It is well-known that Israel is a hotbed of entrepreneurs with a thriving startup culture, but are you aware of just how far back all that entrepreneuring started?
And so, in ancient Israel it came to pass that a trader by the name of Abraham Com did take unto himself a young wife by the name of Dorothy.
And Dot Com was a comely woman, broad of shoulder and long of leg. Indeed, she was often called Amazon Dot Com. And she said unto Abraham, her husband, “Why dost thou travel so far from town to town with thy goods when thou canst trade without ever leaving thy tent?” And Abraham did look at her as though she were several saddle bags short of a camel load, but simply said, “How, dear?”
And Dot replied, “I will place drums in all the towns and drums in between to send messages saying what you have for sale, and they will reply telling you who hath the best price. The sale can be made on the drums and delivery made by Uriah’s Pony Stable (UPS).”
Abraham thought long and decided he would let Dot have her way with the drums. And the drums rang out and were an immediate success. Abraham sold all the goods he had at the top price, without ever having to move from his tent.
To prevent neighboring countries from overhearing what the drums were saying Dot devised a system that only she and the drummers knew. It was known as Must Send Drum Over Sound (MSDOS), and she also developed a language to transmit ideas and pictures – Hebrew To The People (HTTP).
And the young men did take to Dot Com’s trading as doth the greedy horsefly take to camel dung. They were called Nomadic Ecclesiastical Rich Dominican Sybarites, or NERDS.
And lo, the land was so feverish with joy at the new riches and the deafening sound of drums that no one noticed that the real riches were going to that enterprising drum dealer, Brother William of Gates, who bought off every drum maker in the land. Indeed he did insist on drums to be made that would work only with Brother Gates’ drumheads and drumsticks.
And Dot did say, “Oh, Abraham, what we have started is being taken over by others.” And Abraham looked out over the Bay of Ezekiel, or eBay as it came to be known.
He said, “We need a name that reflects what we are.” And Dot replied, “Young Ambitious Hebrew Owner Operators.” “YAHOO,” said Abraham.
And because it was Dot’s idea, they named it YAHOO Dot Com. Abraham’s cousin, Joshua, being the young Gregarious Energetic Educated Kid (GEEK) that he was, soon started using Dot’s drums to locate things around the countryside.
It soon became known as God’s Own Official Guide to Locating Everything (GOOGLE).
And that, my children, in truth, is how it all began.
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Venture Summit Silicon Valley 2012 really brought home to me, yet again, the importance of being in the “right” crowd in order to move forward as a startup CEO. This event was packed with a mixture of entrepreneurs, VCs, angels, bank and debt financing partners and press. All the things necessary to succeed.
However, one of the most important issues seems to be the ability to network. While all the necessary people were here, gaining value from the experience was more related to being able to meet the right people. To do this should be easy in this environment, but I saw a lot of people who had difficulty going up and introducing themselves to other participants, or who didn’t have their 10-second explanation of what their company does clearly articulated.
In fact, it was quite interesting to see how many of the entrepreneurs present had difficulty with one or both of these issues; to aggressively introduce themselves to others and who couldn’t smoothly describe what they did in a few sentences.
How is it possible to be willing to pay so much money to be in the right place and still stumble on the goal line?
The density of interesting persons was sufficiently high where this may not have been a significant problem, but as a startup CEO it is absolutely essential at all times to be able to say what the company does, in a simple and easy to understand manner. Especially to people who are not experts in the area you are working in, which describes most investors and partners.
I’d like to laud Tony Perkins and AlwaysOn to have put on a conference that brings together entrepreneurs and potential funders in such an intimate setting. The surroundings were beautiful at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay, the people interesting, and the keynotes, presentations and breakouts well thought out.
Mobile, cloud, big data, industrial internet – up
Social media – down
The most interesting aspect of AlwaysOn Venture Summit Silicon Valley was getting a perspective for where the technology industry is going and what’s being funded. There are a number of major trends that entrepreneurs need to be aware of while building companies and investors have clarity around if planning an investment to drive towards a profitable exit.
