Venturing Women (Darya Kamkalova)
Explorez tous les épisodes de Venturing Women
| Date | Titre | Durée | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 Feb 2022 | #3: Debunking the elitist image of startup investment - Svenja Lassen | 00:25:08 | |
The world of startup investment may look mysterious and impenetrable, accessible only to the ultra-wealthy individuals seeking x10 returns. It is not for ordinary people who should rather stick with other asset classes. Or is it? To demystify startup investment, I invited Svenja Lassen, managing director of primeCROWD Germany, a venture capital and private equity firm, and founder of Female Investors Network. Topics we cover:
About Svenja Lassen Svenja Lassen is managing director of primeCROWD Germany, a venture capital and private equity firm. Svenja aims to increase the number of female founders and impact investments. She launched Female Investors Network (FIN) and initiated Mission #25to25 to increase the percentage of women in the startup ecosystem to 25% by 2025. Svenja is now organising the FIN-Academy to share investment knowledge with aspiring business angels. About Darya Kamkalova Darya is many things: a podcaster, a co-founder of Manifest Taproom (a craft beer bar in Berlin), an investor, a startup evaluator, and a data industry professional. In the last 10 years, she has been driving or supporting various projects empowering women. Darya is based in Berlin. | |||
| 02 Mar 2022 | #4: Vulnerability, online learning and building an EdTech company - Rotem Carmely | 00:29:31 | |
Educational technology has been on the rise for the last 15 years. Yet, completion rates of online courses range between 5% and 15%. Online learning seems to lack powerful engagement mechanisms and impact in students' lives. EdTech companies also receive a very modest portion of the global venture capital pie compared to startups in other market segments. For a deep-dive into the world of online learning, I invited Rotem Carmely. Rotem is an EdTech founder with a passion for building engaging communities. Topics we explore:
About Rotem Carmely: Rotem is the co-founder and CEO of Clustered, a startup on a mission to make learning as social as possible. Clustered offers instructors an all-in-1 platform to create and scale outstanding group-based courses. Rotem is also a Transcend Fellow. Transcend Fellowship is a highly selective programme for founders building the future of learning and work. Darya is many things: a podcaster, a co-founder of Manifest Taproom (a craft beer bar in Berlin), an investor, a startup evaluator, and a data industry professional. In the last 10 years, she has been driving or supporting various projects empowering women. Darya is based in Berlin | |||
| 16 Mar 2022 | #5: Social entrepreneurship, self-discovery, and measuring impact - Alexandra Pastollnigg | 00:29:37 | |
The story of Alexandra Pastollnigg sounds like a movie plot. An established banking and wealth management professional, she went on holiday to Africa to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and write a book. This trip marked the beginning of her journey to social entrepreneurship. Topics we discuss:
About Alexandra Pastollnigg: Alexandra Pastollnigg is the founder and CEO of Fair Voyage – an online travel agency for tailor-made socially and environmentally responsible trips to mid and lower income countries. As a speaker, she often addresses topics of sustainable innovation and audits in the travel industry. Before embarking on a founder journey, she built a career in the banking and asset management industry and cycled from Cairo to Cape Town, all the way through Africa. About Darya Kamkalova: Darya is many things: a podcaster, a co-founder of Manifest Taproom (a craft beer bar in Berlin), an investor, a startup evaluator, a speaker and a data industry professional. In the last 10 years, she has been driving or supporting various projects empowering women. Darya is based in Berlin. | |||
| 30 Mar 2022 | #6: Not just a hobby: Podcasting as a business - Jillian Beytin, Julia Joubert | 00:29:45 | |
How many podcasts and podcast episodes do you think are available globally? For many podcast producers, it is nothing else but an unusual hobby coupled with an improvised 'recording studio' in the closet. Yet, the global podcasting market was valued at slightly above 12 billion euros in 2021. It’s serious money, baby! Or maybe not? To examine the business side of podcasting, I invited Jill Beytin and Julia Joubert, co-founders of a Bear Radio, a Berlin-based podcasting network, production house, and school. Topics we explore:
Jill Beytin is a podcaster, journalist and audio producer. Prior to founding Bear Radio, Jill worked at radio stations in her native California and New Zealand, as well as at NPR and Deutsche Welle in Washington, D.C. Julia Joubert is the co-host and producer of multiple Bear Radio productions and has extensive experience training indie podcasters, radio hosts and corporates on how to create engaging and entertaining content. Julia is from Cape Town, South Africa. About Darya Kamkalova: Darya is many things: a podcaster, a data industry professional, a co-founder of Manifest Taproom (a craft beer bar in Berlin), an investor, a startup evaluator, and a speaker. Her experience in the data industry spans 10 years, five continents and such domains as data monetisation & acquisition, data product development, strategic partnerships as well as data marketplace business operations. Darya has been driving or supporting various projects empowering women since 2013. She is based in Berlin. Venturing Women website: Follow us on social media: | |||
