WEALTHProfile
- This mighT come
as someThing of
a surprise, as the city’s
renowned tech hub is a place you’d
expect to find software engineers
and venture capitalists rather than
those more artistically inclined.
Yet, Jonathan Sidego has thrived
in this frenetic setting, perhaps
due to his belief that tech and
creativity aren’t at all opposed but
rather each a powerful force in
vital need of the other. If you trace
the iconic area to its roots, this
comes as no surprise. After all, its
modern status was founded on
the successes of “hippies” or “free-
thinkers” such as Steve Jobs and
countless other Californians.
There’s a certain optimism in
Sidego’s character that matches
that of the city in which he’s
found himself working and living.
Indeed, Silicon Valley remains
a place with an almost irrationally
bright outlook, regardless of shifts
in the social, political or literal
climates surrounding it. Despite
always having had an interest in
the tech sphere, being a hobbyist
programmer building websites
in his high-school years, Sidego’s
career trajectory is hardly the one
you’d expect. Prior to his move
to the Valley, he’d built himself
a name in advertising in Cape
Town, even winning a Cannes
Lion for an ad he directed. An
industry he championed, there
was an element to advertising
that kept him driven: the clarity
of the goal. Eventually, he grew
bored with researching, writing
and directing. Feeling surrounded
by an “aesthetic homogeny” that
comprised multiple corporate
brand identities, he sought out
ways to articulate himself – and
have a little fun while he was at it.
Although he ultimately
studied filmmaking, Sidego was
never a stranger to the sciences.He initially pursued a BSc in
Astrophysics at the University
of Cape Town for a year before
moving on to AFDA where he
found his true calling. A clear
refutation of the supposed divide
between the arts and sciences,
he’s comfortable with either and
always on the lookout for new
ways in which he can marry the
two. Alongside an old friend, he
even attempted to found a slew
of startups in Cape Town, only
to find the market not as receptive
as they hoped.
‘It was a different time in the
country, with different priorities,’
he explains with no apparent ill
will. ‘In America, people were
more excited to hear our ideas. It’s
not a difference in talent.’ Citing
the surprisingly large South
African population present in
Silicon Valley, he goes on to say,
‘South Africa is a great incubator.’
And it would seem it was. The