Pitching to Calacanis at TWiST

*This post was originally posted on the Motribe Blog.TWiST (This Week in Startups) is a live internet show that allows startups from around the world to pitch to Jason Calacanis. If you don't know who Jason is (@jason) then you can check out his wikipedia page. In short, he's an investor, blogger and entrepreneur in the US.Straight from the This Week In website:

ThisWeekIn, Inc. is a web television network covering a wide variety of topics from tech to entertainment. Produced out of our Santa Monica studio, our web shows feature guest experts, founders, movie stars, comedians, technologists and CEO’s — all keeping you up to speed on what’s happening this week with a fast and funny style. Informative and entertaining, ThisWeekIn is the place for whatever your interests may be.

So basically the evening started with 10 startups who pitched to a crowd in attendance at the Bandwidth Barn. Each startup spoke for 3 minutes. This was my first point of pain. I spoke for three minutes, exactly, to the second yet some of the others were allowed to speak for way more. The environment of the event is a competition and in competitive arenas the rules need to be adhered to.(Side note: I think this is some what of a larger issue in the local tech industry right now, things are all jovial, fun and not all that serious. People expect not to be taken to task for fucking up, startups expect to succeed 'cause they are branding themselves as startups. That's not the way it works. This is a fundamental problem in my eyes. Startups are serious business for those involved, it's my livelyhood and you're messing with if you mess around. The TWiST event is a competition with a declared winner, stick to the rules.)The selected startups, in order, were:MobiflockMotribeWaytagSnapbilllessfussCognicianTo Jason's credit he pushed to get through all 6 of us and normally the show only has 3 startups.At this point I should also commend Tyrone who organised the event. However, he mentions in his introduction with Jason that South Africa is "behind" and we're trying hard to make it work. I was a bit offended by that statement and think that there are a million ways to represent us as a country, that wasn't one of them.To cut a long story short: each startup pitches to Jason and Tyler for 60 seconds (Again not very hard and fast) and then Jason and Tyler give each startup a score out of ten for Business and Presentation. I was given a relatively hard time about my presentation and Jason had some good comments. I was told to be more personal, include a personal anecdote or story of some kind to engage with the audience. That's a really good point and one I will be including in my future presentations. A piece of personal advice to startup founders - if you are pitching your company over and over again, try to mix it up, keep it fresh and have 3 or 4 different presentations that you use otherwise you become bored with the content no matter how excited you are about your company.In spite of my presentation not going as well as I had wanted, Jason and Tyler immediately understood what we do here at Motribe and the value of our services. My presentation was given a solid 7 from Jason and Tyler and the business we have built a good 8 out of 10 (Calacanis rates Facebook and Apple at a 10 out of 10).All in all I was happy with the outcome and performance of Motribe.I do need to make mention of the star of the show: Mobiflock. Vanessa did a brilliant job of pitching her amazing company and went on to win the event. Congrats!The video of the entire show is below. If you're looking to skip ahead to the Motribe pitch go to minute 24.

New technology built to mimic old

The video from The Vaccines uses Instagram to fill the video with pictures from fans. The video looks like it was shot in the 70's.(If you can't view the above, here's the link - http://youtu.be/5tr5ptnUoDE)Can you just imagine 150 years from now when someone, some thing, some alien discovers the above video and then discovers pictures taken on a polaroid camera from the 60s and 70s. They will think that we have lost our minds.In actual fact, I kind of think we've lost our minds a bit too. Many of us (myself included) are using new technological advancements to do old things. Instagram photos are made to look older. Why are we not trying to push the envelope a bit and use Instagram to, I don't know, do something new with photographs?Just a thought, technology should push us forward and we should learn in an iterative fashion from the past, hold on to what is good and create.I love Instagram photographs and PicPlz (the Android version) but get this embarrassing thought in my head when I picture future generations discovering some our era's "advancements".

If I were in group-buying I'd be targeting the emerging markets

Why would I be building out a solution for the emerging markets if I were in group-buying? Simple. Because nobody else is.Everybody is looking at high-end, high-margin and relatively low volume.Groupon itself is avoiding the emerging market mobile play because the don't have a clue about the mobile web, feature phones or emerging markets and how they use smartphones (if they do at all).Apparently Groupon just released an Android App in Germany. Why would they not be pushing Android apps in to the emerging markets too? Android is selling like hotcakes in Africa and the rest of the developing world.If I were sitting in India and I ran Snapdeals.com I would create a mobile web version, then a java version, then an Android version of the Snapdeal experience.The other major thing that needs to change (that no one is doing) is catering for the mass-market with mid-level deals instead of Spa treatments and the likes. What about deals from places like Shoprite, Walmart, Massmart companies, Pick 'n Pay and those companies?Maybe there is a problem with the margins, volumes and numbers on smaller and cheaper deals but for my money, if you make that work, you're golden.

