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The question posed by the headline makes Africa's VC ecosystem seem like the mafia, where your cousin Vinny has to introduce you to the godfather and you have to get through a series of tests to get into the inner circle of this elite group. In some ways, it pretty much is like that, or at least that's what it will have you believe.
I have been asked this question many times and it wasn't until I took a small ... 
Introducing your stealth startup to the world is an exciting and monumental time. It’s the first step in determining whether your product is the right solution for the problem you’re trying to alleviate. It’s a way of getting data and a way to identify the market that resonates most with your product. And when the press opportunities start filtering in, you can’t help but feel like you’ve made it.
But when entrepreneurs release their product too quickly and botch their first ... 
Daniel Kehoe is the author of Learn Ruby on Rails -- a book that comprehensively covers the programming language from Git to Gems. We recently caught up with the San Francisco native to chat about what it is about Ruby on Rails that makes it so appealing for startups and learn about his reflections on the local tech scene.
For those not familiar with Rails, it's a open source web application framework written in Ruby which is an alternative to other ... 
Because of new credit regulations, South Africa has fallen six spaces in global ranking of the best countries to start a business in. Mauritius, on the other hand, went up by one after it introduced electronic filing in its legal system and reduced trade license fees. That's according to a comprehensive annual report by the World Bank which looked at the nuts and bolts required to start a business in 189 countries, each with its own set of perks and ... 
While still arguably lacking, there a growing number of entrepreneursial programmes in Africa these days, each with its own agenda and "recipe for success".
For those startups looking for mentorship, capital or recognition, we thought it would be fitting to round-up some of these programmes so you can make a choice based on your specific needs. If you're not looking to participate, just keep an eye out for the ones listed below for 2015's news to come.
Think
If you want to be ... 
Smartphones and tablets cater to a dynamic, cross-media lifestyle. Around 65% of tablet owners use their device while watching TV and 41% use both smartphones and tablets simultaneously at least once a day, according to a 2014 Mobile Behavior Report. The consumer’s mobile time has changed marketing as we know it. An integrated, omni-channel marketing approach is what brands now need to adopt to provide the much-desired seamless shopping experience to consumers.
Mobile devices have been shaping the way consumers interact ... 
One of the biggest tourist attractions in South Africa -- and Africa as a whole -- is its sprawling wildlife. However valuable this attraction may be, its sustainability is questionable. Just take the rapid rise in illegal poaching as an example. With some clever technological solutions at hand, perhaps social media and crowdsourcing could help inject a fresh sense of modernity to this cherished industry.
Tracking the Wild is a platform that encourages Africa's parks and reserves to capture and share ... 
By Cornel Masson and Francois Swanepoel
Agile development has been embraced by businesses around the world. It improves speed to market by cutting down on the development cycle. If done properly, it improves the quality of output and mitigates risks. But risk increases when agile methodologies are not applied correctly. And, unfortunately, it is quite easy to get it wrong.
The best thing about agile development isn’t necessarily its speed, it’s the fact that it is iterative, which makes it highly ... 
If 2014 was a big year for investment in the South African startup space, it was an even bigger year for digital agency acquisitions. While the likes of WPP and Publicis have been a part of the country's digital agency space for a good few years now, 2014 was particularly busy.
It wasn't just the world's two biggest advertising holding companies making acquisitions either. US advertising giant also got involved. Significantly, so did Deloitte as it continues to expand ... 
South Africans in the market for a car are increasingly turning to online classified sites to conduct research about their next ride and to purchase it. In fact, Google Trends confirms a substantial growth in online traffic related to cars since 2009.
The time has come for dealerships to take online showrooms seriously and to move more of their advertising budget online to make sure they have a presence where their buyers are. Traditional advertising mediums have their place, but ... 
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