Jonathan Sidego is one of Silicon Valley’s bright creatives

in sunny san francisco, a mere sixteen-thousand kilometres away from his hometown, there’s a south african rapidly being recognised as one of silicon Valley’s brightest creatives: Jonathan Sidego

• 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 “freethinkers” 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

aforementioned friend, Richard Craib, would eventually go on to found Numerai: a new kind of hedge fund with a complex data science competition at its core. In essence, the fund operates by giving away its data, albeit in an encrypted format, all for free. Anyone, anywhere in the world, can then access this data and attempt to make predictions.

The fund then creates a metamodel to make trades.

Confused? As it happens, explaining these brilliant and complex concepts is exactly what Sidego does best, as well as what he’s been doing for Numerai in Silicon Valley for the last few years. As a filmmaker for the hedge fund, it’s his responsibility to produce short-form videos that eloquently explain these elaborate ideas. However, in his own words, ‘it’s still advertising’. So why does he feel so much more fulfilled?

‘What’s unique and interesting is that at Numerai, I’m the one setting the goals. I have to think about what the message we want to send is, what our brand is, how we want to be seen, and then execute it.’

Sidego’s varied visual identity is far more present in these works than in his previous adverts. In one, pastels and neon introduce a retro-inspired look that’s more reminiscent of ’80s arcade games than the average monotone marketing material that you might expect from the industry, introducing playful elements that seem to gently parody tech rather than stoically celebrate it. It has a clear narrative and exhibits Sidego’s visual acuity. However, If you were to ask him, he’d probably demur and pass the

That’s a large part of what i’m doing; sketching the Numerai myth

praise onto his team; which includes producer Natasha-jade Chandler, who worked alongside him for over six years prior to joining him at Numerai.

Sidego still gains great satisfaction from meeting the goals he sets for himself and seeing the successes that stem from telling Numerai’s tale.

‘In a place as storied as Silicon Valley, you’ve got to differentiate yourself,’ he elaborates. ‘That’s a large part of what I’m doing; sketching the Numerai myth.’

What Numerai intends to do is change the very way financial markets work through their model. It’s an absurdly ambitious idea, yet those are not uncommon in the world of startups. Part of what makes it special is the way they relate their idea, reflecting an authenticity desperately needed in advertising.

It’s this sentiment that best captures why Sidego’s work is so well-received among his peers in San Francisco. Prints made from single frames of his Numerai videos adorn the walls of NASA’S Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where some of the brightest minds of each generation work so that humanity might touch the stars. Whose engineers hold a deep fondness not only for the

“game” at the heart of Numerai but also for Sidego’s explanations of its nuances.

In a setting so densely packed with innovators and ideas, where everybody has an app or an ICO, it’s more important than ever to create stories that are authentic, that come from a real place of excitement for the future.

However, the tech industry now faces its adolescence and all the painful growth that comes with it. University degrees have been decreed all but obsolete by tech giants like Google while the networks these institutions provide their students with are still critical when it comes to getting a foot in the door. But despite ominous portents and pessimistic views of both online and IRL, you’ll still find Sidego often sporting a smile. It seems that in the business of making myths, he’s found something meaningful.