"My tattoo business was the trigger for Base44"
Yuval Shlomo reflects on how the business she built sparked the creation of Base44, the AI company founded by her husband, Maor Shlomo, as she leaves tattooing behind for a career in tech.
"I feel like a baby learning to walk. I'm learning concepts from the world of high tech, and I'm excited to see where it leads," Yuval Shlomo (29), the wife of Base44 founder Maor Shlomo, told Calcalist.
About a week ago, Yuval published a LinkedIn post announcing that she was closing the chapter on her career as a tattoo artist and entering the technology industry. In the post, she reflected on how her business ultimately played a role in the creation of Base44.
"A few years ago I started tattooing. I loved it, became good at it, and learned what it means to build a real business from scratch," she wrote. "Before I met my husband, I barely knew anyone who worked in high tech. It felt like a distant world, reserved for geniuses with fancy degrees. Today I know that's not true. An entrepreneur is an entrepreneur."
Yuval has now joined Base4u Solutions, a startup founded by Roei Elba, a mutual friend of hers and Maor. The company develops business management systems based on Base44 technology, and Yuval will lead its marketing and community efforts.
Yuval married Maor Shlomo (32) about six months ago. He became one of the symbols of AI's disruption of the software industry after selling Base44 to Wix for $80 million, having built the company almost entirely on his own and only months after founding it.
Base44 has since become a central part of Wix's AI strategy, although the acquisition is weighing on the company's short-term financial results because of performance-based compensation that has already earned Shlomo approximately $150 million. At the same time, Wix recently laid off around 1,000 employees, roughly one-fifth of its workforce.
Your tattoo business ultimately led to the creation of Base44. Now that the company has been sold to Wix, are you closing that chapter?
"The credit for Base44 is entirely Maor's, but for me it really does close the circle. We met because of my business, and today I'm moving into the world of technology.
"My tattoo business was simply the trigger. Maor has always been thinking about how programming knowledge prevents non-programmers from building software. There's even a WhatsApp conversation from 2021 where he discusses the idea with a friend.
"My business, a project he wanted to build for his scout troop in Haifa, and the rapid progress in AI all came together at the right moment. Before that, the technology simply wasn't ready."
So thanks to the exit, you no longer have to tattoo for a living?
"It actually started for medical reasons. After six years as a tattoo artist, I kept getting infections in my hand. At the same time, I also felt it was time for a change.
"I still create art, I paint now, mostly with Maor on weekends. Tattooing is completely different. You're working on a person, against the clock, using a vibrating machine. Painting lets me work at my own pace.
"I spent about a year figuring out what I wanted to do next. It was an identity crisis of sorts. I even studied jewelry design for a while before deciding to bring my experience as a business owner into high tech. It excites me, and that's how I knew it was the right decision."
How exactly did your tattoo business lead to Base44?
"I had two tattoo studios, in Haifa and Tel Aviv. I also taught tattooing, handled the marketing, managed the business and, of course, did the tattoos.
"We tried building a website for my business, but technically it was complicated. Maor looked at it and said, 'It can't be this difficult.'
"He built software that generated tattoo sketches in different artistic styles. Before that, creating a single sketch for a client could take me hours. Suddenly it became easy.
"Then he added appointment scheduling, bookkeeping and invoicing tools. It was still very basic compared with today's Base44, but it completely changed how I ran my business and showed me how technology could support creative work."
Today you're working at Base4u Solutions, which builds business systems using Base44. If Base44 is so easy to use, why do customers need your company?
"We're a team of five. Our developers build more complex systems, employee management, finance, operations and other business software, using Base44.
"You can build almost anything yourself, but many customers don't know where to begin. They don't always know what to ask for or how to translate their business needs into a product. That's where we come in.
"We're also working with Fusion, the venture capital fund, on a program for solo founders who have strong ideas but no technical background. At the end of the program, participants can receive a $150,000 investment. It's opening the startup world to people who otherwise wouldn't have had access."
So are you effectively a Wix employee now?
"No. Base4u Solutions is completely separate. Neither Maor nor I own it.
"It belongs to our friend Roei Elba. He doesn't have a technical degree either. He simply became obsessed with Base44 after Maor started sharing early versions with friends, and eventually built a business around helping companies use it."
After six years as a tattoo artist, you barely have any tattoos yourself.
"I'm not the stereotypical tattoo artist covered in tattoos. Mine are quite modest, butterflies, a Japanese lucky cat, an anchor. They're optimistic more than symbolic."
And Maor?
"He has one tattoo. It started as a sun and eventually became something that resembles the original Base44 logo. Everyone assumes he got it because of the company, but that's actually just a coincidence.
"Now he's asking me to give him a large tattoo, and I'm trying to talk him out of it. I told him not to rush. If he eventually decides he wants one, he knows where to find me."
Isn't it frightening to see how AI is disrupting a company like Wix?
"What I like about Base44 and Wix is that they give people everything they need to build products from end to end. And if you get stuck, there's someone to help.
"I'm sure Wix will surprise people again. It already did with the Base44 acquisition, and I'm confident it will continue adapting. That's what strong companies do."
Has the exit been life-changing?
"Neither of us came from wealthy families. My father is a self-employed contractor, and my mother is a court secretary.
"So yes, it changed our lives, mainly because we can now help other people.
"Maor has established a foundation that supports cancer startups, something that's deeply personal to him after his mother died from cancer a few months ago. He's already invested in several companies developing cancer treatments.
"His best year professionally became the hardest year of his life personally. Watching him care for his mother while simultaneously building and selling a company was extraordinary."
What did you learn about Israeli society after October 7 through your work as a tattoo artist?
"People wanted to process the trauma immediately by putting it on their bodies. I always encouraged them to wait. A tattoo stays with you forever. Give yourself time to understand what you really want to remember.
"My approach has always been that an idea should live with you for at least a year before you tattoo it. That way it remains meaningful decades later.
"After October 7, though, most of my work became memorial tattoos, portraits, dates, Stars of David, maps of Israel. You could see people's connection to Judaism and Israeli identity becoming stronger, even if it wasn't in a religious sense."
Is there one tattoo you'll never forget?
"There are many. One belonged to Noa, whose brother, Yorai Cohen, was killed on October 7 while serving in one of the elite units.
"The tattoo showed two children waving to each other, one standing on the ground, the other on a cloud. It represented the bond they shared.
"People felt that memorializing someone on their own body helped them cope. In their eyes, there is nothing more permanent than that."
