Have been deeply immersed in the application screening for Zell 15 these days. Tons of eager bright eyed IDC students vying for the opportunity to join an incredible journey of development, growth and learning in the process of venture creation. But how do we choose? What are the traits of an entrepreneur? I have had the opportunity to think about this topic a lot over the course of the ten years I have been involved in the program and it rests on years of previous experience representing entrepreneurs as a mergers and acquisitions lawyer as well.

While clearly there is no one correct answer I think in sum I would say there are some fundamental ingredients that distinguish successful entrepreneurs. Passion is the no brainer. It fits the stereotype and makes intuitive sense. A venture needs someone with a deep conviction and desire to change the world and a the passion to make that happen by getting partners, investors, suppliers and customers/users on board…the next one less intuitive a...

Earlier this summer, before the rockets and sirens, I had the privilege of moderating the Startup Nation 2.0 panel at the Herzliya Conference with a host of panelists I know and work with, including IDC’s Prof. Yair Tauman and Prof. Ron Shahar, also Shai Agassi and Yanki Margalit and someone I met in the context of the panel, Prof. Daniel Zajfman, President of the Weizman Institute of Science, in Israel.The main topic discussed was what Israel’s tech and startup industry will look like in the near future and beyond.

The panelists gave insights to what they think is essential in order for the eco-system to flourish. Prof. Tauman, also Zell’s academic director, the new Dean of theAdelson School of Entrepreneurship and someone I consider a mentor, noted that one of the major problems Israeli startups have is scaling. But easier said than done, right?

Shai Agassi, always the creative big picture thinker, suggested creating a fund to help Israeli companies grow to mat...

I have been making it a habit to give out copies of Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean Into strong women I know to help bolster and empower them above and beyond their existing natural talents and strengths. The book tackles the particular situation of talented and ambitious women, that somehow underestimate themselves. The book certainly resonated with me and the many women I have come to know in the Zell program.

It spurred to give them copies, but also more importantly to get more women to give the book to! I have asked myself often why more women do not apply…Sheryl Sandberg poses some interesting data to suggest that women tend to undervalue themselves in view of set criteria and do not apply for positions unless they meet all 100% of the criteria, whereas men don’t seem to have this problem (of course this is a gross generalization and gender is not only sex based). The data for applications to Zell certainly reflect this: far more men without the required qualifications (whether, grades, exp...

Last week at the Web Summit in Dublin a cohort of Zellots descended on the event…so many a reporter took the bait (initiated by Hagar Rips of Zell 8) and interviewed a bunch!

Yonatan Raz Fridman, Zell 8 as well…and the founding chairman of the alumni organization, called the Zell Alumni Network wrote a post that I would love to share:

From Dublin with Love

In January this year I took a flight from Tel Aviv to London to build Kano Computing. this was after Liat Aaronson and Dror Ceder (Zell 7) introduced me to one of my co-founders. Before that, I had the privilege to work at Keter Plastic, where I succeeded Nimrod Bar-Levin (Zell 4) as executive assistant to the CEO of Keter. In between these two events I had the real honour and fun to build the Zell Alumni Network, but it would never happen without the help, support and partnership of other Zellots – Uri Haramati (Zell 5), Liat Mordechay-Hertanu (Zell 1), Vicky Halfon (Zell 9), Daphna Giniger (Zell 8), Yoni Blau (Zell 7), Liraz Shaharaba...

“What is the most resilient parasite? Bacteria? A virus? Or an intestinal worm? An idea. Resilient, highly contagious. Once an idea takes hold of the brain it is almost impossible to eradicate…”

Such says Cobb (Leonardo DeCaprio) in the movieInception (and a friend explaining her rash return to Israel this year). The notion of the omnipotence of an idea is rampant. But any experienced startup entrepreneur knows that while ideas can certainly be powerful (addictive even), they need to be taken in stride. Ideas are a dime a dozen…execution is the bottom line.

I love the quote though, because there is a power to ideas…a magic to them… ideas worth spreading is the tag line for TED.com and the premise of their experiment in brand extension called TEDx. TEDx are independently organized events using the TED model of talks in 18 minutes or less. I was fortunate to be involved in one of the TEDx events last week in Israel, called TEDxIDC. Dreamed up, initiated and executed by two IDC student...

