Israel Lab: The Bridge of Learning

ISRAEL LAB THE BRIDGE OF LEARNING BETWEEN MIT SLOAN & THE ISRAELI INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP ECOSYSTEM

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ISRAEL LAB For the past six years, MIT Sloan Action Learning’s Israel Lab has provided students with the opportunity to gain hands-on experience, in line with MIT’s “mens et manus” motto, while providing actionable insights on go-to-market strategies, competitive analysis, customer acquisition, pricing, and related topics to high-tech Israeli startups. From cybersecurity and data analytics to cleantech and life sciences, a wide array of industries have benefitted from working with MIT students.

Group photo of the first Israel Lab teaching team (including Jacob Cohen) and Ambassador Dennis Ross, who has served under five presidents.

BEGINNINGS The idea for the course sprouted from students’ desire to learn about Israel’s innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Seeing a connection between the entrepreneurial spirit of MIT Sloan students and the Startup Nation, Cohen co-founded Israel Lab with MISTI Israel in 2015.

“Being on the cusp of disrupting many different industries, while embracing risktaking and innovation, is so core to MIT and to many places in Israel, that it’s just a perfect fit,” says Ziv Conen, MBA ’15, who is an Israel Lab mentor and Associate Partner at McKinsey and Company.

“The unique value that Israel Lab offers host companies is an opportunity to work with a team of brilliant MIT students educated by world-renowned faculty, who can help Israeli executives solve managerial problems and business challenges.”

JAC O B C O H E N M IT SLOAN SENIO R ASSOC IATE DEAN F OR UNDERGRADUATE AND M AS TER’S P RO GRAM S AND SENIOR LEC TURER

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IMPACT ON ISRAELI HOST STARTUPS Noa Oron, MBA ’17 and Senior Director of Business Development and Partnerships at Kaltura, first experienced Israel Lab as a teaching assistant for the course. In that role, she created course content to help students grapple with the question of what makes Israel the Startup Nation. When she had the opportunity to host a project six years later, Oron enthusiastically agreed, knowing the benefits it would bring.

“These students are motivated, they want to learn about the industry that we’re part of, they want to learn about our technology, and most importantly, they bring a new perspective,” says Oron. “I am working with our product and our customers every day. And sometimes, I don’t see the bigger picture that these students bring in with their experience.”

SEEING BOTH SIDES

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startups can face. She noted that while many startups may have a new, exciting technology that they built, they can get stuck when it comes to making it relevant to the United States market. That, Oron says, is a place where Sloan students have added value. With their business acumen, global experience, and their unique access to diverse stakeholder input, particularly from potential customers, they are able to provide valuable insights to companies.

As a host, Oron and her team at Kaltura experienced the benefits of working with Israel Lab students.

When she was a teaching assistant, Oron saw first-hand the challenges that Israeli

“The insights we got from the students’ work was priceless. They were better than anything that we could buy from market research reports.”

N OA O RO N , M BA ’ 17 SENIOR DIREC TOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOP M ENT AND PARTNERSH IP S, KALTURA P L AY V I D E O

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MAKING A DIFFERENCE Amit Karp, MBA ’10 and Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, sees the value that wellscoped student projects provide to startups in his portfolio. Israel Lab students can answer smaller, quicker questions, and provide insight into global markets such as the United States and Europe.

While student teams have helped Israeli startups scale globally, the recommendations vary. Cohen says that startups have “shifted to a new strategic priority or decided not to pursue a specific avenue based on the recommendations from MIT students. That is real, tangible impact.”

Prospera team and their hosts onsite in 2017.

ISRAEL LAB: Growth Stragies for

TEAM

SMART TRANSPORTATION MARKET SNAPSHOT

Carla Kinugawa

Roberto De Silva

Sloan Fellows

MBA Candidate

Keitumetse (Tumi) Molamu MSMS Candidate

Saeed Aldhaheri MFin Candidate

Trafc management systems > 1/3 of market in 2016, expected CAGR 18.8% Intelligent trafc systems market expectation > $80 billion by 2027 Europe accounted for more than 1/3 of market rev in 2016, expect to dominate in 2022 Asia- Pacic expected to have fastest growth MISION

Make car data as valuable as possible to drivers, passengers, and the transportation ecosystem. To deliver solutions that adhere to the strictest privacy and security standards.

