Zell Program: Creating Tomorrow's Entrepreneurs
By Joy Pincus

The following article was published in the Herzliyan, winter 2008 issue.

A PRODUCT FOR THE AGING POPULATION, that assists in inserting keys into door locks….An advanced technology for professional photographers that monitors close to four million copyrighted images for use on the web….and let’s not forget Yaha Dudes – raising the bar of Jewish educational products in Israel and around the world.

What these diverse products all have in common is that they were each born and nurtured inside IDC’s Zell Entrepreneurship Program, a venture creation program for outstanding undergraduate students in their final year of studies. Created seven years ago by Prof. Uriel Reichman and Business Entrepreneur Sam Zell, the program provides the tools and knowledge for students to take their business visions all the way to creating companies that produce economic value.

“The program is unique and though there are a few venture creation programs in US universities, there are no programs of this level of support, breadth and length,” says Adv. Liat Aaronson, now entering her third year as director. Ms Aaronson combines her experience working at a leading Israeli law firm with an undergraduate degree in economics, a master’s degree in European Law and an MBA, to guide the students.

“What definitely inspires me, coming from the ‘other side of the tracks’ is being with students who are just starting their professional careers, and being able to help shape their entrepreneurial mindset,” explains Aaronson. “As coined by one of the students, ‘Zell is an opportunity to lead among leaders.’”

Candidates for the Zell program are selected using a wide range of criteria, including academic achievement, extracurricular activities, leadership roles, previous entrepreneurial and work experience, interpersonal skills and motivation. Final participants are chosen following a three-week summer induction session, during which students complete daily team assignments and activities, and get to know both the program and their potential teammates.

Once selected for the program, students choose their own teams, usually of three to four people, come up with their own ideas and begin developing them into viable products and services. According to Aaronson, “We have quite a few successes. We have many students in top MBA programs (Harvard, Chicago GSB, Kellogg, Columbia, etc). We have a few who have started their own companies and many in interesting positions in top investment banks and consulting companies and law firms.”

One new development this year, aimed to bolster and enhance the program, is the creation of an advisory board comprised of entrepreneurs and IDC faculty members. Chaired by leading Israeli businessman Shlomo Dovrat, the board will develop the program’s curriculum and help students pursue their ventures. Mr. Dovrat will personally meet with students, participate in the program’s lectures, and provide students with useful contacts towards pursuing implementation of their ventures.

An exciting program highlight is an annual trip to the US, the first leg in Chicago, where students join legendary Sam Zell for dinner and a chance to hear the story of his entrepreneurial success. Students then participate in a special three-day study program at Chicago Graduate School of Business (GSB) and attend a lecture by Prof. Steven Rogers, Head of the Entrepreneurship Center at the Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Business. Then off to New York, where students will visit companies in a variety of corporate settings and have the opportunity to present their ventures to Friends of the Zell program in the NY business community. Last year’s class visited JP Morgan, Estee Lauder, McKinsey Co. and Lehman Brothers, and met with entrepreneur Marc Gerson, from American Friends of IDC and Joe Siegelman, who recounted the sale of his company, Flying Tiger. The trip concluded with a visit to Columbia University to meet with faculty members and graduate students in the entrepreneurship track before heading back to Israel for graduation. 

Just because the students graduate, however, doesn’t mean an end to their company.  Four years after graduating from the Zell program and IDC, Oded Poncz (Zell 2003) and his co-founders Udi Graf, Ran Ben Yair and Nir Tsemah are still running their hugely successful company, “Labpixies.” Their products, ranging from entertainment gadgets such as games and music to utilities such as search tools and calculators, have attracted millions of users. Alumni from Zell 2006 founded Green Life Café for the purpose of developing, manufacturing and marketing healthy & sustainable solutions for the coffee industry. Their innovative concept provides coffee drinkers around the world a way to enjoy a more natural coffee with a controlled level of caffeine and high nutritional values. And last year’s MITE team, creators of ‘walyou.com,’ a warranty management website, have registered a Delaware company and an Israeli subsidiary and obtained funding for their web design and development.

With twenty bright new “Zellots” working hard to realize their visions, Aaronson expects this year will bring a great deal of excitement and inspiration. Greatly assisted by Sharon Klajman, program coordinator for the last three years, and Natasha Shine, assistant program coordinator, Aaronson loves what she does and feels that she is part of creating leaders of tomorrow: “Sam’s vision is to help promote the future of business leadership of Israel.  On my end of it, in addition to kind of spurring this mindset, it’s about being with bright, ambitious, creative people and helping them to promote their ventures.”