Stoked Surf School rocked my weekend

Richard Mulholland decided that we needed to learn how to surf and that we should all pull in to Eden on the Bay and get lessons from Michelle at Stoked Surf School.I have, had, a fear of the oceans that's been with me for 25 years. This weekend that fear was conquered.Here are some photos:With out a doubt the weekend that just passed was the best weekend of activity I've had in Cape Town. The weather played nice, the ocean played nice, the surf teacher taught us how to surf and look good (ish) while doing it and I had good mates to rip me off and cheer when I feel. What could be better?

Why Vodacom pisses me off

I recently took a business trip to Nairobi, Kenya. I should have known better, I should have thought it through, I should have bought a local sim card and I should have remembered the stories of horror from when I worked at Vodacom.Alas, I did not. I was stupid and I kept my roaming on. My network settings switched me from Vodacom, a Vodafone network, to Safaricom, a Vodafone network. Makes sense. My data bundle didn't switch with my location. I should have known that. They [Vodacom] charge massive, massive fees to data roam anywhere in the world. My mistake for even having it on. That's not what I'm angry about. I screwed that up and forgot to put it off.What I am angry about is the situation I found myself in AFTER the fact, because during the crime of browsing NO ONE called me, sms'd me or emailed me to say: "Hey Nic, you idiot, did you know that your bill is double, triple, quadruple, five times, six times, seven times, eight times, nine times and finally ten times what it has been on average for the past TEN years". I have been a customer of theirs for almost ten years at the top end of their package offers and have paid all of my bills on time and loyally so for that entire period.Vodacom didn't have the systems built in to give me a courtesy call to say that they have noticed unusually high activity. I received an SMS upon my return to Cape Town (2 days after my trip) that I had spent more than double my account. Then a phonecall the next day to say that it was ten times my normal account. TEN TIMES with no alerts.I feel screwed and not in the good way. I feel like Vodacom purposefully waited NOT to tell me while I was over there so that they could finish taking me and my account for all it was worth, then upon my return, they alerted me out of the goodness of their hearts that I had just been screwed.It's unacceptable to me that they let my account get that far out of hand (even though I acknowledge it was my mistake) without alerting a very long term, loyal and trusted customer of theirs to his error.I am very interested to know from anyone who does know, what the new CPA says about this sort of situation.I'm livid. I'm paying, figuratively and literally, for my insane lack of attention to my cellphone carrier screwing me on data costs while roaming. I am also paying for my blatant stupidity in this entire situation. It was my mistake to leave it on but honestly, what horrible customer loyalty service from a business that's been taking my money for ten years.I feel dirty (and not the good kind of dirty).

Cape Town parking costs stifle business

As an entrepreneur and business owner it's imperative for me to grow my business. To grow my business I need staff and in South Africa that generally implies that staff drive to work and park somewhere.I'm going to cut right through the warm and lovely smelling bread that is Cape Town municipal governance. Everyone loves them, they do a great job and have maintained a high standard. I must, however, protest.I have worked out that when Motribe reaches ten staff members, our new offices on Bree Street in Cape Town CBD will force me to pay a parking cost of more than R10 000 for my staff. Yes. You read that correctly, more than R10 000 for my staff to park at their place of work and earn a living.Let me explain that cost:It costs R4.50 per 30 minutes to park on the street in CT CBD. That's R9 per hour. At an average of 8 hours per day that equates to R72 per day per employee.5 days a week for 4 weeks = 20 days per month that I will have to pay for parking.20 days x R72 = R1440 per month per employee.10 employees x R1440 = R14 400.R14 440 is more on parking than I will pay for rent. That is a joke. The alternative involves me sourcing parking spaces for my employees. These range from R850 to R1000 per space per month. So at a best case scenario I'm paying R8500 per month for ten employees to park in a parking lot a few blocks away from my office.Let me sum up my feelings: I am being punished by the Cape Town government for growing my business. I am upset by this and I am not the only person who runs a business in Cape Town who feels this way. I have a proposed solution that makes sense in my head, help me break it and come up with a better one.I propose that businesses with fewer than, let's say, ten employees are given a parking-break of 75%. Give me and my employees 75% off our street parking near our office.That would be a saving of R10 800 per month for a business of ten people. Instead of paying R14 400 I would be paying R3600.As the size of my business increases you can start to charge me more and lean on my business as I generate more revenue. When the business grows to 20 employees then give me 50% off, 25 employees and 25% off and above 30 employees make me pay full price and force me to move out to a building with parking. But don't punish me when I'm just starting out. It hurts.For the city of Cape Town this is a good idea because Motribe will be bringing a steady and stable flow of paying parking customers to the streets. Even if we are paying %25 of the cost we are there every day and those parking spots are filled and generating more income.Over and above this little perk for the city they should consider that small businesses are good for business. The restaurants in and around my office will now have ten more customers, as a company we are creating employment, paying our rates on time and helping the city to do better in general.Parking costs are making it very difficult for me to want to grow my business and stay in the hub of activity commonly known as a city's CBD.I hope someone is listening.

