The Journey Continues

Hello again! One year later, and once again, a group of 12 MBA students (both from Smith, as well as other top MBA programs) is primed to depart for eight weeks in Haifa, Israel as part of the Dingman Center’s Global Technology Entrepreneurship Fellowship program.

To myself and the inaugural team from summer 2010, the fact that the program has continued into a second year provides perhaps the greatest sense of satisfaction. It delivers tangible affirmation of the entrepreneurial path we blazed last summer. As the first participants in a brand new program, we knew the risks involved. Yet, without a doubt, last summer not only met, but exceeded our expectations. More importantly, we helped lay the foundation for this year's team to hit the ground running.

As I have mentioned previously on many occasions in this blog - Israel is an entrepreneur's dream. It is the quintessential Start-Up Nation. It is a land of high-tech innovation and a center of venture capital. Yet, it is also a land of many contradictions. For these and a myriad of other reasons, Israel is a fascinating laboratory for any business professional interested in studying innovation or entrepreneurship.

This post marks my final comments on the program. However, the story continues for this year's MBAs. If you are interested in reading about and following their exploits in Israel over the following two months, please head over to their page to find out more. Fellow MBA and 2011 participant Andrew Giessel has taken over blogging duties for this year's program. I wish him all the best, and hope you enjoy reading his posts this summer.

World Cup Final

Last Sunday the world stopped for a moment to watch the beautiful game. As an American abroad, getting into soccer/football this summer has actually been pretty cool! Every match - not just the USA matches - has been required viewing, either at the local pubs in Haifa or back at our house in Ramat Eshkol.

Since we were no longer in Haifa for the weekend of the final, the team decided to take cabs into Tel Aviv to watch the match. What better place to see the 2010 World Cup Final than in the country's most party-centric city! After a great dinner - the team migrated to the Paradise Bar - the local Dutch expat bar to watch the game. The mood at the bar (and in the streets surrounding it) was electric. Everywhere you looked, people were gathered around TVs or were standing on whatever they could (cars, benches, etc.) to see the various big screen projectors that had been set up. Some folks in our group found a hole in the wall bar next door to watch the match, while another group (me included) went down the block to a schwarma place to see the game. In the end - the Dutch lost in OT - which was a big disappointment for everyone (me especially) since we'd all been pulling for the boys in orange. That being said, the Spanish played a heck of a game and that final goal was very clutch. Congrats to them.

Hebrew University, pt1

After departing Haifa last Sunday, the team headed south to the city of Rehovot for a four day course in strategic water management at the Robert H. Smith School of Agriculture at Hebrew University. Combining classroom instruction from faculty, with site visits to various area water projects in central Israel, the short program was designed as an intense boot camp in all aspects of the water business landscape - both in Israel and globally.

"Dr. Yoram Porat lectures on the structural models of global development"
Photo by Kristin Thompson

Our first visit of the day was with Dr. Yoram Porat, a distinguished faculty member in the field of international strategic planning and project management. Over the course of two multi-hour sessions, Dr. Porat provided a dynamic overview of the models and frameworks that provide the foundation for most global development initiatives - and particularly those in the realm of water management. At times, Dr. Porat lingered on conceptual ideas more than I would have liked, but in total his instruction was useful in providing meaningful dialogue within the team and raising issues we otherwise wouldn't have considered.

"On the roof Ra'anana's offices overlooking their facility"
Photo by Kristin Thompson

On Monday morning we awoke early for a day of company visits. The first visit of the day was to the Ra'anana Wastewater Treatment Plant. Our host, Avital Dror-Ehra - the on-site manager, provided the team with a comprehensive presentation on water issues in Israel, as well as a functional overview of the wastewater treatment system. Afterward, we received an hour long tour of the facility in order to see the system in operation. The Ra'anna plant is not overly large, though the small size was helpful putting the full process into context.

