Ouriel Ohayon - LGiLab general manager

The best TV show of all time is about to come back. 24 will be first a movie ("redemption") ready for november 23rd on Fox and will announce season 7. I just can't wait

Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) in Africa working as a missionary andtrying to escape his wanted status in the United States, but finds himself in the middle of an African warlord’s warpath instead

via that

This is the material i will use to present later today at the Israel Internet Association. Most of what i'll say is not written. Thanks to all the contributors (all names and sources available in the public wiki behind this document)

Social Networks Monetization View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: socialnetworks businessmodel)

Sidenote: I created this presentation directly on Google Slides. I initially used the Google docs widgets to include my presentation, but it has to problem: it can't be manually resized (without cutting the doc) and it does not show how many times it's been viewed. I had to convert it to a powerpoint format and upload it to SlideShare. I wish there was an easier way to add it there from just a URL

update: The slides have just been featured on SlideShare homepage. That was fast....

I just heard from my Friend Yaron Herman that he won the award of the revelation of the year at "Les Victoires du Jazz", one of the most prestigious jazz award in France. If you read this blog you know i am a big fan of Yaron, He totally deserved this prize. He was one of best selling jazz album this year and has a fully booked agenda



He has just finished recording a new album that will come out soon. The content looks amazing, mixing all kinds of different sources and will even play with a string quartet. I have no doubt this will be a great album.

It's been a while i have been begging for a version of Google maps in Israel. I knew it was coming following conversations with different Google representatives, but i did know when. It is beginning to be available now, but only in Hebrew. I have not checked yet if it works from my iPhone (for now i use Freemap), but overall this is a good news since i am not happy with neither of local map services (emap is catastrophic, mapa is ok but only in hebrew and too complicated,...).

Israel was of course on Google map way before, but with zero level of granularity and information (check this picture for example)

So here is an example of a map of Israel with street names in Hebrew. Here is for example the place i am talking about social network this pm

Chalom Google Maps. Thanks to Arnon Kokhavi for the tip




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I have been invited to speak thursday at the Israeli internet Association on a session dedicated to Social Networks. I chose to address the most sensitive subject: money. How those companies are or are trying to make money, the reality away from the myth (most people think there is no money to be made there) and the opportunities. I am investor in one of them Bahu.com that is growing very nicely in Europe. So i will have some direct perspectives on it

I was really busy lately (specially because of iDrink#9) and i am very very late in setting up a nice presentation. So i decided yesterday to start from scratch involving anyone around who wants to contribute in a public wiki. The result is outstanding so far, in less than 24h i have accumulated so much material that i think i could speak about the subject for 1 full day.

I already have 12 contributors that gave great insight for this presentation and they will be credited for that during my talk

This is some of the illustration of the power of social network in a way. I actually just posted a message on twitter and facebook to ask for help. This is something i will definitely talk about thursday pm.

If you are interested to attend all details are here (will be in hebrew btw)

I am invited to talk at the Israeli Internet Association on Thursday about Social Network monetization (how they make, or try to make money). I am very happy about it but i am late (because of iDrink and upcoming trips) and for some reason feel really lazy to prepare alone a presentation. So i have decided to set myself a challenge. I am opening a wiki on Google to prepare this presentation. Anyone who wants to contribute will be invited to do so, I will credit every single one of you in the document i will present and the wiki will be available online after the event

The contribution can be as simple as a link you think is interesting, a sentence you want to change, a document you want to upload or more.

I have already listed some good ideas and great sources. I need to put some order there

If you want to participate, shoot me an email (ouriel dot ohayon AT gmail dot com), i ll grant you an access

Watch out: i only have 48h to do that and get ready. so that is really a challenge

ps: just twitted the message, i already have 3 7 10 contributors. thanks to them!

Check out the progression, there is some serious nice material there.

