Skip to content
The Twenty Minute VCThe Twenty Minute VC

Michael Eisenberg and Adi Levanon: Israeli Resilience in Crisis | E1072

Michael Eisenberg spent 15 years as a General Partner @ Benchmark working alongside Bill and the Benchmark partnership. Following Benchmark, Michael co-founded Aleph, one of the leading Israeli venture funds of the last decade with a portfolio including Lemonade, Melio and HoneyBook, just to name a couple of Aleph’s unicorns. Adi Levanon is the Founder & Managing Partner @ Selah Ventures, a solo-GP-founded venture fund investing $500k checks into AI-based solutions that enhance financial services, healthcare organizations, fintechs, and SMBs, with a focus on founders in the US and Israelis globally. ----------------------------------------------- (0:00) Intro (0:45) Personal Ties and Emotional Impact (2:30) Current State of Affairs in Israel (6:50) Understanding Military Reserves (10:00) Depictions and Realities of the Conflict (15:00) Economic and Startup Impact in Israel (24:00) Global Community's Response to the Crisis (32:20) Changing Perspectives and Support for Israel (36:10) Geopolitical Implications and Views (40:43) Institutional Reactions and Scandals ----------------------------------------------- In Today’s Episode on Israeli Resilience We Discuss: Where are we at today? What is it like on the ground, today? Have the international community reacted as expected? What more can be done? What does it mean to be called up for “reserve”? How are companies dealing with 25% of their teams being called into the armed forces? Are VCs investing still? Does work carry on? Whose reactions are exemplary and we should look to follow? Whose have been woeful and should be called out? What are the single biggest misconceptions of the situation? What can people do to help? What can be done? ----------------------------------------------- Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3j2KMcZ... Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Follow Harry Stebbings on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarryStebbings Follow Adi Levanon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LevanonAdi Follow Michael Eisenberg on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mikeeisenberg Follow 20VC on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/20vc_reels Follow 20VC on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@20vc_tok Visit our Website: https://www.20vc.com Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://www.thetwentyminutevc.com/con... ------------------------------------------- #HarryStebbings #MichaelEisenberg #AdiLevanon

Harry StebbingshostMichael EisenbergguestAdi Levanonguest
Oct 11, 202346mWatch on YouTube ↗

At a glance

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Israeli Founders Describe War, Grief, And Extraordinary National Resilience

  1. Harry Stebbings speaks with Israeli investor Michael Eisenberg and VC Adi Levanon as they describe the immediate aftermath of the Hamas attacks, blending personal loss, national trauma, and ongoing military mobilization.
  2. They explain what reserve duty looks like in practice, how nearly every Israeli is directly impacted, and how the tech community has rapidly reorganized for both war-time logistics and business continuity.
  3. The conversation highlights a surge of grassroots mutual aid, global political and tech-industry support, and anger at Western institutions that equivocate on terror.
  4. They argue that this is not only an Israeli or Jewish issue but a human one, urging people worldwide to speak out against barbarism while emphasizing that Israeli society will emerge more resilient and innovative.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

Nearly every Israeli is directly affected, creating a shared sense of urgency and purpose.

Both guests stress that in a country of under 10 million, everyone knows someone who has been murdered, kidnapped, or injured, which drives collective mobilization and mutual support.

Reserve duty is immediate, disruptive, and deeply personal but widely accepted as necessary.

Men and women are called up by SMS, leave families and jobs within hours, and deploy to the front; this includes founders, executives, and ordinary citizens alike.

The tech community has pivoted into emergency operations while keeping companies alive.

Founders and engineers are building rescue and logistics systems in real time, coordinating flights and equipment, redistributing teams abroad, and using volunteers to backfill roles for called‑up employees.

Maintaining economic and startup continuity is seen as both moral and strategic.

Despite trauma, funds are closing rounds, solving tax bottlenecks, and holding partner meetings because salaries must be paid and resilience depends on a functioning economy.

Moral clarity—condemning barbarism without “nuance”—is viewed as non‑negotiable.

They sharply criticize institutions and campus groups that equivocate or rationalize Hamas’s actions, arguing there can be debate on policy but not on deliberate atrocities against civilians.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

We're wounded, but not down.

— Michael Eisenberg

We're safe, but we're not okay.

— Adi Levanon

In unstable times, you want to invest in the most resilient people.

— Michael Eisenberg

Your morals matter more than your metrics.

— Michael Eisenberg, quoting Josh Kopelman

If you're aware of it and you're not doing anything to stop it, you're just as bad as the problem itself.

— Adi Levanon

Personal impact of the Hamas attacks on Israeli familiesReserve duty: how mass mobilization works in IsraelRole of the Israeli tech and startup community during the crisisBusiness continuity, fundraising, and investing under wartime conditionsGlobal reactions: political leaders, tech leaders, and universitiesAntisemitism, moral clarity, and the dangers of silenceIsraeli social cohesion, mutual aid, and human resilience stories

High quality AI-generated summary created from speaker-labeled transcript.

Get more out of YouTube videos.

High quality summaries for YouTube videos. Accurate transcripts to search & find moments. Powered by ChatGPT & Claude AI.

Add to Chrome