INDEPTH Personality profile

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INDEPTH Personality profile

An entrepreneur in exile
The South African governments short-sightedness when it comes to technology and telecoms has forced one of the countrys most talented innovators to seek greener pastures.
by Lesley Stones

t must be frustrating for youngsters who are passionate about technology to realise they have very little chance of achieving their full potential in South Africa. Youngsters like Vinny Lingham used to be, perhaps: a fledgling computer programmer at the age of eight who could have launched not one, but four or five startup ventures but not in a country where only ten percent of the population has internet access. Lingham moved to Silicon Valley four years ago with his wife Charlene, and has commuted back to Cape Town two or three times a year. Now, as his son turns two, the founder of IncuBeta, Clicks2Customers and Yola has decided to make San Francisco their permanent home. Its a very long way from his birthplace in East London, but its even further removed in terms of lifestyle and, more importantly, possibilities. Google, Yahoo and eBay are all within a 25mile radius. It wasnt an easy choice, he says. I love South Africa, but I had to make a decision. Living in Cape Town is beautiful. Its a great place to raise kids and our families and friends are close

by. If Im making a lifestyle decision, Cape Town is the best place to live, but if Im making a career decision, its absolutely the wrong place. Im unemployable in Cape Town; Ive hit the glass ceiling. I have started companies there that have done well, but I couldnt change the world in the way I can potentially do. I have a better shot at it from over here.

The real world

Greener tech pastures Vinny Lingham says leaving South Africa was a difficult decision to make, and blames the countrys backwardness in technology for forcing his hand.

He blames South Africas backwardness in technology, telecoms and connectivity, as well as Telkoms slow services and high prices for stifling innovation. While Lingham harbours a lot of wrath for Telkom, hes even more disillusioned with the South African governments short-sightedness in failing to make Telkom more competitive. I have been harping on about this for eight years and the government has done nothing. It doesnt understand how the internet works and unless that gets fixed, South Africa is always going to be left behind. Government tries to protect big businesses rather than make them consumer-friendly. Cheaper internet access should be a right, not a privilege, he adds. Every South African with a mobile phone or a house should have access to Wikipedia and Google. It would change the country dramatically. Despite, or perhaps because of, his parents not being wealthy, education was hugely important to them. Indian families value education above everything else. They really focus on education as being one of the keys to success in life. My father used to drop me off at the library on the weekends and

May 2012 brainstorm

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INDEPTH Personality profile

Every South African with a mobile phone or a house should

have access to Wikipedia and Google. It would change the country dramatically.
When he first moved to Johannesburg, he was broke but employable. I had good skills, I knew how to program, I was smart and had a partial degree, but the most important thing was I had technical skills. People lack technical skills in South Africa. Its all theory, and we need more technical training. He worked as a business analyst for Dimension Datas Miraculum subsidiary before launching IncuBeta, an online marketing company that grew to

Vinny Lingham, entrepreneur

Id spend my time reading and learning. Part of it was my personal drive and part of it was my parents encouraging me to seek out knowledge. He got a computer when he was eight and taught himself to program. I was just a sponge for learning, he says. Life cant all be fun and games, its a knowledge economy. But he didnt complete his BCom in Information Systems at the University of Cape Town. Not because he was a young rebel who thought he was so smart he didnt need a formal education. It was because his family ran out of money and could no longer afford to fund his studies. In 1999, my dads company went bankrupt and I didnt have a choice. I was the top programmer in my class at the time, he says. have offices in Cape Town, Johannesburg, London and Los Angeles. Then he created Clicks2Customers, a subsidiary specialising in channelling search engine traffic to its customers. In 2007, he launched Yola.com, which develops website building tools for small businesses and other cash-strapped organisations. He raised $30 million to grow the business, which today has more than two million users worldwide. Recently, he stepped down as the CEO to take a non-op-

Technical skills needed

Now a wealthy man, it must be odd to recall a time when he didnt even have enough cash to complete university. Yet he doesnt regret it. I dont think Id be where I am today if I had finished my studies, he says. I got thrown into the real world on the streets of Johannesburg, trying to find a job and build a network and gain credibility. I didnt have any of those things or any experience and somehow I built it up. I have an entrepreneurial background where I know what its like when youre alone, nobody believes in you, and you dont know where to get money from. I came from that and worked up to where I am now. As something of a venture capitalist, Lingham has little time for investors from a wealthy background. Thats one of the things about South Africa: most of the venture capitalists are not entrepreneurs. Thats not to say they are bad at it, but the ones with the money are never the ones who had to make it from scratch.

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INDEPTH Personality profile

erational role as executive vice-chairman, leaving him free to concentrate on another startup, Gyft. Hes kept quiet about the new company so far because hes been negotiating to buy the gyft.com domain name from someone who had already registered it. Gyft will be a platform for online gift cards, an idea that others have tried but not succeeded in creating any killer apps. Its a $100 billion market in the US and its something that appealed to me, so Im going to build a small business. I like experimenting. Like all startups, you just have to find your place. His startup activities imply that Lingham has no staying power, or gets bored once something operates efficiently and no longer needs constant nurturing. It isnt because he gets bored, he says. Its more about getting to a point where I have worked myself out of a job. Once it gets to a certain stage, my influence becomes lower. Im a lazy founder and CEO because I dont like to do a lot of work. I like to know that people are doing the work for me. I like the strategy side. I dont do things I dont enjoy I have an allergic reaction and stop breathing. Our interview is early morning for me and late evening for him, so I ask how he spends his free time when he isnt making transatlantic phone calls. He pauses for a while. It could be a delay on the line, but its actually a thoughtful silence. Its

suddenly dawned on him that he doesnt have any spare time, he admits. Yet to avoid sounding like a total workaholic, he conjures up an answer. I spend time with my kid, play golf, play some chess, watch some American football. Hes on the internet a lot too, saying that when you love your work so much, its hard to differentiate between what counts as work and what counts as pleasure.

Lucklustre future

Years ago, Lingham was a co-founder of Silicon Cape, a non-profit organisation trying to promote Cape Town as a technology hub. Progress has been disappointing, and under the current government, he sees a lacklustre future. Im not namedropping, but I was at Buckingham Palace listening to Prince Andrew talking to a small group of us about how they are trying to change the economy by investing in entrepreneurs. But South Af-

rica turns a blind eye. Its all about big corporations, and the level of corruption is also depressing. I ask why he was invited to the Palace, and he reacts as if thats an impertinent question. Where else would he be? Its difficult to get a sense of him over the phone, but I dont think hes being arrogant, just honest. I cant even tell you the things I get to go to, he says. I am well known and respected here and invited to events by the State Department and the White House. But I have never been called into a high-level meeting with the government in South Africa, where they say, You have all this experience, please help us. I dont know who they talk to, but theyre not talking to the people on the ground who build businesses and technologies. I dont believe the government has got my back and got the backs of entrepreneurs. And unless that changes, South Africa has lost Lingham forever.

Im a lazy founder and CEO because I dont like to do a lot of work.

Vinny Lingham, entrepreneur

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