My ELEVATOR PITCH inside a REAL elevator (really) !

On the 11th floor at the 11th hour

While you might know what’s an Elevator Pitch, but how many of you actually gave one… inside an elevator?

Well yesterday, during WATEC (Israel’s international water expo) I was running around like a headless chicken, from one meeting to the next, trying to get as much traction for our company as we try raise some more capital. That was during the day at the show. By night time, it was one mad juggling act, jumping from one cocktail dinner to the next, between the many international trade delegations that were hosting networking events at their Ambassador’s houses.

So there I was trying to take in as much Indian food (and business cards) at the cocktail dinner, and then dashing across town, for dessert with the UK delegation (both scheduled at the same time). With too much good Indian food going around the room, I switched a little too late over to the Raj and arrived on the 11th floor of the building, just as the event was over  😦

As they all exited the room, heading to the elevator I met David who was also there looking to network. “A little late aren’t you?” he noted, heading to the elevators along with the crowd. All disappointed at missing the lot, I piled into the elevator with everyone else as the doors began closing. Once we started going down, I felt my Eureka momement come by- and decided to do it!

“Good evening everyone, my name is Yuval and I”m now gonna give you my elevator pitch.
I”m the CEO of a water startup. We’ve just made early sales here in Israel and are looking to raise $2M from a UK investor in order to get into that market. Anyone interested?”

That’s it, we reached the ground floor and the doors opened. And before you know it, I was exchanging business cards with a few suits from the Empire.

Walking across to David, I asked him how was his evening. ” Bummer” he said, “I only got two cards.”

Well then, I got three  🙂

PS- If you liked my story, check out the funniest elevator clip ever happening as well on the Aleventh floor.

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Say, what did you do on your birthday?

[a  good excuse to try out this QuickPress feature]
It was a hot & humid July morning, and as I was thinking of taking the day off to celebrate my 41st. It turns out that we got booked some downtime at the sewage treatment plant where our technology is currently installed.
So, with a change of plans in the works, I found myself 20 ft below and knee-deep, shovelling what seemed like the biggest ‘choclate cake’ ever…

Hey, all I can say, is that from down here, things can only get better.

Can you smell the excitement in the air?

Happy Birthday- emptying out a 5m deep sewage treatment plant.

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Switching gears- I have a new job

I’ve been thinking about this post for quite some time, and now that the BIG month (2 by now) are behind me, it’s time to sit back and reflect a little.

In late March, after 4 incredible years of riding shotgun at AORA Solar, the time has come to move onto new pastures. And so one late Thursday night, after ticking off all that was left on the To Do checklist, I handed off my desk and left the comfort of good friends and the great team we cherished so much to head for a new beginning.

One last smile from the ‘solar flower’

By April 1st I took up shop totally on the other side of the cleantech space, at a water tech startup, dealing with innovation in sewage treatment. And as the joke around the AORA office went: Having to put up with so much bulls… over the past few months, made me totally ready for my next role.

Diffusaire is 3-man operation [I’ve increased their headcount by 50% 🙂 ] bringing fresh and much-needed innovation into the energy savings of wastewater treatment.

The next time you take a crap, just remember that about 1.5% of your nation’s electricity goes into sewage treatment, and we plan on slashing that cost by 25% !!

Did I manage to get your attention now?

So in between a new job, a visit to the folks over in Toronto last Passover, moving houses and learning to speak Sewagish, it’s been quite the journey these past few weeks.

While everyday is a new learning experience, a few key points to note so far are:

• Learn the business– if you don’t know where you’re coming from, you sure as hell don’t know where you’re going. Let alone in which direction to sail this ship.
• Focus is power– As we used to say where I grew up, there is ‘work for Africa‘  but if you don’t prioritize, the important things will not get done.
• Swim baby, swim! It is quite a challenge to be given the responsibility to lead a team of professional engineers when you don’t know shit about… shit (you will excuse me, but this is my new line of business). Yet  time is money and the organisation just cannot afford to wait for you to learn it all. So, while you’re not expected to know shit, you sure are expected to be able to swim in it- and fast. And remember, you never get a 2nd chance to make a 1st impression.

A final word on the space in which our company is sitting. We’re parked inside a tech incubator called Kinrot Ventures. It’s Israel’s only incubator totally devoted to water startups and from that point of view, it is Ground Zero for cleantech innovation. It’s a lean, modest space located on the main drag of our little ‘Silicon Valley’ of Herzelia [or should I say Sandhill Rd.] but walk down the hall and in every room you get to see some mad entrepreneurs cooking up another fascinating water technology. Maybe I will get some of them to showcase their stuff amongst these pages, but untill then, trust me- talent is pouring out around me, everywhere I look.
And that’s pretty cool.

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