Handyman

Handyman,

Whenever people, that I am not that familiar with, ask me for my position in the startup I am working for I usually have this answer – I am the Handyman of our company.

Maybe it is the Chinese modesty which overwrite my Israeli nature to brag about my shiny title (Founder and CEO of a young innovative startup) or is it just my subconscious telling me that I am not yet a CEO. Saying that only when I will earn a CEO salary, have the right car and other status symbol that go with the title I might be eligible for the CEO title J, until then I am just the company handyman J

If you think of this, half of the people who ask me for my position in the company actually are more interested in; how much money I earn, or what is my eco status .. in other words they do care if I have or not all the goodies of a successful CEO..

So for now, all of us are good with the handyman definition because, at the end of the day, this is exactly what I am doing in the company.

Issues with the bank – I will be the first one to know about it.

Investor question / requirement – my phone will be the first one to ring.

Patent and IP issues … my full attention will be required both in the high level strategy and in most cases also in the actual wording.

Agreements ? … clients, investors, employees, partners etc… there is no question about it. On the right pile of my desk and as a blinking reminder on my to do list.

A laptop, server, mobile phone or other equipment is malfunctioning … I will be the second one to know (after the owner).

Clients, sales ? no problem, 32A (my favorite seat) in Y – Class and I am on my way to see the client packing all the problems that I will try to tackle on the 12 hours flight (hey, we are an early stage start up!).

These are all among the “clean” work and duties that a young, early stage start-up manager must deal with .. since it’s a white and clean blog I just use the nice jobs and left the ugly shores for your imagination ;-)

Nevertheless, at the end of the day, it is all about the rush !

The title is really not important, the salary is nice, but its main function (at this stage) is to pay the bills.

It is the rush of creation.

Changing the world.

Having a dream and taking it from endless mind games into a working service / product that your average Miss Adams will used on a daily base and that might save Mr. John’s lives in the event of a blizzard or a severe storm.

If in order to take this dream and turn it into reality I need to serve as the company “Handyman” for a while, so I will be the best handyman building the best product yet.

My first post

Hi,

Welcome to my new Blog.

It’s a new experience for me – blogging,,,

well I am ok in writing but the question is how long I can keep up with this..

My main idea is to share some thoughts I have about two main issues; China (and the Chinese market) the opportunities and challenges it present. so if you are reading this post and you have some comments about this please post them or mail me, if you have any interesting article please send it to me or refer the link to me.

Another thing I would like to share with you is a kind of first hand peek on the process of building a great LBS weather related startup, about some of the challenges one is going, the ups and downs. I would also try to share some “inside” info regarding our technology and the way it will shape all of our future.

Personally I don’t believe in “stealth” startups, I believe that if you are good, innovative, know your place and niche in the market, know your clients and their needs (some good patents coverage will not be bad idea) you will do ok. Or as a local “poet” once said: you need to start the best and fastest you can and then slowly slowly improve yourself get better and get faster ..

About competitors, well I believe in my company, in our exceptional team, in our innovation and our capabilities. together with our great patents and employees dedication I see no reason to worry from our competition (as long as our guys will do the best they can and just keep getting better and better). Today I am in a place when I look at today’s competitors as our tomorrow partners.

So if you are one of our “competitor” please feel free to join in to the open discussions, participate in the polls and share some insight with us.