Less Rinke Discount . ...$3,100
Less Factory Incentive . .$2,500
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Less Rinke Discount ....$6,100
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Less Rinke Discount . . . .$6,500
Less Factory Incentive . .$2,500
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1-696 AT VAN DYKE
758-1800
If traveling west on 1.696, it Hoofer, follow Service Drive to RINKE. If traveling east on 1.696, exit Van Dyke;
take to second bridge past Van Dike over e\presswav to RINKE
Open Mon. 7.9pm, Tues. 7.7 pm, Wed. 7.7 pm, Thurs. 7-9 pm, Fri. 7-6 pm
MASTER
DEALER
DEDICATED TO
EXCELLENCE
tention and financial backing of nology to the check-out counter.
Although Point of Sale had ex-
venture capitalists.
Today, Schema is in the testing perienced local success, its inter-
phase of its product. If potential national growth was slow. From
clients like what they see and the 1985-1989, retailers around the
glitches can be debugged, the com- world seemed unwilling to make
pany will be able to start selling the leap to a Windows-based
the product and enter the rev- world. During this trying period,
the company lost some of its key
enue-producing phase.
Like adolescents, companies employees and sat on the precipice
that have reached the point at of closure.
Suddenly, retailers made the
which they can independently
market their goods still need decision to go to a PC-based mod-
parental backing. And high-tech el and Point of Sale had the goods.
companies, which would prefer to From 1989-1993, the company,
avoid the high costs of venture which supplies its programs to in-
capital entirely — capital-market ternational food chains, gasoline
investors ordinarily expect returns stations and other retailers, ex-
of anywhere from 15 to 40 percent perienced a 500 percent growth in
— are forced to rely on them first revenues and exposure to an in- —\
to supply much needed research ternational market that was in-
and development funds, and lat- creasingly open to doing business
er to help finance the various pro- with Israel. The company was on
its way to going public.
duction and marketing stages.
While IPO may be the ultimate
In Israel, start-ups currently
have access to more money than dream, however, dramatic ups
ever. According to the Giza Ven- and downs in stock prices often
ture Capital and Investment rudely awake entrepreneurs to
Funds Survey, there are 36 exist- the fact that Wall Street is not
ing venture capital funds with Easy Street.
The beleaguered digital print-
$569 million in investment capi-
tal. In addition, eight planned ing firm Indigo, for example, was
funds, including some Japanese hailed as a market phenomenon
investors, have stated their in- one year ago on the cover ofBusi-
tention to bring another $250 mil- ness Week, and then saw its shares
lion to the Israeli venture-capital plummet from $60 to a low of $7
industry. The success of existing in November. Today, the compa-
funds has enabled them to raise ny's shares are traded in the $10-
$11 range.
additional financing.
"Because investment banks get
Zeev Holtzman, CEO of Giza,
the Israeli representative of Alex about 7 percent of the money
Brown & Sons, estimated that by raised in an IPO, some banks pre- —\
the end of the year, 20 Israeli com- fer to bring a premature compa-
panies, in addition to the 80 cur- ny public rather than lose the
rently traded on Wall Street, will client," said Shlomo Kalish of
Jerusalem Global Consultants.
have gone public.
"Wall Street is becoming a ma- "But the effects of this approach
jor exit source for capital-raising can be devastating." -
Despite all the growing pains,
and a major exit for venture-cap-
ital funds, and this allows the those who reach maturity often
high-tech sector to grow in a sig- long to return to their youth.
In 1993 Scitex hired Yoav Lorch ,--/
nificant way," said Mr. Holtzman,
noting that high-tech companies as the company's idea man. One
are generally attractive to in- of his plans was to create a system
vestors because they have low that would digitally transmit
post-development manufacturing newspapers via satellite, making
costs and enormous growth po- it possible for people to read their
local newspaper anywhere in the
tential.
Getting venture capital does not world. The idea turned into Press-
point, which recently debuted its
guarantee success, however.
Like investors in the record and product at the Olympic Games in
film industry, venture capitalists Atlanta.
With the operation up and run-
tend to be home-run hitters, strik-
ing out on most of their brainchil- ning, Mr. Lorch is now anxiously
awaiting the day when Scitex will
dren.
"Two thirds of all companies, literally kick Presspoint out of the
no matter how much you invest, Scitex complex and launch the
remain stuck in the land of the liv- company as an independent enti-
ing dead," said Ed Mlaysky, pres- ty. "The start-up mentality is hard
ident of the Gemini Israel Fund, to maintain within a big compa-
which has invested about $15 mil- ny," Mr. Lorch said. "It's nice to
lion in Israeli high-tech compa- establish a new Jewish state in
nies. But sometimes companies the Middle East. Maintaining it
that seem permanently lost in lim- with five million people 50 years
bo are suddenly resuscitated by later is a different story." ❑
changes in the market.
In 1982, in his basement, Bar-
ry Shaked founded Point of Sale, Copyright 1996, the Jerusalem
a company that brings PC tech- Post.