Becoming Unstoppable

Welcome to The Israeli Startup Review, a curated newsletter where I share insights from thought leaders, news, and opportunities around Israel's tech ecosystem. Every week you’ll receive timely analysis from off-the-beaten-path, perspectives from fresh voices from the ecosystem, and selected opportunities to further engage with Israel, the Startup Nation.

“The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me."

-Ayn Rand

Welcome back ISR Community, I hope everyone is enjoying the remaining days of summer. Check out my article on the search for the next big Israeli-made snack food for ISRAEL21c: The consumer packaged goods revolution coming from Israel and my latest piece as an Executive Committee member of the New York-Israel Chamber of Commerce, for Geektime: NY trying to build the post-COVID smart city, turns to Israeli innovation for solution

If there has been one positive aspect of quarantine time, it has been that there is time to read. For a book on dealing with COVID I'd recommend Sarah Nadav's What the F*CK Should I Do Now?: How to Manage your Money when Everything You Thought You Knew Stops Making Sense (COVID-19 edition).

I'm always excited to chat with authors so I reached out to Uri Adoni to chat about his new book The Unstoppable Startup: Mastering Israel’s Secret Rules of Chutzpah. Uri has over 20 years of experience in the high-tech space and was a partner at Jerusalem Venture Partners Media Labs for over 12 years. Adoni served on the board of several high-tech companies, both early and late stage. Prior to joining JVP, Uri was the CEO of MSN Israel (Microsoft Networks) and was one of Israel's new media pioneers. In his military service at the IDF (regular and reserve) he was an officer (major) and served as a commander of a combat unit. He recently departed from JVP to join a U.S.-based real estate entrepreneur who is developing a new and innovative approach for building local high-tech ecosystems and communities across the U.S.

A lot has been written about the Startup Nation, what's an insight you've uncovered which separates Israel from the rest of the global tech ecosystems?

I think that beyond the highly vibrant, creative and innovative high-tech ecosystem, if I need to put my finger on one main differentiator is the entrepreneurial culture, and specifically the positive side of the Israeli Chutzpah (without crossing the line of being arrogant…).

Entrepreneurship is about daring. It’s about having the Chutzpah, the audacity, to pursue what seems like an impossible goal. To dare and question what everybody thinks cannot be changed. Many Israeli entrepreneurs are guided by their internal voice, which usually says something along these lines: “I don’t have to accept reality as it is. The current solutions are not good enough. They are not answering current needs, they don’t provide a solution for real pains in the market; there must be a better, faster, more effective way. I will find it, develop it, and market it.” This is the right Chutzpah mind set.

What is a piece of advice you would give a founder looking to build a startup during this time?

If it's a new venture you are building, make sure you are taking into account the recent global events, and that the proposition is relevant for the new reality. The market needs have changed, the consumer and customers' needs have changed, and you have to make sure you are taking it all into account. Have a clear hypothesis where the market is going, what will be the future needs, and try to come up with a winning proposition.

If you have already started working on your startup before COVID, make sure that your original hypothesis is still relevant, if the offering needs to be updated, do it, and if there are changes or adaptations need to be made on the product, technology, pricing, distribution channels, or the geographies you're targeting – make sure you make them.

What opportunities for startups do you see appearing as a result of COVID-19?

The COVID era has accelerated a few technology verticals and solutions such as remote-working and learning, logistics, 3rd party delivery, EdTech and more. But above all, it is the Tele-Medicine vertical that has been booming in such a way that there is probably no going back. Tele-Medicine or Tele-Health, is the remote delivery of health care services and clinical information using telecommunications technology. According to McKinsey's COVID-19 Consumer Survey (April 27, 2020), consumer adoption has dramatically increased from 11 percent of US consumers using telehealth in 2019 to 46 percent of consumers now using telehealth to replace cancelled healthcare visits. There are many advantages for the patients such as improved access to care, access to experts from all over the world and preventive care, as well as advantages to service providers such as lower costs, improved access to care, and convenience, just to name a few. There are quite a few challenges to overcome in order to implement full tele-medicine systems such as technological infrastructure, regulations, protecting medical data, capable and trained human resources and the overall integration to the existing healthcare service. The recent pandemic has decreased the level of resistance by doctors, established healthcare systems, regulators and other major players in this ecosystem and has also increased the public engagement to this option, and thus it offers real opportunities for startups to step in.

What is your definition of chutzpah?

Since this is the main theme of my book, I would suggest two definitions and a piece of advice:

The first definition is by Dr. Eyal Inbar, who defines Chutzpah as: "The challenging and defiance of the prevailing order, traditional thinking, behaviors, and fears, while being ready to take the risk involved.”

