VentureOnLine (VOL) is excited to partner with Electronic Design to produce The Mind of the Entrepreneur because entrepreneurship is the essence of who we are as a company. It represents a significant step toward fulfilling the vision created by Dr. Amnon Aliphas, the founder of VOL.
Amnon had built a very successful trade show business targeted toward the electronics industry in the ‘90’s when many firms had budgets to spend sending their employees to trade shows and similar events. The company, TechOnLine, was recognized by technology creators, scientists, and hardware/software engineers as a leader in supplying education, new product releases and product evaluation information to the high tech industry. As does happen in high-growth industries during a positive economy, TechOnLine’s reputation gained the attention of a media company who eventually purchased the company as a complement to its business. The original vision remained his own.
Considering several factors, one of which was a 2007 PricewaterhouseCoopers study showing that 54% of the recipients of U.S.-based venture capital were companies in the high-tech sector, Amnon sought ways to capitalize on current conditions in the world economy. The lure of new ideas and new challenges are high on the list of factors driving the typical entrepreneur, and this was true for Amnon as well. After taking stock of abilities and interests, talking with friends and advisors, and looking at current market conditions, Amnon decided to build a community for the essential elements of a venture: capital, business matter experts, and the entrepreneurs who take the responsibility of envisioning how it can all happen to create a viable profit making enterprise. That community is VentureOnLine.
We seek to attract entrepreneurs and those interested in technological innovation to participate in our community by collaborating, commenting, sharing and growing with us. With the growth of the Internet came a global shift in how information is shared and how collaboration is accomplished. Sometimes, though, there is so much information as to make much of it ”noise.“ We want to lessen the ”noise” and identify true opportunity while aggregating and disseminating useful information to expedite those ventures worthy of funding and to assist those entrepreneurs in growing their enterprise. Our challenge is great; the eventual rewards are greater but probably not immediately apparent to all. As entrepreneurs we need to be focused on the long term vision and not the short term obstacles. To use a sports analogy, consider skiing. Great skiers in difficult, challenging terrain don’t look down in front of their skis but focus on the entire course further down the mountain. They envision the outcome and prepare themselves mentally for all the obstacles and challenges rather than the one immediately at their feet.
The VOL-Electronic Design partnership is a great example of being innovative with the resources at hand. Through Amnon’s reputation and business contacts, VOL has identified an opportunity to reach a receptive audience of the innovators, engineers and technologists that comprise the readers of this publication. In return, we are enhancing the offerings of Electronic Design to its readers and equally important, advertisers. In essence, this ”barter relationship” provides both parties with something of tangible value for the cost of “sweat equity,“ which is the effort we put into this venture without any monetary reward for the time being.
Our team is comprised of several experts in business, venture capital and investment banking, electrical engineering, and information technology. Candidly, our venture is facing funding challenges, as are many of our fellow entrepreneurs. Hence, we are aggressively seeking creative ways to reach our long term objectives. Our partnership with Electronic Design is the first step along that path.
We are confident that by creating a community comprised of entrepreneurs, subject matter experts and sources of capital we will foster growth in the long term. Innovation and investment are the drivers of economies as well as smaller enterprises such as ours. We are excited to be a part of it all and look forward to sharing our experiences.
For now, the best way to contact us is via our web site at ventureonline.com (or you can contact me directly via e-mail). In addition, we plan to add a module to our page on electronicdesign.com that will enhance our ability to interact with those of you who are interested in joining us in this collaboration.