Israeltech

Some of the most profitable mobile games in the world were built in Israel, but the industry behind them is rarely mentioned when people talk about Israeli tech.

Dan Bouzaglo, Founder & CEO of Snooze, is building his own and getting people talking. He is turning a solo game format into multiplayer, because he thinks that is where mobile gaming still has room to grow.

Dan also hosts a Hebrew-language podcast for young founders, and he brought a lot from those conversations. He talks with Yoel about how online casinos and Forex shaped Israel's gaming industry, why Israeli tech found its footing in B2B, and why he pays attention when a founder says "I have to" instead of "I want to."

Hosted by Yoel Israel

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00:00 - Introduction & Welcome Dan Bouzaglo

05:19 - Israeli Directness vs. American Communication

07:16 - Dan's Journey: From Adversity to Game Dev

08:46 - The Hidden Empire: Israel's Mobile Gaming Industry

10:12 - Why Israeli Tech Excels at Monetization

13:32 - How AI is Reshaping Game Development

16:40 - The Psychology of PvP & Social Mechanics

22:58 - Why Israel Focused on B2B Over B2C

30:25 - Founder Psychology: What Drives Tech Entrepreneurs?

36:52 - Building Snooze & The Future of Israeli Gaming

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Thank you to our incredible partners for making this all possible!

IsraelTech is proud to partner with Rhydlwood. Rhydlwood is an exclusive online business hub designed for business owners, entrepreneurs, and CEOs, focused on providing clarity, decision-making support, and sustainable growth.

Check them out at Rhydlwood.com

IsraelTech is also proud to partner with Deel, the global all-in-one HR and payroll platform for teams in 150+ countries.

To support the show, please go check out our partner Deel at: https://www.deel.com/israeltech

Finally, we’re proud to partner with Wadi Digital, Israel’s leading tech marketing agency.

Learn more at WadiDigital.com

---

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Arrive 10 to 15 minutes early. Eat before you go. Leave the backpack at home. Keep conversations to about seven minutes.

Helena Baker, Founder of the English Speaking Network, has spent years running networking events in Israel, and she knows what separates people who leave with real connections from those who leave with nothing. In this episode of IsraelTech, she joins Yoel Israel to break down how to reach out on LinkedIn, what to ask for after a first meeting, and how Israeli founders can network their way to going global.

We Discuss:

Outreach: Writing LinkedIn messages that people want to answer

The Ask: Requesting introductions instead of jobs or clients

In the Room: How to show up with confidence, even while job hunting

Going Abroad: Using your Israeli story to open doors in the US

Knowing When to Stop: Why Helena closes what isn't working

If networking hasn't been working for you, start here.

Hosted by Yoel Israel

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00:00 - Introduction & Highlights

01:00 - Welcome & Introducing Helena Baker

01:37 - Why Helena Founded ESN

03:20 - How to Network as a New Immigrant

09:26 - The Shift to Large-Scale & Mega Tech Events

14:35 - Moving Upmarket: Partnering with C-Suite Leaders

20:25 - The Power of Saying "No" and Curating Attendees

23:44 - The Exact Formula for LinkedIn Outreach

25:04 - The Biggest Networking Mistakes to Avoid

41:51 - What's Next for ESN & Going Global

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Thank you to our incredible partners for making this all possible!

IsraelTech is proud to partner with Rhydlwood. Rhydlwood is an exclusive online business hub designed for business owners, entrepreneurs, and CEOs, focused on providing clarity, decision-making support, and sustainable growth.

Check them out at Rhydlwood.com

IsraelTech is also proud to partner with Deel, the global all-in-one HR and payroll platform for teams in 150+ countries.

To support the show, please go check out our partner Deel at: https://www.deel.com/israeltech

Finally, we’re proud to partner with Wadi Digital, Israel’s leading tech marketing agency.

Learn more at WadiDigital.com

---

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What happens to your team when the manager disappears for a week?

