When working on the Lunchbreak column, I spend many hours speaking to each entrepreneur we feature, and our conversations often take place over the span of several days. That was the case with Eric Reiner, a young star in the venture capital scene in Israel and the US. We had four different conversations over the span of a week, in which I not only gained a deeper understanding of VC (venture capitalism), but was also inspired by Eric’s drive and determination to bring Jews together.
After several years in venture capital, Eric (Aryeh Michael) and his partner Dan Povitsky started their firm, Vine Ventures, right before the onset of COVID. Despite the challenges of growing a VC fund during a global pandemic, Vine Ventures has raised close to $300 million and has already had several successful exits.
In addition to being a venture capitalist, Eric has another passion as well. Just like venture capitalism is the art of bringing together the right investors and the right companies to invest in, Eric looks for ways to invest in bringing together Jews from all walks of life, helping to bridge the gap between Jews of different backgrounds. Recently, his work in this regard even brought Rav Meilech Biderman to Tel Aviv for a special shiur. Enjoy!
—Nesanel
“I was born in New York City to the most incredible parents in the world. My parents come from backgrounds with zero connection to traditional Judaism, so my younger sister and I grew up completely secular. We had some sort of a Pesach Seder and I had a bar mitzvah celebration, but I didn’t put on tefillin. My parents weren’t antagonistic in any way; there was simply a lack of knowledge of true Yiddishkeit.
“We moved to Westport, Connecticut, when I was two years old. My father was an executive at General Electric, and he was very involved in using technology to automate and streamline building processes for GE. He ended up being promoted to CIO (chief information officer), working his way up from being a junior employee to basically being in charge of the company’s technology on the operations side.
“My father had to travel a lot for business, including to India and China, but whenever he was local, he was a very present father. He would make sure to be home for dinner every night, and he always made it to my tennis matches. My mother took care of us as we grew up while also successfully building a career as a jewelry designer.
“I went to local public schools through high school. As a teenager, I was into sports, tennis in particular, and I was also a volunteer EMT.
“When I was 13, my family went on a trip to Israel for my cousin’s bar mitzvah. I remember poking fun at my cousins for being chareidi, when today I would know that they were actually Modern Orthodox. During that trip, we went to the Kotel and met a rabbi who had some really interesting things to say. When we got home from Israel, I went on a website called AskMoses.com to try to learn about the basics of Judaism. I knew nothing.
“During high school, I got in trouble with the teachers (though not for anything serious), but I had good grades. Like many teenagers, I was diagnosed with ADHD. I could not sit still for a second.
“Though I wasn’t entrepreneurial as a teenager, I was definitely brought up to think about business. I was interested in science, but as I learned more about technology and venture capitalism, those were the things that interested me the most.
“After high school, I went to Northwestern University, where I got a degree in economics and cognitive science. While I was there, I became involved with Meor, which is a Litvish academic kiruv organization on campus. Rabbi Josh Livingstone was the Meor rabbi, and he really impacted me. I spent many a lunch break with him, talking about Judaism and life. Another religious person I spent a lot of time with was my Persian roommate. He would put on tefillin every day, right next to our mini fridge where I kept my non-kosher food. Now he calls me a ‘Shlomo’—slang for someone very frum.
“I went on Birthright when I was in college, and that was the beginning of my journey to authentic Judaism. I remember spending a lot of time speaking with the soldiers I met as part of the trip. For many Jews who have no knowledge of Yiddishkeit, developing a love for Israel is the first step in connecting them to Judaism. It’s a great catalyst, and I can tell you that for me, that trip solidified my love for Israel. It was still a while before I became frum, but Birthright planted the seeds.
“While I was in Israel, I started looking into possibilities for a career in venture capitalism. I got my first internship at Pitango Venture Capital, and I interned there towards the end of 2011.
“Later, when I returned to the US and Northwestern, I was part of an organization that helped bring Jewish events to Northwestern. I was able to bring the soldiers I met on my Birthright trip to campus for Pesach, and it was an incredible experience.
“While I was at Northwestern, I started a company called Alum Social, which was a platform that leveraged popular social networks to help manage alumni-university relations. Unfortunately, it never took off.
“I decided to spend the first half of my junior year studying in Tel Aviv. I knew that Israel had a robust venture capital environment, and it was also one of the only places where they gave a month off for vacation during the semester. That month off was during the Yomim Tovim, and I treated it like a real vacation opportunity. I spent Rosh Hashanah in Germany, the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah in Barcelona, and I had a very different Yom Kippur from what I am used to now.