| 13 Apr 2022 | #7: Wastewater, climate change and funding the unfundable - Orianna Bretschger | 00:29:43 | |
Worldwide, 80% of wastewater receives minimal to no treatment before being discharged to the environment. This practice has a ruinous impact on the environment as well as on public health. Wastewater treatment is also a energy-intensive process. It can account for up to 5% of the country’s annual electricity load being a significant driver of climate change. In this episode, we will hear from Orianna Bretschger, the CEO and Co-Founder of Aquacycl, a company that provides technologies for safe, reliable and cost-effective wastewater treatment coupled with energy recovery. Topics we explore:
About Orianna Bretschger: Orianna Bretschger is the CEO and Co-Founder of Aquacycl. It was founded in 2016 with a goal of creating distributed wastewater treatment to address water scarcity and lack of infrastructure in low-income countries. This journey has led the founding team to a deeper understanding of wastewater challenges across many industries. Prior to forming Aquacycl, Orianna dedicated 12 years to researching how bacteria breathe and eat and developing a technology to control this process electronically. A researcher turned entrepreneur, Orianna is a laureate of the Science & Technology Pioneer Award of the Cartier Women’s Initiative. Orianna is based in California, US. About Darya Kamkalova: Darya wears many hats: she is podcaster, a data industry professional, a co-founder of Manifest Taproom (a craft beer bar in Berlin), startup evaluator and mentor, an investor, and a speaker. Her experience in the data industry spans 10 years, five continents and such domains as data monetisation & acquisition, data product development, strategic partnerships as well as data marketplace business operations. Darya has been driving or supporting various projects empowering women since 2013. She is based in Berlin. Venturing Women website: Follow us on social media: | |||
| 27 Apr 2022 | #8: Steaks derived from wood, competition with the petrochemical industry, CEO turned CTO - Florence Gschwend | 00:27:53 | |
Can we go cold turkey and move away from the crude oil dependence? Will we one day start making food from non-food grade sources like cellulose? How about pasta with a wood-derived Bolognese sauce? Yucky or yummy? Together with Florence Gschwend, co-founder and CTO of Lixea, I’m looking into how biochemistry may help solve the problems of food scarcity and accelerate transition of our civilisation to zero waste. Topics we explore:
About Florence Gschwend: Florence Gschwend is co-founder and CTO of Lixea. During her PhD at the Chemical Engineering Department at Imperial College London, she co-invented a process which uses an environmentally friendly solvent to treat waste woody biomass. This process separates different components in wood and agricultural residues. These components, in turn, can then be used to produce new chemicals and materials, shifting our reliance away from petroleum. Florence is based in London. About Darya Kamkalova: Darya wears many hats: she is podcaster, a data industry professional, a co-founder of Manifest Taproom (a craft beer bar in Berlin), startup evaluator and mentor, an investor, and a speaker. Her experience in the data industry spans 10 years, five continents and such domains as data monetisation & acquisition, data product development, strategic partnerships as well as data marketplace business operations. Darya has been driving or supporting various projects empowering women since 2013. She is based in Berlin. Venturing Women website: Follow us on social media: | |||
| 11 May 2022 | #9: Fighting misinformation and quitting jobs in the pandemic to build a company - Jenny Romano | 00:31:26 | |
Our decision making heavily depends on the information we consume. Should I get vaccinated or not? Is climate change real or a hoax? Is quinoa as healthy as advertised (seriously, is it)? With time, our worldview crystallises and it seems nearly impossible to break free from our personal echo chambers that often offer so much comfort. Jenny Romano, co-founder and CEO of The Newsrooms, elaborates how AI can help to fight misinformation, promote plurality and bring people of polar opinions to a common ground. Jenny is on a mission to build a community of news readers that do not insult each other. That's an ambitious goal! Topics we discuss:
About Jenny Romano: Jenny is co-founder and CEO of The Newsroom, a startup on a mission to fight misinformation and promote plurality online. She and her co-founder Pedro Pamplona Henriques spent years discussing journalism and misinformation. In December 2020 - with the pandemic in full sway - they decided that it was time to act. That's when The Newsroom was born to revolutionise news reading through bite-sized news, historical context and diversity of thought. Jenny is based in Lisbon. About Darya Kamkalova: Darya wears many hats: she is podcaster, a data industry professional, a startup mentor, a co-founder of Manifest Taproom (a craft beer bar in Berlin), and a speaker. Her experience in the data industry spans 10 years, five continents and such domains as data monetisation & acquisition, data product development, strategic partnerships as well as data marketplace business operations. Darya has been driving or supporting various projects empowering women since 2013. She is based in Berlin. Venturing Women website: Follow us on social media: | |||
