After a long break in the activities of the validation panel, we are all set to help you out again.

If you have a venture and believe that the assistance of the panelists might help, feel free to send me an E-mail describing your venture. I promise a follow up.

For all of you who don’t know what the validation panel is, I’ll give you the short version:

A panel of industry experts that gather together in order to assist young ventures in different fields. In a nutshell, the entrepreneur showcases the idea in front of the panel, followed by an intense Q&A session. The entire meeting lasts about an hour, after which the entrepreneur receives a document that holds the opinions and recommendations of the panelists, each in his own field of expertise. If you’d like to know the members of the panel are, check it out in previous posts.

Showcasing before the panel costs you nothing. The outcome (document) also costs you nothing. This is completely pro-bono work offered by the panelists, simply to assist.

So once again, if you have an interesting idea, feel free to drop me a line.

Doron

D.

It’s not every day that you can watch history in the making. A crisis the likes of this one doesn’t come often and one that has a global affect is even more interesting.

The United States had economic downfalls in the past. Beginning with the great depression of 1929, America realized that simply waiting around for things to fall back in place (Adam Smith’s invisible hand) is not a good idea. The government needs to take measures that will stop the downward spiral, and it needs to be done swiftly.

Ever wonder what the crisis is all about? Let me shed some light on the topic:

First of all, what the hell is sub-prime? The answer is very simple. It is the practice of loaning money to people who do not qualify for market interest rates. In essence, it’s giving money to people who can’t pay back.

The US housing bubble started bursting towards the end of 2005. For a few years before, banks were more lenient on funding mortgages, as well as providing loan incentives (e.g. easy initial payments). As housing prices went up, the public began to assume more long term debt, believing that they will eventually refinance under better terms.

Now comes the fall: interest rates began to rise and housing prices began to drop, making it much harder to refinance. Once the initial incentives given to the public were over, it was simply impossible to pay. That’s when defaults and foreclosures began take place. For demonstration purposes, during 2007 1.3 million properties were subject to foreclosure.

Greed, my friends, is the root of all evil. The crisis that emerged from the sub-prime fiasco teaches us all a valuable lesson. Nothing lasts forever.

All in all, I believe that the concept behind the actions of the American government is a good one. Helping the market stabilize by pouring in money might sound like a terrible idea, especially to those sitting at home thinking that “the rich get richer”. The fact of the matter is that what was done essentially killed capitalism and introduced a new paradigm in economics. It’s every man for himself; only with a government backed insurance policy in case you fuck up.

America will not fall without a fight.

I will be hosting the next validation panel soon, and start-ups who wish to apply should E-mail me at doron@dhconsulting.info with their Executive Summary.

D.

Unfortunately, since many of the panelists are spending September abroad (either at events such as the TC50 or simply on business), I am forced to move the next panel towards the end of the month.

Come back for additional news…

Doron

I had first met Cameron through a mutual friend, Roi Carthy, who thought we should hook up, both being veterans of the online advertising industry. A few months and countless emails as well as meetings later, I am proud to call Cameron a friend. Not only is he a good friend, he is also a brilliant analyst with a deep understanding of how things work in the online world, on top of being extremely business savvy with an amazing insight into emerging markets. I hope you enjoy ;-)

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Recently both Google and Yahoo made steps to allow users to opt-out of personalized ad severing provided of cookies. As of a few days ago, Google implemented a procedure effectively allowing users to opt-out their from extended content network including affecting AdWords, Google Syndication as well as DoubleClick.  Yahoo is following suit with full opt-out implementation at the end of August.

This bold step by the two biggest names in search are not in response from market factors - but rather a hearing held by the Senate Commerce Committee. In short the hearing questions 1) the ability of large companies to be responsible for data they collect on behalf of their users and 2) the arbitrage between a user’s understanding and of what is being shared about them against actual data collection and interaction.

Do we really care? In the last 15+ years we’ve grown accustom to sharing highly personal information about ourselves over the internet.  Privacy has always been a significant issue since the first days of connecting online via BBS, prodigy’s internet service (remember them?!) and the like.  Granted, privacy highly valued in the minds of every American - which might explain why similar inquires haven’t been made to scale in other Western countries.  However, since those “early” days so much has happened:

• We subconsciously trust companies at an “evaluation” level. We’ve traded real personal information in return for free web-based internet accounts, social networks, shopping portals and many other services that make our lives easy, fun and exciting.
• That trust is tested in real time. The internet has made Adam Smith economics without the big “G” for government a real thing.  When an internet based business tests the limits of what it will do with its user information - the inherent nature of the internet both allows us to learn about it, and enables us to to act on it.  Case in point the 2006 AOL data scandal.  By in far in Western countries, such exploitations of a nurtured relationships haven’t happened on a doomsday level scale.
• Network effect of sharing information.  With more than 70% of American homes connecting online we’ve come to a near subconscious understanding that sharing information about oneself isn’t that bad given the fact that everyone else does it too.   This effect is highly scaled in all dimensions of American society - as well as other Western countries.

The real issues at hand should be protecting - not distracting people.

Seriously. With google and yahoo handling zillions of searches every day, that fact that non-identifiable information regarding our internet browsing behavior in exchange for convenient search and targeted ads hasn’t actually harmed anyone. I agree that unsolicited advertising via spam and other annoying less than scrupulous tactics are evil; and the government holds a much needed place in consumer protection.  However, targeted ad-serving enabled by cookies truly makes the experience of search more effective for the user (anyone) and ROI effective for a provider (google).

The implementation of cookies have made advertising more like marketing. Imagine a situation where the communication between a user and advetiser is completely market driven, placed with unparalleled targeting and actively searched by a targeted user base.  Yes this freaks out offline advertisers :).  If the model wasn’t appreciated  - the market would move in mass to other search providers without government based initiation.

I have to say. Working side by side with such industry experts is a true joy. Every time the validation panel gets together, ideas fly and the energy level in the room soars.

2 weeks ago the validation panel got together again (for the 2^nd time) to take a look at three start-up companies, each one in a different field of operation. From the first moment you could fee the energies flying around in the room. The presentations were very professional and the Q&A sessions were intense. No wonder that I had received thank you letters from the companies who participated in the event. The outcome, the personal opinions of each and every member of the panel, is priceless.

I will be hosting the 3^rd panel soon enough. If you have a start-up in need of help, feel free to drop me a line to doron@dhconsulting.info.

Gil Keret, CPA. Founder - Brooks-Keret group.

Mr. Keret has over 15 years of experience in management and finance within the Israeli high-tech industry. In his role as Co-founder of Brooks-Keret (http://www.brooks-keret.co.il) Mr. Keret is exposed to dozens of high tech and start-up companies, providing them with a full range of high level financial and managerial services. Mr. Keret offers a wide view together with rich experience in supporting business needs. In the past few years, Gil was involved with the Israeli activities of multi-national companies such as BAAN, AOL and British Telecomm. Now a days Brooks-Keret is serving over 250 start-up’s and VC’s as well as international companies provided by staff of 75 professional employees.

Any questions, drop me a line at doron@dhconsulting.info

The validation panel got some free PR at Globes today, I will post a copy of it soon.

In the meantime, here’s the link to article (Thank you Noa Pereg for your support of our cause)

http://globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=1000348263&fid=594

I also added a download link for a pdf file containing the article. Here it is.…

Doron

Companies who wish to participate in the next session of the panel are welcome to contact me at doron@dhconsulting.info or call me on 054-5727999