Episode 2: Or Bokobza– Building Community at Scale

What happens when the CEO of a fast-growing tech company is called to the front lines of a war? In this episode, we sit down with Or Bokobza, Co-Founder and CEO of Venn and a founding partner of the hospitality giant Selina.

Or’s journey is anything but traditional. Raised on a kibbutz and trained in Israel’s most elite Special Forces unit, he has spent his life obsessed with a single question: How do we create a true sense of belonging in a disconnected world? We dive deep into the harrowing month following October 7th, where Or was deployed to Gaza while his co-founder, Chen Avni, managed their global operations solo. We also explore the "Proptech" revolution, the hard lessons learned from the rise and fall of Selina, and why Or believes the future of real estate isn't in automation, it’s in human connection.

Episode Highlights

• The October 7th Deployment: Or shares a raw, first-person account of being called into combat as a reserve officer and the "leadership by proxy" required to keep a company running from a war zone.
• The Kibbutz Blueprint: How growing up in a cooperative Israeli community shaped Or’s vision for "draining the swamps" of modern urban isolation.
• The Selina Post-Mortem: A candid look at the meteoric rise and public struggles of Selina, and how those lessons paved the way for Venn’s strategy.
• The $10M Bozzuto Deal: The inside story of the two-year due diligence process that led to Venn’s massive partnership covering 100,000+ apartments.
• Proptech vs. People: Why the industry is wrong about "efficiency" and why turning apartment buildings into consumer brands is the only way to survive.
• The Special Forces Bond: A look at the 20-year brotherhood between Or and his co-founder Chen, forged in the military and tested in the boardroom.

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