| 25 May 2022 | #10: Remote work, employees’ happiness and forsaking a venture round - Sarah Hawley | 00:31:43 | |
The pandemic seemed to have made remote work a common place. It even felt like the world would never be the same again. Yet, some companies including tech giants like Google announced returning their workforce back to offices. Others introduce a hybrid mode that requires presence in the office a few days a week. Remote work, inevitable for many in times of crisis, turned out to be hard to embrace when this crisis dissipated. Why? And how can we truly reap its benefits? I discuss this topic with Sarah Hawley, CEO and Founder of Growmotely, a platform connecting companies with remote-first professionals. Sarah shares her story of turning her company remote in 2014 when most of the world would find this a bizarre idea. For her, it was a courageous step to freedom, to being the creator of her own destiny. Topics we explore:
About Sarah Hawley: Sarah Hawley is the CEO and Founder of Growmotely, the world's first end-to-end platform that facilitates conscious companies in hiring equally-conscious remote professionals - of all nationalities - into long-term remote jobs. Driven by her passion for the freedom that remote work provides professionals and companies alike, she is trailblazing the space - as a thought leader and creator - where remote work, conscious leadership, and personal and professional growth intersect. Before Growmotely, she started and successfully sold multiple companies for seven-figure sums. Sarah is mother to 1-year-old Luka, and author of the book 'Conscious Leadership: a Journey from Ego to Heart'. Sarah is based in Austin (Texas), USA. About Darya Kamkalova: Darya wears many hats: she is podcaster, a data industry professional, a startup mentor, a co-founder of Manifest Taproom (a craft beer bar in Berlin), and a speaker. Her experience in the data industry spans 10 years, five continents and such domains as data monetisation & acquisition, data product development, strategic partnerships as well as data marketplace business operations. Darya has been driving or supporting various projects empowering women since 2013. She is based in Berlin. Venturing Women website: Follow us on social media: | |||
| 08 Jun 2022 | #11: AI tackling sexual harassment in the workplace - Eleanor Manley | 00:29:51 | |
Despite the advancements of the #MeToo movement, we are still far away from eradicating sexual harassment. Dependent on the type of incident recorded, half of women in the EU have experienced at least one form of sexual harassment. In the US, about 80% of women and 40% of men have faced it in their lifetime. Only around 10% of incidents get reported which indicates, targets do not feel safe to do so. In this episode, I’m talking to Eleanor Manley, co-founder of Metta Space, a B2B tech solution for workplace misconduct reporting and resolution. Some of the topics that we cover:
About Eleanor Manley: About Darya Kamkalova: Venturing Women website: Follow us on social media: | |||
| 22 Jun 2022 | #12: Equity, portfolio careers, quotas for VCs - Naïma Camara | 00:28:55 | |
Equity and company shares are usually far off the radar of the general public. Equity seems to be a term from the glamorous world of the startup founders and investment managers in ties and Bentley cars. Yet, things are changing. I sat down with Naïma Camara, CEO & Founder of Ownership, to discuss the evolving role of equity. Dynamic equity not only allows founders to attract talent even when capital is scarce. It can also help employees and contributors to build a portfolio of assets. Moreover, dynamic equity may also bring remarkable and much needed change to the whole entrepreneurial landscape. How? Keep on listening. Some of the topics we explore:
About Naïma Camara: Naïma is the CEO & Founder of Ownership. Ownership is an app to allow founders to pay for talent using equity. Naïma has a master’s degree in US History & Politics from University College London. She believes her grounding in history and knowledge of the systems of power that govern society allows her to thrive within teams working towards a social good to deploy tech that can achieve realistic positive change. Naïma is based in London. About Darya Kamkalova: Darya wears many hats: she is podcaster, a data industry professional, a startup mentor, a co-founder of Manifest Taproom (a craft beer bar in Berlin), and a speaker. Her experience in the data industry spans 10 years, five continents and such domains as data monetisation & acquisition, data product development, strategic partnerships as well as data marketplace business operations. Darya has been driving or supporting various projects empowering women since 2013. She is based in Berlin. | |||
| 06 Jul 2022 | #13: Investing in African women, detrimental copy-and-paste approach, curl classification - Lelemba Phiri | 00:32:50 | |
