University students are the next entrepreneurs

Every month i hold a pitch session at a different university with university students. Often like in Stellenbosch university my partners are university students with a strong drive toward entrepreneurship. The students organise the events and drive students to come and pitch and they become real partners. The vision with the Stellenbosch model is called Pitchin and the students who are partners and i hope to grow the pitchin events to all university's soon. What i love most about these events is the beer and the popcorn. Honestly, where do you go to pitch a business idea with a beer in your one hand and popcorn in the other. Its honest and its fun and thats what this phase of business should be. In the last pitch session which happened last friday the quality was excellent:
Everyone can pitch in any form they like: The objective for me is that people be brave and pitch. That students encounter a positive environment rather than a critical one. and that students all get some feedback on their business ideas.
These were some of my comments:
1. Bernie
Brand: Wikisun ( exam papers online)
A truly great product and something that could definitely be turned into a business. This will definitely work at schools ( especially maths and science) as well as universities. The most important thing is to prove that there is a difference between those that use the products and those who don't. Together with mentorship this is a great product. It would be worthwhile doing a proper budget for the expansion of the business

2. Tom ( sustainable farming and more!)
Sustainable brothers
In terms of an offering he has so much to offer students. Soil measurement and change, black gold, Putting hands in soil, volunteers. I think that many of the ideas and evolve into something quite special.I also love the concept of planting and harvesting all over stellenbosch for students and connecting this with a Facebook type site where students become involved in the whole business.

3. Vida Ryan
Milk crates at schools
A great recycling idea. This can work with crates as they are and with melting crates and remoulding the plastic into something else. I would love to see this concept taken forward and tested.

4. Anya
Lectures as audio books
It was fantastic that she got up and promoted her idea as an impromptu pitch. I really liked the idea and believe she should be encouraged to make a test pilot of a few lectures and see if anyone would be interested in listening to them or buying them.

5. Derek
Study group ( an online tool that acts as a diary for students to be reminded all the time of events, courses, lectures etc)
Well done to Derek. The fact that the pitched for the second time with an amended idea that has now been tested is brilliant. The next phase of this business is to actually commercialise and please change the brand into something much more catchy.

6. Liz Lowe
JAST
A lovely idea. So simple yet this is what the world is changing towards. A mixture of social media and social change. Brilliant ideas around taking candid pictures picking up litter, trash treasures ( this idea must be tested and i would help with this). I think a simple Facebook page to start and promoting amongst mattes students and surfers. The idea can also be extended to parks, streets etc. The brand also needs to change. 

I beleive that students at university can develop ideas for a very specific market and test them. There is no better model for entrepreneurs to start a new business. Most entrepreneurs struggle to identify their market while students dont need too. They understand what is needed and they build products and services for that market. A perfect match.

My favourite TV program at the moment

I do love TV, especially documentaries. There is one at the moment called the "Men who built America" based on the life stories of guys like Carnegie, Van der Bilt, JP Morgan, Rockefeller. i love this show as it shows clearly the ups and downs of being an innovator, pioneer and entrepreneur. There are so many lessons in this program and so inspiring it reminds me exactly why there are so few entrepreneurs in the world. The program shows clearly that to be an entrepreneur you need the following qualities:

1. An unflinching desire toward taking risks which very few people are capable of.
2. Having a vision which does not always have a clear path but going on the journey anyway
3. A little bit of luck but making that luck yourself most of the time
4. Understanding that there will be ups and downs and one needs to deal with both
5. Never underestimate your competition
6. You have to be ruthless sometimes
7. Be careful who you bring in as partners and staff
8. No one cares that you started the company most people want to see your downfall
9. Raising capital for your venture is never easy
10. Unexpected circumstances cannot be seen

I encourage all would be entrepreneurs to read the stories of these entrepreneurs or watch the program on TV. It is beyond fascinating and just affirms everything that i have lived and understand as an entrepreneur

Companies and innovation: What is the process to get all employees to begin innovating

All companies big and small need to innovate in order to get ahead of the competition. Over the years i have noticed the increasing need for companies in South Africa to innovate from the bottom up. I have designed the following process for companies;

The Ideas generation phase uses my Seeing the Leaves technique which i still think is the best idea generator in the world! I have tested it and tested it and implemented it all over the world and it really does work. You can download for free the seeing the leaves newspaper technique on my blog.
I believe that the pitching of ideas is vital as it gets the ideas in the open and allows for full transparency re: who brought the idea to the company in the first place. It is also exciting and fun.
A company needs to take some of the ideas and develop what i call a test fund that can fund the exploration of new ideas. The test must be small and cover both marketability and viability and can it be made or done!
Once the test has been complete and if it is successfull then companies can invest bigger into the concept.
The biggest issue for employees is how they benefit from bringing new ideas into a company. For me it is the most exciting part of being an employee. If i have a great idea i can be the jockey for the the whole process or i can let the company develop the idea and i can follow it. Either way if i am an employee this could change my life and the life my company.

