Roy Dekel
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Driven by innovation & philanthropy | Former IDF officer turned entrepreneur | contributor to @entrepreneur and @inc…
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Articles by Roy Dekel
‘Made in America' Is Gaining Momentum. But Can the Economics Work?
The push to manufacture in America is gaining momentum, but entrepreneurs still have to answer the question that matters most: Does the math work? Key Takeaways Everyone loves the idea of Made in America . American factories. American jobs. American innovation. There's something undeniably appealing about building products here, employing our own workforce and reducing our dependence on foreign manufacturers. But there's a question that rarely receives enough attention in the national conversation.
The 6 Traits I Look for in Every Employee
Jobs change. Great people evolve with them. Here's how to find the people who become invaluable. Key Takeaways I've hired a lot of people over the years, and one of the biggest lessons I've learned is that we often approach hiring backward. We hire for a position . We create a job description, list the responsibilities, decide what experience someone should have and then search for the person who most closely matches that description. That makes sense — until the company changes.
The Old Startup Playbook Won't Cut It Anymore. Here's What It Takes to Build a Successful Company Today.
Building a business today requires a new approach. Here are 7 things entrepreneurs must do differently to succeed now. Key Takeaways My parents' generation largely grew up believing you found a good company, worked hard, moved up the ladder and, if everything went according to plan, stayed there. Today, people change jobs for better pay, flexibility, titles and that elusive thing every company claims to have — great culture . At the same time, we've raised a generation accustomed to immediacy.
რას გვიყვება 3 გიგანტის ისტორია იმის შესახებ, თუ საიდან ჩნდება სინამდვილეში საუკეთესო ბიზნეს-იდეები
Slack, Airbnb, Shopify - არცერთი მათგანი არ დაწყებულა ისე, როგორც ხალხს ჰგონია - ვნახოთ, რა აქვთ სასწავლი მათგან მომავალ მეწარმეებს. ყველას უყვარს სამეწარმეო საქმიანობის დავარცხნილი ვერსია. დამფუძნებელი ამჩნევს იდეალურ შესაძლებლობას, შეიმუშავებს სტრატეგიას, იზიდავს ინვესტიციებს და ახორციელებს გენიალურ გეგმას, რომელიც ზუსტად ისე მუშაობს, როგორც მოსალოდნელი იყო. ეს ისტორია მშვენივრად ჟღერს ინტერვიუებში. რეალობა კი, როგორც წესი, ბევრად უფრო ქაოსურია.
Every founder plans for growth, but almost none plan for the exit. Here's what I wish I'd understood sooner
Key Takeaways After watching a once-thriving business lose momentum as markets changed, I learned a hard truth: Company value is based on a buyer's confidence in the future, not a founder's belief in what's possible. The best time to sell is often when you don't want to — because that's usually when your company is worth the most. There are moments in every entrepreneur's life that seem permanent while you're living them.
Every Founder Plans for Growth, But Almost None Plan for the Exit. Here’s What I Wish I’d Understood Sooner.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. There are moments in every entrepreneur’s life that seem permanent while you’re living them. You convince yourself you’ve finally crossed some invisible finish line — that all the years of uncertainty, sleepless nights and wondering whether payroll would clear have finally given way to something durable. For me, that moment arrived during Covid. The world had changed almost overnight, and so had our business.
The One Question I Ask Before Buying Any Company
It has nothing to do with revenue, profit, or valuation, and it tells me more than any financial statement ever could. People assume that after buying and selling dozens of companies, I’ve developed some sophisticated framework for evaluating acquisitions. They expect me to talk about EBITDA multiples, customer concentration, recurring revenue, or proprietary technology. Those things absolutely matter, and I’ve walked away from deals because the numbers simply didn’t make sense.
The Death of the Startup Team
Why solopreneurs are crushing traditional CEOs in 2026 For decades, the dominant playbook told ambitious leaders to raise venture capital, hire aggressively, build large teams, and chase rapid scaling. In 2026, that approach has become a costly liability. Solopreneurs (founders operating entirely alone) are outmaneuvering many larger, team-heavy operations with greater speed, higher profit retention, and far lower risk.
