It’snot easy to do what I do, but if you incorporate emunah,it’s life changing.
B
lazing a career path in an industry you know nothing about, with little training, is a thought that keeps tons of people from taking such a leap — all the more so if you don’t see yourself reflected among the people in the room.
For Moshe Neuman, a chassidish Jew from Williamsburg, life as an entrepreneur in the tech and venture capital sphere meant standing out in a crowd known for hoodies and jeans, yet having the confidence to dive right in. When he started, he knew nothing and no one, but he was passionate about the industry and knew that his excitement would be the very thing to carry him through. Luckily, his career has taken off tenfold.
Neuman, 45, grew up in Williamsburg with five siblings. After yeshivah and two years of learning in kollel, he began his career in real estate, buying and flipping houses for 20 years. But despite the many years he had done it, he hadn’t enjoyed it. “The passion wasn’t there,” he says. “I’m more of a creative person.” So, without any sort of background, he jumped into the technology sphere. “I just learned by doing,” he explains. The first company he started was called Circlezon, which was supposed to be a “better LinkedIn.” He raised a million dollars after a year and worked there for three years, where he headed a team of 20 people between the United States and India. But when that venture ran its course and he couldn’t raise more money, he decided he wanted to help other entrepreneurs with business development — advising and investing until he settled on a new project.
He became a consultant, attending thousands of events, networking, and making a name for himself in the industry. He used those great connective skills to make connections for other companies, allowing them to fundraise and get the mentorship and resources they needed. Meanwhile, he invested in companies he thought looked promising. Now, in the last five years alone, he’s been involved with more than 20 companies and has helped them raise tens of millions of dollars. One of his first investments is now a nearly billiondollar company called Socure, which focuses on fraud identification. He expects it’ll IPO (be offered on the stock market) in the next two years or so. “Fraud is a big problem with people going online more,” he says. “Banks use Socure to make sure that the person is really who he says he is when opening an account, for example.
Create a free account to keep reading.
