qoof

What an amazing week! Qoof's tour of Silicon Valley with the CiCC a huge success

So many great things happened in Silicon Valley this past week and all of them good! Over the next couple of days we will try and post whatever we can.

First and foremore a HUGE thank you to Shuly Galili and the rest of the California Israel Chamber of Commerce for putting together such an amazing program. They did a fantastic job and really set-us up to meet with Tier 1 players in the Valley. We can't thank you enough for all your hard work!

Secondly, one of the things we enjoyed most was meeting the other 14 presenting companies. So many great ideas out there and so many exciting entrepreneurs. It will really great to spend time with them and get to know them and we wish them all the best of luck! Below is a picture of most of us on the Google Campus taken by Shuly.

Eating the Qoogle

So we just came back from our first meeting with Google in their offices in Tel-Aviv. We had a great meeting that lasted about an hour. The culture in the office was very much how we pictured Google would be and we look forward to our meeting at Google Headquarters in Mountain View in 2 weeks.

One thing we liked about the meeting was that this was the first meeting we had that no one asked us "Aren't you afraid of Google?". Instead they mentioned to us a certain company in Redmond that will remain nameless. The second thing that occurred to us is that if Google were to merge with Qoof, then the company would probably be renamed Qoogle.

Warren Buffet - A real leader

Usually I don't have time to read forwards and I hardly ever forward a forward, but I read this one and was inspired so I wanted to share it with you. Thanks Mom for sending it!

There was a one hour interview on CNBC with Warren Buffet, the second
richest man who has donated $31 billion to charity. Here are some very
interesting aspects of his life:

1. He bought his first share at age 11 and he now regrets that he started too late!
2. He bought a small farm at age 14 with savings from delivering newspapers.
3. He still lives in the same small 3-bedroom house in mid-town Omaha ,
that he bought after he got married 50 years ago. He says that he has
everything he needs in that house. His house does not have a wall or a fence.
4. He drives his own car everywhere and does not have a driver or security people around him.
5. He never travels by private jet, although he owns the world's largest private jet company.
6. His company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns 63 companies.
He writes only one letter each year to the CEOs of these companies, giving them goals
for the year. He never holds meetings or calls them on a regular basis.
He has given his CEO's only two rules. Rule number 1: do not lose any
of your share holder's money. Rule number 2: Do not forget rule number 1.
7. He does not socialize with the high society crowd. His past time
after he gets home is to make himself some pop corn and watch Television.
8. Bill Gates, the world's richest man met him for the first time only
5 years ago. Bill Gates did not think he had anything in common with
Warren Buffet. So he had scheduled his meeting only for half hour. But
when Gates met him, the meeting lasted for ten hours and Bill Gates
became a devotee of Warren Buffet.
9. Warren Buffet does not carry a cell phone, nor has a computer on his desk.

His advice to young people: "Stay away from credit cards and invest in yourself and
Remember:
A. Money doesn't create man but it is man who created money.
B. Live your life as simple as you can 
C. Don't do what others say, just listen, but do what you feel is good.
D. Don't go by brand names; just wear those things in which u feel comfortable.
E. Don't waste your money on unnecessary things; just spend on them who really is in need rather.

I Love Technology

Today is a glorious day to be alive in the year 2007.

My brother and sister-in-law live in Omaha, NE. As you know I live in Jerusalem, Israel.

My brother and sister-in-law blessed the world last week with the birth of twin boys. It’s amazing how nephews change your life, but that’s a discussion for a different time and place. The story I’d like to share with you today, is way more relevant.

According to Jewish tradition, eight days after a baby boy is born, it is customary to have what is called in Hebrew a Bris Milah, or in English, a ritual circumcision. My nephews had their circumcision a couple of days ago.

A circumcision is an event that is normally full of joy and ranks up there with a wedding and a bar mitzvah as steps of growth in the religion. In most situations, a circumcision is a huge party with friends and family joining from all over the world.

