There is a lot of talk in the San Francisco Bay Area about the difficulty tech companies are having when it comes to hiring the highly-skilled people they need to grow. But it turns out that the talent crunch isn’t just an issue here in Silicon Valley — it’s a problem that they’re feeling literally on the other side of the globe, in Israel.
So it was interesting to have the opportunity to chat about this and much more with Michael Eisenberg, a general partner at venture capital firm Benchmark Capital who helps lead the firm’s Israel operations. Eisenberg, who is based in Benchmark’s Tel Aviv office, stopped by the TechCrunch TV while visiting San Francisco this week. He has a really interesting blog called “Six Kids and a Full Time Job,” where he talks about tech, VC investing, the Israeli startup scene, and his very active family life (which now actually includes eight kids) — so it was fun to be able to hash out some of those topics with him in person.
In the video embedded above, you can hear Eisenberg talk about how the tech boom is playing out in Israel, why now is a “golden age” for Israeli venture capital, how Israeli entrepreneurs are different from their Silicon Valley counterparts, and why he doesn’t believe in the concept of “work/life balance.”
Benchmark is an early stage venture capital firm focusing in Social, Mobile, Local and Cloud companies that disrupt various industries. Founded in 1995, the firm has offices in Menlo Park and San Francisco, California. The firm has been recognized for its commitment to open source and is noted for creating the first equal ownership and compensation structure for its partners. General partners are Matt Cohler, Bruce Dunlevie, Peter Fenton, Bill Gurley, Kevin Harvey, and Mitch Lasky. Since its founding...
Michael Eisenberg has been a key figure in Internet and software investing in Israel since 1995, playing a central role in the development of many of Israel’s leading companies and startups. Prior to joining Benchmark, Michael was a partner at Israel Seed Partners for eight years. Michael joined Israel Seed in 1997 from Jerusalem Global, where he started and headed the firm’s successful investment banking group and partnership with Montgomery Securities. Investments: Conduit, Wix, Clarizen, Digital Fuel, Finjan, Gigya, Answers.com (Amex...
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