Solution Nation: Recent Episodes
Solution Nation
Welcome to Solution Nation Podcast!
The ONLY global podcast that brings together public and private companies, venture capitalists, and lawyers to build a bigger and better nation while changing the world.
Here at Solution Nation, we talk about investment and negotiation styles and techniques, due diligence performed, and how to structure investments.
How much and in which industries to invest.
This all comes down to company targets and their business plan for achieving their goals.
Over the past two decades, Jacob Rothman built a thriving manufacturing business in China. He has also established manufacturing presences in Cambodia, Vietnam and India. Jacob has researched opening factories in points as disparate as the Philippines, Turkey, Mexico and South America.
There are advantages and disadvantages associated with manufacturing in every country. Many companies are now considering divesting from China. However, Jacob points out that one should think twice about uprooting manufacturing from China. China has first-class infrastructure, a dedicated workforce, a deep supply chain and the ability to scale. Also, when one invests in a new plant, thought should be directed to the ability to sell that factory if need be.
Don’t miss this fascinating conversation that discusses the pros and cons of manufacturing in China, Cambodia, Vietnam, India and Turkey. Issues such as addressable markets, inflation and currency controls are broached with respect to many of the aforementioned countries. As a bonus, Jacob also shares a few insights into the history of Jews in China and Shanghai’s contemporary Jewish community.
Jacob Rothman – Co-CEO, Velong Enterprises
Jacob is largely responsible for growing Velong Enterprises into a leading manufacturer of innovative and sustainable grilling and kitchen products. Velong maintains 11 factories, introduces 500 new products each year and employees 1,600 people. Velong’s products are sold to the likes of Weber (the grill maker) and Walmart.
Israel is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. Israel also has more than its share of traffic accidents: Israel’s police received 11,554 reports of traffic accidents resulting in casualties during 2021, a 6.6% increase from the previous year. As a result of its high incidence of traffic accidents and congested roads, Israel is making tremendous investments in smart mobility.
This unique podcast covers the gamut of Israeli Smart Mobility. Listeners will learn about Israel’s shared mobility, scooters, light-rail initiatives, electric vehicle policies, autonomous vehicles, and connected cars. Among the specific issued addressed in the podcast are:
What is the schedule for the roll-out of light rail services in Israel’s largest cities?
How do Israeli scooter sharing companies balance the deposits and availability of scooters?
Why is the availability of electrified bicycles especially important given the heat during Israeli summers?
Why is charging of electric vehicles especially challenging given typical Israeli living situations?
What incentives for the adoption of electric vehicles exist in terms of taxes on new vehicles and fuel?
How do Israeli shared ride hailing services differ from those in the United States?
What is the thinking behind launching autonomous driving with public transport?
Which factors account for Israel so quickly becoming a hub of automotive innovation?
What can be learned from the demise of Better Place?
Daniel Zucker – Founder, Smart Mobility Consultancy Service
Daniel Zucker was a leader for the Smart Mobility Initiative within the Office of the Prime Minister. Daniel formulated and orchestrated the Israeli national plan for smart mobility, a governmental resolution allocating 250 million NIS in order to make Israel a world leader both in R&D and implementation. He also led complex regulation and legislation processes regarding Electric Vehicles, Autonomous Vehicles and Ride and Car Sharing.
Several hundred Israeli companies are developing food technology solutions in view of the unfolding food crisis. That is good because farmers, especially small farmers, are under siege. Consumers worldwide are feeling the pain too. Given the unavailability of food staples and skyrocketing prices of essential food, weekly visits to the supermarket have turned into traumatic events.
COVID-19 can no longer be blamed for barren shelves. At the time of the production of this podcast, Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine was not restricting the export of that much of Ukraine’s harvest. More mendacious factors are at work. The genesis and potential severity of worldwide food insecurity are the subjects of this highly informative podcast. Topics discussed include:
How are progressive policies resulting in soaring prices for diesel fuel, which farmers need to run their equipment and truckers need to deliver food to the stores?
Why is the war on fertilizer a horrible development for sustainable food production?
Why are rising levels of carbon dioxide a positive development for crops’ reliance on water?
Why does the Orwellian named “Inflation Reduction Act” pay farmers not to farm?
Why is the SEC telling private farmers to track their emissions?
To what extent are banks withholding credit to farmers?
How is the Biden administration withholding water from farmers by broadening the definition of “Waters of the United States?”
To what extent is China instigating the war on America’s farmers?
How was the deadly deprivation of baby formula a consequence of misguided liberal policy?
What is the Right to Repair all about?
Dr. Bonner R. Cohen, Senior Fellow, National Center for Public Policy Research
Dr. Bonner concentrates on energy, natural resources, and international relations at the National Center for Public Policy Research, where he serves as a Senior Fellow. He also serves as a senior policy adviser with the Heartland Institute, senior policy analyst with the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, and as adjunct scholar at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
Articles by Dr. Cohen have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Investor’s Business Daily, New York Post, Washington Times, National Review, Philadelphia Inquirer, Detroit News, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Miami Herald, and dozens of other newspapers in the U.S. and Canada. He has been interviewed on Fox News, CNN, Fox Business Channel, BBC, BBC Worldwide Television, NBC, NPR, N 24 (German language news channel), Voice of Russia, and scores of radio stations in the U.S.
Solution Nation contains fascinating and rigorously researched profiles of 62 of Israel's most promising companies. In addition to developing and commercializing cutting-edge technologies, all of the companies included in Solution Nation are dedicated to solving intractable challenges. Learn how the world's most disadvantaged and destitute people stand to benefit from Israeli ingenuity. Readers are introduced to Israeli companies that are detecting cervical cancer and heart failure, preventing amputations and auto accidents, helping the blind see, enabling the paralyzed to stand, purifying water in the wake of natural disasters, taming starvation, and rescuing people from burning buildings.