INTERVIEW FINDINGS (from 15 Interviews) Interview Purpose: Develop a deeper understanding of the customer acquisition journey to develop common marketing personas

VISION

To create a mobility ecosystem that uses data to make every driving experience truly rewarding. To enable a world of environmentally-friendly cities that run more efciently.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Evaluate the ‘As Is’ state of Otonomo.

Interview a limited sample group of potential and current clients interested in aggregate data.

Project poster from student team’s work with Otonomo in 2021.

19 interviews scheduled 4 no-shows “What if you know if the driver is risky or less risky? Can you reward the driver with extra miles? This is how we’re using the data.”

“Advantage of Otonomo is that they are a data aggregator, which means you don't have to deal with each and all single licenses...”

Recommend marketing activities.

OTONOMO ECOSYSTEM

Complementary Data

VALUE Enhance drive experience and improve road safety Fuel Optimization & Sustainability Reduce vehicle misuse Real time tracking & alerts

Data Aggregators

Go to market partnerships Research

CROSSING THE CHASM Image source: https://www.business-to-you.com/crossing-the-chasm-technology-adoption-life-cycle/

“The rst value of data for connected cars is the data that if you start to use it, you are sure you can continue to use it.”

Raw Survey Data (from 15 respondants)

OEM End customer

EV Trafc management Connected cars

Europe Australia Japan USA

Location

What they Do Consultants Solution Provider Other

33% 56% 11%

Role Primary Decision Maker (c-suite) Decision maker Other

50% 0% 50%

Their Industry Trafc Solutions Tolling Solutions General Consulting Weather Solutions Providing Insights Other mobility Technologies Other

20% 0% 20% 10% 20% 20% 10%

How they Found Otonomo: Google/ Online Search Through OEMs LinkedIn Word of mouth Contact from Otonomo

40% 10% 0% 40% 10%

Sources for Industry Info Financial/ Business Websites Private Blogs Social Media (LinkedIn) Expos Consulting Groups Company Blogs/ Newsletters Google Alerts

13% 13% 13% 7% 13% 27% 13%

Trial -30 days 30+ days Not tested, but Aware Not Aware Happy with the trial

25% 13% 13% 13% 38%

What they Really Need Specic Data - Aggregate Specic Data (Other) Unclear Solution. not data

13% 25% 50% 13%

SUGGESTIONS

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1) USE CASE: INTELLIGENT TRAFFIC SYSTEMS

Public Transport management, on-demand consults, shared transport control.

MIT SLOAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

Emergency navigation. Assuring drivers’ and passengers’ security, sending incident alerts to police and medical teams, and detecting dangerous materials.

INNOVATORS - Not willing to pay a lot - Prove your concept / value VISIONARIES - Willing to take some risk and sign that contract

Trafc management systems.

2) ECOSYSTEM BUILDING: IDEATION SEMINARS

The market leader is one who has an ecosystem built around them

ADVANCING STUDENT LEARNING Israel Lab provides an unparalleled opportunity for students to learn about the Israeli innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Even in the short time that they have to work with these startups, students make a tangible difference to host companies’ business.

“In just a few short weeks, we were able to make an impact on their innovation,” Rajlakshmi De, MBA ‘19 writes in a blog post about her experience. “We grappled with pricing models, messaging, and more. It has served as a reminder that teamwork and great management can drive huge amounts of success. The sense of possibility in what we can accomplish in the world is something that MIT gives us every day, and Israel Lab was a big part of that journey and discovery for me.”

“The students learn by working in a totally different business context and responding to the variability. They are putting theory into practice, overcoming many unknowns.”

Conen, who is both a part of the MIT Sloan community and the Israeli innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem, helps students understand and collaborate with Israel’s people-driven business culture. He also teaches them how to create a tight project scope with Israeli companies so that both sides can benefit from the experience.

