In Israel, everyone is an entrepreneur. At least, sometimes it seems that way. Everyone knows someone who has started up some kind of venture, whether it's related to technology, finance or industry. Sometimes I can't believe how many people I personally know who have technology startups. Many of these ideas do come to fruition and succeed on a large scale. Look at Teva, Amdocs, and Comverse for some examples of the biggies, and see this list of the top 10 Israeli Web 2.0 wonders for a look at some of Israel's most promising startups. But how does Israel rank on a global scale for entrepreneurship? According ...

Seth Godin says that everyone is lonely, and that "People spend money (and make money) and join organizations and invest time and enormous energy to solve this problem. Every day." My first reaction to this statement is that it is depressing. Are so many people lonely that Seth can generalize and say that "everyone" is lonely? On the one hand, you can say that loneliness is what has led to the proliferation of social media tools like Facebook, MySpace, and the weirdest one of all: Second Life.  But I recently joined Facebook, and have found it to be a great tool for keeping in touch with family and ...

Thanks to my new Administrative Assistant (bless her soul), I have finally managed to get around to organizing the second Entrepreneur Breakfast meeting in Jerusalem. Entrepreneur Breakfast is a not-for-profit effort to strengthen the small business community in Israel. The group meets monthly and the idea is to come together to gain valuable knowledge, advice, and support from each other. Date of Event: Thursday, June 28, 2007 Venue: 1868, The Café, 34 Derech Beit Lechem, Jerusalem Time: 8:30-9:30 am Cost: 45 NIS Topic: "Innovative Online Marketing Solutions for Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs" – ...

Now there is one less excuse for not hiring women: according to a survey conducted by business data firm HSP Hashavim of the Hilan Tech and the Trendline group, women are absent from work less than men. This phenomenon is apparently unique to Israel, while everywhere else in the Western world women miss more work than men. HSP Hashavim attributes this statistic to the fact that women take less vacation than men, since they feel that they have less job security. "HPS Hashavim CEO Abie Meir says that the current trend in terms of absenteeism among women in Israel began in 2002, when the country sank into recession. 'Women were more concerned than men about losing ...

Blogs are everywhere. Millions exist and thousands of new ones are created daily. Blogs cover almost every theme and topic under the sun, and can range from personal, to political, to business. Personal and political blogs are generally written in the blogger's free time, and the goals can include personal fulfillment, self-expression, and the opportunity to network with others online. But why would a business invest in a blog? Make no mistake about it - blogging is an investment of some money, and a lot of time. And in a business, ...

According to the entrepreneur experts, it is important that business owners create a carefully structured work/life schedule, because if they don't, work and life can blend and this can be bad etc. When I first started out, I did manage to define my work hours. But that was at the beginning, when I had way fewer projects, and they were nicely spaced out so that in between each one I had a kind of vacation. Now the work is non-stop, which is a good thing but also makes life very hectic. Plus, running a business means spending time on many ...