There’s a particular kind of quiet that settles over a garden once the fire’s been going for an hour. The wood’s stopped crackling. The smoke’s found its rhythm. And a group of people who arrived as strangers have started talking like they’ve known each other for years.

That was Saturday.

We hosted our first Founders Café spit braai — not at a conference centre, not at a rented function venue, but in Cassi’s home. Her garden, her fire, and winter sunshine doing exactly what winter sunshine in Cape Town does when it decides to show up. And it changed the whole shape of the day.

Instead of boring name tags, we wrote their names on disposable blue cups pinned to the Founders Café pin board when they arrived — casual, a little bit cool, and it meant a quick glance at the board told you who was running late.

 

A Game Nobody Saw Coming

Murder Mystery Guide brought the mischief.

The rules were simple and slightly evil: sneak a red peg onto someone’s clothing without them noticing. Whoever ended the afternoon wearing the most pegs lost — and the “winner” walked away with a free murder mystery dinner.

It’s a small thing, but it did exactly what it was designed to do. People who’d never met were suddenly plotting together, checking each other’s collars, laughing about who’d been caught. Nobody was standing alone working out how to start a conversation. The game started it for them.

Why a Backyard Beats a Venue

South Africans don’t really need to be taught how to enjoy a braai. The beauty is it doesn’t feel like networking. It’s not even really about the food, if we’re honest — it’s the thing we already know how to do together, across every difference that usually gets in the way of a room full of strangers talking easily.

There’s a word for the feeling a good braai creates that English doesn’t quite have. Gesellig. Cosy, convivial, unhurried — the sense that nobody’s watching the clock and nobody’s performing.

You don’t get gesellig from a conference centre with a branded step-and-repeat and a cash bar. You get it from someone’s actual home — their garden, their fire pit, their kitchen doubling as the overflow bar. Hosting the braai at Cassi’s home instead of a paid venue wasn’t a budget decision. It was the whole point. It’s the difference between attending an event and being welcomed into someone’s Saturday.

The People Who Made It Possible

A day like this doesn’t run on goodwill alone, and we want to name the brands who made it real:

Anago Marketing — the marketing, design and event planning behind the madness
Murder Mystery Guide — for the red peg game, the Print & Play giveaway (and the killer vibes)
Monatea — local cold-brew botanicals that disappeared fast
Noobeing — wellbeing, for a healthier you
Norah’s Valley — de-alcoholised wine for the health conscious
Big Bore — brandy, the perfect pairing for a spit braai it turns out
KOA Photography — for capturing all of it, beautifully

Every one of them is a founder-led business, which felt right for a room full of founders. Nobody was there to hardsell anything. They were just there — the same as everyone else, standing around the same fire.

Our speaker for the afternoon was Brad Shorkend, who kept it exactly as on point as we’d hoped his inaugural Founders Café talk would be.

What the Room Actually Said

We could tell you it went well. We’d rather let the people who were there tell you, in full.

Renier Lombard:

“All I can say is that was epic. Thank you so much. Count me in for anything that you do in the future. Ja, that was very nice. I enjoyed that. Listen the food was very good, I actually took their card. Everyone I spoke to just said it was awesome. Please keep doing these. I think if you can get people in a room and they have a good time then you’re onto something. Congrats to you and thanks very much.”

Lisa Lyhne:

“Thanks so much for Saturday. It was really successful. I met some good people, and found it so much easier to network than at a sit-down meal. You must be thrilled.”

Brad Shorkend:

“Thanks a ton! Great pics, and a really awesome event overall Lisa! And thank you for trusting me to speak to your peeps. It was part of the magic of the day… the casual. It’s a great format.”

That’s the whole thesis of the Founders Café spit braai, said better than we could say it ourselves.

What’s Next

We’re not planning another braai just yet. Our next event is back to the original Founders Café format — a more formal morning with four micro-talks and a proper programme, on 10 October from 08:15 to 13:00.

Want to be there? Join the Founders Café mailing list — we announce every event there first, and seats are always capped.

 

---

Lisa Aspeling is the founder of Anago Marketing, The Murder Mystery Guide, and Founders Café. Join the Founders Café mailing list to be the first to hear about upcoming events, walks and braais.