How to start a startup at IDC Herzliya
The comprehensive guide to starting a startup at IDC
Congratulations! You’ve started your studies at IDC Herzliya — arguably one of the most entrepreneurial academic institutions in Israel — where companies such as SimilarWeb, Gett, Argos, IronSource and others started their journies.
Even if you still haven't figured out where each building is located, you’ve probably already noticed all the clubs and extracurricular activities available for you to choose from, especially during the first week of school, where there are booths as far as the eye can see…
As time passes, you will realize the wealth of opportunities available to you on campus; but that whether you make the most of these opportunities is entirely up to you.
The great thing about entrepreneurship at IDC is that many clubs and courses push towards collaborations between schools. The IDC puts a lot of thought into creating programs promoting the interdisciplinary approach, which is broadly considered to be a source of innovation.
In addition, the vast network of mentors and alumni available through various clubs and programs, combined with the practical tools a student can access through a variety of programs, become a true power multiplier. The renowned Zell program alone has more than 400+ alumni and mentors.
The resources below will help you to make sense of which options are available to you during your studies at IDC and how you can make the most of them based on the unique path you choose to follow.
This guide consists of three parts:
- Hands-on programs — resulting in an MVP or more
- Clubs and programs to expand your skill set and meet potential partners
- Additional resources and curriculum
Part 1: practical programs for venture creation
Momentum: Momentum is the Entrepreneurship Club’s flagship program. It is an accelerator created a few years ago by students for students. The program opens each semester after an application process which starts a few weeks beforehand. During this program, you will gain exposure to a team of mentors and vital content to help you start your venture. Participants are required to have an initial idea with some basic execution.
Zell: Zell is the flagship entrepreneurship program of the IDC. It is often referred to as an “Accelerator for humans”. This program has been running for nearly 20 years, with 400+ alumni and mentors. This program is for students entering their last year of studies or who commit to an extra year of school just for the purpose of the program. Participating will grant you extra credits for your degree, and possibly the best environment to improve yourself regarding everything in the startup world while working on your own venture.
The application process spans throughout 5 months, and if accepted (around 20 students each year) you’re obligated to stay in Israel during the program and commit full-time. (the program is held in English)
Upstart: an academic program run by the School Of Entrepreneurship, 3rd-year students from psychology, business and communications joined by 2nd year CS students, go through the entire lifecycle of creating a venture, reaching an MVP by the end of the year.
Here you will have the chance to learn how to validate your idea, become best friends with the “build-measure-learn” loop, get acquainted with learning from the market and practice pitching multiple times. Participants have to apply in advance including a video, the program is year-long and in English.
MiLab: Media Lab’s focus is on human-computer interaction research and prototyping. Here you can gain a unique experience in what is the thought process behind designing products, creating, testing them and going through the cycle of prototype design. The lab mixes between students from psychology, communications, and CS, allowing you to experiment with IOT, 3d printing, learn about customer interviewing, pitching, product testing and working in an interdisciplinary team. Participation is based on application, interviewing and is year-long.
Part 2: Clubs and programs to expand your skill set
The clubs in IDC are mainly divided into two groups, those operating under the Student Union, and those operating under the entrepreneurship club.
IEC — IDC Entrepreneurship club: run by students, this club has existed for more than 15 years. Each year 1,000+ students from all schools in IDC join various programs, meet like-minded people, expand their knowledge and gain new perspectives about today’s new technologies and trends. After participating in a few programs, go ahead and apply to be a staff member in one of them, you will learn a lot in the process.
Student Union clubs: while the Entrepreneurship Club often focuses on venture creation and gaining relevant skills and knowledge, in the Student Union clubs’ you can learn about industries, marketing, the stock market, multiple programs to volunteer at and much more, allowing you to expose yourself to diverse fields and people from the entire campus.
Co-op: A course where academia meets the industry. If you wish to gain real-world experience while getting credits and enhancing your CV, then this is the course for you! A great opportunity to jump into the water and get exposed to how things work in a startup, tackle actual problems and absorb everything in, for when you will embark on making something of your own. Participation is based on sign-up, interviewing and matchmaking. Do your homework on which companies you want to have an interview with, you won’t have time for more than a few.
Rabin program for leadership: a year-long program which focuses on developing leadership skills in the social aspect. The goal is to provide with tools and guidance to create a better society through projects and community work in one way or another. Participants are picked at the end of their 2nd year of studies, the program is opened to all schools.
Argov program for diplomacy: if you have a burning passion for representing Israel in the international arena, explaining our side of the story and generally curious about international relations, this program is for you. This program seeks to provide students with the skills needed to represent our country in the best way possible. Participation is for last year students and it is held in English.
Zvi Meitar emerging technologies program: a program where the effects of disruptive technologies are explored. Their effect on society, ethical issues which may come up and laws that have to be made. This program strives to provide students with the tools to better understand the bigger picture and how the everchanging reality affects our lives. The program is year-long and held in English.
