In the last post I discussed the background of what seems to be the fuel behind the golden age of Israeli startups. Israeli venture capital funds have $2 billion in hand, and projections say an additional $800 million will be raised in 2008. The Economist however, seems to disagree by predicting a pessimistic future to …
Continue reading “The Golden Age of Israeli Startups: Money, Money Money (Part II)”
jet lag (n.) A temporary disruption of bodily rhythms caused by high-speed travel across several time zones typically in a jet aircraft. Isn’t Jet Lag wonderful? It’s been almost a week since I got back from Israel, but my hours are still turned around, causing me to fall asleep around 9pm and wake up at …
I’m waiting for my flight in Newark following a redeye from San Francisco and nine hour stop in New York. It was great to be back in the apple and see good friends, but I didn’t miss the cold weather. Thought I would take this opportunity to give a quick reminder that the first ever …
TheMarker, Israel’s prominent business magazine and Haaretz, one of Israel’s largest newspapers, featured VC Cafe in a spread on “The Blogs That Every Israeli Startup Should Know“. Guy Grimland, editor of TheMarker IT, interviewed me a couple weeks ago and at the outset of the interview asked me “why should startups approach VC Cafe rather …
Continue reading “VC Cafe Featured in “Blogs Every Israeli Startup Must Know””
I’m going to resume writing on all the VC and Israeli startup news soon, but first I wanted to share a piece of personal news with you. This past week while on vacation in Hawaii, I asked my long-time girlfriend to be my wife. I’m happy to report she said “Ken!” (yes in Hebrew). To …
Continue reading “Back From Hawaii, Lots of Excitement to Report”
Vator TV, Bambi Francisco’s video startup, is a marketplace for ideas and capital. Founded in 2007, Vator showcases hundreds of video “elevator pitches”, uploaded by people looking to pitch their ideas, businesses, skillsets or needs, such as capital, partner or staffing requirements. I had the chance to pitch VC Cafe on Vator, and the results …
It’s been over two years since I’ve started VC Cafe in December of 2005 with a simple goal in mind- to extinguish the notion that too many dollar bills are chasing too few ideas. Boy what a tremendous ride it has been so far. I’ve talked with dozens of Israeli entrepreneurs and VCs, witnessed the …
Continue reading “VC Cafe Turns Two: a personal invitation to join the VC Cafe Network”
The Israeli market received a great deal of media coverage in 2007. Some journalists lamented on the momentum and promise of the Israeli start up world; some sell-side analysts “shorted” the strength of the economy for a myriad of factors. Regardless of where you stand, its helpful to know who is saying what about the …
Continue reading “Israel 2008: What the Bulls and Bears are saying”
Greetings! After almost two months of absence due to a coast-to-coast move, I’m happy to be back to VC Cafe, and there’s much ground to cover. First, some exciting news. Sarah Needleman from the Wall Street Journal interviewed me a couple of weeks ago, and the article went live last Friday (4/20) on Startup Journal, …
