Tech Scenes Unplugged with Yossi Appleboum, CEO of Sepio
"You have to make the mistakes—they cannot take the mistakes for you." — Yossi Appleboum, CEO of Sepio
In this episode of Tech Scenes Unplugged, Jeff James Martin sits down with Yossi Appleboum, CEO and Co-founder of Sepio, to explore the mindset and leadership it takes to build a deep-tech company from the ground up. Drawing on his experience in Israel’s Unit 8200 and multiple successful startup exits, Yossi shares the power of tension, the value of mistakes, and how to foster teams that argue fiercely and trust deeply.
Sepio’s unique approach to device risk management—leveraging physics, machine learning, and trafficless monitoring—has positioned the company as a leader in asset visibility and control across IT, OT, and IoT. Yossi breaks down what it takes to build a truly interdisciplinary team, how Sepio entered a skeptical market, and why it's not just about building the right product—it's about building the right team to bring it to life.
Whether you’re building in cybersecurity, scaling a startup, or evolving as a leader, this conversation brings clarity to the chaos of innovation.
Takeaways
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes—they teach more than success.
Sepio manages the risk of connected devices with a new, clean data source.
Healthy conflict is a sign of team trust—not dysfunction.
Teams need both focus and flexibility to thrive.
Curiosity and questioning often drive better results than certainty.
The most dangerous person is the one who thinks they know everything.
Building the right team is as important as building the right product.
Innovation happens when tension is acknowledged, not avoided.
Chapters
00:00 Embracing Mistakes in Innovation
00:40 Introduction to Sepio and Its Mission
03:07 The Unique Approach to Device Risk Management
05:10 Challenges in Technology Development
07:10 Market Entry and Initial Misconceptions
09:52 Lessons from Past Experiences
12:05 Team Dynamics and Collaboration
15:01 The Importance of Healthy Conflict
16:40 Navigating Team Communication
19:26 The Balance of Focus and Flexibility
20:50 The Role of Trust in Team Dynamics
22:54 The Value of Questions and Curiosity
25:41 Reflections on Career and Passion
28:51 The Evolution of Leadership Roles
32:04 Navigating Market Challenges
35:41 Final Thoughts and Advice
Related Insights
What Is Organizational Execution?
What Is Organizational Intelligence?
What Is a Business Operating System?
About the author
Jeff James MartinCEO and Founder, Collective Genius
Jeff James Martin is the Founder and CEO of Collective Genius, creator of Peak OS, and author of Peak Teams. He works with growth and mission-critical organizations to improve alignment, accountability, execution, and team performance. Over the past two decades, Jeff has helped hundreds of founders, executives, and leadership teams build stronger operating rhythms and scale through increasing complexity. He is also the host of Tech Scenes, where he interviews founders, investors, and operators on leadership, innovation, and organizational performance.
About Peak OS
Peak OS is the operating system for organizational execution. Designed for growth-stage and mission-critical organizations, Peak OS helps leadership teams align priorities, establish operating rhythm, improve accountability, and maintain visibility as organizational complexity increases. By creating a consistent framework for communication, planning, and execution, Peak OS helps teams reduce execution drift and turn strategy into measurable outcomes. Learn more: Collective Genius
About Collective Genius
Collective Genius helps founders, executive teams, and growing organizations improve organizational execution through leadership coaching, operating systems, strategic facilitation, and Team-of-Teams alignment. Our work focuses on helping organizations scale without losing clarity, accountability, communication, or momentum. Learn more: Collective Genius
About Peak Teams
Peak Teams: Mastering the Habits of Unstoppable Venture-Backed Companies explores the leadership habits, operating rhythms, accountability systems, and execution principles used by high-performing organizations. The book provides practical frameworks for leaders seeking to build aligned teams and execute consistently as complexity grows. Learn more: Peak Teams book
Learn More
Explore additional insights on organizational execution, operating rhythm, leadership, team alignment, business operating systems, artificial intelligence, and the future of work through the Collective Genius Insights platform. Visit: Collective Genius Insights
Music by Andrew Applepie - https://soundcloud.com/andrewapplepie
