Hadas Sacks

Monday.com alumni raise $15 million Series A for AI-powered HR platform Shapes (formerly DreamTeam). The Israeli startup’s PeopleOS helps HR teams turn employee feedback into actionable insights while automating payroll, time-off, and performance management. https://lnkd.in/d3R39JZf

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Marketing SHOULD be fun ✨ Aviv Canaani went from VP of Marketing to CRO at Datarails over four years. During that time, the company grew 10X and flipped from 95% outbound to 95% inbound. All while having fun with their audience So... How do you balance brand vs performance? Aviv's POV for you: Most B2B companies treat brand and performance as competing budget items. Aviv unified them under one revenue leader. When you own both marketing spend and sales outcomes, the incentives align. They saw THIS shift happen after the 2022 market crash. Outbound meetings held steady but close rates dropped. Inbound leads converted at much higher rates because those prospects already knew the brand and came in with intent. Brand building makes performance channels work better. But... Aviv's brand building looks nothing like traditional B2B Datarails runs ads featuring Kim Kardashian memes to sell FP&A software to CFOs. They create content with creators from Fiverr. They post jokes on LinkedIn. The head of growth came from mobile gaming, not enterprise software. The thesis is simple: You're selling to humans, not corporations CFOs scroll IG and watch funny videos just like everyone else. Playing it safe is the biggest risk because safe content gets ignored. The key is balance. Datarails pairs scroll stopping content with deep thought leadership. They run a podcast called FP&A Today with over 500,000 downloads. They share data driven insights and interview finance leaders. They give their audience BOTH entertainment and substance. Just like Tiesto. Aviv's team includes people from B2C backgrounds for that exact reason. They produce high volumes of video content, test what works, and feed the algorithms. His prediction for the next phase is that marketing becomes even more human. He's already seeing more sponsored posts from people rather than company pages. Customers talking about products. CEOs and CMOs building personal brands. AKA... Be more human. Have fun with your audience This is the way ✌️ P.S. Make sure you give Aviv a follow!

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The 2024 results are in - and OurCrowd is once again crowned as Israel's most active VC investor with 34 first-time deals. See the full report from IVC Data and Insights, Gornitzky GNY, KPMG Israel

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Tel Aviv Joins Global Map of Quantum Hubs A new JLL report puts Tel Aviv on the shortlist of cities preparing for the quantum era, where specialized data centers will be as critical as the chips inside them. Quantum computing won’t just reshape science; it’s about to rewrite the real estate market with demand for cryogenic-cooled, shielded facilities. From labs to commercial campuses, Israel’s inclusion signals that local developers and investors need to prepare for a whole new asset class: quantum real estate.

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700 laid off at Playtika. 100 more at Axonius. And this is no longer shocking. Since 2023, layoffs in tech and global companies have not really stopped. They just became part of our reality. Today it is one team, tomorrow a department, and next time it can be any of us. Even top performers. Even loyal employees. Even people with years of experience. So what do you do in a world with no real job security anymore? Accept the uncomfortable truth: no one is fully protected. That means you must always have a Plan B. Your CV should be updated and your LinkedIn profile should work for you, bringing real opportunities consistently, not only when you are already in trouble. Networking is not optional. It is your safety net. Real relationships with people in strong companies who can open doors when you need it. Staying relevant is survival. Experience is the foundation, but without constant upskilling in what is hot today like AI, automation, data, each in your own field, you simply fall behind. A financial safety cushion is not a luxury. It is what allows you to search for your next role calmly and strategically, not out of panic. The reality has changed. The question is not whether there will be more layoffs. The question is who will meet them prepared. If this post made you stop for a second, it probably came at the right time.

