Gili Raanan

re-architecting the products to make sure they are useful and effective when the attacker is not human and is not just human augmented.

re-architecting the products to make sure they are useful and effective when the attacker is not human and is not just human augmented.

A lot of what happened in that fund relates to a lot of learnings and mistakes I've made earlier in life.

A lot of what happened in that fund relates to a lot of learnings and mistakes I've made earlier in life.

In 2018, I just exited one of the best VCs in the world, Sequoia Capital, amazing team, spent a decade as a general partner. And beforehand, I've been a founder and CEO of two software companies. And my conclusion back in 2018 was that the venture model is completely broken. It's broken in so many ways. It's broken for investors and it's broken for the entrepreneurs.

In 2018, I just exited one of the best VCs in the world, Sequoia Capital, amazing team, spent a decade as a general partner. And beforehand, I've been a founder and CEO of two software companies. And my conclusion back in 2018 was that the venture model is completely broken. It's broken in so many ways. It's broken for investors and it's broken for the entrepreneurs.

Investors have spent endless amount of time asking about markets and products and technologies, which founders at a very early stage, at the seed stage, clearly they don't have the right answer. They don't have an idea. And whatever they tell the investor, Anyway, it would change within a few weeks and then change again and change again and change again.

Investors have spent endless amount of time asking about markets and products and technologies, which founders at a very early stage, at the seed stage, clearly they don't have the right answer. They don't have an idea. And whatever they tell the investor, Anyway, it would change within a few weeks and then change again and change again and change again.

And everyone are simply playing a game and dancing the dance, but they're just paying tax to the system. It has no value, especially it has no value for the recipient of the solution because they are not even involved in that dialogue.

And everyone are simply playing a game and dancing the dance, but they're just paying tax to the system. It has no value, especially it has no value for the recipient of the solution because they are not even involved in that dialogue.

So when I founded CyberStarts, I made one very important commitment to completely avoid questioning the market, the technology, the product, the competitive advantage, and focus on one thing only, which is the person ahead of me. Focus on the talent. The other thesis I had is hunting for adversities.

So when I founded CyberStarts, I made one very important commitment to completely avoid questioning the market, the technology, the product, the competitive advantage, and focus on one thing only, which is the person ahead of me. Focus on the talent. The other thesis I had is hunting for adversities.

I'm looking for people who are not straight lines, who didn't have a perfect start for their life and managed to overcome it and become successful, although they didn't have a perfect starting point for their life. I had a very stumbled beginning for CyberStart, started with a $50 million fund, super small.

I'm looking for people who are not straight lines, who didn't have a perfect start for their life and managed to overcome it and become successful, although they didn't have a perfect starting point for their life. I had a very stumbled beginning for CyberStart, started with a $50 million fund, super small.

And the first fund I was investing alone out of my office was a, still is today, a shipping container I converted into an office situated in my backyard. And I invested in nine teams. And I was the lead investor in all those teams, made rebates in people without ideas. And many people thought that's pretty crazy, a grown-up. Writing large checks to people without idea, that seems pretty odd.

And the first fund I was investing alone out of my office was a, still is today, a shipping container I converted into an office situated in my backyard. And I invested in nine teams. And I was the lead investor in all those teams, made rebates in people without ideas. And many people thought that's pretty crazy, a grown-up. Writing large checks to people without idea, that seems pretty odd.

And then three years later, in 2021, I realized that the portfolio of those nine teams is valued over $25 billion, converted the $50 million into close to $2 billion, and more importantly, had a terrific set of companies. Companies like Wiz, EdekaCon, the leader in cloud security, amazing team, we can talk about them a lot.

And then three years later, in 2021, I realized that the portfolio of those nine teams is valued over $25 billion, converted the $50 million into close to $2 billion, and more importantly, had a terrific set of companies. Companies like Wiz, EdekaCon, the leader in cloud security, amazing team, we can talk about them a lot.

Companies like Island Security that invented the enterprise browser space and today is a company that valued at around multi-billion dollars. Companies like Fireblocks, which is the largest blockchain custody service for enterprises, which valued at $8 billion.

Companies like Island Security that invented the enterprise browser space and today is a company that valued at around multi-billion dollars. Companies like Fireblocks, which is the largest blockchain custody service for enterprises, which valued at $8 billion.