Philanthropy on the Front End
Several months back, I was privileged to be part of a small host group of Israeli bloggers invited to meet with the American Internet gurus visiting here for the Innovation Israel blogging expedition. One of those visiting was Sarah Lacy. Here’s an interview she just did for Yahoo tech ticker:
Not everyone is a fan of the sometimes-mischievous Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff but it’s hard to fault his emphasis on philanthropy. Benioff has authored two books on philanthropy and become a proponent of the idea that you don’t wait until you’ve made your fortune to start giving it away — you do it as you go. Here’s Benioff speaking of his other mission: Turning “Stingy Valley” into a land of plenty. (it may take a minute or so for the video to load)
Ok, You’re a Billionaire. What Now?
The Apple Girl, Encore
Yael Naim is back. Here from Israel21c, in honor of Israel’s 60th…
The Faces and Places of Israel in the 21st Century
While you’re at it, read all about Yael in this new story from the World Jewish Digest, A New Soul in a Strange World, by Leah Hochbaum Rosner.
“On October 22 last year, a self-titled album from a little-known singer hit store shelves in France. Released on the label Tôt ou Tard and featuring a track called “New Soul,” the album debuted at number 11 on the French charts - a ranking that more than satisfied Yael Naim, the singer-songwriter behind the disc. After all, even though she’d slaved over it for more than two years, Naim didn’t expect much in terms of sales for an album that consisted mostly of Hebrew songs. Truth be told, she was just glad to see her record in stores.”
Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem
Israeli Tech Sends Mixed Messages
About a month ago, I was privileged to be part of a small host group of Israeli bloggers invited to meet with the American Internet gurus visiting here for the Innovation Israel blogging expedition. Rebecca Markowitz, from illuminea (eJewish Philanthropy’s web marketing consultants), wrote a great post for IsraelPlug on their visit.
One of those visiting gurus in attendance was Sarah Lacy.
As part of our occasional off-topic Friday “Made in Israel” posts, here are Sarah’s recent blog comments about her whirlwind trip and yesterday’s article from Business Week.
“This was an incredibly hard column to write, because Israel is such a complex and contradictory place. At the heart of the column are a few questions for the tiny but very entrepreneurial country, which I think is at a bit of a crossroads: Will Israel always be Silicon Valley’s farm team or emerge as a tech hub independent of the Valley? Should it aspire to that? Can Israeli entrepreneurs make great Web entrepreneurs?”
Israeli Tech Sends Mixed Messages: Many of the country’s tech startups have moved to Silicon Valley or set up outposts there. Now they need to innovate and take risks at home.
about Sarah: gifted new blogger, an award winning journalist and author of the just released book, “Once You’re Lucky, Twice You’re Good: The Rebirth of Silicon Valley and the Rise of Web 2.0“. Sarah has been a reporter in Silicon Valley for nearly a decade, covering everything from the tiniest startups to the largest public companies. She writes a biweekly column for BusinessWeek.com called “Valley Girl” and is co-host of Yahoo! Finance’s Tech Ticker.
Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem
Where’s Waldo (aka Yossi)?
I finally caught up with Yossi Abramowitz last night. If you remember, he was the energetic CEO of Jewish Family and Life who resigned two years ago to move to the Negev and sort-of retire.
Or for those of you in a different demographic, his wife, Rabbi Susan Silverman is the sister of Sarah.
We were part of a small host group of Israeli bloggers invited to meet with the visiting American Internet gurus here for a whirlwind trip to attend an Innovation Israel blogging expedition. Rebecca Markowitz, from illuminea (eJewish Philanthropy’s web marketing consultants), wrote a great post for IsraelPlug on the visit.
Back to Yossi, I know many of you wonder what he could possibly be doing way down there on Kibbutz Ketura. If you know him, even by reputation, you know he doesn’t sit still. In his own words:
“So about 24 hours after going into semi-retirement in the middle of nowhere, an idea, and eventually a company was born.”
For all of Yossi’s latest doings, check out Peoplehood.org; today’s post will give you a pretty good update.
The Apple Girl
Israeli singer Yael Naim, is making a name for herself across the world. When she was a very young singer-songwriter Yael Naim decided she was an old soul. Later the Israeli realized that she’d made a mistake. This realization is the inspiration for the American breakout hit of the year, New Soul, chosen by Apple CEO Steve Jobs to market Apple’s newest laptop.
Sung in English, the song went on to become the Number 1 downloaded song on iTunes, and landed Naim Billboard magazine’s “Hot Shot” designation, scoring the highest for any debut song on the magazine’s singles chart. Read more at Israel 21c.org. And while you’re at it, check out their updated website; they did a great job!
The song that started it all…
Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem
