Feeling nostalgic {{ FIRSTNAME }}? Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey is petitioning the US Patent Office to give him back the name Twitter, since Musk rebranded to X. The site twitter.new invites you to request your handle. 🐦

In This Open Letter

A home is the biggest asset anyone will own, but the valuation tools for this R7 trillion sector sit with banks and data providers – this startup’s putting it in the buyer’s hands…

The home buying game in SA’s a little rigged: On one hand, you’ve got the selling agent with all of the knowledge, experience, data and context. 

On the other hand, you, the buyer, have little to no reliable information on what a property is really worth, how hard you could negotiate on price, and, quite often, the pressure of needing to hurry as “other offers” are on the table…

‘Cos property prices are climbing all the time: After rising 69% from 2007 to 2021, COVID caused a slight slowdown, but prices are up 2.2% again in 2025. And, while inflation’s easing a little now, don’t forget we’re coming out of a painful interest rate cycle, so buyers are cautious.

And rightly so… buyers are walking into complex financial decisions with limited visibility.

The local startup shining a light into property data

FindHomes is an AI-powered property search platform built to level the playing field. It aggregates listings across agencies, then lets people search and see matching properties on an interactive map.

Every listing shows the number of bedrooms, bathrooms and other features (as one would expect), but adds data like Rand per square meter and layered-in deeds data, so buyers can see past sale prices, price reductions and how similar homes in the suburb are trading. 

It also indicates rates, levies and estimated bond costs so users get closer to the real cost of owning their dream homes. 

And speaking of dream homes, something that blew our minds is that FindHomes can analyse the property images for each listing to be discoverable in their search functionality. So homes with spiral staircases, fire pits or a veggie garden, pop up on your radar if that’s your vibe.

Building the future

We caught up with FindHomes Co-Founder Adrian Bunge and their Chief of Growth, Jo Eyre, to learn more about what they’re building. Adrian shared how he remembers watching his mom battle to find certainty that any of the thousands of listings she waded through would be a good investment (losing hundreds of thousands of Rands in a single property transaction). And how she had almost no access to data that might have helped with the decision.

And he realised this was something millions of prospective homebuyers faced every day. So he left a corporate gig to build FindHomes more than 12 months ago, under the radar, in ghost mode.

They already have more than 12’000 properties listed across the Western Cape (for now), giving them the scale required to turn raw deeds data into real intelligence for buyers.

We’re watching this space…

As 2025 draws to a close, South African SMEs should consider pivoting from crisis management to strategic planning to navigate a landscape dominated by rising operational costs and logistical volatility. 

According to the SME funder Lula’s Chief Risk Officer, Garth Rossiter, the core challenge for business remains the lack of predictability in key input costs, coupled with external factors that impact cash flow and access to financing.

Persistent electricity tariff hikes make reliable energy an unavoidable core operational cost. 

"If you look at the average small business or SME, like a small manufacturer or guest house, an investment in basic solar or an inverter has gone from a nice-to-have to an absolute must-have," states Rossiter. 

He recommends leveraging the current window of opportunity to invest immediately. 

The temporary lull in severe load shedding has created a market surplus, driving down costs significantly. This strategic investment not only allows SMEs to convert highly variable and unpredictable electricity expenditures into a more stable, manageable cost but also provides the invaluable peace of mind that comes with energy certainty. 

An alternative would be for businesses to adopt an operational cost adjustment model, calculating the percentage increase in their energy bill as an input cost. 

Supply chain unpredictability, amplified by bottlenecks at key corridors like Durban and Cape Town ports, suggests that a shift from a 'Just-In-Time' model to a 'Just-In-Case' approach might be necessary. 

This mandates maintaining a cash or stock buffer of 10% to 15% of high-demand items. 

"Unfortunately, this is an added cost that directly impacts working capital, but it prevents lost sales, which is the real opportunity cost," Rossiter explains. 

He also suggests that small businesses could consider:

Businesses that struggle with creditworthiness face an expensive trap. A low credit score translates directly into a higher perceived probability of default, forcing lenders to apply a significant risk premium.