What is Africa’s biggest treasure? Many believe it's the continent's natural resources. But what if it's Africans themselves? Specifically, African women. The backbone of the African economy, African women are the most entrepreneurial in the world. It’s statistically proven. In this episode, I am speaking with Lelemba Phiri, gender-lens angel investor and operating partner for Enygma Ventures Fund, based in Cape Town, South Africa. Lelemba shares her unconventional path to the venture capital world as well as her thoughts on possibilities to unleash the potential of African women. Some of the topics we explore:
About Lelemba Phiri: Lelemba Phiri is an award winning educator, writer, keynote speaker and gender-lens angel investor. She is the Principal at the Africa Trust Group that takes a holistic approach to investing in women by investing in both the woman entrepreneur and the enterprise. Lelemba is also the Operating Partner for the US-based Enygma Ventures Fund that is focused on investing in women entrepreneurs. Moreover, she is also a shareholder and the current board chair for Zoona Zambia, an African mobile payments business and a shareholder at Africa Trust Academy, a coaching and consulting company focused on leadership and entrepreneurship development and financial literacy. Lelemba is based in Cape Town, South Africa. About Darya Kamkalova: Darya wears many hats: she is podcaster, a data industry professional, a startup mentor, a co-founder of Manifest Taproom (a craft beer bar in Berlin), and a speaker. Her experience in the data industry spans 10 years, five continents and such domains as data monetisation & acquisition, data product development, strategic partnerships as well as data marketplace business operations. Darya has been driving or supporting various projects empowering women since 2013. She is based in Berlin, Germany. Venturing Women website: https://www.venturingwomen.org/ Follow us on social media: | |||
| 13 Jul 2022 | Bonus episode - 1000 downloads | 00:03:18 | |
We are celebrating a great milestone - the first 1000 downloads in 51 countries. I’m dying to learn more about you. Drop us a line on Instagram or on LinkedIn or reach out to me personally. | |||
| 20 Jul 2022 | #14: Dresses for real women, fast and slow fashion, Turkish bazaars - Ani Bagdasaryan | 00:31:10 | |
‘Retail is dead’ proclaimed many media during the pandemic. We were all locked up in our homes and in terms of clothing, mostly needed sweatpants and pajamas. Yet, Ani Bagdasaryan opened a brick-and-mortar store in Berlin in 2021 to build up on the online success of her fashion brand. Some of the topics we explore:
About Ani Bagdasaryan: Ani Bagdasaryan is the founder of AYANI, a fair and sustainable fashion brand based in Berlin. Observing the largely underserved women’s work wear market, she decided to launch a female fashion brand. About Darya Kamkalova: Darya wears many hats: she is a podcaster, a data industry professional, a startup mentor, a co-founder of Manifest Taproom (a craft beer bar in Berlin), and a speaker. Her experience in the data industry spans 10 years, five continents and such domains as data monetisation & acquisition, data product development, strategic partnerships as well as data marketplace business operations. Darya has been driving or supporting various projects empowering women since 2013. She is based in Berlin, Germany. Venturing Women website: https://www.venturingwomen.org/ Follow us on social media: | |||
| 03 Aug 2022 | #15: The music industry, selling the company to SoundCloud, and the unflashy side of the CEO role - Hazel Savage | 00:33:24 | |
The way we listen to and create music has been undergoing a massive change with the rise of technology. To discuss this change and what it feels like to build and sell a business, I invited Hazel Savage. A music industry veteran, she co-founded Musiio, a music technology company, in 2018 in Singapore. In spring 2022, Hazel and her co-founder Aron Pettersson sold Musiio to SoundCloud. Prior to that, Hazel was an early Shazam employee and worked at major music companies like Pandora and HMV (British music retailer). With 15 years experience in the music industry, Hazel is a true music-tech lifer. Some of the topics we explore:
About Hazel Savage: With 15 years experience in the music industry, Hazel is a music-tech lifer, guitarist and Co-Founder and CEO at Musiio. She started her music-tech journey as an early employee at Shazam and spent time understanding the pain points of the industry at Pandora, Universal and H-M-V. In 2018, she co-founded music technology company Musiio. It was acquired by SoundCloud in 2022 to bolster the music platform’s discovery capabilities. Hazel moved across to take a leadership role as Vice President of Music Intelligence at SoundCloud. Hazel is based in the UK. About Darya Kamkalova: Darya wears many hats: she is podcaster, a data industry professional, a startup mentor, a co-founder of Manifest Taproom (a craft beer bar in Berlin), and a speaker. Her experience in the data industry spans 10 years, five continents and such domains as data monetisation & acquisition, data product development, strategic partnerships as well as data marketplace business operations. Darya has been driving or supporting various projects empowering women since 2013. She is based in Berlin, Germany. | |||
| 17 Aug 2022 | #16: Profit vs Mission: Can you truly pursue both? - Adriana Luna-Diaz | 00:29:03 | |