Why every entrepreneur should travel

Traveling is an important part of an entrepreneurs growth. I learned that over the past 3 weeks that I spent abroad.As my readers will know I am South African. This means I have grown up, developed and exist within a very specific context, a uniquely South African one. This has proven to be an amazing advantage and has opened my eyes in so many ways.I have traveled my whole life, I've been to many different countries around the world and lived in many different places. I like traveling. But this trip was different. This trip changed me and defined a lot of what I will be doing moving forward.Some quick-shot lessons I learned:1. South African entrepreneurs understand the value of a dollar.2. We work really hard and really smart.3. South African startups are solving real problems.4. The copycats will make a quick buck, the innovators will make it big.5. The rest of the world does not know better.6. Getting in to major tech blogs will NOT make your startup a success.7. Networking is more important than listening to a speaker.8. Charity work is imperative to your business and your life.Let's get in to some depth.It was a very interesting and difficult trip that Vincent Maher and I went on. We are the founders of Motribe.com. Our startup is doing OK in the markets that we are playing in. We have nice revenue and growth and are feeling good about what we're doing. So going overseas was an interesting decision that we made. We went over mainly to attend the SXSW conference and network. In the process we met with New York VCs, we met with Agencies in London, New York and Austin and we met some big tech names.

Starting at the beginning: London

London is a difficult place to get any work done. People only emerge in to the real world at about 9:30am. Shops stay closed, people don't do meetings early and no one is interested. It's a very cocky place. I didn't enjoy my experiences there at all. We met with a couple of agencies who blatantly had no interest in hearing what we had to say or learning about our experiences in the emerging markets.This was the first taste of disinterest that we experienced. Some people just have no interest in hearing about other options, alternative theories and different (albeit successful) experiences. And that's the end of it. We experienced more of this in New York.With that said, we did also have a few good meetings with some interested and smart agencies. However these were agencies with strong South African roots and connections so it wasn't surprising.I was also blown off from a few meetings, people just didn't get back to me or weren't interested in making the effort. So be it. Vincent and I did attend an Opencoffee event which worked out OK. Nothing Earth-shattering but OK. I also did a bad thing and missed an event that I was confirmed to attend. However I did so for another meeting. So it's kind of OK.I left London after 2 days of work hoping not to return any time soon.

The buzz of the Big Apple

New York is the complete opposite of London. It is buzzing. People are up as early as you want to meet with them. We had back to back to back meetings for 5 days in a row. We met with agencies, individuals, VCs and anyone else who we could meet with.There is a palpable electricity in New York. It feels to me like the excitement that once hummed around Silicon Valley is now drifting and gravitating towards New York. There are startups starting up, Investors hustling and agencies spending in New York. It's all happening.I have never dealt with a more aggressive group of businesspeople than those I met with in NY. Moving to Austin and the SXSW conference I still ended up meeting NY businesspeople, founders and marketing folk.We did run in to more resistance though. Madison Avenue agencies aren't interested in the mobile web and definitely aren't interested in the emerging markets. It's not really their fault either, they are doing their clients bidding. I'm learning very quickly that the mark of a great agency is the ability to balance what the client requests and the best possible decision for your client as the agency in the know.I could definitely see myself doing more business in New York and working that city hard. It's a place that I love and can relate to. It's Johannesburg in 50 years.

