INSIGHTS FROM STARTUP NATION / ISRAEL

July 8, 2015

Geekdom San Antonio

BACKGROUND

• Based in San Antonio - for 27 years

• Tech PR / Startup Communications Consultant - 35 years

• Part of Israel’s startup economy for 22 years

• 51 trips to Israel

Early Geekdom Member - in November 2011….

BACKGROUND

• Worked on….

• VoIP

• WiFi

• IPTV

• Tablet PC

• Enterprise everything

OEMs & ODMs who shaped the plumbing of

the Internet

NOW…

• Rackspace Brand Ambassador to Israel (contractor)

• Brand Ambassador to Made in Jerusalem (July and August)

• Applying same skills sets and background… sponsored by Rackspace…

• Focus on Rackspace Startups program

Very small geographic region

3 TARGET MARKETS

• Startups

• VCs / Seed Investors

• Accelerators and Startup Programs

Small Geographic Region

8,000,000 people

WHY ISRAEL?

• Sell into - to sell out of.

• Startups built to scale globally

• English is the main language

• Best test bed in the world - in every language in the world

LANDSCAPE• 4,000 + “startups”

• 40 + accelerators, working spaces, programs

• 250 R&D centers

• 2nd largest startup ecosystem - geographical efficiency

• #3 in NASDAQ publicly traded companies

2014 - A BANNER YEAR

• $3.4 billion raised in VC funding

• 7 IPO’s - $3.5 billion - largest one in the middle of Gaza War

• NY-based Israeli companies raised $1 billion / 235 in NYC alone

• 1,000 new startups

#BeHelpful

UNIQUE…

• Military service… can be a rough neighborhood :)

• Geographic contiguity & efficiency to get things done

• Everyone is degrees of separation

• Blending of cultures from all over the world

Compelling Migration Patterns

IsraelAsia

UK/ Europe

USA

EVANGELISM

• Speaking

• Writing

• Mentoring

• Community events

• Networking everywhere. Everyone is networking….

Gaping Void…

Content…

Media Coverage

ISRAEL NEXT:

• Solving problems of humanity - the API of humanity

• U.S. not always the place to grow

• Developing countries - especially Africa

WHAT EXCITES ME

• Cross section of cultures

• Democratization of startups across all socio- economic spectrum

• Human R&D lab

• From Startup Nation to Scale Up Nation

GOING FORWARD

• San Antonio / Tel Aviv ( all of Israel)

• Regional startup ecosystems in Eastern and Central Europe

• Following the migration patterns of startups to NY / Silicon Valley / Boston

• Story telling and sharing content

OPPORTUNITIES FOR SAN ANTONIO

• Cybersecurity

• Health Care - especially Diabetes

• Energy

• Water

• Agriculture

• Texas A&M Campus

thank you!

alan@weinkrantz.com