A Serial Entrepreneur’s Journey: Moshe Vaknin, CEO of YouAppi (Part 1)

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Moshe has been doing startups for 18 years now. Some have worked, some not so well. This time around, he is building something bigger and more robust than his prior outings. Read Moshe Vaknin’s inspiring journey through startup land.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background?

Moshe Vaknin: I was born in Israel and grew up in a city by the beach called Ashkelon. It finds a mention in the Bible. Samson and Delilah were from that city. I was born there and grew up there until the age of 18. I went to the military and spent three years there. After you finish with military, you typically don’t know what to do in life. >>>

Aiming to Disrupt Consumer Credit: Al Goldstein, CEO of AvantCredit (Part 2)

Al Goldstein: The real estate business was a lot more competitive and a lot more difficult. What we saw was a huge opportunity in providing credit alternatives to near-prime or mid-prime borrowers. Half of the credit spectrum are all customers making about $50,000 to $60,000 a year and with credit scores between 600 and 700. However, they are not provided with access to credit by companies that are taking advantage of technology and analytics at the forefront. Our vision for the company is that we want to build an online capital line. We started this business about two years ago and it has worked out great because my two co-founders were my former interns in my first company. One is from a technology background and one from a data and analytics background. I’ve spent four years or so in my first business and then went out to the Valley and participated in Y Combinator. We’ve had a great run so far. >>>

Built to Enjoy in Utah: Jana Francis, Founder, Steals.com (Part 7)

Sramana: I think what you have done is fantastic. Our ecosystem has created a talent war for the same people. There is talent everywhere and there are different niches and lifestyles. Being able to carve out a niche like you have is a fantastic HR strategy.

Jana: Two of employees had a goal of working part-time only, but they applied for a job here because they were interested in what we do. Suddenly, they had full benefits, which previously were only available [to them] through their husbands. That has in turn allowed their husbands to go chase their dreams of becoming entrepreneurs because their wives now have health insurance. It is hard to maintain when you are self-employed. >>>

EDA Roundup: Big Four Have Stabilized

The EDA players believe that the current year will bring growth for their industry. According to Snyopsys’ management, the outlook for semiconductors is at upper-single-digit growth this year. Industry analysts also expect a CAGR of 9%-11% over the next five years. Besides growth, the industry also believes that the “time-to-market” pressure is back on account of the rapid growth in mobile and consumer markets. Today, the market expects complex products, using advanced technologies at a much faster rate. The industry has seen accelerated adoption of the 28/32 and even the 20/22 nanometer nodes. As a result, the EDA industry is tying up with other ecosystem players to deliver smaller node technologies to the market.

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