Aggaeus

Hosted by Haggai Klorman-Eraqi
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It’s 3 a.m., an entrepreneur is staring at the ceiling, wondering if they’ve just made the best—or worst—decision of their life. Welcome to the Aggaeus Podcast, hosted by Haggai Klorman-Eraqi. Here we share the messy experiments, the surprising wins, and the failures that cut deep but leave lessons worth carrying. You’ll get strategies, models, and insights from people in the arena—building, stumbling, and pushing forward.

  1. 18 HR AGO

    Bird? Plane? No—It’s Verobotics’ Window-Cleaning Robot | Ido Genosar

    They said it couldn’t be done. So he built a robot and sent it up the side of a skyscraper. No water. No chemicals. Just quiet, climbing machines—methodically wiping down glass and collecting inspection data that building owners have never had access to before. That’s what Ido Genosar and his team at Verobotics are doing. And yes, it looks like science fiction. But it’s already working on real buildings. Ido’s path here? Let’s just say it didn’t start in a robotics lab. It started in the Tel Aviv nightlife scene—selling, hustling, navigating human behavior with the instincts of someone who’s learned to read a room better than most people read books. That same scrappy mindset—figuring things out by feel, not by formula—is what carried him through the hardest category in tech: real-world hardware. In this episode, we go deep on: • Why “physical AI” is having its moment—and why robotics is brutally different from software • What it takes to scale a robot when every building is a different beast • The hidden economics of facade maintenance (and why the labor shortage makes this inevitable) • Japan as a robotics and real estate super-market—and why it’s still hard to crack • How founders earn trust with customers when the bar for robots is higher than for humans Check out the full episode notes, transcripts, and all links on Substack: 👉https://aggaeus.com/ CONNECT WITH IDO LinkedIn Website CONNECT WITH HAGGAI LinkedIn FOLLOW AGGAEUS Instagram TikTok YouTube SPONSORS Kardz.Biz — “A business card too good to give away.” INQUIRIES 💼 Sponsorships / Business: talktous@aggaeus.com 🎙 Podcast: DM via Instagram Some links may earn affiliate commissions. Some offers may no longer be available.

    1h 17m

  2. 23 DEC

    Daniel Cohen’s Ultimate Bet on Israel B2C Startups

    Daniel Cohen has spent 25 years investing across Israel’s tech ecosystem—Gemini, Viola, and now as Co-Founder & GP at Sticker Ventures, where he’s betting hard on one thing: the next wave of global consumer winners will come out of Israel. In this episode, Daniel breaks down why Israeli founders have a unique edge in distribution, growth hacking, and performance-driven execution—and where they often stumble when it’s time to build a real global brand. You’ll hear the behind-the-scenes thinking of a specialist VC: what he funds, what he passes on fast, why retention beats revenue early, and how he evaluates founders who are still pre-launch but aiming big. In this episode • Why Daniel believes Israel can produce the next global B2C breakout • The “Israeli advantage” in B2C marketing (and why it matters now more than ever) • The biggest weakness: turning hacks into a durable brand • Why Daniel prioritizes retention over revenue early on • The fastest “no” signals—and what founders can do to come back stronger • When performance marketing is a must… and what alternatives take too long to bet on Check out the full episode notes, transcripts, and all links on Substack: 👉https://aggaeus.com/ CONNECT WITH DANIEL LinkedIn Sticker Ventures CONNECT WITH HAGGAI LinkedIn FOLLOW AGGAEUS Instagram TikTok YouTube SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST Substack Apple Podcasts SPONSORS Kardz.Biz — “A business card too good to give away.” INQUIRIES 💼 Sponsorships / Business: talktous@aggaeus.com 🎙 Podcast: DM via Instagram Disclaimer Some links may earn affiliate commissions. Offers, terms, and availability may change without notice. Aggaeus content is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should conduct your own research and consult qualified professionals before making any decisions. We may feature companies, products, or entities in which Aggaeus, its affiliates, or the author have invested or may invest, or with which they have had, have, or may have a financial, professional, or other relationship.