Students not only learn what it means to work with Israeli startups, they also learn how to become better leaders, and they are able to directly apply what they have learned in their own careers.

Conen, who mentors Israel Lab students, sees a lot of growth even in only one semester.

Kiralis team with their host onsite in 2019.

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UN IQUE COMPAN IES WORK ED W IT H S IN CE IN CEPT ION

A LIFE-CHANGING DECISION: SOUMYA’S STORY For Soumya Shukla, Israel Lab was a lifechanging experience. Shukla, MSMS ’16, and two other students worked with Voyager Analytics for their project. Together, they mapped China’s social network landscape, sketched the competition in North America, and recommended an e-commerce analytics target strategy. Voyager Analytics was so impressed by her work that they offered her a job. Though Shukla was originally from Bengaluru, India and hadn’t had much experience with Israel before this project, she turned down an offer from Amazon, relocating to Tel Aviv to work with Voyager Analytics. She says that while it wasn’t an easy decision, it wasn’t a hard one either.

“I never felt like an outsider. Even though I did not speak their language, they made every effort to include me by speaking English,” Shukla adds. “Conversations were just fluid and seamless, and our values were very aligned.”

Following her move to Tel Aviv, she met Asaf, whom she later married. They are now based out of Toronto. As the current Director of Product Management for Tulip Retail, Shukla shares that she continues to apply the learnings she developed in the Startup Nation.

“The insights that Asaf and I bring from our experiences in both the U.S. and Israel are valuable to startups in Canada, because there aren’t many people who have the same kind of commercialization background.”

Not only is she continuing to use her learnings from the course and her work experience, Shukla is collaborating with her network to find ways for Israeli companies to enter the Indian market.

“Enterprise startups in Israel can definitely solve a lot of problems that Indian companies are facing.”

“Conversations were just fluid and seamless, and our values were very aligned.”

S O U M YA S H U K L A , M S M S ’ 16 DIREC TO R O F P RO DUC T M AN AGEM ENT, TULIP RETAIL

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BRINGING MIT STUDENTS “HOME” For Oron, an Israeli citizen, Israel Lab was about bringing students from all over the world “home.”

“Bringing MIT students to Israel meant that I get to show these students my home country from the innovative perspective, which not everybody knows about,” she says.

A major objective of Israel Lab is to help students learn about the Israeli people and culture. Students taking the course are from all over the world; for many, it is an introduction to the country’s entrepreneurial, “chutzpah” spirit.

DISCOVERING WHAT MAKES ISRAEL THE STARTUP NATION Yossi Maaravi, Vice Dean of the Adelson School of Entrepreneurship at IDC Herzliya and class guest speaker, believes that Israel’s strong educational system and the geopolitical challenges the country has faced throughout its history have built the resilient and innovative mindset that makes Israel Startup Nation.

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“Many people think that if you have challenges, it blocks creativity. However, in Israel, and also in other countries and organizations, these limitations and challenges actually encourage creativity and innovation,” explains Maaravi.

Israel Lab prepares students for their onsite experience by immersing them in Israeli culture. In the classroom, they learn from high-profile guest speakers like Maaravi, the CEO of the Israel Innovation Authority, leading venture capitalists, and others. Cohen also starts every class with commonly used Hebrew and Arabic phrases – “Yalla yalla, kadima,” or “Hurry up,” being one of his favorites.

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“The sense of possibility in what we can accomplish in the world is something that MIT gives us every day, and Israel Lab was a big part of that journey and discovery for me.”

R AJL AKS HMI DE, MBA ’ 19

EXPERIENCING THE CULTURE The most immersive part of the learning experience happens when students work in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem with their host companies.

There, they can soak in Israel’s dramatic landscapes and rich history, visiting memorials and cultural landmarks like Yad Vashem, the Old City of Jerusalem, the Western Wall, the Dome of the Rock, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

It is during this time that relationships are built, bringing the innovative and entrepreneurial

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worlds of MIT and Startup Nation together.

Working side by side with startup teams, students get a first-hand experience of the Israeli business culture. When Oron was a teaching assistant, she remembers telling students how direct Israelis can be. As hosts, she and her team at Kaltura passed on that experience, even though they needed to work remotely this year.

