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Portfolio Meetups: CMO Meetup Recap

Portfolio Meetups: CMO Meetup Recap

Sep 7, 2017 |

What do you get when you stick 20 marketers from across 5 sectors in one conference room? Excellent insights into how to overcome challenges and try new ideas. This week, OurCrowd hosted the first of its Portfolio Meetups series, an initiative aiming to bring together portfolio companies to share ideas, help each other with challenges, and of course, network. The series kicked off  with a CMO meetup and round table discussion at OurCrowd’s Herzliya office. It was an excellent opportunity to leverage and learn from one another, whether it was startup tips for doing outreach to the right person in a target company, to introducing a product to a population weak on tech. Here are the group’s top 4 tips: The power of presentations Presentations are your time to shine, so skip the PowerPoint and tell a story. Make your goal moving people to tears, not just bland explanations of your technology, The Trendlines Group’s Karen Kozek advises. Covertix CEO, Ben Coleman, suggests that if you absolutely must use a slideshow, make sure it isn’t too empty or too...

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Tech Diplomacy: Israel, Oslo, and OurCrowd

Tech Diplomacy: Israel, Oslo, and OurCrowd

Aug 31, 2017 |

Tech Diplomacy: Israel, Oslo, and OurCrowd You’ve heard of diplomacy, but have you heard of tech diplomacy? It’s no secret that Israel has been leading the world of innovation. VCs and financial backers from every industry flock to the Startup Nation, which has the highest number of startups per capita in the world, and ranks third in NASDEQ listings, just behind the U.S. and the UK. The success of Israel in becoming the biggest hub for startups after Silicon Valley, has gained international attention, with other countries seeking to learn the secret. With natural resources running thin, countries dependent on traditional economic commodities are trying to get in front of the wave by creating new revenue streams beyond oil and coal. They are looking to build technological innovation engines to boost their economies and make their resources last longer. Countries like India and China, historically wary of their relationship with Israel, are warming their stance, exchanging trade agreements (most recently with India) and building technology collaboration corridors, particularly in health and AgTech. This isn’t surprising, given growing populations that...

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Global Payments Part Three: Blockchain and the Future of Finance

Global Payments Part Three: Blockchain and the Future of Finance

Aug 21, 2017 |

Blockchain Payments The following is part three of our FinTech series, discussing the future of FinTech, and the recent explosive growth of blockchain’s disruptive potential. By Jordan Odinsky (@jordanodinsky) and Sarah Lavin For those who have been following the markets, cryptocurrencies have taken the center stage on popular media outlets such as CNBC, MSNBC, and Fox Business. Powered by blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies are not just a new branch in FinTech, it is a new investment asset class entirely. Simply put, blockchain is one of the most important technological innovations of our time. Seen by many as the next phase of the Internet evolution, blockchain will transform the way humans communicate, engage in commerce, and trust each other. In the last 12 months alone, the market cap has skyrocketed. It is being estimated at $100B+. By definition, blockchain is a public distributed ledger of transactions held together in packages or “blocks” (hence the name). Precisely because the blockchain is decentralized, meaning that it isn’t owned or managed by one central authority, it has such a dramatically disruptive influence on the...

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Global Payments Part Two: Cross Border Payments

Global Payments Part Two: Cross Border Payments

Aug 16, 2017 |

Part Two of this FinTech series will discuss the current breakthroughs in cross border payments that are waving in a golden age of FinTech, despite regulation. Global Payments Part Two: Cross Border Payments “By 2020 it is expected that some 94 million online shoppers will spend almost $1 trillion on cross-border eCommerce transactions. To get a piece of this opportunity, retailers need to be able to handle the complexities of selling to shoppers in multiple countries. Shipping logistics, tax handling, localization of the checkout page and local payment processing are all critical to be successful selling cross-border.” The statement, released by FedEx when they announced their partnership with eCommerce gateway BlueSnap, highlights the reasons and difficulties in cross-border shopping, and payments in particular. This slow-moving issue hits everyone from those looking to send a few dollars every month to families back home, to huge businesses wanting to participate in cross border eCommerce orders. The $1T estimate from FedEx only covered eCommerce transactions, which is just a fraction of the span of cross-border payments. The problem can complicate even minute...

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Global Payments Part One: Remittances

Global Payments Part One: Remittances

Aug 9, 2017 |

This post is part of a three-part series discussing the current struggles and future potential of payments globally. This first piece will discuss the huge issue of remittances and the effect that FinTech breakthroughs can have on the space to make the lives of millions of foreign workers easier. With all the technological innovation impacting people across sectors, lifestyles and regions, it’s a wonder that the finance sector seems to capture less of our collective imaginations. The potential of, say, blockchain on the FinTech sector to create a new, freer global money market is exponential. Booming e-commerce is questioning the slow pace of cross-boarder payments. Yet there has been a long standing issue that effects many of the world’s poor. With all the new questions, the old question of improving remittance payments can get overlooked. Yet FinTech innovation has the power to change the lives of millions of people, especially within the third world, where migrants and expats are struggling to send money home to their families abroad. The need to provide direct, fast, and not exorbitant ways to...

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