Ronni Zehavi | Hibob
RONNI ZEHAVI
CoFounder & CEO of Hibob, a people management platform that helps fast-growing companies bring out the best in their employees.
What Is Hibob?
With triple digit YoY growth over the past three years, Hibob is the company behind bob, the intuitive and modern people management platform that is relied upon by global high-growth companies such as Happy Socks, Gong, Fiverr and Revolut. With a friendly, intuitive, and interactive design, bob is built for the way people work today - globally, remotely, and collaboratively. bob allows businesses and leaders to automate processes, develop their people, and connect their teams with a robust range of features and integration capabilities so it can be configured exactly as the business requires. The platform is also used for HR teams to manage the entire employee lifecycle through integrated features that automate paperwork, streamline work hours and PTO tracking, and unlock performance metrics with the help of internal surveys that track people and talent utility. As a company, Hibob is democratizing HCM through its platform bob, making it accessible and supportive of all employees and managers, not just HR teams.
What Is Your Background? What Led You To Starting Your Own Company, And How Did You Choose This Space?
Hibob’s founders spent their careers in managing people in all different kinds of organizations – from startups with hundreds of EE’s to running large organizations and big corporations. They both came to the same conclusion that their HR tech platform experience (as managers and as users) needed an overhaul. That’s why I decided to build a company from the ground up that would represent a modern approach to people management. I said “Let’s build a full product suite (people management platform) – that would mimic an Instagram experience at the frontend and Workday at the backend. Let’s focus on the fast-growing, scaling companies.” The project code was named ‘bob’. Five years later, we made this vision come true by serving 850 customers with hundreds of thousands of employees in countless countries who decided to put their people first by using Hibob.
What Have Been Both Your Favorite And Least-liked Parts Of Your Entrepreneurial Journey? What Have Been Your Most Challenging And Most Exciting Moments For You And The Company?
My favorite parts of my entrepreneurial journey involve raising the bar high and then beating it, choosing the people to run with, being a high achiever and surpassing the goals we set, developing resilience and never taking things for granted.
My least liked part involves sometimes having to unfortunately separate from people. Having to let go of hardworking employees throughout tough times for business can be difficult. Sometimes, we had to let people go, sometimes they chose to leave for their own reasons, either way, separating from people is something I don’t like at all.
By far the most challenging part of my entrepreneurial journey has been growing the bob product in the USA - I thought expanding to the USA was something I had done at one point, and I know how to do well, but inevitably when first expanding with Hibob, I made mistakes and had to take a step back. Overall - my most exciting moments consist of being recognized as a major player in the market that is making a meaningful impact on the world of work. I love that our product matters and makes an impact on so many people’s work life.
Who Are Your Cofounders Or People Who You Work Very Closely With? How Do Their Skills Supplement Yours?
My co-founder is Israel David, a technology product expert. We complete each other in our skill set and have been able to make Hibob what it is today due to an amazing synergy between not only ourselves, but also the product and market need.
What Was The Fundraising Process Like For You? Tell Us About Your Investors And What You Use The Money You’ve Raised For.
The fundraising experience for us was exciting. We have multiple investors that truly care about the Hibob product and want to expand our reach into new markets to help more companies put their people first. I love going on the road (virtually as well) and presenting our company, our leadership and our product to potential investors. They see my true passion for this endeavor. We spend the money invested in us to develop our product, develop our team, and expand into new and exciting markets.
How Has Growth Been Overall? Any New Products Or Initiatives That Will Be Launching Soon?
Hibob is growing year over year for four consecutive years. We also just launched a super smart, secure and simple compensation management feature that is loved by our customers.
Can You Walk Us Through A Typical Work Day?
I wake up very early, roughly around 5 am. I spend at least an hour reading books, articles or listening to podcasts. I exercise, take out my dog, and arrive at the office around 9 am. When you work from Israel you really have two shifts, the Israeli time zone work shift and the USA time zone work shift. So starting at 3 pm Israeli time I begin working with the team in the USA and take multiple calls, attend meetings, and more. I make sure to go to sleep as early as I can so I will wake up fresh the next day.
Over The Last Few Months, So Many Companies All Over The World Have Transitioned To WFH Policies For Their Workforce. How Have These Changes Impacted Hibob, And What Have You Done To Adapt To Any Changes?
Before COVID-19 forced businesses to be remote, we were already very flexible in allowing people to work from home. Our mindset has always been wherever you think that you’re most productive is where you should work. We have always been open to modern working alternatives when it comes to the workplace, and actually found that those who used to commute more than one hour to work found it more productive to work from home. I never thought fighting traffic daily was a good thing for any employee.
At Hibob, we were equipped to be fully remote from the outset, so the process was not difficult for us. Within two weeks, we were ready to move to a complete work-from-home set up and were prepared for a prolonged lockdown due to our forward-looking approach and technology. In the future, it’s our belief that the hybrid model will be the major trend in how people work, for example, with many attending the office two days a week and working from home the other three. Employees will no longer have dedicated desks, and will instead have communal seating.
How Do You Think Your Industry Will Change Post COVID-19?
Today we are sure that the workplace will change permanently for the better. As the HR thought leader Josh Bersin says there will be a “Shift from HR-Tech to WorkTech - from systems that sort HR stuff to systems that make it easier to get work done.” At Hibob, we’re looking to do exactly that.
What Are The Top Three Most Important Skills A Modern Day Entrepreneur Needs In Order To Be Successful?
The three most important qualities for modern day entrepreneurs would be to lead with a winning mindset, always remain humble, and consistently make sure you’re listening and paying attention to your team.
Tell Us A Story Of Something That Happened To You That Either Made You Laugh Or Taught You An Important Lesson.
When I was presenting the company idea to investors, the project code name was “bob”. I never thought that would end up being the name of the platform, however, one of the lead investors I was presenting to loved that the name mimicked his own (his name was Bob). That’s where the name bob comes from and whenever I look back on this moment, it puts a smile on my face and reminds me that small details and circumstances can make all the difference.
If You Can Have A One-hour Meeting With Someone Famous Who Is Alive, Who Would It Be And Why?
Michael Jordan. I recently watched the Netflix series about him and admire his desire to succeed, his drive for competition, how hard he worked every game, and his true excellency. I always like to think of Hibob’s path like a season of the NBA. We always want to be a major part of the season and make it to the finals. I admire Micheal Jordan’s ability to inspire his team's goals, and ambition to win, all the while realizing the importance of being a team player. I try to lead the same way at Hibob - I want to encourage our staff to be the best they can be and ensure the company succeeds.
Who Is Your Role Model?
My BA was in History so I am passionate about historic leaders. Israel’s first first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion who was a pioneer, unique thought leader, a visionary and created our state when there was nothing here overcoming extreme challenges unprecedented challenges. I see the journey of a startup as a similar path.
What Is Your Favorite Quote?
My favorite quote is “culture will eat strategy for breakfast” - Peter Drucker
What Does Success Mean To You?
To me, success means having a huge market share and becoming a meaningful player in the HR tech space, ultimately making an impact by helping HR leaders drive culture and engagement and putting their people at the center of it all.