    50 min

  3. 16 DEC

    Eyal Harel’s Blueprint to Make Water Safe at Scale

    Eyal Harel, CEO of BlueGreen Water Technologies, has spent 12 years going where most companies won’t: toxic, collapsing water bodies that communities rely on—and where “solutions” usually mean waiting for the next disaster. Eyal has seen how bad it gets up close: sewage flowing into lakes, drinking water pulled from the other side, and ecosystems turning into dead zones you can’t swim in, fish from, irrigate with, or even touch. In our conversation, Eyal explains why harmful algal blooms are a water pandemic—and why the world still treats water like air: essential, invisible, and something nobody wants to pay for. He breaks down BlueGreen’s approach: surgically trigger a collapse of the toxic species, then let biodiversity rebuild the ecosystem fast. Then it turns into the hard business reality: how do you build a company when the problem is enormous, but the market doesn’t exist? Eyal unpacks why investors struggle to price water innovation, why government budgets lag the crisis, and how BlueGreen is using carbon markets as a financing engine to scale water restoration—without relying on handouts. What you’ll hear in this episode Why harmful algal blooms turn lakes and coasts into dead zonesWhy water insecurity becomes a humanitarian, economic, and geopolitical riskWhy “nature rebounds” when given a chanceWhy Florida is spending aggressively on algal bloomsThe “problem exists, market doesn’t” trap—and how it breaks fundingThe carbon-credit pathway that can finance water cleanup at scale Check out the full episode notes, transcripts, and all links on Substack: 👉https://aggaeus.com/ CONNECT WITH EYAL LinkedIn Website CONNECT WITH HAGGAI LinkedIn FOLLOW AGGAEUS Instagram TikTok YouTube SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST Substack Apple Podcasts SPONSORS Kardz.Biz — “A business card too good to give away.” INQUIRIES 💼 Sponsorships / Business: talktous@aggaeus.com 🎙 Podcast: DM via Instagram Some links may earn affiliate commissions. Some offers may no longer be available. #water #climate #sustainability #innovation #startup

    1h 13m

  4. 9 DEC

    Uncertainty Is Your Moat: Jerry Neumann on How Real Breakthroughs (and Great Investments) Are Made

    Jerry Neumann is a Columbia University professor, author, and retired investor who was named one of the “100 Best Early-Stage Investors” and one of the “Most Important VCs in New York” by Business Insider. He co-wrote Founder vs Investor, runs the iconic blog Reaction Wheel, and has spent decades dissecting how startups really win—not in theory, but in the messy, unpredictable reality of markets, psychology, and human behavior. This episode is a field guide for founders and investors who want to understand the only force that consistently produces breakout companies: UNCERTAINTY. Jerry argues that when the future is knowable, incumbents win. When it’s unpredictable, founders have a shot—because uncertainty is the brief window where giants hesitate and entrepreneurs can sprint. But that window closes fast, and what you do inside it determines everything. Haggai and Jerry go deep into: Why uncertainty—not risk—is the raw material of billion-dollar startupsHow Google, Facebook, Uber, and Datadog exploited moments incumbents couldn’t modelThe investor’s job: identify the unknowable, not the comfortableThe founder’s job: make the idea bigger—big enough to scare youWhy valuation math is a fantasy (and when walking backwards actually helps)The emotional violence of building: ego, failure, board politics, and being pushed out of your own companyHow to separate your identity from your startup—without losing your nerveAI as the final stage of the computing wave (and why most AI startups won’t capture the value)Why entrepreneurship is ultimately the purest expression of human agencyIf you’re a founder wrestling with conviction, an investor sharpening your judgment, or someone who wants to understand how innovation actually moves societies—this conversation is for you. Check out the full episode notes, transcripts, and all links on Substack: 👉 https://aggaeus.com CONNECT WITH JERRY NEUMANN LinkedIn Reaction Wheel Book – Founder vs Investor CONNECT WITH HAGGAI LinkedIn FOLLOW AGGAEUS Instagram TikTok YouTube SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST Substack Apple Podcasts SPONSORS Kardz.Biz — “A business card too good to give away.” INQUIRIES 💼 Sponsorships / Business: talktous@aggaeus.com 🎙 Podcast: DM via Instagram Some links may earn affiliate commissions. Some offers may no longer be available.

