The $100B Industry You’ve Never Heard Of ft. Hila Goldman-Aslan of RUNI Ventures

Her first startup ran into the 2008 financial crisis. Her second hit a technical barrier and returned its remaining capital to investors. Her third was acquired by Philips.

Hila Goldman-Aslan did not begin with one industry or one defining idea. She began with the conviction that building companies was what she wanted to do.

That journey took her from law to gene therapy, security technology, digital health, and eventually venture capital. Today, as Managing Partner at RUNI Ventures, she evaluates founders from the other side of the table.

In this conversation with Yoel Israel, Hila explains why investors begin assessing founders from the first meeting, what Israeli entrepreneurs often fail to prepare for, and why optimism is essential when building against the odds.

They also discuss RUNI Ventures, Israel’s strength in medtech, and why Israeli founders are exceptionally difficult to convince that a company is finished.

Watch the full interview and subscribe to IsraelTech for more conversations with the people building and backing Israeli technology.

Hosted by Yoel Israel

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00:00 – Why Founders Call the VC World "The Dark Side"

01:42 – The Acquisition of DiA Imaging: A $25M Success Story

04:42 – Why Most Founders Fail (Young, Naive, and Stupid)

08:20 – How to Find "Secret" Tech in Universities & Hospitals

09:55 – The $100M Technology Barrier That Killed a Startup

13:40 – Falling in Love with Investing: From Founder to Angel

16:45 – Farmer vs. Hunter: Which One Are You?

24:35 – Accessing a Network of 200+ Post-Exit Founders

29:05 – The #1 Mistake Israeli Founders Make When Pitching

30:35 – The "Lazy Investor" Theory: How to Guarantee a "Yes"

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