How many of us have created a website using WIX for one of our ETEC courses? Or assigned projects to our students to create websites using Wix? Or created our own professional website or blog with Wix? Well, if you haven’t, you should, because Wix is the easiest, most robust, most diverse, do-it-yourself website builder on the market, and here’s why.
In 2006, Israeli entrepreneur and developer, Avishai Abrahami, set out to build his own website for a different start-up he was working on together with co-founders Nadav Abrahami and Giora Kaplan. This tech savvy trio soon discovered that building a website was a lot more difficult and expensive than what they had presumed. A few frustrating days later, it became clear to Avishai and his partners that they need to move in an entirely different direction, and so the idea was born (on the beach in Tel Aviv, Israel): to build a platform that simplifies web creation and empowers anyone to create their own website without coding skills or design skills. When asked what made him decide to become an entrepreneur, the CEO replied: I loved the idea of looking at an established space and identifying what was missing and then filling that gap. It’s an incredibly fulfilling journey.” And that’s exactly what he and his team have done with Wix.
Headquartered in Tel Aviv, Wix evolved into the leader in website creation, committed to providing the latest features and capabilities that enable anyone to create a professional online presence. While Wix is not the only cloud-based web development platform out there, it has grown to be the most powerful and diverse. It serves 150 million users in 190 countries around the world. With offices in Israel, USA, Germany, Ireland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Brazil, India and Canada, Wix has over 1800 employees.
Although serving as a tech tool to advance education was not part of the initial vision, educators and professionals with information, ideas and skills choose to share their knowledge through Wix. The Wix team has identified the potential in the education market and has as Educational Innovation Team that is in the process of developing WixSchool, which includes online courses to teach kids how to create websites. They have also gamified the learning through contests to get kids designing websites about things that matter to them – so stay tuned 😉
Prior to founding Wix, Abrahami led several successful start-ups as founder/senior manager, including Sphera Corp. and the software company AIT, which he founded in 1994 and sold in 1997. Avishai Abrahami explains that in order to be a successful entrepreneur and leader, it is important to surround oneself with incredibly talented people who are willing to challenge opinions and try new things. “When you create an environment that promotes innovation and creativity, you have the ability to truly disrupt an industry”.
Personal Reflections: One week before this course started my husband and I flew to Ireland for our second honeymoon. Our flight from Tel Aviv was delayed and we got to talking to the person sitting next to us on the plane who turned out to be the Productions Operations Manager at Wix. I told him how much I enjoyed working with Wix for my university projects. He introduced me to the Wix team members that were flying with him to their office in Dublin, among them, CEO Avishai Abrahami. While chit-chatting about Wix and education, Abrahami said: did someone get her contact information? This founder of a multi-million dollar company talking to a Bible teacher and curriculum writer. I am still amazed by the humility and the life philosophy he truly lives by: you can learn something and build yourself and your ideas from every person you meet along the way.
While researching Avishai Abrahami, I came across a video interview of him at a tech conference in Germany. The host was in a suit and tie and Abrahami came up with jeans, runners and t-shirt. The host put out his hand, and Abrahami shook it, but then gave him a friendly embrace (turns out they had met six years earlier and had been in contact since). Knowing how to connect with people is a huge component of being a successful entrepreneur. Finally, the ability to recognize that something is missing in the world that can help improve life, and having the vision, courage, resourcefulness and determination to go out and create it for people, is truly inspiring.