Paul Gladstone believes the answer reveals a great deal about the manager, the systems they have built, and the culture they have created.

Paul is the founder of Talk With The Scot and Head of SEO & GEO at Wadi Digital, where he has led the organic team for more than six years. In this conversation with Yoel, he draws on more than 25 years of management experience to explain what strong leadership looks like in practice.

They discuss the communication required to manage remote teams, why people need to feel safe making mistakes, how managers can give direct feedback without humiliating employees, and how to prevent management from becoming a bottleneck.

Paul and Yoel also explore Israel’s unusually direct workplace culture, the strengths of young Israelis, managing up to founders and executives, and the systems companies need as they grow from a small team into a larger organization.

Subscribe to IsraelTech for more conversations with the people building and supporting Israel’s technology ecosystem.

Hosted by Yoel Israel

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00:00 - Introduction & Meet Paul Gladstone

01:23 - Remote Management vs. In-Person Management

04:00 - What to Look For When Hiring a Remote Manager

06:51 - Essential Skill Sets for Remote Leadership

08:48 - Building Company Culture: Creating a "Safe to Fail" Environment

12:48 - The Real Test of Culture: What Happens When the Manager Leaves?

15:13 - Flat Hierarchy vs. Layered Management (Google Oxygen Case Study)

18:24 - Management Restructuring & Middle Management

21:00 - Israeli Work Culture vs. Western Business Norms

25:03 - Resilience in the Younger Workforce

28:27 - Supporting Team Well-Being & 1-on-1 Communication

30:37 - Why People Stay: Work Relationships & Camaraderie

32:25 - Lessons from Elite Sports Psychology

36:30 - How to Manage Up (Working with the C-Suite & Board)

42:35 - Scaling Teams: Adapting Culture as You Grow

47:29 - Final Thoughts: The True Impact of Great Leadership

---

Thank you to our incredible partners for making this all possible!

IsraelTech is proud to partner with Rhydlwood. Rhydlwood is an exclusive online business hub designed for business owners, entrepreneurs, and CEOs, focused on providing clarity, decision-making support, and sustainable growth.

Check them out at Rhydlwood.com

IsraelTech is also proud to partner with Deel, the global all-in-one HR and payroll platform for teams in 150+ countries.

To support the show, please go check out our partner Deel at: https://www.deel.com/israeltech

Finally, we’re proud to partner with Wadi Digital, Israel’s leading tech marketing agency.

Learn more at WadiDigital.com

---

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AI can identify a patient at risk or even predict a terrorist attack, but a prediction only matters if someone acts on it.

Kira Radinsky, Co-Founder and CTO of Diagnostic Robotics, joins Yoel Israel to explain how the company analyzes almost 60 billion historical patient claims to predict deterioration and determine the best proactive clinical next step. She shares how AI voice agents can help health plans reach more patients, coordinate care, and address barriers that human teams may not have the capacity to handle.

Kira also traces her path from Kyiv to Israel, starting university at 15, and discovering AI after accidentally killing the cells she was supposed to study. The conversation expands into narrative bias in LLMs, the parts of the AI stack where Israeli engineers are positioned to compete, and her work with Alma Labs to help eighth graders build AI literacy.

Hosted by Yoel Israel

Featuring Kira Radinsky, Co-Founder and CTO of Diagnostic Robotics

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00:00 Intro: Who is Kira Radinsky?

01:13 Kira’s journey: From Ukraine to Israel to California.

04:00 How an early research study led Kira to the world of AI.

06:15 Being a 15-year-old at university: Intellectual vs. social challenges.

08:32 Scaling a tech business: Why move to the US?

10:12 What Diagnostic Robotics actually does.

12:17 Example: How AI identifies and helps a depressed patient.

14:48 The role of AI in care coordination and management.

17:01 Predicting the future: LLMs, swarms of agents, and AI specialization.

