The special cultural climate in Israel greatly encourages creativity, innovation and initiative. Many talented people think of innovative and unique ideas and are interested in turning them into a startup and a profitable company. Many of them are interested in "making a hit" and achieving significant financial well-being, but are also motivated by the desire to initiate, innovate, create something of their own, influence and touch people's lives and find solutions to issues and needs that concern everyone. I have an idea, who to contact, and what should be done, young entrepreneurs wonder.
What is required to turn any idea into a success?
There are several stages that separate the "I have an idea" stage, the research and development of the entrepreneur's idea to create a revolutionary start-up that will "change the entire field from end to end" and the realization of the big profit in the long-awaited "exit".
The exit dream is a significant motivator for many entrepreneurs in Israel and around the world. At the same time, it is important to point out already now that most entrepreneurs will be deceived about the "get-rich-quick dream", even when they have an excellent idea. Achieving the dream requires planned and professional work: from my long experience in the field, both as an entrepreneur, as a position holder in companies and startups, and as an advisor to startup companies - I have been exposed to many complex issues that occupy entrepreneurs. In many cases, the entrepreneur believes that the path from a mere idea to a finished product and financial success is short. It seems to many of us that the way to the exit is sometimes like a Cinderella story, but the reality is completely different.
Converting the idea that used to be in the mind of the developer tostart up The sale of an impressive exit to a foreign company for many millions, like the story of "Wise" or "Mobile Eye", is not a simple process and it requires a focused approach starting from the idea generation stage, which even includes a thorough examination of whether a similar patent, product or service already exists, continuing with the construction of a business plan at a conceptual level - That is, a feasibility study on the economic level and continuing the processes of establishing and building the product and the business and marketing it, until it becomes a profitable company and has the right to economic existence, which may later lead to the realization of practical profits and perhaps even the fulfillment of the exit dream for those interested in it.
Those who eventually reach this crossroads where there is a possibility of an exit, will find that they are faced with a difficult dilemma, of giving up the company that they established with great effort and handing it over to a foreign party versus choosing to lead and develop the company without selling it and the company's march to leadership in its field as a Teva company or The Israeli K Point, a worthy destination in itself.
In the first stage, already in the early stages after the idea is uttered, the entrepreneur encounters the need to examine whether an idea similar to his idea already exists in the market - whether it is the development of a preparation in the field of health or care, a nutritional supplement or cream, the development of a medical accessory, computer software, mobile application, algorithm For automated trading in the capital market, or other technological product, whether it is a sophisticated code, prototype, demo or patent.
After that, the entrepreneur must examine what the core of his idea is and how he will be able to generate profits from the realization of the idea at the end of the process. and build a "mini business plan" in order to find out a variety of technological, marketing, financial, legal and business aspects related to the realization of the idea. From my experience on the subject I usually emphasize to me Entrepreneurs , that there is a set of activities that will save the entrepreneur a lot of time and effort in the future, basic actions starting with a thorough and correct search for information regarding the idea, joining professional parties to examine the feasibility of the idea, checking whether a similar product already exists on the market, examining the issue of intellectual property regarding the idea, including protection through patent, understanding the costs involved in developing the idea and the costs associated with its implementation or production so that it is possible to know how to price it and how much profit can be obtained from it, understanding the alternatives that the intended consumer of the product or service faces and how much he will be willing to pay for it, understanding the market, the possible price levels, the barriers to entry to the market and its competitors, and of course the ability to reach potential customers. These are actions that every entrepreneur must perform or acquire knowledge related to these actions, in order to improve the chances of success of the project.
In these stages, the entrepreneur is usually required to reveal the idea to a certain extent to other people. At this stage preliminary questions arise such as whether and to whom to tell about the idea? How do you handle the anxiety of the inventor who is afraid that "my idea will be stolen"? How do I protect my idea during the initial exposure stages? These and other issues can be handled thoroughly with the help of legal and professional tools such as a "confidentiality agreement" and other business and legal protections, however, in light of the early stage in which the entrepreneur is, caution should be exercised in their implementation.
After passing the first hurdles, with the formation of the idea and the building of the team, the entrepreneur encountered additional considerations and questions that he must deal with carefully, sensitively and wisely in front of his future partners and employees. At this stage, the intended startup is about to go through a lengthy process in order to understand what a good founders agreement is: how does an entrepreneur protect his rights vis-a-vis existing and future partners? How and whether to include investors in the company? How do you keep your employees and partners with you over time with maximum motivation? Is and how should the vesting mechanism be used with partners in the venture for this purpose? How are shares or options allocated in a venture to each person holding a position in the company? When and whether to start a company? How to incorporate and other weighty issues.
The long work into the night has arrived. The start-up begins to form code and fibers and now comes the time for the really complex decisions - whether and at what stage to bring "money from home" for the initial realization of the idea? How do you raise funding? Should I turn to venture capital funds or recruit private investors? and how to create a polished business plan and a winning presentation in order to compete for the hearts of picky investors
After the entrepreneur goes through the first steps in the process of turning the idea into a product, he will reach the significant stage of product development that requires a professional and business focus from the very beginning, while carefully monitoring the duration of the development and the development of the company both in terms of technology and in terms of management and business. And this without mentioning in detail the cardinal significance of the marketing aspect which requires professional management in aspects such as sales, branding, positioning, business collaborations, marketing strategy, advertising, marketing in traditional media and technological platforms and tools and more. Due to the brevity of the paper, I will not expand on these issues now, but I will only point out that these aspects are also significant for the success of the project and should not be taken lightly.
More Levi Sigman He is a consultant to entrepreneurs, start-up companies and companies in the field of technology and entrepreneurship, serves as a partner, manager and director in various ventures, companies in Israel and abroad in the fields of medicine, chemistry, bio-tech, electronic commerce and finance, a lawyer in the field of commercial and intellectual property law and patents. Lavi Sigman has authored several books in the field of management and psychology, is a writer and lecturer in the fields of economics, entrepreneurship and psychology, has a practical and academic background in the field of business-organizational consulting and organizational psychology (BA, MA, Psychology and law (LL.b Law).
לLevi Sigman Experience in the field of entrepreneurship in the fields of technology in ventures in the Internet, software, pharmacology, chemistry and ecology, care and cosmetics, and in fields such as financial technologies (finetech), bio technology, bio medicine and bio informatics. This experience is reflected in his positions as a director and vice president in start-up companies and as a manager and economic and legal advisor and as a representative of investment bodies and companies in the commercialization of inventions and in the field of investments in the sector.