What These 3 ‘Accidental' Startup Stories Reveal About Where the Best Business Ideas Really Come From
Slack, Airbnb, Shopify — none of them began the way people think. Here's what aspiring entrepreneurs can learn from them. Key Takeaways Everyone loves the clean version of entrepreneurship . The founder spots a perfect opportunity, builds a strategy, raises money and executes against a master plan that works exactly as expected. That story sounds great in interviews. The reality is usually much messier. A surprising number of great companies were not born from some massive vision.
What These 3 ‘Accidental’ Startup Stories Reveal About Where the Best Business Ideas Really Come From
IR_Stone | Getty Images Entrepreneur Media LLC and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some products and services through the links below. Key Takeaways Many successful businesses are discovered rather than invented. They often emerge from frustration, side projects, failed ideas or founders solving problems right in front of them. Companies like Airbnb, Slack and Shopify succeeded because founders paid attention carefully enough to notice where value was naturally emerging.
Why Keeping Bad Clients Is the Most Expensive Mistake You Can Make
Debunking the myth of “the customer comes first.” Key Takeaways In business, you are taught early that the customer comes first . Keep them happy. Keep them paying. Keep them at all costs. That works in the beginning. Then you grow, and you realize something most people do not say out loud: Not all revenue is good revenue Some revenue comes with a cost that does not show up on a P and L. It shows up in your team, your culture and your ability to focus.
Why Keeping Bad Clients Is the Most Expensive Mistake You Can Make
skynesher | Getty Images Entrepreneur Media LLC and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some products and services through the links below. Not all revenue is good revenue. Some clients drain time, energy and morale, and the cost of keeping them often outweighs the revenue they bring. Prioritizing employee safety and respect over revenue sets clear standards, strengthens company culture and shows your team they are genuinely valued.
El éxito empresarial no depende solo de las grandes ideas, el capital ni el momento: esto es lo que realmente importa
Esa experiencia cambió para siempre la forma en que construyo. Ahora, cada reunión de liderazgo comienza con una sola prioridad: alineación. Si el equipo directivo no rema en la misma dirección, no importa qué tan bueno sea el barco, no va a llegar a ningún lado.
¿Tú eres el problema en el trabajo? Estas 15 preguntas te revelarán la verdad
7. ¿Las personas te piden consejo fuera de tu rol? Esto podría reflejar el nivel de confianza que generas. Si no sucede con frecuencia, no es necesariamente una señal de alerta; solo asegúrate de hacer cosas que construyan confianza, como cumplir tu palabra, admitir cuando no sabes algo y dar crédito a quien corresponde. 10. ¿Notas quién no ha hablado en una reunión? Esto puede indicar qué tan atento estás a la dinámica del grupo.
Are you the problem at work? These 15 questions will reveal the truth.
Roy Dekel Key Takeaways When something feels off at work (disengaged teams, low innovation, high turnover), the instinct is to look outward — at strategy, process or people. Instead, you must look inward and ask harder questions: What if the bottleneck isn't the plan, the market or even the team? What if it's your leadership? What if it's you? Emotional intelligence is the foundation of trust, safety and connection.
Are You the Problem at Work? These 15 Questions Will Reveal the Truth.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Most leaders spend years optimizing strategy, hiring better talent and refining execution. But very few stop to ask a harder question: What if the bottleneck isn’t the plan, the market or even the team? What if it’s your leadership? What if it’s you? It’s an uncomfortable idea, but an important one. Are you good with conflict and emotion, or would you consider yourself more of a strategic leader?
Who Says Restaurants Always Fail?
Here’s what the smart operators are doing differently. Many people say restaurants always fail. For a long time, I accepted that as conventional wisdom. I didn’t arrive at that belief from headlines, though, I arrived at it from operations. I grew up in restaurants.
Why So Many AI Pilots Stall — and How Winners Break Through
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Artificial intelligence has dominated executive briefings, investor decks and earnings calls for the better part of three years. But here’s the part nobody likes to say out loud: Most organizations are not struggling with AI innovation — they’re struggling with AI execution. Many initiatives look impressive in demos and pilots, but fail the moment they’re expected to operate inside a real business. They generate buzz. They produce slides.
