Symbol

Sometimes funding seems like a sure bet... until it isn't. A team of super strong, accomplished founders set out to tackle one of the digital age’s biggest challenges: misinformation. They developed a tech-driven way to digitally sign videos and verify their origins, helping media organizations assess content reliability at scale. Confident in their team and the problem’s urgency, they took an unconventional approach to validation: pitching to investors first and talking to customers later. The solution seemed within reach - experienced founders, a real and pressing problem - yet somehow things didn’t click. A reminder of how nuanced and complex validation really is. Fake news is still an unsolved problem, and maybe someone reading this will be able to crack it. The full ideas.rip story is in the first comment.

On reducing Team Risk or: how to convince us you are the right founder for the job Our Third investment out of Symbol was in a B2C fintech company that at the time still had a single founder. This one sentence - single founder consumer fintech - put WisePal far out of the comfort zone of most Israeli VCs. So why did we invest? One word (name): Amihay 1. Amihay Shmidman the founder didn’t just talk about the huge market opportunity — he also explained why current macro trends will become tailwinds for WisePal (e.g. historically high interest rates that will decline, economic anxiety in the US, and the advent of gen AI). 2. He wove his personal story and track record building successful, bootstrapped B2C businesses in Israel into that narrative, which convinced us that he’s the right person to succeed this unconventional play. 3. He ran experiments during his validation process that showed both demand and evidence of customers’ mindsets as they evaluate products like WisePal. For example, he built a fully functional website demonstrating what the product could look like in a couple of years, then he drive traffic to this site to show user conversion patterns. 4. At the end of COVID, when California shifted its insurance brokerage licensing program to an online format, he signed up and stayed up entire nights for weeks to better understand the insurance sales and brokerage process, showing deep conviction and grit. What stood out to me was how Amihay balanced addressing investor concerns with maintaining conviction in his unconventional vision. It took us five minutes to understand how brilliant Amihay is, and several more conversations to build conviction to lead WisePal’s pre-seed round. Later, we helped introduce WisePal to top-tier US-based investors who joined us at the Seed round (Jon Soberg at MS&AD Ventures and Alex Kolicich at 8VC). We are fortunate to have a small part in WisePal’s journey. (This also corresponds with what my partner Racheli wrote about our thought process when meeting future-founders. If you haven’t read it yet - link in the comments)

🚸 CTOs have more ‘kid time’ than CEOs 🚸 Most founders make sure to attend their kids’ events 🚸 Women founders are more prone to feel guilt around work-kid balance 🚸 Yet they also tend to prioritize work commitments more than their male counterparts 🚸 Most founders report an improvement in their ability to juggle startup and family life over time 🚸 But they also report that the pressure of being a founder impacted their connection with their kids 🚸 Only 19% feel that they are able to mostly disconnect from work when they are with their kids Entrepreneurship and parenthood is something we've been extremely curious about for a long time. So, we ran our biggest survey yet, asking 98 founder parents — men and women, CEOs and non CEOs, early and later stages — about their work-parenting juggle.

• 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸’𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆 𝗯𝗮𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗜𝘀𝗿𝗮𝗲𝗹? • 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗧𝘂𝗯𝗲 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿? • 𝗜𝘀 𝗙𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗼𝗿𝘀—𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗰𝗶𝗴𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗵𝗼𝗹? • 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗨𝗦 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗺 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗱? • 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲? Huge thanks to Reem Sherman for inviting Yuval Ariav to @Geekonomy (for the second time now, waiting for the third🍦) Link to the full episode—and the Atlantic article Yuval references—in the comments.

