Building Unicorn Companies with Izhar Armony

On this episode of the Revenue Builders Podcast, our hosts John McMahon and John Kaplan welcome Izhar Armony, a venture capitalist who has been featured on the Forbes Midas list of top tech investors. After 7 years running marketing and raising money at a startup, he crossed the aisle to become the investor he once pitched to. He has now been a seed investor in over 40 startups, including six ‘unicorn’ startups and four multi-billion dollar IPOs. He shares his history in the Israeli army, his passion for off-road racing, and how these experiences make him a successful risk-taker. Izhar discusses how leadership is an indicator of the success of a company, and the mindset sales teams must adopt to achieve high-level growth like that of the unicorn startups he’s worked with.

 

Additional Resources:

• Support youth entrepreneurship in the Middle East: https://www.meet.org/
• Learn more about VCs with CRV: https://www.crv.com/
• Connect with Izhar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/izhararmony/
• Listen to More Revenue Builders: https://www.forcemanagement.com/revenue-builders-podcast

 

HIGHLIGHTS

• Building his own startup from the ground up
• Good mentorship is a mix of empathy and tough criticism
• Long-haul rally racing is a lot like a startup: High-risk, fast-paced, and high reward - even if you fail.
• Founders are the ones who create value, not investors
• Great leadership and market disruption are key indicators of a good investment
• You don’t learn from your wins, you learn from your mistakes
• The importance of an outside-in mentality and humility in sales

 

QUOTES

IZHAR: The qualities he seeks from a person

"I think if you're humble, it allows you to listen well. and to test your hypothesis again, again, when to admit that you might have made a mistake, you might be wrong, and readjust. So I like that combination of smarts, ethical, energetic, but also courageous, disciplined, and humble, and when we get that, I think something magical happens.”

IZHAR: A great leader blames no one but himself

"If you're a great sales leader, and now we are getting right to the heart of your audience, one of the best that you can do is instill a culture of true and honest debrief, and the first rule is to blame no one but yourself will get to the truth, you can do it but blame no one but yourself.”

JOHN K: What to remember in a debrief

"Planning and preparation and collaboration, and then debrief, like no matter what you do in life like these are high skill sets, and, and execution categories. And the last one for me on the debrief. I think one that we can all take away today is like, no matter what, in a debrief, come with the mindset of own your mistakes no blame.”

 

Check out John McMahon’s book here: https://www.amazon.com/Qualified-Sales-Leader-Proven-Lessons/dp/0578895064