Live Podcast: Between Vision and Reality - Entrepreneurship, Resilience and Leadership in the Wake of October 7th with Merav Bahat, Noam Friedman & Yodfat Harel Buchris

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Live Podcast | Between Vision and Reality – Entrepreneurship, Resilience, and Leadership in the Wake of October 7th

In this special live episode, recorded at the launch event of my book The Human Founder – How to Build a Startup and Stay Alive, I invited three key voices from the Israeli ecosystem to join me on stage: Merav Bahat, Co-founder and CEO of Dazz (acquired by Wiz — and I had the honor of interviewing her just  before the Wiz acquisition by Google was announced), Noam Friedman, Co-founder of Airis Labs, and Yodfat Harel Buchris, Managing Partner at Blumberg Capital.

What started as a conversation about entrepreneurship turned into a deep and moving discussion about what it means to lead, act, and persevere in times of extreme crisis – both personally and professionally – through the emotional and national trauma of October 7th.

Together, each speaker shared raw, honest stories about resilience, responsibility, leadership, adaptability, and community – the human foundations of entrepreneurship, especially in uncertain times.

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Starting Fast, and Then Speeding Up – Merav Bahat and the Dazz Story

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Even before she became a founder, Merav Bahat knew her path would eventually lead her there.
She co-founded Dazz with two co-founders at the peak of the COVID pandemic – without a defined idea, but with a strong conviction about what not to build. That clarity became the foundation for one of the most promising cloud security startups in the world.

Merav shared her approach of healthy client obsession – how deeply listening to customer needs led them to design an accurate and innovative solution. She emphasized how critical it was to build the right team, after early hiring mistakes taught her the importance of cultural fit, diversity, and speed in decision-making. From day one, Dazz embedded a culture of openness, inclusion, and strategic thinking — by bringing together people from different backgrounds, genders, and geographies.

But even with momentum on their side, challenges kept coming: their bank collapsed, freezing company funds. Merav lost her beloved mother just before the Closing of  the Wiz deal. A beloved family member was killed and kidnapped during the war. Many employees were called to reserve duty. Through it all, she continued to lead, to hold the team together, and to stand at the front of a complex acquisition process.

She calls the past 3.5 years “the craziest thing I’ve ever experienced” — but also the most meaningful.
Her message is clear: dream big, and don’t wait for things to be perfect to start your journey.

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Head in the Sky, Feet on the Ground – Noam Friedman and the Airis Labs Journey

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Noam Friedman co-founded Airis Labs just months before October 7th. They were still defining their strategy when the war broke out — and within hours, they made a sharp pivot, shifting from idea mode to real-time operational execution alongside security forces.

Noam describes the intensity of those days: the sleepless nights, the fast iterations, the pressure, the rapid growth, and the emotional toll. He speaks about leading a team while managing personal responsibilities, staying present as a father, and remaining emotionally available to his team. The duality was clear — the need to dream big, while also staying grounded and delivering under pressure.
He found anchors in daily routines: meditation, moments with his kids, and honest conversations with his co-founders.

For Noam, building a startup is a marathon, not a sprint. And entrepreneurship is first and foremost about managing human energy — how to mobilize people, maintain belief, and keep showing up when the world around you is rapidly changing.

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Investments, Trauma, and Taking Responsibility – Yodfat Harel Buchris on Leading with  Your Heart

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As a managing partner at Blumberg Capital and a central figure in the local startup scene, Yodfat Harel Buchris offers a unique lens into the intersection of investing and emotional leadership.

When October 7th hit, it hit close: her sons were called to reserve duty, and a close friend of her son was killed. Professionally, many of her portfolio companies entered crisis mode. Yodfat spoke about founders navigating deep trauma — some losing loved ones, others watching their teams collapse under pressure. The role of the investor, she said, expanded overnight — from funding and strategy to emotional containment, mental health support, and simply being there.

In many moments, she wasn’t just an investor. She was a partner. And in the heart of the chaos, she founded a nonprofit supporting children orphaned in the attacks. Not a business move. A decision rooted in compassion, urgency, and the need to bring hope.

Yodfat reminds us that good investors don’t just look at numbers. They look at people. They hold space. They know when to push, when to pause, and when to be simply present.

Her insight? It’s not enough to read Excel sheets — you have to read people. Courageous entrepreneurship isn’t just about building companies — it’s about holding life’s full complexity, and still choosing to lead.

This episode raises the real questions: How do you stay focused when your heart is broken?
How do you lead when the path is unclear? Each guest represents a different kind of leadership, a different model of resilience. But they all share one belief: that people – teams, investors, communities – are the core of it all.

This is what the Israeli startup ecosystem is really about: not just building tech, but building a mindset of responsibility and giving, and learning how to bridge between vision and reality – that’s where real impact begins.

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