Eran Shir of Nexar: From Missile Defense to Uncrashable Cars

Eran Shir of Nexar: From Missile Defense to Uncrashable Cars

Eran Shir started as a theoretical physicist studying black holes. Then he helped build Israel’s Arrow missile unit. Then he crowdsourced a map of the internet. Then he sold an AI company to Yahoo. And somehow, that was all before Nexar. In this episode of Aggaeus, Haggai Klorman Eraqi sits down with Eran Shir, co-founder of Nexar, for a conversation about one of the hardest frontiers in AI: making machines understand the physical world. Not the clean, predictable world of demos. The real world. The one with bad drivers, potholes, snowstorms, unicycles, kids chasing balls into the street, broken stop signs, fleet operators, latency constraints, cheap edge devices, and edge cases that can kill people. Nexar began with a deceptively simple question: What if your phone camera could see the road the way Waze sees traffic? That idea became a network of hundreds of thousands of connected vehicles, collecting billions of miles of real-world driving data every year — including tens of millions of rare, weird, dangerous, impossible-to-stage scenarios. Eran explains why the future of autonomy is not only about better algorithms. It is about data density, edge intelligence, economics, and the messy long tail of reality. He also shares the story behind BADASS 2.0, Nexar’s world model for collision prediction, explainability, planning, and risk avoidance — and why its behavior outside driving scenarios surprised even the team that built it. In this episode, we cover: • Why Eran calls himself a “failed physicist” • The difference between AI in the cloud and AI in the physical world • Why autonomous driving is a “where” question, not a “when” question • How Nexar built a real-world vision network across hundreds of thousands of vehicles • The economics of collecting road data when other companies spend millions to get it • What BADASS 2.0 can do, and why it may generalize beyond cars This is a conversation about roads, physics, AI, defense systems, drones, startups, and the strange moment we are entering. Where software no longer just understands text. It is starting to understand motion, risk, and the world itself. Check out the full episode notes, transcripts, and all links on Substack: 👉 https://aggaeus.com/ [https://aggaeus.com/] SPONSORS - EXCLUSIVE FOR AGGAEUS PODCAST LISTENERS: KARDZ.BIZ BUY 2, GET 3 ON KARDZ.BIZ — UP TO $479 VALUE. [https://kardz.biz/?ref=yqrmczty] AGGAEUSB2G3PREMIUM - for PREMIUM cards AGGAEUSB2G3PRO+ - for PRO+ cards When face-to-face impressions matter, pull out Kardz.Biz, the “business card too good to give away”. Use this link: https://kardz.biz/?ref=yqrmczty [https://kardz.biz/?ref=yqrmczty] BETTER WEIGHT FOR LIFE SAVE 10% ON BETTER WEIGHT FOR LIFE’S GLP-1 PROGRAMS WITH CODE AGGAEUS10 (LIMITED TIME). [https://www.betterweightforlife.com/partners/aggaeus] Better Weight For Life is a transformational weight loss program led by a U.S. board-certified physician—designed to keep it simple: personalized GLP-1 treatment, expert support, and discreet delivery. They offer options including Ozempic®, Wegovy®, Zepbound®, Mounjaro®, plus compounded semaglutide and compounded tirzepatide (eligibility depends on your medical evaluation). Claim the offer here: https://www.betterweightforlife.com/partners/aggaeus [https://www.betterweightforlife.com/partners/aggaeus] CONNECT WITH ERAN SHIR LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/eranshir/] Nexar [https://www.nexar-ai.com/] CONNECT WITH HAGGAI LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/klormaneraqi/] FOLLOW AGGAEUS Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/aggaeus/] TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@aggaeus] YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@AggaeusOfficial] SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/aggaeus/id1844550735] INQUIRIES 💼 Sponsorships / Business: talktous@aggaeus.com [talktous@aggaeus.com] 🎙 Podcast: DM via Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/aggaeus/] DISCLAIMER Some links may earn affiliate commissions. Offers, terms, and availability may change without notice. Aggaeus content is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should conduct your own research and consult qualified professionals before making any decisions. We may feature companies, products, or entities in which Aggaeus, its affiliates, or the author have invested or may invest, or with which they have had, have, or may have a financial, professional, or other relationship.