19:16 Addressing narrative bias and geopolitics in AI training.

22:25 Israel's role in the global AI race: Smarter and faster engineering.

25:42 AI Education: Using data to predict and prevent security threats.

27:58 Training the next generation: 50,000 kids and the future of AI literacy.

30:00 Changing the role of teachers: From content delivery to coaching.

---

Thank you to our incredible partners for making this all possible!

IsraelTech is proud to partner with Rhydlwood. Rhydlwood is an exclusive online business hub designed for business owners, entrepreneurs, and CEOs, focused on providing clarity, decision-making support, and sustainable growth.

Check them out at Rhydlwood.com

IsraelTech is also proud to partner with Deel, the global all-in-one HR and payroll platform for teams in 150+ countries.

To support the show, please go check out our partner Deel at: https://www.deel.com/israeltech

Finally, we’re proud to partner with Wadi Digital, Israel’s leading tech marketing agency.

Learn more at WadiDigital.com

---

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Most venture investors wait for traction. Michael Fertik invests before the company is incorporated, before there is a product, and sometimes before the category has a name.

Michael, Managing Director and Founder of Verdict Capital, joins Yoel Israel to explain what “first check” means in practice and why he believes the earliest investor can have a distinct advantage. He shares the story of backing Anysphere before its merger with Cursor, how he evaluates founders with almost no conventional signal, and why most venture firms are reluctant to invest that early.

The conversation also turns to Israel. Michael discusses the risks of using Israeli pilot customers as proof of demand, why he encourages Israeli founders to think about their US company structure from day one, and what he has learned from building his first team in Israel through Model Code AI.

They also discuss legacy code, AI’s effect on work, purpose, capitalism, the cultural changes taking place in America, and why Michael remains bullish on Israeli founders during wartime.

Hosted by Yoel Israel for IsraelTech.

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00:00 Opening highlights

00:56 Michael Fertik and the Reputation Economy

04:15 Why retirement did not last

07:00 AI, work, and economic disruption

09:10 Culture, education, and capitalism in America

24:35 Model Code AI and legacy technical debt

36:40 The mistakes Israeli startups keep making

45:40 What first-check investing really means

50:00 The early Anysphere and Cursor story

55:00 Israel, wartime pressure, and founder resilience

---

Thank you to our incredible partners for making this all possible!

IsraelTech is proud to partner with Rhydlwood. Rhydlwood is an exclusive online business hub designed for business owners, entrepreneurs, and CEOs, focused on providing clarity, decision-making support, and sustainable growth.

Check them out at Rhydlwood.com

IsraelTech is also proud to partner with Deel, the global all-in-one HR and payroll platform for teams in 150+ countries.

To support the show, please go check out our partner Deel at: https://www.deel.com/israeltech

Finally, we’re proud to partner with Wadi Digital, Israel’s leading tech marketing agency.

Learn more at WadiDigital.com

---

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Helen Gottstein of Loud and Clear Training helps founders, CEOs, and executives communicate more effectively in meetings, interviews, and presentations.

In this episode of IsraelTech, Helen joins Yoel to discuss how Israeli communication differs from American and other business cultures, and why habits that feel natural in Israel can create the wrong impression abroad.

They discuss:

- How Israeli founders should approach their first investor meeting

- Why respect and ambition can exist in the same conversation

- What international business leaders may find surprising about Israelis

- Why interrupting can hurt a professional conversation

- How long a founder story should take

- Why presenters should create two different pitch decks

and more.

Watch the full interview and subscribe to IsraelTech for more conversations with the people shaping Israel’s technology ecosystem.

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00:00 Israeli communication in business

01:20 Why capable people still struggle to present

03:15 Israeli directness across cultures

08:00 Preparing for an American investor meeting

12:00 Meeting Israeli investors

15:40 Why Israelis need to stop interrupting

20:40 What presentation coaching changes

25:00 Technology and the human presenter

30:00 Why founders need two pitch decks

34:25 How to network at a conference

---

Thank you to our incredible partners for making this all possible!

