20-Minute Leaders“That's the truth in starting something: it’s putting yourself out there to be judged by other people.”
20-Minute Leaders
“That's the truth in starting something: it’s putting yourself out there to be judged by other people.”
Though one of his main goals is to have fun and make sure other people have fun, co-founder and president of Kissterra Ifty Kerzner puts in plenty of hard work to make that happen.
Though one of his main goals is to have fun and make sure other people have fun, Ifty Kerzner puts in plenty of hard work to make that happen. Now the co-founder and president of Kissterra, an insurance marketing operating system, he explains that putting in the effort to do what is necessary helps those around you engage with you and your cause. Kerzner shares that when first starting out in entertainment or entrepreneurship, you have to be willing to put yourself out there and give it your best shot. He started out in music despite having no training because he really believed in himself and his family supported him too. He had some hit songs in Israel before his three years as a host on Arutz HaYeladim. Kerzner says his true talent throughout his career has been finding the best people to help him with his journey.
Ifty Kerzner, welcome to 20 Minute Leaders. I used to watch you on the television screen, except then I would talk but you didn't respond.
I responded. You couldn't hear me. It was an amazing period of time in my life. Probably the best job I ever had. Everything had its time and its place in the course of life. I see a lot of similarities between that and what I do now. When you think about what I'm trying to do today at Kissterra, it’s making sure that people enjoy their time there and have a good time. The atmosphere is so important. For the last 17 years, I've been doing the same thing: trying to have fun, trying to have the people around me have fun, enjoy themselves.
While I do want us to get to Kissterra, first I want to understand you better. I want to dive deeper into what you did as a television host because literally every kid in Israel would come home and watch this show.
Everybody watched it. We all grew up in it. I was just fortunate enough for three years to be there as a host of the show. It's all about enjoying yourself, believing in yourself, and trying to go through a path of something that you actually believe in.
I never planned to be a host of Arutz HaYeladim, Israel's children channel. I came up from an entrepreneurial house. I think it's really important having somebody in your household that believes in you. You really have to grow from a sense of that. Besides only entrepreneurship, it was just believing in yourself in anything. When I was 17, I came up to my mom and I said, "Hey Mom, I'm going to have a number one song on the radio." She said, "Hey honey, listen, I love you and you're talented. But you don't know how to sing or play an instrument." I said, "Listen, Mom, I think I figured out something about human beings and I think I can figure this out." She was like, "You know what, son? Go get it." They supported me, and they really believed in me.
In my very early 20s and late teens, I had some very successful musical songs, like “Halayelah Ya'avor” and “Meah Mileyonn Kokhavim.” They all came from that belief of, "I think I'm onto something and I'm willing to put myself on the line to test it.” That's the truth in starting something. It doesn't matter if it's a company, a TV show, or being a musician. It means putting yourself out there to be judged by other people. Get on the playing field, try, give it your best shot. I'm a big believer in that.
It can't be that just everything worked out perfectly. It's not possible.
It has been a wild 18 years. I've been very eclectic. I was very fortunate, and God blessed me to be successful as a musician, as a TV host, and now as a company owner and co-founder with my amazing partner, Segev Shilton.
But I think it's more about believing in yourself and putting in the hours. I've been grinding for the last 17 years of my life. I've unfortunately lost connection with my friends. I can hardly see my family. That's not trying to paint a picture like everything works perfectly. It works perfectly because I think I'm talented enough, I had enough belief, my surroundings had belief in me, and I put in the effing time. I hate this stupid 2022 shortcut kind of thing and those kids who make millions off Tiktok.
What I've been taught in my family is hustle. Wake up, go hustle. It's a messy life. But I was fortunate enough to be successful. Not everyone is successful, just statistically speaking. You also need to be lucky. You need God to shine His love on you. The way He touched me is He woke me up in the morning and He said, "Ifty, you better go to work, son."
Kissterra is the world's first insurance marketing operating system. We help insurance carriers in the US, mostly auto insurance carriers, run effective and profitable marketing campaigns, digital marketing, and distribution. We were bootstrapped for six and a half years. A year ago, we did our first round, round-A, $76 million from Menora Mivtachim and Bank Hapoalim. We were very lucky to have that. But we still grind. I still fly in hours that are not hours to places that are not places. I'm the same guy that used to catch buses at Tel Aviv to record my first album. Now, I'm doing that trying to secure partnerships with the largest insurance carriers in the world in the United States. That mindset of "Attack. Go. Go get it. Nobody's going to get it for you" I think is super important in leadership, in entrepreneurship.
I think you need to lead by example. I think if people see you putting in the time, putting in the effort, doing what's necessary, it really helps people relate to you, relate to the cause, and just feel better about taking part in this. So if you want to bring it back to the entertainment industry, this is what we're doing. We're trying to keep the conversation entertaining. Don't take yourself too seriously.
Two thoughts. The first theme is hustling and grinding. At the end, it's all about hard work. And the entertainment, really, it's about curiosity. How do I get the other person to really listen to me and to form a conversation? This is what it's all about.
I don't want to sugar coat this. I work in a tech company that built a core platform for insurance carriers. The way you make it interesting, the way you make it engaging, is caring. It is doing it your way. It is doing it differently. I actually care about my partners. I see them as people trying to provide for their families, just like I'm trying to provide for my family. That puts us on a mission together.
I'm trying to sell good people doing a good job. The AI, machine learning, and data science, that's all going to come constructed upon that. But let's start as we are as people: Can we relate to each other? Do we have a common ground? Do we have common beliefs? Because if not, our partnership is not going to be that prosperous.
Something that is really important is good people. I know it's cliche. I do not know how to do anything by myself. I think my talent was gathering the smartest, best, nicest, kindest people around me. Our company really cares. When you come visit our office, it doesn't look like every other office. We care about each other. We care about being positive and kind. My life is living proof that if you're confident with that and if you have enough talent, you can really do whatever you want to.
I'm distilling it to this idea of let's remember why we're doing what we're doing. We're not here to make money. We're not here just to sell software or to just build products. How do we make it a win-win situation for all of us and have a great time doing so?
When we opened the company, it was about money. We weren't looking to change the world. Because when you don't have money, what you're looking for is money. The first couple of years, it was about making money and we were laser focused. Only after we were fortunate enough to make money, we said, "You know what? Maybe we can change the world. Maybe now that we have enough, we're actually in a better position to refocus ourselves on really creating impact and really creating that environment." Put yourself in a position where you're comfortable, when you can take care of your family. Then that really grounds you and gives you the ability to look at the other and really be a better person externally. That's from my personal experience and that's what I believe in.
Michael Matias, Forbes 30 Under 30, is the author of Age is Only an Int: Lessons I Learned as a Young Entrepreneur. He studies Artificial Intelligence at Stanford University, is a Venture Partner at J-Ventures and was an engineer at Hippo Insurance. Matias previously served as an officer in the 8200 unit. 20MinuteLeaders is a tech entrepreneurship interview series featuring one-on-one interviews with fascinating founders, innovators and thought leaders sharing their journeys and experiences.
Contributing editors: Michael Matias, Megan Ryan