DAVID WANETICK
David Wanetick is the CEO of the Institute for Strategic Negotiations, which maintains the world’s largest library of negotiating courses. David teaches the Enhanced Negotiating Strategies courses offered through the Institute for Strategic Negotiations. Senior executives from all over the world attend these courses. David’s unique approach to negotiating encompasses his expertise in understanding clients’ business models and valuation issues. His clients include some of the largest Fortune 500 companies as well as start-ups, universities and private equity firms. David is author of The Strategic Negotiator: A Manual for Negotiating at the Elite Level, the world’s most voluminous book dedicated to strategic negotiations.
This fascinating podcast discusses the pros and cons of plant-based alternative proteins compared to cell-cultivated protein replacements. Issues discussed include:
- What are the capital requirements of plant-based alternative proteins compared to cell-cultivated protein replacements? How do the incremental production costs compare?
- How do the regulatory pathways compare?
- Do plant-based proteins have a significantly larger addressable market given that vegetarians may be more favorable to plant-based proteins versus cell-cultivated protein?
- What is the shelf-life of plant-based proteins?
- What does “clean labeling” mean and what is the significance?
- To what extent can different crops be mixed and matched in producing plant-based protein?
- How feasible is countertop 3D printing of plant-based meat alternatives over the next several years?
Chanan Schneider also introduced us to promising Israeli foodtech companies such as Phytolon, SavorEat, TIPA, TripleW, ansa, and Egg’n’up.
Danielle Abraham discusses how Israeli know-how is being directed to boosting agricultural output in Africa. She discusses the state of African farming infrastructure, the role of extension officers and the magnitude of minimizing post-harvest losses. The podcast addresses the importance of government stability, involvement of China in Africa and Africa’s receptivity to Israeli knowledge transfer.
Danielle Abraham is the Executive Director at Volcani International Partnerships. Danielle has spent her career in Israel dedicated to connecting Israeli expertise to needs in developing countries. She has previously served as a senior policy advisor in MASHAV, Israel’s agency for International Development Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and represented Israel as a guest speaker at the UN, OECD and the German Development Bank.
Much of the solution to the world’s food insecurity can be found in fish. Fish are more efficient at converting feed to protein than any other animal. No other animal can be raised at a density even approaching that of fish. Unlike raising chicken, pigs and cows, no efforts need be undertaken to provision wild fish with water.
Listen to this unique podcast and learn the answers to questions such as:
- Besides fish, what products are produced by Israeli aquaculture? What end markets do these products serve?
- How are Israeli companies making use of ammonia discharge from aquaculture to grow crops?
- How capital intensive is land-based aquaculture?
- Do fish raised in land-based aquaculture realize that they are not being raised in a natural environment? If so, does this realization affect their behavior?
- Are the fish raised in Israeli aquaculture genetically modified?
- How does using solar power reduce electricity requirements and evaporation?
- What role do regulators play in aquaculture?
Among the Israeli aquaculture companies discussed were Aquatech Fisheries, Pure Blue Fish, and AquaMaof.
Roni Hochman Sussman is the AquaculTech Managing Director at the Israel Innovation Institute. Previously, Roni was a biology specialist at Algatechnologies and a project manager at Hazera Seeds.
Listen to Oculus VR’s former Co-Founder and Chief Engineer talk about the Oculus story, from inception to exit. Jack McCauley discusses Oculus’s initial team, Kickstarter success, role of its venture capitalists, manufacturing in China, and sale to Facebook. Jack also shares his thoughts on the future of virtual reality, augmented reality and the metaverse.
Jack McCauley has over three decades of experience with inventing and technical engineering. As an engineer at Activision, he designed the guitars and drums for the Guitar Hero video game series. Jack was the Co-Founder and Chief Engineer at Oculus VR which was sold to Facebook for $2 billion in 2014. Jack serves as a Board Trustee at University of California, Berkeley. Jack is now venturing into automotive technology, building cars at his private R&D facility and hardware incubator in Livermore, CA.
Companies considering reshoring to Mexico really should realize that Mexico isn’t the same thing as China.
Production can be completely outsourced to China. However, companies that contract with maquiladoras must provide their own management and secure their own supply chains. Chinese view gaps in the supply chain as an opportunity to profitably solve a problem while Mexicans view such a situation as an unacceptable risk.
Listen to this unique and timely podcast to learn about the following:
- Why are there two minimum wages in Mexico? Which one applies to your business?
- What services do maquiladoras offer? Which services don’t they provide?
- How does the quality of the labor force found in maquiladoras compare to a Chinese workforce?
- How do negotiating practices differ with Mexicans and Chinese in terms of pie-expanding efforts, acceptance of ambiguity, creativity and decisiveness?
- What law governs dispute resolution in the maquiladoras?
- What is the quality of the infrastructure between the maquiladoras and the U.S.-Mexico border?
- Are companies that manufacture in maquiladoras expected to furnish living accommodations to their employees?
Andrew Hupert lives and works in Mexico where he helps international businesses get their supply chains under control. After over 20 years in Asia (Shanghai, Taipei, Hong Kong, Saigon), Andrew decided to follow his own advice and move his operations closer to home. He is now based in Saltillo, Coahuila, the ‘Detroit of Mexico’, where he shows companies how to expand or adjust their supply chains.
Where else can you learn about New Zealand’s Jewish history? Where else can you learn about the special relationship between New Zealand’s indigenous tribes and Israel? Where else can you learn about New Zealand’s rocky diplomatic relationship with Israel?
The following are among the issues discussed during this dynamic exchange with Josh Brown and Sheree Trotter:
- Why doesn’t New Zealand have an embassy in Israel?
- Why aren’t New Zealand and Israel better aligned at the United Nations?
- Are New Zealand’s indigenous people considered one of Israel’s lost tribes?
- What is the basis of the special relationship between New Zealand’s indigenous people and Israel?
- How effective is the New Zealand BDS initiative?
- Why might Israeli customs repel the importation of goods from New Zealand?
