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Small businesses and using digital media – 2 quick and practical tips

7 June 2016
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

It is a subject that comes up very quickly in discussions with new clients. As a business mentor and coach, how can I advise small businesses in their approach towards digital media? Should they create their website by themselves? How much should they invest in SEO and key words? And how……..the questions roll off the tongue.

Just this morning, I met up with a new business, which had created its own site. It was clearly in need of improvements.

I have no intention of trying to cover all of these subjects in one blog. However, yesterday I moderated a session of the Jerusalem Business Networking Forum. The session was dedicated to ideas that ‘take marketing to the next level’. Two speakers, Avi Maderer and Charlie Kalech, gave some awesome presentations that unlocked some of the secrets of digital media.

Avi was quick to point out that you need to deliver and keep delivering quality and relevant content. In order to do this, you need a ‘clear perspective of your niche community’. Otherwise, you will be wasting your time, creating materials for the wrong people, who simply may not look at the information. (And especially for small enterprises, they lack time and resources. So this is a double blow).

In some ways, what is described here is a pretty obvious message. Yet you will be surprised how often I come across people, who ignore these guidelines.

Charlie delved more into the specifics. Google has ensured that SEO and key words are becoming increasingly old-hat. This kind of approach is less likely to drive new customers your way.

Instead, a small business should concentrate on the “intent” of the potential customer. What questions do people ask, when they go to Google? Who are the ‘people in authority’ in your field, and what are they looking for? Dig into these issues and you can start to create some great and directed content.

How much time and money should a small business invest in digital media? Again, the answer is too complex for one blog. That said, from my experience, those CEOs who bother to take the effort to get it right tend to end up with a big fillip in their sales.

Israel’s economy: Anybody at the top care to help?

3 June 2016
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

One of the main reasons that I started this blog was to highlight to many others what the Israeli economy has to offer the global market. By contrast, over the past 12 months, I have been increasingly forced into a position of shouting “Help, danger ahead!”.

Earlier this week, one of the country’s leading financial journalists found himself in a similar position. Sever Plocker laid it out from the top:

  • In the first four months of the year, exports have fallen 22%
  • They had already started tapering off late in 2015
  • Hightech exports, a key factor for years in determining Israel’s growth, are 32% lighter.

You can add in to that property prices are still rising, and are forecast to continue their upward spiral in 2016. It is hardly surprising that the OECD has lowered its forecast for 2016 from 3.2% to 2.5%.

In itself, these patterns are disappointing. What is disastrous is the lack of response to the problems.

  1. The Prime Minister is determined to create a 24 month rolling budget, even though the relevance of such a move is unbelievably cloudy.
  2. The Minister of Finance, Moshe Kahlon, is trying to reform  the procedures to import food, which would lower basic prices. However, a coalition of vested interest groups are holding up the changes.
  3. The development of the offshore gas fields is stuck in the courts.
  4. And………..well, there does not seem to be a lot to report on.

You see just because you announce a new economic policy to help business, the effects take time to work their way through the system. Meantime, the current trends are able to play themselves out without restraint.

Bottom line: If the OECD has already slashed is forecast by a near 1% in just a few months, how bad will thing be for the Israeli economy by the end of the year? Where Bibi fiddles, simply nothing seems to be burning with desire.

Netanyahu prepares to say goodbye to his economic achievements

17 May 2016
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

The success of the Israeli economy is well documented. The GDP of the Holy Land has more than doubled since the beginning of the millennium. And for much of that time, Binyamin Netanyahu has either been Minister of Finance or the Prime Minister.

For at least a year, I have been warning that this achievement is going to become a dream of the past, unless politicians wake up. However, with current coalition politics determined by a majority of one vote, proactive government financial initiatives have been sorely lacking.

This week, we learnt that:

On top of this gloom, it was revealed that leading domestic companies  such as Check Point and Teva have benefitted from billions of shekels in tax rebates. All legal, but the announcement comes at a time when the Finance Ministry is threatening that the public will have to put up with more cutbacks in key social ministries.

The only clear visual response from Netanyahu so far is that he is demanding a budget based on a 24 month, and not a 12 month, cycle. He faces opposition from the Minister of Finance and the Bank of Israel. However, there is no clear structure to suggest what the move could achieve, but this is what the Prime Minister has set is eyes on.

Are there any bright spots? Well, the economy of the start up nation is beginning to reach the Arab sector. And The Calcalist newspaper was still able to identity 50 leading Israel start ups to watch in 2016.  But more than that……..?

What next? Who knows? Even the proposed in flow of cash from new offshore gas reserves has slowed down.

