Vinny Lingham
Vinny Lingham | |
|---|---|
| File:Vinny Lingham.jpg Vinny Lingham | |
| Born | Vinny Lingham February 7, 1979[note] |
| Alma mater | University of Cape Town University of South Africa Gordon Institute of Business Science Damelin |
| Occupation | Internet entrepreneur |
| Title | CEO and Founder of Yola, Inc. (2007–present) |
| Term | June 2003 – October 2006 |
| Board member of | SkyRove Personera |
| Awards | World Economic Forum Young Global Leaders (2009)<brk>Top Young ICT Entrepreneur in Africa Award (2006) |
| Website | Company website Personal weblog |
Vinny Lingham is a noted South African entrepreneur and is currently the CEO and founder of Yola Inc (formerly known as SynthaSite), a San Francisco-based Web 2.0 start-up that provides free Web site building, publishing and hosting services. He is also the founder of incuBeta and its subsidiary Click2Customers.
Lingham founded Yola in March 2007 and raised $5 million funding from Columbus Venture Capital in November 2007 [1]. In March 2008, he moved from Cape Town to San Francisco and led the company to achieve its one million user base in December 2008 [2]. In February 2009, he secured $20 million in Series B funding from Reinet fund [3].
Lingham’s goal is to unleash the power of the Internet for everyday users and small business owners to build a presence online.
Early life and entrepreneurship
Lingham grew up in East London, a small town on the East Coast of South Africa. He finished high school at age 17 and went on to study at the University of Cape Town.
Lingham's spirit of entrepreneurship showed early. In kindergarten, he made money buying Thundercat stickers and selling the popular ones. In his early teens, he switched to cricket cards and then Magic The Gathering cards. In college, he partially financed his undergraduate studies by playing pool and managing and booking bands [4].
Before assuming the role of CEO of Yola, Vinny was the founder and CEO of global search marketing experts, incuBeta and its subsidiary, Clicks2Customers. incuBeta’s principal business is Clicks2Customers, with offices in the US, UK & Cape Town.
Clicks2Customers is one of the premier Performance Search Marketing partners globally, generating over $100 M per year in client revenue.
Management philosophy
Lingham is proud to be fostering a culture where innovation and risk taking are rewarded. He likes to ensure that he is creating a work environment that is stimulating and a work culture that is collaborative [5]. In terms of marketing strategy, Lingham utilizes a framework modified from C.K. Pralahad's 'The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid', addressing the needs of small business owners and consumers in high volume.
Awards
Lingham’s industry accolades include:
Awards for Yola:
Awards for Click2Cusomters:
- Horizon Award for Innovation from CJ, 2004 (US)
- Leadership in Innovation, 2006 (UK)
- Global Vision, 2006 (US)
Awards for incuBeta:
- South Africa’s Top Technology Company, 2006
External links
References
- ^ Arrington, Michael (2007-11-17). "$5 Million For Synthasite". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2009-03-16.
- ^ VentureBeat
- ^ TechCrunch
- ^ Revenue Today
- ^ IT Web