Meet Gal Melamed and his startup wonderVoice.
What does your startup do?
WonderVoice is enabling a voice assistant as a service to any IoT device. Our system uses AI that is connected to your online life and data in order to create continues hands-free and eyes-free interactions. When we first started, we were mainly focusing on a voice interaction application for drivers, but we pivoted, and now the main function is to use voice inside the house.
What sparked your interest in becoming an entrepreneur?
Solving problems is my necessity. One day I was posting a tweet while driving and I almost had an accident. In that moment, I realized that I needed to create a safe solution to stay connected with social media while driving. I started to look for alternatives and even paid $10 a month for an App that promised to help avoid texting distraction while driving, but it didn’t really work. For me, it was the moment I realized that voice is the next big thing in terms of user interface and the premature technology motivated me to solve this specific problem, and this is what made me an entrepreneur.
How would you describe the Israeli business/startup culture?
I would describe it as a very competitive culture, which is good because it encourages the people involved to be constantly improving the quality of products or services in order to fulfill customer needs. On the other hand, as a negative aspect, people are jumping from one startup to another making it an unstable industry.
What is the biggest challenge you have had to overcome since joining the Startup world?
The biggest challenge was finding committed, passionate and loyal people. It was a long process, sometimes exhausting and frustrating to find the right colleagues and advisors.
What led you to Samurai?
From the moment we found out about Samurai we had an incredible connection. We knew that Samurai was a perfect match for us: we both have synergy on our visions, we understand the importance of finding right investors and working with dedicated people willing to join our journey. Also, we both identified the importance of reaching the Japanese and Asian markets while acknowledging the challenges involved and the great potential.
What makes Samurai different from other incubation programs?
The bridge to Japan makes Samurai dramatically more powerful than other incubators. Clearly, it has to be in sync with your business goals and vision. But once you’re in the program you experience the dedicated and continues support of the Samurai team.
Do you like working in a co-working space or do you find it distracting?
I enjoy it. It’s a really good experience and startups need to be aware of what’s happening in their environment. Samurai’s infrastructure provides great spaces for people/companies to communicate with each other.
How did you build your team, or what qualities did you look for when building your team?
Dedication, talent, and passion are fundamental characteristics when I look for a team member. I always look for the ‘spark of excellence’, even with inexperienced candidates. It is important to have the right skills, but more important is for people to acknowledge that they are not familiar with, and to have the passion to learn any topic, fast.
How do you decide when to change your product or when to perfect your ideas?
First of all, you should have a clear vision of your goals, and then you should plan multiple cycles in order to improve in each round your product based on data & feedback. At the end of each cycle, I am able to recognize whether or not I am making improvements on the results or if it is more convenient for the startup to pivot in order to find a better fit for the product.
How often do you travel to different conferences and events and what is the purpose of most of these events?
In Israel, I participate in one or two events per month, mostly to meet investors. In order to find customers, I travel three or four times a year to other countries.
Call for action:
If you have to shoot, shoot…If you are going to start a startup and you have identified a problem then shoot and go all the way to create possible solutions, try everything, be passionate and dedicated. Be self-aware, spend your time wisely on ideas that worth your time and effort.
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