“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”
– Chinese Proverb
Happy New Year! I can hardly believe it’s been 18 years since I first launched VC Cafe back in December 2005! Reflecting on this journey, the tech world was a completely different landscape back then. Facebook was just stepping out of college campuses, the revolutionary iPhone was still in the realm of Apple’s future plans, and burgeoning concepts like big data and cloud computing were just starting to emerge. I’ve written on the VC boom (when money was cheap and due diligence was minimal) to the major reckoning that followed and we’re still yet to see its full impact. It’s absolutely astounding to ponder the leaps and bounds we’ve made in this period.
During these nearly two decades, I’ve had the extraordinary privilege of being a front-row witness to Israel’s incredible startup scene. From licking its wounds following the dot com burst, Israeli entrepreneurs have been making indelible marks across a multitude of industries. I’ve seen the explosion of new unicorns created, from cybersecurity pioneers to AI disruptors and billion dollar revenue gaming startups. While it is going through a challenging period now, Israel continues to stand as a powerhouse of innovation and technology, ranking 6th in global innovation according to Global Finance. Mark my words – Israeli tech will continue to deliver #nomatterwhat.
But VC Cafe’s reach extends beyond the Israeli tech scene, providing me with a unique lens into the evolution of global tech megatrends. The contrast is stark when I think about the state of mobile technology back in 2006 compared to its dominance today, or the explosive growth and influence of social media and most recently, AI. This is a game changer in so many levels, one I started writing about in 2019 (when we at Remagine Ventures made our first investment into HourOne). Back then, we called it synthetic media, and over time we evolved to calling it creative automation and now you’d have to live under a rock to not know about generative AI.
While we are all attracted to success stories, it’s been equally interesting to learn from failures, like the rise and fall of metaverse (mostly due to too high expectation and unfinished tech), creator economy, VR, web3 (NFTs and ownership of the Internet) and various crypto scandals. These stories are not fully written yet, and we should not write them off, but their timeline has certainly shifted.
I started VC Cafe from a real curiosity about the bourgeoning new medium of blogging back in the day (see my 15 year VC Cafe anniversary post), and from a desire to help shine a positive light on Israeli startups. That curiosity and desire haven’t subsided over the years. With time, my focus changed from reporting on the news, to focusing on writing about the sectors and trends I’m particularly excited about or areas we invest in with Remagine Ventures, a fund I co-founded with my partner Kevin Baxpehler who’ve I known for over 20 years. And while it’s not always been easy to write or keep it going, I’m proud of all that I’ve accomplished with it. I look forward for what the future of tech, and in particular, Israeli tech, has to bring, and hope to be able to continue writing about it in the next 18 years! Thank you for your support.
I'm a former general partner at google ventures, head of Google for Entrepreneurs in Europe and founding head of Campus London, Google's first physical hub for startups.
I'm also the founder of Techbikers, a non-profit bringing together the startup ecosystem on cycling challenges in support of Room to Read. Since inception in 2012 we've built 11 schools and 50 libraries in the developing world.
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