Yair Attar on Building an “Too Early” Startup That Got Acquired Twice

Yair Attar spent years leading nation-state incident response in the IDF before co-founding OTORIO an OT cybersecurity company built for the physical world: factories, critical infrastructure, industrial systems, and the environments where a cyberattack can shut down real operations. Then came two major exits in rapid succession. OTORIO was acquired by Armis. Not long after, Armis itself was acquired by ServiceNow. But this conversation isn’t about headline-chasing or founder mythology. It’s about what building an “early” category actually feels like when customers don’t fully believe in the problem yet, budgets haven’t formed, and your market education costs more than your product development. Yair breaks down the decisions and tradeoffs behind the growth: • Why their early funding strategy looked more like a long-term operating plan than a traditional seed round • What makes selling into industrial and OT environments uniquely difficult • How being “too early” can quietly kill otherwise good companies • Why competition can validate a market faster than your marketing ever will • The shift that took them from “interesting technology” to win rates above 80% • What buyers and boards really debate during acquisition conversations • and what changes after the deal closes, when you suddenly have to integrate into a larger platform while still building One of the most interesting parts of the conversation is Yair’s view on AI. His argument is that capability isn’t the bottleneck anymore — adoption is. Most companies aren’t struggling because the technology can’t do enough. They’re struggling because organizations, workflows, incentives, and trust move slower than the models do. This episode is for founders, operators, investors, and anyone building in markets where timing matters almost as much as product quality. Check out the full episode notes, transcripts, and all links on Substack: 👉 https://aggaeus.com/ [https://aggaeus.com/] SPONSORS - EXCLUSIVE FOR AGGAEUS PODCAST LISTENERS: KARDZ.BIZ BUY 2, GET 3 ON KARDZ.BIZ — UP TO $479 VALUE. [https://kardz.biz/?ref=yqrmczty] AGGAEUSB2G3PREMIUM - for PREMIUM cards AGGAEUSB2G3PRO+ - for PRO+ cards When face-to-face impressions matter, pull out Kardz.Biz, the “business card too good to give away”. Use this link: https://kardz.biz/?ref=yqrmczty [https://kardz.biz/?ref=yqrmczty] BETTER WEIGHT FOR LIFE SAVE 10% ON BETTER WEIGHT FOR LIFE’S GLP-1 PROGRAMS WITH CODE AGGAEUS10 (LIMITED TIME). [https://www.betterweightforlife.com/partners/aggaeus] Better Weight For Life is a transformational weight loss program led by a U.S. board-certified physician—designed to keep it simple: personalized GLP-1 treatment, expert support, and discreet delivery. They offer options including Ozempic®, Wegovy®, Zepbound®, Mounjaro®, plus compounded semaglutide and compounded tirzepatide (eligibility depends on your medical evaluation). Claim the offer here: https://www.betterweightforlife.com/partners/aggaeus [https://www.betterweightforlife.com/partners/aggaeus] CONNECT WITH YAIR ATTAR LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/yair-attar-94b36834/] Armis [https://www.armis.com/] CONNECT WITH HAGGAI LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/klormaneraqi/] FOLLOW AGGAEUS Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/aggaeus/] TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@aggaeus] YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@AggaeusOfficial] SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/aggaeus/id1844550735] INQUIRIES 💼 Sponsorships / Business: talktous@aggaeus.com [talktous@aggaeus.com] 🎙 Podcast: DM via Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/aggaeus/] DISCLAIMER Some links may earn affiliate commissions. Offers, terms, and availability may change without notice. Aggaeus content is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should conduct your own research and consult qualified professionals before making any decisions. We may feature companies, products, or entities in which Aggaeus, its affiliates, or the author have invested or may invest, or with which they have had, have, or may have a financial, professional, or other relationship.

Guy Solomon on Buying a Company, Losing 90% of Revenue, and Still Winning

Guy Solomon left investment banking to buy a small business. After years at Barclays and Wells Fargo, he went deep into the world of Search Funds and Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA) in Israel — a market filled with profitable, often overlooked SMEs that nobody was really institutionalizing yet. But this wasn’t a straight-line success story. Guy screened more than 8,000 companies, met with 150+ owners, acquired Dublo, and then had the business stress-tested almost immediately. COVID hit. Revenue dropped roughly 90%. A major database corruption nearly took the company down. Suddenly, the work wasn’t about models or deal structure anymore it was about customers, cash flow, leadership, and keeping a team steady when the pressure got real. Years later, the company was successfully sold to a TA Associates-backed buyer. This conversation is a grounded look at what buying and operating a business actually feels like once the acquisition closes: • How Search Funds and ETA work in practice • What makes an owner-operated business worth buying • Why “boring” businesses are often much harder than they look • How to lead when revenue disappears almost overnight • What customer obsession looks like operationally — not just philosophically • Why EOS and core values only matter if they hold up under stress • And what changes when you go from advising companies to carrying payroll yourself If you’re an entrepreneur, operator, investor, or someone thinking about buying a business instead of starting one from zero, this episode gets into the parts people usually leave out. Check out the full episode notes, transcripts, and all links on Substack: 👉 https://aggaeus.com/ [https://aggaeus.com/] SPONSORS - EXCLUSIVE FOR AGGAEUS PODCAST LISTENERS: KARDZ.BIZ BUY 2, GET 3 ON KARDZ.BIZ — UP TO $479 VALUE. [https://kardz.biz/?ref=yqrmczty] AGGAEUSB2G3PREMIUM - for PREMIUM cards AGGAEUSB2G3PRO+ - for PRO+ cards When face-to-face impressions matter, pull out Kardz.Biz, the “business card too good to give away”. Use this link: https://kardz.biz/?ref=yqrmczty [https://kardz.biz/?ref=yqrmczty] BETTER WEIGHT FOR LIFE SAVE 10% ON BETTER WEIGHT FOR LIFE’S GLP-1 PROGRAMS WITH CODE AGGAEUS10 (LIMITED TIME). [https://www.betterweightforlife.com/partners/aggaeus] Better Weight For Life is a transformational weight loss program led by a U.S. board-certified physician—designed to keep it simple: personalized GLP-1 treatment, expert support, and discreet delivery. They offer options including Ozempic®, Wegovy®, Zepbound®, Mounjaro®, plus compounded semaglutide and compounded tirzepatide (eligibility depends on your medical evaluation). Claim the offer here: https://www.betterweightforlife.com/partners/aggaeus [https://www.betterweightforlife.com/partners/aggaeus] CONNECT WITH GUY SOLOMON LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/guysolomon/] Trail Mark Partners [https://trailmarkpartners.com/] CONNECT WITH HAGGAI LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/klormaneraqi/] FOLLOW AGGAEUS Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/aggaeus/] TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@aggaeus] YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@AggaeusOfficial] SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/aggaeus/id1844550735] INQUIRIES 💼 Sponsorships / Business: talktous@aggaeus.com [talktous@aggaeus.com] 🎙 Podcast: DM via Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/aggaeus/] DISCLAIMER Some links may earn affiliate commissions. Offers, terms, and availability may change without notice. Aggaeus content is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should conduct your own research and consult qualified professionals before making any decisions. We may feature companies, products, or entities in which Aggaeus, its affiliates, or the author have invested or may invest, or with which they have had, have, or may have a financial, professional, or other relationship.

This Startup Built a Robot to Fight Wildfires | Gadi Benjamini, CEO of FireDome

In this episode, Haggai Klorman Eraqi sits down with Gadi Benjamini, Co-Founder & CEO of FireDome, an ex–Israeli intelligence operator from Unit 81 turned deep-tech founder building an autonomous, on-site wildfire defense system. This conversation starts with collapse: Gadi shutting down his first climate startup after October 7, going through the emotional crash that follows, and then finding his way into a problem that feels almost ancient and futuristic at the same time: fire. Wildfires are no longer distant natural disasters. They are becoming a stress test for humanity for our infrastructure, insurance systems, communities, governments, and ability to protect what we love before it disappears. Gadi and his co-founder, Adi Naor Pomerantz, saw what many people only realize after the smoke clears: insurance may compensate you, but it does not protect your home, your vineyard, your factory, your campsite, your memories, or your continuity. That insight became FireDome: a hardware-software system designed to detect, prepare for, and suppress wildfire threats on-site before they become unstoppable. We get tactical on: • Why “insurance ≠ protection” • The human drama behind wildfires: homes, communities, wineries, campsites, and generational businesses lost in hours • Why fires expose the limits of modern civilization • The FireDome approach: firebreak + structure coating + rapid detection/suppression • How ember showers create a domino effect through neighborhoods • Hardware realities: capsules, cadence, water logistics, wind, manufacturing, and deployment • What Palisades-style fires revealed about prevention, firefighting, and resilience • How founders can capture attention authentically by speaking directly to the pain people already feel This is a conversation about deep tech, climate adaptation, founder resilience, and what it means to build when the problem is not theoretical — it is already burning. Check out the full episode notes, transcripts, and all links on Substack: 👉 https://aggaeus.com/ [https://aggaeus.com/] SPONSORS - EXCLUSIVE FOR AGGAEUS PODCAST LISTENERS: KARDZ.BIZ BUY 2, GET 3 ON KARDZ.BIZ — UP TO $479 VALUE. [https://kardz.biz/?ref=yqrmczty] AGGAEUSB2G3PREMIUM - for PREMIUM cards AGGAEUSB2G3PRO+ - for PRO+ cards When face-to-face impressions matter, pull out Kardz.Biz, the “business card too good to give away”. Use this link: https://kardz.biz/?ref=yqrmczty [https://kardz.biz/?ref=yqrmczty] BETTER WEIGHT FOR LIFE SAVE 10% ON BETTER WEIGHT FOR LIFE’S GLP-1 PROGRAMS WITH CODE AGGAEUS10 (LIMITED TIME). [https://www.betterweightforlife.com/partners/aggaeus] Better Weight For Life is a transformational weight loss program led by a U.S. board-certified physician—designed to keep it simple: personalized GLP-1 treatment, expert support, and discreet delivery. They offer options including Ozempic®, Wegovy®, Zepbound®, Mounjaro®, plus compounded semaglutide and compounded tirzepatide (eligibility depends on your medical evaluation). Claim the offer here: https://www.betterweightforlife.com/partners/aggaeus [https://www.betterweightforlife.com/partners/aggaeus] CONNECT WITH GADI BENJAMINI LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/gadi-benjamini-a5544520a/] FireDome [https://www.fire-dome.com/] CONNECT WITH HAGGAI LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/klormaneraqi/] FOLLOW AGGAEUS Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/aggaeus/] TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@aggaeus] YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@AggaeusOfficial] SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/aggaeus/id1844550735] INQUIRIES 💼 Sponsorships / Business: talktous@aggaeus.com [talktous@aggaeus.com] 🎙 Podcast: DM via Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/aggaeus/] DISCLAIMER Some links may earn affiliate commissions. Offers, terms, and availability may change without notice. Aggaeus content is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should conduct your own research and consult qualified professionals before making any decisions. We may feature companies, products, or entities in which Aggaeus, its affiliates, or the author have invested or may invest, or with which they have had, have, or may have a financial, professional, or other relationship.

