Do you consider the online marketplace your playground? Here’s R40 000

Reading the ITWeb Daily news is good sometimes. Other times you find things like a local Million Zimbabwe Dollar Website or students throwing catch-phrases like Web 2.0 and AJAX into the air (wait, thats us).

Do you have an innovative online business idea? Do you consider the online marketplace your playground? Have you always wanted to start your own online company, but do not have the necessary support? Enter the bidorbuy/Gauteng Business online entrepreneur competition and turn this dream into reality!

Well, we can answer yes and yes and yes we are A Group of Web AddiCT(s);

Should we enter this one? Your comments will determine our entry.

Now to enjoy my peanut butter sandwich with slices of banana and more Coffee Anan. Find out more or enter the online entrepeneurs competition here.

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3 Responses to "Do you consider the online marketplace your playground? Here’s R40 000"

Conrad Strydom says:

6 April 2006 at 15:24

I find the prizes a little disappointing, its all “virtual” money, you know? Stuff like banner ads and magazine mentions etc. are cool but you can probably get a good spread of those anyways if you’re idea is good enough. They need to award cold hard cash, in the world of startups nothing speaks louder than cash. People need to eat.

Also, do you regain your IP when you enter? When its out its out, I realise that its part of gaining interest in new products and services, that you need to blurt it out sometime, but I would rather do that too a VC and stand a snowballs chance in hell that I get to market before someone else. Even VC’s don’t even sign NDA’s anymore 🙂 .

Am I paranoid? 🙂

If you have an existing business already and are allowed to enter then I say go for it, though I what I got from the description, is “new ideas”.

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Rafiq says:

6 April 2006 at 15:38

Thanks for your comment Conrad.

Cash is king! But free publicity can generate more interest and proper publicty with internal linking goodness could up your PR(PageRank) and up your PR (Public Relations).

Have you read the Paper about Predicting Internet-based Online Community Size and Time to Peak Membership Using the Bass Model of New Product Growth ? One of the factors metioned in the paper that ups your online community adoption rate is one of the prizes they’re giving away in the competition. So it might not be that bad to get good publicity if your business is new and online. Good publicity lasts, cold hard cash doesn’t.

If you check the entry you will notice that they only want an idea (max 500chars) How do you give away a trade secret? If flickr entered there idea it would be: “Online photo sharing and a bit of advertising on the side”.

So should we enter?

Reply
Conrad says:

6 April 2006 at 22:27

Hey Rafiq,

You can enter this competition no doubt, I am just mentioning that I am a little disillusioned by the prizes, they just don’t fit right with the intention of the competition..

“Enter the bidorbuy/Gauteng Business online entrepreneur competition and turn this dream into reality!”

Yeah so is a couple of banner ads, a magazine ad a copy of some study and a few hours of “consultancy” going to bring my startup idea of the ground? Now way!!

Give me the 40 000 grand cache so I can get a couple developers in and setup the actual business, thereafter I can gain a free mention like you in ITWeb and TechCrunch and soon Business Week and Wall Street Trader 🙂
This is the cool thing about the “new” internet right, publicity is free?

An idea that is not much more than 500 words on a sheet of paper doesn’t need a banner ad, it needs a means, that means is Cash, period. Get a couple VC’s on board offering a long-hard look, then I will take it seriously.

I hear you that “good” publicity lasts, this just feels more like a selfpromotion effort by the sponsors than a real honest attempt at helping new online businesses.

Maybe I’ll put in one of my many ideas and see what happens, but I’m sorry I’m just not excited …

OK, I’ve entered, lets wait n see what happens 😉 – rafiq

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