So Long Israel

It's a bittersweet moment as today marks our last day in Israel.  On the one hand we're excited: we came here to build businesses and learn about the Startup Nation in person.  Just a few days ago we pitched our ventures in what was truly the culmination of this experience.  So as we leave Israel, we know that our departure signifies the accomplishment of the task that we set out to complete.  We can all look back on the last two months and know that we got so much from this experience.  We took an idea and turned it into a business, which is no small feat.  Throughout the process, we became master of the elevator pitch, market sizing gurus and all too well acquainted with PowerPoint's features.  

But our time here in Israel means so much more than the business skills, professional development and important people we met.  Two months ago, twelve MBA's from four different universities arrived in Israel, many of us as total strangers.  We spent nearly every moment over the course of the ensuing 8 weeks together, working, playing and living.  When we board our respective airplanes today at Ben Gurion Airport we will never again be strangers because we shared together the experience of a lifetime.  From waking up to this beautiful view out our window:

to sharing our professional and personal goals on long bus drives across the country to visit a company or attend an industry conference, to the amazing Masada sunrise:

we have all grown together in ways we never though imaginable.

At the beginning of the trip, Asher Epstein explained his philosophy on expectations: "set low expectations and over-deliver."  Well, Asher, over-deliver doesn't even begin to describe it.  This has truly been the experience of a lifetime.  Every single one of has has grown professionally and personally, we've seen and done some amazing things, and if nothing else we are walking away with a deep appreciation for this beautiful country.

So long Israel.  It's been wonderful, and I'm sure it won't be the last time.

Halfway Point

We’re now officially more than one month into the Israeli experience, and what a time it has been.  We’ve met the President, slept in Bedouin tents and hobnobbed at high tech and biomedical conferences.  Given this incredible diversity of opportunities, this blog has been largely dedicated to these amazing experiences.  Amid all of this, we’ve engrossed ourselves in six different technology commercialization projects.  What started as patented technologies have evolved into very strong business models.  We still have a long ways to go, but the feedback from venture capitalists, experts in the field, and of course Asher Epstein and Ze’ev Ganor, will no doubt help us get there.

On our first full day in Israel, we met the inventors of our technologies and our Israeli teammates.  In one short week we scrambled to meet with everyone we could, from the inventor and his or her colleagues to anyone with relevant experience in the field, in order to better understand our technologies and how to apply them in the marketplace.  From there, we’ve narrowed down our list of commercial applications from five to one and honed in on real market size estimates.  From our presentation skills to our business plans, every single individual has made marked and noticeable improvements over the last month.  The venture capitalists continue to poke holes in our arguments, assumptions and models, and we take this feedback into account every week.

While we are still a long ways from launching a business, we are beginning to see the fruits of our labor.  Our first presentations demonstrated how little we knew about our technologies, the industry in which we planed to commercialize them and the details of the intellectual property that protects them.  Since then, we have all become experts on our patents, performed extensive industry analyses, and become quite accustomed to the tough line of questioning that we receive during and after our presentations.  Our presentation slides are polished and professional and where it once took five minutes to explain our technology, we now have the pitch down to 30 seconds.

From financial projections to the final business plan, there is much work yet to be done prior to our final venture capitalist pitches on July 7^th.  With the training and mentoring we are receiving, I am confident we will get there.

The Daily Grind

We've been in Israel for about a month now, and one question that we consistently receive from readers of this blog, friends and family, and Israelis alike is: what exactly are you doing in Israel? The nature of our project was broadly defined in our first blog post, and I have done my best to update on the most salient and exciting trips, meetings and events. And while our busy schedule has meant that no two days in Israel are created equal, I will attempt to express how we spend our time between travel and meeting important dignitaries.

Asher meeting with the group

After a weekend generally packed with travels, meetings and a little down time on the beach if we're lucky, Monday morning the whole team heads to the Bronica Innovation Lab at the Technion. Located on the sixth floor of the Industrial Engineering and Management Building, we work on our technology commercialization strategies while sitting around a large conference-style table. Between market size research, building presentation decks and meetings with Dingman Center Managing Director Asher Epstein, our office time keeps us quite busy.