Does Your Startup Need Constant Fundraising?
If you need a continual investment influx to survive, you don’t have a business, you have a pitch deck. It may come as a shock, but not every business I have been part of was a winner. For years, I believed that continued investor backing meant a company was thriving. Capital was the validation I was looking for. Venture capital underwriters, board members, advisors, and experienced operators endorsed the business, the vision, and the leadership.
4 Documentaries Every Serious Investor Should Watch
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Most successful business owners, investors and wealth strategists share a quiet habit: They’re ruthless about what they ignore. They don’t chase forecasts. They don’t react to every headline. And they don’t confuse constant information with real understanding. Experience has taught them that the biggest risks to capital don’t arrive as surprises; they build slowly inside systems, incentives and assumptions that go unquestioned for years.
4 Documentaries Every Serious Investor Should Watch (and Why the Wealthiest Already Have)
Now In the current dining landscape, San Diego restaurants face challenges like the rising cost of goods, labor shortages, and evolving customer expectations. Everything from longtime city institutions to newer places unable to find their footing can succumb to a combination of obstacles, although San …
10 Non-Business Podcasts Every Entrepreneur Should Listen to
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Most entrepreneurs assume the podcasts that make them better are the ones in which founders talk about scaling, fundraising, leadership or strategy. The podcasts quietly shaping the best entrepreneurs today do not focus on business tactics. They focus on biology, decision making, stress, sleep, longevity and cognitive performance. These are the systems that determine how well you actually execute.
Stocks Are Cool Again
How YouTubers, apps, and algorithms brought Wall Street to Gen Z. TikTok is teaching teenagers candlestick patterns. YouTube streamers are dropping six-figure trades live. Discord servers look less like gaming hubs and more like trading floors. Somewhere between meme stocks and market chaos, stocks got cool again. Not because of Wall Street, but because creators turned them into content. Now the same kids who once bragged about flipping Dogecoin are quoting P/E ratios and Fibonacci retracements.
6 Lessons from Latinas in Hollywood for Corporate America
Representation, authenticity, and community are key. Hollywood and corporate America don’t often share a playbook—but maybe they should. A new generation of Latina executives in entertainment is proving that creativity, community, and cultural intelligence are not soft skills—they’re the new core competencies of leadership.
5 Wild Private Investments That Actually Make Sense
Consider opening your investment portfolio to nontraditional options. Forget index funds. Forget safe. The next wave of investors isn’t just chasing returns—they’re chasing stories, scarcity, and soul. These are the people trading spreadsheets for whiskey barrels, algorithms for aquifers, and blue chips for blue jeans. Sound crazy? In 2025, crazy is the new calculated. The private market boom has cracked open opportunities once reserved for institutions and insiders.
Real Estate's Next Era — How Owning Less Can Make You Richer
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Everyone loves to talk about the “American Dream.” Buy a house, pay it off, hold it for decades and hope you’re wealthy when you’re 65. That story worked in the 1950s, when houses were cheap, debt was manageable and growth was predictable. But in today’s world? That’s not wealth. That’s a liability with granite countertops. Wealth isn’t built by owning more. It’s built by owning smarter.
Why Smart Investors Are Abandoning Wall Street
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. If you’re still playing the stock-and-bond shuffle, you’re late to the after-party. The smartest money is already moving off the public grid into private credit, infrastructure, collectibles and cultural assets that make both life and portfolios interesting. Even Gary Vaynerchuk is saying it out loud. “We’re living in a fractioned media landscape,” he told a packed room at the Clover x Shark Tank Summit.
Gen Z Expects Corporate Activism. Here's How to Respond.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Gen Z grew up scrolling feeds filled with activism: TikTok videos that became national conversations, YouTube creators who doubled as social commentators, and Instagram-fueled school walkouts demanding change. For this generation, politics isn’t a separate sphere of life; it is intertwined with identity, entertainment and even career choices.