South by South West: Interactive music film

I have had my rants and recoveries about SXSW. Read them for my thoughts on the conference.Next year I might attend SXSW. I wont be buying a ticket to attend the interactive conference. I will go to network, to catch up with people I met this year and to socialise with the people I want to connect with. I found very little value in the actual conference.Someone summed up the entire experience for me: SXSW is Spring Break for geeks. Definitely. It's a reason for the responsible, the successful and the desperate-to-be to party their asses off with zero expectations. If you are a geek rockstar then you want to be at SXSW because you are treated like royalty.I did not enjoy the ass-kissing. I don't participate in ass-kissing and never have. I hate seeing people who have become successful worshipped. I don't worship people like this. I don't queue to get in to the cool-kids party. I'd rather have a dinner with some cool-kids.

Founders together

If you think you have founded your business with someone you trust, understand and will never fight with, do yourself and your business a favour - go on a three week work trip with them.I can promise you this: You will fight at some point.The fight you have will definitely be rough, will definitely be agro but it will definitely sort out many issues you might have. There are definitely issues that every startup will go through and the founders will argue and fight. It's imperative that you fight them out and deal with them. If you don't then you have passive-agressive behaviour that will not benefit the company.

The final thought

Being a South African entrepreneur is difficult. In fact, being an entrepreneur anywhere in the world is difficult. Having investment or not, it's still tough to be an entrepreneur.However what I have learned after seeing the other side is that in South Africa we know how to build profitable businesses and we have the bottom line in mind all the time. That bottom line isn't red either.I am not a financially experiences or smart person when it comes to analysing markets but to me it feels like there is a bubble in the US. It might not be a financial bubble but it is a bubble that is going to hinder their market growth. It's a bubble that is going to put them at a disadvantage very soon (if it hasn't already done so). So what I can say from this is that we are on the right path. We are plugging real holes, solving real problems and creating real businesses based on revenue and product.We are better in many ways than many of the people I met, spoke to and did business with. What we need to do is realise our value and potential.

SXSW 2011 interactive look back - The shuttles win.

The 2011 SXSW interactive conference is over. The iPads and geek backpacks have quickly been replaced with tattoos (woohoo!) and guitar cases. The change in vibe is palpable, things feel a bit more crazy and slightly unhinged which is great.Here is my final review of the SXSW 2011 interactive conference:If you want to meet the best people, talk the most business or have the most fun - STAY ON THE SHUTTLES. Let me explain: SXSW has become so big that people stay all over Austin. To help these people get in to town SXSW has organised a series of shuttle busses to run between the hotels and the conference.I met some of the most amazing people on these shuttles at all hours of the night and day. My advice if you want to pitch to as many people as possible is become a shuttle driver for the 2012 SXSW.Things turned around for me and the event but unfortunately that had little to do with the panels or speakers, save for Blake Mycoskie, the founder of Toms.com (but I'll get to that more in a bit).I have made many good connections, met many potential business partners and many more possible friends. All of this is due to the very well attended Panel I participated in thanks to Justin Arenstein. This panel was the best thing to happen to my conference. Word spread about Motribe, people began contacting me and I have set up many meetings with many businesses from around the world. Brilliant.The only problem with this is that I missed almost 2 full days of the actual conference due to newly booked work arrangements. But hey, that's the price one must pay I suppose.But now on to the final day of the conference. I first attended a talk on rebranding Islam. That was dogshit because the speakers thought the audience were idiots and even, at one point, said "Muslims are people too" at the end of some long-winded and irrelevant story about some other rubbish.But fortunately my conference and my day were saved by Blake from Toms.com. The man is an amazing speaker. He didn't use any slides, he didn't pull out any gimmicks or tricks but he still managed to blow everyone away with his amazing story.His accomplishments with tom.com are amazing. He has given away more than 1million shoes to children in need and has managed to build an incredibly profitable and functional charitable business. His message is that we can all be charitable and that we can all make money. Incase you don't know what toms.com is, here's the elevator pitch: For every pair of shoes that you buy from toms.com they will give a pair away to a child in need. One for one. That is there motto. I was almost in tears listening to his amazing story and then in the next moment bursting with laughter.I left that talk feeling rejuvenated and ready to build my business. I also left with a new approach to many ideas I had in my head. If only all the other speakers had Blake's brilliant delivery.The next massive improvement to the SXSW experience was, of course, the Foo Fighters. I stood in queue for 3 hours even though I had the right passes and paid through my you-know-what to attend the conference but it was worth it in the end.The Foos took the stage 15 minutes after I had entered the venue and started to drink my first Vodka. They did not leave the stage for over 2 hours. The played their hearts out, I rocked mine and I left feeling hazed by their brilliant live performance. What a way to end the interactive conference. If the only thing I paid for was to see them live at the SXSW interactive closing party then it was money well spent.So I left contented but more seeking the contentment than finding it.I still stand by my previous post. I was seeking genius on the trip and fortunately I did not find it. What that has helped me realise (and I think I am not getting to the nitty-gritty point) is that a good idea is a good idea irrespective of the location of said idea. Being in the US or UK or anywhere else doesn't make you better or worse as a leader, a company or a team. There are very good reasons that companies do well in the US and/or Europe but that is another post altogether.What I am saying is that deep down at the bottom of Africa we sit and we admire those across the shore. We need to stop. For every Mark Zuckerberg who Zucks with your privacy there are literally millions of people who are failing or trying to make ends meat in the US. In South Africa we have class, quality and the will to succeed.Now, on to the music for me.

