This February I was selected to be on the 30 Under 30 list of Forbes Israel. As a result I participated in an international conference organized by Forbes Israel that brought to Israel inspirational young people from all over the world.
On October I went to Boston, for another international conference that was held by the Forbes USA “30 Under 30”. The number of young people who lead businesses, social ventures that change the world and make it better, amazed me. More than 7,000 young entrepreneurs gathered there to inspire and create an infrastructure of connections between entrepreneurs from all over the world.
Forbes Under 30: The Israeli Perspective
The Boston conference included alumni from previous Forbes’ lists, students from all over the United States, leading entrepreneurs and figures from various industries around the world, senators, congressmen, industry leaders, hedge fund managers, investment bankers, groundbreaking artists and many more. Among them I met Iddo Gino, Founder of RapidAPI, who was also selected for the Israeli 30 Under 30 list.
The speakers and their lectures were fascinating and varied.They gave advice to entrepreneurs; share industry histories and were, in general, inspiring. Meeting so many people, being exposed to so many fields, was exceptional and opened physical and metaphorical doors. Being a part of this community gives you the feeling that you are surrounded by people with similar visions. Those who want to lead and change things in the world. This is a unique international community of people, all under the age of 30, who are already making inroads, each in their respective fields.
Invent Social Start-Ups, Serve in the IDF
I was not just listening: I gave two lectures to high school students in Boston about my experience as a young entrepreneur who has founded a number of social and tech projects and the obligation that I and the rest of Israelis my age have to serve in the Israeli army.
I explained how I established Tech Lounge four years ago, when I was still a high school student. Our goal is to encourage young people from all over the world to engage in entrepreneurship. Tech Lounge was established as part of my participation as an ambassador from LEAD, the leadership development program in Israel. In this framework we brought mentors from many different fields, accompanied by teams of teenagers who worked on various start-ups. In the long run, we want to see Tech Lounge as a full-fledged accelerator.
To give a talk to young Americans from diverse backgrounds and completely different from mine, was a special experience. It was fascinating to see the differences among the students. In retrospect I would say that all this has contributed greatly to my vision of what I want to do and how I will to continue building Tech Lounge for young people in the United States, Israel and around the world.
The writer is an entrepreneur and founder of Tech Lounge.
