Invested by Aleph

Beezer Clarkson, Partner at Sapphire Partners, discusses groupthink in venture, momentum investing, securing investor buy-in, fund sizes, VC personality traits, and the importance of early wins. She emphasizes differentiation for LPs, diversity in investments, challenges faced by women in venture, and the contrasting investment sentiments in Israel vs. China.

Marc Rowan, Co-Founder and CEO of Apollo Global Management, Inc., discusses changing Israeli education, advice to young entrepreneurs, commitment to Israel, importance of a Jewish State, and navigating challenges in investing and market trends.

On this episode of Invested, Michael hosts Ben Lang, an early employee at Notion and serial builder. Ben is an angel investor, former founder and operator at high-growth startups. He served in IDF Intelligence and went on to co-found Mapme. Later, he joined Spoke, which was acquired by Okta. In 2019, he joined Notion, where he saw the team grow from 15 to 600+. He helped scale the team, build out their Ambassador program, influencer function, Consultants program, user conference, education program, template gallery, and more. Today, he actively makes angel investments (50+ investments so far) and advises a few startups. He is building the next play community to help people discover what’s next with curated opportunities, gatherings, and content. Please rate this episode 5 stars wherever you stream your podcasts! KEY TOPICS  [00:00] Intro  [03:50] How Michael and Ben Met [05:05] Creating International Hummus Day [11:05] Starting at Notion and Building the Community [23:50] Why is Notion Different?  [25:54] How to Create a Unique Community [30:15] Getting into Angel Investing [35:50] Going from Building to Advising  [37:47] Pitching Yourself as an Investor  [44:00] The Best Place to Build a Startup  [47:08] Post Oct 7th: Why Live in Israel?  [49:50] Creating CoronaCrush  [53:09] Rapid Fire RESOURCESFollow Ben Lang on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benmlang/ Follow Ben Lang on X: https://x.com/benln Subscribe to Invested here: https://content.aleph.vc/investedLearn 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/ben-lang---episode-20Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@aleph-vc/Follow Michael on Twitter: twitter.com/mikeeisenbergFollow Michael on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mieisenberg/Follow Aleph on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mikeeisenberg‍Follow Aleph on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aleph-vc/‍Follow Aleph on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleph.vc/CREDITSExecutive Producer: Erica Marom Producer: Sofi LevakVideo and Editing: Ron BaranovMusic and Art: Uri Ar Design: Rony Karadi

On this episode of Invested, Michael hosts Antonio Garcia-Martinez, CEO and founder of Spindl, and author of the book “Chaos Monkeys”. Garcia-Martinez started his career when he dropped out of a PhD in physics at Berkeley, cut off his ponytail, and became a pricing quant on the Goldman Sachs credit trading desk just in time for the 2008 credit crisis. Fleeing back to the Bay Area for an ad tech startup, he founded a Y Combinator startup with the co-founders he met in that first tech job, and sold the company to Twitter in 2011. This somewhat haphazardly landed him at Facebook, in charge of targeting on the ads team, where he shipped some of the company's first real ads targeting. His book about the experience, Chaos Monkeys, was a NYT and WSJ bestseller (though it did have some detractors). After a couple years of journalism and Substacking, he came back to tech, working (again) at ads and data related products at Branch and Apple. Currently, he's CEO and founder of Spindl, a venture-backed startup building many of the same attribution and measurement products natively in the blockchain world. Please rate this episode 5 stars wherever you stream your podcasts! KEY TOPICS [00:00] Intro [04:00] Personal Values[05:24] “Chaos Monkeys”[09:50] Working at Facebook[14:00] How COVID Affected San Francisco[16:20] How the Perspective on Tech Changed[19:46] Progressivism and Tech[23:00] Current State of San Francisco[26:10] Civic Involvement of Tech[28:30] Drug Culture in San Francisco[30:28] Getting Canceled[31:50] Progressivism and Christianity [34:15] Writing Career[36:20] Converting to Judaism [44:20] Secularized Modernity[51:42] Spindl[57:38] Blockchain[01:00:32] Web3 Social Media[01:03:50] DC vs. Tech[01:09:06] Rapid-Fire QuestionsRESOURCESFollow Antonio Garcia-Martinez on X: https://x.com/antoniogm To purchase the book “Chaos Monkeys” go to: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062458205/ For show notes and past guests on Invested, please visit content.aleph.vcLearn 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 https://content.aleph.vc/podcast-episodes/antonio-garcia-martinez---episode-19Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@aleph-vc/Follow Michael on Twitter: twitter.com/mikeeisenbergFollow Michael on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mieisenberg/Follow Aleph on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mikeeisenberg‍Follow Aleph on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aleph-vc/‍Follow Aleph on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleph.vc/CREDITSExecutive Producer: Erica Marom Producer: Sofi LevakVideo and Editing: Ron Baranov Music and Art: Uri Ar Design: Rony Karadi