"The team looks at the bio-refiners at Ra'anana plant"
Photo by Kristin Thompson

That afternoon the team visited the Yarqon River Authority for a presentation by general manager (and University of Maryland graduate) Dr. David Pargament. The Yarqon is the major river and watershed in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. Over the past few decades, as population and industry have increased, both water quality and water volumes have declined precipitously. The Yarqon River Authority is a semi-private, independent body, that was set up to combat the challenges to the Yarqon. It is amazing the success they've had in such a short amount of time - especially due to the multi-layered government bureaucracies.

"Dr. Pargament presents on the history of the Yarqon River"
Photo by Kristin Thompson

On Tuesday the team visited the Ayalon Institute - which though actually non-water related - was still of interest for its cultural (and entrepreneurial) history. Located on Kibbutzim Hill in Rehovot, the Ayalon Institute was the primary (clandestine) ammunition factory for the Haganah (Jewish militia) in the time before and during the 1948 Independence War. 

"The exit to the underground bullet factory of the Ayalon Institute"
Photo by Kristin Thompson

Between 1946-1948, over 2+ million bullets were manufactured here. These were nine-millimeter bullets, for the Sten sub-machine gun, which was the primary personal weapon during the war. In many respects, this factory was a precursor to the defense industry and contractors that would arrive after the war. What was most interesting about this factory was that it was hidden almost 30 feet below the floor of the laundry. Very cool!

Goodbye Haifa

Friday was relaxed during the day. Mostly it consisted of recovery from the previous evenings shenanigans. That night however we went by taxi to the artist's colony, Ein Hod for drinks and dinner. Our first stop of the evening was at Danny Shlyfestone's Art Bar for some home made beer. Danny - who is quite a character - makes his home brews in giant vats and then bottles them in recycled soda bottles. Really good stuff. 

"The brewmaster, Danny Shlyfestone, in his natural habitat"
Photo by Nadav Bloch

Our next stop was to the Argentinian steak house, Doña Rosa. This place is - to this point - the dining highlight of the trip. Steaks (we all shared a mixed grill) came perfectly prepared on mini charcoal grills at the table. If that wasn't enough, the wine was fantastic and desert was amazing. This is one meal I will remember for a long time.

"Hands down, one of the best meals ever"
Photo by Kristin Thompson

On Saturday, everyone had a relaxing and chill final day in Haifa. I spent the majority of the day at the beach - taking in the sun, drinking iced coffees and smoothies, and generally doing nothing of value. In the evening, we ate the remains of the lamb from our schecting (see here). Some we cooked as steaks, the rest as an Irish stew. Altogether, it was delicious. Afterwords, we watched the World Cup runner-up match between Germany and Uruguay.

"Sunset on Karmel Beach in Haifa"
Photo by Stephen Kushner

Sunday morning we left Haifa for the last time. In many ways, it was sad to say goodbye. That being said, the remainder of the trip sounds great! Southern Israel, here we come.

Final Presentations

On Tuesday, prior to our final presentations later in the week, the team was invited to celebrate the end of the course at a BBQ hosted by one of the VCs. The event was a great culmination to the course and was a really terrific send-off by our professor Uzi de Haan as well as the various other VCs who've been with us since week one. It also definitely didn't hurt that the food (chicken and lamb kebab) and locale were awesome, too!

"I talk with Gil about cross cultural relations at the celebratory bbq"
Photo by Kristin Thompson

On Thursday night we gave our final presentations - on our tech commercialization and business plan projects - to a panel of venture capitalists. Other members of the audience included classmates, professors, inventors, and representatives of the Technion Technology Transfer Office. Our final pitch was a summation of the previous 7 weeks - distilled into a succinct 15 minute pitch. All in all, the shared consensus was that everyone did a terrific job with the presentations. Personally, I'm glad to be done.

"Kristin and Kelley pitch their hydrogen business to the VCs"
Photo by Stephen Kushner

That night, following class, the team went out and celebrated in Haifa until the whee hours of the morning. Our first stop of the evening was The Sleek. Many hours and drinks later everyone relocated via taxi to Haifa beach for dancing and swimming in the late (early) morning hours. Shortly thereafter we caught taxis back to the house. Good times!