The second one is by Guy Kawasaki who said that Chutzpah is “calling up tech support to report a bug on pirated software.”

Since Chutzpah has a positive aspect as well as a negative one, in order to be at the positive side, you should have a sense of shame that prevents you from acting with chutzpah to do the wrong thing, and a sense of chutzpah that prevents you from being ashamed to do the right thing.

What is something that you believe that most people in the (Israeli) tech space would disagree with you about?

Many of the Israeli startups begin their journey by developing a new, innovative and unique technology. In these cases, as they develop the technology they ask "what can we do with it?" and start looking for the right market. Once they focus on a certain market, they develop the product so it will fit it in the best way. Even though this approach has proven itself in many cases, I believe a better approach should be by analyzing where the market is heading to, come up with a strong hypothesis of what will be the future needs and pains, and then define a product that will meet those needs. The technology should be a means to an end, and not the main objective. 

Some context - Israel's population is a fraction of these countries.

LinkedIn Jobs in Israel: This may be redundant if you're searching but good opportunities here.

Secret Tel Aviv Jobs: Find Jobs. Build a Career. Opportunities here.

Amazon AWS: Startup Solutions Architect, Healthcare Life Sciences. Do you want to impact the future of healthcare and life sciences? The cloud is changing the way vaccines are discovered, how healthcare is delivered and how data can be utilized to improve the human condition. They are looking for a top-notch Solutions Architect who wants to impact the 1700+ healthcare and life sciences startups in Israel. Apply here.

Platterz: They are hiring! Do you want to join their marketing team at Platterz? They are looking for creators, team players and strong marketers who are also passionate about helping companies thrive through culture. At this point they have 2 positions open: * Email Marketing Manager * Paid Acquisition Manager.

Sisense: From Sales to Customer Success and Marketing roles, Sisense is hiring for a range of positions across their global offices in NY, SF, TLV and more. Check out the latest openings to be a part of an amazing place to work! Apply here.

TAMID Group: They're hiring! TAMID Group is on the search for a Seasonal Program Coordinator to join our Fellowship team, based in Israel.Click here for the full job description here. Apply here.

UpWest Labs: Hiring alert in Tel Aviv: An UpWest-backed Fintech startup in stealth is looking for a hands-on Head of Engineering with past experience managing tech teams in startups. The company is well funded by top VC's. This is a unique opportunity to be a significant part of an early team changing the paradigm of a $10 trillion industry. Please reach out to [email protected] 

WIX: Partnerships & Events Manager - Corvid. New exciting opportunity on their team. They are looking for a partnerships superstar with global marketing background to join a killer team at WIX. Apply here.

AppsFlyer: They are looking for a data-obsessed Business Analyst who will be the driving force behind their business decisions, by deep-diving into our sales cycles, business trends, pricing, company’s regions’ growth, and our business KPIs. You’ll get access to a hyper-growing company metrics and dilemmas, and bring your full expertise and experience to the table! Apply here.

Cato Networks: Marketing Operations & Automation Specialist. They are looking for a Marketing Operations & Automation Specialist to join our growing Marketing team. The Marketing Operations & Automation Specialist will own the management and optimization of Cato’s marketing technology stack to enable the marketing organisation to meet demand generation goals. Apply here.

Cybereason: They are looking for a Security Analyst to join their global Security services team. The position requires to work full-time, acting as a security focal point for managed services customers and troubleshooting of production security alerts. Apply here.

Get Sh!t Done Mentor Application: Get Sh!t Done is the Superpower Scaling Sidekick for Female Entrepreneurs who want to scale $1M+ businesses on their own terms. One way they are supporting their founders is through their accelerator program where they offer intensive training and mentorship. They partner our founders with badass mentors like you because it's proven that female entrepreneurs with mentors 80% more likely to stay in business. Not necessary Israeli tech focused, but a good opportunity. Apply here.

Israel Growth Partners (IGP): IGP is growing and they are looking to hire a Principal to join their small investment team. This is an outstanding opportunity for the right candidate that may lead to a partnership track. The position is in Israel and requires native Hebrew and excellent English.Israel Growth Partners (IGP) is a private equity investment firm established with a mission to provide growth capital to Israeli-related technology companies. Please PM Assaf with great candidates.

Lost Tribe Esports: Director of Gaming. Lost Tribe Esports (LTE) is expanding its online services, and seeks a self-motivated Independent Contractor to help design, manage, and execute this evolution in our gaming and our gaming community. Apply here.

