Hi-Tech Hijack by Dov Nardimon Page A

As I’m sure you can guess, the donation in this case was made by our company toward the center, thereby covering the cost of the trip without directly linking the analysts to our donation, which was disguised in the payment for the research we held at the center. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs boasts about the Israeli assistance to China and to the protection of animals. Even the UN mentioned our company in a discussion about a new generation of enlightened hi-tech companies that strive to make the world a better place and so on. And as you can imagine, the report the analysts published after the trip was basically a long list of praises about our company. That way it’s a win-win arrangement. The only tiny, little thing is that the analysts’ recommendations to buy into our company and invest in it are far from objective.”
    “So that’s how the industry works? And here I was thinking you guys actually wanted to save the world.”
    “Yes, that’s what we wanted when we were fresh out of university. We were sure all the principles and values we were taught in the scouts and the army and the tools we acquired in university would enable us to build a better world.”
    “It’s all a sham,” Oded chimed in. “We’re pawns in the hands of sharks and charlatans who care about nothing but the bottom line, the profit, and the quickest ‘exit’ from the company with the most cash. All the theories about building a team, grooming human capital, and all that is total bull.”
    “And you’re all right with this? With being playthings controlled by this group of frauds?”
    “Don’t kid yourself, Eddie. You’ll be in the same situation. All you can do is pray that the company you end up with is one of those five percent of companies that succeed, and then at least you’ll be left with a hefty sum in your pocket when you cash in your options.”
    “There’s another dodgy group in the investment community that bears the respectable title of ‘angels’,” said Oded. “The angels are all sorts of contractors and bored rich guys with too much money on their hands. Some have no education and take pride in hiring people like us—scientists, doctors, and professors who research areas they know nothing about. Talking with their friends on the weekends, they impress one another with the interesting investments they make, and then they come to work and treat us like servants. The maximal planning horizon they are capable of is two years—the time it takes to build a house. When you try and explain to them in board meetings that biological processes require a pre-determined amount of time defined by nature and that there’s nothing we can do to significantly change them, they lose their minds. They think they bought a dot-com company—a software company that issues a new version of its products every six months. It doesn’t even register with them that they invested into the life sciences field, and that the time frames here are completely different.”
    “That’s extremely disappointing to hear,” said Eddie in a low voice. The three friends were silent. Then they got up and started depart.
    “I’ll have to do some real, hard thinking before I decide what it is that I’m going to do with myself.”
    “If you come up with an interesting idea that can get us out of this swamp, I’d love to hear about it,” said Oded. “But you need to make up your mind quickly, Eddie, because sooner or later this bubble called hi-tech is going to blow up in our faces, and we better be prepared.”
    “I’ll be in touch, guys, and thank you for your time. Talking with you was very informative, and I have the sense it’s going to save me a whole lot of frustrations and unwanted surprises. I’ve had enough of those these past few days.”
    They left the coffee shop for the busy traffic of early evening, and Eddie stepped into his dad’s Mitsubishi pick up and headed back to the tranquility of Hefer Valley.
    He spent the