    1h 11m

  5. 2 DEC

    How to Rebuild a Startup From Zero: Conviction, Collapse & a 10× Comeback with Gilad Uziely (CEO, Sequence)

    Gilad Uziely isn’t just the CEO of Sequence—he’s one of the few founders who has lived through every chapter of the entrepreneurial cycle: raising millions, scaling fast, watching the unit economics turn against him, shutting off onboarding, facing 160 rejections, restructuring a cap table with 83 signatures… and then coming back with a product customers paid for before it even existed. Today, Sequence is a breakout fintech used by small-business owners to orchestrate their financial lives across dozens of accounts. But before the 10× jump from $200K → $2M ARR, before Aleph VC and Emerge Ventures backed the reboot, and before the community formed organically—there was collapse, uncertainty, and a brutally honest founder question: Are we resilient… or just insane? Haggai and Gilad trace the journey with clarity, honesty, and a founder’s battle scars: In This Episode • The Ashes: shutting down Lance because each new customer shortened runway. • Facing Reality: fraud, chargebacks, CAC inflation, and letting Excel tell the truth. • The Pivot: anchoring on two principles—conviction and building only in a blue ocean. • The Spark: discovering people wanted a “router for their money” so badly they paid $200 upfront for something that didn’t exist yet. • The Road Through Startup Hell: six months, 83 signatures, and a term sheet pulled at dawn. • New Investors: Aleph VC and Emerge Ventures stepping in with conviction. • The Rebuild: finding the ICP, shifting messaging, and 10× ARR in 12 months. • Craftsmanship Mode: from chopping wood to precision work across pricing, funnels, and value. • The Principle: automate everything—because compounding only works if your habits do. Check out the full Substack write-up: ⸻ CONNECT WITH GILAD LinkedIn Sequence CONNECT WITH HAGGAI LinkedIn FOLLOW AGGAEUS Website Instagram TikTok YouTube SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST Apple Podcasts SPONSORS Kardz.Biz – “A business card too good to give away” INQUIRIES 💼 Sponsorships / Business: talktous@aggaeus.com 🎙 Podcast: DM on Instagram * Some links may earn affiliate commissions. Some offers may no longer be available.

    59 min

  6. 25 NOV

    How to Build Brands People Believe In: From ROUTE 66® to The Wild Geese with André Levy

    André Levy is the Chairman of Protégé International Group and Lodestar Licensing, and one of the rare operators who has lived every chapter of modern commerce: expelled from Egypt, rebuilt in the UK, forged his career across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, opened markets by hand, survived corporate politics, and then created global brands—ROUTE 66® and The Wild Geese—rooted in story, truth, memory, and identity This conversation is a masterclass for any founder, creator, or brand builder who wants to understand how products become myths—and why consumers attach meaning to things long before they ever read the label. Haggai and André travel through: • How to build trust in markets where trust is currency • Why ROUTE 66® felt “real” even before it launched • The Wild Geese: the Irish diaspora, pride, heritage, and identity woven into a bottle • The secret: a brand must feel true—before it feels new • How André turned cultural insight into €200M in annual revenue • Why corporates fail at innovation—and why entrepreneurs win • The only real test of a brand: does it spark a story in the buyer’s mind? If you care about storytelling, consumer psychology, emerging markets, spirits, branding, licensing, or the entrepreneurial psyche—you will love this one. CONNECT WITH ANDRÉ LinkedIn Protégé International Group Lodestar Licensing CONNECT WITH HAGGAI LinkedIn FOLLOW AGGAEUS Instagram TikTok YouTube SPONSORS Kardz.Biz – “A business card too good to give away” SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST Substack Spotify Apple Podcasts INQUIRIES 💼 Sponsorships / Business: talktous@aggaeus.com 🎙 Podcast: DM on Instagram Some links may earn affiliate commissions. Some offers may no longer be available.

    1h 13m

  7. 18 NOV

    The Psychology of Founding: How Behavioral Science Predicts Startup Success (with Alexander Shilman, New Gate Capital)

