Daniel Cohen, who joined Gemini in 2001, specializes in investments in the areas of consumer Internet, digital media and software as a service (SaaS).
He sits on the boards of Gemini companies adap.tv, Eyeview, MassiveImpact, Outbrain, Sense of Fashion, SupportSpace, Virtual Tweens and WatchDox.
Before becoming a Partner, Danny was a Principal at Gemini, responsible for the fund’s deal flow and deal sourcing process. He participated in the investment process of numerous companies, including dbMotion and Allot Communications.
“In recent years, venture capital and entrepreneurship have expanded globally, and startups are emerging across the US, Europe and the Far East. For Israeli entrepreneurs, the competitive challenge is constantly growing, as more and more dollars are flowing in every sub-category. In such an environment, it’s important to work with VCs that have specific and relevant expertise. In the past few years I have been focusing on consumer Internet and SaaS related businesses, leveraging my knowledge in advertising (Outbrain, adap.tv), software as a service (Confidela, Supportspace and Eyeview), and digital media (Virtual Tweens and Sense of Fashion)."
Danny began his career as a software developer and product manager in a few Israeli high-tech companies. In his last position, he ran strategic marketing for Commtouch (Nasdaq: CTCH).
“Start-ups often forget that signing a contract with a partner, reseller or OEM is not a success in and of itself – it's just the beginning. This is a lesson I learned the hard way. When I was at Commtouch, we signed a huge multi-million dollar deal that I managed and championed to the management of the company. It was the biggest deal ever done at Commtouch. Unfortunately, it was never implemented. Our inability to foresee major relationship and implementation problems led to the demise of the project. What happens after the contract is signed is when the real game starts. That was a tough lesson to learn but it has become very useful to me.”
Danny has a BA in computer science and psychology from Tel Aviv University and an MBA from INSEAD.
In addition, Danny writes a blog entitled Israel Venture Capital 2.0, where he posts about Israeli technology, consumer Internet, rock music, and sports.