"The direct cost of a poor credit score is a much higher interest rate," says Rossiter. "A business operating on low net margins cannot afford an extra expense on the interest line."

The opportunity cost can also be severe, resulting in lower funding amounts than required to buy stock or finance peak season expansion. Rossiter advises businesses and business owners to check their credit history proactively and resolve any outstanding credit issues to secure more affordable capital in 2026.

⚰️ Pay As You Go? Sanlam has launched its new model of funeral cover that works just like buying airtime or data. The “Pay-As-You-Go” model helps consumers who previously had lapsed policies due to irregular income, be able to get funeral cover. Very interesting.

🌿 Eskom Goes Green. Eskom has announced it will launch a renewables subsidiary: Eskom Green. The new subsidiary plans to add at least 2GW of capacity to the grid by next year, ramping that up to 32GW of renewable energy by 2040, accounting for just over half of our current capacity. Nice one.

🗺️ Need For Speed at Home. Remember the Need for Speed Underground mini map? Well, this one guy is building out a custom version of the iconic circular NFS Underground 2 minimap that’s based on real roads in the UK, complete with tracking his own car. Very cool.

⚠️ OpenAI’s Cyber Risk Warning. OpenAI has warned that some of its upcoming models could pose a high cybersecurity risk as their capabilities rapidly advance, either developing zero-day remote exploits or assisting with complex enterprise or industrial intrusion operations. *LOLs nervously…

✅ The Stack. Founders need reliable tools, so our Founder’s Stack newsletters as a service (NaaS) by Stream, LinkedIn growth and acceleration by FDC + loads more.

Yesterday, we showed you Udok’s instant doctors practices, asking how you contact your doctor. And most still brave the waiting room…

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🏥 Still rocking the reception queue (47%)

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ 📱 WhatsApp + pray for blue ticks (21%)

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🚑 Only when I’m forced to go to hospital (18%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 💻 Digital consults already — future unlocked (14%)

🧑‍⚖️Senior C#/Angular Full Stack Developer @ LexisNexis Shared Services

📑 Development Team Lead @ Lucro

🩳 Software Developer (Durban) @ LexisNexis Shared Services

🧑‍💻 Senior Angular Developer @ LexisNexis Shared Services

📊 Full-Stack Engineer: Python @ Cogitait

🍊 Full Stack Developer @ Sun World International

Smaller-cap shares rallied on dividends, institutional buying and positive long-term momentum.

AFINE: +19.51%
WEAVER: +10.83%
JUBILEE: +10.77%
MC MINING: +8.79%
CHOPPIES: +7.66%

Data from Moneyweb (Fri 5 Dec 2025 → Thu 11 Dec 2025)

Gold traded sideways, with global anticipation for a US rate cut offsetting the continuing strength of the Rand.

+0.88% (R 71’056.41 → R 71’680.20)

Data from Investing.com (Fri 5 Dec 2025 → Thu 11 Dec 2025)

Bitcoin's pre-Fed rally was erased by profit-taking; the price stalled as investors awaited clear guidance.

+1.00% (R 1’512’785 → R 1’527’959)

Data from Investing.com (Fri 5 Dec 2025 → Thu 11 Dec 2025)

Outperforming BTC, Ethereum surged on shrinking exchange supply, whale accumulation and new institutional products.

+6.42% (R 51’189.5 → R 54’473.2)

Data from Investing.com (Fri 5 Dec 2025 → Thu 11 Dec 2025)

💡 Tool to Try: Mitigate’s AI that helps you de-escalate conflict with clear scripts.

🎶 That’s Interesting: George Michael wrote, produced, sang and played every instrument on Wham!’s “Last Christmas.”

🏎️ Next Level: Lightning reflexes in this incredible near-miss in the Monaco tunnel.

💰 Hack: A simple guide to teaching kids how to budget and save money.

📏 Wow Site: Size of Life compares living things by scale.

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