Says Hadfield: "Gareth Knight and I are continuing a little tradition that started at the last Tech4Africa... #FailCon. Trying to change that stigma that the South African start-up scene has around failure. Like it or not, failure is a part of start-up culture. Everyone forgets that 95% of these things fail. And yet we tend to hide failure instead of celebrating what we've learned. 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 start-up failure! A moniker I'm happy to wear for a little bit, hopefully not forever...
"The point is, both Gareth and I are happy to share our failures - if it helps others succeed. Our industry could do with some more sharing. This will be a brutally honest fireside chat about the realities of start-up life. Come and ask anything you ever wanted to ask about the messy behind-the-scenes nature of a tech start-up. Hopefully between the tears, scars and cashflow issues, there's enough in there to inspire more people to go out and start something."
Hadfield has spoken at almost every Tech4Africa since its inception. "I'm a huge supporter and glad to help out any way I can," he says. "This is OUR SXSW-in-the-making. Be there or be [ ]."
If you're a first-timer, Hadfield has some advice for you: "As with any conference, it's always more about the people than it is the content. In terms of content, pick topics to attend that are WAY outside of your comfort zone. That way, you'll learn something. In terms of people, don't be scared to say hi. Scan the # for interesting comments. Buy people coffee (it's free after all). Say hi."