Technorati Tags: wiki presentation israel internet

About 200 participants, one beach, many drinks and tapas. We had Loic Lemeur and Heather Harde, TechCrunch CEO, live from San Francisco. We had Debbie Landa, organizer of Under the Radar conference, present in the event; We had the organiser of the BlogDay during BlogDay among us. We had entrepreneurs, We had VCs, We had bloggers, We had our great sponsors (thanks to Sun and Juneau)

We had a good time. That was iDrink#9

Adrian has also made some nice pics below

Find more photos like this on iDrink

Technorati Tags: idrink israel internet startups

The web industry has evolved significantly for the past 2 years. We have attended a big wave of innovation from web startups supported by a dynamic VC/investor infrastructure both in the US, Europe and China. But we're observing a move on to a different stage. Many realize that the VC investments are down since the beginning of the year, that the Silicon Valley has a innovation crisis ahead. We hear about the term "bubble" coming back, although most people cannot rationnally explain it. We are probably entering a selection cycle where many startups won't be able to make it

What i think is that the market is maturing, and that the web economic fundamentals are still strong and growing and therefore that there are still some nice opportunities to come ahead. Too many startups have been funded chasing the same opportunity. Meaning that the moment of truth is coming for many actors and that many investors want to see some results before pouring more money in their ventures. Specially in early stage.

On the other side it has never been such a good time to build a successful business on the web: internet penetration is growing, ad expenditures are moving more and more to the web away from traditionnal media and ecommerce is still enjoying a very nice double digit growth year on year.

This means that the opportunities are here but that investors are more careful about what they do. At LgiLab we performed a few seed investments which initial goal is to help a project start quickly and reach the market and validate the concept. Over time our attention is captured more by projects that have a clear ability to reach a critical size and monetize their service very quickly during the seed period.

Many times seed investment is associated with proof of technology and traction, but since the internet market is maturing, our approach to seed investment is also maturing.

We have performed 6 investments so far in the Internet Lab, and we have just closed a 7th investment that we ll disclose very soon. This 7th investment is the illustration that more and more new projects fit that profile of young companies with early monetisation validation.

Does that mean we won't invest in projects that cannot immediately monetize? no, but it means that will pay stronger attention to the capacity of the company to reach during the seed period some strong business validation, beyond the concept, the execution and the traction.

I believe this is a natural evolution of things, we are observing in Israel that entrepreneurs are also maturing according to that trend. They are more aware of the necessity of building a business on the web whatever the vertical is.

Startups should be aware it is going to be harder and harder to raise money at very early stage. Alternative financial channels coming from angels, new structure like Ycombinator, Seedcamp or even university programs will be important to help young projects validate the product/traction phase. New opportunities are also coming up with the mobile web. Although yet very young, it is clear that mobile advertising and ecommerce will be a reality (Apple is generating 1 million dollars a day with the AppStore). But even with that promise investors will be more careful, because of the unknown timing factor.

So bottom line: we believe it is still a good time to invest on the web, but the filter is stronger. A sound filter. One that precisely will help us avoid a second bubble, although a strong death rate is likely to happen in the next 12 months.

I rarely get excited by a blog plugin; But i have been trying apture on this blog and on TechCrunch France for a week and all i can say is that this is a must have. I wish snap.com could do that. It allows you simply to add rich content to any content on you blog, directly from your blog. I covered Apture extensively on TechCrunch France (first reactions from readers are really good too) today and invite to see the video below. It is a great example of how execution is the key. Apture is * way better * than Zemanta, trying to, unsuccessfully, solve the same need. Apture enables you to add content bubble just like on this example here with John Coltrane

See the video below to better understand








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Absolutely amazing. By the quatuor ebene. Thanks to Yaron Herman for the discovery. Yaron Herman is actually recording right now his new upcoming album featuring one tune with this same quatuor, i can't wait for the release.

It's been a while but i just recorded something i improvised based on the Tune "Monk's Mood". Kind of weird patch of colours. but this just came out.

