Week 7

Wow. I cannot believe it is my last day at Mobileye. This summer has truly just flown by. In just one week from now I’ll be on a plane headed back home to Baltimore. I must say I’ve learned so much here from this internship. I learned all about marketing and branding, a side of business I may have never had the opportunity to learn about given my hopeful future as a CFO. I now will pay close attention to how I phrase advertisements and research keeping in mind the company’s branding. I’ve also learned a lot about Israeli business, and working in a big business in general. There will always be people who work in different ways than you do, and learning to cooperate with people of different learning styles is crucial to success in business. Beyond this, understanding other country’s business practices is important as well. As Mobileye is an Israeli company, deals, for example, are often presented very directly and expected to be completed in short order. Yet companies in other countries operate much more deliberately and will not accept deals so swiftly. As I continue to develop my future career in business, I will remember everything I’ve learned here and apply it to my future challenges.

Today, I fully finished up my effectiveness report, the 11 page monster I’ve been working since mid June. The satisfaction of fully finishing the project is unbelievable, and I truly feel as if I have contributed to the company. I had the privilege of sitting in on the sales and marketing team meeting yesterday, and they mentioned using my report in their new uniform Powerpoint presentation given to potential clients. Pretty exciting stuff. I also had the chance to sit down with Ofer Maharshak, our CEO, to learn more about the position and how to work your way up within a company. He had some very helpful advice and I thank him for his time.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Isaac Litman, CEO of Mobileye products, for giving me the opportunity to intern here at Mobileye this summer. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I’d also like to thank Ilan Yavor for all his help as Marcom director in editing through my drafts and helping me progress my project. Finally, I’d like to thank Michal Kaye, my first friend at Mobileye whom I shared an office with all summer. To sum up all that Michal did for me, I’ll share a quick experience. One morning I overslept my alarm, and was going to get to work too late to order lunch. I called Michael and asked her to order for me, and just told her to get absolutely anything. But when I got to work, she had ordered me pizza exactly how I like it (with olives, mushrooms, and tomatoes). I truly wouldn’t have made it without you, Michal. Thanks for everything.

The three remaining Tamid fellows had an oppurtunity to meet with founder of  start-up fiddme, the eccentric Yosi Taguri. Yosi, it was awesome  man. We FULLY expect you at a football game in Michigan this year (I’ll hold to my promise that you can have my bed). If anyone knows someone involved with the food network please hook Yosi up. This guy needs a TV spot, he’s incredible.

Probably my coolest experience of the trip was this past weekend – the Yam l’Yam (sea to sea) hike with a bunch of friends. Even though we didn’t finish the last day due to 105 degree temperatures, it was still an unbelievable experience. Other good times this week include a great night out in TLV, and DJ F-RHYME and I working on our SICK new hit single “fly me to the moon”.

Up next for me is the Jerusalem wine festival and traveling for the last week of my Israel experience. Can’t wait to tell you all about it. Until next time….

Weeks 5 and 6

I know I keep saying that I will never skip a week on you ever again, and then I just keep missing weeks. This week at least I have a good excuse – I came down with a terrible stomach bug and was confined to my bed in Jerusalem for 4 days last week and into the weekend. But no worries, I’m all better and back to action. Let’s catch everyone up on what’s been going on for the past two weeks.

Here at Mobileye ®, things have been hectic as I begin to wrap up my Effectiveness Report. Over the past two weeks, I have made extensive edits to the report, and I have written a general summary, executive summary, and a conclusion to include in the report. I also made a cover page using the Mobileye artwork (and of course my name in big bold letters ). Today, I finished up another edit of the report, and I have been working with Marcom director Ilan Yavor in making sure that the report flows logically and includes all the necessary information. As my internship comes to a close next Thursday, so must the report, and I am excited to have completed this extensive project. There is nothing like finishing something you started, and that’s exactly what I plan to do over the next week.

On the TAMID front, we have had an unbelievably eventful past two weeks. One of the most meaningful experieces of my entire stay here in Israel came last Tuesday evening, at the Tech-Aviv founders meeting. With our stomachs rumbling from a full day of fasting in commemoration of the Tisha’bav holiday, we traveled in the sun to Hertzilia to present in front of an exclusive group of founders and CEOs of various start-ups throughout Israel. Our own Nathan Gilson gave a passionate pitch to the start-ups, giving the companies compelling reasons to get on board with the Tamid program. He closed his speech with a striking pun, saying, “You don’t want to be thinking in five years, man I should have used those Tamid kids”. After the official meeting ended, our work began as we split up and spoke to every CEO who was willing to talk to us, telling them all the ways they could get involved with Tamid. I have never seen more people so excited about our idea and the enthusiasm was inspiring. Over the past week, the three of us have been working our emails and telephones, building the internship and consulting connection we’ll need to take Tamid to the next level.

