Conversing With Americans: Read Between the Lines
Guest Entrepreneur, Gil Mandelzis, Founder/CEO of Capitolis
Tachles Series: Benzi Ronen shares insight, anecdotes, and expert hacks for Israeli entrepreneurs looking to grow their business in the US.
Find out how to:
Identify cultural differences between Israeli and American interactions.
Find and build a relationship with a good mentor.
Improve your conversational skills with Americans.
Nu, get to the point:
According to entrepreneur Gil Mandelzis, there’s a big gap between simply being successful and fully maximizing your potential. And for a startup to be all that it can be, there’s no getting around it: the founder either needs to move to the U.S. or get on a plane every week. Despite the pandemic-induced uptick in video calls, face-to-face meetings are still critical — especially for Israelis doing business in the States.
However, it’s difficult for Israelis to navigate those conversations. We grow up refining our social skills with other Israelis and a shared language. Many of the words in Hebrew — words like Tachles, Dugri, Firgun, Walla, Yalla, Ballagan, Neshama, and Sababa — symbolize deeply rooted values and shared working assumptions, providing common ground.
The English language has 170,000 words in common lexicon use. As a result, it can be easy to miss linguistic subtleties when talking to an American. The Israeli radar isn’t initially well-equipped to separate the literal meaning of words from the speaker’s intent — reading into what isn’t being said is often as (or more) important than what is.
Americans are incredibly polite, and some of the nicest people I know...but it means they won’t always tell you exactly what they’re thinking to your face, preferring to avoid offense or confrontation. I’ve seen situations where Israelis think a conversation has gone amazingly, only to later find out it was a catastrophe. With Israelis, you get early warning signs; with Americans, things can go south in what feels like the blink of an eye.
Business gets done over drinks, over dinners, over golf — strong relationships are forged in social settings. Zoom may be an efficient way to get work done, but it doesn’t lead to long-lasting business ties with Americans, which is why it’s so key for Israeli entrepreneurs to maintain a physical presence in the U.S.
I’ve discussed many of the cultural challenges Israelis face when managing teams in America — from team-building to executive management, recruiting, networking, and more. But at the end of the day, Israelis new to doing business in the U.S. have blind spots. Gil’s solution? Build a mentorship network to help identify your blind spots and solve them.
Hacks by Guest Entrepreneur: Gil Mandelzis
Gil Mandelzis is the co-founder and CEO of Capitolis & Traiana — driving financial resource optimization for capital markets.
Finding a (Good) Mentor
Start out by asking your investors to help you — in all likelihood, they’ll have a broad network to tap into, making it easy to play matchmaker.
Reach out to other founders and CEOs; many Israeli entrepreneurs have successful companies with a significant presence in the U.S. who are looking for a way to give back and help up-and-coming Israeli entrepreneurs. Likewise, Americans that have worked with Israelis can offer unique insight.
Skilled senior executives with a proven track record of managing Americans (look for high GlassDoor ratings from employees) can help with the transition process from managing an Israeli company to an American one. A mentor should always be there for their mentee and should encourage free-flowing conversation.
Building a Relationship
A good mentor-mentee relationship is one where both sides feel they’re getting more than they’re putting in. The mentor is, first and foremost, giving their time and care. Recognition of that is more important than receiving options or cash compensation for their time. And because their time is so precious, don’t waste it: as a mentee, come to conversations prepared with questions.
Remember, finding a mentor is only valuable if the entrepreneur is ready for help. How many psychologists does it take to change a lightbulb? One, but the lightbulb needs to be ready to change...you get the point.
Finally, good mentors are hard to come by, so if you do find one — never let them go.
Good luck!