008:      Successful applicants invited to prepare presentation forBusiness Beat Function

• 21 October 2008:    Business Beat function at The Innovation Hub, Pretoria

• 17 November 2008:    Deadline for receipt of proposals for Maxum’s pre-incubation                programme

• 26 November 2008:    Presentation of selected proposals to Maxum’s Selection Panel

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For more information contact Patricia Dlamini, Manager: Maxum: (012) 844 0084, pdlamini@theinnovationhub.com or visit www.maxum.co.za

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Or you can give me a shout at eved@ideabank.co.za.

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Example of presentation