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.
Please rate this episode 5 stars wherever you stream your podcasts!
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
Follow Adam on X: https://x.com/AdamRFisher
Subscribe to Invested here: https://content.aleph.vc/invested
Learn more about Aleph: aleph.vc
Sign up for Aleph’s monthly email newsletter: https://newsletter.aleph.vc/
For the transcript of this episode, go to: content.aleph.vc/podcast-episodes/adam-fisher---episode-35
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@aleph-vc/
Follow Michael on Twitter: twitter.com/mikeeisenberg
Follow Michael on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mieisenberg/
Follow Aleph on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mikeeisenberg
Follow Aleph on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aleph-vc/
Follow Aleph on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleph.vc/
CREDITS
Executive Producer: Erica Marom
Producer: Yoni Mayer
Video and Editing: Ron Baranov
Music and Art: Uri Ar
Design: Rony Karadi
