Jewish Philanthropy Podcast · Dovid M Cohen

Israel at War #4: The Capitalist Kibbutz Guest: Oded Hermoni

·48 min·3 clips

Hermony calls October 7 “the most horrible day in the history of the Jewish people” and says Israel’s army and technology “failed.”

1. Jewish Philanthropy Podcast speaks with Oded Hermony about Israel at war, Jewish investing, and the “capitalist kibbutz” idea behind J Ventures. 2. David M. Cohen hosts the conversation, and Oded Hermony is presented as general partner and co-founder of J Ventures and J Angels, with experience in Silicon Valley, New York City, and Israel. 3. The episode asks what it means to connect American Jews and Israelis through money, trust, and shared responsibility during the war. 4. Hermony says he is “Israeli, Jewish and Zionist” and describes a career that began in journalism before he founded startups and sold one to Yellow Pages. 5. He says that startup was meant to help people who could not find jobs and needed extra income for food and computers. 6. Hermony says he later backed companies in the south and north of Israel because he believed “you can build unicorns out of the peripheral of Israel, not just Tel Aviv.” 7. He describes founding the Israeli High Tech Industry Association, now called IETI, as a way to connect an ecosystem of “250,000 people.” 8. After moving to Palo Alto in 2011 with his wife, Ravit, and their young son, he joined Rhodium VC and worked with the Recanati family. 9. Hermony says he felt something missing in his Jewish identity after moving to the United States and realized he lacked tools to explain Judaism to his son. 10. He says a survey showing that “46% of the Jews in the Bay Area don’t feel connected to Israel” confirmed the need to build a bridge. 11. He credits Laura Lauda, Jim Scheinman, and others with shaping his understanding of philanthropy, Judaism, and Jewish leadership. 12. Hermony says J Angels began as a personal, invitation-only group with a 60/40 American-Jewish and Israeli balance, plus rules about women and men participating together. 13. He says the group invested in 13 companies and recorded six exits, using business to build trust among people who would not otherwise meet. 14. Hermony argues that Jewish fragmentation across Orthodox, Reform, Republicans, Democrats, J Street, and AIPAC makes trust hard, and that business can create a shared room. 15. He says his father died in the army 10 days before he was born, and that he was injured in service, lost some memory, and later had to relearn how to write and read. 16. He describes serving in the IDF spokesperson unit in the West Bank during the intifada, where every word could carry “very fatal consequences.” 17. Hermony says the October 7 attack left him crying after a call from a close friend about a missing son, and he describes a civil society response of volunteers, reserves, and aid. 18. He says J Ventures became “the capitalists’ kibbutz,” with equal investment amounts, no $10 million or $20 million entries, and a structure that keeps everyone equal. 19. This conversation is reflective, direct, and often personal, with Cohen asking follow-up questions and Hermony moving between biography, Jewish identity, and wartime response. 20. People interested in Jewish philanthropy, Israel-diaspora ties, and venture-backed giving will find it useful; listeners wanting a light news recap probably will not.

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