- Why might New Zealand be an ideal location for Israel to launch its rockets?
- Which Israeli technologies are most needed in New Zealand?
Josh Brown, Founder, New Zealand Israel Innovation Hub
Sheree Trotter, Co-Founder, Holocaust & Antisemitism Foundation of New Zealand; Founder of the Indigenous Coalition for Israel
As Arizona’s Treasurer, Kimberly Yee safeguards roughly $30 billion in assets and is the steward of Arizona’s $63 billion state budget. During her term, Treasurer Yee has conservatively managed the state’s assets while generating impressive investment returns.
Kimberly Yee is a staunch and effective foe of the BDS campaign against Israel. She divested Arizona’s $143 million investment in Unilever when Ben & Jerry’s, its subsidiary, severed its ice cream sales in Judea and Samaria. Ms. Yee placed Morningstar on Arizona’s list of prohibitive investments due to that company’s subsidiary, Sustainalytics, using antisemitic sources to negatively rate companies transacting business in Israel. Under her watch, Arizona’s investments in Israel bonds surged three-fold.
The following are among the other issues discussed during this dynamic exchange with Treasurer Yee:
- What are the sources of inflows and outflows of the assets that fall under Arizona’s Treasurer’s management?
- Why did Treasurer Yee stand at the forefront of implementing programs in schools to teach students how to manage money?
- Why is the ESG movement detrimental to Arizona’s taxpayers and returns on assets under management?
- What can Arizona’s treasurer do to thwart institutions that deprive access of right-of-center and religious citizens to the financial system?
- What is Kimberly Yee’s stance on Joe Biden's plan to forgive student loans?
- How can Treasurer Yee help protect Arizona’s citizens from the huge surge in IRS agents?
- What policies does Treasurer Yee support to mitigate the rapacious inflation crushing Arizona’s families?
The Honorable Kimberly Yee, Arizona State Treasurer.
Kimberly Yee is a graduate of Pepperdine University where she earned a bachelor's degree in political science and a bachelor's degree in English. She also holds a master's degree in public administration from Arizona State University's School of Public Affairs.
She was elected to the Arizona House of Representatives for the 10th legislative district from 2011 to 2013 and the Arizona Senate for the 20th legislative district from 2013 until 2019. She was elected as Arizona’s Treasurer on November 6, 2018.
FemTech is a broad field, encompassing everything from heart disease to reproductive treatment, from oncology to menopause, and from breast feeding to menstrual cycles. We learn that the two genders require different treatment regimens and demonstrate different symptoms for the onset of various diseases.
This podcast discusses issues such as:
- How should medical devices be designed to best suit women practitioners?
- To what extent do women’s health therapies need to be modified according to the patient’s ethnicity?
- What are the pros and cons of diagnosing women via telemedicine?
- To what extent is technology from Israel’s military utilized in furthering femtech?
- What aspects of menopause are targeted for treatment?
- What advances are being made in enhancing fertility and in detecting complications with fetuses?
Sharon Handelman-Gotlib is the Business Development Manager at the Sompo Digital Lab in Tel Aviv. Sharon is a member of the FemTech IL management team.
Israel and Korea have a great deal in common. Both countries received their independence in 1948, have tensions along their borders, have compulsory military service and look after their diasporas. Israel is the largest consumer of Korean automobiles on a per capita basis and Israel looks to Korea as a testing ground for its newest innovations.
Listen to this unique podcast and learn the answers to questions such as:
- How does making financial projections for early-stage companies differ in Israel and Korea?
- What risks are associated with making concessions too early in negotiations with large Korean companies?
- To what extent is Korean culture becoming more receptive to risk-taking and entrepreneurialism?
- What should Westerners expect in terms of socializing during lunches and after work in Korea?
- How did Israel and Korea help each other during COVID?
- How proficient are Korean businesspeople in speaking English?
- What opportunities exist for Israel and Korea to collaborate in the fertility and cosmetics industries?
Ben Weiss is a Venture Partner with SoftBank Ventures Asia and a Managing General Partner at CE Ventures. He is also the Chairman at Alicorn as well as a Director at Glassbox and Pliops.
Compensating business owners in the aftermath of a tragedy isn’t easy. Financial records must be confirmed and reviewed. Financial projections must be taken into account. Apportionment needs to be considered. Valuing lost or impaired human lives is an even more sensitive subject.
This podcast presents a unique opportunity to listen to the world’s foremost compensation expert discuss related issues such as:
- What is the duty of business claimants to mitigate their damages?
- To what extent should insurance recoveries reduce payouts to victims of tragedy?
- Does projected earnings power trump estimated years of remaining life when valuing human life?
- Should receipts of charitable donations cause a reduction in compensation to victims of tragedies (or their families)?
- What are objective surrogates for pain and suffering?
- Why are recipients of compensation often more focused on relative payments versus absolute payments?
- Why might the process of determining victims’ compensation be more important than the extent of compensation paid?
The Honorable Kenneth Feinberg is a preeminent lawyer and mediator. Professor Feinberg served as Special Master for compensation in the wake of America’s most horrific tragedies. He served in this role in the aftermath of the Agent Orange case and British Petroleum’s Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Mr. Feinberg served as Special Master on a pro bono basis for the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund, the Virginia Tech Shooting and the Trouble Asset Relief Program.
Professor Feinberg is a former chief of staff to Senator Edward M. Kennedy and member of two presidential commissions. He is also adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University, the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University and New York University.
Angel investing isn’t for the faint of heart, especially when valuations are at nosebleed levels. Before you delve into any specific opportunity, you may wish to take the pulse of the market into account.
You may also want to consider issues such as:
- What is different about Generation Z angel investors?
- What is the impact on angel investors of venture capitalists becoming increasingly involved in seed round investing?
- How can early-stage companies take defensive postures by being receptive to extension rounds, venture debt and warrants?
