Month: January 2013
11 posts
Invest In Israel Newsletter – January 2013 Edition
As every month, VC Cafe is re-posting the “Invest in Israel” Newsletter, published by the investment promotion center of Israel’s Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor, which offers many helpful tools for prospecting investors. For the Invest in Israel archive, click here.
Israeli VC Fundraising In 2012 Down 30% but Micro VC Funds on The Rise
We've been hearing that Israeli VC funds struggle to raise follow on funds, but the extent of their demise is now becoming clearer, and gloomier. A new report released by IVC Online, highlights that Israeli Venture Capital funds raised $607 million in 2012, 30% down from the previous year
Social TV Has Arrived…Is There a Business Model?
Nielsen has made it official- Multi-tasking across screens, particularly while watching TV, is now the norm. With US Smartphone penetration on pace to reach 80% next year (Asymco) and 2012 tablet sales of 136 million units, the era of Social TV has arrived.
A Look Back On VC Cafe’s Journey Since 2005
VC Cafe turned seven! in this post I cover the journey of starting VC Cafe, the highs and downs along the way, and the path I followed to evolve it from a news reporting blog to a site that provides founders with practical advice.
Startups for Startups: The Top B2B Tools Used by Startups
Why do so many founders build things no one wants? Because they begin by trying to think of…
Funny Dilbert: I Can Fail at Any Speed You Like
The daily Dilbert caricature this morning put a smile on my face this morning (image below). Lean Startup methodology is all about rapid prototyping and "Failing Fast". According to Dilbert, given a crappy idea, he can fail as quickly or as slowly as you'd like
The Early Stage VC Decision Making Process Infographic
Interesting infographic from Anna Vital in San Francisco, from the Kickstarter campaign "Becoming an Entrepreneur" Kickstarter campaign. Trying to get inside the mind of an early stage VC investor. Infographics could help dyslexic entrepreneurs to access the valuable insights that are currently "locked" in books or blog posts. The idea came to Anna as she is dyslexic herself.
“Indecent Proposal” For Startup Founders
Would you accept an offer of $8000 to build an MVP for that idea you've been toying with and had no balls to act upon. It seems that while the cost of creating a startup has significantly declined, and the barriers to entry enable literally almost anyone to start a technology startup, there's no substitute for the passion, focus and attention of the founding team and it's unlikely to be artificially produced in a "Lab" environment or by simply providing a small amount of capital.
Israeli Tech Funding & Exits in 2012: Lots of Chutzpah but Show Me Your Instagram
Groucho Marx could have been talking about the Israeli hi-tech sector when he said “I made a killing on Wall Street a few years ago…I shot my broker”. In 2012, as Israeli exits topped $5.5 billion, there was reason to celebrate but plenty of cause for concern.
CES 2013 Preview: What Happens in Vegas, STAYS in Vegas
This week marks the annual orgy of PR excess known as the Consumer Electronics Show. More than 150,000 (mostly male) visitors, many sporting T-shirts with mysterious acronyms like “4K in HD3D”, will alternate between 2 million square feet of exhibition space and the craps tables. Unfortunately for the 3,200 exhibitors, their marketing dollars will be squandered. Although I will predict a few likely trends, when it comes to CES, what happens in Vegas really does STAY in Vegas.