Once a tour guide, teacher, and three-time entrance exam taker, Jack Ma seems to have struggled a lot early in life. But when people look at the man now, they see a multi-billionaire, Alibaba’s founder, and arguably China’s most famous and well-loved entrepreneur.

When you have a great business idea, funding is nearly always the sticking point. It’s a great idea, after all, but how can you raise the money to get it started?

Each month Startup Grind hosts an event in Tel Aviv featuring a successful entrepreneur or investor. In August we hosted Eyal Herzog at Rise Tel Aviv.

Startups face a difficult predicament. They’re usually starved for money, with limited access to cash and almost no stable revenue coming in. They need to build brand awareness and attract new customers as quickly as possible to establish that revenue stream. Unfortunately, one of the best ways to grow quickly is through a large-scale marketing and advertising campaign—which most startups won’t be able to afford.

The business climate today has adapted the virtual world where startups are now seen as the best form of entrepreneurship.

15 points to consider before you buy or build an ideation platformSticky notes are great to quickly capture "ideas." They also help the team look busy and productive. But when it comes to an ideation channel you need some serious technology to capture, process, and diffuse ideas within your corporation.

On any given day there’s a lot to think about as a founder. This only increases as a business grows and while you get used to juggling priorities, it gets overwhelming from time to time.

Making mistakes is common practice in business, especially in the early days of getting up and running. While there's really no surefire way to avoid them completely, making a mistake can also be a great opportunity to learn and grow.

Smartphone and tablet innovation is exploding. The potential of mobile apps is yet to be realized to its full extent. We are still researching and innovating on various ways to put the interface on digital touch screens to use.

Earlier this summer, I decided it was time for a career change. As a young, scrappy, and hungry dreamer who sold enterprise software in San Francisco I felt like I was in a position to take advantage of all the opportunities that my life here had to offer. My networks, expertise, and residence gave me numerous options when I decided to embark on a quest to hire a future employer.