Elvorne Palmer

Co-founder of The Open Letter, Elvorne has 20+ years of experience in media and content.

Founder's Corner

6 Steps to Get People to Actually Buy Your Product

Jul 29, 2026

•

2 min read

6 Steps to Get People to Actually Buy Your Product

If your product works but no one’s buying, it’s probably everything around it, from whether people know you exist to whether they trust you enough to commit. One of SA’s sharpest product strategists lays out the whole journey, from first user to lasting habit, in six steps.

Elvorne Palmer

Founder's Corner

How to Use AI Without Leaking Your Company’s Secrets

Jul 29, 2026

•

2 min read

How to Use AI Without Leaking Your Company’s Secrets

Every time someone on your team pastes source code or client data into a free AI tool, they might be quietly destroying a trade secret and breaching data-protection law while they’re at it. One of SA’s sharpest IP lawyers walks us through how to keep using AI without leaking the very things that make your business valuable.

Elvorne Palmer

Founder's Corner

5 Steps to Grow Your Network and Win Clients on LinkedIn

Jul 27, 2026

•

2 min read

5 Steps to Grow Your Network and Win Clients on LinkedIn

Most founders post and pray on LinkedIn. But if you really want to network and get business value, you need a deliberate system, from the profile people land on to the cold message that gets a reply. One of SA’s most experienced LinkedIn operators lays out the whole thing in five steps.

Elvorne Palmer

Founder's Corner

5 Steps to Build the Founder Tech Stack That Helps You Succeed

Jul 26, 2026

•

2 min read

5 Steps to Build the Founder Tech Stack That Helps You Succeed

Most founders don’t build a tech stack; they accumulate one, tool by tool, until it’s an expensive, disconnected mess. One of SA’s sharpest automation operators does the opposite, building a lean, connected stack where one person can do the work of ten. Here’s the whole approach, start to finish, in five steps.

Elvorne Palmer

News

Crypto Earnings in SA: Binance Has Paid Out Over R165bn

Jul 19, 2026

•

1 min read

Crypto Earnings in SA: Binance Has Paid Out Over R165bn

Crypto earnings in SA get a new Bitcoin yield layer as Binance says it has paid out over R165bn in rewards globally since 2019 and launches BTC Yield product.

Elvorne Palmer

Founder's Corner

How to Read a Valuation Multiple Without Fooling Yourself

Jul 16, 2026

•

3 min read

How to Read a Valuation Multiple Without Fooling Yourself

Someone at a braai tells you their business went for “3x revenue” and suddenly you’re doing maths on your own. Stop, that number tells you almost nothing without what sits underneath it. One of SA’s sharpest valuation experts walks us through how to read a multiple properly, so you don’t anchor on a figure that misleads you.

Elvorne Palmer

Founder's Corner

Jul 14, 2026

•

3 min read

How to Protect Your Brand With a Trademark in South Africa

Registering your company name at CIPC does not protect your brand – that erquires some extra trademarking steps. So we got one of SA’s sharpest IP lawyers to walk us through how to actually lock down your brand with a trademark, and the SA-specific quirks that trip people up.

Elvorne Palmer

Founder's Corner

4 Copywriting Formulas to Write LinkedIn Posts That Get Shared

Jul 13, 2026

•

3 min read

4 Copywriting Formulas to Write LinkedIn Posts That Get Shared

Getting your LinkedIn posts liked and shared needs more than great ideas – there are certain structures proven to perform the best on the algorithm. One of SA’s most experienced LinkedIn operators walks us through the copywriting formulas that turn a decent thought into a post people actually share.

Elvorne Palmer

Founder's Corner

How to Check If You’re Overly Dependent on One Customer

Jul 9, 2026

•

3 min read

How to Check If You’re Overly Dependent on One Customer

That one big client who makes up half your revenue feels like your greatest asset. To a buyer, they’re your greatest risk: a single relationship that could end and take your business with it. One of SA’s sharpest valuation experts walks us through how to spot dangerous customer dependence and what it’s quietly doing to your value.

Elvorne Palmer

Founder's Corner

How to Fix the Small Things That Make Buyers Doubt You

Jul 8, 2026

•

3 min read

How to Fix the Small Things That Make Buyers Doubt You

Buyers decide in seconds, and you’re not always sure what makes them trust you or not. That’s why we got one of SA’s sharpest product strategists to walk us through how to find the small signals quietly killing your sales, and fix them.

Elvorne Palmer

Founder's Corner

How to Ensure You Actually Own the Code You Paid Someone to Build

Jul 7, 2026

•

3 min read

How to Ensure You Actually Own the Code You Paid Someone to Build

You hired a contractor, paid the invoices, and the code is sitting in your GitHub — so you own it, right? Not necessarily. Under SA law, the person who wrote it may still own it. One of SA’s sharpest IP lawyers walks us through how to make sure the code you paid for is actually yours.

Elvorne Palmer

News

The Google Africa Indie Game Fund: $1M For African Gaming Studios

Jul 5, 2026

•

1 min read

The Google Africa Indie Game Fund: $1M For African Gaming Studios

The Google Africa Indie Game Fund just opened with $1m in equity-free capital for 10 studios across 32 African countries. Applications close 31 July 2026.

Elvorne Palmer

Founder's Corner

How to Build a Business That Can Actually Sell (Beat the Owner-Dependence Trap)

Jul 2, 2026

•

3 min read

How to Build a Business That Can Actually Sell (Beat the Owner-Dependence Trap)

The single biggest reason businesses can’t be sold is that they are owner-dependent (remove the founder, and there’s nothing left to buy). One of SA’s sharpest valuation experts walks us through how to build a business that runs and sells without you at the centre of it.

Elvorne Palmer

Founder's Corner

How to Speed Up Your Product’s Time-to-Value

Jul 1, 2026

•

3 min read

How to Speed Up Your Product’s Time-to-Value

You know the moment your product delivers value. The problem is how long it takes to get a user there — and every step in between is a chance for them to give up first. One of SA’s sharpest product strategists walks us through how to shorten that gap and get people to the value faster.

Elvorne Palmer

Founder's Corner

How to Get Noticed by Prospects Who’ll Never Accept Your Connection Request

Jun 29, 2026

•

3 min read

How to Get Noticed by Prospects Who’ll Never Accept Your Connection Request

A VC rejection isn't a verdict; it's usually a timing call. One of SA's most experienced venture capitalists explains how to respond in the room, what question to ask before you leave and how to turn a no into a funded round down the line.

Elvorne Palmer

Founder's Corner

How to Build Your First AI Context Doc Without Writing It Yourself

Jun 28, 2026

•

3 min read

How to Build Your First AI Context Doc Without Writing It Yourself

AI works better when it has all your business context, but that’s such a huge, time-consuming task. One of SA’s sharpest operators has a shortcut: Don’t write it, talk it. Record an interview, and let AI turn it into the doc you need.

Elvorne Palmer

News

Wamly Series A: From 2023 Startup Of The Year To Series A In Three Years Flat

Jun 25, 2026

•

2 min read

Wamly Series A: From 2023 Startup Of The Year To Series A In Three Years Flat

Wamly Series A closes co-led by Hlayisani Capital and Knife Capital, taking the SA hiring tech founded by Francois de Wet from Startup of the Year to scale up.

Elvorne Palmer

Founder's Corner

How to Sell the Transformation, Not the Features

Jun 25, 2026

•

3 min read

How to Sell the Transformation, Not the Features

Some founders list what their product does and wonder why nobody bites. But customers don’t buy features, they buy the change a product makes to their life. One of SA’s sharpest product strategists walks us through how to find that change and put it at the centre of everything you say.

Elvorne Palmer

News

The SA 5G Coverage Gap: Everyone Loves 5G, But Almost No One Can Access It

Jun 23, 2026

•

1 min read

The SA 5G Coverage Gap: Everyone Loves 5G, But Almost No One Can Access It

SA 5G coverage gap leaves users on 4G for 96.3% of connected time, despite operators winning low-band spectrum in 2022, a deployment choice, not a tech issue.