- What are the risks associated with Simple Agreements for Future Equity (SAFEs)?
- Why should investors be concerned about possible cramdowns and carve-outs?
- What can early-stage companies offer angel investors/groups to accelerate their decision making?
- What is the likelihood of Americans being allowed to fund their angel investments from their retirement accounts?
Ronald Weissman is the Vice Chairman and Board Member of the Angel Capital Association. He is the author of the ACA's courses on Assessing and Managing Risks in Early-Stage Investing.
With more than seventeen years in global venture capital and sixteen years in angel investing. He has recently advised investors, governments, corporate VCs and startups in locations as diverse as Armenia, Germany, Israel, the Republic of Georgia, Italy, Chile, Australia, New Zealand and across the US. He lectures on venture capital at major universities including Stanford, Santa Clara University, the American University of Armenia and the Deggendorf Institute of Technology, where he is an Adjunct Professor.
There is a ton of agricultural innovation in Israel. Whether it is precise genetics, targeted pesticides, indoor farming, robotics, precision irrigation, data management or supply chain management, Israeli companies are working hard to relieve the world of its current food insecurity.
This podcast discusses issues such as:
- How does precise genetics accelerate the breeding of seeds?
- Are organic pesticides overrated?
- How sensitive is indoor farming to prices of electricity and availability of water? How scalable is indoor farming?
- How can technology reduce food wastage?
- Who increasingly owns data generated by farmers? The farmers or the manufacturers of farming machinery?
- How exact is precision irrigation in terms of optimizing the time at which irrigation occurs?
Among the fascinating Israeli AgTech companies mentioned are Agritask, Agurra, BeeHero, BetterSeeds, FruitSpec, Plantish, Supplant and Weedout.
Dganit was a Venture Partner at Entrée Capital, managing the AgriTech and FoodTech investments. Dganit’s prior experience extends from VP R&D to CEO roles in numerous companies such as Perrigo, Hazera and Nobactra. She started her journey in semiconductors with Intel and in her last position she was Israel Fabs CS site manager. Dganit holds a BSc in chemical engineering from the Technion.
Combine the world’s greatest innovation machine with a fertile land hungry for development and you have tremendous opportunities. Cambodia is rapidly developing, more stable than many believe and already sophisticated in terms of banking, communications and regulation.
Where else can you glean fascinating insights into the Israel-Cambodia relationship? Listen and learn about:
- Israel’s program to train Cambodians in agricultural technology.
- Cambodia’s currency stability and repatriation laws.
- Why Cambodia is a launchpad for serving the ASEAN countries.
- How to communicate with Cambodians linguistically, culturally and technologically.
- The impact of China’s Belt and Road Initiative on Cambodia.
- The ease of creating businesses in Cambodia.
- The Cambodian industries that are best positioned to embrace Israeli technologies.
Moran Hadad is the President of the Israel-Cambodia Chamber of Commerce. Moran is a visionary and successful entrepreneur with a Master of Arts in Civil Engineering and a Master of Advanced Studies degree in Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence. Moran has always been fascinated by the merger of social responsibility and technology which has been nurtured by his decades-long work in emerging markets.
Which countries’ citizens are the most prolific producers of unicorns? At home? Abroad? Why might some unicorns’ valuations be exaggerated? What traps lurk in the data? Listen to our methodology for calculating Solution Nation’s Grand Unicorn Score.
Where else can you glean fascinating insights about unicorns?
Listen and learn about:
- Which countries have the most entrepreneurial innovators in their diasporas?
- How can a company’s unicorn status be manipulated?
- What are the risks of a unicorn facing a downround?
- When conducting worldwide unicorn analysis, should analysts take stated country populations and accounting practices at face value?
- What inducements are provided to late-stage investors to help companies achieve unicorn status?
- How should “flow of unicorns” and “vintage” factor into unicorn analysis?
- How do definitions such as “founders” and “nationals” complicate unicorn research?
- What can we learn from the 1972 Nobel Laureate in Economics in terms of conducting worldwide unicorn research?
David Wanetick is the CEO of Solution Nation and IncreMental Advantage (a patent valuation firm) and a Managing Director at JD Merit (a boutique investment bank). David has valued thousands of patents.
His clients include Fortune 50 companies, emerging growth companies, mid-sized companies, tech transfer offices, national laboratories, venture capital funds and private equity funds. He runs the Certified Patent Valuation Analyst designation and is the author of seven books.
From desalination to water reuse. From smart metering to smart irrigation. From leak detection to new sources for powering water delivery, Israel is a world leader in water management. While many developed countries face water loss rates of 70%, Israel only loses about 5% of its water from source to tap. This podcast covers the gamut of Israel’s water industry.
Listen and you will learn:
- Why does Israel’s geographical location present vulnerabilities to its water resources? How does Israel’s geography enhance its water management?
- Why is Israel’s central management of its water resources the right model, at least for Israel?
- What are the concerns associated with installing desalination facilities in terms of costs, electricity consumption and discharge of brine?
- Why is there no hydropower in Israel? What is meant by “negative elevation distances?”
- What is pump-storage? What is the meaning of “the water-energy nexus?”
- How did Israel get ahead of the water rationing movement?
- How are drones, satellite imagery and mini-submarines helping Israel maintain its water pipelines?
Ravid Levy has some 20 years of experience in almost all facets of Israel’s water industry. He is currently a Senior Director at Wateredge.IL, Israel's water innovation community. Wateredge.IL was founded in 2021 by the Ministry of Economy, The Innovation Authority, The Water Authority, and Kinneret Academic College. Wateredge.IL creates a network of professionals, entrepreneurs, researchers, and regulators to promote partnerships, problem-solving, technology development and growth in the water industry.
China. It ain’t Kansas.
You might see panda bears named win-win at a Chinese zoo but you won’t see a trace of the win-win mindset in any Chinese negotiating forum.
