TechCentral is pleased to announce that the next episode of its popular new technology show TCS Legends will feature an interview with pioneering South African technology entrepreneur and investor David Frankel.
Frankel, the one-time CEO of Internet Solutions and a former director of Dimension Data, today leads Founder Collective, a Boston- and New York-based seed-stage venture capital firm whose successful investments have included Uber Technologies, PillPack and Brontes.
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Frankel, who was named in 1999 by the Financial Mail as South African Technological Achiever of the Century, tells TCS Legends about his storied career, which began at Altech, where he worked for Bill Venter.
In the interview, he chats about his time at Altech, and later at Internet Solutions during the heady early days of the commercialisation of the internet in South Africa.
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Remembering former Internet Solutions colleagues, such as brothers Alon Apteker and Ronnie Apteker – both of whom remain good friends with him to this day – Frankel chats about those heady days, and what was involved in bringing the internet to corporate South Africa in the 1990s.
He goes into some detail about the existential fight between the fledgling internet service provider industry and Telkom, which at the time was demanding monopoly rights over the internet in South Africa. (Spoiler: Telkom lost.)
Watch clip #1 from the interview with David Frankel:
He also discusses the sale of Internet Solutions to Dimension Data, his involvement with the then-listed IT group, and how he eventually – via an MBA at Harvard Business School – ended up living in the US.
Frankel unpacks the genesis of Founder Collective, its investment philosophy, and why he believes Boston is a great place to be for a technology-focused VC firm.
He also gives his views on the state of South Africa in 2024.
Watch clip #2 from the interview with David Frankel:
The interview with David Frankel will be published on TechCentral on Monday, 22 April. Details about how to subscribe for free to TCS Legends and TechCentral’s other tech shows are included below.
If you missed any of the TCS Legends episodes published to date, access them here:
- Episode 1: Duarte da Silva on five South African tech legends
- Episode 2: Duarte da Silva on Alan Knott-Craig, Bill Venter, Roux Marnitz and Jens Montanana
- Episode 3: Remembering Mustek founder David Kan
- Episode 4: South African internet pioneer Mike Lawrie
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