IsraelTech is proud to partner with Rhydlwood. Rhydlwood is an exclusive online business hub designed for business owners, entrepreneurs, and CEOs, focused on providing clarity, decision-making support, and sustainable growth.

Check them out at Rhydlwood.com

IsraelTech is also proud to partner with Deel, the global all-in-one HR and payroll platform for teams in 150+ countries.

To support the show, please go check out our partner Deel at: https://www.deel.com/israeltech

Finally, we’re proud to partner with Wadi Digital, Israel’s leading tech marketing agency.

Learn more at WadiDigital.com

---

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Her first startup ran into the 2008 financial crisis. Her second hit a technical barrier and returned its remaining capital to investors. Her third was acquired by Philips.

Hila Goldman-Aslan did not begin with one industry or one defining idea. She began with the conviction that building companies was what she wanted to do.

That journey took her from law to gene therapy, security technology, digital health, and eventually venture capital. Today, as Managing Partner at RUNI Ventures, she evaluates founders from the other side of the table.

In this conversation with Yoel Israel, Hila explains why investors begin assessing founders from the first meeting, what Israeli entrepreneurs often fail to prepare for, and why optimism is essential when building against the odds.

They also discuss RUNI Ventures, Israel’s strength in medtech, and why Israeli founders are exceptionally difficult to convince that a company is finished.

Watch the full interview and subscribe to IsraelTech for more conversations with the people building and backing Israeli technology.

Hosted by Yoel Israel

---

00:00 – Why Founders Call the VC World "The Dark Side"

01:42 – The Acquisition of DiA Imaging: A $25M Success Story

04:42 – Why Most Founders Fail (Young, Naive, and Stupid)

08:20 – How to Find "Secret" Tech in Universities & Hospitals

09:55 – The $100M Technology Barrier That Killed a Startup

13:40 – Falling in Love with Investing: From Founder to Angel

16:45 – Farmer vs. Hunter: Which One Are You?

24:35 – Accessing a Network of 200+ Post-Exit Founders

29:05 – The #1 Mistake Israeli Founders Make When Pitching

30:35 – The "Lazy Investor" Theory: How to Guarantee a "Yes"

---

Thank you to our incredible partners for making this all possible!

IsraelTech is proud to partner with Rhydlwood. Rhydlwood is an exclusive online business hub designed for business owners, entrepreneurs, and CEOs, focused on providing clarity, decision-making support, and sustainable growth.

Check them out at Rhydlwood.com

IsraelTech is also proud to partner with Deel, the global all-in-one HR and payroll platform for teams in 150+ countries.

To support the show, please go check out our partner Deel at: https://www.deel.com/israeltech

Finally, we’re proud to partner with Wadi Digital, Israel’s leading tech marketing agency.

Learn more at WadiDigital.com

---

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Everyone knows Israel as the Startup Nation.

Very few people know how it actually became one.

Most people credit Unit 8200, venture capital, or the 1990s tech boom. Meir Valman argues the story starts much earlier, with universities founded before the State of Israel, the country's first computer, government investment in research, and decades of knowledge flowing between Israel and Silicon Valley.

In this conversation with Yoel Israel, we discuss:

• Why universities came before military technology units

• Albert Einstein's connection to Israel's first computer

• The role of the Office of the Chief Scientist

• How the Yozma program created Israel's VC ecosystem

• Why Silicon Valley and Israeli founders connected so naturally

• What Soviet immigration changed

• Why marketing, design, and customer service mattered as much as engineering

• Whether Israel is still the Startup Nation

Featuring Meir Valman, author of The Network Effect: The Origins of Israeli High Tech.