And where is Netanyahu? Telling off his generals in public, trying to create new political coalitions, or arguing with American presidents. That is no way to run a largish and successful economy.

3 things a business coach can learn from British sport

5 May 2016
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

It has been a crazy and somewhat successful few weeks for British sport. And amongst all the fuss, TV reporting and ticker-tape, when you look closely enough, there have been some big take-aways for those involved in business coaching or mentoring.

I live near Jerusalem, Israel, which is thousands of miles away from the action. And yet, I have seen clear deliverables that I can pass on to my commercial clients as their coach.

For example, you can barely find a snooker club in Israel. On Monday night, in the wonderful Yorkshire city of Sheffield, Mark Selby beat Ding Hanjui in the final of the world snooker championship. For Selby, heralding from nearby Leicester, this was his second such triumph. Years ago, his parents did not have enough money to help him learn the craft.

Ding was born in China. He has been living in Sheffield since he was a teenager. Sheffield has been hosting the finals for years and will continue to do so for another decade at least. In other words, the Ding family had internalized from an early stage where their ‘target audience’ is located. They then deliberately targeted the region in order to be near the money. LESSON NUMBER ONE.

A few hours previous to his triumph, Selby’s home football club, Leicester City, secured the English Premiership title. Never an easy achievement, these players were 5000 – 1 rank outsiders at the beginning of the season. What was their secret to success?

There have been many analyses. Several have pointed to the qualities of their manager, Claudio Ranieri, which just seemed to fit the moment. I looked at their squad. On paper, they are shambolic load of misfits, which you may find in lower leagues – a kind of Dad’s army outfit. They had no obvious-looking international stars.

However, they played and fought together as a team, which is what any business owner or manager needs to understand. You cannot do it all by yourself. LESSON NUMBER TWO.

And then there is the English cricket team. For all their glorious history, in the one day format of the game, the squad was considered a joke on the international circuit. However, with a new coach and a slight tinkering of the team members over six months, England oh-so-very nearly became world champions in April in India.

One of the key changes the coach had introduced was to allow players to express their natural talents more freely. In other words, they had been selected not only because of their skill-set. They had a natural belief in themselves, which had been too stifled in the past. It was time to release that strength.

Creativity is important on a playing field and as well as in a commercial environment. LESSON NUMBER THREE.

The beauty of all this for me? I have given myself the perfect excuse not to do any more business mentoring, but to go and watch some more sport. Will some people call that an excuse to procrastinate?

5 Unexpected tips that help improve our business lives

1 May 2016
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

Last week, I was annoyed by the blog “10 daily habits that will radically improve your life“. Full of interesting ideas, I found most of them slightly irrelevant.

And this prompted the question: What is it that we should be doing to improve our commercial lives – usually something incredibly obvious and practical – but we feel we do not need to have time for it?

First, let me refer to the original article. Amongst the topics, it referred to wearing better clothing, reading more often and moving house. It also encouraged people to write. From my standpoint, none of this is bad advice. However, I feel my work as a business mentor in the Jerusalem area allows me to offer more direct and useful tips. Within in a few minutes, I had come up with about 12 counter points, and here are my leading five: –

  1. Create a balanced diet. So many people that I meet from across the globe try to cheat the system, claiming they rarely have time for breakfast, let alone lunch. Let me be blunt. Your body is an engine. If you do not feed it quality oil, it will become tired and start polluting the surrounding environment. You will not function effectively with your colleagues, and eventually clunk out.
  2. Develop a hobby. We all concentrate so much on our immediate work surroundings, devoting beyond 12 hours a day, that we leave little time for our own pleasures. Time and again, I have shown clients that by pursuing an outside activity – sport, charity, theatre, etc – you not only feel of more value. Incredibly you introduce additional skills that can be taken back into your place of work.
  3. Choose something from your wish list and go for it. A couple of years ago, I wrote out a short wish list of things that I would love to do. It is multi-purpose, cutting across themes, continents and groups of people who know me. More than just putting it down on paper, I have started slowly to implement the ideas. Life now has added zest,  and that new motivation finds its way into the office space.
  4. Set a time in the day to check your emails and another time for Facebook and digital chit-chat. I suggest the morning and the evening respectively. Such a policy will save you potentially hours every day. And you will not miss out on too much. Life will continue, just as it has done for tens of thousands of years previously.
  5. Learn to smile more. The effect can be stunning. You will encourage others to be more proactive on your behalf. Check it out today.

Have a great week at work!

An effective tip to improve your sales, and pretty quickly

25 April 2016
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

Sales, sales, sales. We all want more sales, and right now.

Yesterday, I described a creative and easy-to-implement solution, utilising Facebook. This time, I want to resort to basics.

