This was the subject of an email I received this morning. It’s such an unlikely combination of words – “Memorial Day Greetings”. It’s as unlikely a combination as “Memorial Day Sale” and “Memorial Day Picnic”. As an Israeli, you never quite can understand why do people celebrate on a day designed to commemorate men and women who have died in military service to their country. I suppose just another of the differences between Israel and the Silicon Valley.
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IVA Day 1...
This morning started with Israel’s Cleantech meetup, and continued with Day 1 of the IVA conference. Definitely a busy day for an “ex-VC” like me. For a video of one of his previous gigs (Stanford, Singapore, Mountain View, New York), click here. During Tim’s performance, I was sitting next to a buddie of mine that also spent many years in Silicon Valley. We both looked at each other and pondered how this same performance delivered here in Israel, would feel TOTALLY different when delivered in the US… Yes, culture is culture; not always transferable from one place to another - even if it is only a song. Key points delivered: The last part of Mike’s presentation really drove that last point home, when he discussed Apple. We all know that Steve Jobs was fired, apparently because he required “Adult Supervision”. Adults were brought in (3 different CEO’s actually)… the company almost died. The return of Steve Jobs brought us products that have become such a basic part of our day-to-day. The big question is how did Steve make this transition from what was a “rotten Apple” to where the company is today. The presentation highlighted the following points: Mike certainly touches on a sensitive point for the Israel venture industry. I have blogged about this subject before, and hopefully the mindset of the VC as well as entrepreneur is changing. Presentations like these certainly help to drive the message home. Thanks Mike! The rest of the afternoon was busy with panels, presentations, awards, start-up presentations, and a schmoozfest (which I missed, as I had an important parent meeting back home). But no worries, tomorrow is another day with IVA Day 2, as well as Ness Technologies “We Make it Happen” Summit, featuring (or shall I say staring?) Al Gore. It’s going to be a long week…
Opening keynote by US VC Tim Draper, of DFJ. Tim demonstrated his presentation skills by describing the new type of entrepreneurs that he is seeking, the “super hero’s”, followed by a rock star performance of “Risk Master”. Lyrics by Tim, Music by Mystery Rock Star.
Next up, Mike Moritz of Sequoia Capital, who promised his feet would not leave the ground (or something to that extent…). His presentation, entitled: “Size Matters, How to get it, How to keep it”, discussed what it takes to build enduring, sustaining companies that can grow to be multi billion dollar companies (not those sold for a mere $200,$300,$400M). Using examples from successful companies such as P&G, Walmart, News Corp, Fedex, Nike, Amazon, Intel and Apple, Mike’s presentation was both insightful and inspiring.
Israel's engineers of the future
I first heard about FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) when living in Silicon Valley. This year, I realized that Emek Hefer (where I live), has their very own FIRST Robotics team. For the past 6 weeks, a group of ~10 kids aged 14 and above, adult mentors, and many other support staff, worked nonstop to prepare for the Israeli FIRST competition. After quite an intense and suspenseful 2 days, our local team secured it’s place in the Atlanta finals!!!
For those unfamiliar with the program, definitely check out the site. But in a nutshell, within 6 weeks of receiving the challenge, these teenagers designed and built a robot, while going to school, and continuing their lives. Sure, they spent a few nights sleeping in school, ate too much junk food, and were powered by adrenaline, but in the end delivered the goods. (Say, doesn’t that sound a bit similar to life in a hi-tech company???).
You can view the first place Misgav Robot showing off below:
However, let me describe a few of the differences between the Emek Hefer robotics team, and their counterpart at Gunn High School in Palo Alto. Gunn raises about $90,000 a year for the competition… I can tell you that we’re not even close. The Gunn team is about 3 times the size of our Emek Hefer team. But perhaps most importantly, in Palo Alto, the kids have all they need within the compounds of the school. From the photo of the Robot, you can see that it requires a full metal shop. Our school doesn’t exactly have one of those, so the kids (with the help of their mentors and parents) solicit support from locals. In our region, 2 guys from a nearby Moshav opened their metal shop, dedicating their time, material and machines to help the kids along. It’s no surprise that Israeli engineers are known for their resourcefulness and problem solving abilities… they’ve been trained this way since they were young.
From the Palo Alto online article, “Many industry leaders expect that some of these teenagers will become Silicon Valley's future multi-millionaires, following in the footsteps of Apple Computer's Steve Jobs, Google's co-founders Larry Paige and Sergey Brin, and now YouTube's hot shots Chad Hurley and Steve Chen.”
Guess what we’re expecting of the Israeli teenagers 
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Go Thunderbolts 2630!! Good Luck in Atlanta!!!
Green technologies have side effects...
I was recently talking with an ex-VC colleague of mine that has started to explore investment opportunities in Cleantech/Greentech (would somebody please explain the difference to me???). Turns out, since Cleantech has invaded his life, he has developed an acute sense of “environmentalitis”. I can certainly relate.