    Before Alexander Shilman was writing checks into frontier biotech, neurotech, AI infrastructure, and semiconductors, he was something rare in venture: a behavioral scientist trusted by governments, corporates, early-stage teams—and even prime ministers—to decode how humans actually behave under pressure, uncertainty, and change. That vantage point became a superpower. Alex spent a decade inside rooms most people never see—fixing real-world problems from cyber-risk to national policy—and quietly building a portfolio of early teams through his behavioral consultancy. Startups came to him to understand users; corporates came to him to understand people; and investors came to him for signal. Eventually the “consulting portfolio” revealed itself for what it was: deal flow. And the gap in Israel’s deep-tech funding landscape revealed itself for what it was: a generational opportunity. Today Alex is the Founder & Managing Partner of New Gate Capital, one of the very few funds in Israel purpose-built for deep tech at the point where technology is real, market signal is emerging, and team dynamics either become a moat—or kill the company. Haggai and Alex go deep into the intersection he sits on uniquely: behavioral science × human decision-making × deep-tech investing …and why understanding humans matters more than understanding code. This conversation is a full tour through: How foundational biases—social proof, sunk cost, uncertainty aversion—shape product, sales, culture, fundraising, and failureWhy anomalies in data reveal more than dashboards ever willWhy change-coping ability is the #1 predictor of startup survivalHow teams break when tech threatens identity (from factories to hospitals)Why AI brings a “perfect psychological storm” and how societies can prepareWhy Israeli founders can close deals literally from tunnels—and what the world misunderstands about Israeli entrepreneurial agencyAnd what deep-tech VCs will look like in a world where AI writes most of the code Alex also walks through two of New Gate’s standout portfolio companies—a cancer-drug delivery breakthrough from Technion, and a neuro-signal platform processing emotions in real time—revealing how he evaluates founders, risk, and resilience where uncertainty is the norm. If you want to understand where venture capital is actually going, why deep tech is the last defensible frontier, and what makes a team fundable when the world gets unpredictable—this episode isn’t optional. Connect with Alexander LinkedIn Website New Gate Capital Connect with Haggai LinkedIn Follow Aggaeus Instagram TikTok YouTube Subscribe to the Podcast Substack Apple Podcasts Sponsors Kardz.Biz – “A business card too good to give away” Inquiries Sponsorships/Business: talktous@aggaeus.com Podcast: DM on Instagram Some links may earn affiliate commissions. Some offers may no longer be available.

    1h 6m

  8. 14 NOV

    From Rock Bottom to Boardroom: The Unreasonable Drive of Andreas Foeldenyi

    How many times can you rebuild your life? Andreas Foeldenyi has done it—again and again. From losing everything after 9/11 to teaching in obscure classrooms just to pay the bills, to becoming Co-CEO of one of Switzerland’s largest private education groups, Academia Group—his story is a masterclass in grit, reinvention, and the art of turning collapse into momentum. Andreas’s career has spanned continents and contradictions: teacher turned entrepreneur, pianist turned CEO, Swiss executive turned NGO founder in Vietnam. He’s built companies, sold them, lost them, and built again. Now, as he transitions from CEO to multi-board investor and mentor, he reflects with raw honesty on the rollercoaster behind the résumé—and what it really costs to keep starting over. In this conversation, Andreas and Haggai Klorman Eraqi go deep on: The emotional and financial toll of losing everything—and the mindset to recover.Building and selling startups across Europe and AsiaWhy “luck” is built, not found—and how to manufacture opportunities through volume and stamina.What private education and integration in Switzerland can teach the world about inclusion.The difference between intelligence and wisdom—and why humility comes late but stays for good.It’s an unfiltered look at ambition, failure, and resilience—from someone who’s lived the full cycle, more than once. Connect with Andreas LinkedIn Connect with Haggai LinkedIn Follow Aggaeus Instagram TikTok YouTube Subscribe to the Podcast Substack Spotify Apple Podcasts Sponsors Kardz.Biz – “A business card too good to give away” Inquiries Sponsorships/Business: talktous@aggaeus.com Podcast: DM on Instagram Some links may earn affiliate commissions. Some offers may no longer be available.

    1h 34m
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About

It’s 3 a.m., an entrepreneur is staring at the ceiling, wondering if they’ve just made the best—or worst—decision of their life. Welcome to the Aggaeus Podcast, hosted by Haggai Klorman-Eraqi. Here we share the messy experiments, the surprising wins, and the failures that cut deep but leave lessons worth carrying. You’ll get strategies, models, and insights from people in the arena—building, stumbling, and pushing forward.

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  • Creator
    Hosted by Haggai Klorman-Eraqi
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    20
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Hosted by Haggai Klorman-Eraqi
  • Show Website
    Aggaeus