SXSW 2011, Day 1: Hunting genius and finding idiots

I have mixed feeling about my first day at my very first SXSW event.If you have no idea why I keep typing the same four letters that seem to have no relevance let me explain quickly: I am in Austin, Texas at a Music, Film and Interactive (Geek) conference called South By South West (SXSW). It's my first time in Austin and I've just come from New York from a work trip. Things are crazy busy right now but that's beside the point.I am having a confusing experience at SXSW. I'm seeing some heroes of the web (Tim O'Reilly) and hearing some of the "hottest" startups in the world talk amongst themselves, or commonly known as panels at a conference.I've had mixed feelings and at the moment my mental state is as follows: I need to listen and realise what NOT to do from these speakers.The bubble that the world speaks of, it exists. It is real and it encases almost every startup entrepreneur I have met, speaker I've heard and evangelist who is trying to evangelize.There is a fundemental disregard for tech that exists outside of the US (even outside of Silicon Valley), there is a fundemental disregard for tech that previously existed.Let me give an example of the disregard that I'm talking about:Yesterday I waited patiently for what I hoped would be the talk of the day: Group Chat, Who Will Rise?This should have been an explosive and dynamic panel considering the four "hottest" startup CEOs of the four "hottest" group chat apps were all in attendance. Beluga, Yobongo, Convore and GroupMe were present but sadly their brains apparently were not.At one point the Beluga lady stated that Beluga allows you to receive a vibrating notification when someone messages you, "This has never been possible before" was her claim. WHAT? Are you telling me that you are so ignorant that you think that you invented the push notification on a cellular phone? Idiot. Beluga was recently bought out by Facebook. There's a service that's thankfully going to be put to rest. It's sad because I actually like what they are doing.The GroupMe guy was maybe the best of a bad bunch because his app at least isn't an app and can be used with existing tech, SMS.What's worse is the entire panel kept pitching the audience as to how different their four services are and that they aren't competitors. I wanted to ask them: "Who is winning? Which of you has more users? Who has more revenue/profit?" but I didn't because at the end of their sad panel I realised what I can learn from them all: What not to do.I also managed to hear the very boring and obvious talk by the Chief Game Designer at Zynga. This sounded like a talk with amazing potential. Alas, another non-starter. The guy (I can't even remember his name) proceeded to tell the audience that Zynga uses Facebooks social graph to connect their users. REALLY? DO YOU? I'm gobsmacked by Captain Obvious up front but wait it out. He then says that Zynga builds pretty games. Again, really? Thanks. Idiot.Now I'm actually more frustrated because I know that none of these people are idiots, or can't be or shouldn't be because they are being covered by the biggest media in the world as the smartest people in the world. But then I have to ponder: Maybe the media are in on it too? Maybe they are as half-witted as the people they write about? I don't know. But I'm seeking genius today and hunting innovation. Bring it on.

Leave Atheists out of it, Verashni

I read an article titled "Leave God out of it, Zuma" on the Mail & Guardian website this morning. The article is written by a journalist with whom I studied and respect greatly. Verashni Pillay is an amazing writer and a gifted journalist and has been since our very first day at Rhodes University.I have said all these nice things about her because it just goes to show that no matter how talented you are there will always be complications when writing about religion and politics. Even the best of us [Verashni] will occasional battle.In the opening paragraph of the story Verashni manages to weaken her entire argument against Zuma by stating the following:

You know, it's difficult enough being a Christian these days. Not only are there the money-making quacks to avoid, we also have to put up with smug and ill-read atheists. A tough job, all in all.

