Episode #96: Nadir Izrael – Co-founder and CTO of Armis

What started as an idea between two Technion graduates became one of the biggest technology companies ever built in Israel.

In 2026, Armis was acquired by ServiceNow in a deal reported at roughly $7.75 billion, making it the fourth-largest exit in Israeli history.

But surprisingly, this conversation isn’t about success. 

It’s about responsibility and what entrepreneurship actually feels like once you’re inside it.

When does a startup become real?

One of the first questions we ask Nadir is about milestones.

What was the first benchmark?

For him, a company becomes real when it stops being “a bunch of guys” imagining a future company. And becomes something other people are counting on.

Investors.

Employees.

Customers.

People trusting you with their money and their careers.

That’s when the game changes.

“up until you’re a real company that raised a little bit of money and starting to work like a real company… you’re just a bunch of guys bunch of guys who are [I don’t want to say] playing make believe but definitely you feel OKAY not to commit into it and really be at a place where now there’s the accountability”

And then comes the part that really stood out:

“once you take on the responsibility for other people… now you’re playing with other chips too”

For Nadir, accountability is the thing that turns an idea into a company.

The thing he didn’t want to admit

Before Armis, Nadir spent a year trying to build something outside cyber security.

He wanted a mission.

A cause.

Something bigger.

Then he had what he describes as a “come to Jesus moment.”

He asked himself what he actually wanted.

And didn’t love the answer.

“it was actually really difficult to me to admit that it was winning”

Not money. Not a higher cause.

Winning.

In the way an athlete wants to win.

To test their limits.

To compete.

To see how good they can become.

It wasn’t the answer he expected.

But it was the honest one.

Later in the conversation, he expands on this idea in the context of money as a motivation for founders.
While money matters – and he’s not pretending otherwise – he believes the founders who make it furthest are usually driven by something deeper.

The challenge.

The process of building.

The satisfaction of creating something that didn’t exist before.

Because entrepreneurship is simply too difficult if money is the only thing pulling you forward.

There are easier ways to make money.

Much easier.

The lowest spot on the totem pole

Entrepreneurship gets romanticized.

Freedom. Flexibility. Being your own boss.

Nadir sees it differently.

“the notion of entrepreneurship is actually the lowest pole on the totem”

Because eventually everything lands on you.

The missed target.

The bad hire.

The customer issue.

The mistake nobody saw coming.

At some point there is nobody left to escalate to.

Is this for everyone?

Over the years, Nadir had multiple people tell him that they always wanted to become entrepreneurs.

Then they watched his life and changed their minds.

He laughs when he tells the story.

But he also understands it.

Because he knows what the journey demands.

The pressure.

The uncertainty.

The responsibility.

The fact that there are easier ways to make money.

His view is simple:

If you’re not excited by the challenge itself, there are probably better paths.

Why he’s not on a beach

A lot of people assume an $8 billion acquisition changes everything.

He laughs at that idea.

He says one thing changed.

The existential fear – that part got quieter.

But beyond that?

He’s still taking calls at one and two in the morning.

Working weekends.

Traveling for business. 

Pushing.

In fact, he describes himself as working just as hard – maybe harder.

The list

Every week, Nadir goes through a list.

Not goals. Not tasks.

Names.

People he had difficult interactions with.

People he disappointed.

People he may have hurt.

The list is called:

“compassion”

Once a week he revisits every name and tries to see the situation entirely from that person’s perspective.

Not to decide who was right.

Just to understand.

Even if the event happened years ago.

It’s one of the more unusual leadership habits we’ve heard from a guest.

What stays after this episode

Nadir helped build one of the largest technology companies in Israeli history.

But the thing that stays with you isn’t the exit.

It’s the clarity with which he talks about what it takes to get there.

He openly admits he’s motivated by winning.

Not money. Not a grand cause.

Winning.

In the way an athlete is motivated by winning.

The challenge. The competition. The pursuit of excellence.

But unlike a lot of people who talk about ambition, he seems equally committed to the other side of the deal.

The responsibility. The accountability.

The fact that more people, more customers, more investors, and more employees become part of every decision you make.

Maybe that’s why work-life balance barely exists in his version of the story.

Winning matters.

A lot. But so does accountability.

Because even while chasing extraordinary outcomes, he’s constantly thinking about the people affected along the way.

Not just what it takes to win.

What it takes to win without losing sight of the humans on the other side of the decisions.