SeeTree: SeeTree has developed the world’s first comprehensive solution for permanent crop growers to monitor their trees - and now is looking for: Python Tech Lead, Escalation Engineer, and QA Managergreat to join their mission of helping feed the world using AI, drones, and smart sensors. Apply here - [email protected]

Square Peg: After recently hiring a Principal (still stealth mode for another month), they are now looking to add an Investment Associate to our team. They are looking for candidates with ~4-6 years’ experience gained as a founder or in a role inside a fast growth tech company, in another investing role or relevant technical military units. You will be able to illustrate experience in framing and performing analysis to aid decisions. You will be driven, curious and able to articulate your passion for tech, start-ups and/or investing. Apply here.

Zebra Medical Vision Ltd: They are looking for two unique individuals: Data operations manager and a Senior DevOps Engineer. They also have several R&D, Regulatory, and Clinical positions open, check them out at here.

Israeli Telemedicine Innovation for Covid19: You are invited to join a webinar featuring Israeli digital health innovation and how Sheba Medical Center is deploying technology to address the outbreak and encourage telemedicine in Israeli society. Thursday August 6 9:30am ET. Register HERE.

The Lemonade's Story - Tamir Jerby: Join them for a very popular lecture by Tamir Jerby. WTF is Lemonade, what do they think about the insurance world, how did they grow so fast and what ahead. Tamir Jerby - VP Growth at Lemonade Inc. Tamir has been leading growth and marketing teams for over 14 years, covering B2C and B2B, large global brands to rising startups. Thursday, August 6, 4:00 PM GMT+3. Register here.

Making Insurance Better - Startup Challenge Final: The finals of the Making Insurance Better - IDI Startup Challenge. In addition to the votes by their panel of judges, the audience will get a chance to vote during the event for their favorite startup pitch. All you need to do, is join the live broadcast and vote after each presenter. The challenge is brought to you by Bituach Yashir (IDI), SNC, Viola Ventures and Moneta. Aug 6, 2020 09:00 AM in Eastern Time. Register here.

Israel Agriculture & Technology - News, Opportunities and Leadership: Join their free webinar that provides an overview of: The advancement of Israeli Agtech technologies and Innovation supported by the Israel Ministry of Agriculture. Grants or Bilateral Agriculture Research provided by the Bard foundations. Benefits of Kidum that provides the link between research, investment, commerce and industry in the governmental arena. Thursday, August 6, 10:00 AM PDT. Register here.

"CrowdStrike's Success Story" Virtual Fireside Chat With George Kurtz: They're excited to invite you to a special fireside chat with industry luminary George Kurtz, President, CEO & Founder of CrowdStrike and Venture Advisor at YL Ventures! Moderated by John Brennan, Partner at YL Ventures, we will dive into the success story behind CrowdStrike and George Kurtz’s observations on the current state of the cybersecurity industry. Tuesday | Aug 11th | 11:00am ET. Register here.

#NoFilter: Unlocking Purpose— The Crossroads of Impact & Tech Investing: It's their great honor and pleasure to host Jed Emerson in a conversation with Rami Kalish about the purpose of capital, how they see the value of technology aligning with their own personal values and what all that means in practice for #vcfunding and tech entrepreneurs. Please join them and send us your questions ahead of time so they can address them. The Global Impact Tech Alliance (GITA) Pitango Venture Capital. Wed, August 12, 11:00 AM EDT. Register here.

TechDay Founders Summit: A highly focused one day program open only to startup founders, their c-suite executive teams, and idea-stage entrepreneurs, to access the education, tools and networks that will help them become better, more successful business people. Use this code to get 10% off this event FSPARTNER10. Fri, 08:00 AM / Aug 14. Register here.

Designing the New Normal: A Leadership Perspective: When historians will write about this time, they may very well classify it as an inflection point in the megatrends we take for granted. How we work, live, and play is changing. Trends in globalization and urbanization, stemming from the industrial revolution may slow down and take a new form. WED AUG 19, 11:30AM. Register here.

What is Critical When Everything is Critical: COVID-19 burst into our lives, creating challenges and changes we never could have foreseen. These challenges have forced us to rethink cyberspace, including cyber politics, best practices and organization. Aug 20, 09:00 AM in Eastern Time. Register here.

Startup for Startup: Unplugged: Sales.Building a hypergrowth Sales organization 26.08.2020. Online | 18:30 IL Time | 8:30am PST | 11:30am EST Speakers and registration – coming soon! Register here.

SUMMER.SAAS: Are you a seed-stage SaaS company? Join them on August 27th for SummerSaas Cyber track online event! Don't forget to submit your pitch until August 9th.Register here to see the pitches and meet us in the networking zone! Register here.

Facebook Accelerator: Application is now open for Facebook Accelerator for Connectivity, a new program for startups that aspire to make internet access more available and affordable globally. Apply here.

