The Stern Opportunity

Yoni Argaman Stern MBA Class of 2011

At 6’3, Yoni Argaman is hard to miss – but there is a lot more to the first-year MBA than meets the eye. A former basketball player and corporate lawyer, Argaman was on a clear path in life that, by most American standards, would be considered enviable. Interestingly, Argaman’s own cultural heritage ultimately convinced him to go in a different, more nebulous direction: entrepreneurship.

Yoni defines himself in many ways. First and foremost, he is a proud Israeli. A small country of 7.1 million people, Israel has, despite its constant state of turmoil and its lack of natural resources, established a prosperous niche for itself in hi-tech. With the establishment of government-sponsored incubators in the late 1980's, the mass immigration of thought leaders from the former Soviet Union, special technology units integrated within its army, and a supportive culture that promotes out of the box thinking, Israel has over the past twenty years transformed into a breeding ground for promising entrepreneurs like Argaman.

Now an active member of five start-up initiatives, Yoni brings true entrepreneurial spirit to the halls of the Henry Kaufman Management Center. With classmates, prospective students, potential investors, and entrepreneurs in the making, he takes this opportunity to share his story.

How did you decide that you wanted to become an entrepreneur?

I have always had a strong interest in entrepreneurship. When I was in high school, I was part of a team that won second place in a national entrepreneurship competition. When I think about it today, our invention, a new cup holder for cars, was nothing to write home about. However, the development experience itself exposed me to the thrill of creating something new with a team of people that I appreciated and enjoyed working with. I believe that most entrepreneurs will agree that once you take part in an entrepreneurial project, there is a part of you that will always want to experience it again. The biggest hurdle for me was to make the decision to leave my (very comfortable) job as a corporate lawyer to pursue my entrepreneurial dreams. I am happy that I did.

How many entrepreneurial initiatives are you now involved with, what is the nature of those initiatives?

I am currently involved in five initiatives. The first is WhiteCity, a boutique advisory shop that I founded in early 2007. The idea was to offer affordable legal and business consulting services to early stage ventures. We then developed an additional brokerage service, leveraging our connections with local VC's and angel investors, as well as our experience with government financing vehicles such as the Israeli Chief Scientist Office and state-funded incubators. I am also involved with Grippity, which develops and manufactures proprietary back-type keyboards for the mobile, gaming and media centers markets; EyeSight, which developed an algorithm that "translates" hand gestures to computer commands; and CoachingSim, a producer of online sports management games. Finally, I am a partner in a small NY based hedge fund.

To what extent have these initiatives grown since you started them, and how do you see them evolving in the future?

WhiteCity has grown to six consultants, three of whom now work on a full-time basis. We were very lucky to have a strong customer base and deal flow generation. I think that part of the reason for that is that a large percentage of the entrepreneurs in Israel are our age. Through our social networks we managed to create a name for ourselves among young entrepreneurs who, most of the time, prefer to work with people who are closer to their age. The next step for WhiteCity is to raise its own small fund that will enable us to invest in some of the companies that we work with.

Grippity recently completed the production of samples for its first product. The company has generated initial sales in Israel, and is now negotiating a first sale to a large European wholesaler. An interesting direction here will be to license the technology or to form some other OEM relations with a large manufacturer that will integrate the technology into its products. EyeSight has also achieved initial sales of mobile content to Israeli and European vendors. I hope that, as was the case with Grippity, EyeSight will cooperate with a big player that will incorporate its technology into its products. As for CoachingSim, we recently launched an alpha site, and we are working with our new users to fix bugs in the system. I hope that we will reach an open beta version within three months. Finally, even though the hedge fund that I am involved with is managing six times the assets that it did when it was launched on October '08, it is still very small, and we are trying to increase our efforts on the fundraising front.

How did your entrepreneurial aspirations play a role in your decision to attend this business school? And how, if at all, is Stern helping your achieve them?

I have always thought about getting my MBA. When I decided to leave the law firm and turn to entrepreneurship, I felt that I needed to complement my legal education with a business one. I feel that business school offers strong tools that can help you to maximize your entrepreneurial goals. Even after just one semester, I believe that the knowledge I have gained and the network that I have built are enabling me to contribute more to the each of the ventures I am involved with. This is very encouraging realization, and I look forward to see where I will be after three more semesters.

What advice would you give to current or prospective students who are interested in becoming entrepreneurs?

I admit that it is not easy to be an entrepreneur. There is a lot of pressure in this environment to remain "main stream" and to avoid taking chances. Also, the notion that you do not have a steady revenue stream is disturbing to students on many levels. For me, the feeling that I have when I wake up to another entrepreneurial morning is worth facing all of the uncertainty.

Having said that, I would advise people who are working on entrepreneurial projects to try and maximize their progress before they decide to leave their jobs. It is becoming increasingly difficult to raise funds these days. Even after you get the "go ahead" from an investor, it usually takes a few months until the funds are actually transferred to the company's account (mostly due to legal issues). Projects that are more "progressed" have a better chance of raising funds because they appear less risky to investors and they are closer to the early revenue stage that can enable a company to run on its own for a while.

Today, Yoni is one of many MBAs who are working to increase awareness of entrepreneurial opportunities at Stern. An officer in the Entrepreneurs’ Exchange Club (EEX), he is responsible for managing venture capital relations. Beyond his duties in this role, Argaman identifies potential candidates for EEX’s Consulting Program – a popular new club offering that provides business plan review, strategic analysis, financial analysis, marketing, and project management related services to local start-up companies.

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