Updated April 2.
Tech entrepreneurs Liron and Naomi Petrushka, well-known to Silicon Valley’s Israeli community, died in a plane crash outside the Truckee Tahoe Airport on Saturday evening.
The Petrushkas rose to prominence in Silicon Valley in the 1990s as husband-and-wife co-founders of CommerceOne, which they reportedly sold in 1999 for more than $200 million. They lived in Hillsborough for more than 20 years, raising their sons David, Jordan and Scott before moving to Incline Village, Nevada, about four years ago, according to friends.
The couple was returning Saturday from Denver where they had been visiting David, their oldest son. Liron was flying the couple’s single-engine plane and attempting to land during a snowstorm, according to KCRA. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the crash, which happened at 6:38 p.m. on Union Pacific rail property in Truckee between the rail line and Truckee River.
Ady Wunderman, a close friend of the family, spoke to J. by phone on Monday morning as he and another friend of the couple drove to Truckee.
“I’m still in shock. It’s a nightmare. This man was my best friend, my rock,” said Wunderman, who lives in Campbell.
Before becoming a tech investor and founder, Liron, 57, from Ramat Gan, was a professional soccer player for Hapoel Ramat Gan Givatayim, a club team based east of Tel Aviv.
Naomi, 58, of Illinois, was an adjunct professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, and also headed her own investment firm, Petrushka Investments.
“They were just best friends,” Wunderman said of the couple.
Their youngest son, Jordan, followed in his father’s athletic footsteps, but chose baseball. A senior on the Crusaders baseball team at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, Jordan has also played on Israel’s national baseball team, including in 2021, when the team competed in the European Baseball Championship.
Their middle son, Scott, graduated from Kehillah Jewish High School in Palo Alto in 2017.
J. interviewed five Silicon Valley founders and investors who were close with the family. All of them said that Liron and Naomi went out of their way to mentor, advise and help them and their families through challenges, both professionally and personally.
Ron Petel, a Silicon Valley Israeli tech investor who lives in Foster City, happened to be skiing at Incline Village over the weekend when he heard the news that his friends were involved in a plane crash.
“They were so approachable. Some people — they say money changes them. They stayed humble,” Petel said. He and Liron would meet for coffee at the Peninsula JCC, where Liron often swam.
“Anytime I needed advice on a company, we would meet for coffee. If I had issues with my kids that I needed help with, he would advise,” Petel said.
Liron was an investor in one of Iddo Tal’s companies, Invi, which was acquired by Google in 2018. The two stayed in close contact over 15 years.
“You always felt that he was there for you. He mentored me a lot. I learned so much from him,” Tal said.
Tal recalled a flight they took together from Sonoma to Palo Alto in 2013 with Liron flying the plane.
“I found myself above the skyscrapers of San Francisco. Seeing the parks and the buildings and a very nice sunset, it was a very magical moment,” Tal recalled.
“He was like a father figure for many, an experienced entrepreneur for many,” he added.
Last month, Liron and Naomi were in Nashville where they had dinner at the home of Matan Talmi, with whom Liron had partnered as an investor in UpWest, a Silicon Valley venture capital fund and accelerator for Israeli startups targeting the U.S. market.
Liron was an investor and board member of Talmi’s latest company, Spinach.io. (Liron was also an early investor in Next Insurance, Betterfin, Check, Zillow and several other Silicon Valley companies.)
“We just talked about everything that’s happening in Israel. He was very involved since Oct. 7, helping different initiatives, fundraising and things like that for Israel,” Talmi told J. on the phone from Nashville.
“I’m just having a hard time believing it,” he said of the plane crash.
UpWest posted on social media about the couple.
“Liron and Naomi were a significant force in the building and success of UpWest from its inception. …. Their home was always open as were their big hearts. We are all heartbroken by this loss,” the company wrote on Facebook. “Israel was a big part of Liron and Naomi’s lives. They initiated and nurtured countless initiatives and generously contributed to social efforts in Israel, touching the lives of everyone they met.”
As family and friends mourn for a couple who gave generously to others, their community is looking for ways to return their kindness.
“We’re there to try to help,” Wunderman said about driving to Truckee, “to try to help this family in this time of disaster.”