Israeli VC on Sand Hill road

Viva Italia

What a finale to this past month.  The world cup has been controlling my life, detemining when I can make phone calls to Israel (don’t dare while there’s a game!), when my  nanny will make it to work and of course, in what mood, and lastly, what social activities we do over the weekend (must have TV, prefer HD TV).  

This morning, we dropped off my oldest son at the bus depot as he left for 3 weeks of camp, and rushed to friends that lived nearby to watch the game.

Why am I happy that Italy is the world cup champion?

• My son Yoav (almonst 9) was cheering for them, for the very important reason that France beat Brazil.  That’s just like the saying about your enemy’s enemy being your friend….
• Moshe Gavrielov (ex-Verisity CEO, now Cadence exec and soccer fan galore) wanted Italy to win.  Of course, he thought they’d loose, since his first choice was Brazil, then Portugal, then all that was left was Italia…
• I really detest behavior like that demonstrated by the French icon, Zidane (sorry to my French friends).  I get it that it’s a stressful moment, but isn’t that what makes one an exceptional leader?  I suppose ending one’s career with a red flag in the deciding championship game, into the second overtime is probably punishment enough, however…

For the next Mondial, I would love to dream that perhaps Israel will have made it to the games.  Who knows, miracles happen

technorati tags: world cup mondial

What's the story behind European World Cup dominance?

I don’t know much about soccer, but this World Cup provides interesting explorations in anthropology.  Yesterday (Saturday), I wore my yellow and green Brazil futbol shirt, as instructed by my nanny.  Apparently, it’s all part of the ingredients to success.  Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to help them.  Turns out, you need to play well also.

So, the final 4 teams are all European.  Somehow, it takes the fun out for me.  I like to watch those South Americans, be them Argentina or Brazil.   Sigh. 

technorati tags: world cup soccer

Brazil vs. Australia - what do I know?

Tomorrow Brazil will play Australia in their second game of the world cup.  I wanted to share the insights of my Brazilian nanny towards the performance of the team, since this is something to be taken very seriously.

 

• Brazil's performance in the game vs. Croatia was not exactly stellar.  However, my sources say that this was "intentional".  If they would've won by a big margin, their confidence level would be too high, and this would jeopardize their future games. 
• The Australians are tall and strong.  This is good for Brazilian players, who are short and fast.  They'll just wiggle their way around them.
• Most of these players are still playing in the European mode, the one that they're used to all season long.  They'll get their Samba going soon - remember: Jugo Bonito 

Boa Sorte Brazil!

BTW - I'm on vacation for the next week - so no blogging....  Ciao.

technorati tags: Jugo bonito brazil vs australia world cup  

The Sacrifices of an Israeli entrepreneur....

How can one console the Israeli entrepreneur that finds himself in Silicon Valley during the World Cup games?  This week (and next), Sagi Rubin is on what he calls "the validation tour" with 2 great entrepreneurs with whom we've been working for awhile.  The guys have a packed agenda, conferences, meetings with key industry figures and executives, which will help them to validate their idea and hopefully, will lead to an investment.  Only one thing was not taken into account - the Mondial.

So, today, we went to lunch at a pretty lousy Mexican restaurant.  Sagi and I didn't notice, but we found ourself with our backs to a small TV screen, positioned in the corner of the restaurant.  Noon, just in time for Brazil vs. Croatia.... so, while we ate our fajitas and talked about the company, there was an occasional outburst "YES!!!" or "Oh NO!!!" as Brazil won 1-0 (-- Check out the great photo gallery here).  Who said VC's aren't considerate of their entrepreneurs?

Mind you, my nanny came in late today, as she asked to watch the game with her friends.  My kids got a kick out of the name of the scorer....

technorati tags: mondial world cup brazil vs croatia

Who said Americans don't watch the World Cup

After yesterday's embarassing loss of the US team to the Czechs (3-0), you needn't wonder why this sport isn't popular here in the US.  Actually, American's *are* watching the games (check out some of the locations in NYC, only those American's are Mexican-Americans, Brazilian-Americans, English-Americans,... you get the point.  And, surprise, surprise, they're not cheering the US team along. Sunday at Futbol, Antojitos y Mas sports bar in San Jose, the Mercury News reported that the bar was filled to capacity.  Would you care to guess what team they're cheering for?

technorati tags: mondial world cup usa soccer