Elvorne Palmer

Founder's Corner

How to Stop Prospects from Ghosting Your Sales Calls

Jun 23, 2026

•

3 min read

How to Stop Prospects from Ghosting Your Sales Calls

You block out the time, prep the call, and the prospect simply doesn’t show. It’s one of the most demoralising parts of founder-led sales — and most of it is preventable. One of SA’s sharpest GTM engineers walks us through how to stop the no-shows before they cost you another afternoon.

Elvorne Palmer

Founder's Corner

How to Build Momentum in Your Pitch Without Overselling

Jun 19, 2026

•

3 min read

How to Build Momentum in Your Pitch Without Overselling

SA founders lose pitches in two opposite ways: Either they oversell and a VC stops believing them, or they’re so humble they make a real business sound like nothing. One of SA’s most experienced venture capitalists walks us through how to build genuine momentum in the room without crossing the line.

Elvorne Palmer

Founder's Corner

How to Send Proposals Faster to Close More Deals

Jun 16, 2026

•

3 min read

How to Send Proposals Faster to Close More Deals

The gap between a great sales call and a sent proposal is where deals quietly die. The longer it takes, the colder the lead. One of SA’s sharpest GTM engineers walks us through how to collapse that gap from days to minutes — and why speed itself is a close-rate lever.

Elvorne Palmer

Founder's Corner

How to Structure a Pre-Revenue Seed Round in South Africa

Jun 12, 2026

•

3 min read

How to Structure a Pre-Revenue Seed Round in South Africa

The hardest part of raising before you have revenue isn’t finding the money; it’s that you can’t put a sensible value on a business that hasn’t proven anything yet. One of SA’s most experienced venture capitalists walks us through how to structure the round so you don’t have to.

Elvorne Palmer

Founder's Corner

How to Get Your First Users When Nobody Knows You Exist

Jun 10, 2026

•

3 min read

How to Get Your First Users When Nobody Knows You Exist

Great products fail in silence all the time, especially when the founder is technical and assumes a good product markets itself. One of SA’s sharpest product strategists walks us through how to get your first users when you have no audience, no budget, and no name yet.

Elvorne Palmer

News

SA Startup Ecosystem Hits 52nd Globally, And Cape Town Just Stole The Lead From Joburg

Jun 9, 2026

•

1 min read

SA Startup Ecosystem Hits 52nd Globally, And Cape Town Just Stole The Lead From Joburg

SA startup ecosystem holds 52nd globally and #1 in Africa as Cape Town jumps 24 places to 114th globally, retaking the national lead from Joburg on 39% growth.

Elvorne Palmer

Elvorne Palmer

6 Steps to Get People to Actually Buy Your Product

How to Use AI Without Leaking Your Company’s Secrets

5 Steps to Grow Your Network and Win Clients on LinkedIn

5 Steps to Build the Founder Tech Stack That Helps You Succeed

Crypto Earnings in SA: Binance Has Paid Out Over R165bn

How to Read a Valuation Multiple Without Fooling Yourself

How to Protect Your Brand With a Trademark in South Africa

4 Copywriting Formulas to Write LinkedIn Posts That Get Shared

How to Check If You’re Overly Dependent on One Customer

How to Fix the Small Things That Make Buyers Doubt You

How to Ensure You Actually Own the Code You Paid Someone to Build

The Google Africa Indie Game Fund: $1M For African Gaming Studios

How to Build a Business That Can Actually Sell (Beat the Owner-Dependence Trap)

How to Speed Up Your Product’s Time-to-Value

How to Get Noticed by Prospects Who’ll Never Accept Your Connection Request

How to Build Your First AI Context Doc Without Writing It Yourself

Wamly Series A: From 2023 Startup Of The Year To Series A In Three Years Flat

How to Sell the Transformation, Not the Features

The SA 5G Coverage Gap: Everyone Loves 5G, But Almost No One Can Access It

How to Stop Prospects from Ghosting Your Sales Calls

How to Build Momentum in Your Pitch Without Overselling

How to Send Proposals Faster to Close More Deals

How to Structure a Pre-Revenue Seed Round in South Africa

How to Get Your First Users When Nobody Knows You Exist

SA Startup Ecosystem Hits 52nd Globally, And Cape Town Just Stole The Lead From Joburg

JOIN IN