“In the morning I sat across from an investor who said, ‘We’ll invest millions.’ That evening I stood in my mother’s room, after she had passed away, trying to understand how you keep breathing.”
The personal story of a founder who discovered that the greatest journey isn’t building a company – it’s discovering who you are inside the storm.
★★★★★ Rated 5.0 by readers of the Hebrew edition
The book is currently available in Hebrew only. See the Hebrew edition
★★★★★
“There are books you read, enjoy, and move on from – and there are books that make you stop and think about your life a little differently. For me, this was the second kind.”
Amir Tamsut
Google review, translated from Hebrew
★★★★★
“The book offers an honest, sharp and fascinating look at the world of entrepreneurship, and connects, with real precision, business building, a passion for creating, and a beating heart with social values.”
Liat Hajbi
Google review, translated from Hebrew
★★★★★
“I sat down to read it today and finished it today… Aviv lets you into the “CEO’s office” and, in the same breath, into his home, his castle.”
Noam Zorero
Google review, translated from Hebrew
★★★★★
“I read the book without putting it down, and it is stunning… It is both a reflection of the road we traveled at Highcon and a wonderful guide for the first-time founder.”
Tal Harmon
Google review, translated from Hebrew
★★★★★
“This is a book that tells the real story, with no filters. It helps the reader understand that every person is really an entrepreneur if they are only willing to dream, and that the road is challenging but also rewarding…”
Moshe Lavi
Google review, translated from Hebrew
★★★★★
“The book is written with honesty, at eye level and with courage, sharing the challenging moments and the shadow points of the journey as well.”
Yonat
Review on e-vrit, translated from Hebrew
The journey began with a boy who skipped school for the sea, continued in his parents’ small shop, and climbed all the way to building a groundbreaking tech startup and to social action in Israel’s Western Negev. It is a story of painful layoff rounds and glittering international trade shows, of investors who vanished at the moment of truth and doors that opened against all odds.
The book isn’t only about how you build a company, but about the question that really matters: who do we become in the process?
Courage
The ability to act even when fear whispers to stop.
Passion
The inner fire that drives us even when it is clear there will be a price.
Curiosity
The relentless desire to know and to understand.
Creation
The ability to see what others don’t, and to turn a vision into something real.
Resilience
The art of getting up again after every fall.
Integrity
The quiet strength to stay true to ourselves even when giving up seems easier.
And at the end: The First-Time Founder’s Cookbook
“If I could go back and sit across from my younger self, on those evenings when I drove home from work and began dreaming of a startup of my own – these are the things I would tell me. Not inspirational quotes, but practical things: what to do in the first week, what to watch out for in the third month, and how not to lose your head in the first year.”
The book’s final chapter distills the whole journey into simple recipes, course by course:
Appetizer: before you set out · The first year · Building the team · Selling a vision · Changing the rules of the game · When the ground shakes · Self-care · Last course: who you become
Aviv Ratzman is a founder and mentor. Together with a partner he founded a technology company that went public, and for a decade led it as CEO from a young startup to an international company. Today he mentors founders and executive teams, and co-founded the nonprofit “New Land Now”.
Because this isn’t a manual. It’s a compass. Written for people already on the path – founders, executives, business owners who understand that the real question isn’t just will this succeed, but who am I becoming in the process.
An English edition is not available yet.
Hebrew edition: 137 pages · Published June 2026 · See the Hebrew edition
The book stands on its own, and also serves as a shared foundation for coaching and executive teamwork. Schedule an intro call
