Vinny Lingham 
Co-founder & CEO | gyft
San Francisco Bay Area, CA, UNITED STATES
Silicon Valley based Technology Entrepreneur
Media
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Biography
Internet Entrepreneur focuses on Mobile, Online Marketing, Cloud services & SaaS (Software-as-a-Services).
Selected as an Endeavor Entrepreneur (Endeavor.org) and Young Global Leader (World Economic Forum), Vinny is one of the most recognized technology entrepreneurs to ever emerge from Africa and has successfully raised over $50m in venture capital funding for his various companies over the years.
He has built a string of highly successful technology businesses and has received international acclaim for his efforts in creating "The Silicon Cape", which is a non-profit organization based in Cape Town, with aims to create a high tech hub in South Africa.
Vinny's passion is Internet startups and Entrepreneurship in general, and he often keynotes and speaks about his experiences as an entrepreneur to crowds of people who want to hear from someone who took the road less travelled...
He is also an "Angel" investor in his own right and has backed a number of entrepreneurs to begin and build their own businesses.
Industry Expertise (3)
Consumer Services
Social Media
Internet
Areas of Expertise (5)
Startups
Freemium
Mobile
Entrepreneurship
Small Business
Accomplishments (6)
Men's Health - Best Man 2009 Finalist (personal)
Horizon Award for Global Vision (professional)
Clicks2Customers - awarded by Nasdaq listed ValueClick
Endeavor Entrepreneur (professional)
Endeavor.org selected Entrepreneur
Young Global Leader (professional)
Selected by the World Economic Forum
Top Technology Company in South Africa (professional)
Clicks2Customers
Top Young IT Entrepreneur in Africa (professional)
Education (6)
Unisa: Honours, E-Commerce 2001
Graduaded Cum Laude
Gordon Institute of Business Science: Diploma, Negotiation 2002
Damelin: National Certicate, Project Management (HC Proj M), Project Management 2002
Hudson Park High School: Matric 1996
Gordon Institute of Business Science: Diploma, Negotiation 2002
University of Cape Town: Bachelor of Commerce, Information Systems 1999
Did not graduate
Affiliations (5)
- Alliance of CEO's
- World Economic Forum
- Young Global Leader
- Endeavor
- Mensa
Links (4)
Event Appearances (3)
Entrepreneurship Keynote
Endeavor Excellerator Johannesburg, South Africa
What it takes to be a successful affiliate
AffiliateDag Utrecht, Netherlands
2009-05-19
Why PPC search marketing is the most powerful tool to drive online traffic
PPC Classroom Live Orange County, California
2005-12-05
Sample Talks (1)
Emerging Market Entrepreneurship
Emerging markets present a whole range of entrepreneurial obstacles which are non-existent in established markets. Entrepreneurs from the US, UK and other markets often gloss over some of the challenges that emerging market entrepreneurs have, from lack of payment infrastructure, Internet, legal and other operational gaps that exist. Having built companies in both Africa and the USA, Vinny is well established as a speaker in this category.
Style
Availability
- Keynote
- Moderator
- Panelist
- Workshop Leader
- Host/MC
- Author Appearance
- Corporate Training
Social