Hosted by Yoel Israel

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00:00 The Question Everyone Gets Wrong

01:45 Where Israeli Tech Really Began

05:55 Israel's First Computer and Albert Einstein

10:05 Government Bets on Innovation

14:00 What Israel Learned from America

19:40 Israeli Culture vs. Silicon Valley

24:00 Check Point and the Startup Nation Brand

27:00 The Government's Role in Tech Growth

29:15 How Yozma Created Israeli Venture Capital

34:00 Soviet Immigration and the Talent Boom

37:30 Are Universities or the Army More Important?

41:00 Be'er Sheva and the Next Generation

43:20 Is Israel Still the Startup Nation?

---

Thank you to our incredible partners for making this all possible!

IsraelTech is proud to partner with Rhydlwood. Rhydlwood is an exclusive online business hub designed for business owners, entrepreneurs, and CEOs, focused on providing clarity, decision-making support, and sustainable growth.

Check them out at Rhydlwood.com

---

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Should you still study entrepreneurship if you want to build a company?

Venture capitalist Trace Cohen doesn't think so.

In this conversation with Yoel Israel, Trace explains why an entrepreneurship degree isn't the advantage it once was, what founders should focus on instead, and why the people around you often matter more than what's taught in a classroom.

The conversation goes far beyond education. They also discuss why Israeli startups are expanding to the US earlier than ever, why experienced founders can raise $100M before launching a product, what American investors misunderstand about Israeli entrepreneurs, and how venture capital has changed over the past decade.

Whether you're a founder, investor, student, or simply curious about how successful startups are built, this conversation offers practical lessons from someone who's worked with entrepreneurs on both sides of the Atlantic.

Hosted by Yoel Israel

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00:00 Intro

01:33 Why Israeli startups are expanding to the US earlier

08:25 From entrepreneur to venture capitalist

15:36 The truth about entrepreneurship degrees

22:30 Why $100M seed rounds are happening

32:08 The real advantage of Israeli founders

43:18 What Americans misunderstand about Israelis

53:49 How venture capital really works

1:06:41 The future of AI, defense tech, and Israeli innovation

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Thank you to our incredible partners for making this all possible!

IsraelTech is proud to partner with Rhydlwood. Rhydlwood is an exclusive online business hub designed for business owners, entrepreneurs, and CEOs, focused on providing clarity, decision-making support, and sustainable growth.

Check them out at Rhydlwood.com

---

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A single wrong word in a live caption can put a broadcaster in violation of federal law.

The FCC requires 99% caption accuracy on national broadcasts. Generic AI tools land around 90 to 95%.

We talked to Yair Amsterdam, CEO of Verbit, about why that last few percent is the entire business. Amsterdam has been in the CEO seat since 2024, after two years running Verbit as COO and President, and before that spent close to a decade running operations for ProQuest and Ex Libris. He's spent most of his career inside companies where the gap between good enough and accurate enough decides who keeps the contract. His says you can't build one model for every conversation. You build a different one for an NBA game, a deposition, and a presidential debate, each prepped in advance with the names and terms that generic engines get wrong.

The easy 90% is getting commoditized fast. The hard 9% is where the money is.

Hosted by Yoel Israel

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0:00 Cold Open and Intro

1:00 What Is Verbit and Voice Intelligence

4:00 Generic vs Enterprise: The NBA Example

7:00 The FCC's 99% Accuracy Rule

10:00 Voice Signatures and the Human in the Loop

16:00 Accuracy By the Numbers: 90% vs 99%

19:00 New Media, Broadcast Decline, and AI Dubbing

25:00 Team Structure and Competitive Landscape

30:00 AI's Impact on Headcount and Israel's Tech Gap

35:00 Yair on Triathlon, Discipline, and Marriage

---

Thank you to our incredible partners for making this all possible!

IsraelTech is proud to partner with Rhydlwood. Rhydlwood is an exclusive online business hub designed for business owners, entrepreneurs, and CEOs, focused on providing clarity, decision-making support, and sustainable growth.

Check them out at Rhydlwood.com

---

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