He Got a Missile Alert Mid-Interview. We Kept Recording

When the Sirens Go Off, You Find Out Who You’re Talking To

Some episodes you plan. Some episodes happen to you.

Episode 191 of the Localization Fireside Chat started as a conversation about product innovation and entrepreneurship. Oscar Hedaya, a three-time startup founder based in Miami, was visiting Israel when we connected. He warned me upfront: if the sirens go off, we run to the bunker and keep talking.

He wasn’t joking.

Meet Oscar Hedaya and The Space Safe

Oscar has spent over 15 years in product development. After a theft in his family’s New York apartment, he went looking for a smart safe and found nothing worth buying. So he built one.

The Space Safe is the world’s only safe with built-in cameras, a touchscreen interface, tamper sensors, panic pin, two-factor authentication, multi-user access, and live app notifications. Think Ring Doorbell, but for your valuables. It is a connected product in a category that has barely changed in decades.

The Aha Moment Every Entrepreneur Recognizes

Oscar’s origin story is a masterclass in product-market fit. He did not set out to disrupt the safe industry. He had a problem, could not find a solution he respected, and had the skills to build one himself.

As he put it during our conversation, the question every founder needs to answer is simple: do people actually need this? If you are selling a high-ticket item, need drives the decision. Building something cool is not the same as building something people will buy.

What Sets The Space Safe Apart

Traditional safes are a black box. You put things in, you lock it, you forget about it until something goes wrong. By then it is too late.

The Space Safe flips that model entirely. It provides visibility, control, and live notifications. If someone moves your safe, touches it, or opens it without authorization, you know immediately. Enterprise clients use it for audit trails, multi-user management, and liability documentation across thousands of units managed from a single portal.

Features like panic pin stand out. If someone forces you to open your safe, a special code unlocks it while simultaneously sending an emergency alert. No other safe on the market can do that.

42 Minutes In, the Sirens Go Off

We were deep into a conversation about enterprise use cases when Oscar’s audio dropped. I kept the mic open and told the audience what was happening. Oscar was in Tel Aviv. There was an incoming missile alert. He was heading to a bunker.

A few minutes later he reconnected, phone in hand, still in the bunker, still talking.

We finished the interview.

Note: The final segment of this episode was recorded under active missile alert conditions. The audio reflects that. We kept rolling anyway.

Why This Episode Matters

This is not just a story about a dramatic recording. It is a story about what resilience looks like in practice. Oscar did not cancel. He did not ask to reschedule. He ran to a bunker and kept the conversation going.

That is the same instinct that drives good founders. You do not wait for perfect conditions. You build, you ship, and you keep rolling.

Listen and Watch

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/VLm6DlGJ6BE

Listen on Simplecast: https://localization-fireside-chat.simplecast.com/episodes/he-got-a-missile-alert-mid-interview-we-kept-recording

Connect with Oscar Hedaya: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ohedaya

The Space Safe: https://thespacesafe.com

Want to be a guest on the Localization Fireside Chat? Book here: https://calendly.com/robin-ayoub/localization-fireside-chat-podcast-recording