Posted on April 3, 2009 - by Justin Hartman
Afrigator turns two today… somehow it feels like more!
Honestly I can’t believe it’s that time of year again. Today the team at Afrigator are celebrating our second birthday but strangely it feels like our baby is much older than it actually is.
This time last year I wrote a birthday post and after reading it again I can clearly remember how the first year went by so quickly. Year two is a very different story and while it did go by as quickly as year one I certainly feel like Afrigator, myself and our team have matured in a very big way.
By Web 2.0 standards Afrigator is now actually a very old product. Strange to think that something so new can be classified as old but the reality is that if you haven’t had any traction by this stage your product is dead. For us the reality is that Afrigator has only really started to show traction from when we were partly acquired in September and the growth on all fronts has been phenomenal.
See, for a long time Afrigator had a great brand outside the borders of South Africa and it was largely due to this that we were even able to negotiate a deal with MIH Print Africa. That said, I do remember crapping myself at the idea of how we were going to meet the objectives and projections detailed in the business plan and contracts yet despite this here we are, six months later and I’m blown away by the progress thus far.
While Afrigator has been somewhat of a success story I am humbled by the fact that had we not done the deal with MIH we might not even be here today. Prior to the deal with MIH I was seriously considering the viability of continuing Afrigator in its current form. Mike, Mark, Stii and myself were funding the project by ourselves and it was taking up serious amounts of our time and cutting away at family and personal life and while this great personal sacrifice was manageable in the beginning after 18 months it started to take its toll.
All I can say is thank God the deal came through in the end and thank God I decided to stick it out. I’ve honestly never been this happy with my professional life and this is largely due to the fact that I’m working full time on something that I feel 100% passionate about.
Afrigator has a long way to go to truly be successful and I have a long learning curve ahead of me but as it stands right now I wouldn’t change it for the world. My life has changed so much in the last six months, I’m interacting with some of the most influential business minds in South Africa, I have a great team at my disposal, I am working on innovative ideas and I’m being tested on all levels every day of my life.
Does it get any better?
The great part about where I am right now is that I have a clear understanding of where our company needs to be this time next year and I know exactly what I want to achieve over the next 12 months. So while I’m excited that Afrigator celebrates our second birthday with you guys I’m also humbled by the idea that we have a lot of work ahead of us to achieve the goals we’ve set for ourselves.
I am a seasoned entrepreneur and currently the CEO of 
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April 3, 2009
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Happy Birthday to us
Happy Birthday to us
Happy Biiirthday to Afrigator
Happy Birthday to us
Hip Hip -Hoooray
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April 3, 2009
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CONGRATS AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO AFRIGATOR AND THE TEAM!
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April 3, 2009
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY…
And i am hoping hundreds of candles will be blown one day
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April 3, 2009
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Happy Birthday.
Thanks for an excellent service
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April 3, 2009
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Congrats.
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April 3, 2009
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Happy birthday, Afrigator!Wishing you all the best as you go into your third year!
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April 3, 2009
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Happy birthday afrigator. May your life be rich and sweet!
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April 3, 2009
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Congratulations on Afrigators second birthday and may you enjoy many more! I have just returned home after a wonderful trip to South Africa to publicize my children’s book “Tales My Ghanaian Grandmother Told Me”. I’ve been keeping a Blog http://dzagbe.blogspot.com Hope you’ll link in
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April 3, 2009
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Congratulations and happy birthday!
Keep on
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April 3, 2009
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Congrats!
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April 3, 2009
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Well Congrats bro and the team!
May best of your past be the worst of your future!
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April 3, 2009
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happy birthday!i wish all the best and many years ahead with success and congrats to everything you did in the past two years.
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April 3, 2009
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Happy happy birthday Afrigator baby.
Many happy returns of the day.
Keep up the good work guys.
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April 3, 2009
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Congratulation!!
1ove
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April 3, 2009
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Wonderful to hear how things have progressed. I would believe that the best is yet to come, and that you have only scratched the surface so far.
So as you stand there, an “old” company, I’ll bet you’re thankful it’s not true that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
Congrats Justin! Very happy for you!
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April 3, 2009
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Congratulations!
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April 3, 2009
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How times flies! Its already two years? Happi yappi birthday to afrigator! Keep it up in promoting us african bloggers!
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April 3, 2009
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This is to wish Justin and AFRIGATOR a hearty shout.
Well done. Such an achievement for a 2 year old e-baby.
Well done and I wish you many more years of success.
This is from JideSalu Diary.
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April 3, 2009
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Hey guys – I want to thank you for leaving well wishes on this blog post. I want to reply to each one of you individually but this list has grown somewhat so please accept my apologies for the group thanks
It’s nice to see some new faces here – I hope you’ll keep coming back!
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April 3, 2009
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Happy birthday and am happy you made me a part of your team so i can not only blog but say “Happy birthday” to you.
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April 3, 2009
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Congratulations!
I’m wondering if your contact form on the website is working as I’ve left two “contact me” emails and still have no answer.
Please could you look into that and get back to me please!
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April 3, 2009
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Congrats on your 2nd birthday, may you continue and grow for many more years
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April 3, 2009
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You deserve to celebrate
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April 4, 2009
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAY AFRIGATOR TO BE LIKE METHUSALAH
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April 4, 2009
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAY AFRIGATOR LIVE TO BE LIKE METHUSALAH
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April 4, 2009
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Congrats to #Afrigator on two years http://tinyurl.com/d74ajs
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April 4, 2009
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Happy B’day Afrigator and Team. This is Kingsley wishing you Many More great years ahead. The best of Afrigator is yet come…watch out!!!
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April 4, 2009
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Congratulations! I would never have imagined that you are just 2! Great work! and more great work ahead!
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April 5, 2009
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Here to say congratulation to the Afrigator TEAM.. May your wisdom continue to increase from strength to strength.. You’re doing a great job..Keep the fire burning.
With Love…
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April 5, 2009
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Here is to say congratulation to the Afrigator TEAM. May your wisdom continue to increase from strength to strength.. Happy Gator Day..
With Luv
http://spicycafe.blogspot.com
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April 5, 2009
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Happy birthday. Wishing you all the best for great growth in the years ahead..xxx
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April 5, 2009
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Congrats and Happy Birthday!!
Thanks for a job well done.More you continue to grow