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Israelis have to adapt their ideas to American culture,” Abecasis explains. “America is very much a marketing culture. How to pitch a product is wired into our culture from Saturday morning television shows as children. Israel is much more technology-centric.”“Israeli entrepreneurs build a great product then wait for the buyers. A lot of US entrepreneurs start with the market opportunity and work their way back from there. Israeli entrepreneurs are very technical. Americans are more marketing and business-oriented.”One often hears about the cultural differences between Israelis and Americans, yet New Yorkers are also renowned for brashness and straightforwardness. Is it really that important?“Israelis and Americans have different DNA – they’re programmed differently,” Bino explains. “Israelis are very transactional and cut straight to the point, while in the US you first have to build trust and be more relationship-driven. Americans don’t just want to hear you talk about your company and your product – they’re interested in you as well. There’s a lot of value in having a good conversation, listening and not butting in, which doesn’t come naturally to Israelis. And of course, in Israel everyone knows everyone else.”Having lived in New York for 20 years, Bat Yam-born Bino, 45, describes himself as “half New Yorker, half Israeli.” “Culturally, I’ve been entrenched in New York for so long. After my masters at NYU I landed a job at an educational technology company, then in early 2010 I was approached for advice by an Israeli company and helped make introductions and addressed structural issues. I like to help people in general, so it appealed to me.”“I came to New York from Philadelphia after college and have been here for 25 years, mainly working in tech and corporate and traditional venture capital,” says Abecasis, whose family moved from Israel when he was 4 years old. “About 11 years ago I started working directly with early stage tech companies and got involved with about 25 US start-ups. I met Eyal six or seven years ago, and he asked me to sit in on a couple of meetings with Israeli entrepreneurs passing through town. What I realized is that they have great ideas, skills and passion, but lack the structure to enter the US market.”“We’ve raised about $3 million in capital from private investors since we started ICONYC,” notes Bino. “About half of them are Jewish. Let’s be honest – everyone is interested in returns and no one is not doing this for the profit. The companies themselves have raised north of $200 million in total so far.”How has the COVID crisis affected your business?“Crazy as it may seem, this has been a record year in terms of our start-ups’ performance. When the pandemic began everyone took a step back at first – but this actually worked to their advantage because they are involved in growing fields such as Health and Wellness and the Internet of Things. “We started working virtually and all our business meetings and sessions with advisers moved to Zoom. It’s been a sort-of silver lining in the pandemic,” says Bino, who lives with his wife and three children in Westchester, 30 minutes from the city. “At first we went back and forth, and built the business infrastructure. A year and half ago we relocated to New York,” says Baruchi, who runs MyndYou with her husband, Dr. Itay Baruchi, whose Ph.D. is in Physics and Neuroscience. The family is currently in Israeli for their son’s bar mitzvah. “It was known from day one that we would relocate when the time was right. It was one of the smartest things we’ve done – even with Zoom, you’re now in the same time zone.”The COVID crisis made what we’re talking about a lot more sense,” she adds. “It’s helped to address social isolation and the business has accelerated this year. We closed a $4 million fundraising round in April 2020, the company has made $6 million so far and we expect significant growth in 2021. For this you need good partners, people who believe in your mission and support you on bad days too.”“A lot of our entrepreneurs nowadays are Israelis who have already succeeded in New York,” says Bino. “It’s easier for investors and customers when they already live here. Now you see Israelis in so many fields: in banking, restaurants, MBA students... it’s across the board.“There’s a growing community of Israeli company founders in New York. During the pandemic some start-up founders went back to Israel, which hindered their operation, but I expect the movement to resume once there’s a vaccine and New York opens again.” To apply the upcoming program, go to http://bit.ly/iconyclabs_apply■