Welcome to my Entrepreneur Interview Series, where I interview impactful leaders and ask them to share tips and techniques that have benefited them, both in their personal and professional lives.
This interview is with Ido Wiesenberg, CEO and Co-Founder of Voyantis.
Ido Wiesenberg is a husband, father to three, and the CEO and co-founder of Voyantis, a predictive growth OS that enables growth and marketing teams to acquire and retain high-value users for greater long-term profitability.
My favorite productivity tip has always been to get smaller tasks out of the way earlier on in the day. There’s a popular quote from a Navy SEAL that falls along this line of thinking—to start the day by making your bed. Once you get smaller tasks out of the way, a sense of accomplishment kicks in because you’re already on a roll, and it becomes easier to take on (and focus on) the larger tasks.
Over time, it also plays a role in time management, as you’ll get a better sense of the types of tasks you can uniquely do best at different points of the day.
I’m blessed to be able to say that my family is my secret sauce to stress/anxiety management and the overall feeling of zen. No matter how intense things may get, I’ve realized that stepping aside and taking a break to just focus on quality time with my wife and kids is all I really need. I always come out of this quality time feeling refreshed, reenergized, and revitalized all around. And I feel the same goes for each of them as well.
I believe that finding the right work-life balance is the key to stress reduction, which in turn would make anyone a better version of themselves in the long run, both personally and professionally.
Aspiring entrepreneurs must put great care into finding a great co-founder early on.
You can approach this like dating if needed. It’s important for you and your partner(s) to have complementary skill sets and experiences that collectively paint a complete picture once combined. You would also want to ride good and bad waves with them early on, to see how they take on different types of situations and ensure you’re on the same wavelength when (and where) it matters most.
The bottom line is that you want to make sure that you have the same values, complete each other and that you are both optimistic and can energize one another with your enthusiasm.
I would have loved to have lunch with Shimon Peres before he passed away in 2016. In numerous aspects, he was the definition of a true dreamer and a doer. Politics aside, I’ve always seen him as the ultimate leader because of his entrepreneurial qualities. His sense of wisdom, courage, optimism, futurespective view, and ability to go on the road less taken—there’s a lot of inspiration to draw from it. In fact, there is an amazing documentary about him that’s out now on Netflix, which I highly recommend.
My favorite book is a novel by Portuguese author José Saramago titled Blindness. It presents an alternate reality in which blindness is an epidemic, which in turn changes the way humans treat one another—for better and worse. The philosophical elements throughout it make this novel a wonderful read, and the fact that we as a collective are just coming out of a pandemic adds to the significance of many of the elements in the story itself.
Throughout my career, I’ve always enjoyed wearing many hats and learning from experts across different departments. It’s a true privilege to be able to gain unique insights from enthusiastic team members, and it’s also quite the bonding experience.
Reed Hastings, the co-CEO of Netflix, stands out to me for consistently and passionately reinventing himself and his company as needed to stay ahead of the curve time and time again. That’s the mark of a true pioneer and visionary and is nothing short of inspiring from an entrepreneurial standpoint.
Simply put, the tech industry equates to endless excitement because it is ever-evolving. We, as a collective, are always at the cusp of many enhancements and changes at any given moment. However, there is also ageism in tech, which actually works against both younger and older workers in different ways. I’ve always been one to strongly enforce anti-ageist hiring policies. Diverse teams are the most well-rounded and all-encompassing teams that can easily create the most positive work dynamic—and that is a win for all.