If you want to stay above ground and out of jail or quarantine in today’s Lock Up Nation, you really should listen to this podcast. Dan Harris provides excellent insights into many facets of conducting business in today’s transforming China. Listen and learn about:
- What kinds of negotiating behavior should you expect from Chinese counterparts?
- What is needed to memorialize contracts in China? Should contracts be written in English or Chinese?
- What are the risks of commercial disputes devolving into charges of criminal misconduct (against you)?
- To what extent do provincial laws eclipse federal law in China?
- What should you know about the role of precedence, perjury and discovery when preparing to litigate in China?
- How do damages awards, for the likes of patent infringement, compare to those of the United States?
Dan Harris is the founder of Harris Bricken, an international law firm with lawyers in Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, New York City, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Mexico City, Barcelona, and Beijing. Dan is internationally regarded as a leading authority on legal matters related to doing business in emerging markets. Forbes, Business Week, Fortune, The BBC, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Economist, CNBC, The New York Times, and many other major media players have looked to him for his perspective on international law issues.
Don’t even think about exiting via a Special Purpose Acquisitions Corporation (SPAC) without listening to this highly informative podcast.
Raj Shah shares a wealth of information about forming and structuring SPACS. The following are among the crucial issues discussed:
- What kinds of companies are good candidates for SPACs? What should management teams do before traversing the SPAC route?
- · What are examples of sponsor misalignment and inappropriate SPAC capital structures?
- When do redemptions occur? What is the role of warrants in SPAC transactions?
- Do SPACs have insider lock-ups? Should SPACs anticipate receiving analyst coverage?
- What impact do forward purchase agreements and share dividends have on stock trading activity?
- How do the expenses and required efforts associated with exiting via a SPAC compare with those of an IPO?
Raj Shah is a Co-Founder of Stoic Point Capital Management. Previously he was Managing Director and Partner at Stillwater Investment Management and Partner at Light Street Capital. Earlier in his career, Raj was an analyst with Highline Capital and Greenhill & Co.
Professor Damodaran, a true luminary in the valuation world, provides his insights into the proliferation of unicorns.
Should unicorns captivate the public’s attention? Why does it matter how private companies are priced?
What, if any, risks do unicorns present to the broader economy if they implode?
What is the utility of calculating impairment charges, post-acquisition of unicorns?
What are the risks of placing hundreds of millions of dollars in the hands of young and unsupervised entrepreneurs?
Don’t miss this unique podcast with the godfather of company valuation.
Aswath Damodaran holds the Kerschner Family Chair in Finance Education and is Professor of Finance at New York University Stern School of Business. Before coming to Stern, he also lectured in Finance at the University of California, Berkeley. Professor Damodaran is the author of several highly regarded and widely used academic texts on Valuation, Corporate Finance, and Investment Management.
The food production and supply chain is breaking down. One need not look further than store shelves or grocery store receipts.
Fortunately, a tsunami of innovative Israeli companies is developing an array of protein, dairy, and seafood replacements. Other Israeli companies are busy ratcheting up the health quotient of common consumables.
This fascinating podcast discusses issues such as:
- What is the difference in plant-based and cell-cultivated protein replacements in terms of processes, regulatory pathways, capital intensity, scalability and consumer acceptance?
- Are protein replacements compliant with kosher and halal strictures?
- How do foodtech products rate in terms of taste?
- Should production facilities be large—and few and far in between—to achieve economies of scale? Or should numerous smaller factories be placed closer to customers?
- What does the retail price trajectory for foodtech products look like?
Among the intriguing companies mentioned during this podcast are Aleph Farms, Zero Egg, Imagindairy, Amai Proteins and Better Juice.
Amir Zaidman is the Vice-President of Business Development at The Kitchen Hub, Israel’s leading seed investor and technological incubator focusing on FoodTech. Amir has degrees in accounting, law and business. Amir has served on the Boards of a diverse array of FoodTech companies, including Nutritional Growth Solutions, an Australian Stock Exchange company.
If you don’t go to the desert, the desert may soon come to you. Each year, the equivalent of tens of thousands of football fields of fertile soil turn to dust due to soil degradation. Many other areas of the world’s landmass are experiencing desert-like symptoms such as sandstorms and extreme heat.
This fascinating podcast discusses issues such as:
- Why is it important that Israel more fully develop the Negev? How is Israel more fully developing the Negev?
- How can problems with deserts lead to problems elsewhere?
- What technologies are Israeli companies offering with respect to extreme climates? Water scarcity? Land degradation? Remote living?
- How portable is the technology that is being developed in the Negev to other deserts?
- What is being done to introduce Israeli Desertech to other parts of the world?
- Can Israeli DeserTech companies access funding offered by international or European development funding sources?
Among the intriguing companies mentioned during this podcast are Asterra, Salicrop, Solcold, Dots, and Soled.
Nicole Hod Stroh is the Executive Director at Merage Foundation. A native of Colombia, Nicole’s career includes high-level positions in international development, non-profit management and venture philanthropy spanning the United States, Latin America and Israel.
The Israel-Vietnam relationship is very strong and multifaceted but the cultures are worlds apart. The Vietnamese culture is very hierarchical and great pains must be taken to avoid causing the Vietnamese a loss of face. In Vietnamese, there are ten words for “yes” but no words for “I,” “me,” or “you.” The following are among the issues discussed during this fascinating podcast:
- How should contracts with Vietnamese partners be drafted to ensure maximum enforceability?
- To what extent is Vietnam a springboard for Israeli companies to penetrate other Southeast Asian countries?
- How developed is the infrastructure in Vietnam and how reliable is the electricity?
- Which Vietnamese industries have the greatest pain points, and thus greatest receptivity to Israeli technology?
- What is expected in terms of gift giving? How should one respond to inducements to pay bribes?
- What are the underpinnings of an increasingly warm Israel-Vietnam relationship?
Einat Halevy Levin is the President of the Israel-Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and the Vietnam Desk Manager at BDO. Einat lived in Vietnam for five years and speaks Vietnamese fluently.