The Top 5 Countries Where Hiring Is a Game-Changer in 2025
In Less Than 3 Minutes, Taylor Swift Just Taught a Master Class in How to Handle Criticism The Life of a Showgirl is “flopping” according to a viral Instagram post. What’s the best way to respond when customers, former fans, or anyone else criticizes your work? Taylor Swift just provided a perfect script for what to say. It’s a great example for any entrepreneur, business leader, or …
10 Underrated Podcasts Every Entrepreneur Should Listen To
As entrepreneurs, we're constantly bombarded with recommendations for the same big-name podcasts (How I Built This, The Tim Ferriss Show or Masters of Scale). They're good, but they've become the mainstream playlists of the entrepreneurial world.
How to Find and Recruit Top Talent Before Competitors Do
Finding the next game-changer for your business isn't luck — it's a calculated hunt. The leaders who consistently win in business know how to identify, attract and lock in top talent before anyone else realizes their potential. Forget waiting for resumes to land on your desk. You need to know where to look, what to look for and how to close fast.
5 Ways to Spot and Capture the Best Talent Before Your Competitors Do
Entrepreueur Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Finding the next game-changer for your business isn’t luck — it’s a calculated hunt. The leaders who consistently win in business know how to identify, attract and lock in top talent before anyone else realizes their potential. Forget waiting for resumes to land on your desk. You need to know where to look, what to look for and how to close fast.
The Top 5 Mistakes Smart Entrepreneurs Keep Making
There's a funny thing about experience: It doesn't always make you immune to failure. In fact, some of the most seasoned, intelligent founders I've met — including myself — have walked straight into the same fire multiple times, thinking this time would be different. After buying, building, burning and selling businesses ranging from $1 million to over $20 million in annual recurring revenue, with teams as small as five and as large as 500, I've seen these mistakes up close. Not once. Not twice.
Top 5 mistakes that smart entrepreneurs continue to make
Entrepreueur The opinions expressed by contributors to Entrepreneur are theirs. Funny thing about experience. It doesn’t make you immune from failure. Some of the smartest, most experienced founders I have met, including myself, have repeatedly walked into the fire, believing that this time it would be different.
5 Benefits of Scaling Your Startup With Offshore Employees
I've built companies like SetSchedule and Rentastic across proptech, fintech, AI and insurance. I've sold businesses that generated billions in financial products and tens of millions in recurring revenue. I've hired wrong, I've hired right. I've scaled too fast, and I've scaled smart. And I'll tell you this from firsthand experience: Hiring offshore isn't controversial — it's intelligent. It's practical. It's how real businesses scale in the real world.
El éxito empresarial no depende solo de las grandes ideas, el capital ni el momento: esto es lo que realmente importa
He pasado por todo: empresas que despegaron, empresas que se hundieron, acuerdos que parecían de oro y resultaron ser de arena, y asociaciones que, o multiplicaron el valor o lo mataron silenciosamente. Si hay una verdad brutal que he aprendido tras décadas de construir, comprar, vender y a veces enterrar compañías, es esta: Lo que realmente determina el éxito no son las ideas, el capital ni el momento oportuno, sino las relaciones.
3 Bold Moves Every Entrepreneur Should Make This Year
If you're building a business in 2025, playing it safe is the fastest way to get left behind. Having had a front-row seat to companies that have soared — and others that have stalled — I can tell you with certainty: Success rarely hinges on luck, timing or even market conditions. Those may influence the journey, but they don't determine the destination. The biggest differentiator, time and time again, is bold leadership. The founders who win aren't always the smartest or the most well-funded.
3 lecciones que todo emprendedor aprende con la experiencia (y que nadie te enseña)
A la mayoría nos educaron con algunos valores esenciales: sé respetuoso, trabaja duro, estudia y busca un "buen empleo". Ese consejo cumplió su función… hasta que te lanzaste al mundo del emprendimiento. Cuando empiezas a construir empresas, asumir riesgos y tomar decisiones que afectan la vida de otros, te das cuenta de que gran parte del "manual del mundo real" no se aprende en la mesa familiar.
3 Truths Every Founder Learns the Hard Way
Growing up, most of us were raised on a handful of core values: Be respectful, work hard, go to school, and try to find a "good job." That kind of advice served a purpose — until you stepped into the world of entrepreneurship. Once you start building companies, managing risk and making decisions that impact other people's livelihoods, you quickly realize that much of the real-world playbook wasn't passed down at the dinner table.