“I came back to Northwestern with the seeds of Judaism planted, but they took some time to sprout. Rabbi Livingstone brought me to my first Shabbat dinner, arranged by Meor. After that Shabbat, I wanted to experience an authentic Shabbat in Jerusalem, and Rabbi Livingstone introduced me to Rabbi Yoni Ganger. That Shabbat changed my world. Because of that experience, I believe that a single authentic Shabbat can change someone’s entire life.
“After college, like many secular young adults, I toured Asia, but I felt I needed something more. When I came back, I told Rabbi Livingstone that I was interested in going back to Israel and doing something outdoorsy, something I hadn’t done yet. As the great kiruv rabbi that he is, he suggested that I go to yeshivah. That wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, but off I went to Machon Shlomo in Har Nof for about a month before I joined the workforce back in the US.
“I remember walking down the streets of New York City, thinking about what it means to be a Jew. I knew I wanted to become frum,but I still had no clue what that entailed. I was thinking about the fact that I was working, but I could really spend my time learning Torah. I became part of a great chevrah led by Rabbi Dov Yona Korn, who became my rebbi and mashpia. Thanks to that chevrah, I was part of a strong Jewish community while I grew in my Yiddishkeit.
“It is clear to me that Hashem has intertwined my path to Yiddishkeit with my business career. A prime example is that the biggest investor in my fund is someone I met through Olami when I was a recent college grad. Olami is the largest supporter of Meor and an incredible organization that funds Jewish engagement and education around the world. As someone who benefited immeasurably from Olami’s work, I am humbled to be one of its supporters today. A number of other top investors in my fund are also fine people I met along my path to becoming frum.
“I knew that I wanted to work in VC from the time I was a college student. And I also knew where I wanted to work: Insight Venture Partners, a $100 billion AUM (assets under management) global VC firm. It was considered the top place, and every student wanted to work there.
“I was lucky to get a spot as an intern at Insight for one summer, and I also worked there for the first two years of my career. At Insight, they teach you everything you need to know about venture capitalism. I had the opportunity to offer capital to world-class entrepreneurs, and I was taught how deals are analyzed by some of the top minds in the venture capital world.
“My job was a two-step process. The first part was to call CEOs of companies that I thought could be a potential fit for Insight to invest in. That was no small feat, as I had to convince these CEOs to talk to a 21-year-old. Then, after I developed a relationship with them, if I still felt they would be a good fit, I would present the company to some of the most experienced venture capitalists in the world. In this industry, it’s ‘eat what you kill.’ If you find something that is deemed a good investment, you’re the one who gets to work on the investment process and the partners take you more seriously.
“I was lucky to find some good investment opportunities. The first deal I ever found that Insight funded was a company called Xamarin. Xamarin created a tool that allows developers to code across different platforms very easily. We (Insight Ventures) led a $54 million Series C round into the company, and it was acquired two years later by Microsoft for around $500 million.
“I wasn’t planning to stay at Insight long term. I knew I wanted to have my own VC fund one day, and there was also the fact that Insight invested in late-stage startups, whereas I wanted to invest in early-stage companies’ rounds. I reached out to several people I knew, asking for leads, and I was introduced to Liad Agmon, the founder of a company called Dynamic Yield. We started talking, and he offered me a job. Dynamic Yield helps optimize personalization of front-end website solutions for publishers, retailers and online marketers. I was involved in corporate development and sales, basically acting as the CEO’s right-hand man. The company was eventually acquired by McDonald’s for $400 million.
“I made it clear to Liad from the beginning that I was looking for operational startup experience, but that I was planning to leave after a few years to do my own thing. I am grateful to him for the opportunity. Interestingly, Liad now runs the Insight Israel office—small world.
“While I was at Dynamic Yield, I tried to get Newell Brands to use Dynamic Yield software. Newell Brands owns brands such as Mr. Coffee, Crockpot, Sharpie, Rubbermaid and more. They must have liked what I was saying, because they offered me a job. That happened at the same time that I was looking to move on from Dynamic Yield, so it was perfect timing. Newell hired me to forge partnerships between them and other companies, and to update the technology in some of their products. It sounded like it would be an interesting job, but it was anything but. They had too many internal structural issues, and there was too much red tape to get anything done. I stayed there for a total of four months.
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