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The Jeff Pulver Blog

Notes, comments and observations

Reminder: August 31st is BlogDayYesterday

BlogDay was started by Nir Ofir in 2005 with the belief that bloggers should have one day dedicated to getting to know other bloggers from other countries, cultures and areas of interest.

I celebrated BlogDay in 2007 and I look forward in joining the celebration again in 2008.

What will happen on BlogDay?

On August 31st, bloggers are asked to post recommendations of 5 new Blogs, preferably Blogs that are different from their own culture, point of view and attitude. On this day, blog readers will find themselves leaping around and discovering new, unknown Blogs, celebrating the discovery of new people and new bloggers.

BlogDay posting instructions:

1. Find 5 new Blogs that you find interesting
2. Notify the 5 bloggers that you are recommending them as part of BlogDay 2008
3. Write a short description of the Blogs and place a link to the recommended Blogs
4. Post the BlogDay Post (on August 31st) and
5. Add the BlogDay tag using this link:
http://technorati.com/tag/BlogDay2008 and a link to the BlogDay web site at http://www.blogday.org.

Celebrate!

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A look back at Breakfast with Jeff Pulver (and friends) in Tel AvivYesterday

Just wanted to thank the 200+ people who came out to the breakfast I hosted on Wednesday, August 27th on a hot summer morning in Tel Aviv.

This was my largest breakfast to date of the more than thirty I have hosted in sixteen cities in three countries and my fourth breakfast I hosted in Tel Aviv this year.

The breakfast brought together a wide range of people including a number of (early) early-stage startups to executives from a number of the largest companies in the world.

And in between there were people who had a chance to expand their person network, enjoy some great conversations and get caught up with their friends in an informal setting which embraced the conversations taking place.

Special thanks to everyone who came out and joined a conversation. I look forward to hosting another breakfast in Tel Aviv later this year. I will be hosting my first breakfast in Jerusalem on Sunday, August 31st at: amuta2.0 - Social Media for Not-for-Profits.

A Qik Look at Breakfast with Jeff Pulver (and Friends) in Tel Aviv:August 27

Earlier today I hosted a breakfast at Cafe Aroma in Tel Aviv. The following video clips were originally broadcast live during the breakfast.

Tags: Qik, Social Media, breakfast, Tel Aviv, Jeff Pulver

Back in the Hi-Tech Startup Capital of the World: Tel AvivAugust 26

Im spending this week in Tel Aviv and I look forward to spending time catching up with a number of (early) early-stage startups.

This morning I hosted a successful Keiretsu meeting which brought together many of the Israeli startups Im involved with.

Tomorrow morning I am hosting my 4th Real-Time Social Networking Breakfast event in Tel Aviv this year. This looks like it may be my largest breakfast to date (out of 30 that I have hosted in 16 cities) as over 200 people are registered for the event. Tomorrow afternoon is a typical afternoon for me in Tel Aviv with meetings scheduled in a non-stop stream of back-to-back meetings.

I am not aware of any other city anywhere in the world where one can smell the entrepreneurship in the air. Every time I visit Tel Aviv I continue to be amazed by: the people I meet; the ideas I hear about; the innovation which is happening; and by the positive energy in the air. The people I know who are involved with startups in Israel are living the 24/7 lifestyle of working non-stop. Just about anything and everything is possible. All it takes is an open mind, vision, inspiration and opportunity.

I enjoy visiting Tel Aviv and the opportunity to catch up with my friends who collectively have become my source of inspiration for a lot of the work that I do. These are some of the people who have helped establish Tel Aviv as the Hi-Tech Startup Capital of the World.

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Part I: Investing in Early Stage Startups - It’s the Team that MattersAugust 25

This week while I am in Israel I will be meeting with and will be pitched by a number of hi-tech startups with dreams. Many times during these meetings I feel like Im a technology scout looking for the next big thing. I look forward to attending these meetings as it is one of the ways I am able to keep track of the latest trends and fashions inside of the Israeli hi-tech startup space which I find particularly fertile for some reason. It is through the process of being pitched and pitching that I am exposed to both innovation and opportunity. And after hosting 25-30 often back to back full days of such meetings during a visit, I usually find myself unusually inspired about the future of the future and I especially enjoy the opportunity to meet some pretty amazing dreamers and doers people along the way.

While there are a number of things I take into consideration when making a decision about whether I should invest in an early-stage startup, one of the key components of any startup are the people, sometimes better known as The Team.

The Team is what will make or break a startup. As a serial entrepreneur who dreams and as an investor, I have an appreciation for what makes a great team. Some of the startups I tried to raise money for and failed in raising money for was due as much as to The Team that I had as much any other external factors. When building a team for a startup it is as close to gut check time as one gets.

Relevance Matters, Sometim