First, let me quote Lee Frederiksen, a frequent blogger on organizational strategy.

There are essentially two kinds of growth–organic and inorganic. The former is built on a complex blend of expertise, experience, reputation, capability and visibility. The latter is a little more straightforward and based on cash, liabilities, and assets.

When describing sales through organic growth, he refers to five core strategies:

  • Research your clients
  • Focus on a niche
  • Develop strong differentiators (my favourite)
  • Balance out traditional and digital marketing
  • Make your expertise available

This is all very valuable. I urge you to read the blog in full. However, there is a downside to this approach.

My experience as a business coach reveals that many people become bogged down with technical discussions about how and what to do. They never move on to the “doing” itself. To be specific, they hold back from trying to make a deal. The objections to this are varied and usually revolve around a “what if”question. “What if such and such goes wrong?”

The subconscious thought process is that if there is a danger of not achieving a target, that can be considered failure. Failure is bad. Therefore, we should not do anything. In fact, it is better to remain where we are today with lowish sales than to risk moving ahead. Ouch!

Time and again, my role has been to “jolt” or to “shove” clients out from behind their computers and onto the ‘frightening’ streets of the market place. In the past two months alone, I have motivated several companies into abandoning internal discussions, while leaving their words for motivating potential customers.

“Just go out there and look for them, assertively” was the philosophy. It may not be stuff of text books for an MBA course, but it did work handsomely. There has been an impressive shift in the numbers in the bank account.

Care to try it yourself?

 

A practical Facebook tip for all small business owners

24 April 2016
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

Here is a conundrum that often comes up, when I meet with owners of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). How can I make my digital media campaign more effective, when I can barely afford to invest in google ads etc?

I am the business coach. I am supposed to mentor them through their crisis. And while many of my clients are based in the Jerusalem area, I know this is a generic problem that goes beyond Israeli SMEs.

In fact, help is not so far away. Facebook promotional efforts are often based around placing clever photos or videos on your page. Alternatively, you are encouraged to find other like sites and to place your content there. However, this is way too passive.

An interesting article about the company U.S. Cotton reveals an open secret. In order to brand their new line called “Swisspers”, the firm asked clients to send in selfies of themselves “naked in bed”. That is to say, the product is about makeup removal, and the picture had to show yourself without makeup, just before you go to sleep.

The campaign went viral. Even celebs sent in some photos. Excellent from the point of view of the company. What was clever was that U.S. Cotton had encouraged people to be pro active. They had made Facebook page something others wanted to be a part of and to “improve”.

Here is another example. A tourist attraction in Israel asked visitors to post unusual pictures of their experience. A panel would judge the best entries, who were to receive a prize. What is so great about this campaign is that every person who entered the competition is automatically letting their other Facebook friends know where they have been and why.

Free and direct advertising. There is nothing better! And again, this is making Facebook proactive.

The bottom line here is that companies who own a Facebook page still have to create their own content. However, Facebook is all about the community. So, involve as many people as you can in composing that information, thus making it interesting and exciting for countless others.

How the Israeli economy could really outperform its OECD friends – 3 suggestions

13 April 2016
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

The latest OECD predictions for the Israeli economy forecast a growth rate of 2.8% for 2016.

On the down side, this is way less than the average for the past decade and it barely matches the current natural increase in population. However, it is similar to what Israel’s own Finance Ministry has begun to predict. And compared to many other members of the OECD – USA 2.3% and the EU 1.6% – this is a relatively healthy stat.

For me, these predictive models raise a far more important issue. Over the past 18 months, I have become increasingly critical and worried over the way the government has been handling (or more precisely, not handling) the changes in the Israeli economy. So I would like to present here three practical proposals that could make a significant and positive difference to the structure of the economy in the Holy Land.

First, I will borrow the conclusions of John Chambers, the CEO of Cisco, a company which has purchased 12 Israeli start-ups in recent years. Speaking at a convention in California, featuring the achievements of the Israeli start up scene, his thoughts are pertinent.

Chambers is adamant that for Israel to remain at the forefront of the high-tech revolution, it must ensure the more members of the ultraorthodox Jewish community and also the non-Jewish sectors have clearer opportunities to become entrepreneurs. For this to happen, the education system has to become more adventurous. To date, while there are some moves on this front, it is evident that the government needs to do a lot more. It is drastically behind the ballgame, as others like France catch up.

Second, at the same conference, the mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, spoke of the plans to treble the number of start ups in Jerusalem. He also spoke of his aim to ensure that the number of tourists visiting the city leaps from two million annually to ten million.