AlwaysOn VSSV is an annual gathering of some of the leading entrepreneurs and investors in Silicon Valley and beyond, focused on understanding investment themes and technologies that will drive the future.
At this particular conference, it was clear that one of the most important trends was the significantly reduced presence of Internet and social media startups among the speakers and on the panels. The seemingly unstoppable social media storm has slowed down quite a bit.
One of the factors cited for this was that there was a saturation of these types of startups and another was that investors, having invested heavily in these companies over the past few years, were looking for investments with more predictable outcomes.
The effects of the GroupOn and Facebook IPOs (among others) resulted in negative investor sentiment toward these types of businesses.
So, what’s in vogue these days?
Mobile and big data companies seem to have taken over where Internet and social media left off. The opportunity in the mobile space is a result of a movement that started about a decade ago when people moved from the desktop to the laptop. The interaction with computers is now iterating to handheld devices such as smartphones and tablets, which are with us most of the time and collect data on what we do, where we are and who we interact with.
All this collected data forms the basis of the big data opportunity. The ability to use this data to deepen our understanding of customers, manufacturing processes and many other areas has been a dream of business people, politicians and technologists for many years.
I’m personally very happy about these trend shifts. Partially because EMANIO is perfectly positioned to take part of the development of this new industry of big data and analysis, but also because it has been difficult to understand the business basis of the social media phenomenon.
It has been difficult to discern a pattern for success within social media, but with mobile and big data this is much more logical.
The concept of Internet-connected machines that collect data and communicate, often called the “Internet of Things,” has been around for years. Information technology companies, too, are pursuing this emerging field. I.B.M. has its “Smarter Planet” projects, while Cisco champions the “Internet of Everything.”
But it is General Electric that is really pushing the envelope in a new East Bay (extended Silicon Valley) software center where they have already hired 250 engineers in the last year and a half.
The company plans to increase that work force of computer scientists and software developers to 400, and to invest $1 billion in the center by 2015. The buildup is part of G.E’s big bet on what it calls the “industrial Internet,” bringing digital intelligence to the physical world of industry as never before.
GE believes it can leverage the breakthroughs across its product line, from jet engines to medical equipment.
GE is a much different, not to mention much smarter, company under Jeff Immelt than it was under Jack Welch.
Welch used financial engineering as GE’s engine for profit during his tenure all but abandoning and gutting the industrial R&D expertise that had sustained its profits for decades—short-term thinking vs. long-term.
Nor does GE doesn’t believe or expect to do it alone.
Now G.E. is trying to rally support for its vision from industry partners, academics, venture capitalists and start-ups. About 250 of them have been invited to a conference in San Francisco, sponsored by the company, on Thursday.
GE and its ilk are opening up new opportunities for those who love to innovate, but don’t love startups. (And that’s OK.)
And if you do have that entrepreneurial bent why not focus it on industrial or enterprise efforts, instead of yet another consumer boondoggle.
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In case you’re curious, I had a fabulous Thanksgiving and four wonderful days off (I could get used to that:) Better yet, I got everything on my to-do list done. Yea!
Developer Auction, which allows companies to bid for the services of high-performance software engineers. It’s a disruptive idea because the San Francisco-based company makes it easier for companies to find workers, which in turn get more money for their services.
It generates revenue by taking 15% of the negotiated salary and then kicks back 20% of that to the candidate.
I’m sure it will make a lot of money, at least in the short-term considering the current hot market.
It also is the absolute stupidest hiring move companies can make, not that that will stop them.
I can think of no better way to find developers to whom money is everything and product passion and loyalty are words in the dictionary.
Not to mention the effect on the current team, company culture and internal salary structure.
But it does offer the wow factor of cutting-edge bragging rights and the fanfare will probably camouflage the hiring manager’s lack of staffing skills.
Take time to read them and feel free to call or email me (contact info on the right) if you need any assistance at no charge—I never charge for doing good deeds.
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Among the things I do is manage content for VC Taskforce, which created the Innovation Catalyst Award a few years ago; it honors a leader in the venture community annually.
