Eran Yacobovitch is the Performance Marketing Lead at Lightricks, and Co-founder of the Facebook page “HiTech Problems” (צרות בהייטק). He is an occasional runner and mobile-photography aficionado, who recently discovered passions for gardening and bread baking.
What are you working on these days?
I am currently the Performance Marketing Lead at Lightricks, a Jerusalem-based startup (creators of Facetune and Enlight), working on reinventing creativity on mobile.
2 years ago, my best friend Arbel Zinger and I co-founded “HiTech Problems” (צרות בהייטק).
HiTech Problems is a platform where people from the Israeli HiTech community, who face the same unique challenges, can talk to each other – either to get advice from someone who experienced the same scenario, or just to share a laugh about the ridiculousness of some “problems” in the daily life of HiTech employee (״No gluten-free cupcakes!״).
What was your first position In the Startup-Nation?
After working for several years for an advertising agency, while studying Communications and Philosophy at the Hebrew University, it was Arbel that told me about a newly founded Jerusalem-based startup called Lightricks – “the founders are crazy smart people”, he said.
So 3.5 years ago I was accepted as a Marketing Analyst to Lightricks, and my journey in the startup world officially started. I joined Lightricks while the company only had 13 employees.
Today we’re over 70 people strong, working on super exciting things. Working in a startup, especially a fast-growing one, is quite demanding and each person has great responsibilities.
I enjoy every minute of it. I love the fact that it’s not the typical “HiTech experience” – and part of it is because we’re located in a quiet, green, village-like setting, with a beautiful garden and relaxed atmosphere.
What was your first job ever?
A barista at a quiet little cafe called ‘Chocolatte’ in the old part of Rosh Pina. The place had (and still has) that famous “Galilee atmosphere” with its beautiful old stone house, the view and the unique people of the neighborhood.
What life event or moment affected your life the most?
Born and raised in Tzfat, living in a big city like Tel Aviv or Jerusalem wasn’t something I planned. I always loved the quiet, slow-paced life of the Galilee area, so when I finished my military service I rented a small place in Kibbutz Mahanayim and started studying winery in Tel-Hai College.
Graduating and wondering about the future, I decided to jump in with both feet and move to Tel Aviv. Looking back, this was the trigger for a series of wonderful events, including a later move to Jerusalem.
That pretty much made me into the person I am today: leaving my “comfort zone” wasn’t easy, but most of the time it’s very rewarding, and I’m happy I did it.
Best advice you received or would like to share?
One of the most profound things I’ve learned from working in a startup, especially a bootstrapped one, is how to be more test oriented – both as a practical method for decision making and also as a general strategy.
If you think something has potential, and testing it is feasible, go ahead and “test the water”. Explore, and if that works, then scale. I find myself applying this way of thinking in many aspects of my life.
Follow Eran
Linkedin
Twitter
Instagram
Facebook
HiTech Problem (Facebook Page)
HiTech Problem (Facebook Group)
