4

The Operators

2005–2008 . . . Moran Oz and Alon Berkman get to work . . . A new boss appears . . . A trip to Manila . . . The pipeline opens

Moran Oz grew up in Jerusalem, the sort of kid that everyone seems to remember fondly. The smart and curious son of a successful CPA and a dance teacher, he breezed through school: “the guy who could miss class and then waltz in and get an A,” as one childhood friend described him. His only flirtations with trou- ble stemmed from his devotion to Beitar Jerusalem, an Israeli soc- cer team known for its unruly supporters. In February 2005, Oz had just graduated from high school and completed his compul- sory service in the Israeli army. He was visiting an uncle in New York, wondering what to do with his life—go to college? start a business?—when a friend called to say that an acquaintance had launched a startup in Israel and was looking to hire. The only re- quirements were a good command of English and a basic under- standing of computers. Oz flew home and took the job.

The man who hired him was named Boaz Taggart. He’d started the company, a call center called Beit Oridan, with his brother Tomer, who lived in the United States. The term “call center” was a bit of a misnomer, since much of their work happened over email,