Start-Up Nation Voices

In this episode, Elan Arnowitz sits down with Gidi Mark, CEO of Birthright Israel, who discusses his journey as the company’s first employee and how he built the largest educational tourism organization in the world. Mark also shares comical anecdotes that confirmed a successful marketing campaign and his thoughts on the greatest risks to the organization. Birthright Israel has generated more than $1.5B for the Israeli economy. Listen to the full episode below! 

In this episode, Yoav Degani, a 4x CEO, discusses the mindset needed to become a successful entrepreneur, why he doesn’t think in terms of trends, and what he has learned from his failures. Yoav offers a glimpse into the knowledge he’s gained from advising over 500 startups throughout his career!

As misinformation spreads dangerously on the internet, Start-Up Nation Mentorship Israel Director, Dean Meyer sits down with Noa Tishby,  Israeli-American actress, producer, and author to unpack many of the common misconceptions about Israel. Noa discusses what Zionism is and how the term has been misappropriated while describing why one can be both liberal/progressive and a staunch Zionist at the same time. On top of this, Noa gives her perspective on rising anti-Semitism and the BDS movement, how to stand up for your beliefs in a professional and respectful way, and finally, how the region can achieve peace.

We had the privilege to interview Brigadier General Dr. Tarif Bader, former Surgeon General of the Israel Defense Forces, on this episode of Start-Up Nation Voices. Dr. Bader is the first Israeli Druze to occupy the office. He graduated from the medical school of Ben-Gurion University in 1993 and completed his pediatrics residency in 2004. He earned his Master of Health Administration degree from Ben-Gurion University in 2006 and, most recently, his Master in National Security from Haifa University in 2017. Having served in the IDF Medical Corps since 1993, he has commanded and overseen humanitarian missions in Haiti, Syria, Nepal, and Turkey.

Listen in to get an in-depth perspective on COVID, vaccines, Israel’s humanitarian missions, and the reasons Israel leads the world of healthcare.

Start-Up Nation Mentorship Israel Director, Dean Meyer sits down with Ben Rabinowitz, Founder and Managing Partner at Amiti Ventures to discuss Ben’s business and life experiences in both the U.S and Israel. During this episode, Ben shares his story on how he became a seed-stage investor at Innoviz and their journey to an IPO. Furthermore, Ben discusses why Israeli has become a global innovation and technology powerhouse, how his experience at AudioCodes as General Manager and Vice President shaped his career, and finally, new and emerging deep tech trends that he finds interesting.

Start Up Nation Mentorship Israel Director, Dean Meyer sits down with Kfir Kachlon, a leading Israeli early stage investor and General Partner at AnD Ventures. In this episode, Kfir discusses his law background and what skill sets are needed to be a successful VC, his experience of being a co-founder in the newly established AnD ventures, and what it means to be a successful early stage investor.

Start Up Nation Mentorship Director of Mentor Relations, Elan Arnowitz sits down with Jordan Odinsky, Investor and Head of Platform at GroundUp Ventures. In this episode, Jordan shares the two key inflection points that shaped his career, the ways students can approach mentorship, why GroundUp’s unique strategies have led to their success, and how he thinks about the balance between marketing and product focus.

Start Up Nation Mentorship Director of Mentor Relations, Elan Arnowitz sits down with Daniel Aronovitz, a leading Israeli growth investor and Vice President at Insight Partners. In this episode, Daniel shares why Insight chose Tel Aviv for its second headquarters, how Israel became a scale-up nation and not just a start up nation, and how he thought through the rewarding yet challenging move from New York to Tel Aviv to open Insight’s first international office. 

Start-Up Nation Mentorship Israel Director, Dean Meyer and Director of Mentor Relations, Elan Arnowitz,  sit down Chaim Meir Tessler, a leading VC in Israel who is a Partner at OurCrowd. During this episode, Chaim discusses how he got into VC, and the challenges he faced throughout his career as a technologist. Chaim also discusses the Israeli VC ecosystem and how he makes investments.

Start-Up Nation Mentorship Director of Mentor Relations, Elan Arnowitz and VP of Mentor Relations, Ben Slotkin sit down with Zvika Orron, General Partner at Viola Ventures. In this episode, they discuss the impact of multi-stage funds on the Israeli startup ecosystem, how operational experience translates to investing acumen, the importance of a technical skill set, how the IDF has impacted Israel as a start up nation, and how the normalization of relations between Israel and the UAE will impact investing.