Elizabeth Zalman on Why Investors Aren’t Your Friends

Elizabeth Zalman is a 4x founder who’s raised ~$80M, built StrongDM, and now leads Sandgarden while also co-authoring "Founder vs Investor: The Honest Truth About Venture Capital from Startup to IPO" with Jerry Neumann. We talk about how she started as a scrappy eBay/consignment hustle that forced Elizabeth to build software before she ever “became a founder.” Then we go deep on her hard-earned lessons on how to choose investors, run boards without losing control, and why her rule is “Never send your deck.” In this episode, we cover: • The “Never Send Your Deck” rule—and how it changes your fundraising dynamics • Why investors aren’t your friends (and how to build a healthy, productive relationship anyway) • How to run board meetings that actually help (including when to use pre-reads vs live discussion) • Sandgarden’s pivot into Doc.Holiday and what AI changes about shipping code and documenting it Check out the full episode notes, transcripts, and all links on Substack: 👉 https://aggaeus.com/ [https://aggaeus.com/] SPONSORS - EXCLUSIVE FOR AGGAEUS PODCAST LISTENERS: KARDZ.BIZ BUY 2, GET 3 ON KARDZ.BIZ — UP TO $479 VALUE. [https://kardz.biz/?ref=yqrmczty] AGGAEUSB2G3PREMIUM - for PREMIUM cards AGGAEUSB2G3PRO+ - for PRO+ cards When face-to-face impressions matter, pull out Kardz.Biz, the “business card too good to give away”. Use this link: https://kardz.biz/?ref=yqrmczty [https://kardz.biz/?ref=yqrmczty] BETTER WEIGHT FOR LIFE SAVE 10% ON BETTER WEIGHT FOR LIFE’S GLP-1 PROGRAMS WITH CODE AGGAEUS10 (LIMITED TIME). [https://www.betterweightforlife.com/partners/aggaeus] Better Weight For Life is a transformational weight loss program led by a U.S. board-certified physician—designed to keep it simple: personalized GLP-1 treatment, expert support, and discreet delivery. They offer options including Ozempic®, Wegovy®, Zepbound®, Mounjaro®, plus compounded semaglutide and compounded tirzepatide (eligibility depends on your medical evaluation). Claim the offer here: https://www.betterweightforlife.com/partners/aggaeus [https://www.betterweightforlife.com/partners/aggaeus] CONNECT WITH ELIZABETH ZALMAN LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethzalman/] Sandgarden [https://www.sandgarden.com/] CONNECT WITH HAGGAI LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/klormaneraqi/] FOLLOW AGGAEUS Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/aggaeus/] TikTok [ https://www.tiktok.com/@aggaeus] YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@AggaeusOfficial] SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/aggaeus/id1844550735] INQUIRIES 💼 Sponsorships / Business: talktous@aggaeus.com [ talktous@aggaeus.com] 🎙 Podcast: DM via Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/aggaeus/] DISCLAIMER Some links may earn affiliate commissions. Offers, terms, and availability may change without notice. Aggaeus content is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should conduct your own research and consult qualified professionals before making any decisions. We may feature companies, products, or entities in which Aggaeus, its affiliates, or the author have invested or may invest, or with which they have had, have, or may have a financial, professional, or other relationship.