Unfortunately, as much as I really wanted to go, I couldn’t fly to Omaha for the circumcisions. It was heartbreaking to realize, but trans-Atlantic flights this summer are so expensive that there was no way I could go. So sadly, I was left searching for alternate options to join the festivities.

For my previous two nephew’s circumcisions, I was forced to listen in on the phone as the ritual went on. For an event with as much visual show as a circumcision, that avenue seems insufficient. For this special double event, I knew I had to watch. So I did what anyone would do in this day in age. I convinced my father to setup a webcam at the synagogue so I could virtually attend.

I’m telling you, watching my nephews’ circumcisions live via webcam was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen in my life. I never knew how close I could feel to my family despite the fact that they were all celebrating thousands of miles away from me without me. The webcam enabled me to see and experience the happiness that my whole family was witnessing and made me feel a part of it.

If I knew the man who invented the webcam, I’d send him an email of gratitude. I’ve always mocked people who tell me that technology has changed their lives and as much as I’m addicted to my cellphone, computer and ipod, I never really classified myself in that category. That is until now. This live video experience has really changed my view of the industry and I’m happy to say that it’s really put a smile on my face.

In a dozen years from now, when I think back to this event, I know that I’ll remember the webcast just as much as I remember the joy.

Yay! I'm an eBay Purple Star - Member since Apr-05-99 in United States

  Wow, it took me almost 8 years, but today I got word from eBay that I am a "Purple Star", part of an elite group of eBayers and it only took me 8 years to get here! I am so proud and I have downloaded and printed the certificate signed by Meg Whitman, CEO.

Meg, from one CEO to another... Thanks!

Sometime What's Free Really Is Free

This morning, I did something online I never do. I purchased a video series.

I know, it sounds like a stupid topic to blog about, it might even seem unlikely, but it’s true. I’ve never purchased any type of video online before.

The closest I’ve ever come is subscribing to mlb.tv to watch the baseball World Series last year, but I don’t think that counts.

Yesterday, I decided that I wanted to learn how to build websites with Flash. I looked online for a free video tutorial, but I couldn’t find anything helpful. I started using a free eBook that I found, but that also wasn’t interesting enough to keep my attention. I wasn’t sure if I should just give up or not, but I decided to search YouTube to see what they had on the subject.

It turns out that YouTube was very helpful. There were a couple very useful videos that taught me the basics of creating Flash. These videos were so helpful in fact that because of them, I realized what a monstrous amount of learning I had in front of me.

Most of the YouTube videos had links to full tutorial series and these introduction videos made me realize that if I wanted to ever learn Flash properly, I needed to take a proper course. So I chose the best video on YouTube and followed its link to its tutorial series.

I purchased the course I felt was best for me and I’ve spent the remainder of the day watching and learning.

My point? When creating online videos, don’t overlook the free sample.

Have a good weekend.

Become a Lemonaire

I love being an entrepreneur! The thrill and excitement of taking an idea and bringing it too fruition is one of life's highlights.

Sometimes when your day/week/month is so focused on your business, it is sometimes hard to bring the entrepreneurial spirit back into your company.

This video brings it all back and put a huge smile on my face.

Enjoy this refreshing cup!

Has The World Gone Mad?

Here in the visual wonderland that is Qoof, there is nothing we love more than videos.  So usually one of the first things I do when I get to work is check out YouTube and see what the popular videos are for the day.

This morning I decided to play around on YouTube a little longer than normal and I ran a search for videos of the new iPhone. My brother-in-law got one last night and I spent an annoying 10 minutes listening to him brag on and on and on about it. I figured I’d see if YouTube’s subscribers were as in love with the new gadget as he was.

Not much to my surprise, YouTube was afire with videos about the iPhone. Almost 18,000 videos show up from a simple search of the word iphone. There were videos from news shows touting its features, there were videos from Apple themselves explaining its usefulness and there were videos created by normal, regular people, people like you and me, showing off their new cool new toy.

