4 ms·

Hello there from Cape Town :) Thanks for the insight, yeah I agree totally. I'm sure there are a number of VC's/Angels worth listening to but the vast majority

Hello there from Cape Town :) Thanks for the insight, yeah I agree totally. I'm sure there are a number of VC's/Angels worth listening to but the vast majority of them don't know what they're talking about imho.

buyx 15y ago
I'm sure there are a number of VC's/Angels worth listening to but the vast majority of them don't know what they're talking about imho. If you mean in the South African context, then you are probably right. Has South Africa produced any notable software startup successes? Vinny Lingam got some press for that Yola/Synthesite app, but that's it (Shuttleworth doesn't fit in this category since he made money by selling his CA). It's one of the concerns I have with Google Umbono as well - how well can the angels recognise potential for success if they haven't had any themselves? I see a lot of cargo-cultism, but something is missing.
- jasonadriaan 15y ago
  Very true, I actually wrote about Umbono a while back. http://www.bandwidthblog.com/2011/04/20/how-googles-umbono-got-it-completely-wrong http://www.bandwidthblog.com/2011/04/20/how-googles-umbono-g...
- thomasgerbe 15y ago
  "It's one of the concerns I have with Google Umbono as well - how well can the angels recognise potential for success if they haven't had any themselves?" Wait, how do you know which angel investors are involved? On their website, they wrote "We will not be publicizing the names and details of our Angel investors without their express permission. A typical Angel with Umbono will be a tech savvy entrepreneur with an established track record in the industry."
  - buyx 15y ago
    Fair point, I looked at their mentors and assumed their benchmarks for angels were similar: http://www.google.co.za/intl/en/umbono/people.html http://www.google.co.za/intl/en/umbono/people.html

4 ms·

Hello there from Cape Town :) Thanks for the insight, yeah I agree totally. I'm sure there are a number of VC's/Angels worth listening to but the vast majority

by jasonadriaan 15y ago

buyx 15y ago
I'm sure there are a number of VC's/Angels worth listening to but the vast majority of them don't know what they're talking about imho. If you mean in the South African context, then you are probably right. Has South Africa produced any notable software startup successes? Vinny Lingam got some press for that Yola/Synthesite app, but that's it (Shuttleworth doesn't fit in this category since he made money by selling his CA). It's one of the concerns I have with Google Umbono as well - how well can the angels recognise potential for success if they haven't had any themselves? I see a lot of cargo-cultism, but something is missing.
- jasonadriaan 15y ago
  Very true, I actually wrote about Umbono a while back. http://www.bandwidthblog.com/2011/04/20/how-googles-umbono-got-it-completely-wrong http://www.bandwidthblog.com/2011/04/20/how-googles-umbono-g...
- thomasgerbe 15y ago
  "It's one of the concerns I have with Google Umbono as well - how well can the angels recognise potential for success if they haven't had any themselves?" Wait, how do you know which angel investors are involved? On their website, they wrote "We will not be publicizing the names and details of our Angel investors without their express permission. A typical Angel with Umbono will be a tech savvy entrepreneur with an established track record in the industry."
  - buyx 15y ago
    Fair point, I looked at their mentors and assumed their benchmarks for angels were similar: http://www.google.co.za/intl/en/umbono/people.html http://www.google.co.za/intl/en/umbono/people.html