modu Inc. is readying for an IPO on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE). I am not a shareholder in modu, and its success, or heaven forbid, its failure will not affect my bank account. Nonetheless, as an Israeli citizen, I have much to either gain or lose.
The point is the paucity of large Israeli high-tech companies. Much has been written that we sell companies too quickly, that the venture capital funds (who are naturally always guilty of everything) press for a fast exit, and that entrepreneurs prefer to sell now rather than wait for a bigger bonus down the road.
But every now and then a company appears that has a chance of becoming big. Naturally, it is a company with an ambitious vision, faces huge risks, and endless obstacles. A person willing to take this vision through to the end is necessarily a special person, someone who is not afraid of failure, who is prepared to take on every possible challenge, and in the Israeli reality, regrettably, face ridicule and cynicism.
In our unflattering worldview, modu CEO Dov Moran is worthy of condemnation. He is an entrepreneur with a successful track record, the inventor of a new category of consumer electronics - the DiskonKey - who struck it rich (shame on you!), sold his company (how dare you!), and instead of sitting quietly at home, he dared to found a new company, with a fantastically ambitious vision.
That is why we have criticized him since the day he founded his company, celebrate every obstacle the company encounters, are pleased that he has been unable to raise enough money, and pray for his colossal failure. We also diminish his previous success.
But we forget that modu's success means the creation of many jobs, hundreds of millions of dollars in exports, and finally result in a great Israeli company. Conversely, modu's failure means the fall of a company that aimed to be a global leader that would employ thousands of people.
The comparison with Better Place LLC and its CEO, Shai Agassi, is obvious. Another entrepreneur who succeeded as a young man in getting reach and becoming a top personage in the global high-tech arena. Agassi has an ambitious vision, maybe more ambitious than the vision of Moran, and he too faces no shortage of belittling criticism.
Agassi's vision is flawed, he's creating a monopoly, who is he in the car industry; the list goes on. Not long ago, at the MIT Forum, Agassi told me that he believes that the campaign against him is organized by special interests.
I think that he was being too nice about us, the Israelis; he still doesn’t get it, or in his generosity he chooses to ignore that we hate our success stories. We want them to be mediocre, neither too rich nor ambitious. We definitely do not want to be bothered by a company with a great vision.
The author is a general partner in Canaan Partners, and manages its Israeli operations.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 8, 2010
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