Emma Bates, co-founder of Diem, is reshaping the way women search the internet. Diem is a social search engine designed to provide women with trustworthy, community-driven results. In this episode of Give First, Emma talks about her journey building Diem, starting with her experience in the Techstars accelerator and the inspiration behind her women-centric approach to search.

Emma dives into the challenges of fundraising as a female founder, sharing hard-earned insights on overcoming bias in venture capital. “Fundraising is a game,” Bates explains in her strategies for navigating investor interactions and the importance of staying focused amidst a sometimes discouraging landscape.

Listeners will also hear the inside story of Diem's $3.7 million funding round, and the details behind a challenging experience that highlights the gender disparities that still exist in the VC world. Emma's candid discussion with David Cohen offers valuable guidance for any entrepreneur seeking investment.

Follow David Cohen on Twitter @davidcohen

Follow Emma Bates on Instagram @emmashbates

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Kirill Bigai, Preply CEO and co-founder, launched the company’s first set of values back in 2015, while participating in the Techstars Berlin program. But as the team has changed, so have the values.

“It’s an evolution,” said Bigai, who involves his 650+ staff members in their development and incorporates the values into hiring, performance reviews, and operations.  

David Cohen agrees that fine tuning and articulating values is smart for business and for company culture. In this edition of Cohen’s Give First Podcast, he and Bigai dig into values, hiring practices, stubbornness and how, when the company expanded outside of the Ukraine, Bigai would call every single customer himself. 

Tune in for more. 

Books mentioned in episode: 

Who by Geoff Smart and Randy Street

No Rules Rules by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer

Follow David Cohen on Twitter @davidcohen

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For 20 years, Elizabeth Kraus was busy being an entrepreneur. So busy and stressed, she wasn’t eating well, had wild energy swings and barely slept despite training for, and tackling long-distance triathlons. A host of other medical challenges led to a thyroid and hormone imbalance diagnosis and medication which she said, “put a band aid solution on all these health issues.” 

Until the band aid ripped off. 

“It was the perfect storm of disaster,” said Kraus, the chief investment officer for MergeLane Venture Capital Fund. “My body completely shut down in 2023.”

Listen as Kraus and David Cohen, longtime friends with frequent career intersections, discuss the breakdown, the warning signs and how she clawed her way back to, almost, normalcy. Kraus recently announced after eight years and investments in 54 female-led companies, MergeLane has made their final investment. Kraus plans to write a book and start a podcast. 

“I think lots of people who are earlier in their career just think, well, I'll deal with the health stuff later because I'm young. What could really go wrong?”

A lot, as it turns out. Tune in for more. 

Follow David Cohen on Twitter @davidcohen

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