Oct 20 2020 72 mins
On this episode, the first of the Lone Soldier Podcast, I sat down with Nuri Golan, a former commando and officer in Shayetet 13, the Israeli Navy Seals. Nuri moved to Israel after getting his degree in Aeronautical Engineering from George Washington University, and served for 6 years in the Seal teams. Nuri and I spoke about the move from the United States to Israel and the cultural adjustment that came with it. We went on to discuss the good, bad, ugly, and funny parts of training and military service, as well as lessons learned from special forces training. We touched on how those lessons served Nuri in the business world, and even managed to sneak a little politics in at the end. After finishing his military service, Nuri founded and ultimately sold EXO technologies to Lear Corporation before beginning his latest adventure as the CEO and cofounder of Sosivio. I hope you enjoy!
0:00 - Welcome to the Podcast
2:00 - What inspired Nuri to join the IDF
4:32 - Joining the IDF as an adult surrounded by 18 year olds
7:07 - Funny story highlighting the challenge of company commanders being the same age as their soldiers
8:21 - Pre-Army Life
9:15 - The tryout process for the Navy Seals
11:45- What motivated Nuri to push through the tryouts
14:18 - What the evaluators are looking for in cadets during the tryouts
16:01 - Basic/Advanced Training
18:40 - Funny stories from Basic
21:18 - Life off base
22:22 - Swimming out the booze
23:22 - The Lone Soldier community
26:28 - The challenges of being a Lone Soldier
28:25 - The pace of life in the military
31:10 - The IDF looking after it's Lone Soldiers
34:30 - Becoming an Officer
36:14 - Interactions with American Soldiers
39:15 - Adversity builds character
41:00 - The psychology of pushing through adversity
45:30 - Readjusting to civilian life.
50:00 - The bonds between soldiers endure after service
51:40 - The Masters program that ultimately led Nuri to become the CEO of EXO Technologies
55:38 - The move to America
57:53- Getting bought
59:29 - Nuri's new role as the CEO/Co-founder of Sosivio
1:02:00 - Lessons from the Special Forces and their application to business
1:03:50 - Teamwork
1:04:15 - Admitting your mistakes
1:05:57 - Politics
1:11:10 - Closing thoughts- advice for future IDF soldiers/entrepreneurs