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Thursday, May 04, 2006

Israel, The Start-Up.

(A Belated Yom Ha'Atzmaut posting)

High-tech start-up companies can be a great place to work. There's a youthful energy vibrating throughout the building that keeps the company on a "high".

Besides the fun and satisfaction of working for a common goal, on (hopefully) a cool product with a team of bright, creative and exciting people, there's also the dream in the background. The options payout...the dream that owning shares of a company that goes big on NASDAQ...will allow for early retirement, a dream house, a higher living standard...or maybe the ability to barely cover tuition payments for kids in yeshiva elementary schools in the USA. (OK, some dreams aren't very realistic at all).

Along with the fun and excitement comes the stress. The state of not knowing if everything will work out. Will the company last more than it's first or second round of seed funding? How will we deliver the first version of the product if we're late on design and production? There are infinite defects and problems, customer support doesn't exist yet, standards and good operating procedures get thrown by the wayside in the hope of getting the product out the door, and we'll worry about all of that when we have time.

Meet the State of Israel - its very much like a start-up company.

Yet, we've got so much going for us!

We have an amazing product which captivated the world -- the land of Biblical Israel, the ingathering of Jews from around the world, the rebirth of Hebrew, and the rebuilding of the Jewish people after the Holocaust.

Yet, our management doesn't know exactly which direction to lead the company. Every 2-3 years, the shareholders throw out the previous management/Board of Directors, in hopes that new management will get us back on the right track.

We even have competition for the same product and they often use ruthless, murderous tactics to take over our market share (or at least, the product.)

Still, we have a very loyal customer base that supports us, despite all the start-up woes of a (sometimes) rude or inefficient customer service...or the lack of following standard operating procedure ("Don't worry so much...everything will work out fine...") Budgeting for projects doesn't always make sense, "You haven't seen my overdraft, have you?"

Company direction is often fuzzy and unclear, "Netzarim has the same rule as Tel-Aviv"..."Not one Jew will remain in the Gaza Strip"..."disengagement is the right direction"..."Lesson of World War II is that appeasement, concessions, and weakness are recipe for a Holocaust"

Yet with all these problems, I prefer this start-up to anywhere else.

The corporate niceties of other, more established corporations are not for me. They're missing many of the key elements, the feeling of home, the vibrant excitement of being part of the leading-edge team, the big payoff around the corner...and being part of history in the making.

You want a winning stock? This is it.

And there's no better way to invest, than to move here, since every day is payback day.


Eretz Yisrael. Living the Dream.



PS: Aren't you glad I changed the blog back to its regular template? :-)

26 comments:

  1. NO!!!!

    I liked the blue and white. change it back ;)

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  2. That's how I feel about Israel, too...even if it's messed up, it's still better than any other place on Earth. Now I just gotta get there myself...

    By the way, I like this template much better, thanks for changing it back!

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  3. J-Cop: you are WAY outvoted! :)

    Scraps: At some point I'll change the template to something MUCH better...for the time being, I'll keep it as is (with slight improvements here and there to the sidebar, etc.).

    And yeah, we may have our problems in Israel, but at least they are OUR problems :)

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  4. maybe israel is like a biotech start-up.

    everyone puts lots of money into it knowing that biotech takes a while to give returns. so the investors keep investing until one day they realize that they've invested billions and the stratup is not close to a marketable product.

    and here is the problem.

    do they shut down the company and lose their billions of dollars of investment or do they invest even more to keep the company alive in the hope of not losing it all?

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  5. Great Post, Jameeli!
    Yes, that's it; we need to think of Israel as a special 'start-up company'. And we are in the exciting beginning of the 'rest of our lives' as the Geula begins to unfold...
    gotta agree with JCop; I liked the blue and white template MUCH better.
    p.s., you never answered my question: מי היה ברוך ג'מילי?

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  6. LL: Who was Baruch Jameeli?

    http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3025370,00.html

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  7. great post.
    Wha's happened however in Israel is that energy has turned into 'burnout' by the population.They do not see the dangers of other 'companies' who want to destroy us.

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  8. Jameel: I haven't a clue. It's a line from an old song sung by יהורם גאון . I thought maybe YOU knew.

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  9. To Jameel:
    Duh. I should have looked at the URL you listed in your comment before I wrote my response. הדיוט קופץ בראש .
    Thank you for that info. Now that I have no burning secret to uncover as my goal in life, what the heck am I going to do with myself??!

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  10. Forgot to add to my last comment (it's a couple of years late, but...) ברוך דין האמת .

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  11. Terrific analogy, Jameel- spot on!

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  12. Good post - but we are not just a new start-up but a reincarnation of an ancient "company". How do you fit that in?

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  13. Much prefer this template - good call! I loved the post, you have a great way with words. Btw, I'm back at work tomorrow.

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  14. BT: Incorrect! We may have the highest number of lawyers per capita, but there's a reason for that...(we won't go into it over here just now). However, with a good background in US corporate law, there are good opportunities here as well...

    RR: Thanks - I'd been thinking about it for a few years.

    WBM: Hmmm, don't have all the kinks worked out yet. Gimme another day or so to think it over ;-)

    IfYouwillit: Thanks...though I hope to do some serious graphic redecorating at some point. (and you're invited to help!)

    Spammers: I delete thee!

    Lady-Light: I'm sure we can come up with some purpose for your life...sounds like a good MEME. What should "Lady Light" do with her life...and see the entire blogosphere decide. However, you must listen to them...or some weird curse goes onto your blog...

    ReplyDelete
  15. BT: Incorrect! We may have the highest number of lawyers per capita, but there's a reason for that...(we won't go into it over here just now). However, with a good background in US corporate law, there are good opportunities here as well...

    RR: Thanks - I'd been thinking about it for a few years.

    WBM: Hmmm, don't have all the kinks worked out yet. Gimme another day or so to think it over ;-)

    IfYouwillit: Thanks...though I hope to do some serious graphic redecorating at some point. (and you're invited to help!)

    Spammers: I delete thee!

    Lady-Light: I'm sure we can come up with some purpose for your life...sounds like a good MEME. What should "Lady Light" do with her life...and see the entire blogosphere decide. However, you must listen to them...or some weird curse goes onto your blog...

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  16. Pnd0Be The best blog you have!

    ReplyDelete
  17. y9lZGL Thanks to author.

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  18. Thanks to author.

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  19. actually, that's brilliant. Thank you. I'm going to pass that on to a couple of people.

    ReplyDelete
  20. zlLniv write more, thanks.

    ReplyDelete