From IDF Captain to LinkedIn Pioneer: Eli's Journey and Lessons in Entrepreneurship

Aliyah Success is a weekly newsletter for Olim and Potential Olim to land their dream job in Israel tech by Andrew Jacobson. For Season 1, we are interviewing 12 Successful Olim, including top professionals across finance, venture capital, marketing and more. If you got this email forwarded to you, subscribe here:

Hi! I'm Eli, Co-Founder and CEO of MAIA Digital. At MAIA, we craft enduring relationships and communities on LinkedIn, grounded in research.

Give us some background. What got you into Linkedin?

I came to Israel when I was 13 for a year. My parents were taking a sabbatical. I ended up finishing high school here - a year turned into 17 very quickly. I was in the military for six years then got my Bachelor's at IDC in 2019. 

First year, first semester. I get an internship at iAngels, an early stage venture capital firm.

I said, Alright, great. I am going to do everything needed to end up staying here after finishing my degree. 

Then COVID broke out in my second semester. People were trying to find ways to stand out. That’s when I started this side business helping peers and friends boost their LinkedIn presence to stand out to get a great job or help them launch their startup.

Whatever they needed. 

Shortly after, I met my Co-Founder Shay after having spent 36 hours with him in a hackathon. Shay was finishing his Masters in Social Psychology and had been working in digital marketing for several years. 

I love LinkedIn.

I saw a lot of opportunities in the ability to connect with people, build relationships, and create a memorable presence through posting and engaging. People will start reaching out to you.

I remember there was a COO from some consulting company. I was only on Linkedin for maybe two, three months at this point. Very early on in my career after the military. She reached out and she said:

Hey, you look great for a potential position. I see you're an English speaker, would something like this be relevant for us to have a chat?

I was like: Whoa. I've done next to nothing so far in my career; I'm still a first year student. And through this social media platform, someone just asked me to potentially work for them.

That’s when it hit me — the power of LinkedIn.

You left VC to build your own Linkedin agency, MAIA. Why?

I am grateful to have started in VC, to be exposed to startups, ideas, visionaries, and entrepreneurs. It taught me a lot about business and people. 

I was a Captain; I went from leading a group of 80+ soldiers in a Patriot battery unit, having an impact on people from all over, with different stories and backgrounds, to work that wasn't as meaningful in comparison. 

I needed to have something of my own, to be able to have that impact, to be able to manage my time, to decide the lifestyle I want to lead, who I work with, and make a difference, whether it's on my employees or my clients. 

So ultimately, I ended up finishing two and a half years of venture capital and my degree, all while building MAIA, a full-service LinkedIn agency, working with large enterprises like Microsoft to startups and executives.

We're now a team of 10 based in Tel Aviv and have helped hundreds of companies and thousands of people elevate their presence on LinkedIn.

Oftentimes people don't start businesses due to the perceived risk and instability.

All of those feelings are true and real. There is always uncertainty around big decisions. That’s why it's important to truly enjoy and believe in what you're doing.

It's not easy to be a founder. 

Becoming a founder was not a financial decision. I wanted to have an impact. Of course, financial stability is something to aim for in the long run, but if that's what's driving you, it will make the journey more difficult and less enjoyable. You should have passion for the company you are leading.

My company is completely bootstrapped. While it adds stress, I have my own skin in the game. It’s not $10 million of some investors' money, it's my own money on the line. It’s more real that way. There’s more meaning behind what we do. 

Israelis are inherently entrepreneurial.

I think entrepreneurialism comes from the military. Having served in the IDF, I see the tangible skills applied straight into my career. More broadly, it's the mindset of people here. Challenging the status quo and being resilient. And understanding, yeah, life is hard.

We see that today more than ever.

I really do believe that life is hard. Anywhere. Everyone has different perceptions. Everyone has different challenges. I don't think life is easy. Not sure if it's even meant to be easy. But people here want to help because we all understand that in this small country, we only have ourselves to succeed and build with. 

You’ll meet someone in a cafe and then randomly see them two months later and give them a hug, everyone here is connected. It’s not at all like the States where you meet someone and it’s like: Yea nice meeting you let’s chat again soon. And you never do. Because you’ll never see them again.

It’s the opposite here. People lift up other people. And that creates this self-starter environment.

For young people, building your career in Israel is a great idea.

There are a lot of opportunities and meaningful things here. I'll be honest, it doesn’t mean it will be a perfect fit for everyone, but ultimately spending any amount of time here, permanent or not, will be wildly impactful.

But if I'd give more practical tips on getting to Israel, it would be, of course, to have a Linkedin profile, make sure it looks good, then really start understanding what you bring to the table. 

It’s a safe assumption that most people reading this are fluent English speakers. Everyone here wants English speakers. And Americans have different perspectives, and do some things better than the Israelis, right? Customer service is a big one. 

And I really encourage reaching out to people - to founders, to employees, to partners, to anyone. Become part of the conversations and opportunities will come up.

I'm here. I just made Aliyah, can we talk? 

People will help you. And with a smile.

Start posting on LinkedIn.

Only 2% of 1 billion global members post content and there are around 2 million members in Israel.

Post content at least once a week. You’ll automatically be in the top 2%.

Those that do post are being seen, maybe not by hundreds of thousands of people, but you're looking for one job, one connection in Israel. How many do you really need?

We live in a highly dense and interconnected ecosystem. 60% of the audience are considered a “silent crowd”, meaning you won’t know that they read your post since they did not leave any sign of engagement, but trust me, people are reading it.

People can post about anything.

Their stories. Making Aliyah. Why they made Aliyah.

Has it been difficult? What have you learned from the experience?

Who they met today while they were walking down the street or had a coffee. 

It should vary depending on what you’re trying to achieve. Are you looking for a job? Are you looking to find clients? Or are you looking to create a presence, help people, and be a thought leader?

It’s something that takes time and effort, something that you have to sit down and commit some time to. LinkedIn is a long-term play. Look at it as another “pension fund”, the earlier you start, the better. At MAIA we like to call your effort, ROL - Return on LinkedIn.

The time, the money, the resources spent on LinkedIn, will come back to you. You decide the return.

Is there anything you miss about the States?

My family.

And Costco.

That's one of the few challenging things, my family, my partner's family. It is a big dissonance of wanting to be here. I love Israel. But I really wish that I was closer to my family. That's very personal.

If someone decides to go back to America to be with family - okay. But if someone's leaving, because he doesn't have the support system here or wasn't able to get a job - then we need to ask ourselves how we can make Israel better. And there are people thinking about this.

Every year, Nevo hosts a Hackathon that focuses on improving quality of life in Israel, whether it's customer service or buying a home. 

It’s a great initiative, and something that all Olim should focus on more. 

Nevo Network is a community of ambitious Olim, mentors, and advocates from across the Israeli tech ecosystem. It was created with one single mission in mind: to ensure a positive professional experience for Olim in tech. It is exciting to be part of the current cohort. I am always happy to help someone looking to make their first step here.