A great vision. And this is a man with many talents. However, Mr. Mayor if you were to drive around key parts of the city, you will notice that the road system is antiquated. In an average working day, the flow does not….well, does nor flow! For example, if you want to enter or leave the Har Hotzvim industrial zone, which includes a large Intel factory, there are invariably traffic jams at many hours of the day. That is not sustainable. There must be a better approach, as this is costing time and money.

And my third category is that old subject of bureaucracy. As a business mentor with many SME clients, I see how they suffer. Just today, one customer was seeking a change to his banking arrangements. He was asked to supply a wad of signed documents from his accountant. This cost him hours. And I myself was told yesterday, in the age of notarised digital signatures, that a new client will not work with me until I hand in some paperwork with an original signature.

Such demands are pathetic and restrictive. Change them and small businesses will begin to breath that bit more easily. And remember that SMEs comprise over 90% of the economy.

Is the Israeli government looking to do anything serious about these three issues? For all the talk, nothing definitive is likely to happen. The demands of coalition politics forces those at the top not to decide. It is safer that way.

And that is why Israel’s economy will continue to plop along at around a weak 2.8% annual growth rate, …..until somebody has the courage to shout “enough”.

Key tip for those who want to lie to their business coach

8 April 2016
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Jerusalem

I know that I have written about this in the past, but I felt I had to return to the subject.

Some weeks ago, I met three people in the Jerusalem area, who turned round to me, politely yet firmly, and “No, I do not do that”.

Left hanging in that manner, it sounds as if I had made an indecent proposition. Actually, as their business coach, what I was trying to do was to encourage each of my clients to  carry out a task, which they had believed is at the wrong end of their list of core competences. So, unsurprisingly, my request was met with heaps of negativity.

And then the fun started.

For each client, I immediately began to focus on a different issue challenging their organisations. Seemingly, these problems were more appealing to the individual. This was the stuff they loved working on, and I knew that. The smiles returned. However, what I did not tell them was that they would have to use the same skills to resolve what was in front of them, as with the previous task.

A couple of weeks went past, and I met up with them all again. Each one was happy and each one appreciated the trap I had set. More importantly, they were not upset when I called them ‘liars’, and that I was not prepared to accept such unnecessary resistance in the future.

It is easy for all of us to say ‘no’. Nobody explains this better than “Nick Vujicic, the 32-year-old president of motivational speech marketer Attitude is Altitude,” ………….who was born without arms or legs. When it comes down to it, what many of us are afraid of is failure. It sounds so bad, if not humiliating.

As Vujicic explains, failure is often the start of the road towards success. If only, the previous generation had understood that 30 years ago! How much more would many of us be accomplishing today?

Israeli Cleantech remains ahead of the game

5 April 2016
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

It has been a week of stunning success for Israeli Cleantech.

For a start, the U.S. Energy Secretary, Dr. Ernest Moniz, coincided his trip to the Holy Land with a visit to the EnergyTech Conference in Tel Aviv. This linked up the new challenges facing the defense industry in the field of energy, both from overseas as well as the demands posed by green technology. Moniz went on to sign a new cooperation agreement with his Israeli counterpart.

However, for me, the highlight has been the Cleantech 2016 Conference in Jerusalem. Arguably the most important display featured an agreement between Israel and China to create an clean, green city. However, at a micro level, I also found myself interested in SMEs like Green Power Management, which have devised a transparent and practical solution to save energy costs for companies with multiple buildings.

Israel is no stranger to the world of cleantech. It pioneered drip irrigation back in 1959. Around 80% of waste water is currently recycled. Desalination plants provide about 40% of the country’s water needs. And next-stage technologies include:

  • Suction scanning, ensuring a full flow of filtered water
  • Laser analysis to detect solids in water
  • Microbial fuel technology to produce electricity from water
  • The conversion of hydrogen in energy and then its complete storage

Etc, etc, etc

I often mention that Israel is a small country, barely the size of Wales and 50%  arid. And yet, I seriously urge you to watch this link, which brings out visually just how much Israelis of all backgrounds have to offer the world to make it a cleaner place in which to live.

That question – that annoying business coach

1 April 2016
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

The key line on my website reads: “Michael asks you the questions about your business that you do not want to ask yourself”.

That is one of the classic roles of a business coach or mentor. That may seem straight forward enough. However, when I describe this challenge to people, some question the importance of the proposition. This week, I was given several opportunities to take explain in detail what I meant, and I would like to share a couple of those experiences with you.

Case study number one:

I am mentoring a very commercially experienced lady, who is trying to set up a new opportunity in Jerusalem. She is doing this while not having deep financial reserves. The proposed structure will involve her using her background as a CPA to investigate new companies. Meanwhile, she knows that her own bank account is not too healthy for now.