After the conference, our all-inspiring entrepenurial advisor, Hod Fleishman (who I remind you all, engineered the whole Tech-Aviv experience for us – we thank him greatly for this) took us out for an amazing shwarma to cap a great evening (and what felt like one of the longest fasts of my life). Although the fast was trying at times, the experience of the day created for a balance that totally explains what I adore about the Israeli way. People are passionate here – they are both passionate about their personal and professional goals, and they are passionate about a lifestyle. It was so meaningful to me to be a part of the commemoration of the destruction of the second temple by attending the kotel and fasting, at the same time as striving to further a good cause, to create a deeper connection between the American Jew and his homeland, to strengthen Tamid. Being both a man of great religious values and great worldly aspirations is not easy. But that is what Israel is all about. The struggle.

The Tamid crew also enjoyed a wonderful dinner with Ilan Wagner of the Jewish Agency. Ilan enlightened us all about the history of the Jewish Agency, and brainstormed ideas for Tamid to get involved. We thank Ilan for his time and would like to wish him a happy belated birthday - we got to share some birthday cake with him at the close of the dinner.

Other highlights of the past two weeks included a phenomenal weekend trip to Haifa, complete with the Bahai Gardens, great views of the port, and of course – the beach. I also had the opportunity to see the movie inception with a couple of friends, which to quote just about every person’s facebook status, “blew my mind”. Finally, last night, as my friend Ephraim and I were returning home, we stumbled upon a friend of Ephraim’s who tends bar at a club in Jerusalem. The bartender told us we had to go up to the bar, as an NBA player was sitting inside. We looked at each other in disbelief, but when we walked up the spiral stair case, through the dance floor, and into the bar area, we found newly signed New York Knick Amare Stoudemire. Stoudemire is apparently connecting with his Jewish roots here (or maybe just connecting with his new fan base of NY Jews in Israel), and it was awesome seeing him in person here in the holy city.

This weekend a big group of friends and I are embarking on the Yam l’yam hike beginning at the Mediterranean Sea and ending at the Sea of Galilee. It should be an absolute blast, I can’t wait to tell you all about it.

 Back to work Monday. Until next time….

 

 

Weeks 3 and 4

I would like to start by apologizing to all my loyal fans for my absence last week – that one’s on completely me, I totally forgot to blog. I guess I was just too busy living the dream. If you did in fact tune in last week only to be thoroughly dissapointed, let me know and I’ll be sure to make it up to you however I can.

In the meantime, I have alot to catch you all up on. We’ll start with everything going on at Mobileye ®. These past two weeks, I’ve been hard at work refining my outline for the effectiveness report, and producing my first draft. After getting good reviews on all the information I had gathered, I set out to produce my first draft of the report. Both Ilan, our new Marcom director, and Michal, customer relations manager, said they enjoyed reading my draft and I was off to a good start. After meeting with Ilan to discuss the draft, there are definately a few adjustments that I’ll need to make to the report, however it seems I’m well on my way to producing a concise, yet effective piece that should help the company market the new product. In addition to my report, I have helped to update the CRM (Customer Relationship Management), and learned of my next project here at Mobileye ®, which will be an analysis of the competitors for our product’s different functions. It’s truly been a pleasure working here; everyone here has embraced me, especially Michal and Ilan, and I should leave the internship with great friends in addition to a great experience. Hard to believe I only have three weeks left here.

On the Tamid front, we have had several interesting meetings in the past two weeks. Last week we met with Aharon Hurewitz, one of the founders from Presentense. Tamid got its start at Presentense when co-founder Eitan Ingall was a summer fellow there, so it was interesting to inform Aharon of all the progress that had been made since then and hear more about the organization as a whole. We also got to meet with Eitan’s mentor from Presentense, Ari Gorlin. Ari was great to talk to (and not just because he grew up with my high school’s director of Education, Mrs. Schorr). He gave us excellent insight into the Israeli start-up scene and also bountiful advice on how to fine-tune the financial model we’ve been working on with Hod. Lisa Barkan, CEO of DigitalShtik Marketing, and family hosted us for a wonderful Shabbat lunch this past week. Finally last night, we had a very informative dinner with Bank Leumi’s Avi Ifergan. Mr. Ifergan pointed us to several fascinating conclusions about the Israeli economy, including the high percentage of R&D, short exposure tothe recession, and demographic proof of a very strong Israeli economic future relative to other countries.

