Yalla, Let's Go!
Daniil Chernov, Co-Founder of Reboot Startup Nation, on Moving with a Job, Building a Community for 14K Russian Olim, and the 1,000 Rides That Followed October 7
In this episode of Yalla, Let’s Go!, Erica and Abbey sit down with Daniil Chernov — Russian-born oleh, co-founder of The Reboot Startup Nation, Nevo Network board member, and an analytics leader who has worked at some of Israel’s biggest tech companies — for a conversation about arriving with a job but no network, building community from scratch, and what eight years in Israel taught him about impact. Daniil grew up in a small city near Moscow, studied theoretical physics, decided it was too theoretical, and moved into tech. He made aliyah in 2018 while working at Gett — an arrival so smooth he calls it his “golden aliyah” — and then discovered that having a job is not the same as having a professional network. He and Katerina Greenstein launched The Reboot Startup Nation the day before Russia invaded Ukraine, and pivoted overnight from serving Russian-speaking olim already in Israel to absorbing an entire new wave of them. After October 7th, he turned that same community into Israel Delivery Aid, a volunteer logistics operation that ran roughly 1,000 rides carrying gear, food, water, mattresses, and evacuees across the country. Also in the episode: Making aliyah from Moscow in 2018 with Gett — and why he calls it a “golden aliyah” The specific loneliness of arriving with a job but no professional network Launching The Reboot Startup Nation the day before the war in Ukraine began Israel Delivery Aid: 1,000 volunteer rides organized out of a tech community after October 7th Co-founding with a Ukrainian partner while Russia and Ukraine were at war Moderating 14,000 community members through the hardest conversations Why he has more ability to create impact in Israel than he ever had in Russia Hit by a car on an electric scooter — and what the Israeli healthcare system did next His wife Ksusha and the reality of building a music career in Israel Aliyah advice: learn Hebrew, even if it’s only the alphabet This is a practical, funny, and quietly moving conversation about networks, generosity, and what one person can actually build in a country this small. Subscribe for more conversations with people who live, work, build, and stay in Israel. #DaniilChernov #TheRebootStartupNation #RussianAliyah #Israel #Aliyah #IsraeliTech #NevoNetwork #October7 #TelAviv #RussianOlim #YallaLetsGo #LifeInIsrael #CommunityBuilding #TechCommunity #MakingAliyah KEY TOPICS 0:00 – Intro 0:56 – Meet Daniil Chernov: Russian Oleh, Israeli Tech Leader, and Community Builder 2:19 – Life Story in One Minute: Theoretical Physics to Israeli Tech 2:59 – Making Aliyah from Moscow in 2018 with Gett: The “Golden Aliyah” 4:02 – Two Very Different Aliyahs: His Experience vs. His Wife’s 5:16 – The LinkedIn Party That Showed Him He Had No Network in Israel 6:00 – Launching The Reboot Startup Nation the Day Before the Ukraine War 6:08 – Building a Russian-Language Tech Community for Olim in Israel 8:11 – After October 7th: How Israel Delivery Aid Was Built 9:30 – 1,000 Volunteer Rides: Gear, Food, Water, and Evacuations 11:39 – Co-Founding With a Ukrainian Partner While Russia and Ukraine Were at War 11:57 – Moderating 14,000 Community Members Through the Hardest Conversations 13:26 – Why He Has More Impact in Israel Than He Ever Had in Russia 14:32 – How Israelis Help Strangers: One Cold LinkedIn Message 15:28 – Hit by a Car on an Electric Scooter in Tel Aviv 15:59 – The Doctors’ Protest, the Ambulance, and the Emergency Room 17:29 – Waiting a Week for Surgery: Inside the Israeli Healthcare System 19:25 – Shoulder Surgery, Private Clinics, and Insurance Through Work 19:48 – Would He Ever Leave Israel? Not Back to Russia 20:52 – His Wife Ksusha and the Israeli Market for Non-Mizrahi Music 22:13 – What He Loves Most About Israel: Freedom and People Who Show Up 23:03 – Aliyah Advice: Learn Hebrew, at Least the Alphabet 23:34 – How Good Is His Hebrew After Eight Years? 23:59 – Rapid Fire: Entrecote in a Tortilla, Tachles & “Who Is a Jew?” RESOURCES Follow Daniil on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniilchernov/ Learn more about The Reboot Startup Nation: https://www.israel-reboot.com/ Subscribe to Yalla, Let’s Go here: https://www.aleph.vc/yalla-lets-go Learn more about Aleph: aleph.vc Sign up for Aleph’s monthly email newsletter: https://newsletter.aleph.vc/ Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@yallaletsgopodcast Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yallaletsgopodcast/ Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@yallaletsgopodcast Follow Aleph on Twitter: https://x.com/aleph Follow Aleph on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aleph-vc/ Follow Aleph on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleph.vc/ CREDITS Hosts: Erica Marom, Abbey Onn Executive Producer: Sarah Bard Producer: Sofi Levak, Dalit Merenfeld, Myron Shneider Video and Editing: Nadav Elovic Music and Creative Direction: Uri Ar Content and Editorial: Jackie Goldberg Design: Nimrod Sapir