“They get it from me because I’m very direct with them,” explains Oron. “They get it when they engage with other teams across the company, and these teams are very direct

From upper left to lower right: group of Israel Lab students onsite; EyeControl team having dinner with hosts in 2018; Same EyeControl team in the office; Jacob Cohen and a student onsite.

with them as well. So, they’re actually feeling that culture firsthand.”

“The host company’s openness to sharing their strategy, its challenges,

Shukla also experienced this candid communication style with her host. However, despite their cultural differences, she found that they had more in common than she expected.

and aggressive pursuit of strategic

“It was very interesting how these Israeli companies and the folks that I was working with had the same kind of ambitions, in terms of their careers and for their startups, that a lot of my other Indian friends in North America and I shared,” Shukla observes.

candor and ‘rosh gadol’. We have a

options, reinforced the cultural aspects introduced to us in class around Israeli standing invitation from the team to visit them in Israel, hopefully next year!”

J OT P RE E T C H A H A L, E M BA ’ 21

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LOOKING FORWARD During the wrap-up session at the end of every semester, Cohen always asks his students, “Nu…?” or “So…?” in Hebrew. As a Socratic method teacher, Cohen likes to ask this question to encourage students’ reflection on the experience, and to solidify their newfound understanding of what makes Israel Startup Nation.

One could pose the same question to Israel Lab itself. Nu…? Why is Israel Lab so important? Where is this course going?

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MIT SLOAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

Israel Lab provides a vigorous learning opportunity for both MIT students and Israeli startup companies. Students are able to directly apply their classroom learning to real business challenges and understand Israeli culture. Companies who host these projects benefit from the unique insights provided by smart, global students, and particularly those in markets of interest.

FUTURE GROWTH The course has grown over the past six years, beginning with only a handful of host companies. Now, Israel Lab students have an even larger number of companies interested in working with them on Action Learning projects. Since its inception, Israel Lab has worked with 43 startups and late-stage growth companies.

Given the success of Israel Lab, an Executive MBA (EMBA) version was launched in spring 2021 for Sloan’s most senior executive students, who average 17 years of experience.

Providing these seasoned professionals an opportunity to build relationships with Israeli ventures has been invaluable.

“Israel Lab gave us the opportunity to tackle impactful business problems against the backdrop of Israel’s exciting innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem,” says Sandra Joyce, EMBA ’21. “Our project with Illusive Networks put us right in the center of a startup dealing with real world issues in the cybersecurity industry.”

Jotpreet Chahal, EMBA ’21, and his team also benefitted from working with their host company, as they were able to directly experience Israeli business culture.

“Working with Nym has shown to all three of us how an Israeli startup scales within the U.S. healthcare market through agility, technology prowess, and being open to new ideas,” he says.

Israel Lab hosts appreciate the unique perspectives that EMBA students can provide.

“When we signed up for hosting an Israel Lab project, we did not quite visualize that

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PROJE CTS CO ND UCTED TO DATE SA M P L E P RO J E C T S + COMPETITOR AND MARKET MAPPING + CUSTOMER DISCOVERY AND SEGMENTATION + GLOBAL MARKET EXPANSION + PRICING + PRODUCT LAUNCH AND GO-TO-MARKET STRATEGY + USER EXPERIENCE MAPPING

we would have the privilege of working with three senior global executives, almost serving as a ‘strategic advisory board’ to our team,” says Tal Avner, VP of Operations at Nym Health. “They expanded our thinking around capital structure, funding models, inorganic growth, and valuation tools to guide our future decision making.”

While Israel Lab has benefitted many students and hosts in a short period of time, there is still room for growth ahead.

“Israel Lab is continuing to grow its connections with Israeli innovaton ecosystem stakeholders. Every day we are establishing and strengthening relationships with leading startups, venture capital firms, universities, government authorities, and the many multinational corporations who have R&D centers in Israel. Our goal is to help MIT students understand the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem that is Israel. As we do that, we support Israeli ventures and help them grow and succeed,” says Cohen.

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