I asked why she does not check up on her bank statements to make sure that everything is all right. To cut to the point, she answered that she was too afraid. And then I posed the following conundrum: How can you present yourself as competent to run the finances of others if you do not look after your own books in a professional manner?

Silence.

I reassured her that I understand how the numbers may not be pretty. They may even make the body shudder, briefly but involuntarily. Yet, experience dictates that when you take control of yourself, it has a positive knock-on effect with how you handle potential customers. It is as if they can trust you. (She later told me that she started checking her account that same evening).

Case study number two:

I was required to ensure that a client pay me some extra money. That is often a touchy subject, and not just for one party. Naturally, I was asked to justify my request. And then it occurred to me.

The client was not just concerned about their own cash flow, understandably. There is another factor at play. If they agree to what I request, they have to recognise that they have made serious progress.

Amazingly, that cognitive step is often very daunting for people. the default position is to be reticent. And so I questioned why they did not want to appreciate the success of what had been achieved to date.

Silence.

And it is that silence that leads to a lot of internal chatter – just above the eyebrows of my clients. And it is that mental process that suddenly jolts them forward towards their commercial vision……all of which highlights the value of top questions from a testing business mentor.

Israeli innovation – connecting Black Eyed Peas to Hutchinson Water

29 March 2016
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

This morning, I read in the Hebrew press that Will.i.am’s smartwatch, owned by  the Black Eyed Peas frontman, has hooked up with ai.Type. This is an Israeli start up, based on a small farm and that specialises in keyboards for mobiles. This added capacity is supposed to enable the watch to compete with the likes of Apple and others.

Interesting as that is, what followed was quite phenomenal. I attended a conference at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem that highlighted how established conglomerates are deliberately seeking Israeli innovation.

I was particularly interested in the talk by Dr. Dan Eldar, the Executive Director of Hutchinson Water, the Hong Kong multinational. In one of his opening points, he stressed how Hutchinson deliberately chose Israel to be its global centre for water innovation. This recent video explains why.

Eldad highlighted Israel’s Sorek desalination recycling plant, which is one of the largest in the world. Its capacity is such that water is not just supplied to the Palestinian Authority. Water is also ‘exported’ to Jordan, whose resources are further stretched at the moment following the heavy influx of refugees from Syria.

Eldar was followed by Professor Uriel Levy of the Hebrew University’s Nanotechnology Centre. In 2015 alone, this complex was responsible for launching eight start ups. In total, they have applied for nearly 450 patents, and still counting.

One story that captivated me is a capsule that can be lodged in large electricity boxes. If there is a short circuit or other problem, a gas will be emitted. The capsule will detect the dangerous change and set off an alarm. Simple. Discovered by an electrical engineer? No way! A chemistry professor was working on a pharmaceutical project and simply injected a touch of entrepreneurial thinking. (Ironically, one mobile provider in Israel crashed last week, because of this very reason)

The examples of innovation flew in thick and fast, especially when discussing 3D printing. Lego in Denmark uses about 60 different colours of paint. From tomorrow, the toy giant may need to order just black and let technology do the rest. And so on.

Kudos to the organisers of this conference. And for those who view Jerusalem as just a metropolis for religious tourism, think again. The holy city is again beginning to change the world, this time with a stunning catalogue of innovative ideas.

Signs of Jerusalem economy on the upturn

25 March 2016
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

The Jerusalem economy has been in the doldrums for quite sometime. However, finally the capital city of the Holy Land may be showing signs of an upturn.

Dating back to the last war with Hamas in Gaza in the summer of 2014, the Israeli economy took a hit. This was specifically so for the small enterprise sector, which is predominant in Jerusalem. Anecdotal evidence from my business mentoring clientele seemed to bear this out.

One headline in today’s local paper stresses a survey from Dun and Bradstreet. 8% of businesses in the Jerusalem region are in danger of closure. That downturn could impact on employment and then have further knock on effects.

However, there is a flipside to this. Maybe times are already changing. I have previously mentioned the success of JVP, the Jerusalem-based venture fund that has expanded its financial capacity this year for new projects. Other indications include: –

  • In contrast to the early winter months, reports from my clients now point to a change for the better in their sales since the beginning of February 2016.
  • The monitoring company RIS has noted a significant pick up in sales at the major shopping malls, ranging between 16% (Malha) to 25% (Ramot).
  • The Atarot industrial zone, where Jewish and Arab companies mix openly, now has plans to free up a further 30 dunams for development.
  • And if you want to get into the high-tech area of Har Hotzvim in the north of the city, space is not too easy to find. Hence there is much new building going on in the area.

