Everyone knows his work — he literally writes the annual Exits Report at PwC — but few know what he actually does for founders and deals, behind the scenes. Meet Yaron Weizenbluth, Partner & Head of Assurance at PwC Israel, who has quietly advised, audited, and signed off on hundreds of tech transactions and IPOs over the past two decades.
In this episode, hear about fatal founder mistakes, the power of informal relationship building in the advisory world, navigating the tension between what’s best for the founder vs. what’s best for the company.
Inside:
- What founders get wrong about personal vs. corporate tax exposure
- The reverse pyramid: why early-stage startups need senior advisors, not juniors- Due diligence - who should and shouldn’t work on it
- Questions of positioning the company to acquirers by using your advisors.
- Why the data room is “a meat grinder” — and how to come out whole
Navigate the show:
(0:00) Show intro
(03:15) How Yaron became “Mr. Exits Report”
(05:30) The media’s distortion of tech: hype cycles, fear cycles, and the real economy underneath.
(11:46) Are we screwed? Startup formation trends and optimism in hard times
(15:44) Fewer, better startups
(19:00) What Big Four advisors actually do
(27:50) Fatal mistakes: IP structure, personal tax exposure, and founder blind spots.
(30:22) Trusted advisors and informal relationships: building them before the retainer.
(35:20) Maturity and global mindset: where Israeli founders still lag.
(40:03) Data rooms are meat grinders: what founders must plan from day one.
(44:05) Should founders join every M&A meeting?
(49:08) Israeli vs. U.S. acquirers: checklist culture, trust, and flexibility.
(53:04) Who should run due diligence? (1:03:05) Yaron’s personal endgame
With hosts Sophia Tupolev-Luz and Zeevi Michel.This episode is in Hebrew with English-only subtitles.
Transcript here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZjfLuF59kWcN0sTt2uY_RtEiiY7JjGZlk2BFcFBriH0/edit?usp=sharing
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About:Israel’s tech M&A show delivers unfiltered conversations with key players from the startup lifecycle. This is a podcast for startups about the path to mergers and acquisitions—and their aftermath. We’re here to go behind the scenes to look at how transactions go terribly wrong or terrifically right.
Our goal:To give founders new perspectives from the buy-side, sell-side, and investors—so they can better plan for their own endgame.
Produced by: Sophia Tupolev-Luz
Location: Google for Startups Campus Studio, Tel Aviv
Audio and video editing: Tomer Frishman