I believe that the argument is weakened because Verashni singles out one group to take aim at another.Why is is that Verashni needed to firstly mention Atheists at all and secondly mention them in such a condescending and mocking tone? Hypocrisy? I think so. Verashni, how could you possibly consider writing an article criticising Zuma's opinion on religion while in the opening paragraph of that criticism take a jab at another group?There are a few things after the fact that bothered me a little bit more than the initial statement. In a reply to @gordonwells @michaelmeadon on Twitter Verashni believes she didn't make a generalization. I sort of agree but why single out the "smug Atheists"? Why not applaud the well-read ones? Here's that tweet: "True. Which is why I didn't make a generalization. I spoke about a small group of people called smug atheists."Then Verashni states that the comment was a throw-away: "Not sure i DID want that. It was just one throw-away line that they're ALL focusing on now. Sigh." If it was a throw-away comment then why put it in the opening paragraph or article at all? When not just leave it out? Why pick on Atheists of any kind?I agree with many of the comments in the original article but most of all what I'd like to add to the debate is that it's not OK to single out a group in a condescending way if you are an impartial journalist whether you are writing an opinion piece or not. If the shoe was on the other foot and I'd written an article and added in a throw-away: "I hate dealing with Cheats, murderers and cocky Christians". I imagine that the religious in the crowd would have a few things to say about that.It's the same thing. I don't like being bundled with "Money-making quacks" or "smug and ill-read Atheists". I am neither but now anyone who read her story thinks that Atheists are smug and ill-read.Verashni, if you think it's tough being a Christian in this world, walk a mile in my shoes.

Gaming unplugged: Play on the go!

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With the increasing amount of people turning their heads towards the mobile development, it is likely that mobile developers are tend to expand their reach on gaming applications. Resources are facilitated to provide peer to peer network and social network access facilities. Looking forward to flaunt your score? Or want to gift some resource your pal? Now this seems all feasible with just a share plugins. Come, join and earn barrels of real money in your free time by joining the biggest gambling community of the world.  

Could Julian Assange be the worlds greatest Villain?

I'm going to spew a couple of cliches and some thoughts now. I'd like you to read them in context of Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, and his project, the documents being published and the public reading it.Absolute power corrupts absolutely.Keep your friends close and enemies closer.Who gate-keeps the gatekeeper?Let me state upfront that I am in support of WikiLeaks and Assange. I think he is fast become a world wide target for governments and private entities and he needs to be protected and WikiLeaks needs to be secured.I must also state however, that I am a journalist by trade. I have studied media theory, media law, media ethics and many, many more subjects around media and journalism. Assange is now in the business of media and publishing and has dabbled in media practices in the past (He ran an activist magazine when he was a kid) but he is, by trade, a programmer. This is scary to me. It's scary to me that he is skilled and well-versed in technology platforms, that he is well-connected and that he is being sent some of the most sensitive information the world has every seen. Let me reiterate: Absolute power corrupts absolutely. What makes Assange different? He is no saint (I don't even believe that saints are saints). There is no such thing as altruism, so what's in this for Assange?What does Assange get out of doing what he is doing? Everyone does something for a reason. There's no such thing as a free lunch so who's paying for Assange's lunch? Who's paying Assange NOT to publish their sensitive documents? What happens when Assange is bumped in to walking down the street and he launches an all out information war on the person who bumped in to him?How much does the public really know? As well protected as WikiLeaks is, is not perhaps too open and therefore hiding something in plain sight?I am not a conspiracy theorist but I am 100% certain that human beings are corruptible, are fallible and the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. How can we possibly put so much faith in to one human being and trust him with all of this information? I know that there is much information being published by WikiLeaks that is open to the public, but for every document being published I am sure there are thousands and thousands that are being sifted through, stored and held in the back just in case they are needed further down the line.Again, I have to reiterate here that I am in complete support of what has been done so far by Assange and WikiLeaks but we have to be sure, as a people, not be swept up in the moment and maintain our role as public gatekeepers. Just because WikiLeaks is publishing it does not make it 100% fact, does not give anything context or relevance and does not mean that the source is reliable.What I am calling for, I think, is a sense of ownership of information, judgement and opinion. Have your own opinion and research it, inform yourself and spread the knowledge you gain.

