How to Start a Startup: Introducing Our Panel

Welcome to “How to Start a Startup,” a short series aimed at giving aspiring entrepreneurs a range of views about starting a new team, product, or initiative.

When I initially had this idea to collate some answers from founders for would-be-founders, I had no idea I would get so many great people willing to lend their time and wisdom to the series. In early interviews, I’ve been impressed with the candor and weight of the perspectives expressed, often leaving with the wonderful feeling of knowing there is so much left to learn and accomplish.

When conducting these interviews, I asked the participants to be true to themselves and present a strong point of view - their own! I think that can otherwise be difficult to do because they want to be as objective and balanced as possible. My hope is that the format of presenting several answers, side-by-side, provides the balance and objectivity that good advice requires. 

I’m excited to introduce our panel and am looking forward to sharing their advice over the coming weeks.

Meet the founders

“How to Start a Startup” panelists, a short series aimed at giving aspiring entrepreneurs a range of views about starting a new team, product, or initiative.

Who is Daniel Chait?

Daniel Chait, CEO and Co-founder of Greenhouse, speaking at the Digital Asset’s panel of entrepreneursDaniel Chait, CEO and Co-founder of Greenhouse, speaking at the Digital Asset’s panel of entrepreneurs

Daniel Chait is CEO and Co-founder of Greenhouse, which builds software tools to help companies make recruiting a competitive advantage. Before Greenhouse, Chait co-founded Lab49, a global firm providing technology consulting solutions for the world's leading investment banks.

Who is Marwan Forzley?


Marwan Forzley is the Co-founder and CEO of Veem, speaking at the Digital Asset’s panel of entrepreneurs

Marwan Forzley is the Co-founder and CEO of Veem, a next-generation global payment provider that enables businesses to send and receive payments in local currency quickly and securely. Veem uses the blockchain as a new settlement rail to enable frictionless and inexpensive payments.

Who is Nimrod Lehavi?


Nimrod Lehavi is the Co-founder and CEO of Simplex, speaking at the Digital Asset’s panel of entrepreneurs

Nimrod Lehavi is the Co-founder and CEO of Simplex, a licensed financial institution that provides an online fraud-free payment processing solution. 

Serial entrepreneur, tech, maker, geek, crypto head, Nimrod’s career spans more than two decades of entrepreneurship and management experience. His reputation precedes him in the startup scene and blockchain community for his vision, leadership and proven ability to innovate and scale as well as his no-BS mentality.

Nimrod is a board member of the Israeli Bitcoin Association and holds a BA in computer science from IDC Herzliya, Israel.

Who is Ben Milne?


Ben Milne is the Founder and Chairman of Dwolla Inc., speaking at the Digital Asset’s panel of entrepreneurs

Ben Milne is the Founder and Chairman of Dwolla Inc., the programmable payment platform. Dwolla has been recognized by Fast Company as one of the world’s “Most Innovative Companies” and is based in Des Moines, Iowa. The company services millions of end users enabling billions of dollars of commerce annually.

Milne has been recognized by MIT, Goldman Sachs, Forbes, and Inc. He holds various patents for payment processing technologies and helped invent an era of social, contactless, and real time payments. Milne has participated in the development of solutions with governments organizations, a global non-profit, and the world’s largest exchanges on adopting real time programmable payment technologies.

Who is Arti Arora Raman?

Arti Arora Raman is the Founder and CEO of Titaniam, speaking at the Digital Asset’s panel of entrepreneursArti Arora Raman is the Founder and CEO of Titaniam, speaking at the Digital Asset’s panel of entrepreneurs

Arti Arora Raman is the founder and CEO of Titaniam, a cybersecurity startup that is aimed at addressing a major vulnerability in big data platforms. The company has recently finished building its first product with the help of early customer design partners and is on the verge of emerging from stealth. Arti has over twenty years in Enterprise Software of which ten have been in the information security industry most recently at Symantec and RiskVision. Prior to her career in security, Arti was founder and CEO of Liquid Engines, an Enterprise Resource Optimization company. Liquid Engines was acquired by Thomson Reuters.

Who is Eric Saraniecki?


W. Eric Saraniecki is one of the founders of Digital Asset, speaking at the Digital Asset’s panel of entrepreneurs

Eric Saraniecki is one of the founders of Digital Asset. Prior to DA, Eric built a trading desk at DRW trading that specialized in illiquid commodity markets and co-founded Cumberland Mining, one of the largest crypto-asset liquidity providers in the world.  

Who is Michael Shaulov?

Michael Shaulov is the CEO and Co-founder of Fireblocks, speaking at the Digital Asset’s panel of entrepreneursMichael Shaulov is the CEO and Co-founder of Fireblocks, speaking at the Digital Asset’s panel of entrepreneurs


Michael Shaulov is the CEO and Co-founder of Fireblocks, a secure digital asset infrastructure company. Prior to Fireblocks, he co-founded Lacoon Mobile Security, which was acquired by Check Point, and was then appointed the Head of Products, Mobile and Cloud Security for Check Point. Michael is a serial cybersecurity entrepreneur and investor. He is also a recognized industry speaker, delivering talks at RSA Conference, BlackHat and Infosec. 

Before his commercial endeavors, Michael pioneered the mobile security field in an elite military technological unit (8200), where he received the Israeli Presidential Excellency Honor for his contributions. He holds a BSc in Computer Sciences and Physics from Ben-Gurion University, Israel.

What’s ahead

In the weeks ahead, we’ll explore these high-level topics: 

  • What to consider before making the leap
  • How to build a founding team
  • Early funding strategy
  • Hiring first few employees
  • Life beyond the first few months

Each post will comprise a short set of questions about a specific topic. Our participants will offer their own views and we encourage you to add your voice to the discussion. You find also the first blog here: How to start a startup. 

Do you have your own questions for Digital Asset’s panel of entrepreneurs? Please write to us at community@daml.com.

Also find out how you can build the startup of your dreams in just days by visiting Project DABL