Yossi Sela joined Gemini in 1993 and became Managing Partner in 1998. He is one of the most accomplished venture capitalists in Israel, with over ten successful exits in his career.
Yossi sits on the boards of Gemini portfolio companies ConteXtream, PrimeSense, The Gifts Project and Xjet Solar; his past positions include Allot Communications, Saifun Semiconductors, Commtouch, Precise, Ornet Data Communication Technologies and many others. In 1995, he served as the interim CEO of Ornet until its acquisition by German giant Siemens in September that year.
"I hate losing. With every company, I put up a fight. When I stepped in as interim CEO of Ornet, I knew what we had going for us – great technology and a strong team - but there was major disagreement among the founders about the company’s direction. I understood a few things: from the company’s perspective there was no way they could raise additional capital – their only hope for survival was an exit. From Gemini’s perspective I knew that there was no way I was going to have a ‘first loser before our first winner’ (Ornet was one of Gemini’s first investments). It took six months of single-minded determination, from Gemini and the Ornet founding team, to sell the company and keep the management team from splintering – not to mention more hours driving from Ramat Hasharon to Carmiel than I’d like to remember – but we did it."
Yossi was also actively involved in saving Precise from closure during a difficult period in 1997. You can read more about this story in a Harvard Business School case study.
From 1990 to 1992, Yossi served as VP of Marketing at DSP Group (Nasdaq: DSPG). He later served as VP of Marketing at DSP Communications, a spin-off of DSP Group. Prior to DSP, he worked at Daisy Systems as a Marketing Manager.
"It’s hard to work with entrepreneurs for a living if you haven’t been there. How can you explain the experience of being completely out of cash to someone who’s spent his entire career at an investment bank? At DSPC I was responsible for fundraising. The process took us 12 months and by the end, we were paying salaries from the bottom-up. I hadn’t been paid in weeks. When we finally cut a deal with Clal, the agreement was signed on a Friday, and the following Sunday salaries were paid – we were that close to shutting down.
So how does the turnaround happen? Is it just dumb luck? Sometimes, yes. But more often than not, the dumb luck comes after someone makes a painful but company saving decision. At Gemini portfolio company Precise, the tough decision was to split the two product lines into two distinct companies. It was difficult to do – splitting assets, boards, employees – and no one knew for sure that it would work. In the end, our piece, Precise, had a Nasdaq IPO, and the other piece was acquired by Sun."
Yossi spent 10 years in an elite intelligence unit of the Israel Defense Forces, reaching the rank of Major. He holds a BSc in Electrical Engineering from the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology and an MBA from Tel Aviv University. Yossi sits on the Board of Trustees of the Recanati School of Business. He was also named to the Managing Committee of the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute of the Technion.
"I have had a policy over the last 17 years which is that any portfolio CEO, for any reason, can contact me and make a meeting with me within 24 hours. Why? Because we here at Gemini are a team. You get the full benefit of my experience and Ed’s experience whether or not we actually sit on your Board. All members of the team work for you."
