Author: OurCrowd

The secret ingredient of the Israeli startup recipe — it will surprise you

Not for nothing is Israel the #2 startup ecosystem in the world — it has more high-tech startups and a larger venture capital industry per capita than any other country. Silicon Wadi has become a world leader in startup success. How did Israel become a startup superpower? The reason for Israel’s high rate of success is a largely debated topic. In their best-selling book Start-up Nation, Dan Senor and Saul Singer attempted to explain Israel’s success by pointing to two major factors that contribute most to its economic miracle: immigration and mandatory military service. Others have claimed that Israel’s success is due to great educational institutions, tax cuts and focused government funding policies, the country’s seclusion and limited natural resources that evoked a survival-at-all-costs mentality or simply the illustrious chutzpah characteristic of Israeli culture that sparks innovation. In an article in Entrepreneur Magazine, Israeli serial entrepreneur Avishai Abrahami argues that the actual secret ingredient of the Israeli startup world is “paying it forward.” Abrahami bases his argument on his own personal experience and success story: When my company was still in its early stages, it never ceased to amaze me just how helpful colleagues from other Israeli ventures were. Whether...

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Shopping for security and selling secrecy in the Startup Nation

On 6 August 1991, the World Wide Web, otherwise known as the Internet, became publicly available and  fundamentally changed the world as we knew it. The Internet opened a world of opportunities for users as it became a means to acquire knowledge, facilitate electronic commerce and communicate with each other from all over the globe. However, rapid Internet developments and increased online usage by both the government and public have made us vulnerable and exposed to cyber attacks. When it comes to national security, the Internet is perceived as both a weapon and a threat. Due to its own experience, Israel has become a leader in protecting cybersecurity and is uniquely positioned for cyber challenges. This is one of the reasons, according to David Shamah in ZDNet, Israel’s startups are catching the eye of tech heavyweights. The Israeli startup scene has seen a lot of activity in the security field lately (i.e. IBM’s recent acquisition of security startup Trusteer, Cisco opening a tech incubator for cyberdefense startups, etc). The ZDNet article addresses the question of why, when it comes to IT security, big tech firms keep looking to...

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May the best app win: Geektime ranks the 30 most popular Israeli mobile apps

Geektime, the largest tech blog in Israel, has set out to sift through the hundreds of Israeli mobile apps flooding the market right now in an attempt to find the top applications. Geektime will measure the app’s popularity according to characteristics, opinions, reviews in app stores and other additional criteria. The rating will be updated on a monthly basis and new additions, along with rank changes, will be tracked accordingly. There are many websites, blogs and articles dedicated to app rankings out there, but Geektime’s ranking is unique in that it provides a platform through which we can look at the best apps the Start-up Nation has to offer, the crème de la crème of Israeli innovation. In their article, the Geektime team express what they hope to achieve with the mobile app ranking: To provide order to the chaos we decided to parade some the best Israeli applications out there on the market, both those that are famous, and even a few you might not yet know about – but you should. Until recently Israel hasn’t had a lot of success with consumer apps,...

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Innovation knows no age: Shimon Peres takes Google’s streetview for a ride

Yesterday (Monday), Google Tel Aviv hosted a vary special guest, Israeli President Shimon Peres. The international technology giant opened its Tel Aviv offices back in 2006 and earlier this year launched Campus TLV, an innovation hub for Israeli startups. Peres toured the Tel Aviv offices, met with Google Israel’s management team, schmoozed with young Israeli entrepreneurs and checked out a few of the projects developed on the premises. At some point during the tour, typical of his young-at-heart character, the 90-year-old President mounted the Google streetview bike and pedaled around the office. Let’s hope he doesn’t forget his helmet! An advocate for technological progress, Peres is known for his interest in high-tech and support of innovative ventures. Peres takes an active role in promoting and encouraging the growth of Israel’s startup scene. For the past five years, Peres holds the Israeli Presidential Conference – “Facing Tomorrow” – which addresses central issues across various fields that will influence the face of our future. Following the visit, Peres is quoted on his Facebook page saying: The Israeli mind is uninhibited, creative and constantly looking for innovations and...

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[webinar] The 1st rule of startup investing: How investors lower risk and boost returns when investing in startups

OurCrowd Bootcamp is series of in-depth webinars is intended to give investors new to startup investing — as well as seasoned angel investors — a look into best practices.   Yesterday, we held the 2nd installment of the OurCrowd Bootcamp series on the importance of taking a portfolio approach to angel investing. Picking a startup to invest in is not easy and involves substantial risk.  In the webinar OurCrowd’s Bootcamp team addressed these issues and discussed how professional angel investors de-risk their investments in order to increase their chances of generating good returns. Additional topics covered in the webinar: What kind of returns you can expect with — and without — diversification  How to build a portfolio of startups Other methods professional investors use to de-risk investing in early stage companies Be on the lookout for more webinars in our bootcamp series (for investors in Israeli startups).  To stay updated on future events and the best news from the Startup Nation, sign up for our newsletter, email us, and follow us on social media. To contact David Stark, follow him on Twitter / Linkedin To contact Zack...

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