Text of remarks from Mr. Alex Waislitz
Tmura reception at the residence of The Australian Ambassador to Israel, Mr. Tim George
May 12, 2004

Ambassador Tim George, Yadin Kaufman, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I’d like to begin by adding my thanks to Ambassador George for hosting tonight’s reception here at the residence.

And to Tmura for bringing us together.

As this is a gathering of venture capitalists I’m sure that nobody will be surprised if I begin my remarks with a discussion about price and value.

I recall from my time in New York in the investment business that working downtown each day a certain gentleman used to pass an old lady selling bagels from a stall.

And each day this well-dressed passer-by would stop at the stall, drop a quarter into a cup, but never take a bagel.
This went on for about three years and not a word was exchanged between the old lady and the well-dressed gentleman.

Until one day the old lady stopped him and asked: “Sir, can I ask you a question?”

“Of course you can,” he replied. “You want to ask me why for the last three years I’ve put a quarter in the cup each day and never taken a bagel, don’t you?”

“No sir,” she said.” I just want to tell you that the price of bagels has gone up to 50 cents.”

The bagel story reminds us that there is often a complex relationship between price and value.

It’s what makes the Tmura model of philanthropy especially interesting and commendable.

By enabling growth companies, especially in the hi-tech sector, to use their equity instead of cash to support charitable causes it has the potential to create three kinds of value:

The value that comes to the charity with the increase in the price of the shares,

The value that comes to Israeli society with the additional support the charities receive

And the value that comes to the venture capitalists as individuals, the return if you like, from knowing that they are helping to improve Israel’s social capital.

I’d like to say something tonight about that personal return.

Over the last two days I’ve been visiting some of the hundreds of projects The Pratt Foundation, our family foundation, has supported all over Israel over the past five years.

I’ve had the great privilege of talking to volunteers at a women’s refuge in Beersheba, hearing the stories of how Beit Hashanti in Tel Aviv has saved the lives of street kids, learning what the term “children at risk” really means from the dedicated care-givers at Nevei Micha-el who rescue shattered lives, seeing how a youth program in partnership with Maccabi Netanya uses football to help students get through high school, and understanding how music—their own and Israel’s -- can help Ethiopian and Russian teenagers integrate better into Israeli society.

Knowing that we’ve done something to help, sometimes with a significant grant, sometimes with a small donation, and to experience the results directly, has been a rewarding and meaningful experience for me personally.

In the midst of rushing around doing deals and, we hope, generating wealth, finding a personal connection with philanthropy keeps you grounded, helps you to maintain your balance, and reorders life’s priorities.

And no matter how seductive the promise of high-tech as the answer, meaningful philanthropy reminds you of the important questions.

If you haven’t experienced those rewards, that sense of adding value to Israeli society, I urge you to become involved.

I, like you, am an entrepreneur businessman having built and invested in many ventures. My success is built on the basic principle – the more you give, the more you get.

It’s a win-win experience.

If you have experienced it, I’m sure you’ll want to do more.

It’s a real pleasure, therefore, to be associated with Tmura, an innovative way to become involved, especially for those in the venture capital community who want to tie their hopes to creating wealth, to their hopes for giving back -- right from the venture’s very beginning.

It’s a great model and one we hope might become another Israeli export to Australia.

Thank you all.