Recently, I spoke to Yonatan Sela, Partner at Square Peg. Today, he invests in Israeli companies, but he used to be an entrepreneur and founder himself. Before Square Peg, Yonatan helped build YouNow into a consumer live-streaming platform; he co-founded Props, a decentralized protocol designed to give users ownership in consumer apps; and he worked across early-stage investing, consulting, and product leadership roles.
I could relate to that idea of ‘crossing the picket fence’ – starting your career in one area and then flipping it to the other. Before I was a journalist, I was in public relations; I can understand how those two worlds work together and complement each other.
Listen to all the insights in the conversation above.
In some ways, we are two of the same: not only do the investors and founders look for good stories, but the journalists and the public relations professionals also work on crafting stories for clients or tech companies.
“In my view, the personal story is the icing on the cake, and that can separate someone from a 9/10 to a 10/10 and touch emotionally in a deeper way,” said Sela. “I think the story must relate to tectonic shifts that are happening in the world.”
We also spoke about the Israeli tech scene more generally, and I really benefited from hearing his unique perspectives about it. Together, we explored the nuances of Startup Nation and the transformative power of storytelling in business. Specifically, Sela highlighted the innovative spirit that positions Israeli startups for success in the AI era – and the resilient qualities in local founders that are fostered in this unique environment.
“Because of the level of uncertainty you experience here, I think people are just better suited for that than most of their counterparts in other parts of the world,” he explained. “If you don’t know if you’re going to live next week, of course, you operate differently than if you’re operating in a perfectly stable environment: If you don’t know if you need to get a funding round done before a war breaks out, you operate differently with a different sense of urgency.”
The resilience that Israelis demonstrated in these last few years has amounted to historic deals like the $32 billion acquisition deal between Google and Wiz, or the IPO for eToro. “The tech ecosystem held up during the war and came out a lot stronger. And I think there’s renewed interest from international investors in Israel,” Sela said.
