Hillel Fuld has no shortage of titles.
He is a titan in the tech world who has advised and or collaborated with such global giants as Google, Oracle, Microsoft and Nike. He is known for his brilliance in branding and prowess in public relations, and as a social media influencer. As a journalist, he is a staunch defender of Israel. He is also a noted speaker who addresses audiences around the world.
Inc. Magazine called Fuld “Israel’s top marketer.” Business Insider wrote that “if you’re in the ‘startup nation’ of Israel, you know marketing dude turned-tech blogger Hillel Fuld.” Forbes concluded that “there are only a few people who serve as a focal point for entrepreneurs looking to grow their businesses. They provide advice, mentorship, connections, experience, credibility…In the Israeli tech ecosystem, Hillel Fuld is that guy.”
Fuld, 43, married with children, is a vlogger, podcaster, strategic advisor for startups and marketers, and writes for both Jewish and secular media outlets. His social media page shows his meetings with top industry executives as well as celebrities, from Ishay Ribo to Ben Shapiro. As one can imagine, he’s quite busy. But in the little spare time he has, he’s done something extremely unique. He’s helped about 500 people find jobs through introductions, occasionally in person, but most often via e-mail. And he hasn’t charged a shekel.
In an interview with The Jewish Press, Fuld said those he’s helped include people he already knew as well as people he was introduced to online through colleagues or friends. In the majority of situations, he will do an e-mail intro to someone when he thinks it could be a good fit or when a CEO of a company reaches out to him.
Fuld explained how this began. “I was meeting entrepreneurs every day as they reached out due to my writing,” Fuld said. “People would say they were looking for a job and I’d tell them to send me their resume. After a while, they piled up, and I made a directory, so when a company needed a marketing director, and I would send them the folder.”
Among his best thrills, he said, were helping two sets of parents both land occupations and have parnassa for their families, as well as a man in his 60s who was having trouble landing a gig despite being a seasoned chief financial officer. Fuld helped hook him up with an American company and both saw it as a perfect fit.
Fuld said he advises people not to send a resume to a company “cold” (without any prior request or correspondence) but to rather find someone who knows someone personally at the company. He also said if someone loves a specific company but doesn’t think they are ready to be hired there yet, they should make connections and plant seeds for when the time is right and there is an opening they are qualified for.
Due to inflation and layoffs, rising gas prices, economic hits from the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and rockets fired into Israel, people are understandably nervous and sometimes about to panic. He said they should not lose hope.
“It’s a question of perspective,” Fuld said. “I always try to look at it as how can you strive higher to be a better person and a better worker. With health and wealth, you can always look at it and say it could be much worse.”
In September 2018, Fuld’s brother, Ari, was stabbed from behind by a Palestinian terrorist outside a shopping mall near the Gush Etzion junction. In video footage seen around the globe, he amazingly was able to chase after and fire a shot at the terrorist to prevent much more carnage before dying in the cowardly attack.
Asked about his brother, Fuld said he had a purity.
“His legacy was one of truth,” he said. “In today’s world, truth is a luxury. People have false narratives and make things up left and right whether it’s about science, Israel, or whatever it may be. Ari just didn’t stand for that. He was like, ‘you want to argue about the conflict, let’s argue, but don’t tell me lies.'”
Fuld said his brother lived and died a hero and his murder was traumatic for the entire family.
“Obviously it was very rough,” he said. “Friends stepped up and family did a whole bunch of things. I’m not going to pretend it was easy.”
Asked whether he knew he would be involved in tech from the time he was a kid, Fuld said it was not exactly a foregone conclusion, even though the passion was there.
“Tech wasn’t such a thing when I was growing up,” Fuld said. “There was no iPhone or social media. But the second I turned on a computer, it blew my mind. I used to think it was reserved for geeks.”
The son of a rabbi, Fuld made aliyah from New York at the age of 15 with his family.
A grandson of Holocaust survivors, Fuld said that “Israel was always in my veins” and that moving to the Holy Land was one of the best things he ever did.
As a sought-after speaker who gives lectures across the world, Fuld delivered the 2018 commencement address at Lincoln Center for Touro College’s Division of Graduate Studies. The college’s website quotes him as telling the graduates: “…If one of the companies I now work with sold for billions tomorrow, I would change nothing. I would continue doing what I am doing and what I have always done, followed my passion and given as much as I possibly can to all those around me who can benefit from what I have to offer. I suggest you do the same and…right now.”
On occasion, Fuld will get criticism if he posts a picture showing he met with someone who some perhaps disagree with, politically or for some other reason. It is common for influencers to get pushback online. Fuld said if people met only with others with whom they agreed on every position under the sun, they might not have many meetings.
“I’m used to it by now,” Fuld said of the occasional online critiques. “I’m definitely the recipient of negativity sometimes. People are much more courageous even though in reality it’s the opposite, because they’re sitting behind the screen. They can say whatever they want.”
Fuld is a fan of drones, fine kosher food, and snazzy suits. He also advises people to be honest in business and their personal lives.
What does he recommend as the best kosher restaurant to go to in New York City?
“Reserve Cut,” Fuld said. “The steaks are all great.”
With his success as “the job whisperer” many have urged Fuld to help in the area of matchmaking. After a slew of requests, he said he is strongly considering it, but would have to figure out the most efficient system to help potential chossons and kallahs find each other.
Speaking of relationships, Fuld is one of the few humans to have a conversation with a robot powered by artificial intelligence, known as A.I. He posted a video of the exchange that took place in Paris a few years ago.
“Do you worry that one day, I will take your job?” the robot asked him.
“I don’t think so, because I work in marketing, and my entire career is built on relationships,” Fuld replied to it. “You cannot establish a relationship because you’ve got no emotion. You’re a robot.”
The robot countered that it planned to start a Twitter account.
As for how to speak up for Israel in America, which has seen a wave of antisemitism from assaults in the street to hate on college campuses, Fuld said Jews shouldn’t operate from a default position of fear.
“My advice is not to play victim,” Fuld said. “We’re not victims anymore. We need to have a zero-tolerance policy for antisemitism. No apologies. This isn’t Europe in 1940. We are strong and have to own our identity. Don’t be shy. Don’t be embarrassed. Be proud.”
