What makes a founder truly exceptional—and why is obsession, not ideas, the real engine behind billion-dollar startups?

In this gripping episode, we sit down with Yotam Rosenbaum, Founding Partner at First Peak Ventures and YC alum, to uncover what it actually takes to go from struggling musician to scaling a startup with over 15,000 artists—and then becoming a top-tier investor backing the next generation of world-changing founders.

Yotam shares the wild origin story of Earbits, born on a traffic-jammed highway, and how the obsession with solving a real problem—not chasing startup fame—pushed him into the world of tech.

Tune in to hear why excellence isn’t a destination. It’s a mindset. And why the best founders never stop building, learning, or sacrificing in pursuit of something greater.

Key Topics:

• What it really takes to build a startup from zero
• Why founders need more than just a good idea
• The hidden cost of building a company
• How great founders grow fast
• Why excellence is something you chase, not achieve

Quote From The Episode:

"If you want to achieve excellence, you have to accept the fact that you'll never achieve it, because that's the whole point—it's always trying to do better"

- Yotam Rosenbaum

Timestamp:

[01:24] : How One Road Trip Sparked a Startup That Shook the Music Industry

[11:06] How a Funk Band, a Traffic Jam, and a Crazy Idea Turned Into a YC-Backed Music Startup with 15,000 Artists

[21:52] How One Founder Bet on People Over Ideas—and Won Big

[32:53] Why the Best Startups Don’t Start with Ideas—They Start with Aligned Co-Founders

[41:17] The Hidden Reason Most Startups Fail—And What the Best Founders Get Right from Day One

[51:30] What Founders Really Sacrifice to Build Billion-Dollar Companies

[1:01:36] Why the Best Founders Never Feel They've Made It—And What Truly Drives Startup Excellence

[1:21:32] Outro

Connect with - Yotam Rosenbaum:

LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/yotamrosenbaum

Websites - earbits.com

Connect to Entrepreneurial-Excellence:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/entrepreneurial-excellence-podcast

Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/@EntrepreneurialExcellencePod

TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@eepodcast24

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61570329516959

Website - https://www.levy.company/entrepreneurial-excellence