While we're at the Technion we also take the opportunity to visit the laboratories where the cutting edge research that we are attempting to commercialize originated. Here, we have the opportunity to not only tour the facilities of the Technion but also meet with the innovators behind the technologies in order to understand the scientific and commercial sides of their work.

Touring the Technion Visitor's Center

When we need a break from the rigor of our work and meetings, the team walks outside our office to enjoy the view from the roof of the Bloomfield Building. From our vantage point atop a hill, we can see all of downtown Haifa, the Old City and even a little bit of the beach. Enough to recharge our batteries and get back to work, anyways.

Getting Down to Work

Between biomed conferences, Israeli holidays involving barbecuing on the beach and a little sightseeing, we have spent countless hours working on our technologies.  On our first full day in Israel everyone met their Israeli counterparts and saw presentations from the Technion innovator who developed their techs.  From that moment on, we have been fully immersed in every aspect of our technologies: wrapping our minds around the science behind them, researching the potential applications for them, meeting with experts in the field and related fields in which they could be commercialized and of course conceiving of the initial business models for their potential commercialization.

With just one week to immerse ourselves in our technologies, each team presented five potential applications to the class and our instructors.  We were encouraged to move beyond the most obvious applications for our technologies, which means we saw some really outside-the-box ideas for commercial applications for these innovations.

While our instructors, Ze’ev Ganor and Asher Epstein, went easy on us in our first class, they turned on the Israeli charm for our second Thursday night meeting.  The first presentation was interrupted during their first few slides for questions – a sharp contrast from the MBA classes back home where professors patiently await the obligatory “Questions?” slide to tell you how wrong your assumptions are.

Olivia and Lisa presenting their technology

To that end, we have learned a lot during our first full week.  First, you must think outside the box when it comes to entrepreneurship – thinking linearly about applications for a new technology is an easy way to get shot down by a venture capitalist.  Second, understanding the market for a new technological application is not as straightforward as it might at first appear.  Numerous assumptions must often be made (especially when dealing with an innovation that solves a problem in a unique manner), and those assumptions must be supported by logical claims.  Failure to do so is an easy way to ensure tough questions from venture capitalists.  And third, selling a new technology is all about solving a problem.  Convincing your audience of the severity of this problem and how your innovation addresses it better than the competition is the basis of your sales pitch, and you should never lose sight of it.

Celebration, Send Off

With just two weeks before our departure for Haifa, Miles Gilburne of ZG Ventures graciously hosted a reception in honor of the Dingman Center’s Global Technology Entrepreneurship Fellowship.  This opportunity allowed our team to meet the donors whose contributions have helped make our summer experience a reality.  The host kicked off a round of speeches by welcoming us into his home and sharing his insight on the importance of entrepreneurship and innovation in succeeding in the business world.

Then, Dean G. “Anand” Anandalingam (or Dean Anand for short) of the Robert H. Smith School of Business provided a global context to the importance of what we are doing this summer.  From cross-cultural dialogue and international business experience to a hands-on lesson in innovation and entrepreneurship, he explained that our team is engaging in the type of practical learning that exemplifies the ideal 21^st century MBA education.

Before the night was through, Asher Epstein, Managing Director of the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship and the leader of our trip to Israel, introduced the team and allowed us to formally present ourselves to the Dingman community.  Speaking in front of accomplished entrepreneurs and investors will be an everyday occurrence for our team this summer, so this was spot-on in terms of preparation.

Amos Cruz introducing himself with the team looking on

Our team left the night with a deeper appreciation of just what we will be tasked with this summer and its implications for our careers and professional development as well as its broader significance for the Smith School.  And while the takeaways were many, they can be summarized with the following:

We were told that no matter how hard we work, Israeli venture capitalists will find flaws in our business plans; this is the nature of early stage investing.  We were reminded that few startup ventures ever grow into full-fledged businesses; we must at once temper our expectations while still thinking big.  It was impressed upon us that only through hard work and creative thought will we succeed this summer.  But most of all, the experienced entrepreneurs expressed a sense of envy that they had not had the opportunity to immerse themselves in such a rich learning experience early in their careers.  I can speak for all of us when I say that this event truly set a positive tone for the 8 weeks that await us in Israel.