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Last night I attended Her Tel Aviv's "Getting Hired Panel: Crack The Code to Landing Your Dream Job" meetup at the Nefesh B'Nefesh TLV office. Panelists included HR and Recruitment professionals: 🌟 Merav Blum – Fullpath 🌟 Adi Gdalyahu– Payoneer 🌟 Rachel Leon – Eisner Amper 🌟 Adi Orenshtein – D-ID 🌟 Tslil Shraiber – Agoda RE Moderated by Sivan Hadari-Avneri, HER Tel Aviv Founder Among the many wonderful insights the panel gave, I wanted to share some of their best tips for writing your CV to land your dream job: ⚫ Always show and discuss your metrics and success numbers. ⚫ If you have a title that isn't a usual one you see in the industry, find one that's more common and use that in your CV, so HR knows where you fit in. ⚫ Simplify your language so that HR understands your abilities and isn't lost in complicated explanations. ⚫ Tailor your CV to the role or HR might pass, especially if your resume lists previous positions that are irrelevant. Also, avoid uploading your LinkedIn profile as your CV because it's too broad for HR to read through to understand why you might be a good fit. ⚫ Make sure the information on your CV (titles, dates, responsibilities) matches what you wrote on your LinkedIn profile so that it doesn't raise any red flags. ⚫ Keep your resume in English (this is more geared towards the tech world) so that the ATS can scan it. ⚫ No pictures. No age. No city. Keep CV to max 2 pages. Keep to normal font size. ⚫ If you have a gap in between jobs, especially if it was for maternity leave, or aliyah or some other reason, write the reason for the break on your CV so HR doesn't have to assume the worst. ⚫ Make sure your CV uses keywords or buzzwords from the job description in order for it to stand out. Interview and application tips: - Read up about the company and understanding the role. Come prepared to an interview with what you want the HR to know about you beyond your past jobs or skills. Show some personality. - If you apply through an employee refferal, don't apply through the job board or LinkedIn first. That employee will not get the referral bonus. - Don't be shy, don't press apply: instead of applying thru a LinkedIn job post, do some research and see if you can have an employee submit your CV for you. You will get farther doing that than on LinkedIn. Any other tips you think we should add to this already wonderful list?

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"LOVE your ideas! Can you execute them?" Marketer: 🙈 Felt this before? You're not alone... Creative pressure is ramping. Your brand may need 50+ NEW ads / week. Why? To better understand trends in AI and creative, we spoke to Gil Chaimovski. Gil is an Israeli Creative Strategist at Meta who works with the world’s fastest-growing DTC and tech brands. According to Gil, the demand for ad volume is increasing. Not by a little. By A LOT 📈 50 to 70 ads per week a lot... "Some of the top DTC brands we work with are creating 50-70 new ads weekly on Meta platforms alone," says Gil. Ugh, yea... 👀 So. How can you keep up? Start here 👇 1️⃣ Step 1: Hire a Creative Strategist This role is your foundation. They bridge media buyers and creatives, working with the same KPIs and even performance-based compensation. 2️⃣ Step 2: Add Platform-Native Directors These aren't just creators. This is a new type of role that some teams are exploring (the role was coined by Meta's Creative Shop). As Gil explains: "They are masters of the culture of our platforms. They're the most fluent speakers of the social media language." They excel at: - Ideating, shooting, editing on smartphones - Creating truly native content at scale - Moving at platform speed 3️⃣ Step 3: Run High-Volume Production Days Gil shared Meta's "Real Villa" project: A brand-run creative house that moves FAST... "In one day, brands and creators can produce 30-40 ads, ensuring both volume and diversity with high velocity." Think about that: 40 ads = 6 weeks of daily testing All from ONE focused production sprint -- TLDR for you; 📌 THESE are the 3 pillars to the fastest growing DTC brands 1. Creative Strategists quarterback your strategy 2. Platform-Native Directors bring cultural fluency 3. High-Volume Sprints keep content fresh -- 👋 P.S. Go follow Gil at Meta for more expert tips! Want the full report? Get your copy free. (Live on our site for you)

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It’s been a standout first half for Israeli tech, and the numbers speak for themselves. Startup Nation Central’s upcoming H1 2025 report, built on data from our Finder platform, highlights the strongest performance in three years: 💸 $9.3B in private capital raised, the highest since 2021 🔁 $39.2B in M&A activity, led by Google’s $32B acquisition of Wiz 📈 Median round size up 28%, as investors make bigger, more focused bets ⚪365 rounds, down 10% compared to the second half of 2024 🌍 Global investors participated in 69% of all rounds Full report coming soon! Read the full preview here:👉 https://okt.to/RgBIbe #IsraeliTech #StartupNation #TechTrends #ImpatientInnovation

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Another milestone for Israeli cybersecurity and YL Ventures: Aim Security, led by founders Matan G. and Adir Gruss, has been acquired by Cato Networks! From their $10M seed round in 2023 through their $18M Series A, we had the privilege of working closely with the team as they built one of the fastest growing cybersecurity companies in Israel, and the category leader of AI Security. From day zero, Aim set out with a bold vision: to give enterprises a way to adopt AI securely and responsibly. In two years, Matan, Adir, and their exceptional team turned that vision into a reality, building a company trusted by some of the world’s largest organizations. This achievement demonstrates the power of brilliant founders, strong teams, and conviction from inception. For YL Ventures’ $400M Fund V, this is a significant outcome and another marker of Israel’s unique ability to produce companies that matter on a global stage. https://lnkd.in/erHnKmfN

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