"If you want to make sales, you need to enter the market as early as possible"
Inbar Haham of the 40RTY fund was speaking during a panel moderated by Hilla Ovil-Brenner of ScaleUp House, held at the Tech1 conference. Other participants included Guy Franklin, founder of Israeli Mapped in NY, and Michal Michaeli of Tel Aviv Global.
How can a small Israeli startup grow into a large company? That was the focus of a panel moderated by Hilla Ovil-Brenner of ScaleUp House at the Tech1 conference, hosted by Calcalist and Live Nation. The panel featured Guy Franklin, founder of Israeli Mapped in NY; Inbar Haham of 40Rty; and Michal Michaeli of Tel Aviv Global, an initiative of the Tel Aviv Municipality.
"Global expansion is of immense importance," said Franklin, who established an organization that connects Israeli startups in New York with investment opportunities. "Israeli startups need to be in the global market from day one. The sooner you can get there and be close to your customers, the better. For every Israeli company doing something, there is likely an American counterpart, founded by a Harvard graduate, doing something similar. Granted, operating in New York is costly, but some companies are already beginning to operate there as early as the pre-seed stage."
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TECH1 conference (from right): Guy Franklin (Israeli Mapped in NY), Inbar Haham (40RTY Fund), Michal Michaeli (Tel Aviv Global), Hilla Ovil-Brenner (ScaleUp House)
(Orel Cohen)
Israeli startups are always looking to raise more money. What are investors looking for today?
"It's not enough to build technology that works. You have to think from the outset about the people you need to recruit. The product needs to be clearly defined, as does the target customer," said Haham of venture capital fund 40Rty. "It is also important to speak the language of customers, not just the language of investors. The third critical factor we look for is a signal from the market. For companies with strong collaborations with significant customers, we need to see that the market is interested in the product and willing to commit to buying it once it is ready."
When founders establish a startup, they often start looking for investors, but what other resources are available to them, such as those offered by municipalities?
Michaeli introduced Tel Aviv Global, an organization that works with similar initiatives in cities around the world, including New York. "We connect startups with conferences, such as Cyber Week, which will be held in Tel Aviv. We also help build relationships with investors and potential customers."
What mistakes do startup founders make in the early stages?
"Hiring the first salesperson is often a major challenge," Franklin said. "Sometimes founders hire someone too senior from a large organization who doesn't know how to build a new and unfamiliar brand. Such people are used to working with large marketing and sales departments, where someone else prepares the materials for them. Suddenly, in a startup, they have to do it all themselves."
What advice would you give young entrepreneurs?
"Tel Aviv is an amazing place to launch a company, but if you want to make sales, you need to enter the market as early as possible. That's the only way to learn how to build the product correctly," Haham said.
"Networking, and seizing every possible opportunity locally," Michaeli concluded.
