28-Year-Old Serial Entrepreneur Invests in Stocks and Crypto While Building AI Businesses
Ben Lavi, a 28-year-old serial entrepreneur from Netanya, entered the stock market only about a year and a half ago despite already being a millionaire. After his military service, he focused on entrepreneurship and currently owns several apps and AI ventures. His investment portfolio consists of 70% index funds, mainly the S&P 500, and 30% cryptocurrencies, primarily Bitcoin and Ethereum. He emphasizes that most of his wealth comes from business ventures, not investments.
In 2023, Lavi completed a "half exit" by selling 50% of his media production company, Perspective, to digital firm Laus Media for around one million shekels. He also sold another startup that developed an app for automatic Hebrew subtitles. His financial goal is to reach 100 million shekels by age 30, but he does not rely on his investment portfolio to achieve this. He believes investments preserve and grow capital but do not create it.
Lavi began investing seriously after accumulating significant earnings from his businesses and was encouraged by a friend experienced in investing. He chose a simple, low-maintenance strategy focused on index funds and cryptocurrencies, avoiding active trading or deep market involvement. Despite holding 30% in crypto, he acknowledges Bitcoin’s recent decline has reduced its share in his portfolio.
He admits to having lost money impulsively on Ripple (XRP) early on but now prefers to invest only after understanding the asset or when his business income is substantial enough to absorb losses. Lavi does not closely monitor his investments and treats the money as if it does not exist, focusing instead on his entrepreneurial activities. He also expressed interest in AI infrastructure as a promising investment area if he were to deepen his market knowledge.
Lavi’s approach reflects a pragmatic balance between entrepreneurship and investing, viewing the latter as a tool to safeguard and increment wealth generated primarily through business ventures rather than as a primary income source.