What did strike me as surprising was that all these regular people who took the time to film their videos and upload them to YouTube aren’t making any money from their videos. They are selflessly promoting Apple’s iPhone without any compensation whatsoever. The iPhone retails for either $500 or $600, if there was an affiliate commission involved, all these people would make themselves a pretty penny.

This is where the beauty of Qoof comes in. All these people who are already taking the time to create videos and upload them can now be paid for their effort. Sounds like an ingenious idea, but it’s fairly simple. You should be paid for promoting someone else’s product.

Next time you are thinking of creating a video, think about what’s in it for you. Then think of Qoof. It’s a natural progression.

Double the price for a Monitor? I love my Dad but...

Today is busy, busy day. We’ve been running around finalizing projects left and right. I can’t believe I even found the 10 minutes to write this blog post, but something happened 10 minutes ago that I thought you’d find interesting.

I was sitting at my desk trying to answer as many emails as I could with one hand because I was eating my lunch with the other. I was reading an email from my mom who was asking me how much money I wanted to chip in for a gift for my dad’s birthday. It’s normally the kind of email I’d ignore, but I knew that with my current workload that if I ignored it and saved it for later, later would never come.

So I wrote back what I felt was a fair price and I gently asked what gift my mom was planning on buying with the money she’s collected from the rest of my siblings. I received an email almost immediately saying that she was planning to buy a flat screen monitor.

I did a quick bit of math in my head and realized that she surely had collected almost double what she needed to for a computer monitor. I decided that I need to step in and help my mother who clearly has no idea what a flat screen costs. I picked up my phone and called her. I asked her what brand she had in mind, what size she was looking at, what resolution she wanted and of course, she had no idea. I laughed and told her that I’d be happy to help her. Two minutes later, I agreed to take charge of the entire project. My mom was that lost. The whole situation struck me as funny at first, but then the reality of the situation dawned on me. My mom isn’t especially old and she isn’t especially technologically challenged, but still, she couldn’t make heads or tails of purchasing something simple like a monitor.

I think there is a lesson here for all of us in the marketing game. Never overestimate the knowledge base of your market. Even with simple products, it’s important to explain all the pluses and minuses. Show them what they are getting and how to properly use it. It’s here that the value of a video comes in handy. You can talk yourself blue in the face explaining what a pixel ratio is, but most people won’t understand it until you show them a clear picture versus a blurry one.

Working on the 4th?

  So the heat wave has finally broken and we’re left with just the normal heat. Finally, so we can get back to work.

I know that sounds funny, working on July 4^th, but for those of us who don’t live in the grand ole US of A, July 4^th doesn’t have much feasible significance.

It doesn't mean we don't appreciate all that the US of A has done and continues to do for Israel and other countries around the world for the sake of freedom and democracy, but when there is a Trade how on Sunday, videos to shoot, business plans that need work, a new site design that has to be ready to go in 48 hours, well we just don't have time for the Bar-B-Q today.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I love the freedom that America provides and I would love to have a day off from work, but living in a foreign country means there are other experiences to be had. 

But then again, I do love the fact that since America is off today, the rest of the world doesn’t get much work done either. It’s almost like the boss who takes his whole company to the zoo on his birthday.

It does make me a little sad though. When I look outside my window, I don’t see many people bbq’ing and I tonight won’t see any fireworks lighting the sky.

It’s times like these that make me realize just how fragile the world is and how fragile things like freedom and liberty and social consciousness are. But more than anything else, it makes me realize how glorious it is to have a global economy.

Where would affiliate marketing be without a global economy? Where would the internet be? Where would day to day commerce be? Where would be much of the daily activities in our lives?

Whether we realize it or not, freedom is a fabulous thing and something that shouldn’t be taken for granted.

Now go out and use this global economy, market a product from Singapore and sell it to someone in Moldova. The troops fighting to allow it to happen will be happy you did.