𝗠𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝘀

1. I am an entrepreneur-turned-investor based in Austin, TX. I have a successful track record of founding and scaling businesses, having built my first company at 14 and two more by age 22. My most recent venture became the largest e-commerce platform for military goods, which I eventually sold to my biggest competitor in 2019.

2. I have previously served as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) at a VC firm, where my primary focus was to turn around a portfolio of early-stage startups in distress. My approach involved a combination of strategic planning and hands-on execution to deliver successful outcomes.

3. I've mentored over 397 businesses since 2019 - through my positions at the Polsky Center at the University of Chicago and Score. Today, I leverage my experience and unique skill set to invest in high-revenue, low- profitability SMBs in greater Austin area and turn them into strong cash-flowing machines.

4. I hold both an MBA and a BA from Tel Aviv University, with my last semester completed as an exchange student at Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern. I also have a distinguished military background: I served for three years as a combat sergeant in the Israeli army, where I was responsible for the lives of over 40 recruits, the operation of six artillery cannons, and the professional development of six commanders.

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My background and where my business journey began

Entrepreneurship has been a passion of mine since I was a child. My passion for business and building systems led me to want to start my own business. My fourteen-year-old self was able to build the business I always wanted because of ease of use and access to the internet. Behind the screens, no one knew I was only fourteen, and it didn't matter as long as the service I provided worked. That's how my first business, Sms4Cash.net, started.

Sms4Cash.net was a micro-payment platform designed for teenagers and small website owners.

In the year 2005, people used to have "dumb" phones - phones that could receive calls, texts, and if you were lucky, you could change the ringtone. Businesses and websites used SMS text messages to perform micro-transactions like voting using a phone (think of American Idol), downloading ringtones, and paying for files. As a result of the complex nature of the product, SMS micro-payments were only available to large established businesses.

As web 2.0 rose in popularity during those early years, almost every teenager in 2005 had some social web presence (a website, a blog, etc—think Myspace and Xanga). Just as the large websites accepted micro-payments, those teens wanted to create and sell wallpapers, ringtones, and files as well.

I built a web platform that bridged between the cellular companies and the teens who owned these websites: the teens would sign up for my platform, receive a unique code (iframe/script), embed it in their website, and receive a commission on every micro payment they generated. I would send them a check once they reached a certain threshold.

After about two years, customers kept asking if they could charge regular payments (not micropayments) with credit cards. That's how my second company, ePays, came to be.

ePays - a credit card payment platform for small businesses

As with micro-payments, my users had the same problem accepting regular payments: the barrier to entry was too high (expensive). In order to begin accepting payments on their websites, they needed a broker.

That's exactly what ePays did. You can think of ePays as the Israeli version of PayPal (Paypal did not operate in Israel until 2009).

I partnered with CAL, the second-largest credit card company in Israel, to make it a reality. I used the same pitch I gave the cellular companies with Sms4Cash: "You might not find small businesses and websites interesting individually, but you can get a lot of market share and money from combining them. I'll aggregate all small users under my platform (and my "payment" account), and I'll handle all the "small fish" - a market you're not getting today."

It worked.

We officially partnered, and I built a payment & e-commerce system named ePays, which I operated until 2009 when I joined the Israeli military. Realizing the “big dogs” in these industries saw my value was the boost I needed to continue my entrepreneurial journey.

Identifying another untapped market: Israeli online army supply

Fact: When drafted, Israeli soldiers aren't provided with enough equipment. This has resulted in a secondary private market specifically for soldiers and their families. Think "army surplus," except you go there as a soldier and not a civilian. When I was preparing for my draft day and after I became an active soldier, I went to these shops to get supplementary equipment I couldn't get from the army. The reality is that soldiers get most of the equipment they need—but not all. Extra uniforms, replacing a lost “dog tag”, or even a higher quality toiletry bag falls in the hands of the soldiers.

Combat soldiers are only allowed to leave the base for 48 hours every 2-3 weeks to go home. Sunday is a working day in Israel, so you go home on Friday and return on Sunday. The majority of Israeli stores close on Friday afternoon and reopen on Sunday morning in observance of Shabbat (Saturday). Soldiers have only Friday morning (about 6 hours) to shop for any equipment they need.

Having experienced this inconvenience, I wondered, “What if there was an online store that shipped supplies directly to me?” I couldn’t believe that in a country with mandatory military service, there wasn’t an online store to buy military necessities. It was shocking—but also an amazing opportunity.