On this episode of Invested, Michael hosts Eyal Waldman, the chairman of Waldo Holdings and co-founder of Mellanox. This is Eyal's second time on the podcast - if you’d like to hear the first episode, please go to https://content.aleph.vc/podcast-episodes/eyal-waldman-episode-10 Waldo Holdings is a family office that focuses on diversified investments in private and public companies, various funds, real estate and other financial platforms and vehicles.Mr. Waldman has been the co-founder, president, CEO and board member of Mellanox Technologies since March 1999. Mellanox is a semiconductor company which went public on Nasdaq in 2007 and was acquired by NVIDIA on April 2020 for more than $7B. Between March 1999 until June 2013, Mr. Waldman served as Mellanox’s chairman of the board. From March 1993 to February 1999, Mr. Waldman served as Vice President of Engineering and was a co-founder of Galileo Technology, Ltd., a semiconductor company, which went public on Nasdaq in 1997 and was acquired by Marvell Technology Group, Ltd. in January 2001 for $2.7B. From August 1989 to March 1993, Mr. Waldman held several design, management, and architecture related positions at Intel Corporation, a manufacturer of computer, networking, and communications products, and was awarded with the “IAA Intel achievement award” and the “Employee of the year” award. Mr. Waldman serves on the board of directors of several private and public companies. Mr. Waldman holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering and a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology. In June 2016, Mr. Waldman was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the Technion. Please rate this episode 5 stars wherever you stream your podcasts! KEY TOPICS  [00:00] Intro  [00:46] Israel Prize Controversy [03:00] Mellanox & NVIDIA's AI Impact [04:08] Mellanox’s Contribution to AI [06:30] AI Education & the Role of the Government  [14:23] October 7th Reflections [21:30] Personal Tragedy [23:29] Relationships With Palestinian Employees  [24:35] Plan for Peace [33:07] Resilience of the Israeli People  [39:33] Takeaways From Meeting Biden & Blinken [44:21] Remembering Danielle Waldman and Noam Shay RESOURCESFollow Eyal Waldman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eyal-waldman-968788/ Subscribe to Invested here: https://content.aleph.vc/investedLearn 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/eyal-waldman---episode-18Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@aleph-vc/Follow Michael on Twitter: twitter.com/mikeeisenbergFollow Michael on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mieisenberg/Follow Aleph on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mikeeisenberg‍Follow Aleph on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aleph-vc/‍Follow Aleph on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleph.vc/CREDITSExecutive Producer: Erica Marom Producer: Sofi LevakVideo and Editing: Ron BaranovMusic and Art: Uri Ar Design: Rony Karadi