It is impossible to be sure. However, it is clear that something is happening in the Jerusalem economy for all sectors. It is now time for central government to take responsibility to ensure that infrastructure is improved further and thus the upturn can continue.

The secret of Israel’s innovation success is…….

19 March 2016
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

The two announcements last week have almost slipped under the radar. And yet their significance for the Israeli economy could be immense.

First, Amazon, which is to strengthen an r&d centre in Herzylia, just north of Tel Aviv. The aim is to recruit dozens of software engineers to work on Kindle. These will join about 20 or so others, who are already employed under the relatively secretive Lab 126.

There is more. Amazon’s “Vision” team in Haifa is also to be bolstered. And Israelis will also be sourced to fill positions overseas. However, for now, little has appeared on the internet.

Second, and at national level, Israel’s Ministry of Economy announced “the selection of 18 technological incubators and one biotechnological incubator……The winners will enjoy an 8-year license during which projects they accompany can receive government funding of 85% of the budget approved for each company“.

What is impressive is the range of the licensees. The names of the partners include IPG/McCann, Boston Scientific, Motorola and the Cleveland Clinic. The big guys need to learn from the Unicorns.

It is interesting that much of the fuss in the social media has concentrated on JVP in Jerusalem, and with good reason. Preqin ranks JVP as one of the top-10 most consistent funds globally.

Clearly these two items are a massive endorsement in the continually developing story of Israel as the ‘start up nation’. What I find significant is how they have been barely reported upon. Yet over the next few years, hundreds will find employment, tens of millions will be invested, and exports will expand accordingly. In classic economic theory, this will create a positive domino effect.

And that is what much of Israeli innovation is all about – getting on with it. These entrepreneurs silently push aside existing boundaries in whatever was thought of as an immovable given.

Running in today’s Jerusalem Marathon with Meir Dagan who died yesterday

18 March 2016
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Jerusalem

Today I ran 21.1km, half of the full event in the Jerusalem Marathon. There were an estimated 25,000 people in total participating in the different runs.

It was a magnificent sight of orange-clad athletes. The route covered some of the most wonderful vistas in the world. We worked our way through the romantic Armenian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, with locals cheering on. We had a stunning view of the Mount of Olives, which boasts an importance for both Jews and Christians. A moment later, I looked eastwards towards the village of Silwan and beyond in the direction of Jericho and the Dead Sea. Really stunning.

Nothing is simple in Jerusalem. Over the two hours or so, the weather changed from light rain to windy to sunny and back again. So unreliable. Is that why peace negotiations in this part of the world are complicated? Yet for all the vagaries, the colour and the noise of the event, something else was going on.

This was the sixth annual Jerusalem Marathon. On the one hand, the event (as usual?) was held against the backdrop of violence. The stabbings by Palestinians sadly have continued this week. In contrast, the runners were not just greeted in Hebrew and English. “Good morning” echoed out in Arabic and German and other languages in the centre of Israel’s capital. Participants came from all over the world, and not just Kenya or Ethiopia. I saw one runner sporting a vest from a Christian mission in Hungary.  As for the crowd, tourists of many persuasions joined the locals in cheering us on. It was amazing to be a part of this.

However, in some ways, one of the most inspiring moments for me occurred as we approached the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. Now this is a wonderful bit of engineering, dating back nearly 500 years. And whilst the design is Ottoman and the area is divided into four “quarters”, for Jews this is the “centre of the world”. The Temples were built here. An outer wall of the Second Temple – the Western or Wailing Wall – still stands today.

It was amazing to think that Jews, in fact everyone, can freely run around it. For hundreds of years that was not the case, including when the Jordanians were in charge up to 1967. And that is when I began to think about Meir Dagan, a former Israeli general and head of the Mossad, who died yesterday.

Dagan had always wanted the public in Israel and his ‘spy acquaintances’ around the world to know what had inspired him. Some years back, he came across a picture of the Nazis beating and humiliating his grandfather. He was determined that history should not repeat itself. That meant Jerusalem remaining the unified capital of Israel, welcoming people of all backgrounds.

Here is to the seventh marathon and all of its participants, whatever their beliefs.

Motivational speeches – the ‘ouch’ factor

11 March 2016
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Jerusalem

We all have our favourite motivational speech. Many look to a particular moment in a TED talk. I am always fascinated by the ‘death crawl scene’ in the film Facing The Giants. And the recent video posting of basketball champs in front of US veterans is incredibly revealing.