DRIVE TLV: DRIVE TLV is a leading innovation center for smart mobility technology. They connect corporate partners with startups while providing meaningful market opportunities and developing a direct relationship with global leading companies in different areas over the mobility lifecycle. Apply here.

The European Green Deal: 20 NEW Calls for Proposals in 11 areas - with a total budget of 1 billion Euros. The Green Deal initiative is the European Commission’s roadmap, aiming to make the EU climate neutral by 2050. In order to do this, the Green Deal initiative will face climate change and environmental degradation challenges. The Green Deal is the EU’s new growth strategy, setting the path for a fundamental transformation of Europe’s economies and societies, promoting the efficient use of resources by moving to a clean, circular economy, restoring biodiversity, lowering pollution and mobilizing research and innovation to foster a just and sustainable societal transition aiming at ‘leaving no one behind’. Apply here.

Infrastructure Energy for Security Cyber: The US-Israel Energy Center has just released a Call for Proposals for Cyber Security for Energy Infrastructure. This is a $6-$10 Million dollar grant for a consortium in the Energy/Cyber area. Please feel free to distribute to relevant contacts from universities or industry. Apply here.

BIRD HLS Call for Proposals: The BIRD Foundation is a fund that is jointly funded by the U.S. Dept of Commerce and Israel Innovation Authority that provides matching grant/loan up to $1M for JV's between American and Israeli organizations. August 13 is the deadline for projects with applications in the homeland security sector. Contact Sam for more info.

BIRD Call for Proposals: The BIRD Foundation is a fund that is jointly funded by the U.S. Dept of Commerce and Israel Innovation Authority that provides matching grant/loan up to $1M for JV's between American and Israeli organizations. September 1 is the deadline for projects with applications in any sector. Contact Josh B. for more info.

NY Smart Cities Innovation Partnership – Call for Proposals: The Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) and the State of New York, through selected New York State Cities, jointly open the NY Smart City Innovation Partnership program call for company proposals. Interested Israeli companies are invited to submit applications to pilot, test, adapt, and optimize impactful Smart City technologies, services, and devices in Municipal Testbeds at selected New York Municipalities. Sept 1: DEADLINE.Contact Sam R. for more info.

New Jersey-Israel Innovation Partnership Initiative Industry R&D Program - Call for Proposal: Partner opportunity with two specific NJ companies: Greenspot is an electric transportation start-up that installs and manages an expanding network of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations for both the public and private sectors; and Kearfott is seeking a partner to develop a miniature atomic clock and to participate in testing/validating the EGI performance gains that result from this resilience to GPS jamming and spoofing. In addition, Kearfott is seeking an Israeli source of FOG navigation technology and production methods that can achieve high performance. Sept 1: DEADLINE. Contact Jacob B. for more info.

Israel - Indiana Collaborative Industry R&D and Piloting Program - Call for Proposal: The main objective for this RFP is to stimulate generation and development of new or significantly improved products or processes for commercialization in global markets. The focus of this RFP will be on the following technology domains: COVID-19 Response Technologies and Additional Life Science Products and Applications. Smart & Advanced Manufacturing. Secure 5G. Trusted Microelectronics. Sept 1: DEADLINE. Apply here.

NVP Labs Accelerator: Newark Venture Partners Labs invests in up to 10 companies twice a year and is currently recruiting for its 9th class (Fall 2020). NVP Labs is a Bridge-to-Seed program providing “post-accelerator” stage startups with the funding and expertise needed to hit Seed / A round MRR milestones faster. NVP is a $50M fund, funded by top corporates based in the Newark area who are committed to supporting the portfolio's growth (LPs include Audible, Panasonic, RWJBarnabas Health, Prudential Financial, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, Dun & Bradstreet, and TDBank). Deadline September 14. US based but a growing Israeli ecosystem in NJ. Apply here.

The US-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund: BARD projects, conducted cooperatively by American and Israeli scientists, cover all phases of agricultural research and development, including integrated projects and strategic or applied research. Cooperative research entails active collaboration between Israeli and American scientists. The following research areas were identified by the Board of Directors as top priorities for the coming years: Increased Efficiency of Agricultural Production. Protection of Plants and Animals Against Biotic and Abiotic Stress. Food Quality, Safety and Security. Water Quality & Quantity. Functional Genomics and Proteomics. Sensors and Robotics. Sustainable Bio-Energy Systems. Submission Date: September 15. Apply here.

Jonathan 'Yoni' Frenkel has been involved in the New York-Israeli tech community for many years, mentoring startups on marketing, hosting events connecting investors with startups, and publishing on the topics of tech and venture regularly. Professionally, he heads a content marketing agency, YKC Media, and works with VCs, corporates, and startups in creating written content, social, and advising on marketing strategy focused on engaging a US audience. He can be reached on LinkedIn here.