Even amongst all of the busyness, I’ve still had time to kick it in a big way. Two weekends ago, we attempted to go to the Laila Lavan festival in Tel Aviv, and although we didn’t even make it to any of the shows, we still had an absolutely epic weekend in the TLV. This past weekend we stayed in Jerusalem for a very relaxing weekend and shabbat, including a very enjoyable friday night meal at Nate’s brothers place in the German Colony. Some other highlights include a free Mosh Ben-Ari concert, watching the world cup with Nico, Ephraim, and Yossi, chilling with my brother Jeffrey’s girlfriend Hannah and her friend Ally during their visit to Jerusalem, and of course BURGERS BAR…LIKE FIVE TIMES.

I’ve had a chance to meet with a lot of friends from all over the place, and I’ve also had the oppurtunity to make new friends. Speaking with people in this country is so interesting because everyone’s got a story, and they’re always willing to share it. The best part about this place is that whether in a bar, a restauraunt, or a coffee shop, they don’t voluntarily bring you your check. When you’re ready for it, you ask and they bring it. In other words, nobody is trying to kick you out of places. Establishments here understand that its not about the activity, but about the people, the relationships, and the experience. Yes, the so-called “standard of living” is lower here in Israel than numerous other places. Diminished salaries produce less spending power and the house, car, and tv you would be able to buy in the states, you wouldn’t be able to afford here. But as Mr. Ifergan said to us last night, the quality of life is undeniably better, and I couldn’t agree more. People are happier here because televisions, video games, and cars cannot truly bring joy into your life, only people can. And that’s the emphasis here. Everyone knows everyone and everybody is friends. It’s all about the people. What a wonderful lifestyle – I sure have enjoyed being a part of it.

Coming up next week, an update on a brand new work week and a weekend in Haifa. In case you were wondering, the rhymes are flowin’, and we have one song completed with another three on the horizon. I’ll keep y’all posted.

In the spirit of this weeks post, I would like everyone to take one hour where they would have otherwise watched television, and call an old friend who you haven’t seen in a while to invite him or her for a bite to eat. You won’t regret it. Have a wonderful shabbat everyone. Until next time….

Week 2

And the second week of my summer Israel experience comes to a close. Settling in to my role here at Mobileye ®, I worked diligently all week reading and preparing for my main project, the effectiveness report. The project has proved so extensive that I did not finish the first draft yet. I have finished all of the reading provided to me by Mobileye, and have almost finished extracting and sorting this information into 5 categories: the executive summary, and the 4 main features of the product. This is not only giving me an idea of how I want the report to be constructed, but also leading me to the missing pieces of research that I will seek out over the next week. Coming up next week, I will find the missing pieces and begin to write the report. I have also helped out with other tasks around the marketing office such as editing the monthly newsletter and logging contacts into the database. It was another great week at work but also a sentimental one, as Marcom director Nicolas Slobinsky left Mobileye Wednesday due to his upcoming marriage and move to Canada. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Nico over the past couple weeks and his advice, guidance, and friendship here were invaluable to me as I began my Israel journey. He will surely be missed.

Outside the office, a lot has happened since I last blogged. The Tamid crew enjoyed a wonderful dinner Thursday night with Benchmark Capital’s Elie Wurtman and Greenroad founder Hod Fleishman at the Mamilla hotel in Jerusalem. The dinner was an absolutely incredible experience; we learned alot about venture capital and entrepreneurship in Israel, as well as received invaluable advice about the future of Tamid. Nathan, Ally, and I were also able to meet Mr. Fleishman again last night at Beit Ticho for a brainstorming session over dinner. Hod is truly a visionary and is developing creative ideas with us as we seek to transition Tamid from its start-up stage to a brand name. We can’t thank Hod enough for his time and positive energy. This looks to be the beginning of a beautiful partnership.

Other events of this past week included some Tel Aviv beach time, a homemade Friday night dinner with roommates and friends, and a night out with Nico and Mobileye intern Eli to watch Nico’s home team Argentina beat Mexico in their world cup matchup. What a week! Look out for some pictures next week, our internet was out at home so this blog is coming to you live from Mobileye studios (where I don’t have my camera). Also, my roommate DJ F-rhyme and I will be producing a couple of hip-hop tracks over the course of the summer – I’ll keep you posted on the progress.

Until next time…

Week 1

Well well well, you probably never thought that I would actually be back. But as of now I am sitting at my desk at Mobileye® in Jerusalem finishing up my first full week at work. It’s actually happened, I’m in J-town living it up. Plus, being that it’s Thursday (the Israeli Friday) I’m in an especially good mood. My boy from home Ephraim “DJ F-Rhyme” Shapiro gets in today and will be joining my other roomate Yossi Weinberg, a friend Michael Ingber and I for what should be an absolutely epic night. Of course before this, the Tamid crew has a very special evening with Benchmark Capital’s Elie Wurtman at the fabulous Mamila hotel. I’m looking forward to telling you about all of this excitement and more during next week’s blog post (the blog posts will occur every thursday from now on). In the meantime, though, let’s get everyone caught up on what’s been going on since I got here.