The Abraham Accords normalized relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Among the issues discussed during this fascinating podcast include:
- What is the primary reason that the UAE decided to normalize relations with Israel?
- What is the likelihood that other Arab countries—such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman—may normalize relations with Israel?
- What are the cultural inhibitors to Israelis and Emiratis transacting business together?
- Which Emirate industries have the greatest pain points, and thus greatest receptivity to Israeli technology?
- To what extent may warmer relations with the UAE help Israeli companies serve Muslim countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia?
- How might growing Emirate technologies in Israel foster better relations with Arab Israelis and Palestinians?
Gilad Carni is the CEO & Founder of the UAE Israel Innovation Office and the Founder & Chairman of GC Marketing Services, a NYC-based nationwide promotional and event staffing company.
Noa Gastfreund is Vice President Of Business Development at UNIPaaS Payments Technologies and the Co-Founder of the UAE-IL Tech Zone.
There are risks associated with investing in emerging companies. The technologies seem disruptive, the markets appear to be immense and the management teams seem invincible. However, not all promising companies are worthy of your hard-earned dollars (or shekels).
Edwin Dorsey, editor of the Bear Cave, does a wonderful job of discussing some of the due diligence that investors should conduct on early-stage companies. Everything from obtaining and understanding customer complaints filed with Attorneys General to deciphering SEC comment letters is explained. Learn how to determine when executive resignations are red flags as well as what the quality of auditing firms and auditing partners portends.
Edwin talks about questionable revenue recognition practices as well as how to access the quality of board members. We discuss what investors should look for in terms of a company’s patents, the turnover of retained law firms and the role of influencers as revenue generators.
Edwin Dorsey is the editor of the Bear Cave and Sunday’s Idea Brunch newsletters. His research is impeccable and his writing is crisp. Edwin’s work is invaluable to the investment community.
Tal Paperin delivered an excellent primer on Israeli Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).
He explained how IIoT interfaces with supply chain management software and artificial intelligence. He discussed factories procuring IIoT pre-installed on machinery versus retrofitting older equipment.
If you don’t know the answers to the following questions, you really should listen to this podcast.
How important is 5G to IIoT?
To what extent are employees and unions opposed to IIoT deployments?
Can IIoT legitimately be called a ‘green technology?
How are IIoT sensors powered? What kinds of communications protocols enable IIoT communications? To what extent are IIoT systems and sensors interoperable?
How important is cybersecurity to ensuring the smooth running of IIoT? How rapid are IIoT sales cycles?
One of the fascinating Israeli companies that Tal introduced us to is Augury.
Tal Paperin is the Vice President of Global Sales for Bacsoft, an Israeli IIoT Company, backed by Sun Corp. from Japan. During his career, Tal has managed all aspects of International Sales, Strategic Business Development, and Global Expansion.
He has opened new markets, trained sales teams, secured distributors, managed budgets and pipelines, and negotiated with venture capitalists. He speaks English, Hebrew, Russian and Chinese.
Why should patent-rich companies value their patents? Because, in many cases, the majority of a company’s value lies in its intellectual property. If you can’t value your patents, you won’t get the values you deserve when negotiating capital raises, patent sales, and licensing agreements of the sales of companies.
David Wanetick discusses how factors such as claims breadth, priority dates, ease of detecting infringement, overcoming invalidity attacks, prior art searches, forward citations, prosecution histories, litigation experience of the patent attorney, and examiners’ allowance rates impact patent value.
This session addresses questions such as:
- How many valuation methods should be used when valuing patents? How can one make use of their varying conclusions?
- How can you value a provisional patent application? How can patents enable companies to prosper when they are subject to trade bans? Why might venture capitalists prohibit their portfolio companies from enforcing their patents against infringers?
Gain incredible insights into patent valuation from this podcast.
David Wanetick is the CEO of IncreMental Advantage and a Managing Director at JD Merit. David has valued thousands of patents. His clients include Fortune 50 companies, emerging growth companies, mid-sized companies, tech transfer offices, national laboratories, venture capital funds, and private equity funds. He runs the Certified Patent Valuation Analyst designation and is the author of seven books.
Link for David Wanetick:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-wanetick-5375b56/
Grove Ventures is a leading early-stage venture capital firm with some $500 million under management. Grove Ventures also supports its portfolio companies with marketing, legal, accounting, and personnel resources.
Renana Ashkenazi introduces us to investing in genomics. As the cost, speed, and precision of genetic testing continue to improve, genomics is likely to become a more common treatment modality. Renana discusses how genetic sequencing, genetic mapping, and targeted testing can improve healthcare as well as some of the practical and moral concerns associated with genomics.
Renana introduces us to four fascinating portfolio companies—Navina, Nucleai, Protai, and Tingo.
Renana Ashkenazi is a General Partner at Grove Ventures. She brings almost a decade of product and managerial experience in the areas of technology, Global Innovation, and strategic marketing. Prior to joining Grove Ventures, Renana worked at Applied Materials and was an engineering research fellow at the Center for Innovation in Global Health Technologies at Northwestern University developing diagnostic devices for poorly resourced countries.
No transactions lawyer or dealmaker should miss this podcast..
Professor Goshen’s articles on corporate law and securities regulation are frequently named among the Top Ten Best Articles of the year by Corporate Practice Commentator.
As the Jerome L. Greene Professor of Transactional Law and Director of the Center for Israeli Legal Studies at Columbia Law School
The proposed and disputed Musk-Twitter transaction is perhaps the most eventful and contentious acquisition in modern times.
Fortunately, one of the brightest legal minds dissects the terms, twists and turns, and possible outcomes of this gripping saga.
Professor Goshen speaks about Twitter’s poison pill and fiduciary duties as well as the use of breakup fees, hell-or-high water provisions, performance clauses, waiving of financing contingencies and irreparable harm.
