From Adversity to Awakening: The Journey of Ziv, Entrepreneur & Psychologist

Ziv, co-founder of Kai, an AI-based mental and psychological accompaniment platform, is an entrepreneur and psychologist, delving into the realms of relationships, parenthood, entrepreneurship, psychology, and psychedelic substances. Ziv grew up alongside an entrepreneurial father whose business failures plunged their household into financial turmoil, enduring a challenging childhood marked by material and emotional deprivation, both at home and in society. 

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At 16, Ziv and his friends dedicated their summer vacation to creating their first startup, which they later sold to Israel's second-largest gaming company at the time, yielding their modest first exit. It was then that Ziv discovered his passion for building things from the ground up.

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Subsequently, when he launched a second startup at only 20 years old while navigating military service, Ziv encountered a vast array of trials, failures, and mistakes, leading to sleepless nights and debilitating anxiety, which ultimately caused a major client to leave, prompting Ziv to want to stop and look inward.

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Ziv recounts the break he chose to take while grappling with the realization that distress, as daunting as it may be, is an inevitable aspect of life. Hand in hand with this resilience, he embarked on a three-year hiatus, stating that the need to take a break signifies a lack of sufficient passion, making it the perfect time to take a step back. During this extended period, he immersed himself in psychological literature and eventually traveled to India at 25, where he was exposed to the transformative potential of Vipassana meditation.

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Ziv's deep dive into Vipassana, though grueling, proved pivotal, illuminating the mysteries of life and reshaping his worldview.

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Throughout these wanderings, Ziv became acquainted with the realm of psychedelic substances. Years of introspection led him to perceive these substances as potential conduits for expanding consciousness and answering the existential questions that preoccupied him, and he explored this world through his understanding as a psychologist.

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Together, Ziv and I (Gali) cautiously raise the discourse around the use of psychedelic substances in the entrepreneurial world, examining the connection between the desire to experiment with various substances and experience the "extremes," and the passion of entrepreneurs to change society and the world, push boundaries, and strive for the seemingly unattainable.