I arrived on Tuesday afternoon to a beautiful new apartment in Nachlaot - props to my boy Yossi for the hardwork apartment hunting. The two level pad is about a 37 second walk (I’ve timed it) from Macheneh Yehudah, the Israeli Market or shook, and a five minute walk from Ben Yehudah – in other words unREAL location. After enjoying a little walk around the area I met up with  Tamid fellows Ally Berman and Nate Gilson and michiganer Naomi Scheinerman for a chill sesh and tour around Jerusalem. Later that night, Yossi came back from his Magen David Adom training for a late night Ben Yehudah binge. Overall, nice orientation to J-town.

Wednesday was my first day of work, so I have now been at Mobileye for a little over a week. For the first couple days my coordinator Isaac Litman, CEO of Mobileye Products, was abroad on business, so I had an oppurtunity to meet everyone around the office, learn about their work and about the company in general, and even test out some of the hardware. Everyone at the office is really nice, especially the three people in the marketing office where I’ll be working this summer. For those first few days, they gave me countless presentations and pointers to help fully understand the company before I would be taking on real work.

On Monday, Isaac returned from his trip and I recieved my first assignment, which I have been working on all week. My assigment is essentially to produce the most recent update of what MobilEye calls their “Effectiveness Report”. The company’s newest product, called the Mobileye C2-270™, boasts four major functions, Forward Collision Warning (FCW), Lane Departure Warning (LDW), Headway Monitoring and Control (HMC), and Pedestrian Detection (PD). Each year, they put out a report that assesses how effective the technology in their product is based upon statistics about different types of automotive crashes and features of the product. Right now I am pouring through 160 page PDF documents published by everyone from OECD to Daimler-Benz and everything in between. The first draft of the project is due Wednesday, so I’ll have an update next post.

Other highlights from the week included an awesome first thursday night out with my friend Michael (working at Weitzman in Rehovot), Nate, Yossi, Ally, and Naomi, friday lunch with Michael and two our our high school friends currently studying in yeshiva, shopping and dinner in the shook, and joining a gym. Of course, I also had a great shabbas with the Tamid crew – first at a wonderful friday night dinner with Vringo CEO Jon Medved and family at their absolutely stunning home in Baca, then a chill sesh on my balcony followed by a small outing between me and Tamid fellows Kevin Zussman and Idan Goldbroom, and capped off with a day in the old city on Shabbas.

Great to be back with you and thanks for following the blog. Again, if anyone has any advice on anything that I should be doing while in Israel, I’ve got exactly 7 weeks left here, so please just comment them right on the blog and I’ll get busy. I said last time that anyone who gave me a good suggestion would get a shout out on the blog so, as promised, David Braid, respect for an unreal shwarma selection in Moshiko (also the shwarma of choice by Tamid All-Stars Sasha Gribov and Eitan Ingall), and to my boy Joel Matthew “Chaim” “Faan” Frenkel for the one and the only burgers bar.

Until next time….

p.s. Landon Donovan, wowwwwwww, USA! USA! USA!

Mobileye® is a registered trademark of Mobileye Technologies Limited.

Hear about my TAMID fellowship experience all summer RIGHT HERE

Well, it has been a busy couple of months but everything is finally starting to come together for my TAMID summer experience. I am all set to work for Mobil Eye in Jerusalem. One of the most promising young companies in Israel, Mobil Eye develops motion sensor technology for cars to ensure increased safety among drivers. You may have seen the new BMW 6 series that stop automatically if you get too close to another car. That’s Mobil Eye. The company, though, claims that this technology is obsolete, and they are currently making even further advances in the motion sensor industry. As their CEO of products Isaac Litman told me, they are now developing technology that can sense and avoid pedestrians. I can’t wait to see what else they’ll come up with while I’m there. I’ll be working in their product development firm doing competitor analysis, market research, and product testing and deficiency analysis, so the internship seems really stimulating – I can’t wait.

As of now, I’m just trying to tie up some loose ends – getting an apt. with a couple of friends, booking flights, etc. I officially start on June 15th and will return home August 12th. I look forward to telling you all about my experiences, and until then I’ll keep you posted on any updates.

Just as an aside, if anybody wants to give me any suggestions of good shwarma places, good bars, or basically any recommendations for good places to go or things to do while in Israel, they would be much appreciated. If I go to your selected place, you will get an official shout out in my blog which will be read by millions of people, so just post any suggestions as comments to the blog posts.