This week in Jerusalem, I found myself encouraging several of my clients to move beyond established positions. It was my task as their business coach to show them not just that how progress is attainable. Even more, they can enjoy that change.

At 5.00am this morning, I found myself surfing the net and looking for an additional angle. I choose the first clip that Google found for me. CLICK HERE and watch for nine minutes.

Now I have seen so many of these talks and have become a little ‘acclimitised’ to them . So I was a bit surprised when I heard something that made me stop and think, literally. About half way through James Tarantin, speaking from a lectern, asks:

If competitive challenge is what excites people, why then do we choose the easiest challenges?

OK. That is powerful. It is certainly relevant to many of us and there is certainly a lot of me there. But then I asked myself another question. Why is it that that particular statement in all of the nine minutes that struck a cord with me? And that is when I let out an emotional “OUCH”.

Again, we all listen to or even attend such talks. We nod diligently at the wise comments. However, for the words to have an effect, we have to be honest with ourselves and we have to be prepared to change. We have to allow ourselves to go one step deeper and then ask why a specific phrase or sentence is so desperately pertinent.

It seems that my thought process had taken somewhere I had not wanted to go for a long time. Yes, it was unnerving for a moment, and then very cathartic.

What next? Some of my mentoring clients had better beware over the next few days!

Why Israel and the ‘start up nation’ had another successful week

10 March 2016
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

Microsoft in Israel is celebrating ‘big time’ at the moment. After 25 years in the Holy Land, the Bill Gates team has much to shout about. And next month, the tech giant will open another new centre – this time in Nazarethand thus deliberately targeting new employment for Arab men and women.

Look just a little further and you will quickly realise that these developments are just a small part of a yet another great week for the world of Israeli high-tech. Consider this selected list to illustrate what I mean.

  1. Intel is to lay out around US$175 to possess the Israeli 3D video tech firm Replay Technologies. In effect, this cements a joint venture that started back in 2013.
  2. In the field of biotech, the American investment group Maxim issued an incredibly positive report. It issued a ‘buy’ suggestion for 6 Israeli companies, where shares are considered to be undervalued by at least 100%.
  3. Cyber as ever was in the news. It was CyberArk making its third Israeli purchase, this time picking up Agata Solutions. Not bad for a 7-person outfit, located way outside the traditional Israeli techie zones.
  4. Amazon has concluded a lease for a 1,250 sq m site in Haifa to accommodate a new r&d quarter.
  5. Singapore’s OUB Group will invest US10m in the Jerusalem-based OurCrowd, which specialises in Crowd Funding.
  6. “The Nazareth Business Incubator Center announced the launch of Hybrid”, a programme supported by the government and ex-army geeks and aimed at bringing startups from Israel’s Arab community to the next level.

And so I can continue. These items show the extent to which Israel has become a key part of the international commercial community. In turn, the world has come to appreciate the country’s technological capabilities. Israel continues to deserve the honourable title of ‘start up nation’.

Jerusalem, March 2016: Still a city of miracles

9 March 2016
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem, Palestinians

It’s the 9th March 2016. This morning in Jerusalem, reckless acts of violence were committed against Jews, almost like in the days of the crusaders hundreds of years back.

However, despite the blood and suffering, there is one major difference between now and then. The perpetrators of old were seeking to replace one theocracy with another. This time they are attempting to destroy a successful pluralistic society.

And what is that pluralism and multi-culturalism? Well, in no order of importance, this is what is going on in Jerusalem over the next three weeks.

  • It is estimated that around 22,000 runners will take part in the 6th annual Jerusalem Marathon on March 18th. Around about 10% of the participants will have flown in specially from overseas.
  • Over the same weekend, the first International Bach Festival will take place in the holy city. Hosting a wealth of local talent and from abroad, one critic speculated that there is no other such celebration of music taking place on the birthday of the renowned composer.
  • To the world of high-tech, the city continues to show off its prowess. I have previously addressed the strengths of the biotech and VC sectors in Jerusalem. The recent international successes of Melodea, Lightricks, Mobileye and others confirm the point.

However, for me, what was really telling about today’s event near the Old City of Jerusalem was the nature of the person injured in the malicious attack by a Palestinian. Apparently:

….paramedics treated a man about 50 years old who was seriously wounded in his upper body. He was sent to Hadassa Medical Center in Jerusalem. The wounded man is (also) a Palestinian, from Beit Hanina, who was in his vehicle on his way to Jerusalem’s city center.

Yes, Jerusalem is open for business to all, whatever their background and religion.

