July 9, 2020

Cartesian Talks tech stocks with Rapelang Rabana

Why does Cartesian Capital MD Anthea Gardner still find herself running in short-shorts in this weather? And what has this got to do with tech stocks?

The fourth Cartesian Talks webinar (some say the best yet!) was hosted on 9 July via Zoom. The event attracted more than 100 investors of all levels, keen to find out how to make the most of their money.

As always, Anthea was the host, ably assisted by our own Carel Nolte. The special guest on the webinar was Rapelang Rabana, who provided some excellent insight into the local technology market as a potential investment destination. Rapelang has degrees in both computer science and business science, and as such is highly qualified to talk on the topic.

Here are some high level topics that were discussed, stories that were told and questions that were answered. (You can watch the full webinar here for all the detail.)

  • Tech has taken over from energy as the top sector in world markets by market capitalisation. (Where were you in 2008 when oil hit $100 a barrel? And what were you doing in 2018 when Apple’s market cap hit $1 trillion?)
  • A grocery delivery service called Webvan was started in the US in the late 90s. It went bankrupt after five years. Why?
  • The tech index is outperforming the S&P500 quite considerably
  • There is often a massive disconnect between a share’s PE ratio and its price behaviour
  • US capital is patient. African capital is more myopic. We need to adopt a longer-term view
  • Our small local market shouldn’t prevent us from designing tech for scale (for example, EasyEquities!). We need to innovate and experiment more. What’s holding us back?
  • Where to for fintech, insurtech and proptech?
  • South African consumers need to support local companies more
  • “Schools of experience” – the corporate mindset v. the entrepreneurial mindset
  • Who would have thought that Checkers would become South Africa’s leading online grocery shopping service?
  • Section 12J investments – are they all they’re cracked up to be?
  • How VCs become great
  • How can tech start-ups access their markets in a sector that’s become very gridlocked?
  • How does internet bandwidth, especially the introduction of 5G, impact on the tech market?
  • Should I buy, hold or sell tech stocks?
  • How to find good stocks early…

All of that incredible information – and more – was shared in just one hour! (Including the bit about Anthea’s short-shorts.)

Some closing advice from Anthea and Rapelang: “Don’t be an average investor. Be brave. Educate yourself.”

That’s what these sessions strive to do… to educate active investors.

Keep an eye on this blog and our social media channels for details of the next Cartesian Talks webinar.