Almost there {{ FIRSTNAME | there }}? The 1970s tech is starting to fail on Voyager 1 as it nears the one light-day mark from us (a historic milestone set for November this year), so NASA's had to shut down some sensor systems to keep it from going gently into that good night, friends, and keep the old boy raging, just a little bit longer, against the dying of the light… 🚀

Today, we introduce a new section: Work Smarter, at the bottom of this email, now features Open Letter-exclusive playbooks and workflows by real SA pros. We kick you off with a pan-African sales and partnerships leader’s first-meeting workflow — copy-paste it to rocket your sales game to the moon.

In This Open Letter:

We all think rugby players are rich, but a Springbok's pro rugby career is short; only nine players have ever reached 100 Test caps, most average just 23 games, earning just R2.7M in 10 years – this startup helps answer the “now what?” question that comes after the Green and Gold…

With roughly 12 international tests per year, a match fee of R118k and an average career span of 10 years (and not every Bok plays every match), our sports legends who earn the average of 23 caps walk away with only around R2.7 million in match fees. Total. Across their entire international career.

It may sound like plenty when you’re young, but at just age 30-ish, with most of your life still ahead of you, that’s very little, considering that they have to switch careers entirely, and their first 10 years may or may not count toward their future.

The earnings window on the field is narrow.

And so is the commercial window alongside it.

But brands aren't buying logo placements anymore. They're buying access to audiences. The global sports influencer market hit $24 billion in 2024, with athlete-led campaigns leading the charge. Athletes are the channel now. 

But only if someone's helping them use it.

The local agency unlocking their commercial value

Champions Link is a sports sponsorship agency that connects Springbok players with commercial deals that actually make sense for their lives — not just their jerseys.

Before any brand conversation, the team researches a personal connection point, targets 12-month ambassador agreements over quick placements, and builds around the player's real life. The model is deliberately tight: No new players until each of the current ten has two to three meaningful deals in place.

The proof? Handré Pollard and Pollen Finance delivered three record-breaking months during their campaign, all while Handré was based in the UK the entire time.

Getting the game just right

Champions Link’s Head of Sponsorship Taneal Baptiste is a competitive swimmer: A sport with almost zero commercial infrastructure in SA. She spent her career figuring out sponsorships without a playbook, and knows exactly what it costs an athlete when nobody's in their corner. That lived experience is what shapes how Champions Link operates: player-first, not brand-first.

With reigning World Cup champions, three Springboks playing in Japan at peak commercial value, and the next World Cup cycle building momentum, the commercial window for SA rugby players has never been wider.

Champions Link is building the infrastructure to make sure they don't miss it.

We're watching this space…

Who still switches between five apps just to pay for something?

Nigerian FinTech Payaza flipped checkout experiences with ChatPay — a WhatsApp-based payment solution that lets customers initiate and complete transactions entirely inside a chat, without ever leaving the app.

But here's what's really clever:

✅ Customers are auto-prompted and guided through the flow
✅ Multiple payment options are served within a single chat
✅ Merchants close sales faster with zero app-switching friction

It's conversational commerce taken to its logical endpoint.

What could you move to WhatsApp today?

Last week, we talked about the finance blind spot — growing businesses that don't have a proper financial layer until it's too late.

Finvoke was built to close that gap. Based in Sandton, they act as your in-house finance department (bookkeeping, accounting, payroll, tax, compliance and strategic CFO advisory) at a fraction of the cost of a full-time hire.

They run on Xero, Dext and SimplePay, so your data is always current and accessible from anywhere. And their team is led by qualified CAs who've worked with startups, SMEs and scaling tech companies across South Africa.

But here's the real differentiator: Finvoke doesn't just do your books. Their CFO service gives founders and operators the strategic financial guidance — forecasting, budgeting, capital allocation — that most only get when they can afford a seven-figure finance team.

70+ companies already use them. If your business has outgrown DIY accounting, this is worth a look.

✖️ Mzansi’s Multipliers. SA has lots of great founders building awesome companies, but a small handful of the OGs just keep on delivering smash hits. We made a list of some prominent SA startups built by the same founders — did you know all of them?

🚀 EdTech Boost. The cohort of local startups for the 2026 edition of Injini Mastercard Foundation EdTech Fellowship is here. And they receive expert mentorship, formal evaluation and certification, specialised market insights and R1 million in funding. Keeping an eye on these.

🤖 Ignore The Bot Doc. Turns out AI isn't the best to ask about your health. Researchers put ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Meta AI and DeepSeek through a systematic health-information stress test and found that 30% of their answers were problematic. Ok, Doc.

🦖 SA’s Unhappy Devs. Some 62% of SA junior devs are unhappy with their salaries, and half of devs at every level feel the same. AI is not making things better, and there’s a stark warning for the entire tech industry — plus some tough questions your hiring manager should be asking.

🏦 Still Using Your Personal Account? From tax issues to blocked funding, using the wrong bank account can hold your business back. This guide explains how to choose the right business bank account in SA.*

📉 Your LinkedIn is Lying to You. Your company page reaches less than 3% of your followers organically. Your website traffic is about to get eaten by AI. There’s an SA team helping B2B scale-ups build something they actually own. Check it out.*

* From our partners. Find all the best service providers for your business in our Founder Stack.

Yesterday, we showed you how Petsly keeps your pet’s medical records, asking whether you have a pet. Most here are pretty much sorted…

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🐾 Yes, and their records are a mess — 26%

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 📋 Yes, and I'm pretty on top of it — 48%

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 👀 No pets, but I get the problem — 18%

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🤷 No pets, no interest — 6%

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 😅 Does my husband count? — 2%

Nearly half have it sorted. The other 26% know who they are. Either way, Petsly's got a market here — and at least one husband’s due for a checkup. 🐕

SA startup with MRR and market fit? Innovation City's Startup of the Year, with The Open Letter, puts 10 ventures in front of investors and industry leaders. Apply by 27 Apr. Enter now.

3+ years revenue? Africa's Business Heroes Prize offers up to $300k from a $1.5m grant pool plus global exposure. Applications open.

Want to win $1m? The Pitch by Deel is a global startup competition with a $1 million investment prize — apply from SA now.

Early-stage SA tech founders? Get R40k+ in business-building tools, strategy sessions, cloud support, legal vetting and more when you join The Founder Collab.

African startup or MSME with an MVP? GEC+Africa 2026's Regional Pitch Competition selects 10 finalists to pitch live in Cape Town — could be your moment. Register now.

South African founders are walking into first sales meetings cold and burning hours on conversations that were never going to close.

So we got an SA sales pro who’s built partner networks and sales teams across 24 African countries with the likes of Sage, Deel and Matrix Software, to come in and show us how it’s done…

Copy and paste this Open Letter exclusive SA workflow👇

🧩 Tool to Try: HistOracle lets you chat with AI versions of historical figures.

🍎 That's Interesting: Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak gave $10 million of his own stock to early Apple employees in 1980 because it was "the right thing to do."

🤯 Next Level: Watch this compilation of people doing impossible things like they're ordering a coffee.

🚂 Wow Site: Train Jazz converts real-time New York train movements into smooth jazz.