First Three Weeks

As we approach the end of the our first three weeks in Israel, I think it's probably as good a time as any to provide a recap of where we've been so far. I'll try and do this a few times this summer in order to fill in any new readers on anything they may have missed. Anyway, the past weeks have certainly gone by quickly. We've seen and done quite a bit. In fact, it's actually hard to believe how much we've been able to fit in to such a short amount of time.

Pre-Departure: in the weeks leading up to the trip I blogged here and here about the reasons why I believe Israel is important and what are the unique characteristics that have lead to Israel's economic and technological achievements of the past few decades. Start-up Nation - the unofficial handbook of our trip - was mentioned on a few occasions. On April 29, the team celebrated the beginning of the program, while also recognizing the contributions of the program's many generous donors, at an evening reception in Washington, D.C., hosted by Miles Gilburne and Nina Zolt.

Week 1: After months of planning and hours of travel, the Smith team finally arrived in Tel Aviv, Israel, passed through customs, and then made the hour long drive up the coast to Haifa - our home for the summer. The first few days were set aside for us to get acclimated to our new surroundings. The fact that we'd arrived during the holiday of Shavuot certainly helped keep things quiet that first night. By Thursday we'd had a chance to settle in and proceeded to the Technion for our first class and to meet our Israeli teammates.  The projects were finalized and the patent creators presented on each of their technologies. On the weekend we toured the city of Haifa - the German Colony and the Baha'i Gardens - and then traveled north for visits to Rosh Hanikra and Acre.

Week 2: The second week began slowly - with Monday through Wednesday working at our office at the Technion. I blogged about the Israeli business culture here. On Wednesday we had a presentation from the Technion Entrepreneurship Club. Then on Thursday, we had our second class with presentations from the Technion incubator and our project leader Asher Epstein, among others. At the end of the week we departed Haifa for a weekend visit to Tel Aviv. Friday morning we had a brief meeting with Israel's Warren Buffet, Yossi Vardi. Later that afternoon, we went on a guided tour of the city - from Jaffa and Neve Tzedek to the Hacarmel Market. Saturday we were free to explore on our own - or head to the beach - as a few folks did. It was awesome! Before heading back to Haifa, on Sunday we had meetings at two venture capital firms, Tamir Fishman and AquAgro Fund, where we met with Moshe Levin and Hillel Milo respectfully. Altogether it was a busy but exciting week!

Week 3: At the beginning of the week a political and military incident drew the eyes of the world to the coast off of Israel and the Gaza Strip. Early on in the week, our resident video blogger, Stephen Kushner, posted the first (of five) major trip videos on the site. Wednesday found us once again at the Technion Entrepreneurship Club for a presentation by one of our program's benefactors, Rick Zitelman. Rick gave a talk on business ethics (here) from a Jewish perspective, as well as comments on investing in general (here). On Thursday we had our first major presentation of the trip. In class we gave 30 minute presentations on our technologies and five potential markets to a panel of local Israeli venture capitalists. [More on this event to appear later this week]. On Thursday, my photo from our house in Haifa was featured on The Atlantic. This weekend the team has been enjoying free time at the beach, while getting ready for next week, when we'll be heading to Jerusalem for the High Tech Industry Association Conference.

View From My Window

For the past few years, I've been a regular reader of Andrew Sullivan's blog at The Atlantic. Andrew's political and social analysis is top notch, and though I don't always agree with everything he writes, I am always impressed by his thought provoking articles and the discussions his blog fosters.

Back in May 2006, Sullivan began a daily feature on his site that he called The View From Your Window. Originally started as a week-long experiment of reader submitted photos, the project quickly became a favorite of regular readers and has continued on ever since. Per his blog, here is the goal of this daily feature:

The point of the project is not to document snow fall in New Orleans, the aftermath of a hurricane in the South Pacific, or a beautiful sunset in the Arizona desert. The best window views are those depicting what you see everyday when you look outside. So show us - and every other reader - your world. Don't pretty it up; just show it as it is - a glimpse through the looking glass of a blog, at the world its readers live in.

