"A friend earned 200,000 shekels on Tesla. Suddenly I understood what is possible in the capital market"
Greg Gelfenboym earned a bachelor's degree in economics and accounting at 13 and discovered the effect of compound interest there for the first time: "I saw how with a simple calculation it is possible to accumulate significant capital in a reasonable time." After his army service, he opened a portfolio: "I started with the TA Real Estate index and today I am in the S&P 500."
About the "New Investors" section
Every week we interview new investors in the capital market and trace investment patterns and insights alongside personal stories. Interested in participating in the section? Write to us at Invest@Globes.co.il
Who am I
Greg (Gregory) Gelfenboym, 27. Founder of a business support company for tattoo artists.
Greg Gelfenboym was born and raised in the Be'er Sheva area to parents who immigrated from Russia. As a child, a passion for learning and entrepreneurship burned in him, so at age 13 he enrolled in a bachelor's degree in economics and accounting at the Open University. Shortly before he started studying, his father fell ill with cancer, an event that dramatically affected his life and his economic perceptions. "As a child, I couldn't put my finger on it. But in retrospect, that's where I understood that life is short, unpredictable, and no one knows when it can really end," he says. "It created a very risk-loving approach in me, both in business and in the capital market."
This approach led him to open an independent business immediately after his military service as a combat soldier. "I gave up the idea of being an accountant, I realized it didn't interest me, and instead I became a content creator for logic games. At some point, I had an audience of about 200,000 followers abroad," he says. Later, he even participated as a lecturer in a marketing and content creation program together with international content creator Nas Daily at Ono Academic College. "It's important to me to love my life and my work, and I followed what I loved to do. But after a few years in which I experienced several financial 'blows', I also understood the importance of taking care of my future and my family. That's how I ended up doing what I do today - the Pixels company."
Several years ago, Gelfenboym, together with his partner Adar Shmueli, founded "Pixels" - a company that provides business support to tattoo artists.
When I started getting interested in the capital market
"At age 13 I went to do a bachelor's degree in economics and accounting at the Open University. My parents pushed for it. When I finished the degree I realized I wanted to be an accountant less. During the degree in a finance course they explained to us about compound interest, and I saw how with a simple calculation it is possible to accumulate significant capital in a very reasonable time, if you make sure to invest regularly.
After the training in the army I started saving some money, and after two years as a combat soldier, I managed to save enough to open an investment portfolio. I have a friend who at the time made a nice profit of 200,000 shekels on the Tesla stock. It influenced my perception regarding what is possible in the capital market.
At age 20 I put all the money on the TA Real Estate index. After about two years I transferred most of it to the S&P 500 index, and left a few percent of the portfolio for swing investments on stocks for a month or two. When I expect there to be an increase in demand for a stock I invest a small amount of the portfolio in it, I do it very rarely."
How I stay updated
"To be honest, I almost don't. The relevant information always reaches me from conversations with people, but my approach to investments is to deal with it as little as possible. During the explosion of the GameStop phenomenon a few years ago, a friend and I 'brooded' on the American market to join the celebration. It was crazy. It required a lot of adjustments, and I don't see myself managing to live a life while I'm trading. Since then, I am a big believer in the 'set and forget' approach."
Lesson I learned
"More risk is potential for more money. I don't like low-risk investments at a young age, there is no logic in it. Over decades, risk becomes negligible. In the first years of the business I withdrew a lot of money from investments to inject into the business. I risked all my investments to lift the business. Only after the cash flow stabilized and has been growing for a while, knock on wood, am I returning to invest and think about channels to increase the capital. Because the most important thing in my opinion is first of all to establish a stable and growing income."
Quick questionnaire
Twitter (X) or Telegram: "I never connected to X, so I'll say Telegram, because it works well with bots."
Bitcoin or Ethereum: "Bitcoin. Less connected to Ethereum. The technology was a bit too complex for me. Bitcoin is relatively simple to understand and I prefer not to put money on something I don't understand to the end."
TA-35 or S&P 500: "I used to say TA, today S&P. In fact, when I started investing almost the entire portfolio was there and I later transferred it all to the 'Snoopy' (S&P 500). In my opinion, it's a matter of the law of large numbers - in the USA there are more giant companies, meaning more stability. I have no problem holding a portfolio in dollars over shekels."
Indices or stocks: "Definitely indices. I don't want to deal with it more than once in... I prefer to invest time in developing the business, because it can increase my cash flow, and then put the extra into the portfolio."
Bank account or investment house: "Investment house. The bank is convenient to use of course, but that's why it allows itself to take more commissions. In general, I like the approach of expertise - I prefer to put my money in a place that deals exclusively with investments."
Something I still need to learn
"Lately we started using AI agent technology in the business and it really helps tattoo artists. I developed agents for myself that help me calculate monthly cash flow and also how much I need to deposit for investments. The next step is to understand how it is possible to make investment decisions in the capital market automatically."
Want to share how much money you made?
"I managed to reach the area of 100,000 shekels, 65-70 thousand shekels of which is the money I put in and the rest grew naturally without too much fuss. I know that the more savings I withdrew for the business, the more stress was created on me, but at the same time it helped me a lot to learn how to manage myself and disconnect the personal feeling from the results on the ground. I was educated that the responsibility placed on a man is very great and he needs to be strong enough to support the family."
Tracking recommendation
"I hear everyone saying that there is a crazy high-tech bubble that is going to burst, and at the same time they also talk about a real estate bubble. New 'bubbles' appear all the time, and everyone is anxious. I think it's worth disconnecting as much as possible from the background noise, from the hype and at the same time from the existential anxieties, and try to think where the world is going, and invest accordingly."