Jerusalem: The mix of orthodox religion and modern entrepreneurship

2 March 2016
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

Jerusalem is primarily known as a centre for three major religions. When you talk about the land of miracles, this is the town where amazing events are supposed to take place. What many people around the globe do not realise is that for over decade, the ‘Jerusalem Syndrome’ has come to represent something beyond prayer. The holy city has become an entrepreneurial hub, looking to emulate the Silicon Valleys in other countries.

On Monday this week, I attended another very exciting networking event of BioJerusalem. Shai Melcer organised an excellent programme, showing how start ups can succeed, even under the present economic climate.

What stunned me particularly was a map that Shai’s team had collated. It pinpointed the ‘life science ecosystem’ of the capital. Over one hundred companies are featured – and I myself know of at least three more – located primarily in three clusters. That is quite an amazing achievement when you consider the political, economic and religious pressures converging on the city planners.

And I can tell you that if you walk around these centres, they resonate a tremendous verve of activity and dynamism. To give one small example, consider Brainsway that has rapidly developed an international reputation for treating depression in a non-invasive manner. Its technology is now used by the American navy.

The week has also featured a number of articles on JVP. Set up back in 1993, this venture capital fund is situated in the former premises of the government mint, tucked away in the south eastern corner of the city. From simple beginnings, from its doors have emerged global animation sensations and some of the pioneers of the world’s cyber community.

JVP is currently sitting on a fund of around US$200m. It has launched many successes – the share issues of CyberArk on NASDAQ and the exit of Cy Active are but two examples.

Today, JVP has an full technology agreement with Alibaba, the Chinese giant’s first investment in Israel. And the Hebrew press is now reporting that Indian’s wealthiest person, Mukesh Ambani, intends to set up a US$30 million hub with JVP, which will concentrate on the ‘internet of things’. Unsurprisingly, Geektime voted JVP the best venture fund in Israel for 2016.

For years, Jerusalem was a back water city. The economy was supported by government offices and religious tourism. Those elements still feature. However, the Jerusalem of 2016 has taken a giant step forward into the modern world, a change that conservatives will find near impossible to reverse and a dynamic that global investors would be advised to understand urgently.

Two great tips for a manager faced by the impossible

1 March 2016
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Categories: Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem, Business, Israel, Jerusalem

We all know the situation. Sometimes, when faced by a request or a challenge, we say “no, I can’t”. And in our heads, we determinedly tell ourselves “that’s impossible”. My clients often let out such responses to me, when I challenge them as their business mentor.

Just take a moment to understand that word “impossible”. Look at it from two levels; physical and …let us call it, logistical.

Starting with the physical aspect, we know today that even some of the most severe bodily restrictions have not stopped people running and jumping for Olympic gold. My favourite story is portrayed in this link of a young ballet dancer.

On a more practical level, many of us claim that we cannot draw. And yet, look how a fifteen minute ‘TED talk’ showed that such protests are complete nonsense. If you follow the presenter very carefully, all he is saying is “BREAK DOWN THE PROBLEM INTO SMALL STAGES”. Just start somewhere and then carry on in a modular manner.

But what happens when you shriek ‘impossible’, but you cannot state why? No full, credible, serious explanation is offered. You know what you want to do, but you feel you cannot get there…….for some undefined reason. In that case, what are the options?

Some blogs refer to that ‘epiphanal moment’, when we wake up. We realise that we are no longer losers, but can let our own actions determine our own future. Very true, and I have been there myself. I remember being in a lecture, when my peers decried a specific business model, which I thought could be effective. I simply decided on the spot that I had to ignore their advice and go-for-it. I have not looked back since.

But what happens if you cannot see what needs to be done? Many of us can identify troublesome issues. We know what is going wrong. However, we cannot move beyond that point. It is impossible….or it seems that way.

Quite often, what has happened is that we have bottled up our thoughts. We keep our worries to ourselves. We have been taught that we should not burden others with our problems. It is not fair. Anyway it is a sign of weakness, correct? Nonsense!

BY SHARING YOUR CONCERNS, VERBALLY, you are giving yourself access to the solutions of others, which you simply may not know about. IN parallel, physiologically, you are actually allowing your body to relax. This can only be beneficial.

Now let me explain how I know these suggestion are practical and do succeed. I write as the asthmatic, who was one of the worst at sports during my school days – many, many years ago. Yet about a decade back, I started to run on a treadmill. From two kilometers in the gym, I found myself running 10km outside and with yet more left in the tank. I pursued, constantly adding at little more distance each time.

Three months ago, it was suggested that I run a half-marathon. I said that I could not, but I had to justify my words, verbally. I could not. I was lost for an excuse. And so last Friday I clocked 21.1km in just over two hours in an event in Tel Aviv.

As they say, everything is impossible until you have done it.

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