Alon Maltzov always knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur. His numerous successes are a shining example of the collaborative atmosphere awaiting students at IDC Herzliya
Originally from Jerusalem, Alon Maltzov began his career by working for a small start-up called MyCheck. He soon realized that if he truly wanted to make an impact in innovation, he would first need to get his undergraduate degree.
In 2015, Maltzov began studying business administration at the Raphael Recanati International School (RRIS) and joined the IDC Entrepreneurship Club (IEC) and the Upstart Venture Creation Program. Fast-forward a year and he was managing the program, where over 120 students taught others how to create and run start-ups. “During this time, I was still working at MyCheck,” he says. “My lecturers supported me with all my commitments, allowing me the flexibility and help I needed to work and study, so that I could stay connected to the start-up world.”
During the third year of his degree, Maltzov was accepted to the prestigious Zell Entrepreneurship Program — an achievement that would enable him to make connections with people who could help him realize his life goals. In fact, it was through this program that he met Or Nuri, who was studying computer science at the Efi Arazi School of Computer Science. Together they established Adjusti.co, which provides a multi-market intelligence platform for e-commerce. “It started small; we only had a few customers, says Maltzov. “We had lots of setbacks but we kept going, and eventually we managed to get big-paying customers.”
Maltzov explains that advertisers and marketers are often left in the dark when it comes to e-commerce platforms like Walmart or Amazon. “They often keep the data to themselves, so we built a solution that can better understand the ‘digital shelf’ — who the competitors are, what their pricing is and more.”
Spotting an opportunity
After graduating from IDC Herzliya in 2018, Maltzov continued working on Adjusti.co with his partner Nuri. Eventually, what started as working with small brands and agencies turned into collaborating with huge management platforms. Adjusti.co even managed to turn some of the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic into an opportunity. “During Covid-19, people started to sell online more,” says Maltzov. “We were able to gain more customers and eventually had a lucky opportunity to be acquired by one of our biggest global customers, Teikametrics.”
Maltzov and Nuri have maintained their close relationship with IDC. They managed a program within Zell called ZellX, which brings Zell alumni back to the university to tell their stories and share their insight into various topics to current students. They also partner with IDC through the Co-Op program, organizing internships at Adjusti.co for students from both the RRIS and the Israeli school. “Some of these students were from computer science degrees, some from communications and some from business, some Israeli and some international, but it keeps the connection with IDC strong,” says Maltzov. “This was extremely important to us.” When asked what most helped him achieve his success, Maltzov remarks that the real beauty of IDC is the network of contacts he built there.
Maltzov is now working as general manager of the Israeli branch of Teikometrics, where he plans to remain for at least three years. After this, he wants to establish another company with Nuri, joking, “I have the entrepreneurship bug, which will never go away, so I’m sure I’ll establish a few more companies in the future.”