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September is going to be a busy month. I am traveling quite a lot to attend a few different events i am involved in

• I will be in San Francisco for TechCrunch50. This should be really exciting to discover some of the finest new startups in the world. If you have not made up your mind yet and want to attend or expose with special discount contact me on ouriel AT techcrunch DOT com
• For the second time i will attend SeedCamp in London as a "mentor". I really like what Saul and Reshma have put together and very happy to support this event
• I will be in Paris for a France/Israel Web Seminar i am helping set up with UbiFrance and the France Israeli Trade Mission. it will happen sept 22nd. Arik Czerniak (MetaCafe) Mickael Boukobza (ex ILIAD-Free CEO) and many others will participate. If you are around you can get a ticket here

Technorati Tags: techcrunch50 seedcamp israel france techcrunch startups events

The more i know it the more i think the banking system in Israel is totally dirty.

I am currently quitting my bank (Discount) to a new one. I held there an account in shekels and in dollars. I wanted to transfer my dollars to my new account. I am then informed that they are going to take a commission of 125 USD for the transfer. Yes 125 dollars!

I asked them whether this was according to the new regulation which is supposed to make the cost of leaving a bank cheaper. They then said yes. Since i do not trust them, i went and check the official document of Bank of Israel i published in english here on this blog. The official cost of this transaction is 3 dollars ! (10 NIS exactly). I sent them a copy of that document. Here is the fax i sent

Reaction: A phone "You know what? after verification you're right, it is not 125 dollars but only 10 NIS".

This is totally outrageous. DO NOT TRUST YOUR BANK. this is what the message is.

One piece of advice, never take your bank's word for granted. Always check the new commissions. Do not hesitate to threaten them to file a complaint at Bank of Israel or even leave the bank> most banks will welcome you with a free commission account for at least a year.

I am gladly leaving my bank (BANK DISCOUNT, Agency Ben Yehuda in tel aviv). My new bank is now under heavy monitoring. So far so good. Most banks do not know commissions have changed and will be very likely to over charge you.

The Israel bank system is dirty. I never had some many problems with banks in my whole life. This is insane. and that has to change!

Technorati Tags: israel banks

For some reason, many say security reasons, Google maps is not available in Israel and this is one thing that is missing for me on my iPhone. Yesterday i discovered a free alternative that should make many israeli iPhone owners very happy. Freemap is an israeli startup that let users create a map and feed metadata on it. the level of granularity is quite good.

They have an iPhone version which can be installed via Installer on 1.1.4 (from what i understand iPhone 3G is not supported )or less by simply adding the source

http://i.freemap.co.il

Then add the application Freemap.

You ll have a free map of Israel on your iPhone very similar to Google Maps and in addition you ll have a 3D view to navigate. I wish they had an english version too. They have a triangulation system to locate you on the map, although i have some difficulty with it. you can enter your own address with their embedded keyboard in hebrew.



I am hearing an Israel version of google maps is arriving soon however.

Technorati Tags: israel google maps freemap iphone

We are setting a new iDrink meet up for any one eager to mingle with people involved in the web industry in Israel. The event will take place Sunday 31.08.08 from 6pm to 10pm. We have found a really cool spot by the beach that you can admire in the video below.



All details and RSVP will be available on iDrink site in the coming days. The event is free but we ll ask a symbolic contribution that will be entirely rewarded to non profit organizations. We are grateful to our sponsors for enabling us to provide you with free drinks and a few more surprises: Sun Microsystems, Juneau Capital and Lgilab

iDrink has been growing nicely since its creation about a year ago. We have now more than 1400 registered members, which for the Israeli internet is pretty significant. I have been surprised myself to see how much activity there is on this site and i really hope it helps people improving the way they do business.

So if you are available, let's meet up there.

I was so surprised yesterday when my account manager in my French bank suggested me to send documents i needed via the email system available on their website. I actually thought it would take long and that it would be less efficient than sending a fax or a regular mail. but this morning i receive all i needed with an attachment. What a pleasure not to have to take the phone, wait for the manager to answer, explain the whole blah blah...it just works.

All banks today use the internet to give you access to your account, and to your account status. They do have an internal message system, but it is only one way (bank > customer) and is not connected to your personal mail.

