ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Yossi Vardi - Investor
Investor Yossi Vardi is godfather to more than 40 startups, mostly in the jumping Israeli high-tech sector. He's a legendary community-builder, connector and prankster.

Why you should listen

Joseph "Yossi" Vardi has helped more than 40 startups see the light of day, among them Mirabilis (makers of ICQ) and the video companies Scopus and BrightCove. He's a strategic advisor to Amazon and AOL, and a venture partner of Pitango, one of Israel's largest VC funds.

He's a lively presence in the world of tech startups, with an absurd sense of humor and a refreshing set of values (restated in a much-commented-on TechCrunch post in October) that drive his approach to new investments. The takeaways: Judge the individual over the business plan; and don't shy away from an entrepreneur who has failed before: "It makes them want to win even more," he said.

More profile about the speaker
Yossi Vardi | Speaker | TED.com
TED2007

Yossi Vardi: We're worried about local warming ... in your lap

Filmed:
1,043,588 views

Investor and prankster Yossi Vardi delivers a ballsy lecture on the dangers of blogging. Specifically, for men.
- Investor
Investor Yossi Vardi is godfather to more than 40 startups, mostly in the jumping Israeli high-tech sector. He's a legendary community-builder, connector and prankster. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:13
We are going to talk today about the sequel of "Inconvenient Truth."
0
1000
4000
00:17
It's time again to talk about "Inconvenient Truth,"
1
5000
5000
00:22
a truth that everyone is concerned about,
2
10000
2000
00:24
but nobody is willing to talk about.
3
12000
2000
00:26
Somebody has to take the lead, and I decided to do it.
4
14000
4000
00:30
If you are scared by global warming,
5
18000
4000
00:34
wait until we learn about local warming.
6
22000
3000
00:37
We will talk today about local warming.
7
25000
2000
00:41
Important health message: blogging may be hazardous to your health,
8
29000
4000
00:45
especially if you are a male.
9
33000
1000
00:48
This message is given as a public service.
10
36000
2000
00:50
Blogging affects your posture. We start with the posture.
11
38000
4000
00:54
This is the posture of ladies who are not blogging;
12
42000
4000
00:58
this is the posture of ladies who are blogging.
13
46000
3000
01:01
(Laughter)
14
49000
4000
01:05
This is the natural posture of a man sitting,
15
53000
3000
01:08
squatting for ventilation purposes.
16
56000
2000
01:10
(Laughter)
17
58000
3000
01:13
And this is the natural posture of a standing man,
18
61000
4000
01:17
and I think this picture inspired Chris to insert me
19
65000
3000
01:20
into the lateral thinking session.
20
68000
3000
01:23
This is male blogging posture sitting, and the result is,
21
71000
5000
01:29
"For greater comfort,
22
77000
1000
01:30
men naturally sit with their legs farther apart than women,
23
78000
3000
01:33
when working on laptop.
24
81000
1000
01:34
However, they will adopt a less natural posture
25
82000
3000
01:38
in order to balance it on their laps,
26
86000
2000
01:40
which resulted in a significant rise of body heat
27
88000
2000
01:42
between their thighs." This is the issue of local warming.
28
90000
4000
01:46
(Laughter)
29
94000
1000
01:47
This is a very serious newspaper; it's Times of England --
30
95000
5000
01:52
very serious. This is a very --
31
100000
3000
01:55
(Laughter)
32
103000
2000
01:57
-- gentlemen and ladies, be serious.
33
105000
1000
01:59
This is a very serious research, that you should read the underline.
34
107000
4000
02:03
And be careful, your genes are in danger.
35
111000
8000
02:11
Will geeks become endangered species?
36
119000
2000
02:13
The fact: population growth in countries with high laptop --
37
121000
5000
02:18
(Laughter)
38
126000
2000
02:20
I need Hans Rosling to give me a graph.
39
128000
2000
02:22
(Applause)
40
130000
2000
02:24
Global warming fun.
41
132000
1000
02:25
(Laughter)
42
133000
3000
02:28
But let's keep things in proportion.
43
136000
2000
02:32
How to take care in five easy steps:
44
140000
2000
02:34
first of all, you can use natural ventilation. You can use body breath.
45
142000
5000
02:41
You should stay cool with the appropriate clothing.
46
149000
3000
02:44
You should care about your posture -- this is not right.
47
152000
3000
02:49
Can you extract from Chris another minute and a half for me,
