When I'm not at work
Beyond the desk
In his own words
What George cares about most
What was the founding insight behind Euphoria?
South African business telephony in 2010 was a sold-and-forgotten game — buy a PBX, watch the support disappear. Conrad and I thought there was a better way. Put a world-class system in the customer's own hands, the way internet banking put account control in yours. Empowerment first, service when it's actually needed, and Rand-priced so the conversation isn't about exchange rates and surprise invoices.
What do you mean by "the customer is our CEO"?
Exactly what it sounds like. The people who pay us decide how the system should work, not the people who build it. Our job is to listen, build what they actually need, and then get out of the way. If we ever forget that, we deserve to lose to whoever remembers it first.
What does "going the extra smile" mean in practice?
It's the line we've always used internally, and it's not a tagline — it's a measuring stick. Did the customer come away from this interaction better off than they expected? If yes, the team got it right. If no, we figure out why and we fix it. Phone lines are the lifelines of any business; the more optimally they function, the better they support what our customers are trying to do.
What are you proudest of about Euphoria today?
That it still feels like the company we set out to build. The platform has grown, the team has grown, the customer base has gone from a handful to 6,000-plus South African businesses — but the principle is the same. Customers in control. Service as the spine. Transparency as the default.
Why we built Euphoria
A founder in his own words
George Golding co-founded Euphoria Telecom in 2010 with Conrad De Wet, on the premise that South African business telephony needed the same shift internet banking had brought to consumer banking — put the system in the customer's hands, support them properly when they need help, and price it in Rands without games. The pieces below are the longer version of that story.
The founding interview
A long-form interview with George covering the founding insight behind Euphoria Telecom — why the company exists, what was wrong with South African business telephony before 2010, and the ethos that still runs through the platform today.
It's the most complete version of "why we built this" you'll find anywhere, and a good starting point if you want to understand what makes Euphoria different in practice rather than on a brochure.
In conversation with both co-founders
A throwback interview from the early years, featuring both George Golding and co-founder Conrad De Wet, then Chief Technology Officer. The conversation captures the original two-handed vision behind the platform — George on the customer side, Conrad on the engineering side — and the partnership that built one of South Africa's first pure cloud-based business PBX systems.
Worth watching if you want a sense of where the company came from, and how the two founding instincts (customer empowerment and proudly local engineering) have stayed in the DNA.
Meet George — the animated version
An animated explainer that breaks down the basics of how Euphoria's cloud PBX system works. The character at the centre of it is, of course, called George — a small affectionate nod to the co-founder whose insistence on "the customer is our CEO" shaped what the platform became.
If you've ever wondered how a cloud PBX actually works without wading through acronyms, this is the friendlier introduction.
Featured work
George in the news
A selection of pieces by, with, and about George Golding — from the early years of building Euphoria Telecom through to recent reflections on what 15 years in South African telecoms has taught him.
Business lessons from 15 years in telecoms
A long-view reflection from George on what 15 years of building Euphoria Telecom has taught him — about customers, about staff, and about staying close to what made the business worth starting.
Read the postCustomer service excellence — raising the bar in SA telecoms
George on why service-centricity is the spine of the company and how the team built support around the platform rather than as an afterthought to it.
Read the postEuphoria Telecom introduces company-wide profit share initiative
On Euphoria's decision to share company success with the staff who built it — through a company-wide profit share.
Read the postEuphoria Telecom expands rapidly through channel partners
George on the channel-partner programme that helped Euphoria scale into a national footprint without losing the local service ethos.
Read the postEuphoria Telecom's call rates are dropping
George on price transparency in SA telecoms — and why every drop in cost gets passed on to customers rather than absorbed as margin.
Read the postAccenture Innovation Index — Euphoria Telecom Finalist
Early industry recognition for Euphoria as one of SA's most innovative companies — and George's reflection on what that recognition meant for a young business.
Read the postPwC Vision to Reality Awards — Euphoria makes the top 10
Euphoria's recognition as one of PwC's top-10 vision-to-reality businesses, with George on what it took to get there.
Read the postJohannesburg, Euphoria has arrived
The expansion announcement when Euphoria opened its Johannesburg office — and what going national meant for a company built on local service.
Read the postGeorge Golding interviewed on cheap and effective business communications
George interviewed across Independent Newspapers' business titles on how SA SMEs can use cloud-based communications to compete with much larger players.
Read the postITWeb interview with Euphoria Telecom's co-founders
ITWeb met with the co-founders of Euphoria Telecom to discuss the pros and cons of business cloud services and cloud-based business phone systems.
Read the postWatch
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Euphoria in the news
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Did you know?
Euphoria Telecom has been in operation since 2010 and our very first customer – Altech Isis – is still with us 16 years later on a month-to-month contract.
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