Israeli VC on Sand Hill road

I've been randomly selected, again, and again...

Well… just in case somebody thought the “random selection” algorithm changed since I flew TO the US at the end of last month… it didn’t.  I got those famous “SSSS’s” on both of the domestic flights that we took.  Mind you, when flying with 3 kids, this gets quite tiring, not to mention time consuming.  However, Yoav (my 10 year old) really loves the “poofer”.

Israeli's in Silicon Valley : Permanent & Temporary

Roni Floman’s book about the Israeli’s in Silicon Valley was just published.  She has done a great job of addressing the issues that Israelis living outside of Israel have to deal with, especially around the issue of moving back – or not.

Most Israeli’s will tell you that they have plans to move back to Israel sometime in the future.  The joke is most plan to move back “when the kids graduate college”.  As Roni says, most of the time, the kids are the excuse for either staying abroad, or coming back to Israel…. at any age.  Some will say they have moved back before their oldest started first grade, others target the Bar Mitzvah as that critical junction, others site age 15, etc., etc., etc.  Bottom line – the decision to move back is very complex, raises many emotions and is never easy.

In writing her book, Roni interviewed many different people; she has certainly captured the issues.  For those Hebrew readers that want to read her book, you can buy it here (or at Steimatzky or Tsomet Sfarim).

Tags: roni+floman, israelis+living+abroad, permanent+and+temporary

BBFN Silicon Valley

Today is my last day in Silicon Valley - until next time.  Last year, when moving back to Israel, I had planned to come for all of August.  Things are very slow in Israel and Europe during August (especially the second half), but in the valley, things seem to be operating at least at partial speed. 

It was great to be back, see my friends and business partners at a more reasonable pace then during those typically crazy 5 working days, gotta fit it all in, while in total jetlag, trips.

So as I prepare myself for heat and humidity, I look forward to going back home, to the kids routines and to my office in Herzelia on the sea.

BBFN.

Tags: bbfn

AlwaysOn - Stanford Summit

Conferences. It’s just too easy to skip them all together.  In addition to time consuming and expensive, you can never quite anticipate if you will feel them worthwhile.  Danny has been attending the Stanford Summit for the past few years, and this year, I thought to check it out, and was happy that I did.

Why? Being in Israel, how shall I say it – we are simply far away.  Theoretically, you can just watch the webcast (OK, so it’s a bit late at night….), read lots of material, and not really have to schlep to Silicon Valley.  But it’s just not the same.  For me, attending (even if it’s not for all of the sessions), means feeling the pulse of Silicon Valley, meeting my colleagues and seeing first hand what’s really going on.

This time I got the added benefit of hearing from Senator John McCain directly, so feel that I’ve got the latest in American politics too… 

It’s like comparing a face-to-face meeting with a video conference…. it gets the job done, but hardly compares.

Tags: always+on, stanford+summit+2007, john+mccain

"You've been randomly selected"

Why is it, that every time I fly on a domestic flight, that somehow connects to a flight to Israel, I am randomly chosen for secondary screening!!!  It does get rather annoying. 

Tags: random+selection