Changing perceptions: How investors and entrepreneurs can make magic and change the world.

For sometime now i have been wondering like other people in my network how one changes the perceptions of people who do have money and link them with entrepreneurs who want to change the world. The problem is that people with money will often choosour e safe options as investment or they will invest with people they know. The journey to find a new system came with the realisation that there is a missing link between these two parties. The missing link is the connector. That person who connects the entrepreneur with the investor. However connectors at the moment are institutional investors, people who manage funds for other people and they are paid a fee to connect. In other words they are like brokers and they get paid to do so so the people they represent make more money. However this system is flawed as connectors should not be paid! And this was the radical realisation! We all live in tribes still. The religious tribes, the colour tribes, the sex tribes etc. So connectors are busy all the time connecting people within their own tribes. To connect someone from outside the tribe does entail some risk and personal reputational damage. So why not build a system of connectors across tribes who will connect with one another and connect with thousands of businesses and then these businesses should connect with one another as well. And this is the essence of a new world order from the I-ego to the W-ego. Where connectors understand that everyone including themselves benefit as does society in the growth of jobs and prosperity for all. So it does not matter wether connectors are connecting with regards to a small businesses selling chickens or the next technology enterprise that could change the way we do business in Africa. The point is real connectors are the missing link who operate because they beleive this is the right thing to do. If they do benefit they could be the first to invest or be paid if the entrepreneur chooses to do so not because its the dealmaker. Connectors are sitting in coffee shops all the time doing just this. I know because i am one of these people. Now imagine an organisation dedicated to supporting these connectors. Holding events for them, paying the coffee bill, maybe a flight to connect two people together to create magic. Would you want to be a connector? Soon something is going to happen where 1000 connectors meet and try and see if 10,000 businesses can receive the connectivity they need to take their businesses to the next level and change the way we perceive what we do now as seriously old school.

Some Great New ideas! Drive through ATM's, Dead body barriers and self help affidavits at police stations

Once upon a time I wanted to draw cash from an ATM. Problem 1: I couldnt find parking. Problem 2: when i did find parking it was miles away. Problem 3: The cost of the parking was blue murder Problem 4: I had to go into a mall wasting my time Problem 5: It was late and dark and dangerous. So why not have a drive through ATM. We have fast food drive thru's and they work really well. Security is better and one could have all the banks under one roof. ATM cash withdrawals will become much easier to manage and convenient for me. My vote is for DRive thru ATM's as i could also buy my burger and chips at the same time.
When one looks at the newspapers or images of dead gangsters or murdered people on the TV one can see real live dead bodies, people under blankets with red splotches and often kids seeing these images in the communities where they live. Someone needs to design a proper barrier that is erected by police or the community so people dont have to be bombarded with these sickening images. As this is a global problem police all over the world could use and purchase whatever barrier is designed as a uniquely SA design. Im sick and tired of seeing a 4 year old seeing these images in poor communities when i would never let my kids see the same things.
When people go into a police station they often need to give an affidavit. However there are 2 problems  for people who enter a local police station. 1: The police writing the affidavit often dont do such a great job and their literacy skills are often poor. 2: Many affidavits are lost. A self help kiosk similar to a a self help kiosk at the airport for ticket vending could be designed so people can do their own affidavits, print them and save them on a central server. The police officer can read and sign and store the paper copy. I really like this idea as the justice system is often fraught with poor record keeping and management.

Corporates need Innovation and sometimes this will come from Employees: The Vodacom call me case

Now I dont really like to write on my blog about specific companies BUT my blog is supposed to be about nurturing innovation and entrepreneurship on all levels of society where society is the winner in the end and entrepreneurs and pioneers can make money or fame that they can use to hopefully do more innovation and keep bettering society. So this leads me to the Vodacom "Please call me " case. Everything about this case has lessons for entrepreneurs and especially intrepreneurs ( people who innovate as an employee). Let me start with the corporate. Every corporate needs to keep innovating or they will perish. So a culture of innovation needs to be created in all levels of a company. But how do you encourage innovation without rewarding employees? And in the case of Vodacom actually taking the idea as one's own. My impressions in reading the story is that the biggest slap in the face is that Alan Knott Craig actually claimed the idea in his biography. This is shocking! I beleive that employees first want recognition beyond anything else. In this case I would still recognise what is the truth! This is about good business and the right thing to do. In a world where David can beat Goliath it is because of the power of the individual. So the company should have dedicated innovation managers and policies guiding what happens when employees have great ideas. The lesson for the employees of vodacom are simple. If you have an innovation make the app in your own time. Patent it and then offer it to the company. If they wont pay then  offer it to your competitors. Watch the movie ENVY with Jack Black! Personally I have known about this for some time and will never encourage an innovator to take their ideas to certain companies with poor reputations for “stealing” ideas. Companies like Vodacom, Discovery, Eskom, and so on! The worse part is if Vodacom just gave him recognition it would probably have been enough. Bad Karma! Shame on you Vodacom!