Tech4Africa speaker Andy Hadfield: ‘Like it or not, failure is a part of startup culture’

Tech4Africa is coming to Cape Town, South Africa for the first time since it started as an annual fixture four years ago. The event will consist of workshops, networking and keynote speakers which aims to impart knowledge, perspective, African context and inspiration.

Two exciting speakers set to take the stage are entrepreneurs Andy Hadfield and Gareth Knight, both on the topic of startup failure in South Africa.

Hadfield says they’re on a mission to change the stigma the South African startup scene has around failure. “Like it or not, failure is a part of startup culture. Everyone forgets that 95% of these things fail,” he says.

Hadfield has first-hand experience in the startup failure space having recently closed down social discovery app Real Time Wine. Hadfield elaborates:

“With the closure of Real Time Wine and the publishing of a certain blog post that did the rounds, I’ve unwittingly become the poster boy for startup failure! A moniker, I’m happy to wear for a little bit, hopefully not forever…”

Hadfield has been sharing stories at Tech4Africa ever since its inception, and feels strongly about the sharing of ideas to help the local industry grow.

“The point is, both Gareth and I are happy to share our failures — if it helps others succeed,” he says. “Our industry could do with some more sharing. This will be a brutally honest fireside chat about the realities of startup life. Come and ask anything you ever wanted to ask about the messy behind-the-scenes nature of a tech startup.”

Take a look at all the popular topics to be discussed at Tech4Africa Cape Town 2014.

Venue: Old Mutual Conference Centre, Pinelands in Cape Town

Line Up: http://cpt2014.tech4africa.com/grid/

Tickets: R500