On the morning of October 7, when Hamas invaded Israel, Merav Bahat was on a business trip on the East Coast, meeting with clients and investors. The co-founder and CEO of Israeli cybersecurity startup Dazz had been through her fair share of crises—after all, Bahat’s company helps customers assess vulnerabilities in their computer systems, and she was born and raised in a region known for geopolitical conflict. But this was different. As her phone started blowing up with texts, calls, and headlines from friends and family back home, the realization sank in.
“We’re in the most difficult time I’ve ever experienced in my life,” Bahat says during an interview which took place the week after the start of the war (more than three weeks later, the founder is still in New York).