As we near the end of another Jewish calendar year, its always a great time to take stock of the year that passed.

Zell 12 completed “Zell Live” or their magic (and sometimes manic) year and graduated into alumni status (finished their studies at IDC Herzliya as well). A few ventures continuing in one way or another, but the cards are still out on which will weather the storm and reality check of real world entrepreneurship or what I call the ‘August Test’ when the alternative cost of being an entrepreneur (i.e. being unemployed) becomes significantly different from the year past.

Two of the ventures had live working products by the end of the year: Repstamp and Payground. Repstamp is now seeking to raise funds and Payground being put on the back burner. Fandome is also seeking funding and completing its alpha and Naked Caps is working on its prototype product. Supplime, Farmbow and Feedeo have disbanded and laid their ventures to rest. Some of the Zellots are looking for work in start-u...

From the iconic Casablanca quote, the Zell 12 class, no matter where their dreams will take them, “will always have Chicago, San Francisco, Boston and NYC…” or rather will always have the memories of this memorable study trip to the US. This June, another cohort of Zellots took their suits, decks, one pagers and bulky luggage, including a year’s worth of emotional baggage to head for the program finale abroad. Two weeks of action packed company visits, condensed classes, presentation events and eye opening experience.

The trip started June 1 at Ben Gurion, where one of the teams prepared flight kits for the journey including eye covers for the flight, needed toiletries like bandages and pain relievers a personalized shot glass and a bag.

We flew to Chicago via NYC and got a chance to get to know the Windy City and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. The students took a specially designed modular program in commercializing innovation and entrepreneurial mark...

Have finished three books of late that are worthy of sharing. The first a read for the literary soul in me, was Casual Vacancy by J.K.Rowling. If you are convinced as I was that she is a master fantasy storyteller, than this latest endeavor of hers proves she is simply (though there is nothing simple about it) a Master Storyteller. Thinking back I would argue that what makes the book an incredible read is her depth of characters, or the fact everyone has their own truth and it has many facets. Just when you think you feel something about someone she throws in a different angle and you see that person in a different light.

The second, of the modern Israeli investigative journalism genre, called Ze’elim, was given to me by Boaz Shedletzkyand autographed to me by the author, Omri Assenheim (the two of them by both of their counts are very good friends). As a disclaimer I’ll say that I do not read much in Hebrew in the limited time I have to read, I prefer the easier (aka lazier) route, plu...

One such Power of B, as in B for Building a Story, that start-middle-end of a telling that evokes the desired response from the listener, is clearly of the utmost importance for an entrepreneur. If you are not totally convinced, I am sure Kirby Ferguson’srecently added piece on the Future of Storytelling with Paul Zak (scroll to the bottom of the page for the second clip), will make you think twice. The clip is evocative and telling… and highlights how essential the structure of a story is to the art of story telling. The clip revisits  Gustav Freytag’s Dramatic Arc of narrative, beginning with exposition (or background), then rising action, climax, falling action and denouement (French for final action). It builds on this Dramatic Arc as the essential framework which makes for powerful storytelling. Freytag’s anti-semitic leanings aside, he clearly tapped into something that neuroscience is beginning to be able to explain today, ergo: That we are somehow wired to hear out a story...

Ask one of the Zellots today, and they will invariably tell you that finding a great idea for a startup is probably one of the bigger challenges. There is the fundamental question of what exactly a good idea is, never mind a great one. Is it one that VCs will invest in? is it one that makes money? is it one a great business can be built around? All valid questions…and then the matter of finding that idea.

I would argue that there is a fundamental flaw underlying that fundamental question…and that is, the notion that an idea can be detached from the problem it is trying to solve. As I see it in the context of venture creation, it is less about the percieved value of the idea and more about addressing a real need…(ideally that someone would be willing to pay for). Ideas will invariably change, pivot and be fine tuned to unrecognisable form as the underlying assumptions of those ideas are tested and validated…(or not)…and then implemented and retested.  The real birth of an idea...