South Africa

Official US Green Card lottery opens Oct 4, 2011

Green Card

Green Card

Green card lottery is open!

I know many South Africans in the US that won their green cards (or permanent residence cards) by entering the US Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery Program or the Green Card Lottery.The official place to find information regarding the lottery is at the US. Dept of State website. Do yourself a favor and don’t use ANY other website! There are literary hundreds of sites that offer to do this for you for a fee, sometimes a substantial fee.The lottery opened Oct 4, 2011, 12pm EDT and ends November 5, 2011, 12pm EST.

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Why You Should Start a Company in Atlanta|FastCompany

Not too long ago, about fifty years, Atlanta was the size of Little Rock, Ark. About a hundred years before that, it was burned to the ground. Atlanta has proven it can grow (adding 1.1 million residents in the last decade alone). Now, it’s building toward a sort of tech hub in the southeast, against a backdrop that includes the busiest international airport in the world; a healthy cluster of corporate giants in Coca-Cola, UPS, Delta and The Home Depot, among others; and a spur of entrepreneurial activity that put Atlanta in the top ten on this year’s Kauffman Entrepreneurial Index, which tracks new business creation.But in a place where half the population isn’t from there, identity is a work-in-progress—theNew York Times called Atlanta “corporate stronghold, a Southern belle and a hip-hop capital”—all at once. Add to that: home to Internet security expertise and a key drug in HIV treatment. Alan Taetle, general partner at venture capital firm Noro-Moseley Partners, spoke with Fast Company about what makes Atlanta’s startup scene unique.Read more here.
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It’s dangerous to walk on the pavement in America!

In a recent post I gave you some business words that have a different meaning in America. Below is a table with some common everyday words with different meanings. You can find many more in this blog: US2UK.

South African termAmerican equivalentExplanation
PetrolGasYou fill up at a gas station.
RobotTraffic lightTurn left at the second traffic light.
RoadPavementIn the US it is dangerous to walk on the pavement (in the road).
PavementSide walkUS equivalent is side walk
CrashCar wreckThe wreck on the 75 caused a traffic jam.
ManualStick shiftStick shift car.
License plateTagYou have to renew your car's tag every year.
BootTrunkI need to get something out of my car's trunk.
ChipsFriesHamburger and fries. Chips are called crisps.
CooldrinkSodaMy also be called pop in some US states.
Do you know of any other words or funny stories?

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Why you shouldn’t brag about your turnover!

Many South African businesspeople make the following common mistakes regarding US business English. I always enjoy seeing the reaction of Americans when a South African brags about their company’s turnover!

South African termAmerican equivalentExplanation
TurnoverRevenue or SalesTurnover in the US refers to employee attrition (not a good thing :-)).
SurnameLast nameFamily name
NameFirst nameIn the US most people have a middle name. So first name to distinguish from middle name.
LoanNoteA note is a loan agreement.
CA or AccountantCPACertified Public Accountant.
Managing Director (MD)CEO or PresidentBetter to refer to yourself as CEO if you are an MD in SA.
DirectorBoard MemberA director is usually a mid-level manager in the US.
Share SchemeShare PlanIn the US a scheme usually refers to something unsavory (even illegal).
RetrenchRIF (reduction in force) or Lay offLay offs are very common in the US as most states are work-at-wil states.
Diary (Schedule)CalendarIn the US a diary is a ladies' journal. You would typically say: "can we put something on the calendar".
PostMailIn the US: "I'll put the check in the mail".
Can you add to this list?

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Why Atlanta is a great place for the US HQ of a South African IT company

Yes, I know, most IT companies want to be in the Valley, that is, Silicon Valley. I would however suggest you seriously consider Atlanta as an alternative. If you are definitely the next Google, then yes, you have to be in the Valley. Ask Vinny and Yola :-). Most IT companies, however, don’t have to be in the Valley.Here are a few reasons to set up your US HQ in Atlanta:

  • Atlanta has one of the best airports in the world with direct flights (on Delta) to Jo’burg.
  • Very low cost of living compared to most large US city, especially San Francisco.
  • Great time zone overlap with South Africa.
  • Great IT community: Techlinks, TAG, GATech, and atdc.
  • HQ for many Fortune 500 companies including: Coca-Cola, Home Depot, UPS, and Aflac.

This presentation by the Metro Atlanta Chamber gives many more reasons to consider Atlanta as your US HQ.Lance Weatherby had this to say about Atlanta replacing Silicon Valley.I’ve lived in Atlanta (actually in Kennesaw, a town North of Atlanta) for almost 12 years since moving to Atlanta in 1998.

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Hasso Plattner Ventures Africa’s portfolio of companies

Hasso Plattner’s African Venture fund was launched in early 2008. In February 2009 I attended the fund’s Emerging Market Africa conference in South Africa. HPVA has invested ZAR80mm of ZAR350mm in 5 companies to date and expect to invest in at least 5 more. HPVA doesn’t disclose investments and shareholding, although they did indicate that they only take minority shareholding.You can find Hasso Plattner Venture Europe’s investments here.Recently the African fund disclosed some of the investments it has made so far:

  1. Cibecs: Enterprise backup solutions. According to some articles, HPVA invested ZAR8mm for a 25% stake in the company (HPVA indicated that these numbers aren’t correct. They didn’t say what the correct numbers are.) Cibecs was formed in 2004 by Richard Dewing, and its software has been sold to more than 30,000 users in South Africa.
  2. Inala operates in the fields of telecommunications and broadcasting in South Africa.
  3. Global Vision specializes in marketing automation software.
  4. KnowledgeTree is an open source document management system. KnowledgeTree uses a number of social media technologies to promote its products, including Facebook, Twitter, and blogs…very progressive!
  5. Dabba Telecom: Low-cost telecoms in South Africa. Dabba’s CEO Real Lissoos was voted Social Entrepreneur of the year in 2008.

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