Author: wp_archive_user

Is newspaper Maariv’s fate, Israel’s fate, too?

Is newspaper Maariv’s fate, Israel’s fate, too?

Oct 23, 2012 |

If you haven’t been following, Israeli newspaper, Maariv, is facing a similar fate to other old media firms. The 64-year-old paper has been knee-deep in bankruptcy proceedings. The childhood paper for a generation of Israelis, the battle over Maariv’s could harbinge the future of Israel, in general. Of course, print media is the real culprit here but the ensuing battle — the fight for employees and benefits, the case for bailing out the firm to save the thousand plus jobs at the paper, the call for the government protection — is very much the fight of the entrepreneurial Israel vs. the old Israeli socialism. Ultimately, the government didn’t step in and the bankruptcy court ultimately found a buyer for Maariv (saving jobs along the way). As an immigrant myself, I still wonder at the interesting blend of social justice, large government, and cerebral capitalism that all simultaneously coexist...

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Serendip: Improving the radio experience (and Pandora burnout)

Serendip: Improving the radio experience (and Pandora burnout)

Oct 22, 2012 |

It is clear that social media has become the greatest way to share interests, business ideas, and news that the world has ever seen. Hundreds of apps and websites have leaned on Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace for publicity and advertisement. However, there has yet to be an app that encompasses music and social media into one; and that’s exactly what Serendip does. Created in 2011 by Sagee Ben-Zedeff, Serendip enables users to listen to a radio-like experience that one could enjoy, and share his or her playlists through Facebook and Twitter. The user could then view his friend’s playlist, and so on. The profile looks shockingly similar to a Twitter account, but Serendip focuses on music only. With over 1 billion people on Facebook and almost 200 million Twitter users, Serendip hopes to spread like wildfire. Serendip has received $1 million in seed funding in its first round. [bra_team_member member_name=”Elan Yudkowsky” member_position=”Intern at OurCrowd” member_img_src=”https://blog.ourcrowd.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/elan.jpg” member_social_list=”LinkedIn, http://www.linkedin.com/pub/elan-yudkowsky/5a/689/649″ member_columns=”2″]Elan Yudkowsky is an intern at OurCrowd. He will be attending the University of Maryland in the...

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Fine, but what’s the sequel to “Startup Nation”?

Fine, but what’s the sequel to “Startup Nation”?

Oct 21, 2012 |

We’re not too proud to admit it: the book, Startup Nation is pretty darn similar to our worldview at OurCrowd. Israel is a country brimming with ideas and aspirations. Combined with a little chutzpa and you’ve got a great petri dish of startup goodness. I think many of us are familiar with what makes Israel such an interesting and compelling destination for investing dollars. But what happens after Startup Nation? What are the challenged faced by startups after they’ve raised their first rounds of money? Case study: New Dimension Software and Roni Einav That question is addressed square-on in an article today on the Times of Israel. The article profiles Roni Einav, founder of New Dimension Software which was ultimately sold to BMC for $675M. Thankfully for us, Einav has written a new book cataloguing his experiences, From Nordeau to Nasdaq. Unlike Startup Nation, though, which focuses on the big picture opportunity of investing in Israel, Einav’s new book addresses the skills required to ride the startup roller coaster. [bra_blockquote align=”right”]”Nordau to Nasdaq is not the ‘bad news’ antithesis of...

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OurCrowd founder, Jon Medved meets with blogger delegation

Oct 17, 2012 | ,

Last night, Jon Medved and I joined a delegation of bloggers visiting Israel as part of a Ministry of Foreign Affairs trip. Good times were had (and good wine drunk!) and even better conversation ensued about what makes Israel such an exciting destination for investors and entrepreneurs. We met with Natan Edelsburg – Lost Remote Renee Shmidt – SheBytes Allison Boyer – BlogWorld Blog Darren Shawn Murph and Dana Oliver Murph – Engadget Alex Pasternack – Motherboard Mattew Yoko – Motherboard The discussion centered around the factors that make Israel unique: its educational bent, the army-as-proving-ground for entrepreneurs, and Israeli chutzpa. We were joined by two very talented entrepreneurs: Bob Rosenschein of Answers.com fame (who’s hard at work on yet another startup) and Jon Polin, founder of my favorite organic marketplace, Abe’s Market. Thanks to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for inviting us to...

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SHOCKER: Angel investors DO make money

SHOCKER: Angel investors DO make money

Oct 15, 2012 | ,

There’s been an interesting back-and-forth occurring on TechCrunch the past couple of weeks about angel investing performance. The Anti-Camp: Angel investors can’t win In this corner, we’ve got Wealthfront’s Andy Rachleff. He penned an article entitled Why Angel Investors Don’t Make Money…. In his post, Rachleff explains how professional venture investors do make money (and at that, a small minority). The winning formula? Those premier venture firms succeed because they have proprietary knowledge of the characteristics of winning companies In his view of the world, there are winners and losers (losers mostly). The few who understand this “proprietary knowledge” make money at the expense of those who don’t. He doesn’t buy the idea that angel investors — without the large infrastructure and different incentive structure from traditional VCs — are taking share from venture capitalists. The Data-Doesn’t-Lie-Camp: Angels do make money Then we’ve got Robert Wiltbank’s Angel Investors Do Make Money. Wiltbank, a professor and angel investor himself, takes a hard look at angel returns via a recent study he published at Willamette University. Wiltbank’s research actually shows that...

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