Since I have moved back to Israel from Silicon Valley, I feel like a criminal every time I throw out the garbage… around here, hardly anything seems to be recycled. In our family, we do what we can. As such we take egg cartons, toilet paper rolls, etc., to Ben’s pre-school. At least it will become “art”, rather than landfill. Ben understands about recycling (or so we think).
In Yoav’s class (5th grade), his teacher is actually dedicating time to discuss the environment. He came home today telling me about a plant in Emek Hefer (where we live) which turns cow dung into electricity (600 tons of cow dung per day, resulting in 2–3MW of electricity). He thought maybe I would want to work there, as long as I don’t smell when I come home.
Teaching kids is a great way to create awareness, as they share the news with their parents, as well as become environmentally-conscious adults. But until they grow up, we have to find some more effective ways to deal with this issue. On Kibbutz Evron in Israel, they are using a very practical approach to plastics bags – charging for them… you can read about that here. I’m in favor… after all, I have my “Whole Foods” foldable, reusable bag with me at all times 
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Back from the cold!
From what I heard, there was no need to travel to France to catch the snow. Could’ve just stayed here in Israel, taken a quick hop to Jerusalem or Mt. Hermon. However, since we already made that effort… here’s some pics of my boys: Jonathan (14), Yoav (10) and Ben (4).
I’ve waited a long time to be able to show this photo:
Although it’s too bad you can’t just drive for ‘real skiing’ (another point in favor of Silicon Valley), but when we do go, we GO! Hard to compare a European ski vacation to that of Tahoe (or Colorado, Utah or Sun Valley for that matter). Mountain food is top notch (no junk food!), the atmosphere is one of leasure and vacation, and most people go for an entire week (rather than a long weekend at max). And did I mention the snow? Well, perhaps I was lucky… 50 cm snow at night, bright sunshine the following day. I really thought I was in heaven!
Tu Bishvat - what does it mean for me this year
Every year Tu Bishvat rolls around, practically unnoticed as far as I’m concerned. This year, in Yoav’s class (5th grade), the teacher asked the kids for a few parent volunteers for the annual Emek Hefer Tu Bishvat Seder. For Yoav, my professional change of course, means that mommy is available for all such activities (with great pleasure I might add).
Interestingly enough, the Tu Bishvat seder seems to focus these days around saving the earth. So, in a room full of ~200 5th graders representing the 6 different schools in the Emek Hefer region in which we live, we ate all sorts of dried fruit, drank grape juice, talked about mother earth and watched the kids as they performed their holiday dances.
Since comparing Silicon Valley with Israel is always part of my blog, I can definitely conclude that a huge difference between this event, and it’s comparable in the states (if there was a Tu Bishvat Seder there…), is the decibel levels! Israeli 5th graders are very, very LOUD!
Summer plans in Winter
As the US shuts down for Christmas, New Years and the multinational winter break, here in Israel, we’re actually very busy. Although some of us join the club and take a vacation (not I), most are busy entertaining friends that have taken their vacation here in Israel. In my world, I actually find myself with additional meetings with those business people that have combined their vacation in Israel with a bit of work…
While we’re in the middle of winter (or technically, in the beginning of winter), I get a reminder to sign up my kids for Tawonga summer camp. What seemed so “normal” while living in Silicon Valley, seems totally absurd today. Of course, if I opt not to register the kids, they will not even have an option of Tawonga…. looks like this year, I will keep to my newly planted Israeli roots, and make my summer plans in summer 
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The US, post Thanksgiving
Living in Israel, you tend to forget what post-Thanksgiving in the US is like. From the second I landed at Newark I got a quick reminder. Beautifully decorated Christmas trees, lighting, fake presents, Christmas music in the air, and of course the token hannukah menorah in their midst.
Yes, it is very festive, but at the same time, somewhat annoying. A friend of mine was invited to man the ‘dreidle’ table for her daughters holiday party on December 20th (a date, by which Hannukah will be a mere memory this year). For those who perhaps don’t know, there is no connection between Hannukah and Christmas. They just happen to fall in the same month.
In Israel, Hannukah is hardly a “big deal”. Yes, kids get gifts (from parents and grandparents usually), and there are Hannukah class parties and candle lighting among family and friends, but that’s about it. I hope that it stays that way. This commercialization is just too much for me.
Tonight we light the first candle: Happy Hannukah!
Thanksgiving in Israel ?
Thanksgiving means many things to many people in the US. Some think turkey, others think $$$ as shopping season is just beginning. Here in Israel, most people haven’t a clue what it’s all about. I’m not willing to give up on this great holiday, which to me means spending time with your family and friends.
Today, I made sure to order my turkey, and with a bit of luck, they will actually deliver what I ordered! The concept of a WHOLE turkey raises many eyebrows around here, and when you mention it’s for Thanksgiving (the American holiday), the eyebrows remain raised. The one thing I can’t order are football games 
So for this years holiday (which we celebrate on Friday rather than the traditional Thursday), we are hosting 7 families, of which 5 are families with whom we used to celebrate when we lived in Silicon Valley! In fact, just thinking about it, our Moshav Thanksgiving get-together will be larger that the one that the other 3 families (who have yet to return back to Israel) will have in California. Hmmmm….
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
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