Birthright Excel and Birthright Ventures: both programs have a total of over 600+ alumni from Israel and USA. Both are 10 weeks long, while the first is concentrating on businesses skills and gaining new knowledge about the current ecosystem, the latter concentrates on fulltime venture creation in small mixed teams of Israelis and American students. Participating is based on an extensive form and interviews, check their website for more details.
Create your own club: while it may sound daunting at first, when you meet the right people, you will see how creating a club can turn from an idea to reality within a matter of a semester. You will learn greatly just from the process of creating a club, let alone from being in charge of one.
Entrepreneurship courses: some degrees offer practical courses in entrepreneurship as part of the school curriculum. Besides the double degrees combining entrepreneurship, it is worth checking your degree curriculum to see which courses are available specifically to you, and speaking with senior students to gain key insights.
Volunteer at the Student Union: The student union is an organization, it has a structure and needs to make sure many projects meet deadlines and multiple departments collaborate with each other. Needless to say, if you take part in any role at the Student Union, you will learn a lot and gain skills which will help you further down the road.
Become a student analyst at a VC: get taught all the financial aspects of startups and investments for 2–3 months, followed by a year-long of scouting for startups, and taking an active and integral part of decisions made in the VC regarding investments. This is a unique opportunity to get a glimpse of how the VC world works and rub shoulders with some of the most interesting people in the startup funding world.
IDC Beyond: this program is for post-grad students, here individuals from various disciplines have a platform to expand their horizons and hone their skills while developing real-world ventures seeking to solve global challenges. Keep this in mind when you are done with your current degree.
Part 3: additional resources and curriculum
IDC Legal clinic for startups: part of their studies, law students can join this program, where they will be helping early-stage startups with law advising, free of charge.
You can either partake as one of the law students and gain valuable experience or as a start-up and have free services which can save you from crucial mistakes.
Hackathons:
HackIDC: one of the largest hackathons in Israel, if you’re seeking for a technological partner or wish to take on a challenge, this is the place to be. Each year this hackathon is creating a massive buzz on campus, has a vast amount of sponsors and tech companies come to this event scouting for talent. Learning how to operate under pressure along with gaining exposure to real-life challenges of companies can provide you with many ideas for a venture, and realize how much can be done in such a short time.
Markethon: a marketing hackathon where companies present problems they want to solve with their positioning or a campaign they want to launch, brainstorming here can open new doors for you and gain new skills regarding growth hacking as well as finding talented partners who think outside the box and love a challenge. A great place to seek people interested in working with you on going to market with your venture.
Other: luckily, the IDC is one of the best regarding promoting student initiatives, it’s pretty much: if a student can dream it, and back it up, IDC will listen. So each year keep your eyes peeled for other independent hackathons. This year a micro mobility hackathon with an emphasis on sustainability was held. Providing for a great opportunity to expand your horizons and learn about the power of applying data-driven solutions to real-world problems.
Networking: while sitting at the cafeteria handing out high fives can be a way of networking, it may be not the most efficient. Think of which people you would like to meet and where would they be, in which clubs, in which social circles and actively seek them out. The college is your last platform where you can meet so many people with such diverse backgrounds yet with considerably low effort.
You can potentially meet your future lifelong friends, partners, co-founders, be smart with your time but also don’t be too worried about it, relax, you will find your crowd.
Career center: while working on your venture you still need to be able to sustain yourself, the career center provides with unique job opportunities for IDC’s students. They also help you get your CV perfected for that job you seek.
A good choice would be to seek a startup to learn about the guts of such companies and then take what you learned and apply it to your own venture.
Conferences in IDC: while sounding less exciting, don’t be quick about disregarding the dozens of conferences held at IDC every month. Keep an eye out for the fields that spark your curiosity, you can meet like-minded people and key players from the industry, potentially exposing yourself to interesting opportunities you would have missed otherwise. You can see those events in the Student Union newsletter or the IDC app.
Alumni association: IDC’s alumni association provides many perks, from job offers to mentorship programs. Upon finishing your studies at IDC you will be exposed to all those opportunities, so definitely keep that in mind when you graduate.
Funding: you have gotten to a point where you need money to take your venture to the next level? Now you are ready to step up and take your venture to the next level whether it is an improved MVP or hiring new workers, that’s where fresh.fund comes in. As a VC fund, fresh.fund strives to have the simplest and friendliest plans for startups, to get a quick investment without aggressively taking a stake in their company. For the available plans check out the website, or contact the analysts on campus.
Conclusion
By this point hopefully, you have a better picture of some of the things that are available to you on campus.
Just remember: all these opportunities require active action on your side, and unfortunately you can’t be in all the programs and clubs at the same time so pick wisely. Best of luck from your friends at fresh.fund!