Hence, Meitar Army Gear was born:

Meitar Army Gear: The first army-dedicated online store in Israel

Meitar Army Gear was Israel's largest e-commerce platform for army goods from December 2012 (my official release date) until June 2019 (when I sold the company). We opened a brick-and-mortar store in February 2018 to serve soldiers nationwide. With tens of thousands of soldiers and diverse military units served by the brand, it became a national brand and an official government contractor. It was the only store dedicated to army goods in Israel and soldiers would come from all over just to get their gear. Their eyes would light up in amazement seeing so much gear in one place.

But, I knew that my entrepreneurial journey was really only beginning. My wife and I relocated to the US in June of 2019, and I sold the company to my largest competitor. I was ready for my next challenge.

EIR at a venture capital firm focused on distressed startups

In the months following my MBA, I joined an early-stage venture holding company called Manifold. The firm combines venture capital, a venture studio, a development shop, and management consulting services. I joined the venture studio as an entrepreneur in residence (EIR).

During my career, I have managed and led turnaround efforts for a number of distressed startups in different industries and stages of development. To accomplish that, I developed the strategy and then led a team of tactical SMEs to accelerate each asset's growth goals.

As an EIR, I had the opportunity to work on multiple platforms and deploy a different skill set for each one based on the asset's specific needs.

As an example, I implemented the EOS (entrepreneurial operating system) to streamline execution in more mature assets where there was already a team in place. Lean Startup methodologies are geared towards discovery, MVP development, and product-market fit in more early-stage assets. The opportunity is indeed unique.

Additionally, I used the stage as an opportunity to conduct company-wide enrichment workshops and presentations on entrepreneurship, EOS & scaling, Lean Startups, Business Model Canvas, and customer discovery processes, which provided tactical SMEs (developers, designers, and even consultants) with methodologies they could apply to their work in the future. Later on, those workshops would serve as the basis for a venture studio playbook

How I became a business mentor and advisor

After moving to the US and selling my business, I found myself in a vacuum in the summer of 2019. Just sold my 7-year-old business and was not authorized to work in the US yet. This is a recipe for disaster for an entrepreneur. I chose to devote my time to helping other founders, which is what I'm most passionate about.

As a first step, I joined a volunteer-based organization called Score, which pairs entrepreneurs with business mentors funded by the SBA. A couple of years later, I joined the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Chicago, where I mentor U-Chicago & Booth students, faculty, and alumni.

As of 2019, I have mentored more than 150 founders, some for more than 12 months. Watching talented people succeed is the most rewarding feeling in the world.

In my mentoring sessions, I help founders "zoom out" and formulate a strategy. More than 95% of my mentees come to me with tactical issues that can be easily resolved with a clear strategy. I believe tactics are the “how”. If you’re not sure what you want to achieve, the “how” doesn’t matter. I help them start with “where” and “why” because once they figure that out, they don’t really need me to tell the “how”.

Three years of military service as a combat sergeant

Israeli citizens are required to serve three years in the military. I started my career as an air force cadet pilot, but soon realized that flying wasn't my strong suit, so I spent most of my service as a combat sergeant.

As a leader, I led a class of 40 recruits through basic training, advanced training, and all the way to becoming professional soldiers. In my capacity as an artillery sergeant, I commended the artillery mobile unit responsible for producing missions for six 155mm cannons.

In my final months of service, following my experience as a commander, I began serving as a "Commander Mentor," where I accompanied six first-time inexperienced commanders for four months. In order to help them advance professionally as leaders, it was my responsibility to guide them and share my experience.

As soon as I finished my military service, I began my academic career:

Two degrees, six years, and two universities

Tel Aviv University awarded me an MBA with a focus on marketing and a bachelor's degree in business and corporate communications. I finished my final year of my MBA by spending two semesters at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management as an exchange student.

Having a real business at the same time as earning my business degrees gave me a unique advantage: I was able to apply classroom knowledge to real-world situations. The reason I started my third business was partly because I wanted to have a real platform I could experiment on before starting school. This allowed me to bridge the gap between academia and the real world.

Final thoughts

I am a builder. Always have, always will be. Time and experience taught me how to turn "theoretical" business concepts and methodologies into reality. Together with my bias for action, this combination allows me to accelerate the growth and scaling of the companies I work with.

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