"99% of value lies in execution of an idea, and only 1% in the idea itself"
What: For many of these interviews, this section essentially revolves around the interviewee’s job. But for Ben, who’s just 27, it’s not so simple, because he already wears so many different hats — from raising $1 million for his first startup at the age of 20, to running community at one of the hottest startups in Silicon Valley (valued at $2 billion), to launching a fascinating array of worldwide initiatives, to writing for top-tier publications like Business Insider, to investing in innovative early-stage technology companies.
Where: Ben was born in Israel, but grew in the States, mostly in California and New York. After high school, he moved back to Israel to serve in a top IDF intelligence unit. He then spent a few years shuttling between Tel Aviv, San Francisco and New York, and finally decided it was time to settle in Jerusalem, the holiest city in the world.
Why: What I found even more impressive than Ben’s professional accomplishments was that, with all that star quality, he has a natural humility and is one of the nicest, most respectful people I know — and he’s constantly looking for ways to help others. Moreover, over the last few years, he’s become fully Torah-observant, and now juggles his busy schedule with a few hours of serious learning every morning. I might be several years older, but I definitely look up to him as one of my role models.
The first in a chain of events that kicked off my career was making aliyah. When I was a high school student at Ramaz on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, I decided college wasn’t for me. Instead, I was going to join the IDF and serve in an intelligence unit. I had no idea how to make that happen, but I had read Startup Nation and knew that this was where I wanted to be. Even though I was born in Israel and left at age one, I felt obligated to serve my real home.
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