More than just words: Dragons’ Den judge interview sparks serious Twitter debate on SA startup space

A war of words seems to have broken out on Twitter following the publication of our interview with entrepreneur Vinny Lingham yesterday. Lingham will be appearing as one of the dragons in South Africa’s version of the popular entrepreneur pitching show, Dragons’ Den.

In our interview, Lingham stated that he felt “very few people” in the South African tech investment landscape understood technology and how to go about making worthwhile investments in the sector. Lingham’s comments, which were made largely on the back of his Dragons’ Den experience, talked about the number of successful exits and the disconnect between wealthy individuals and entrepreneurs.

Twitter has been up in arms about the comments and we gathered the tweets for you, both good and bad. Some people argue that Lingham has touched on some salient problems in SA’s startup community, while others feel he is too far removed from the ecosystem.

The positive:

 

Some great points by @VinnyLingham in this @ventureburn interview (esp re the startup graft in SA) http://t.co/AFIngobEhG

— Ruark Ferreira (@ruark) August 18, 2014

 

Another SA entrepreneur success story – good to see Vinny Lingham, an experienced Start up eye, comment on the poor …http://t.co/VJxziXOdZd

— Nick Herbert (@nherby) August 19, 2014

 

Great interview with @VinnyLingham I share his frustrations with spreadsheet investors &the shortage of risk capital http://t.co/IV08NN7B2E

— Jean-Michel Koenig (@fullmoonsong) August 18, 2014

 

Some great points by @VinnyLingham in this @ventureburn interview (esp re the startup graft in SA) http://t.co/AFIngobEhG

— Ruark Ferreira (@ruark) August 18, 2014

 

@JustinStanford @VinnyLingham @Ventureburn @dguasco @robstokes like the competition there Justin. Forcing everyone else to get in the game!

— Nic Haralambous (@nicharry) August 18, 2014

 

Solid interview with @VinnyLingham. Love to hear the fighting words and passionate opinions about startups in SA: http://t.co/J9USSrdmyO

— Nic Haralambous (@nicharry) August 18, 2014

 

Great article, say it how it is .@VinnyLingham. Early exits, 15yr returns are yesteryear http://t.co/DDsVOtUmxO .@CapeTalk567 .@CapeTown

— TheoS (@MarketBrandSA) August 19, 2014

 

The negative:

 

Respect the Vinny, but don’t agree with his views on SA startups. Like we employ 33 ppl here! Bring on debate! http://t.co/YJaU08rnI9

— matt (@matthewbuckland) August 19, 2014

 

Not sure that not being a technologist equals pencil pusher. Pity that talking down is preferred to building up http://t.co/h56NbxDi4Q

— AndreaBoehmert (@AndreaBoehmert) August 19, 2014

 

I just love the smell of pencil pushing in the morn while making zero IRR on 4yr exits & hacking business building! ☺ http://t.co/ZYwGB8WdCr

— Keet van Zyl (@KeetvZ) August 19, 2014

 

Good morning Angels…startups and VC’s. Scanning the twitter this fair morrow, seems @VinnyLingham has hit a nerve. http://t.co/dGhJ5xqkac

— Tinus le Roux (@tinusleroux) August 19, 2014

 

 

@Ventureburn chats to @VinnyLingham. Hope it does not cause too much damage to a really vibrant and fast growing local #startup community.

— Anita Nel (@_AnitaNel) August 19, 2014

 

Here’s an exchange between Lingham and founder of mobile payment company Fundamo, Hannes van Rensburg:

 

I read your interview. Do your homework before you make comments on IRR @VinnyLingham @Ventureburn

— Hannes van Rensburg (@Rensburg) August 18, 2014

 

@Rensburg Apologies, but I think that was misinterpreted. That’s not the point I was making – it was a 10 year+ slog. @Ventureburn

— Vinny Lingham (@VinnyLingham) August 18, 2014

 

@Rensburg I was not saying that the returns were not positive or strong! @Ventureburn

— Vinny Lingham (@VinnyLingham) August 18, 2014

 

@Rensburg @Ventureburn agreed, the problem is that is not the view taken by the traditional money managers making these investments

— Vinny Lingham (@VinnyLingham) August 18, 2014

 

@Rensburg @Ventureburn Now you’re speaking my language! I totally agree (re: my article). And I know you like Bitcoin too 🙂

— Vinny Lingham (@VinnyLingham) August 18, 2014

 

There was a further word scuffle about South Africa’s entrepreneurial success stories:

@matthewbuckland @VinnyLingham what the fucking fuck? Investec? Naspers? Nando's? First Rand? Quirk? pic.twitter.com/pEeF1f3jzZ

— Richard Mulholland (@RichMulholland) August 19, 2014

@RichMulholland @matthewbuckland we're trying to create a technology hub here. Hardly comparable to grilled chicken businesses… IMHO

— Vinny Lingham (@VinnyLingham) August 19, 2014

@matthewbuckland @RichMulholland indeed. There are few examples of homegrown internet tech startups that have succeeded internationally.

— Vinny Lingham (@VinnyLingham) August 19, 2014

Keen to flesh out the debate with more than 140 characters? Pop us a mail at submit [at] memeburn [dot] com with your thoughts.