This is really all it is - an opportunity for people to get brief looks into the daily lives of others throughout the world. Ultimately, this feature has been so successful, that last year it was turned into a book.

Anyway, what is the relevance for Smith in Israel? Our team has a pretty amazing view from our place in Haifa, so earlier this past week I submitted a photograph taken from the top window of our team's house to Andrew's blog. I really didn't think it had much of a chance to make the cut. Yet, lo-and-behold, out of the many hundreds of photos received daily, he selected mine for his Thursday post!

"The view from my window"
Photo by Daniel Branscome

Though my photo goes uncredited on his site (as are all other photos submitted to this feature) I think its still pretty cool that the Smith team's view of the world - at least for 9 weeks this summer - got to be shared in this way.

Venture Capitalists, pt1

I'm definitely quite a bit late in getting a post out about this, but every time I thought I'd have a free moment to start putting down my thoughts, I'd get distracted by something else. Anyway, better late than never! 

This past Sunday, May 30th, the team visited two venture capital firms in the Tel Aviv area before returning back to Haifa in the late afternoon. Our meetings at both locations lasted a little over an hour, and in both instances we were given an opportunity to ask questions. Given the differences in each visit, I've decided to break up my coverage of each into two separate posts.

The first meeting was at DFJ Tamir Fishman, the local affiliate of Menlo Park, CA based Draper, Fisher, Jurvetson (DFJ). DFJ and its worldwide partner organizations (including DFJ Tamir Fishman) manage a portfolio of companies and assets worth approximately $6 billion. DFJ Tamir Fishman itself is actually the venture capital subsidiary of the larger Tamir Fishman Group, which is a full-service financial management firm.

At DFJ Tamir Fishman, our host and point of contact was Moshe Levin. Currently a managing general partner, Moshe is a 25 year veteran of the Israeli venture capital industry, having previously served as a partner at  Pitango, Israel's largest VC firm. It was pretty clear from the get go that Moshe would be able to offer us a wealth of information and experience - and we were not disappointed.

Moshe's presentation was in some respects a recap of Start-up Nation. That being said, his presentation did dig into some prime examples of Israeli created technologies that many of us had not been aware prior to our meeting. I realize I've already gone into some of this in previous posts, but it still bares repeating.

It is quite extraordinary how many technologies - upon which our current global economy is based - that were created in Israel. To be honest, these contributions are drastically out of proportion relative to the size of this country, its population, or its economy. Listed below are a just a few of these technologies as well as the Israeli (or Israeli subsidiary) that was responsible for each creation.

• Pentium PC - Intel
• Centrino - Intel
• IP Networking - RadWare, Allot
• Flash Memory - M-Systems
• Stents - Medinol
• Generic Drugs - Teva
• Voice Mail - Comverse
• Instant Messaging - ICQ (Acquired by AOL)
• Cable Modems - Libit (Acquired by TI), Terayon
• Cordless Phones - DSPC (Acquired by Intel)
• Cellular - TI
• 3G Cellular - Modem Art
• VoIP - Vocaltec, AudioCodes
• AntiVirus - Symantec
• Firewalls - CheckPoint

Seriously, it is astonishing the range of technological innovations that have emerged from Israel over the past twenty years! From the internet, to personal and portable computers, to telecommunications, and medical devices, each of the above technologies was critical to the development and evolution of these markets and industries. Given their impacts, it would be hard to imagine a world in which these technologies had not been invented.

Political Issues

As I'm sure everyone is now aware, a flotilla of ships heading to the Gaza Strip territory was raided yesterday by a team of Israeli commandos. The world media is now debating the legitimacy of the action, as well as the long term viability of the blockade of the Gaza Strip territory. Tensions are high and opinions on both sides are heated.

