If you went to a 27 Dinner a year ago and listened to what was being said there you’d have thought someone would have actually launched a product, or made some money, or raised VC by now. If you read the local blogosphere, which somehow seems to be burgeoning with strategists and experts, you’d think something special would have emerged by now. It hasn’t.

We still have only five showcase services: Muti (which still looks like a dogs breakfast), Synthasite (arguably no longer a South African product), Amatomu (which hasn’t changed much), Afrigator (who just launched an ad network) and Zoopy.

So now looking back it seems that the room was either full of posers or something has gone horribly wrong. Is it a lack of skills, a lack of VC or just a lack of commitment (or a combination of all three). Could it just be that South Africans are better at talking about how cool they are than actually earning it? I have been told by many people from outside that they consider South African technologists to be good starters and poor finishers, and my experience is 100% consistent with this view. Are we a community of 500 experts and no implementers? I’d love to hear your opinion on this.