On this podcast we tackle contentious issues such as why Twitter might allow Mr. Musk to disparage Twitter on Twitter and what the consequences of such disparagement might be to Mr. Musk. We discuss whether the Musk team errored in waiving normal due diligence opportunities and in not hedging against the risk of Twitter’s shares falling precipitously.
Sparks really flew when we got to issues of Twitter’s reporting of the incidence of bots on its platform. How can bots be detected and counted? Are Twitter’s representations of the incidence of bots credible? If not, is the difference material? If the incidence of bots is much higher than Twitter reported, can such lapse trigger a material adverse event? Would that development extricate Mr. Musk from the deal?
Linda Štucbartová is an Executive Board Member of the Czechia-Israeli Chamber of Commerce, responsible for Science, Research, and Innovation.
Linda was also nominated as Woman of the Year for bringing Empowerment Self Defense to Czechia. Through her company, Diversio, Linda mentored more than 1,000 leaders in developing innovation ecosystems.
Don’t miss this one-of-a-kind podcast that focuses on the special relationship that Israel and Czechia enjoy.
These two nations helped each other win independence and embrace capitalism.
Support for Israel permeates the Czech political landscape and Czechia votes along with—or in support of Israel—99% of the time.
Israeli technology is found in cars on Czech roads, on Czech farms, and in mobile apps.
Some things you may not know are how Israeli fintech and cybersecurity companies tap Czech programmers. How the two nations host joint hackathons. How Czech and Israeli universities collaborate on foundational medical research. And how Israeli defense technologies are deployed in the Czech armed forces.
The Israeli government has undertaken several initiatives to help Czechia foster its own innovation ecosystem while Czechia often serves as the springboard for Israeli companies to reach the broader European market.
With hundreds of successful and promising companies, Israel has become a world leader in mobility. Drivers of Israel’s ascendency in mobility include Israel’s extreme population density, road fatalities that exceed the number of fallen soldiers in all of Israel’s wars, a low auto purchasing rate and limited miles of highways.
Omer Shachar opines on many segments of mobility including drones, vertical take-off and landing vehicles, autonomous vehicles, scooters, and robot delivery vehicles.
He discusses the cost of equipping vehicles with autonomous capabilities, the relevance of smart cities, the role of insurance companies and supply chain issues.
Omer introduces us to three fascinating emerging companies—Infinidome, No Traffic and Actasys.
Omer Shachar is the Founding Partner at Next Gear Ventures and Drive TLV.
Omer has over a decade of executive management experience in the financial and automotive industries as well as investments in early-stage startups. He was a partner of Myseedtech fund and worked in Mayer Investments. Prior to this, he was VP of the Vehicle Division for years in Kesher Rent a Car, Hertz licensee in Israel.
Venture capitalists and acquirers should conduct due diligence into the intellectual property held by Israeli companies. Shulamit Hirsch PhD, Technion’s Head of IP, discusses the following related issues.
How to protect inventions during the research phase.
Avoiding entanglements with research sponsors such as universities.
When inventors should seek releases from research institutions.
When to file for patent protection versus maintaining trade secrets.
How emerging Israeli companies can manage their patent budgets in view of their worldwide ambitions.
What happens to Intellectual Property sponsored by the Israeli government when Israeli companies are acquired by non-Israeli companies.
Shulamit also discusses specific questions venture capitalists and acquirers should ask relative to target companies’ prior art searches, patent assignment histories, claims coverage and presence of patent continuations.
Shulamit Hirsch has a PhD and is one of Israel’s leading intellectual property practitioners and advisors. She is the Head of IP, Outsourcing at the Technion.
Shulamit also consults with some of Israel’s most promising private companies, Israel’s largest public companies and clients around the world such as the Guangzhou Sino-Israel Biotech Fund.
Today's Guest is Daniel "Danny" Cohen who is a General Partner at Viola Ventures, which is dedicated to enabling Israeli entrepreneurs to build global transformational technology companies.
He has made invaluable contributions to Viola Ventures since 2013 and began his career as a developer and product manager at a few Israeli high-tech companies, including Commtouch and Scitex. He has a BA in computer science and psychology from Tel-Aviv University and an MBA from INSEAD.
Danny Cohen segments the business-to-consumer industry into niches such as consumer Internet, e-Commerce, direct-to-consumer, games and digital media.
He provides key insights into scaling B2C companies, reserving options pools, setting founders’ and executives’ compensation, the trend towards short videos, and fraud in the reporting of subscriber counts.
Danny also reveals some of the secrets as to why Israeli companies have had so much success in growing B2C companies.
Today Danny Cohen introduces us to three fascinating portfolio companies — Lightricks, Worthy, and Faye.
INcapital Ventures’s reputation as “bridge builders to the North American market” provides INcapital access to exclusive and attractive opportunities in Israel.
INcapital invests in early growth-stage technology companies and is industry agnostic.
Erez Lahav segments the enterprise software industry into niches such as machine learning, Internet of Things, marketing technology, and Big Data.
He provides key insights into determining the potential revenues that may be derived from distributors.
Erez introduces us to three fascinating portfolio companies—Pente Networks, Anima and Cyrebro.
Erez Lahav is a Principal at INcapital Ventures, which has offices in Toronto, Tel Aviv, and New York.
Erez has over 15 years of experience in technology and entrepreneurship; he founded and led two start-ups from bootstrap to acquisition. Erez was also a software solution architect for Amdocs in Dallas, Texas.
Todays guest is Aaron Applbaum who is a Partner at MizMaa Ventures, which invests in early-stage companies.
MizMaa Ventures assists its Israeli portfolio companies commercialized in the East and West. In fact, MizMaa is the portmanteau for the Hebrew words for East and West. MizMaa is also shepherding its companies to the Gulf and it has received investment from at least one Gulf sovereign wealth fund.