𝗪𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗼 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲𝘀 (𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀) – 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗽 For first-check stage startups, company events are rare. So from the inception of Symbol, the idea of bringing all the employees together for an evening of fun and recognition for their hard work and devotion, felt meaningful. This was the third time we hosted an event like this, and this time, the portfolio teams grew significantly (so much so that a scrappy bar could no longer fit us all, and we had to book a real venue… which, honestly, we feel a bit conflicted about, because nothing beats a scrappy bar). But cynicism aside, it was truly heartwarming. Like every event in the past year and a half, this one was also emotionally charged. It took place on the day of the first hostage release, and we all kind of just wanted to be home, wrapped up in a blanket, glued to the TV. So we scrapped the content, switched the playlist to something soft and Israeli, and simply gathered—together, as we are. And it felt like home. 𝗧𝗼 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗼𝗺, 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝘀 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 🥂 (Tag your friends in the comments - there are some nice pics of them) Hadar Sagiv Danielle Shaul Dan Feldshtein Adar Hay Yonatan Wolowelsky Assaf Geuz Tal Yannay Dor Mizrahi Gilad Khen Max Avgustevich Dima Kuzmich Roee Nahir Avigail Levine Shiran Mlamdovsky Somech Doron Somech Amihay S. Ohad Azgad Alon Cohen Na'ama Goldberg Ran Amar Rebecca Weiss Shay Yahal Sagi Medina 🏠 Yaniv Axen Shuky Aharonovitch Ron Haimovich Lidia Verra Orit Balicer Tsur Yuval Ariav Racheli Kogan Lia Levin Almog Z. Itamar Eliash Roy Confino Guy Rosen Dima Broslavsky

Nilus is a reminder that ultimately, people are what matters. When we invested in their first funding round back in 2022, Daniel and Danielle were ‘just’ two incredibly strong founders with an idea.   Products like theirs didn’t really exist in the market at scale, but there was a sense that it was time. And indeed, over the following year, several startups pivoted in their direction because it was such a good, necessary idea—and the technology had finally caught up. And now, with the market being (slightly) more mature, it’s remarkable to see how deeply the Nilus team understands their market and how they are building a treasury product that fits their customers’ needs perfectly. Over the past year, Nilus has partnered with hundreds of finance practitioners across the United States and is now managing billions in cash for amazing clients ranging from midsize businesses to public companies - including Alloy, Taboola, Made In, 365 Retail Markets, and Planned Parenthood Federation of America. And they are just getting started. It’s an honor to partner with their new investors, leading a new $10M funding round: Victoria Treyger at Felicis, Lindsay Fitzgerald at Vesey Ventures, Haleli Barath and Ronnie Zahavi at Cerca Partners. Joining Bessemer Venture Partners (Adam Fisher, Charles Birnbaum, Ariel Sterman, Eric Kaplan),  Better Tomorrow Ventures (Sheel Mohnot and Jake Gibson) and ourselves (Symbol), who invested in the seed round. In the photo - Daniel, Danielle and Matthew Harlan, who was recently appointed Chief Treasury Officer. We are incredibly impressed by what you are building. Onwards and upwards!

Sometimes, we come across an ideas.rip story that truly brings added value. In 2023, while participating in the The Zell Entrepreneurship Program at Reichman University, Chen N. and Yiftach Meitar teamed up with Dr. Omri Lubovsky, Head of Orthopedics at Barzilai Hospital. They wanted to tackle a critical issue: preventing misuse of painkillers, a problem impacting millions worldwide. While the idea gained strong validation in Israel from both patients and doctors, challenges with navigating the U.S. healthcare system made it difficult to secure funding and transform the project into a venture-backed company. For Dr. Lubovsky, this remains a life mission, so if this idea resonates with you, don’t hesitate to reach out. You could help make a real difference. Read the full story: https://lnkd.in/dSkfWR6Z

One of the things I love about pre-consensus companies is that when they find Product Market Fit, they're often the only tech player in a giant niche market, which lets them to grow exponentially. Jiga is an amazing example: after being super lean and methodical in honing the product, business model, and GTM, their business is now larger than many Series-B companies despite having raised only a ~$4M Seed. Adar, Assaf, and Yonatan and team - you rock ❤️ Y Combinator Pareto Holdings Edward Lando Nadav Ben-Chanoch Jared Friedman Surbhi Sarna Tim Brady

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One of the things I love about pre-consensus companies is that when they find Product Market Fit, they're often the only tech player in a giant niche market, which lets them to grow exponentially. Jiga is an amazing example: after being super lean and methodical in honing the product, business model, and GTM, their business is now larger than many Series-B companies despite having raised only a ~$4M Seed. Adar, Assaf, and Yonatan and team - you rock ❤️ Y Combinator Pareto Holdings Edward Lando Nadav Ben-Chanoch Jared Friedman Surbhi Sarna Tim Brady