Founder Stories

Born in South Africa, Nicki Forman was a lawyer before turning her attention and her heart to yoga. She spent the next twenty years searching for the right yoga philosophy, schlepping her young family around the world from one ashram to another. It was on one fateful trek in India that Nicki had an out-of-body experience where she fell into her own teachings that led her to found Aruna Yoga and inspire people across Israel and the world.

Daniel Shinar has invested over $100 million into Israeli technology companies for Access Industries, the investment vehicle of the world’s 27th wealthiest person. Daniel is also the best-selling author of cyber espionage novel “Red Skies” based on his previous life as an IDF intelligence analyst.

Miriam Cabessa is one of Israel’s most iconic contemporary artists, who uses unconventional tools, including hey body, to create large-scale paintings. She talks about her obsession with painting, finding spirituality and her renewed passion for Israel.

Eytan Levit co-founded Mixtiles with a mission to become the standard way for people to mount photos on walls. Eytan has taken that astonishingly simple concept to grow a business generating tens of millions of dollars and employing talent all over the world. Eytan is known and loved throughout Israel for mentoring founders with lessons learned from his past failures and ultimate success.

Co-founder of construction tech company Alpha CAD and medical device company, Alpha Omega, Reem Younis is a role model for Israeli Arab entrepreneurial success in Israel. Reem tells an unlikely story of leaving her village in Nazareth and meeting the love of her life, and cofounder, at The Technion. Reem now works to support other young Arab Israelis to follow in her footsteps.

Skipping college to launch a startup, Dor Skuler is on a mission to bridge the gap between humans and robots. His company, Intuition Robotics, is now powering digital companions for the elderly and copilots for drivers and any other use case you can imagine. Dor has raised tens of millions of dollars to realize his vision and bring robots to life

How did Gigi Levy’s name become synonymous with Israeli venture capital? In this episode, Anouk and Barak sit down with Gigi and delve deep into his journey - from being an entrepreneurial 10-year-old, to Apache helicopter fighter pilot, to CEO,

Born and raised on hummus and chutzpah, Inbal garnered her entrepreneurial skills in the IDF where she served as a Lieutenant in the elite intelligence unit 8200. On this episode, Inbal talks about how Startup Nation starts on the playground, how balagan breads success, and her new guide book for dealing with the unpredictability of life and business the Israeli way.

When Eli Beer witnessed a terror attack at the age of six, he knew he wanted to save lives. By sixteen, he was an EMT on his way to disrupt an entire system. In this episode, Anouk and Barak share a moving conversation with Eli, self-proclaimed “Master Meshuggeneh”, about coining the “ambucycle”, breaking social barriers, life, loss, and putting United in United Hatzalah.

Interview with Dorin Frankfurt

This week on Founder Stories, we get palatably philosophical and with chef and TV personality Barak Yehezkeli. We discuss subjects as varied, fascinating and hilarious as smoking a bong from a coconut; spending months aging cheese in an Indian hostel; not being a millionaire and creating Israel’s most famous and entertaining “restaurant without borders.”

One of Israel’s most famous contemporary musicians, Ivri Lider is a multi-faceted artist beloved by a nation. But who is the man behind the icon? And is he really as nice as he seems? In this episode, Ivri sits down for a frank and funny conversation with Anouk and Barak about fame; mindfulness; his unintended status as a gay symbol; what the real value of money is and his desire for a family.

How does a trouble-making hippie kid from California become a guru of the Startup Nation? In this episode, Anouk and Barak sit down with Jon Medved, the founder of OurCrowd, a crowdfunding platform that nobody in the industry took seriously, yet now has over one billion dollars under management. Jon talks about the Sabbath, women, Vietnam, Jerusalem, money and his intention never to slow down.

Founder Stories is all about the life, journey and chutzpah of Israel’s visionaries in business, life and culture.

While serving as an officer in the IDF, Captain Ziv Shilon lost his left arm and severely injured his right in an IED explosion. Since then, Shilon has competed in the most challenging physical competitions on Earth, including the Berlin Marathon and Iron Man, while inspiring thousands as a volunteer, mentor and lecturer. Today, Shilon is Co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Pollli, a high growth startup in the fintech space.

While working a concert backstage a sound engineer, Mordechai Braunstein accidentally turned up the amplifier too high and felt the sound wave vibrations shake his muscles and even his teeth. That experience inspired Braunstein to invent visual music machines that translate live music into a tactile musical experience, and launch CyMagic to show tens of thousands of deaf children around the world how music looks and feels. The father of two young children, Braunstein has big plans for CyMagic and the future of sound. Mordechai is also a pioneering activist raising awareness for the issue of violence against women.

In 2003, Joseph Gitler founded Leket Israel - The National Food Bank - as a one-man volunteer operation to respond to the paradox of growing hunger and poverty in Israel, on the one hand, and significant food waste on the other. Today, Joseph’s operation has grown to distribute over 40 million pounds of food to Israel’s socio-economic periphery through its partnerships with 200 nonprofit organizations, feeding more than 175,000 people every week.  With 105 employees, a fleet of delivery vehicles and tens of thousands of volunteers, Leket now operates the greatest logistical and human resource capacity of any single food provision agency in Israel.

Ashager Araro is the woman breaking down barriers in Israel. Born in Ethiopia, Araro came to Israel as an infant on Operation Solomon, a covert military mission that airlifted Ethiopian Jews to Israel in 1991. She grew up with seven siblings and rose to the rank of Lieutenant in the IDF Paratroops. Following her military service and studies, Araro pursued a career in diplomacy and social advocacy, visiting countries around the world to engage audiences as a proud black, Jewish, Israeli woman. Araro is also the founder of Bettea, an interactive, Ethiopian Israeli Heritage Center for visitors to explore and appreciate the story of Ethiopian Jews in Israel.

Shaul Olmert went from teaching computers at a high school in Jerusalem to running the most powerful publishing platform on Facebook. In 2013, Shaul co-founded Playbuzz, an online content publishing platform that grew from 0 to 80 million users in 10 months and reached more users than The Huffington Post, New York Times, Fox, NBC and the BBC. Olmert is also the son of former Jerusalem Mayor and Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert. He has dined with Presidents, and their families, and opens up to us about his drive to create and make a lasting impact.

After spending six months on a tiny island nation in the north pacific, Barak Ben Ezer is ready to launch the first sovereign digital currency into the world. In this episode, Barak talks about the positive impact of crypto, the ancient art of canoe sailing, his morning rituals and being a seventh generation Israeli.