Aaron Applbaum segments the cybersecurity industry and discusses the moats surrounding cybersecurity companies. He provides insight into the importance of marketing and developing common platform technologies in the cybersecurity space.
Aaron introduces us to three fascinating portfolio companies—Autofleet, Orca and Hexight.
This excellent podcast touches on three captivating topics—assessing SaaS companies, Israeli companies outsourcing programming to Eastern Europe, and venture debt.
Listeners will learn when SaaS companies should embrace the freemium model versus charging for multiple years of service upfront, when to (and when not to) charge on a per-seat basis, and the calculation of retention rates.
Anton discusses various facets of venture debt such as maturities, costs, conversion, covenants, and collateral (or lack thereof).
This podcast includes a discussion of the pros and cons of Israeli SaaS companies programming software in Eastern Europe. Anton discusses some of his portfolio companies such as Comeet and Guesty.
Anton Fedorov is a Partner at Flashpoint Venture Capital, which manages some $500 million through its offices in London, Tel Aviv, Riga, Warsaw, and Warsaw.
With over 26 years of technology experience overall and a 15-year track-record of executive-level experience Gilbert Ohana
delivers innovative, high risk and complex initiatives around IT Strategy and Enterprise Architecture, with a focus on Digital Transformation initiatives, to achieve business goals and competitive advantages.
On this podcast listeners will learn a great deal about Israeli innovation in the insurance sector.
Among the issues discussed are capital requirements, regulatory regimes, the application of AI, protecting proprietary innovations and new lines such as homeowners association insurance and cyberinsurance.
Also discussed is the impact of Israeli military intelligence units on the Israeli entrepreneurial ecosystem.
We will explore the early identification of the most promising candidates, mission critical challenges pursued in elite intelligence units, and the transfer of critical technologies for commercial use.
Stay tuned as Gilbert Ohana reveals some of Israel’s most promising insuretech companies.
Among the companies mentioned are Hippo, Lemonade, Next Insurance and insurance.io.
Solution Nation Podcast with Levi Shapiro and Goel Jasper - Investing in Israeli Digital Health Companies
Topic: Investing in Israeli Digital Health Companies
Today's guests are Levi Shapiro and Go'el Jasper.
Topic: Investing in Israeli Digital Health Companies
Levi Shapiro is the founder of mHealth Israel, a non-profit community which currently consists of over 638 companies that supports Israel’s connected health and medtech community.
And Goel Jasper is the Digital Health Innovation Group leader at FINN Partners.
Listeners will learn about how connected health companies navigate clinical trials, group purchasing organizations, and the reimbursement landscapes.
We discuss how these companies protect their secret sauce, the importance of predicates, and crucial tips on receiving capital from strategic investors.
In this podcast, we will reveal how connected health companies impact malpractice risks, how to benefit from local regulations, and seek a trade-off in terms of efficiency and bedside manner.
Stay tuned as Levi Shapiro and Goel Jasper discuss some of Israel’s most promising digital health companies. Among the companies discussed are Biotax, Sweetch, and Theranica.
Baruch Lipner has helped build a charitable ecosystem in Israel as the Executive Director at Tmura
Tmura facilitates Israeli companies donating options to charitable organizations.
For over 20 years, more than 800 Israeli companies have pledged options on their shares to Tmura.
When these companies achieve exits, Tmura exercises its options and donates the proceeds to registered Israeli charities.
There are many Venture capital firms that encourage their portfolio companies to pledge options to Tmura.
Being that many of Tmura’s supported charities are directed to the youth, more young people become coveted employees for Israel’s high-tech sector.
Today Baruch continues to advise organizations to establish these types of charitable networks in other countries.
Exercise triggers, grant sizes, tag-along rights, cashless exercise, charity selections and much more are discussed in detail during this podcast.
Jonathan Glazer partners with outstanding early-stage HealthTech founding teams in segments ranging from digital health, to medical devices and diagnostics, to foodtech, agtech, biotech and life sciences
He is an enthusiastic lecturer, researcher, and goal-oriented business professional with proven abilities in influencing and engaging executives and key stakeholders.
About
◆ Partnering with outstanding early-stage HealthTech founding teams in segments ranging from digital health, to medical devices and diagnostics, to foodtech, agtech, biotech and life sciences
◆ Emergency Medicine Specialist and Healthcare Executive with clinical, operational and managerial experience in hospitals, pre-hospital, and military systems
◆ Combining interpersonal skills with diverse experience in the healthcare business ecosystem to provide strategic consulting for tech companies
◆ An enthusiastic lecturer, researcher, and goal-oriented business professional with proven abilities in influencing and engaging executives and key stakeholders
For over 2 decades Oded Hermoni has invested across different industries as a managing partner at J-Ventures ( Unicorns -Datarobot, Visby Medical, Omada, Veev), partner @Rhodium VC ( which invested in the Unicorns - Yotpo, Outbrain and Storedot), Coin Ventures ( Yotpo, Yieldmo)
Odeds' mission goes beyond the check towards how to really bring value-add to the companies he's involved with or advises.
Most of his investments were in Silicon Valley, NYC, and Israel.
When Oded Hermoni invests he brings his experience and network, and most of all, he tries to see how he can bring added value.
*Please remember that all content provided on the Solution Nation podcasts and website is for educational purposes only.
Craig Weiss is the Managing Partner of Flagstaff Ventures, an early-stage, consumer-focused venture capital firm, headquartered in Arizona.
Craig brings an entrepreneur-focused perspective to the venture capital field as one of the few institutional investors to have both built a unicorn as a CEO and also identified and invested in an early-stage startup that has achieved unicorn status.
Welcome to Solution Nation Podcast!
The ONLY global podcast that brings together public and private companies, venture capitalists, and lawyers to build a bigger and better nation while changing the world.
Here at Solution Nation, we talk about investment and negotiation styles and techniques, due diligence performed, and how to structure investments.
How much and in which industries to invest.
This all comes down to company targets and their business plan for achieving their goals.