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Key Takeaways
- How one guiding principle has quietly shaped every major choice in my company since day one.
- The unconventional approach that has influenced leadership, growth and impact – without following the usual rules.
Entrepreneurship is often portrayed as a race – towards scale, valuation and visibility. Founders are encouraged to move quickly, raise money early, and celebrate milestones that look good from the outside.
Those moments can be exciting. But that’s not what entrepreneurship is really about.
At its core, entrepreneurship is about ownership: taking responsibility for what you build, how you build it and the impact it creates along the way.
That belief has shaped every major decision I’ve made since founding my company in 2016.
Ownership of the way you finance
When we started Soft2Bet, I made one decisive decision early on: we would grow without outside investors. We chose to build steadily and reinvest our own income instead of raising capital.
It wasn’t the easiest path. But it gave us something more valuable than financing: freedom.
By remaining independent, we retained full control over our decisions. We weren’t building a financing cycle or optimizing near-term optics. We built for customers.
That freedom meant:
- Ship products when they’re ready – not when they fit into a pitch deck.
- Taking long-term risks without quarterly pressure.
- Shaping the company around our values, not around investor expectations.
Independence didn’t just impact the way we grew; it became our business model and culture.
This path requires discipline. Without an external financing buffer, there is no room for distraction. Every appointment, every tool and every position must earn its place.
Limitations sharpen the focus. They force clarity. And they create real ownership – because when everything revolves around you, outcomes matter more than appearances.
When you’re not busy fundraising, you can focus on meaning. About building systems that generate growth from within. By asking not only what you are building, but also why.
Ownership in the way you lead
In recent years, the way companies work has changed dramatically. Remote and hybrid models have increased flexibility and access to talent – and in many cases, they are working.
But I have also seen what happens when leaders are not physically present.
They become disconnected from the company – and the team feels it. Energy fades. Culture flattens out into transactions. Decisions move from conversations to email threads.
You can manage people remotely. But leadership requires something more.
For me, leadership is physical. It’s about being in the room – feeling the tension of a difficult decision, picking up the rhythm of collaboration or sharing a pizza late at night while brainstorming ideas.
Those moments build trust. They create coordination. And they cannot be delegated or replicated individually.
That is why at my company we believe in personal collaboration. Not for control, but for connection. Innovation thrives on shared energy and shared purpose.
Showing up is a form of ownership. When leaders are present, they take responsibility for the culture, momentum and morale – not just the results.
Ownership of why you are growing
Many people think of philanthropy as something you do after success – once the company is stable and the pressure is off.
I believe this mentality misunderstands both business and responsibility.
Philanthropy is embedded in the way we build, not added later. Within the company, we run charitable initiatives, from education support for employees’ children to community partnerships. Our team not only supports these efforts, they participate in them.
This belief also led my wife, Yael, and me to establish the Yael Foundation, focused on increasing access to education. Today, the Foundation is active in 45 countries, supports 132 educational institutions and reaches more than 19,000 children worldwide.
The most important thing is not the scale, but the integration.
When philanthropy is part of the business from the beginning, it changes the way decisions are made. It raises standards. It attracts people who want their work to matter. And it reframes growth not as an end goal, but as a means to create broader impact.
Business becomes the driving force. The goal becomes the direction.
Owning growth also means owning its consequences – for employees, communities and the world your company touches.
The true benchmark for entrepreneurship
Looking back, the lessons that mattered most all come back to ownership:
Courage can be just as important as capital.
Ownership starts with believing in your ability to build before asking others to believe in it.
Leadership requires presence.
You cannot outsource culture or inspire it remotely.
Purpose defines success.
Philanthropy does not follow performance; it defines what performance means.
Entrepreneurship is not a title. It’s a mentality.
It is the willingness to take responsibility – not only for the results, but also for the environment you create and the impact you leave behind.
Build things that matter.
Own them completely.
And do it now.
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