Given the growing significance of this incident over the past 48 hours, in the Mediterranean off Israel, I think it's worth taking a moment to offer some brief comments as to its affect on 1) our group, 2) our program going forward, and 3) on business in general in Israel.

First, as to any immediate impact on our group, there is none. In Haifa, where we are based, we are about as far from the Gaza Strip as one can get in Israel. Additionally, as of right now, there have only been limited protests in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and the occupied territories. The feeling is, as of right now, that cooler heads will prevail. Hopefully, this will now be resolved purely through diplomatic channels.

Second, as to the long term impact on the program, this is also a non issue. To be sure, we as a group are watching and following the news with care. That being said, the direct impact on us in Haifa is muted. From my perspective, these issues could conceivably be happing on the other side of the earth - as opposed to down the coast in Gaza.

Lastly, business as usual goes on in Israel. In this part of the world, things happen. If one were unable to quickly adjust, then one would get nothing done. For example, in Haifa during the 2006 Lebanon War, over 6,500 Qassam rockets fell throughout the region. My teammates at the Technion related that they continued going to work and university throughout this period, despite the threat. For myself as an American these reactions seem cavalier and reckless. For Israelis, it's a given. Life goes on.

I will be watching with interest and with care as this issue develops over the following weeks. For now however I will follow the example of my Israeli teammates, push forward and continue working.

Heading North

This weekend found the team on the road to Northern Israel. Waking up bright and early on Sunday morning, we had a quick breakfast and then departed for a day long guided excursion to see the sights and attractions of Haifa, Acre, and Rosh HaNikra. 

After a quick drive up the coast from our base in Ramat Eshkol, first up was a quick tour through Haifa's German Colony and then up the side of Mount Carmel to the most impressive (and beautiful) view in Haifa - the Bahá'í World Centre and the Shrine of the Báb. As you can see from the picture below, the Bahá'í Gardens are gorgeous.

"View of Haifa from the top terrace of the Bahá'í Gardens"
Photo by Daniel Branscome

Leaving Haifa, we headed further up the coast to the ancient city of Acre. One of the oldest sites of human habitation, Acre has been a site of many conflicts over the past millenia - and has changed hands repeatedly. As such, Acre is home to many interesting sites, chief among them, a buried Crusader Fortress, an Ottoman Citadel, and the Khan al-Umdan. 

"inside the main hall of the Knights Hospitaller at Acre"
Photo by Kristin Thompson

No doubt about it, these places were big hits with the group and had the Dan Brown fans among us thinking back to what we'd read regarding the Knights Templar and Knights Hospitaller. Very cool stuff.

By this time, the group was getting hungry - and boy oh boy - the tour guide did not disappoint. This brings us to what I'd say is currently the odds on favorite for highlight of the trip to date - lunch in Acre. After trudging through back allies, we found ourselves in front of a packed little hummus joint in the middle of Acre's Arab souq. 

"Our tasty hummus lunch in Acre's Arab souq"
Photo by Kristin Thompson

If its not already obvious, the team really liked lunch - even as it only really consisted of warm pita, veggies, and hummus. The restaurant - whose name I never quite figured out how to pronounce - was instantly dubbed by the group as the "Ben's Chili Bowl" (Hummus Bowl?) of Acre. It was just that good.

Leaving Acre, we departed for the final site of the day, Rosh HaNikra. Directly on the border with Lebanon, these white chalk cliffs and coastal grottoes are known as the gateway to Israel. Taking a cable car down to the sea edge, we were able to explore the inside of the caves - and get up close and personal (my wet t-shirt is a testament to how close I was) with the waves that have been crashing and forming this site for ages. 

"The team enjoying the seaside sights of Rosh HaNikra"
Photo by Kristin Thompson

This was a great way to end the day - and got us all excited about the adventures to come! Next up, this week we'll be working at the Technion in Haifa. Then on Friday we depart for a weekend in Tel Aviv.

Straight To Work

After a free day to rest and recover, on Thursday we had our first class at the Technion. Around 4PM, we left our place in the Ramat Eshkol neighborhood to head to the campus. 