How to Turn Setbacks Into Strategic Advantages
In the unpredictable world of entrepreneurship, the ability to pivot is not just a survival mechanism; it's often the defining trait that separates long-term success from failure. Over the years, I've co-founded and operated companies across proptech, fintech, insurance and media. Some succeeded, some failed. But the ones that made it through did so because we knew when and how to pivot.
5 Lessons I Learned the Hard Way About Business Success
I've been through it all — companies that soared, companies that sank, deals that looked like gold and turned out to be sand and partnerships that either multiplied value or silently killed it. If there's one brutal truth I've learned after decades of building, buying, selling and sometimes burying companies, it's this: Relationships — not ideas, capital or even timing — are the ultimate determinant of success. It's a lesson that no spreadsheet will teach you and no pitch deck will fully convey.
Las 3 peores decisiones empresariales que tomé — y cómo se convirtieron en los mayores impulsores de mi éxito | Entrepreneur
Emprender es como saltar de un avión y construir el paracaídas en plena caída. No siempre lo haces bien — y créeme, a mí se me escaparon algunas cosas en el camino. Como CEO de SetSchedule, llevé una empresa de $0 a más de $10 millones de dólares en ingresos recurrentes anuales, construí un equipo que superó los 1,000 empleados y viví para contarlo. Pero detrás de cada momento destacado hubo situaciones que, entonces, se sintieron como verdaderos desastres.
5 Powerful Resilience Lessons From Failed Ventures
Failure is feedback from the field, telling you how to succeed next time. Source link
How the 3 Worst Decisions I Ever Made Turned Into Success
Entrepreneurship is like jumping out of an airplane and building the parachute on the way down. You don't always get it right — and trust me, I missed a few stitches on the way. As CEO of SetSchedule, I scaled a company from $0 to over $10 million in annual recurring revenue, built a team that grew to over 1,000 employees and lived to tell the tale. But behind every highlight reel were moments that, at the time, felt like disasters.
10 Charitable Organizations Entrepreneurs Should Support Original
From Tel Aviv to tech boardrooms, my entrepreneurial journey has taken me through building businesses, navigating painful failures, celebrating meaningful exits and eventually investing in other founders' visions. I'm an Israeli immigrant who came to the U.S. with little more than ambition and a belief that hard work could move mountains.
Los 3 hábitos de vida que me hicieron más ágil, fuerte y exitoso
Hubo una época no muy lejana en la que, desde fuera, todo parecía ir sobre ruedas: la empresa crecía, aparecíamos en los medios, cerrábamos rondas de inversión. Pero detrás de esos logros, había un estilo de vida que, en silencio, saboteaba mi ventaja competitiva. Había subido de peso. No iba al gimnasio. Tomaba vino casi todas las noches. Comía lo que fuera más conveniente, muchas veces me saltaba comidas o pedía productos ultraprocesados para llevar.
3 Habits That Made Me Sharper, Stronger and More Successful
There was a time not too long ago when everything looked successful from the outside — company growth, media features, funding rounds. But underneath the wins, I was living a lifestyle that was quietly sabotaging my edge. I had gained weight. I wasn't going to the gym. I drank wine almost every night. I ate whatever was convenient, often skipping meals or grabbing ultra-processed takeout. My body was running on junk fuel, and so was my mind.
The 3 Biggest Mistakes That Made Me a Better Entrepreneur
From the outside, entrepreneurship often looks like a highlight reel: rapid growth, media coverage, successful exits. I've lived that story — building and running multiple companies, serving as CEO of SetSchedule and exiting businesses in real estate and tech before moving into venture investment. But the truth is, my real education didn't come from the wins. It came from the mistakes.
Top 10 Mentors Shaping Today's Entrepreneurs
In my journey as a venture investor and CEO, I've built, acquired and sold multiple businesses. While many decisions were made independently, the opportunity to collaborate with mentors has been invaluable. Engaging with CEO coaching and mentors I've found through venture investment communities has profoundly impacted my growth. The reality is that successful entrepreneurship isn't just about having the right idea — it's about having the right guidance.
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