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!

The electronic Sangoma and the real solution to the financial woes of the cape town stadium

I mentioned in my last blog about the electronic sangoma. Oh how i love this concept. Human beings will forever want to foretell their future and sangomas play an important role in helping people in South Africa do that. The Sangoma will throw the bones (literally) although there are also dice and shells and other things. Then he will tell your future and your fortune, or how many children you will have. After looking at the concept an entrepreneur wondered wether one could transfer the sangoma  bone throwing onto a digital landscape. Even astrologers use the internet today which allows for speed and accuracy. So why not an electronic sangoma? Like a gambling site the bones will be thrown in a randomised fashion. To write this kind of electronic program is really difficult and needs the best technical minds. The sangoma's will provide the information based on the analyses of the bones and people will be able to access this service on the internet and on their mobile phones.
On another note i have been wanting to present my solution to the city of cape town for the cape town stadium, built for the world cup, but aimed as a rugby stadium. Really silly. Rugby may move one day but I feel the city has missed the solution and the opportunity completely. Why not set up a financial cooperative. You may buy as many shares as you like but you only have one vote. The people of cape town can make an offer for a share of the stadium and reap any dividends if profits are made. 1 million capetonians purchasing 2 shares will amount to R200 million ( or 25% of the stadium). Every year another batch of shares can be offered. If capetonians "own" the stadium they will fill it and make it a profitable entity. What's the city git to lose!

Bills and CV'are so old school

Everyone has made a cv once in their lives. But CV'are are so old school. They all look the same. Same format. Same font. Same boring information. I really pity the poor HR person who has to read the same old shit day in and day out. So a friend who just got retrenched told me he sent his cv to many different places without much response. Now he is a black dude with some excellent experience so you would expect some offers. No one was biting yet. S I asked to look at his cv.  Damn it was boring. I said to him. If I can change your cv and you get the job then I want 2 goats. You see he comes from the rural areas, and his family has loads of goats. The challenge was on. He is quite the manager and enjoys project management. So the cv started to change. I added in graphs and pie charts....actually any chart I could find. It looks a little like Trevor manuals budget speech. I digress but have you ever seen all the graphs and charts in the newspaper. D you read them. D you even understand them. I think someone should start a business teaching people how to read those damn things. Anyway the cv definitely doesn't look like a cv but it does look damn impressive. I believe that having helped him stand out and seem unique I could do this for everyone and get paid top dollar and even get a commission if they do get the job. And let me tell you it does work. My first ever job I wrote my cv in pencil. Dd I get the interview and he job? What do you think? 

Staying with the theme of old school why do the bills we receive in our postbox all look the same. I mean we can tell a bill a mile away and it is kinda depressing. A young entrepreneur from UJ in joburg looked at the idea of making bills fun and you know I love the idea. I mean we are gonna get the bills anyway so why not change the way they look, add a bit of humor, color, positive messaging or even a bit of the human element and emotion. I love ideas like this that can change a whole way of doing things. New cv's and new bills. If you want me revamp your cv send it to me. I'll do it for R500 . Don't laugh or ill have to tell you about the electronic sangoma....but that's for another day.

February is Haaretz month!

So to summarise I have decided to read newspapers from all over the world and find new business and social ideas. I started in january with Guardian UK and it was great as i found some really interesting new ideas and concepts that could be implemented into exciting innovations.
In February I will be focusing on the Israeli paper Haaretz. Having looked the paper for the first time today i can already see that this is going to be a bumper month for new ideas.