On this episode of Invested, Michael hosts Yasmin Lukatz,  Founder & Executive Director at ICON.Yasmin Lukatz is the executive director of the Israel Collaboration Network (ICON), a non-profit organization that aims to create a Silicon Valley-based community to harness and support Israeli startup technology and innovation. With a background in economics and law from Tel Aviv University and an MBA from Stanford, Lukatz has held significant roles in both corporate and startup environments. Notable for her strategic investments at Early Stages in leading startups like Tipalti, Navan, and Salt Security, Lukatz also gained recognition on Hakrishim, Israel's version of Shark Tank. Recently, she founded Code for Israel, the Israeli movement of high-tech volunteers, dedicated to addressing Israel's challenges through technology.Please rate this episode 5 stars wherever you stream your podcasts! KEY TOPICS  [00:00] Intro  [04:12] What is ICON and ICON’s Impact [09:05] Israeli vs. Silicon Valley Tech Ecosystems [13:27] Changes in Investing Behavior Since Oct. 7th [15:30] Code for Israel [20:00] Yasmin’s Why - Doing What Makes You Happy [23:50] Dealing With Uncertainty  [25:25] Israeli-Jewish-American Identity  [27:20] Antisemitism Before and After October 7th [31:06] Making the Most Impact [33:41] When to Invest [36:07] Why Shark Tank [38:25] Dancing With the Stars - Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone [41:27] Rapid Fire Questions RESOURCESFollow Yasmin Lukatz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yasmin-lukatz-3182251/  Subscribe to Invested here: https://content.aleph.vc/investedLearn 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/yasmin-lukatz-episode-17Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@aleph-vc/Follow Michael on Twitter: twitter.com/mikeeisenbergFollow Michael on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mieisenberg/Follow Aleph on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mikeeisenberg‍Follow Aleph on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aleph-vc/‍Follow Aleph on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleph.vc/CREDITSExecutive Producer: Erica Marom Producer: Sofi LevakVideo Filming: Yair Cymerman Editing: Ron BaranovMusic and Art: Uri Ar Design: Rony Karadi

On part two of this episode of Invested, Michael hosts Yonatan Adiri, the founder and president of Healthy.io. Yonatan Adiri is the Founder, former CEO, and current President of Healthy.io. Born to refugee parents from Iran and Iraq, Adiri concluded his undergraduate studies at the age of 17 and spent the first 15 years of his career in Israel's public service. In his last role, Adiri was entrusted by one of Israel's founding fathers, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, HE President Shimon Peres to serve as his senior advisor for tech diplomacy and ultimately served as the President's Chief Technology Officer. Adiris's technology and public sector expertise were recognized by TIME Magazine (2018 one of the 50 most influential people in healthcare), The World Economic Forum, where Adiri spoke at several annual Davos gatherings, CNBC (Disruptor of the Year award, 2020), and FT (Bold in Business Award, 2021).Please rate this episode 5 stars wherever you stream your podcasts! KEY TOPICS  [00:00] Intro [01:10] Stepping Down as CEO [05:40] Realizing You’re not the Right Guy [07:15] Finding Healthy’s New CEO [10:40] How Did it Really Feel to Step Down [16:31] Why Geoff Martin as CEO [19:10] Regulation in Healthcare [21:45] The Investor’s Perspective on Changing CEOs  [24:00] Critiquing Your Board Member [26:50] The Era of Continuous Disruption [28:35] The Next Decade for Yonatan Adiri RESOURCESFollow Yonatan Adiri on X: https://twitter.com/YonatanAdiri Subscribe to Invested here: https://content.aleph.vc/investedLearn 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 https://content.aleph.vc/invested-episode-15Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@aleph-vc/Follow Michael on Twitter: twitter.com/mikeeisenbergFollow Michael on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mieisenberg/Follow Aleph on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mikeeisenberg‍Follow Aleph on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aleph-vc/‍Follow Aleph on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleph.vc/CREDITSExecutive Producer: Erica Marom Producer: Sofi LevakVideo and Editing: Ron BaranovMusic and Art: Uri Ar Design: Rony Karadi

