Last night I tweeted this:
imsickofmaps: 4 friends at the top of their game quit Cape Town for USA tech in short space of time. We need a broader ecosystem of challenges based here.
I posted it because it was been playing on my mind for a few months - and then one of Cape Town’s leading User Experience specialists, Rian van der Merwe, announced he was leaving for a new role in Portland. It got some responses (probably ruffled a few feathers), and 140 characters suck in this situation.
First, let me be crystal clear: this post and that tweet are not about any one individual and their decision. This is about the eco-system and the trends. Please read it that way.
I moved to Cape Town just over three years ago with my family. I quickly tried to find my feet and understand the culture of tech here: what people were interested in, what they were working on, etc.. I was in a funny position...