1. Fear or Excitement? The Mental Rewire Experience

On that day at the national championship, I felt my heart racing, my hands trembling, and I was convinced I was scared. When I shared these feelings with my sensei, he asked me, “What do you feel physically?” After I described my racing heart and shaking hands, he smiled and told me a sentence that changed my life: “You’re not scared, you’re excited.” He explained that our heart rate rises to make us more agile and ready for big challenges. That day, with a broken hand and in pain, I won first place. But the real victory was this mental understanding. I learned to shift my mindset: fear paralyzes, but excitement drives you forward. Since then, before every big challenge, I ask myself: am I scared, or am I excited? I choose the latter.

2. The Ego That Destroys Friendships and Careers

As a systems engineer at the Technion, I had a revolutionary idea: to create a CMS for website management without coding. I developed the system over six months with a team of nine people. On launch day, the department head canceled the project, and the reason? “I’m not signing off on this project.” At that moment, I realized that his ego outweighed the organization’s interests. It was a reality check for me. I knew my direct manager was amazing, and even today, looking back, I understand how important it was for me to work under such leadership. They say people don’t leave jobs—they leave managers—and that’s true—but it also works the other way: good managers retain employees. Despite my manager’s excellence, the department head’s decision made it clear that I didn’t want to work somewhere critical decisions were made out of ego rather than values. Ego is one of the most toxic forces—it prevents us from doing good for the mission, and in turn, blocks the growth of the company and its human capital.

3. ‘Analysis Paralysis’: Decisions That Cost Millions

After resigning, I took my vision and founded a software house that greatly helped startups. It was very successful and even sold for a sum I never dared to imagine (another tip I got from my mentor back then—never undervalue yourself).

The startup world had always intrigued me, so I joined a small startup in Haifa, which was just a month away from closing. That startup later became BreezoMeter, and the “small” startup was sold to Google for a record sum for a climate-tech company. There, I learned about the power and danger of decision-making. Google offered a partnership that could jump us from tens of thousands of monthly visitors to tens of thousands per day. Instead of leveraging the momentum, we spent six months in endless discussions: how to maximize the traffic? How to fund the expansion? We overanalyzed and lost the momentum. This is called ‘Analysis Paralysis’—paralyzed by overthinking. It’s better to make a mediocre decision on time than not to decide at all. As an entrepreneur, you’ll never have all the information. Learn to live with it and act fast.

4. The Power of Teamwork at ActiveFence

After BreezoMeter, I joined the cybersecurity company ActiveFence. There, I learned that speed isn’t just an advantage—it can save lives. During routine checks, we identified someone planning a mass attack. A whole team—brilliant programmers, former 8200 analysts, and sharp managers—worked around the clock. We cross-referenced data, identified the person, and passed the information to the authorities, preventing a disaster.

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” The real power of a company lies in a team aligned toward a goal, and the key is knowing how to combine each member’s strengths.

5. Speed as a Competitive Advantage at Imagen

At Imagen, where I currently serve as Head of Engineering, I’ve seen this power again. In four years, we grew from 0 to 120 employees, with tens of thousands of clients and tens of millions in revenue.

Why? Because a startup understands that speed is its relative advantage. Google has money and resources, but we can move faster. Imagine playing chess against Kasparov (one of the greatest chess players): we might not play as well as him, but if we can make ten moves for every one of his, we have a chance to win. Large companies hesitate to act quickly due to internal bureaucracy and countless committees.

You are the flash of the business and technology world. Use it.