I've spent my entire life building at the intersection of AI, technology, and small business.

I've been fascinated by technology since I was a kid – dial-up modems, Sierra Online, BBSs, ICQ.

And by AI since college – staying up reading Gödel, Escher, Bach and helping teach computer science classes before they were trendy.

I went on to build AI directly – at Microsoft, in emerging tech at IBM, at a startup building the world's first commercial chatbots, and on AI projects for major government agencies.

I've been just as passionate about helping small businesses flourish – building companies and investing in this space is pretty much all I've ever done.

My dad is American, my mom is Israeli, and I grew up in small-town America (Fresno, California). When I was in college, my great-aunt was killed in a terrorist attack in Israel. I refused to believe the conflict was intractable – and believed thriving small businesses on both sides could make everyone's lives better.

So I co-founded a non-political, non-profit microcredit fund with Palestinians, Americans, and Israelis – growing small businesses across the West Bank, Gaza, and Israel. We were Kiva's first partner in the Middle East, I was on CNN before I turned 21, and our story reached millions.

I've spent the rest of my career building technology to scale impact like that globally.

I advised the first small-business private equity fund in postwar Sierra Leone, worked at one of Africa's largest venture funds, helped incubate one of China's largest fintech funds, served as a Silicon Valley venture partner and board member, and advised prime ministers and CEOs across Southeast Asia at McKinsey.

I've also founded and run businesses myself: a tech company that helped thousands of financial advisors better serve the middle class – acquired by a Global Fortune 500 company – and a Latin American small business lender that brought the first credit card of its kind to thousands of micro-entrepreneurs, whose technology will now be used by leading fintech and AI companies.

The common thread in everything I've done is working with great people and using technology to lift up communities and improve quality of life – for business leaders, their employees, and their customers.

Great things always start with great people. 

Talented people – with deep operating experience, running businesses in communities they know well and are trusted in.

This also happens to build a better world – the future I want for myself and my family, where we use technology and AI to empower people rather than replace them.

I believe AI will change many things – and so much will stay the same. The fundamentals of building a great business and delighting customers will never change – new technology just gives you a broader toolkit to do it better and faster.

If you share this mission and want to see if there's a good place to plug in, I'd love to hear from you.

Sincerely,

Uri Pomerantz, Founder & CEO