Upon arrival we had a reception and had our first chance to meet our Israeli classmates (and teammates) for the summer. It seemed clear from the get-go (at least to me, and I believe to the other Smith students as well) that our Israeli teammates are just as excited as we are to get started. Our Israeli counterparts are all current students at the Technion, though many are also still employed during the week, mostly in the high-tech, aviation, and defense industries. To be sure, their diverse technical expertise will come in handy!

Class began promptly at 5PM with our professor, Uzi de Haan, spending a few minutes introducing the material, outlining the course, and setting expectations. Uzi - a professor at the Technion since 2003 and formerly CEO of Philips Electronics Israel seems like a real "no nonsense" kind of operator. He offered the class a pretty stark assessment of the challenge in front of us. Also, he didn't sugarcoat the assignment by shying away from the reality that some of the patents we'd be looking at wouldn't necessarily be "ready for prime time".

At 7PM we moved to a different classroom to hear presentations from each of the various patent inventors, scientists, and researchers regarding their technologies. Over the course of the next 2+ hours, we were given a terrific introduction to each of the patents. Some were already in a prototype stage, while others were still merely conceptual. Some had clear problems they looked to address, whereas others were still solutions looking for the right question. Regardless, what was clear was that each was very different and thus, would require teams to undertake multiple approaches.

With our teams formed and our patents assigned, the next two weeks will see us driving towards our first deliverable. Using both outside research, combined with team brainstorming, we must determine five potential markets or end users for our technology. We will then create presentations and come prepared to defend our selections. 

The Smith Team

Team Members, From Left to Right

Back: Kelley Harris, Kristin Thompson, Asher Epstein (Program Director), Sean Luke, Daniel Branscome, Anne Bisso, Brad Husser, Chris Rajashekar

Front: Donald Mayer, Stephen Kushner, Gil Sharon

On The Ground

Well, after months of planning, a fast and furious past few days packing and saying goodbye to loved ones back home, and then 10+ hours in the air, we're now all safely installed in our new home, Haifa! Indeed, everyone couldn't have been in better spirits when we met up at the airport earlier today. The reality of the program finally coming to fruition has definitely been exciting for us all.

After people quickly changed money, we hopped in a van for the hour and a half ride up to Haifa from Tel Aviv. Since today (and tomorrow) are the holiday, Shavuot, access to stores and shops is extremely limited. Thankfully, our highly capable on-the-ground program coordinator, Shelby, thought ahead and stocked our kitchen with snacks, so everyone was able to grab a quick bite (hummus, pitas, and veggies) before finally heading to bed.

Tomorrow we'll be acclimating to Israel and then getting ready to dive into our technology projects starting on Thursday. So far, so good!

Hello! Shalom!

So the question I'm sure you're asking yourself is, "What is Smith in Israel?" and more generally, "What is this blog all about?" Here's the deal. This upcoming summer, myself, 9 fellow MBA students from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, and 1 PhD student from the University of Maryland's A. James Clark School of Engineering will be traveling to Haifa, Israel. Our shared purpose is a desire to immerse ourselves in the Israeli business and entrepreneurship culture.

For 10 weeks we will participate in an innovative and exciting new internship program spearheaded by Asher Epstein and the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the Smith School; the Technion Entrepreneurship Center; the TechnionSeed incubator and T3, the Technion technology transfer office. We will pair into teams with counterparts from the Technion, working together to develop businesses around technology developed at the Technion. Our overarching goal will be to develop commercialization strategies as well as explore potential market opportunities in the United States.

Over the course of the summer, my task (assisted from time to time by my teammates) will be to create a written record of our trip, cataloging our daily activities and bringing some of our more interesting stories and adventures to life. To be sure, much of the anticipated audience for this blog will be those who - for a variety of reasons - are already aware of the program. However, I hope that by sharing our group's experiences we can create resonance outside this circle as well, bringing attention and recognition to our many amazing partners, both in the United States and Israel.