‘I am on a mission to make organic food mainstream, accessible to everyone regardless of their income level.’ While doing so, Adriana Luna-Diaz is building a profitable bootstrapped business based on the principles of holacracy (decentralised management model). Adriana is co-founder and director of Tierra de Monte, a Mexico-based AgriTech company. Forbes Magazine named Adriana among the 100 most powerful women in Mexico in 2021. Tierra de Monte creates products that improve soil fertility, protect crops and foster biodiversity. With a team of 9 and a large network of partners, the company has been operating in Mexico, Guatemala, Peru and Ecuador since 2015. Some of the topics we explore:
About Adriana Luna-Diaz: Adriana is co-founder and director of Tierra de Monte, a company that strives to regenerate soil and boost its fertility. Adriana is a laureate of the Cartier Women’s Initiative 2020. Forbes Magazine named her among the 100 most powerful women in Mexico in 2021. HER GLOBAL IMPACT Magazine selected Adriana as one of the Global Catalysts. She is a biologist by profession and holds a Master's degree in socio-environmental business administration. Adriana is based in Mexico. About Darya Kamkalova: Darya is podcaster, a data industry professional, a startup mentor, a co-founder of Manifest Taproom (a craft beer bar in Berlin), and a speaker. Her experience in the data industry spans 10 years, five continents and such domains as data monetisation & acquisition, data product development, strategic partnerships as well as data marketplace business operations. Darya has been driving or supporting various projects empowering women since 2013. She is based in Berlin, Germany. Venturing Women website: https://www.venturingwomen.org/ Follow us on social media: | |||
| 31 Aug 2022 | #17: Who should or should not raise venture capital? And how? - Gesa Miczaika | 00:29:13 | |
Despite the glamorous image of venture capital, it’s not a funding source that fits all. Who should and who absolutely should not raise venture capital to finance their business? How can you make the fundraising process less painful? And finally, is there a way for an outsider to break into the VC industry? Dr. Gesa Miczaika offers straight-forward and deep answers to these questions. Gesa is the founding partner at Auxxo Female Catalyst Fund, a venture capital firm co-investing in startups with at least one female founder in Europe. More about Dr. Gesa Miczaika: About Darya Kamkalova (host): Venturing Women website: | |||
| 14 Sep 2022 | #18: What founders can learn from an outsider-turned-investor - Maria Dramalioti-Taylor | 00:28:02 | |
Founders and investors alike should be excellent signal processors. But what if you are navigating an environment that your ‘sensors’ are not attuned to? You can adjust those sensors and blaze a trail. You can transform your drawbacks into unfair competitive advantages. A woman, a foreigner, and an engineer, Maria Dramalioti-Taylor shares her story of breaking into the venture capital industry. Maria is the founding partner of Beacon Capital, a London venture capital firm. About Maria Dramalioti-Taylor: Maria has led numerous investment rounds syndicating with angels, micro funds and large VCs across Europe and the US creating $900m+ in enterprise value. As an investor, she works with founders to build global, category-defining businesses. She is on the board of several portfolio companies and serves on the Chairs in Emerging Technologies Committee and the Enterprise Committee of The Royal Academy of Engineering. About Darya Kamkalova (host): Darya is a data industry professional, a startup mentor, a co-founder of Manifest Taproom (a craft beer bar in Berlin), and a speaker. She is based in Berlin, Germany. Venturing Women website: https://www.venturingwomen.org/ Follow us on social media: | |||
| 28 Sep 2022 | #19: Building a launchpad for women of colour founders - Stephanie von Behr | 00:26:51 | |
Less than 0.5% of venture capital goes to women of colour founders. Is it a pipeline problem rooted in a lack of such founders? Perhaps, women of colour simply do not dare to build high-growth businesses? Stephanie von Behr, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Founderland, debunks these myths. She is focused on increasing visibility, creating community, and getting more women of colour founders funded. We talk about what allyship truly means and why it matters, how disadvantages can become opportunities and what it takes to create a robust and flourishing community. Stephanie tells the story of building Founderland with simple tools like surveys and match-making keeping founders’ needs at the heart of every step and decision. About Stephanie von Behr: Stephanie has been working with startups for over a decade building community, as a 3x founder, operator, consultant, and mentor. As the Managing Director of Founderland, she is on a mission to disrupt the status quo and challenge systems of power across the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Founderland is an NGO that supports women founders based in Europe who’ve faced obstacles tied to their ethnicity/race in their business journeys. Founderland brings founders, allies and investors together to get more diverse, sustainable and scalable businesses funded. About Darya Kamkalova: Darya is a data industry professional, a startup mentor, a co-founder of Manifest Taproom (a craft beer bar in Berlin), and a speaker. She is based in Berlin, Germany. Venturing Women website: https://www.venturingwomen.org/ Follow us on social media: | |||