48
157000
3000
02:52
because I have a video I have to show you.
49
160000
2000
02:55
(Applause)
50
163000
2000
02:57
You are great. This is the correct posture.
51
165000
3000
03:01
Another benefit of Wi-Fi, we learned yesterday about the benefits of Wi-Fi.
52
169000
3000
03:04
Wi-Fi enables you to avoid the processor. And there are some enhanced
53
172000
6000
03:11
protection measures, which I would like to share with you,
54
179000
1000
03:12
and I would like, in a minute, to thank Philips for helping.
55
180000
5000
03:18
This is a research which was done in '86, but it's still valid.
56
186000
3000
03:21
Scrotal temperature reflects intratesticular temperature
57
189000
3000
03:25
and is lowered by shaving.
58
193000
1000
03:26
By the way, I must admit, my English is not so good,
59
194000
3000
03:29
I didn't know what is scrotal; I understand it's a scrotum.
60
197000
4000
03:33
I guess in plural it's scrotal, like medium and media.
61
201000
3000
03:37
Digital scrotum, digital media.
62
205000
2000
03:39
And only last year I recognized that I'm a proud scrotum owner.
63
207000
6000
03:45
(Laughter)
64
213000
3000
03:48
And this research is being precipitated by the U.S. government,
65
216000
4000
03:52
so you can see that your tax man is working for good causes.
66
220000
3000
03:55
Video: Man: The Philips Bodygroom has a sleek,
67
223000
4000
03:59
ergonomic design for a safe and easy way to trim
68
227000
3000
04:02
those scruffy underarm hairs, the untidy curls on and around your
69
230000
6000
04:08
[bleep], as well as the hard to reach locks on the underside of your
70
236000
3000
04:11
[bleep] and [bleep]. Once you use the Bodygroom, the world looks different.
71
239000
6000
04:19
And so does your [bleep]. These days, with a hair-free back,
72
247000
3000
04:22
well-groomed shoulders and an extra optical inch on my [bleep],
73
250000
4000
04:27
well, let's just say life has gotten pretty darn cozy.
74
255000
6000
04:33
Yossi Vardi: This is one of the most popular viral advertisement of last year,
75
261000
8000
04:42
known as the optical inch by Philips. Let's applaud Philips --
76
270000
3000
04:45
(Applause)
77
273000
1000
04:46
-- for this gesture for humanity.
78
274000
2000
04:48
And this is how they are promoting the product. This is --
79
276000
4000
04:52
I didn't touch it, this is original.
80
280000
2000
04:54
Laptop use to solve overpopulation. And if everything failed,
81
282000
7000
05:01
there are some secondary uses.
82
289000
2000
05:03
And then our next talk, our next TED if you invite me
83
291000
7000
05:10
will be why you should not carry a cell phone in your pocket.
84
298000
2000
05:12
And this is what the young generation says.
85
300000
5000
05:17
(Applause)
86
305000
4000
05:21
And I just want to show you that I'm not just preaching,
87
309000
2000
05:24
but I also practice.
88
312000
1000
05:25
(Laughter)
89
313000
3000
05:28
4 am in the morning.
90
316000
1000
05:29
(Laughter)
91
317000
3000
05:32
You cannot use this picture.
92
320000
1000
05:33
(Applause)
93
321000
5000
05:38
Now, I have some mini TED Prizes, this is the Philips Bodygroom,
94
326000
9000
05:47
one for our leader.
95
335000
1000
05:49
(Applause)
96
337000
3000
05:52
Anybody feels threatened, anybody really need it?
97
340000
2000
05:54
(Laughter)
98
342000
3000
05:57
Any lady, any lady? Thank you very much.
99
345000
5000
06:02
(Applause)
100
350000
7000

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Yossi Vardi - Investor
Investor Yossi Vardi is godfather to more than 40 startups, mostly in the jumping Israeli high-tech sector. He's a legendary community-builder, connector and prankster.

Why you should listen

Joseph "Yossi" Vardi has helped more than 40 startups see the light of day, among them Mirabilis (makers of ICQ) and the video companies Scopus and BrightCove. He's a strategic advisor to Amazon and AOL, and a venture partner of Pitango, one of Israel's largest VC funds.

He's a lively presence in the world of tech startups, with an absurd sense of humor and a refreshing set of values (restated in a much-commented-on TechCrunch post in October) that drive his approach to new investments. The takeaways: Judge the individual over the business plan; and don't shy away from an entrepreneur who has failed before: "It makes them want to win even more," he said.

More profile about the speaker
Yossi Vardi | Speaker | TED.com