Net Prophet 2014 Highlights

2014

Highlights

What is Net Prophet?

About

Net Prophet, an initiative started by the RAMP Foundation in 2009, is an annual conference in Cape Town where the most

innovative | successful | creative | ambitious

Pioneers and Entrepreneurs in the digital space share their

Stories PredictionsIdeas

Speakers

Headline Speaker

Julian AssangeFounder & Chief Editor of Wikileaks

WikiLeaks gained global exposure and attention in 2010 when it published US military and diplomatic documents. Assange has been under investigation in the United States since then and has taken refuge at the Embassy of Ecuador, London.

Alexander AsseilyCo-Founder & Executive Chairman of State.com

Jody Ford

Everywhere ShoppingJody Ford discusses how technology is driving the the evolution of retail. He believes the mobile phone has become the essential remote control to our lives

● A new retail is emerging, its consumer driven and technology enabled.

Jody FordVP of Marketing, eBay

● People now expect better service online than offline.

● People now look at their phones 40 times a day, for 2 mins each time. Shoppers

39% 55%US UK

Pay online & pick up in-store

If you’re in retail, you need to invest heavily in mobile – not embrace the mobile sector but enhance the mobility of your enterprise.

Julian Assange

Founder of WikileaksStreaming live from the UK, Assange shared some pearls of wisdom and foresight to South African entrepreneurs.

* The next great innovation headed our way will be in the financial sector, with Bitcoin disrupting the industry in a huge way.

* We need more diversity in organisations - the current political and economical structures around finance mean people in control get pushed around by state.

* We’re seeing one dominant player in some aspects of the internet (like Google), which is problematic.

* A serious question: will most things that most people use most of the time be eaten up by a few dominant players? We need to decentralise centralised organisations.

Simon Dingle

Host of Tech5 on 5FM

● Humans are a mix of algorithms. Technology is shifting to understand us as individuals, to personalise itself for us.

● You’re failing if you’re generalising. You need to segment!!

● Instead of trying to educate the market, let the market educate you.

Answers: both lines are the same length, both squares are the same colour - it’s only your perspective that’s different.

Simon DingleWriter & Host of Tech5 on 5FM

Simon highlighted how behavioural sciences, varied perceptions and technology all play a huge role in consumer decisions and companies should not isolate the “digital strategy” - digital should be a given platform with a business plan.

Which horizontal line is longer?

Answer below

Which block is darker in colour?

Answer below

Aaron Marshall

Go Big AND Go HomeAaron believes in "going big AND going home" (to your family). His app has just won the international U-Start competition. Below are some tips he shared.

Aaron MarshallFounder of Over App

Alexander Asseily

Time To Use Another Part of Your Brain

The issue with #hashtags is that they’re temporary, very flighty and real-time.

You don’t need any followers on State. You just need an opinion, which can then connect you with other people who feel the same way.

Asseily has developed a new communications platform that connects people based on what they think, rather than what they know. A global opinion network.

Alexander AsseilyCo-Founder of State.com & Executive Chairmain of Jawbone

Rob Stokes

From Bedroom to BuyoutFollowing the recent acquisition of Quirk by global mega-corp WPP, Stokes shares some lessons he’s learnt along the way.

1. Surround yourself with people better than yourself

2. Timing does matter (just hard to predict)

3. Always play to people’s strengths

4. If you are going to do something, commit fully

5. Be generous with your knowledge

6. You need luck, it happens through perseverance

7. Make yourself saleable, even if you are not for sale

8. Businesses struggle to innovate internally

9. The most adaptable to change survive

10. Just. F###ing. Do. It.

Rob StokesFounder & Group CEO of Quirk

Danny Day & Marc Luck

Making Games in SADanny and Marc build games as well as train others to do so. They have created a community for SA gamers to learn, build and grow.

Marc Luck & Danny DayCo-Founders of QCF Design (Game Development)

Digital distribution allows game studios to keep more of the revenue from sales than physical retail sold copies.

┏(-_-)┛┗(-_- )┓┗(-_-)┛┏(-_-)┓

Retail Online R600 game R10 to devs R150 game R110 to devs

www.makegamessa.com

Nicole Yershon

The Story of an IntrepreneurNicole heads up Ogilvy Labs with a hands on approach to R&D by incorporating the latest technologies & innovations into client solutions. She believes that the freedom to test and learn is important, and determines success by these 6 measures.

Nicole YershonDirector of Innovations at Ogilvy International

The 6 R’s of Measuring Success:

1. Revenue2. Reputation3. Recruitment4. Retention5. Relationships6. Responsibility

Andrew Valentine

A Startup Hitlist

There are better opportunities in Africa right now than in the US and UK.

Great business ideas make for a good start, but that idea is pretty useless if you cannot pair it with a strong execution strategy

Many startups don’t focus on selecting their business models as much as they should.

Even if you have a great team and working environment, you can still lose if you have a bad business model.

We succeeded thanks to luck, hard work and a great business model.

Andrew ValentineFounder of Streetcar

Andrew is the Founder of Streetcar, the largest carsharing company in Europe. He believes a solid business model trumps everything else.

Nathan Jeffrey

Own ItNathan runs MyEcommerce, a software development company. He claims to be born in the real world, but living in the cloud.

Nathan JefferyBlogger & Owner of MyEcommerce

If you’re not willing to do what you do for free, you’re in the wrong job.

You should be your own investor, learn to network and learn to optimise your time.

You need to learn to say no. You need to optimise the time you spend on projects.

You need a commitment strategy - not an exit strategy.

The Startup Workshop

Sparkup!

Sparkup! is a small business gauntlet for passionate founders looking to get investment and take a product to market. Three intense days of business grooming, culminating in a live audience investor pitch.

The Winners8Bit, Ekaya and Shopstar walked away with investment totalling almost US$100,000.

Digital Media Network

Real Estate Application

Online Shop Creator

Thank You!

Senior Account Manager | Digital Strategist | Coding Novice

@candynewton info@candacenewton.co.zawww.candacenewton.co.za