| 12 Oct 2022 | #20: Be a leader worth working for - Kate Hofman | 00:30:26 | |
How do you build an indoor farming company to produce delicious salads at scale and make the food system more sustainable? You may need to start with a greenhouse on top of a shipping container as an MVP. Then raise >100mln of euros of external funding. But most importantly, you’ll need to create a company culture based on values that aren't just some words on your website. Kate Hofman is Founder and Brand Director of GrowUp Farms, an indoor farming company helping to build a more sustainable food system in the UK. Kate and I talk about being a leader worth working for, hiring and building teams, and walking away from the initial company identity. She also shares her experiences of pitching to investors while pregnant and building a business while raising a child. More about Kate Hofman: About Darya Kamkalova (host): Darya is a data industry professional, a startup mentor, a co-founder of Manifest Taproom (a craft beer bar in Berlin), and a speaker. She is committed to narrowing the gender investment gap for female founders and diverse teams. Darya is based in Berlin, Germany. https://www.venturingwomen.org/ Follow us on social media: | |||
| 26 Oct 2022 | #21: New habits for a new life chapter - Vanessa Westphal | 00:29:23 | |
What do you do if after 10 years of a successful corporate career, you feel the need for a big change? Can you make a career pivot, start in a new area and still be credible? Your track record may have helped you to get that new job or a promotion. And the same track record may hold you back from making a leap of faith into building your own business or starting anything new. Vanessa joined Siemens 10 years ago as an electrical engineer to then switch to management consulting and lead a corporate incubator. She got excited about building something new from scratch and then seeing other people use it and benefit from it. With Choosy, Vanessa tackles one of our biggest and yet most underestimated challenges we face as humans: How we decide what we eat. Darya is a data industry professional, a startup mentor, a co-founder of Manifest Taproom (a craft beer bar in Berlin), and a speaker. She is committed to narrowing the gender investment gap for female founders and diverse teams. Darya is based in Berlin, Germany. https://www.venturingwomen.org/ | |||
| 09 Nov 2022 | #22: Business angels’ wings and money for startups - Rita Vilas-Boas | 00:26:09 | |
9 out of 10 startups die, and the first years of any startup existence are the most challenging to navigate. This is where business angels can offer invaluable support to founders along with so much needed capital. Rita Vilas-Boas is a marketing professional, entrepreneur and angel investor focusing on consumer-centric startups. She is particularly interested in impact and women-led startups. In the last 20 years, she held top-tier roles at major global brands like Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola as well as family businesses. Rita shares a moving story of fear, flight and growth that brought her to work and live in 7 countries across 3 continents. Topics that we cover in this episode:
More about Rita Vilas-Boas: Rita is Limited Partner founder at Shilling - community-driven venture capital fund. She is also the founding member of the first Classic Liberal Party In Portugal. Born and raised in Porto, Portugal, Rita holds a bachelor degree in biotechnology and a post-graduation degree in bioethics. Rita is based in Lisbon, Portugal. About Darya Kamkalova: Darya is a data industry professional, a startup mentor, a co-founder of Manifest Taproom (a craft beer bar in Berlin), and a speaker. She is committed to narrowing the gender investment gap for female founders and diverse teams. Darya is based in Berlin, Germany. Venturing Women website: | |||
| 23 Nov 2022 | #23: Train the change muscle - Karen K. Burns | 00:30:18 | |
Her first job was as a saxophone player. Later, she worked on producing Star Wars and Fast & Furious in the Abu Dhabi desert - and absolutely hated it. Now an established IT professional, Karen Burns is the CEO & Co-Founder at Fyma, a computer vision company enabling data-driven urban planning. Karen knows best what change is, on personal and professional levels. She and her co-founder launched Fyma right before the pandemic hit, only to see cities deserted. About Karen K. Burns: Karen is the Co-Founder and CEO at Fyma, a computer vision SaaS platform that turns cameras into predictive sensors. She has 16+ years prior experience in IT and business development roles and she has lived and worked in the UK, South Africa and the Middle East, both in private and public sector organisations in management positions. Karen is based in Estonia. About Darya Kamkalova: Darya is a data industry professional, a startup mentor, a co-founder of Manifest Taproom (a craft beer bar in Berlin), and a speaker. She is committed to narrowing the gender investment gap for female founders and diverse teams. Darya is based in Berlin, Germany. Venturing Women website: https://www.venturingwomen.org/ Follow us on social media: | |||
| 07 Dec 2022 | #24: Should founders sacrifice their private life and relationships? - Jenny Holmström | 00:19:48 | |