Motribe interviewed on Bandwidth Blog

Charl Norman, the man behind Bandwidth blog, Blueworld Communities and many, many more local online success interviewed Vincent Maher and I recently about our company, Motribe.Here's the full interview (I suggest unclicking "HD" if you want the video to load faster).

The Motribe interview with Vincent Maher and Nic Harry from Bandwidth Blog on Vimeo.

2010 in review - a year of epiphanies

The year 2010 will go down in my life's history as one of change, definition and epiphanies. I have learned more in this one year than any other that I can recall.

Things that happened to me in 2010

I resigned from Vodacom SA.I almost destroyed the best thing in my life. Fortunately I learn fast and she took me back.Vincent Maher and I received Venture Capital from 4Di Capital and started our own company, Motribe.I moved to Cape Town.I'm doing long distance, again, with the same woman.I was nominated as a Game Changer in the 2010 Men's Health Man of the year awards (I didn't win but a deserved Jon Cherry did!)Here's a little quote from my end of year blog post from last year:

"Next year is going to be about consolidation, establishing a platform and working off of that platform in my personal life and in my career. The killer concept next year is going to be mobile. There is no doubt about that in my mind. We are going to see some amazing mobile developments emerging out of Africa (I say Africa because the developed world still believes that mobile = iPhone)."

This year has definitely NOT been about consolidation at all. It's been manic, hectic, insane and another cracking year for me. I was right about one thing though; this year has been about mobile and we did build a platform that we now work off of.Continuing from last years list, here's a my list of things for 2010:

Some of my favourite things from 2010

The rediscovery of 2010Jen.My favourite achievement this year

I STOPPED SMOKING!

GameBejeweled (iPod Touch)AlbumMumford and Sons - Sigh No MoreSongBon Iver - Skinny LoveTV seriesHow I Met Your MotherMad MenBoardwalk EmpireMovieKick AssBookSnowCrash - Neal StephensonTake outChef Pons Asian CuisineRestaurantFat CactusAirlineKulula.com (2 years in a row)Day of the weekMonday (Now that I run my own company)Thing about Cape TownSunset arrives at ±8pmWeb application/Service8tracksMobile applicationmiCoach (running application)WebsitedamnyouautocorrectBlog/lifestreamBlacknotes (2 years in a row)WebisodeJake and Amir (2 years in a row)Online comicChannelateTech BlogReadWriteWebTwitter personality@JustinSpratt – Most interesting & relevant content of 2010.Twitter streamThe Big PictureHobbiesReading - New retro entry for 2010 with thanks to the next item on my list.Acoustic guitarRunningGadgetAmazon KindleNight clubMovidaDrinkLipton's Peach Ice TeaAlcoholic drinkSouthern Comfort & Lime on the rocks in a tall glassCoffeeNespresso espressoEventThe first African Football World Cup, held in South Africa. What a proud experience for us all._____I'm not going to be making any predictions for next year. I'm pretty bad at being a "futurist" so I'll stick to what I do know:Mobile is the next big thing that is happening right now.Music can cure any headache if you choose the right song.Life will happen.And finally some advice that I think we all can learn from 2010:Write a diary (your chronicles) because you never who might want to make a movie about you someday.

The final day of Movember 2010 - Timelapse Video

It is the final day of Movember. I have made it through all 30 days and am extremely happy to be shaving tomorrow morning. With that said, I have definitely help to raise awareness around men's health.Here's a timelapsed video of my ugly mug:To my sponsors for this month: Jen, Courts, Kirsty, Rich, and Stasi (original post here) I say thank you and I am sure that the charities I sponsoring are thankful too!

Penultimate Moday

I'm going to miss the Mario look. OK, maybe not.

The start of Movember week 3

It's November 22nd, 2010 and we're almost entering the last week of Movember. I've taken a fair amount of photos this month and this is today's. I'm going to be putting up a timelapse video when all this is over.Here we go...

I'm starting to look like a Mario Bro

This Mo Bro update goes out to David who requested the red shirt to see how close to Mario I could look. I added the hat for effect. I think there's a mushroom chasing a turtle nipping at my heels.

Two weeks of Movember and I'm starting to wear it

This is what a Greek can do after two weeks of chilled hair-growth.Why thank you.

Day 12 with the Mo!

Boom! I'm back.