Israeli banks are still in prehistorical mode: they use very poorly the internet, and still send you tones of paper mail, that translate in ridiculously high commissions. Only one bank pays you in Israel if you ask to stop sending mail and ask to consult your data over the web: Bank Hapoalim.

So it is time banks wake up and start to save themselves costs and time: create a secure online messaging system for your customers so they can send request to their manager, receive documents, answers...

It is time for banks to use our money smartly

If you are a blogger you probably have to deal with that odd question from your friends: what is a blog? Although blogs are nothing new, most people can't make the difference between a blog and a site and most people can't explain them well except by technical terms. The common definition is to say that a blog is a online diary. But this is not true because a diary does not have the conversation aspect that are specific to blogs.

So after nearly 3 years of intense blogging, i think i came up with the simplest and probably best way to explain what a blog is:

A blog is like an email (or series of email) sent to everyone.

• Creating a blog is very similar to creating an email account on Yahoo.
• Writing a blog post is like writing a message that you make available on the web for everyone (when an email goes to some persons only)
• Writing a blog post is very similar to writing an email and the blog platforms use editors that look like very much an email client.Take a look at Live Writer or ScribeFire, They really look like Outlook express without "From" "To" and "cc"
  
• instead of pressing send you press publish
• you generate conversations or better said interactions with your readers. Instead of a reply to they post a comment
• It is no surprise if many choose to subscribe to blogs in Outlook (2007+) because it looks like an email message
• It is not surprise if many choose to receive blogs in a newsletter format (via Feedblitz like on this blog)
  

In a word a blog is like a public email. And for those who do not dare to start a blog because they think it is complicated, this is not more complicated than writing an email (setup is really simple now on blogger and typepad)

That's why i don't understand when a blogger like Jason Calacanis stop blogging to switch to the email/newsletter form. He writes the sames things and interact the same way (if someone wants to send him an email he can from a blog to) with readers except he makes it exclusive for a few, and not available for everyone. This just does not make sense to me, and i would not be surprised that 1-this is not the beginning of a trend 2- one day he comes back to blogging.

Anyway i think now you have an explanation simple enough to be understood by your parents or grand parents.

Life is shit. One of my best friends just had a terrible cerebral attack, he's now in deep coma and will probably not recover all his capacities. My father (who's a doctor) tells me this can happen to anyone at anytime. Those kind of brutal stroke are unfortunately unpredictable and can happen to anyone of us at any moment in time. Many times you never come back from it.

I was in shock when i heard that news. This is a kind person, that was really minding his own business and was not caring for ambition of ruling on others. I really hope he'll recover as much as possible.

One thing to remember is that you should live your life 100% with no regret. And i know that my friend was doing precisely that. Being in full adequacy with yourself is so important, and i think this is some kind of key factor of happiness in life.

There is nothing worse that disappearing with the feeling of strong frustration and self unaccomplishment. So many people live that way and by weakness, absence of choice, absence of self awareness and do not change things and live a poor life. I know i do all i can to avoid that and this is why i decided, even late, to quit France and come to live in Israel and pursue my career where my passion is (internet). But even now i am not totally sure i am not missing something big (a musical career will always be a big frustration for me). Maybe one day I'll realize it.

Dear Friend (won't name him), if you can read this one day, i can tell you, you are living and will live with no regret.

i have seen so many movies and tv shows that my level of expectations but also anticipation in guessing the end before the end of a movie has raised dramatically over the years. And i have a hard time finding good stuff for me on TV. Even when the content is good.

Since heroes i did not manage to hook to any TV series. I enjoyed recently Mad Men, which has some nice actors and good story telling about the ad industry in the 60s, i could not hook to "the closer", acclaimed everywhere.

However there is one series which is really on top: DAMAGES. It is so smart, so well written that i was under shock from the first episode (out of 13). I won't spoil anything. I just can say that this is a story of dirty highly ambitious lawyers that are ready to nearly anything for their career. I am not afraid to qualify this show of masterpiece and i cannot wait for season 2. Glenn Close is just stunning is that series.

   

I don't ask you to believe me. Just watch the first episode. you'll be hooked immediately.

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