If you launch your own business, just forget about having a life. It’s only work, no play. And your friends and family will need to accept it. This notion is particularly popular in the startup world but how much truth is in it? We asked Jenny Holmström, CEO and Co-Founder of Coupleness, an app helping couples to develop healthy habits for happy relationships. Jenny and Darya examine
About Jenny Holmström: Jenny has worked for the United Nations as well as large corporations, and co-founded a child rights organization. She is an award-winning communicator, always striving to make a positive social impact. Coupleness is an app for couples with a mission to make it easy and mainstream to invest in your relationship. About Darya Kamkalova: Darya is a data industry professional, a startup mentor, a co-founder of Manifest Taproom (a craft beer bar in Berlin), and a speaker. She is committed to narrowing the gender investment gap for female founders and diverse teams. Darya is based in Berlin, Germany. Venturing Women website: | |||
| 21 Dec 2022 | #25: How technology helps investors in search of startups - Penny Schiffer | 00:26:31 | |
Imagine you are invited to give a talk at Stanford about your work as an investor. Excited, you board a plane to cross the Atlantic. And a conversation with a seat neighbour on that flight changes your whole life trajectory. You are now adamant about building your own business. That’s exactly what happened to Penny Schiffer, CEO & Co-Founder of Raized.ai. After 10 years in venture capital, Penny decided to launch a startup to make this industry more intelligent. A psychology major, she had to ‘go back to the roots’ and re-discover her technical background. Topics we cover:
About Penny Schiffer: Penny is on a mission to transform startup investment with artificial intelligence, to make it more efficient and fair, and generate higher returns. Before Penny launched Raized.ai, she worked in corporate innovation and as a strategy consultant at Accenture. Penny got into programming at the age of ten but only made the step into the tech industry later. She was awarded “Seed 10 - the Best of Europe's Female Early-Stage Investors” by Business Insider in 2022. Penny is based in Zurich, Switzerland. Darya is a data industry professional, a startup mentor, a co-founder of Manifest Taproom (a craft beer bar in Berlin), and a speaker. She is committed to narrowing the gender investment gap for female founders and diverse teams. Darya is based in Berlin, Germany. | |||
| 01 Feb 2023 | #26: One year of podcasting, or how giving up on a designer bag can help female founders - Katia Yakovleva, Bettine Schmitz | 00:29:23 | |
This is a joint episode with the Female Business Angel Podcast hosted by Katia Yakovleva and Bettine Schmitz. We launched our shows more or less at the same time, one year ago. Darya, Bettine and Katia talk about one year of podcasting, their learnings, angel investing and the outlook for female founders. About Katia Yakovleva Follow us on social media: Female Business Angels Podcast on social media: | |||
| 14 Jun 2023 | #33: Gender investment gap: Its origin, impact and ways to bridge it - Lucy Chow, Vera Futorjanski, Medea Nocentini, Katie Wachsberger | 00:25:57 | |
Venture capital investors share their views on the reasons behind such disparity. What are its consequences? What are we as a society missing out if this gap perpetuates? And how can we possibly bridge it?
Lucy Chow is the General Partner at the World Business Angels Investment Forum and a member of the steering committee of the movement 2022 Female Angels. Lucy has been recently recognized by Arabian Business as one of 50 Inspiring Female Business Leaders 2022.
Darya is a data industry professional, a startup mentor, a co-founder of Manifest Taproom (a craft beer bar in Berlin), and a speaker. She is committed to narrowing the gender investment gap for female founders and diverse teams. Darya is based in Berlin, Germany. Venturing Women website: | |||
| 22 Mar 2023 | #27: Hardware business: building products and teams that survive any storm (or flood) - Polina Mikhaylova | 00:24:20 | |
Polina Mikhaylova co-founded KNOT, a micromobility company, in 2015, long before shared scooters came into vogue. Terms like ‘free-floating’ or ‘swappable batteries’ didn’t exist yet. Polina is a true enthusiast of docking stations. Can they be the future of shared micromobility? Topics:
About Polina Mikhaylova: About Darya Kamkalova (host): Darya is a data industry professional, a startup mentor, a co-founder of Manifest Taproom (a craft beer bar in Berlin), and a speaker. She is committed to narrowing the gender investment gap for female founders and diverse teams. Darya is based in Berlin, Germany. Irina is a product professional with background in operational excellence. She works at TIER Mobility, e-scooter and e-bike sharing operator striving to make cities more livable and transportation more sustainable. Venturing Women website: https://www.venturingwomen.org/ Follow us on social media: | |||
| 05 Apr 2023 | #28: Build an ideal team of investors and treat this as an alliance - Sonia Weymuller | 00:29:16 | |
Can FOMO (fear of missing out) be a market opportunity? Sonia Weymuller realised many people were seeking ways to invest into tech startups and be a part of the startup buzz. Yet, there was no platform in the MENA region to do so. Sonia Weymuller is a Co-Founder and General Partner of VentureSouq (VSQ), a MENA-based venture capital firm, and Partner Lead for the VSQ Conscious Collective, its global impact-focused investment and educational platform.
