Founder Feature: Erez Saf, CEO of CRiskCo

Posted on February 28, 2019
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Setting goals and milestones is a must to keep the team moving. There was a study showing that in a given task and time, you will always use the entire time to perform the task…If you give it two days it will take two days and if you give it a week it will take a week.
— Erez Saf, CEO + Founder of CRiskCo

1. Describe the most exciting minute of your entrepreneurial journey so far. 

September 2015, Silicon Valley, California. After three months in a startup boot camp by Plug And Play, one of the largest accelerator/ Incubator programs in the world, I was about to pitch on stage for the first time in front of 1,000 people coming over from all Silicon Valley, including potential clients, Venture Capital, Investors friends, colleagues and strangers. Led up to the event I was pushing and negotiating with an angel investor for a potential investment in CRiskCo. until this point of time, we were able to secure $60,000 Investment in March 2015 (six months prior) and we had zero revenue. Without a significant investment; our startup would have died shortly after. The night before I went out with my team to a Mexican bar, and at midnight I had an hour call with the investor while my burrito was getting cold and the beer getting warm. The discussion ended where he was not sure if he will invest, and even if he will, he might do a 25 to 50 thousand dollars investment only. In the next morning, while we were already at Plug And Play presenting our company in the both, just an hour before standing up to pitch. I received an email with the investor agreement attached. Only after opening the file and scrolling fast down to see the last page, the amount that was written was $400,000! Those 60 seconds of shouting and happiness I will never forget.

 

2. What entrepreneurial hacks have you developed to stay focused and productive in your day-to-day?

Most important is to have a break and enjoy the process. When you have fun in the weekend, you can focus on Monday from 8 am to 10 pm when needed. A time off is the key to be effective when you work. The second important thing, is just do, Execute. You will never have it perfect, and you won’t have more time tomorrow to answer an email, answer now, quickly and move forward.

3. What systems have you set up in your business to help it grow?

Setting goals and milestones is a must to keep the team moving. There was a study showing that in a given task and time, you will always use the entire time to perform the task, even when you have exactly same tasks, if you give it two days it will take two days and if you give it a week it will take a week.

4. What’s the best business idea you have that you will never use?

Getting all the team in one place and expending at this geography only. I wish I could, but when you find good talent, you should make it work even if they live in Fiji. Good and motivated talents are so hard to find and can change entirely your business.  

 

5. When you’re not working, what do you like to do?

I’m a man with many hobbies, I dance Salsa, do Kite Surfing, I’m a dive-master and scuba dive a lot for fun. I like to party when I can, exploring new events and meeting with friends for a beer. I’m addicted to podcasts.