My letter published in the cape times

I agree with the ratepayers analysis of the report by external consultants about the Cape Town stadium lacking any vision or credibility. ( 11th March 2013). Creating a commercial district around the stadium as well as in the stadium is not what the stadium was built for. It was built for sport and other special events. The majority of Capetonians don't feel like they "own" the stadium or what happens to it. If it did get torn down i am not sure if anyone would care or if there would be a huge outcry. It would save taxpayers R45 million and we still have Newlands, both cricket and Rugby and Athlone for soccer. So what would be an innovative model. I write in my personal capacity because the City officials are not interested in meeting with me to discuss this option. I would set up a financial cooperative. Here citizens of Cape Town can purchase shares in the Stadium Financial Cooperative. I believe that R100 million per year can be raised selling shares. The beauty of a financial Cooperative is that no matter how many shares you buy you only have one vote. Once the money is raised the Stadium Coop can purchase the stadium on behalf of the denizens of Cape Town. The city can own a minority share if it chooses. Once the people own the stadium ( and this was not considered in the consultants report) the stadium will always be packed and shareholders will make sure it is in order to get a dividend or return on their investment. However the real benefit will be that the people from Cape Town will take ownership and make it a success.

Some advice for entrepreneurs at the first phase of their journey

So i write alot about ideas and innovation in entrepreneurship and clearly that is my passion. And i meet so many people who have great business concepts. Some only have an idea. Some have more than an idea and developed prototypes. Some have gone beyond prototypes and actually sold something. This is still all part of the first phase of the life of an entrepreneur. For the early start entrepreneurs here is my sagely advice:

1. Nothing is going to come easily to you. You have to fight like a rottweiler to make it happen.

2. Not everyone will support you. This is not personal.

3. Your idea may just not be viable. If you haven't sold it in any form in 2 years chuck it in the bin please.

4. You should be working on more than 1 idea / concept at a time

5. But you also need to focus on the one's you are working on ( sounds like a paradox)

6. You may think about your business all the time but no one else does

7. When one door closes a bigger door will open

8. If people dont support you thank them kindly and respectfully as you may need them another day. Some people get angry and cantankerous and thus sever the relationships they should be keeping for the long haul.

9. You need to put your own cash in!

10. Your idea is not your baby, its just your idea or business. Real Babies are much more precious!

From coronal mass ejections to being black and a new yearly memory board game.

Many people follow the weather religiously. Especially in Cape Town where everyone is an expert. But one day the weather-man will be giving us a very different version as we may all be living in outer space. He may be saying instead of “wind and rain, watch out for solar wind, radiation storms, flares and coronal mass ejections”, ( taken from an article in the Cape Argus). I am sure many people would be very interested in space weather now as a quirky way to follow trends in the world.

I had to laugh when a young entrepreneur asked me if I could make a business idea by making white people black? I said of course you can. Not to delve back into the past but many black people tried and probably continue to try to be white. (  A bot controversial I know). But suits and ties? Skin lightners? English accents like the queen? Playing golf and darts for fun? So I said to him what about getting white people to do black things. Like skin darkeners ( I mean white people are already obsessed with tanning and browning the skin), wearing sandals instead of shoes and open necked shirts because it makes sense in the heat, the lingo and slangs that hip black dudes use ( yes this could be a bit pretentious), and getting more white people to follow stickfighting. Who knows he may start a trend where white people even purchase wigs, get black faces and nom de plumes ( that is a secret name). Mine is Gloria Lubisi (my black alter ego) and she always gets published and taken seriously. Serias! (That’s serious!).

Its also amazing how as a public we forget so easily and so quickly. So much happens so fast and is reported on so much daily. I think we need a new board game in South Africa and the world. A yearly board game. 2013 SA! Will be the first one with questions only about the year, and packaged so you can remember like a yearbook what happened that year. 2013 UK, 2013 USA etc etc. Very exciting!

Can I make a business out of the Oscar Pistorius debacle

When I turn on the radio and all I hear is the Oscar Pistorius story I wonder as an entrepreneur if there are any real positives here or any crazy business schemes. Well I have found two possible businesses here. The first is that everyone has a theory of what happened. Since there are many facts on the tables, and all the detail has been intimately shown in the media I wondered wether a web page  or technology platform where people could be a detective and try and find the solution to the crime. I wondered then since we have such a high crime rate in SA how such a platform could help solve any crime and how ordinary citizens could use their intelligence to solve these crimes. There is the possibility of creating a game and incentives as well. I would call it Sherlock Holmes SA!

Then I saw an amazing picture of the shadow of Oscar. All the photographers were taking pictures of him but one photographer captured his shadow. And it dawned on me that we al, have a shadow. When I was a kid I named my shadow. So why don’t we create a business where people can name their shadows. It is the shadow after all in all of us which is the darker side of our personalities so why not get to know it better. My shadow was called Rourke by the way! What is your shadow's name?

These two business opportunities may seem a little odd BUT I do see opportunities in everything and I cant stand listening to all the drivel anymore without thinking that this whole scenario must mean more and only creative and entrepreneurs can do something about it NOT police and politicians!