On this episode of Invested, Michael hosts Adam Fisher, one of the most prolific early stage investors in Israel with over two decades of experience investing across the technology stack. He established Bessemer's Israel office in 2007 and has invested in more than 60 companies primarily at the Seed and Series A stages. Over his career, Adam has helped 24 companies reach successful exits, including some of Israel's most notable companies like Wix, Fiverr, and Habana. His current portfolio has some of Israel's largest cloud companies such as Hibob, Melio, Yotpo and Cloudinary.  

Adam’s life experiences–like his investments–are uniquely global. Born in South Africa, Adam was raised and educated in the US, where he studied at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Before joining Bessemer, he spent nine years at Jerusalem Venture Partners, where he was a partner in their New York, Jerusalem, and Beijing offices.

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KEY TOPICS 

• [00:00:00] Intro
• [00:04:25] Core Values
• [00:05:20] Being an Introvert in Venture Capital
• [00:08:52] Writing Poetry
• [00:11:15] Importance of Speaking Out
• [00:16:35] Hate Comments & Anti-Semitism
• [00:19:12] The Problem With Tenure
• [00:21:10] How Can We Enable People to Speak Out? 
• [00:22:45] Advantage as an Israeli VC Who Grew Up in the U.S.
• [00:25:30] Core Trait of Successful Venture Capitalists
• [00:29:50] Being Anti-Bitcoin
• [00:36:10] Government Vs. Individuals
• [00:41:20] Investments in Fiverr and Wix
• [00:50:45] Are Board Meetings Useful?
• [00:53:52] Investing Over Zoom Calls 
• [00:57:55] How to Pitch Entrepreneurs on Partnering
• [00:59:02] Foreign Investment in Israel and Misconception of the Market
• [01:02:05] First Investment Success & Lessons
• [01:05:52] Relation Between Company and Country
• [01:08:40] Work With Beit Issie Shapiro
• [01:12:38] How Do You Stay Grounded and Humble?

RESOURCES

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CREDITS

Executive Producer: Erica Marom 

Producer: Yoni Mayer

Video and Editing: Ron Baranov

Music and Art: Uri Ar 

Design: Rony Karadi