View
from the States: Israel Market Trip
Observations
Mark Dollinger, president of Trendlines
America, was on a working visit to Israel in June
to visit current and prospective clients. Here are his observations from the trip.
The Business Climate
Mark
Dollinger offers his perspective on aspects of doing business in
the United States. Mark often participates in trade shows, accompanies clients
on road shows and trips, and represents clients at meetings.
The business climate in Israel is very healthy. In my numerous
trips over the years, I have not seen
so many companies in so many different sectors ready to
enter the U.S. market.
During my trip, I met with a number of incubator companies.
The quality of these companies and the entrepreneurs is
noticeably stronger.
While the quality of the science in these companies
has always been very high, an understanding of the commercial
process has often been lacking. I’ve
noted in the last several market trips both a new-found
willingness to work as aggressively on the commercialization
process as on the science.
The "Gold" Standard
The weakness of the U.S. economy is a concern to many
Israelis. Actually, it’s a real concern to many
Americans also. However periods of economic downturns
are often good entry points for new opportunities,
as I addressed
in a previous "View."
Many Israelis still view
the United States as the “gold
standard” for Israeli export opportunities.
So, in spite of the weak economy and the weak dollar,
the United States is increasingly the focus of Israeli
commercialization opportunities.
The positive perception
of Israeli know-how in the United States has never
been stronger. U.S.-based companies in many industry
sectors are actively looking to Israel for new opportunities.
The Take-Away
It is Trendlines’ expectation that
an historic window of opportunity exists for Israeli
companies to commercialize in the U.S. My meetings on
this recent trip suggest that this perception is also
shared by many Israelis.
