OurielOhayon

only 37m USD invested in Internet in 2005 in Israel

I just read a BDO report that shows that in 2005 only 37m USD were invested in internet startups in Israel compare to 1.34 billion USD in other high tech industries in 2005.

I am sure the 2006 number will be higher, but it just shows how big is the gap between Israel and the USA. Chicken or egg investment is a big part of a successful internet ecosystem.

I hope more VCs will dare getting into that complex space.

Back but not for long

Impossible to summarize in a just a few lines the intensity and energy i discovered in Silicon Valley for the past 10 days. All i can say is that i understand a bit better why the USA are still and will remain for while the world champion in creating and stimulating successful world class internet start ups.

I certainly recommand to any entrepreneur to take a dip once in a while over there. Israel has a lot to learn from there although we have here a strong entrepreunarial track record. For me the key difference is the level of expertise of young entrepreneurs in consumer internet and the level of development of the ecosystem necessary to stimulate success, starting from university to venture capital and concentration of key players at all level.

In 10 days i met so many internet companies that i can hardly recall all of them. I even crossed with Chad Hurley from YouTube a few minutes before i take off. Lots of VERY interesting meetings and even though most of our investments will be in israel those will serve in a way or another our future portfolio company (actual we have already one)

Anyway, this is definetly not the last time i am going there.

So now i am here, but i am off again in 3 week for LeWeb3 which is promising to be the second best internet event this is after the Web2.0conference i just attended.

See you there december 11/12

PS: 2 thoughts out of the blue

• please launch a TRUE high quality coffee network in the US, starbucks is awful (how about AROMA/ARCAFFE or whatever)
• one thing i miss already are the great jazz radio nearly add free (KCSM KKSF). Which is the opposite of what we have in israel (ads and sometime music). will listen on the internet from now on.

Invited at a Web2.0 panel for Harvard Business School alumni

I had a terrific time speaking at a web2.0 panel for Harvard Business School alumni at SAP HQ in Palo Alto. I joined Jeff Clavier, Nik Cubrilovic (CEO of Omnidrive) and a guy from SAP in a panel moderated by Chris Yeh from Symphoniq. We listed our TOP 10 web2.0 applications.

Below the ranking (the reason my name is written on the board is that because they could not figure out how to spell it right)

 

Actually i was not formally invited, i replaced a very famous speaker that could not make it…

The departed is a brilliant movie

I really recommand you this last Martin Scorcese movie with a sophisticated scenario and good catches. I saw it while in San Francisco. Long time Scorcese did not make a good movie (both Gang of NY and Aviator were crap) Below the trailer. 

Btw, try to type “the departed” in google and see the results.

Good overview on Web2.0 summit

To read here at Read/Write web. this was a good conference.

btw i was with Richard MacManus yesterday evening when he wrote this post

web2 SPAM

i can t believe that in the web2.0 most "prestigious" conference you still get in your goodies bag TONES of spam. I thought web2 was about giving user choice and control. And i obviously did not ask for all these ads i wll never read.

An ideal marketing partnership

 +

that’s what a reader told me in San Francisco. All i need in the morning is a coffee and TechCrunch! Isn’t cool?

Mike, we should get on it…

What a crazy last day

Let s make it short. Yesterday was crazy

Started at Sequoia Capital: meeting with Mike Moritz (VCs’ God). Arrived late (!) very late and asked him 2 stupid questions. “What deal did you miss and you wished you had done”. Answer “netflix”. What do you think of the expression “bubble2.0”. Answer “we are all consenting adults”. i let you medidate on that

 

Then follow up at Google Campus for several meeting with Israeli Startups. Totally crazy what s going on there. Just have a look at my flickr pics to understand

Then back to Web2.0 conference, panel with Kevin Rose (Digg) and Marissa Mayer (Google) and a few VP at Yahoo (Yahoo is not dead yet!) + A fantastic panel with users and their internet usage

Then networking and schmoozing, met great people like Beatrice CEO from Mobissimo, Some guys from Feedburner and AOL (that just recruited Franck Gruber, a TechCrunch Contributor) and many other people

Then went to a web party. Drinks, food, and smiles.

That s it i am done. i mean nearly. Today lunch with Jeff Clavier and then meetings at LightSpeed venture .

Orli, the Web Girl

My friend Orli Yakuel is making the cover of The marker this week. Orli writes Go2Web2 a cool blog on new web2 services i recommand you to read (in my blogroll)

She s one of the savviest internet personn i know. And on top of that she’s the opposite of what you think a geek could be.

Well done Orli, you deserved it!

Talents 2.0: Mozart on roller

Just AMAZING.