A place for my thoughts on business, e-commerce, technology, design and life.
10 South African Tech Startups
South Africa is abuzz with startup fever. It’s a good thing - we’re gaining traction on other technology hubs.
UPDATE: This list is not based on revenue in any way what so ever.
I define a startup as a company that is in it’s first or second phase of the business cycle; inception(product development) and growth(market development).
Here’s a list of 10 Popular South African tech startups as nominated on Twitter (in no particular order):
1) Yola
A website builder for anyone that wants to build and host a website quickly and easily. Heavily based on the Freemium model with paid upgrades. They were founded in Cape Town in 2007 and currently have offices in Cape Town and San Francisco.
- Google Page Rank: 7
- Alexa Rank: 4478
- Compete Rank: 4152
2) Blueworld
A Cape Town based social network started by Charl Norman and Bradley Voges
- Google Page Rank: 6
- Alexa Rank: 41,597
- Compete Rank: 295,336
3) Zoopy
Zoopy is a social platform for sharing video, photo’s and audio.
- Google Page Rank: 5
- Alexa Rank: 19,301
- Compete Rank: 72,983
4) Afrigator
Africa’s largest social media aggregator and blog directory founded by Justin Hartman and Mike Stopforth and Stii Pretorius.
- Google Page Rank: 4
- Alexa Rank: 40,332
- Compete Rank: 409,766
5) Springleap
A community based platform where users create designs, vote and interact with one another. Winning designs are printed on t-shirts and sold.
- Google Page Rank: 5
- Alexa Rank: 39,231
- Compete Rank: 2,012,918
6) Memeburn
A blog focussed on tracking startup news and tech entrepreneurs’ stories from the emerging market sector. Founded by Mathew Buckland.
- Google Page Rank: 0
- Alexa Rank: 37,197
- Compete Rank: 0
7) WooThemes
WooThemes is probably one of the most successful designer Wordpress Theme businesses in the world.
- Google Page Rank: 7
- Alexa Rank: 1747
- Compete Rank: 5755
8) SACamera
An online store focussing entirely on photographic equipment and accessories.
- Google Page Rank: 3
- Alexa Rank: 101,668
- Compete Rank: 1,903,636
9) Skyrove
A WIFI hotspot provider with a twist. Skyrove pays a percentage of revenue to people who host the Skyrove routers at the end of each month.
- Google Page Rank: 5
- Alexa Rank: 314,499
- Compete Rank: 4,260,344
10) FireID
A universal authentication system that makes accessing internet transactions and secure data safer than ever.
- Google Page Rank: 4
- Alexa Rank: 491,683
- Compete Rank: n/a
There are a few other startups running under the radar of attention, but as Jason Fried sais: “Competition that kills isn’t pre-announced - it catches an unsuspecting incumbent by surprise”.
Let me know if there are any you would like to see on the list.
18 May 2010 · Comments
11 Steps to Launching a Successful Website
Launching a website can be as complicated or as easy as you make it out to be. Here is a list that might help you along the way.
- Create a product that’s usable and adds value - it does not have to be perfect.
- Ensure you have a marketing strategy ready to go (including submission strategy to sites like digg.com, dzone.com, cssmania.com and all the other link lists that are applicable).
- Make sure you have your domain name registered and a reliable web host like texo.co.za or slicehost.com.
- Launch early in the day or late at night to avoid high traffic while you iron out the glitches.
- Make sure you’ve turned off all debugging code.
- Ensure that you’ve set up all the correct email addresses.
- Make sure you’ve tested your site well, including web forms and integration points.
- Be accessible to your users and engage the community actively.
- Don’t get your marketing message mixed up. Consolidate the message across all the platforms (Twitter, Facebook etc).
- Remember content is King. Your content needs to be unique and updated regularly.
- Most importantly, have fun & listen to your users.
Additional Resources:
- How to create a successful website
- Basic steps to creating a successful website
- Simple and successful SEO strategies
What are your thoughts?
8 March 2010 · Comments
A Message to Startup Founders
Starting and running a business is hard work - you already know this though. Here’s a list I would like to share with you and hopefully you might find inspiration in someone else’s words.
- Don’t ever give up - keep innovating
- Sleep more
- Keep things exciting
- Ask for help when you need it
- Put your pride in your pocket
- Shamelessly promote yourself
- Hire the right people
- Be actively involved in your business - physically and mentally
- External funding is evil, try go without it as far as you can
- Show your employees that they are valuable to you and your business
- Create tangible value in your products or services
- Give back to the community where ever you can
- Don’t be afraid to lead
- Don’t be afraid of criticism
- Don’t be afraid failure
- Keep pushing boundaries like a child pushing buttons
- Don’t subscribe to the cliques - they’re short lived
- Make sure you build a business that can pass the sleep test
- Stop being ordinary
- Release early and release often
- Stay humble
- Communicate, communicate, communicate
2 March 2010 · Comments
