Finding Founders

In this episode, Yehuda Niv, founder of Spines and Niv Publishing, shares his entrepreneurial journey from a struggling musician to a publishing disruptor. Yehuda details how he built Israel’s largest publishing house, scaling it to over 1,200 books a year, and later transitioned into AI-powered publishing with Spines, securing $16M in Series A funding.Key takeaways include: Navigating failure: How Yehuda moved from an unsuccessful music career to engineering and eventually publishing. Scaling a business: Lessons from nearly going bankrupt twice and how he ultimately structured a self-sufficient management team. AI’s role in publishing: How Spines automates book formatting, cover design, metadata optimization, and distribution, allowing authors to bypass traditional publishing constraints. Fundraising strategy: Yehuda’s insights on securing venture capital, including his bold approach to pitching Oren Zeev (early investor in Audible). Leadership philosophy: The importance of mentors, data-driven decision