On this episode of Invested, Michael hosts Yonatan Adiri, the founder and president of Healthy.io. Yonatan Adiri is the Founder, former CEO, and current President of Healthy.io. Born to refugee parents from Iran and Iraq, Adiri concluded his undergraduate studies at the age of 17 and spent the first 15 years of his career in Israel's public service. In his last role, Adiri was entrusted by one of Israel's founding fathers, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, HE President Shimon Peres to serve as his senior advisor for tech diplomacy and ultimately served as the President's Chief Technology Officer. Adiris's technology and public sector expertise were recognized by TIME Magazine (2018 one of the 50 most influential people in healthcare), The World Economic Forum, where Adiri spoke at several annual Davos gatherings, CNBC (Disruptor of the Year award, 2020), and FT (Bold in Business Award, 2021).Please rate this episode 5 stars wherever you stream your podcasts! KEY TOPICS  [00:00] Intro  [04:12] Working With Shimon Peres [12:20] Biggest Lessons Learned from Peres [14:00] On How Yonatan Was Raised  [23:00] Believing You Can Start a Company  [27:13] How Healthy.io Started [34:50] Challenges in the Healthcare Industry [37:40] Healthy.io’s 2030 Vision [38:55] Color AI and Persuasion OS [40:45] Part One Summary - Deciding to Step Down RESOURCESFollow Yonatan Adiri on X: https://twitter.com/YonatanAdiri Subscribe to Invested here: https://content.aleph.vc/investedLearn 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 https://content.aleph.vc/invested-episode-15Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@aleph-vc/Follow Michael on Twitter: twitter.com/mikeeisenbergFollow Michael on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mieisenberg/Follow Aleph on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mikeeisenberg‍Follow Aleph on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aleph-vc/‍Follow Aleph on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleph.vc/CREDITSExecutive Producer: Erica Marom Producer: Sofi LevakVideo and Editing: Ron BaranovMusic and Art: Uri Ar Design: Rony Karadi

Stefan Tompson, PR specialist, discusses intertwining Polish and Jewish history, Israel's importance to the West, fighting disinformation on social media, the decline of society, and the impact of fake news on global politics.

On this episode of Invested, Michael hosts Bradley Tusk, Co-founder of Tusk Venture Partners.Tusk is a venture capitalist, political strategist, philanthropist, and writer. He is the co-founder of Tusk Ventures, the world’s first venture capital fund that invests solely in early stage startups in highly regulated industries, and the founder of political consulting firm Tusk Strategies. Bradley’s family foundation is funding and leading the national campaign to bring mobile voting to all U.S. elections. Tusk Philanthropies also runs and funds anti-hunger campaigns that have led to the creation of anti-hunger policies and programs (including universal school breakfast programs) in 22 different states, helping to feed over 12.5 million people.Bradley is the author of The Fixer: My Adventures Saving Startups From Death by Politics and Obvious in Hindsight, hosts a podcast called Firewall about the intersection of tech and politics, and is the co-founder of the Gotham Book Prize. He recently opened a bookstore, podcast studio, event space and cafe called P&T Knitwear on Manhattan's lower east side. He is also an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School.Previously, Bradley served as campaign manager for Mike Bloomberg’s 2009 mayoral race, as Deputy Governor of Illinois, overseeing the state’s budget, operations, legislation, policy and communications, as communications director for US Senator Chuck Schumer, and as Uber’s first political advisor.You can find Bradley on Linkedin: Bradley Tusk - Founder + CEO - Tusk Holdings | LinkedIn You can buy Bradley’s new book “Obvious in Hindsight” here: Obvious in Hindsight: Tusk, Bradley: 9798888452202: Amazon.com: Books Please rate this episode 5 stars wherever you stream your podcasts! KEY TOPICS  [00:00] Intro  [03:15] Investing in Regulated Industries [07:45] Lemonade’s Regulation Success Story [09:43] Why Not to Shy Away From Politics & Regulation [12:10] Campaigning for Uber [19:00] Regulatory Capture [24:13] Banning TikTok [26:03] Anti-Semitism on Campuses [31:00] Changing the Education System [36:05] Owning P&T Knitwear [40:27] Increasing Primary Turnout [42:40] Obvious in Hindsight  [46:55] Dealing With Online Propaganda  [50:50] Being Human & Flawed [53:08] Israel as the Only Safe Place for Jews RESOURCESFollow Bradley Tusk on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/btusk/ For show notes and past guests on Invested, please visit content.aleph.vcLearn 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 https://content.aleph.vc/invested-episode-14Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@aleph-vc/Follow Michael on Twitter: twitter.com/mikeeisenbergFollow Michael on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mieisenberg/Follow Aleph on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mikeeisenberg‍Follow Aleph on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aleph-vc/‍Follow Aleph on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleph.vc/CREDITSExecutive Producer: Erica Marom Producer: Sofi LevakVideo and Editing: Uri ArMusic and Art: Uri Ar Design: Rony Karadi