The eldest Draper, known as “General” because that was his rank in the Army, where he served in two world wars and helped craft both the restoration of Germany and the Berlin Airlift, founded the very first venture firm on the West Coast in 1959, Draper, Gaither & Anderson.
His son, Bill Draper, started with that firm but then started his own, Sutter Ventures, in 1962 with Franklin “Pitch” Johnson and Paul Wythes, who sadly died on Tuesday, the day of the Draper family tribute. Bill Draper then founded a series of other firms, as well: Draper International that focused on India, Draper Richards that focused on early stage tech and Draper Investment whose focus was Europe and Asia.
Tim Draper worked for his dad for a time before starting up his own firm, Draper Associates, in 1985. That grew to become what today is Draper Fisher Jurvetson. He also founded the DFJ Global Network, which has an international focus; the Bizworld Foundation, aimed at inspiring entrepreneurship among children; and the new entrepreneurial program he has launched in San Mateo, Draper University.
And true to their beliefs they have innovated within the venture community as well.
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EMANIO’s CEO KG Charles-Harris sent another goody to share with you.
The interviews were conducted with the speakers from the recent GROW Conference, in which entrepreneurs are asked about their greatest fears, failures, and the lessons learned.
The lineup is impressive and the comments are a step above the typical entrepreneur sound bites we keep hearing.
I also believe that their comments are relevant even if you have no startup aspirations.
So with no further babble on my part here it is.
SUBMIT YOUR STORY Be the Thursday feature – Entrepreneurs: [your company name]
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Buying startups and shutting down their business in the name of acquiring talent is a hot trend—and one easily destined to fail.
Talent retention in ‘acqui-hiring’ fails most often for the same reason it has always failed—culture.
And before anyone offers the ‘large company culture vs. startup culture’ argument let me point out that Google and Facebook are large companies, not startups.
Realistically speaking, I don’t care how cool the culture and perks at Google and Facebook are, there is no way they or similar companies can provide true startup culture, camaraderie, or environment.
But it is amusing (if you don’t own their stock) to watch them try.
In the same vein, why is it so surprising when long-term employees leave?
The media loves to feature stories about turnover at Google, Facebook, Zynga, Groupon, Amazon, even Microsoft and other startup-no-longer companies, while ignoring the same turnover at Cisco, Intel and. IBM
When will they learn?
Those who get a thrill creating something from nothing and building foundations may start losing interest when the scaffolding for higher stories goes up and become totally disinterested when the walls go in.
High salaries, excessive stock options, even powerful positions may hold them, but retention doesn’t always translate to productivity or cultural harmony.
All I can say is caveat emptor and don’t whine if (when) it doesn’t work.
Internet companies aren’t known for great customer service—they’re known for not having any.
The only way to reach most of them is by email or their contact form.
Assuming you actually get a response, it’s most often a form note that sends you to Help; Facebook even claims people prefer that approach.
Mr. Wolens said that Facebook believes that its users prefer “self-remediation” — basically, online solutions they find without help — to dealing with Facebook employees.
Comments like this make me wonder if Internet companes have any understanding of humans at all.
Do they (you?) really believe that the majority of people having problems using a product/service/whatever-you-call-it like digging through crappy descriptions of problems that never quite address theirs?
Enterprise, the car rental company has done a lot of quantitative work on the effect of customer service based on a customer rating system that goes from one to five.
“In my discussion with Enterprise, they said that people who give a ‘five’ are three times more likely to return than those who give a ‘four,’” Hoplamazian noted. “And the people who give a ‘four’ are twice as likely [to come back] than [those who give lower numbers]. Below a ‘four,’ and you might as well forget it. The only thing that matters is customer satisfaction.”
I’ll bet similar stats hold true for Internet companies; not just for returning, but for recommending.
It is too-big-to-fail arrogance, such as you find at Facebook and Google, that result in no customer service.
And that attitude trickles down to the entrepreneurs who emulate them.
(My apologies for not posting yesterday.)
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A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read allIf the Shoe Fits posts here.
Last week KG Charles-Harris provided an overview of Vator Splash; today he asks questions critical to every entrepreneurs success and sanity.
