Ariel Cohen is the Co-Founder and CEO @ Navan (formerly TripActions), the #1 travel management super-app used by over 8,000 companies. Ariel has raised over $2BN for Navan from some of the best including a16z, Zeev Ventures, Lightspeed, Greenoaks, and Elad Gil. Prior to TripActions, Ariel co-founded streamOnce, a business multimedia integration platform that was successfully acquired by Jive Software, where Ariel had previously served in a senior position following his time at Hewlett-Packard. In Today's Episode with Ariel Cohen We Discuss: 1.) Why Education is Outdated and Wisdom to People Entering the Working World: Why did Ariel not really attend many classes when he was a student? What would be his biggest advice to young people leaving school today? Where would he focus? Why does Ariel believe that traditional education is more outdated now than ever before? 2.) Why SAP and Salesforce Will Die: Why does Ariel believe that SAP and Salesforce have not innovated for a decade? Why does Ariel believe that Slack is a disaster inside of Salesforce? What are the single biggest advantages that startups have over these large incumbents? What can startups do to retain innovation and speed as they scale into becoming an incumbent? Why are the best founders willing to kill their own projects? 3.) Growing a Business 3x and Raising at a $9.2BN Valuation in COVID: How did Ariel grow the business 3x with all travel being banned? What were the tactics to blitz scaling during COVID? How did Ariel approach his investors for a new round in the middle of COVID? How did he get such a high price in the midst of a global pandemic? What is the bull case for how Navan can be a $40BN company? 4.) Margins Matter: Gaining Leverage Through Additional Margin: With Navan's 80% margin, they have 30% higher margins than other competitors, how do they have such high margins? With the additional 30%, how does Ariel plan to scale Navan's reach and use the margin to do so? How does OpenAI play a role in helping Navan increase its margin even further?

Guest: Ariel Cohen, CEO and co-founder of NavanAs a business travel-focused startup, Navan (previously known as TripActions) was heavily impacted by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020; after laying off 24% of the staff, CEO Ariel Cohen says he became a “wartime CEO,” spending three months in “complete denial and just executing.” By June, employees were leaving and he was depressed — but he still believed that business travel would come back. “You cannot just look at a moment and say that it will change everything,” he says. “... I disconnected from the news and from some of our investors and from ... negativity and started to lead the company again.” In a way, he explains, it was like a reset to the earliest days of the business, because the only people left were long-term believers like him.In this episode, Ariel and Joubin discuss “tier one” VCs, developing goodwill, company money vs. employee money, wartime CEOs, putting handcuffs on founders, staying dynamic, returning to the office, scuba diving, shared values, Macallan whisky, believing in startups, losing employees, in-person connections, secondary liquidity, and “deposits and withdrawals.”In this episode, we cover:Picking the right investors (01:22)Connecting to the Matrix (04:04)Obsessing over failure (10:29)Reflecting on an eight-year journey (14:56)The benefits of naïveté (17:50)Ariel’s entrepreneur father and early jobs (20:45)Older startup founders (23:03)Getting out of large companies (25:35)Personal burn rate (28:03)Becoming the big company (30:11)Pivoting into AI (32:44)Project Reset and personally resetting (34:12)Making controversial decisions (39:55)“What could I have done better?” (45:43)Ariel’s co-founder Ilan Twig (47:04)What makes a co-founder relationship work? (48:50)Running out of cash (51:18)Being a travel startup during COVID (55:53)The depression quarter (01:00:12)Long-term believers (01:02:54)Why Navan would go public (01:07:55)Startup advice and hard-charging CEOs (01:11:27)What “grit” means to Ariel and who Navan is hiring (01:15:24)Links:Connect with ArielLinkedInEmail: ariel@navan.comConnect with JoubinTwitterLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner PerkinsThis episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm

This discussion features Thomas Peterffy, founder of Interactive Brokers, sharing insights on consumer trends and the role of election forecasting in trading. Mohamed El-Erian provides an optimistic view on a potential economic soft landing. CEOs Pedro Franceschi of Brex and Ariel Cohen of Navan reveal their new partnership aimed at streamlining business travel expenses. The talk also touches on the influence of AI in investments and the current market volatility, highlighting strategies for navigating these changes.

Bloomberg economist previews RBA interest rate decision; updates on Xi's Europe trip and meeting with Macron; discussion on Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks

Topics include Federal Reserve meeting, inflation metrics, market updates, Russian imperialism, cultural enrichment, surge pricing, and NBA expansion

Bloomberg journalist Annmarie Hordern and Dr. Ariel Cohen of the Atlantic Council discuss the death of Russian activist Alexey Navalny and the challenges of understanding Russia. They also explore the implications of Navalny's death for Putin and Russia, the escalating tensions between Russia and the West, and the need for restored deterrence in Europe.

Ariel Cohen, CEO of Navan, talks about how the company shifted towards AI, solving travel challenges, the impact of AI on company growth, building a global team, AI as a platform shift, and the future of AI at Navan.

Bloomberg Intelligence explores Black Friday data and Cyber Monday outlook, while discussing 'buy now, pay later' services. The cease-fire in Israel-Hamas conflict is analyzed by Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center. Investing in diverse tech startups is discussed by Unconventional Ventures' Co-Founder. Drive to the Close with Chief Investment Officer at Frost Investment Advisors.

Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East Mick Mulroy, Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council Dr. Ariel Cohen, Israel's former Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon, Head of Macro Strategy at Academy Securities Peter Tchir, and Major General Mastin Robeson discuss the ongoing conflict in Israel, including the intelligence failure, potential involvement of Iran, and Israel's response. They explore Israel's strategy to dismantle the command structures of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the emotional stress faced by the people of Israel, and potential geopolitical responses and alliances.

Galit Altstein, Ros Mathieson, Ariel Cohen and other experts join the podcast to discuss the latest updates on the war in Israel, including the impacts on the economy, market response, and geopolitical risks in Europe. They also delve into topics such as intelligence failures, potential actions by Israel, market reactions, and advice for investors in light of recent geopolitical events.