Unfounded is a weekly podcast for business and creative leaders who look beyond the bottom line.
Hosted by David Laxer and Ofir Michaeli, 2 creative strategists with vast international experience, the podcast seeks to challenge conventions, tackle herd mentality and fight the abuse of industry buzzwords and lingo that often hide lack of vision and originality.
Most markets aren't short on players. They're short on positions. For the final episode of the season, we pull apart real examples of brands that stopped competing for the same seat - and found one nobody else was sitting in. From saturated categories to surprise breakouts, this is a conversation about what it actually takes to read a market clearly, move differently, and build something that holds.
12 May 2026
The Last Edge
Uncertainty isn't the problem. Fighting it is. This episode is about what it actually means to find your edge when the ground keeps shifting — not by predicting what comes next, but by building strategies flexible enough to bend without breaking and convicted enough to actually stand for something.
23 Apr 2026
Period. Full stop! Feat - Chen Tamir
Nobody in Israel knew what reusable period underwear was. Nobody was talking about it either.
Chen Tamir, founder of Modibodi Israel, didn’t just localize a global brand - she built a category from zero, in a conservative market, around a topic people didn’t have the language for yet.
This is a story about founding something twice. And about what it takes to say the quiet part loud.
6 Apr 2026
The Human Element - Feat. Eran Nir
With all the talk about AI taking our jobs we take a look at the growing importance of talent and creativity as the remaining differentiator between brands that leave a mark and those simply adding to the noise.
Or as we prefer to say, the difference between AI and AI in the right hands.
Featuring top creative director and Cannes judge Eran Nir
17 Feb 2026
The AI Replacement Timeline: The End of the Billable Hour as We Know It (Feat. Jonathan Meiri)
For decades, professional services - law, accounting, consulting - have been built on a simple equation: time equals value.
But AI is changing that faster than most firms realize.
Together with serial entrepreneur Jonathan Meiri we take a close look at the necessity pyramid, understanding how humans can still thrive and where true opportunity lies ahead
26 Jan 2026
The Paradox of Belonging - Feat. Danny Gal
We talk about climate change, war, and pandemics—but beneath them all lies a deeper challenge: the empathy crisis.
In an age of constant connection, we are losing the ability to truly listen and understand one another. Fear, misinformation, and polarization are reshaping how we belong—and who we exclude.
In this episode of Unfounded, we explore how our search for identity can deepen division, why empathy is eroding across societies and organizations, and what it will take to rebuild understanding in a fractured world.
🎙️ Featuring Danny Gal, author of The Paradox of Belonging:
https://www.amazon.com/Belonging-Paradox-Global-Empathy-Crisis/dp/1917391145
Rabbits chase signals. They move fast because they’re afraid to stop. Turtles choose direction. They move deliberately because they know where they’re going. One is driven by FOMO. The other by conviction.
Together with renowned digital transformation expert Omer Milwidsky, we unpack why real innovation rarely looks urgent in the moment, and why building something meaningful requires the confidence to move slower than the crowd.
27 Dec 2025
No Bread? Let them Eat [AI generated] Cake!
We live in a moment where content is being produced faster than we can blink. But much of it feels a bit like junk food for the mind — easy to make, easy to consume, and ultimately… not very nourishing. The kind of thing that fills the feed but leaves you strangely unsatisfied, as if you’ve eaten an entire bag of digital empty calories.
Together with guest Itai Bichler, AI philosopher, public speaker and former Chief Creative Officer at Soda Stream, we dive into the question of intent, taste and agency.
14 Dec 2025
A Question of Character
Business visionaries and leaders come in all shapes and colors, but there is a clear thread that runs through the stories of many of the great ones. It is one that goes beyond just the question of success, track record, critical thinking and decision making.
After more than 2 decades of sitting with a wide range of founders and CEOs, David Laxer & Ofir Michaeli share a wealth of anecdotes that transcend the tangible qualities one must possess, and touches upon the intangible yet ever-important quality of character.
2 Dec 2025
The Paradox of Productivity
Never has it been easier to create entire worlds at the click of your fingers. Yet this burst of productivity masks a real danger lurking beneath -- what will happen when we collectively lose our ability to think, or if our audience will no longer be able to distinguish between A & B.
David Laxer & Ofir Michaeli dive into a number of phenomena such as the Originality Illusion, the Blindspot of Taste, the Death of Difficulty and the Context Gap, all side-effects of the Great New Wonderful AI revolution..
23 Nov 2025
The Power of Slowness
Assaf Guery founded 2 cutting-edge creative agencies, co-founded digital banking giant Varo, and then became a photographer who specializes in capturing the behind the scenes magic of some of the world’s most powerful business people.
David Laxer & Ofir Michaeli sit down with their guest and explore the power of slowness in today’s rapid, ever-changing technological landscape.
From challenges to opportunities, the episode dives into the complexities of maintaining purpose and focus while scaling up and dealing with the pressures of shareholders.
16 Nov 2025
The Luxury of Age - Feat. Einat Israeli
We host Einat Israeli, former VP Marketing of Nike Israel, to explore the booming longevity and wellbeing industries, discussing trends, tribes and mindsets, and most importantly, shattering stereotypes.
6 Nov 2025
Flying Backwards - When a brand lacks complete & utter self awareness! + The potential in finding it
When your national airline can’t get off the ground creatively, it’s time for some tough love. David Laxer and Ofir Michaeli unpack El Al’s identity crisis and explore how a little self-awareness—and even self-deprecation—could help the brand soar again.
26 Oct 2025
Big Data. Small Thinking.
No one can argue the value of good data. Good data lets us make better informed and well founded decisions. It has revolutionized how businesses operate across every industry and throughout every executive position.
But there is a dark side to data.
It often causes leaders to fall in love with it; to blindly follow and stop asking the right questions.
David Laxer & Ofir Michaeli dive into the blindspots of big data and tackle the issue from an unexpected perspective -- its effect on innovation, leadership and true creativity. Together, they explore the limitations of a data-driven mindset and present a more balanced approach to the complexities of decision making.
12 Oct 2025
The System is Rigged
We explore how greatness has become a dirty word in the world of business, and trace the origins to the consultancy world that is predicated on playing it safe, solving problems that aren’t always there and promoting the ultimate anti-innovation slogan of cutting edge=bleeding edge.
David Laxer & Ofir Michaeli dive into the stark contrast of Problem vs Potential, and how greatness is not the evolution of very good, but a radically different by-product. Together, they present a new roadmap that requires the tossing out of playbooks and the adoption of a more fluid and creative mindset.
4 Oct 2025
The Good Enough Mindset
We explore the question of speed and its effect on executive decision-making, and how more than ever a flexible, open-minded mindset is what can help executives navigate the stormy waters and help companies stand out in a sea of sameness.
David Laxer & Ofir Michaeli dive into the overlooked impact of AI: the ‘good enough’ mindset; flattening the conversation, making executives ask the wrong questions and enslaving companies with a reactive mindset that drives them to pick up the latest playbook, and fills them with a hunger for ineffective formulas.
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