Am I becoming jaded? Is there something I’m missing at conferences that others experience?
I recently attended Vator Splash in San Francisco, and unfortunately it was a disappointment. Yet another startup conference where some high-powered, successful speaker repeats the “5 Steps To Success” or some other topic addressed in a very superficial or trite manner.
There is never serious discussion around failure or how to deal with it.
I made an informal survey at the conference by asking two questions of most people I met:
“Have you maxed out your credit cards to fund your startup?”
“Have you received VC or Angel financing that has enabled you to get rid of your debt?”
Being a social guy, I made the rounds and spoke to a lot of people. Almost every entrepreneur I met had incurred significant debt to form the venture. And almost no one had received VC or Angel funding.
This aligns with the huge number of fellow entrepreneurs I have gotten to know over the years. Most have sacrificed greatly to see an idea or venture born.
Unfortunately I have never attended a conference that speaks to this topic – how does an entrepreneur get to the next step.
Most of these conferences seem to have a specific business model, i.e.,
pick a successful entrepreneur as main speaker (usually a Stanford, Harvard or MIT graduate);
present VC or Angel financing as the primary path to success;
target people who didn’t attend any of the above mentioned institutions and make them believe that they can attain the same networks and capital as graduates from these institutions.
They sell the dream of VC funding without providing actual advice on how to
penetrate the networks (let alone provide introductions);
manage rejection;
know when to give up before losing it all;
manage personal finances, etc.
How useful are these conferences? Where can the masses of entrepreneurs who don’t fit the golden mold receive practical advice?
We need more than these events offer – we need something that helps us create success and assists us when dealing with failure.
Vator Splash is a gathering of investors, successful entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs-in-process, entrepreneur wannabes, people who follow technology and those who just like a good party.
Splash brings together high-caliber speakers who talk about how to build and scale great successful companies, how their industries are changing and the opportunities those changes are creating.
Granted there is much to learn from the speakers and networking opportunities, but in a world of too little time how do you choose where to spend it.
The recent Vator Splash conference in San Francisco made me believe that there are different levels of needs for startups.
Somehow it seems that I’ve gone from kindergarten to elementary school, and now have finally advanced to middle school as an entrepreneur. Vator Splash seems to be more on the kindergarten/elementary school level.
What am I attempting to express by making this simile? The levels of knowledge and performance required in each of these school stages reflect the different stages of starting and building a company. Kindergarten is the idea stage; it is necessary to do market research and concept development. Usually this is an iterative process that can take months to years, involves speaking with lots of people and getting feedback that enables the idea to improve.
At elementary school the real learning begins – this is when it’s time to build a team, raise initial capital (friends & family or Angel) and start working on creating a product.
In middle school things reach another level – attracting customers in a repeatable fashion, dealing with executives, and realizing your product’s (baby’s) shortcomings and learning to live with them.
This is when the startup becomes a real business and has to learn to deal with the complexities of the outside world. It has to learn to stand on its own legs and understand how to achieve profitability and growth.
This most often means significantly more investment capital as well, probably a factor of 10-30. Some, very few, companies manage to get through this stage based on the revenues they generate, but this is unusual in the technology space.
High school – I’m still wondering what this will entail. Clearly it has to do with serious scaling, greater product complexity and possible internationalization (though some has already happened).
Each stage has its different capital requirements, so this must also be considered. Beyond that, all is speculation as I’m yet to experience it.
The point to all this is that there seems to be few conferences that are focused on middle and high school. Almost everything is centered around kindergarten and elementary school.
There must be a conference market for entrepreneurs that are a little more advanced. If you know about any, please let me know.
Entrepreneurs face difficulties that are hard for most people to imagine, let alone understand. You can find anonymous help and connections that do understand at 7 cups of tea.
Crises never end.
$10 really does make a difference and you’ll never miss it,
It is well-known that Israel is a hotbed of entrepreneurs with a thriving startup culture, but are you aware of just how far back all that entrepreneuring started?
Have you heard about a 
Buying startups and shutting down their business in the 
A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts 
