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