Supporting emerging Jewish tech talent

When Max Kauseman and Ari Kark launched J Combinator after the COVID pandemic, they envisioned more than just another networking group.

They sought to create an impactful support infrastructure for Jewish Australians navigating the rapidly evolving tech and startup landscape.

“It was really about having a ‘pay it forward’ ethos of supporting each other with things like jobs, mentorship, resources and connections,” Kauseman told The AJN last week.

He explained how, as Australia’s startup ecosystem has matured, young Jewish professionals were increasingly joining small tech companies, rather than traditional profession fields like accounting, finance, law or medicine.

“Often, they’d find themselves unsure of who and how to ask for support, as they lacked access to the internal training structures that are in place at larger corporations.

“So, we think that we are a really valuable infrastructure for that support.”

J Combinator is now a registered charity and has grown to more than 500 members across Melbourne and Sydney, supported by a nine-person committee.

It runs regular events in both cities, featuring successful Jewish founders, investors and innovators, it maintains a growing members’ database and it operates Slack channels, where members can post job vacancies, seek advice, mentorship and share industry insights.

Panellists and guest speakers at J Combinator events in the last 18 months include Gabby Leibovich (Catch and Luxury Escapes), Olly Hoffman and Matt Blode (Fingertip), Adam McCurdie (Humanitix), Matt Leibowitz (Stake), Les Szekely (the key investor behind Siteminder), Ruslan Kogan, Dr Ella Heffernan Marks and David Shein, who founded Australia’s first unicorn and now runs OIF Ventures.

Kauseman points to Australia’s Jewish community punching above its weight in the tech and innovation space, from early internet generation successes like Seek and Patch, to emerging startups like Refundid, Safewill, Tixel, Bridgit and Flagship.

He is not surprised by that success and credits it partly to the community’s willingness to support early believers who want to see the next generation of peers succeed.

“There’s been a deep pool of younger talent building new businesses and learning and benefiting from advice, connectivity and angel checks from other Jewish investors and successful entrepreneurs, that then go on to pay it forward themselves.

“J Combinator has been been meaningful and helpful to people in it and I think even more so, when facing the challenges the Jewish community has had in the last two years.”

He added, there is scope for J Combinator members to come and set up additional projects, whether that be research trips to Israel, or mentorship programs.

For Kauseman, who has since started his own venture – Advance VC – that support network has proven invaluable.

His advice to emerging talent is simple.

“Remember that this is a people business. So, invest in serendipity, turn up to events and build your networks, even before you have an ‘ask’.

“It’s about building relationships and also being generous and paying it forward, as that often comes back for you in leaps and bounds.”