ICYMI: Highlights from The Spiro Circle & Forbes Israel
Some standout insights from the first 30 conversations with Startup Nation's founders and investors.
Since November 2025, I’ve been sitting down with investors and founders across Israel to explore the intersection of tech, business, society, and current affairs.
Nothing has been off-limits, and I’ve taken something valuable from every single conversation.
If you’re subscribed, you’ve probably seen these episodes land in your inbox (I aim for two each week). But realistically, not everyone has the time to watch full-length interviews — and that’s completely fine.
So over the past few days, I’ve started cutting some of my Forbes Israel interviews into shorter, 5–10 minute clips specifically designed to be easier to dip into and get the key insights quickly.
I’ve included a selection below. Some key topics include:
The tech solution to the Strait of Hormuz challenge
AI’s regulation race between the US, EU, and China
Hacking Instagram
Israel’s economy post-Iran
The Google/OpenAI race
and more…
Nine episodes are currently in post-production, with three more scheduled — so expect plenty more landing in your inbox soon, as well as another highlights post in the future.
Lior Dolinski | Agora
“Day One Mentality”: What we can learn from Jeff Bezos
A $400 trillion real estate industry is finally moving beyond Excel, led by a startup founded by veterans of the IDF’s Unit 8200.
Agora has raised almost $64 million, including a $34 million Series B last year led by Qumra Capital with participation from Insight Partners and Aleph. In 2025, it was named as one of Israel’s Most Promising Startups by Calcalist, and each founder was included in Forbes’ “30 Under 30” for their innovation.
Roey Eliyahu | Salt Security
This IDF soldier secured a Y Combinator investment to create a billion-dollar business
Hear how Roey Eliyahu took his army idea and turned it into Salt Security, a billion-dollar company backed by Sam Altman.
Noam Solomon | Immunai
“It’s like dancing with gorillas.” How startups navigate Big Pharma
In the United States, funding cuts threaten to slow basic research at the very moment when the complexity of biological problems is increasing. As public support tightens, the pressure grows to build new kinds of infrastructure that can help translate scientific discovery into long-term medical progress.
Aya Peterburg | S Capital
Israeli Investors: Measured in bad days (from Covid to NVIDIA exit)
“As an investor, I believe that our role is being measured in the bad days,” said S Capital investor Aya Peterburg. “Helping the founders find their way to a safe zone.”
Amir Fishelov | Square One Labs
“It doesn’t matter if Google will win the race or OpenAI... They all need the same infrastructure.”
Amir Fishelov shares why he started Square One Labs with Jonathan Bik and Yoav Galin.
The need for deeptech infrastructure, such as physical robotics, energy, or semiconductors, is essential regardless of who "wins" the AI race.
Gal Elbaz | Oligo Security
Hacking Instagram: A white hat perspective
Oligo Security’s Gal Elbaz says hacking and manipulation are the same skill. That insight is now a business worth $80 million.
Yonatan Sela | Square Peg
How is Israel's tech scene so resilient during wartime?
“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,” explained Yonatan Sela from Square Peg. “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.
Yair Adato | Bria AI
AI regulation: A geopolitical game between USA, EU, and China
As giants like Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI race to dominate AI, startups like Bria are trying to build a fairer system for creators.
The idea of companies having a central control in the direction of AI-generated content can be considered a geopolitical problem, not just a market one. We reference similar ideological fault lines that produced competing visions of the internet: Silicon Valley’s open innovation, Europe’s regulatory model, and China’s state control are now reasserting themselves around AI infrastructure.
The outcome of that contest, he argues, will matter more than any individual model breakthrough.
Yarden Gross | Orca AI
Why are ships suddenly losing GPS in the Strait of Hormuz?
As tensions rise between Iran and Israel, one narrow stretch of water is once again holding the global economy hostage: the Strait of Hormuz.
Nearly a third of the world’s seaborne oil passes through the corridor each day. This week alone, Iran deployed sea mines in the channel - and GPS spoofing, which is the manipulation of satellite navigation signals, continues to disrupt ships moving through the region.
For Yarden Gross, co-founder and CEO of maritime technology company Orca AI, this is exactly the kind of moment his industry has feared. “90% of the goods today in the world, $5 trillion a year, is moving through the seas,” he said. “When you see the disruptions happening, it’s usually when you see major events.”
Ezra Gardner & Travis Vap | Varana Capital & South Valley
What role will Tel Aviv play in Israel's post-war recovery after Iran?
As Israel navigates renewed conflict with Iran, the country’s stock exchange did something surprising. Instead of tanking, it did the opposite. The TA-125 Index climbed to record highs of around 4,200 points, which represents a 66% increase compared to this time last year. At the same time, the Israeli shekel strengthened against the U.S. dollar.
That isn’t to say the conflict hasn’t caused disruption and anxiety across the country, but it does demonstrate that there is confidence in Israel’s ability to bounce back from adversity.
Liad Elidan | Milestone
AI’s Impact on Code Review & Future Engineers
As companies rush to deploy generative AI, a new category of tools is emerging to answer a simple question: Is it actually improving anything?
Doron Zauer | Earth & Beyond Ventures
Deeptech's resilience in Israel's economic turmoil
Israel’s tech ecosystem faced turbulence during the war. But not all sectors felt it equally.
I spoke to Doron Zauer, General Partner at Earth & Beyond Ventures, to unpack what the last few years have meant for early-stage deeptech. While later-stage companies initially struggled with reliance on foreign capital, early-stage investing (particularly in deeptech) showed resilience.
As Doron put it: “We’re investing at the super early stage… a 10–12 year journey. So we need to be good estimators of trends and of sustained demand.”