Sonia is an advisor to Village Capital’s Sustainability MENA Program and jury member for the Cartier Women’s Initiative. She is also a board member for the Middle East Venture Capital Association, and a Kauffman Fellow. About Darya Kamkalova:
| |||
| 19 Apr 2023 | #29: Are you building just a perk or a sticky product? - Leonie Ellerbrock, Viktoria Lindner | 00:24:46 | |
Mental health and marketplaces - both are hot topics! Isn’t it a great idea to build a marketplace for mental health services? Viktoria Lindner and Leonie Ellerbrock, co-founders of Mindsurance, share a story of launching such a marketplace and then walking away from this model.
| |||
| 03 May 2023 | #30: Will ChatGPT be your next career coach? - Darja Gutnick | 00:32:58 | |
Can you become a better leader in 2 min a day? Yes according to Darja Gutnick, Co-Founder & CEO of Bunch, an AI leadership coach. Darja also shares her own story of how losing key people on her team and going through a split-up with her co-founder made her better leader. Topics we discuss:
| |||
| 17 May 2023 | #31: What is your weapon of choice to drive change? - Jacqueline van den Ende | 00:30:42 | |
‘Be the change you want to see in the world’ sounds like a fulfilling life motto. But how do you put it into practice? How do you leave a positive mark in the world and enjoy the ride along the way? Ultimately, we all have just one life to experiment with. Jacqueline van den Ende aims to unlock 1 billion dollars of capital to help power climate solutions. That’s a big dent in the world to make! Jacqueline is a founder turned investor turned founder, twice over. A true adventurer, she moved to the Philippines to launch a startup, then ran a team of 500 as a CEO. Now, she is building Carbon Equity, the world’s first impact investing platform. Topics we discuss:
Jacqueline van den Ende is co-founder of Amsterdam-based climate fintech company Carbon Equity. Carbon Equity is a climate venture capital and private equity fund investing fintech platform. Carbon Equity was founded with the mission to unlock retail capital at scale to power breakthrough climate technologies whilst enabling more equitable ownership. Jacqueline brings a unique perspective as a founder turned investor turned founder, twice over. She worked at HAL Investments and at Peak Capital. The other half of her career she spent building and leading companies, including De Kleine Consultant, online real estate marketplace Lamudi (backed by Rocket Internet) and fintech scale-up TrueMoney (backed by Ant Financial). About Darya Kamkalova: Darya is a data industry professional, a startup mentor, and a speaker. She is committed to narrowing the gender investment gap for female founders and diverse teams. Darya is based in Berlin, Germany. | |||
| 31 May 2023 | #32: Building a FemTech, don’t look too passionate about it - Fatoumata Ly | 00:26:44 | |
Many businesses start with the future founders trying to solve an issue they face personally. FemTech startups (female technology) are no exception. Here, however, many areas are emotionally loaded and wrapped into layers of taboos.
Fatoumata Ly is a Franco-Guinean entrepreneur, currently a co-founder of Ninti, a company that provides digital solutions for personalised care around sexual and reproductive health. She is also a member of the board of directors of SISTA, a French NGO that focuses on reducing the funding gap between male and female entrepreneurs. Darya is a data industry professional, a startup mentor, and a speaker. She is committed to narrowing the gender investment gap for female founders and diverse teams. Darya is based in Berlin, Germany.
| |||
| 28 Jun 2023 | #34: Out of natural habitat as a founder - Alina Bassi | 00:33:27 | |
How do you launch an innovative business in uncharted territories? Alina Bassi realised she could apply principles of coffee waste management to recycle textiles into… plastics. A chemical engineer, she launched Kleiderly in a foreign country, with no language skills, and out of network. She masterfully addresses challenges of two industries simultaneously: textile waste management and plastics manufacturing.
Alina Bassi is a chemical engineer turned impact entrepreneur, with a passion for creating a more sustainable and equitable future. After 7 years in the biofuels and waste recycling space, she co-founded Kleiderly, a textile recycling startup. She is an impact investor and the co-founder of Founderland - a non-profit that supports women of colour to raise investment. She was on the Forbes 30 under 30 list in 2020, and has been featured in Vogue, Wired, and Germany’s Shark Tank. She is an Obama Leader, TEDx speaker and advisor to over 50+ women-led startups.
Darya is a data industry professional, a startup mentor, and a speaker. She is committed to narrowing the gender investment gap for female founders and diverse teams. Darya is based in Berlin, Germany.
| |||
| 12 Jul 2023 | #35: Growth mindset: don't just ride the waves, make them - Nadine Mezher | 00:29:50 | |
Nadine Mezher was eager to spearhead change in habits and attitudes to handling money in the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa). She wanted to democratise access to investing and make it available to not only the ultra rich. Nadine co-founded Sarwa, a platform for investment and personal finance. In 2022, Forbes recognised Nadine among 20 women behind Middle Eastern tech brands. A fashion professional and owner of her own design house in the past, Nadine unpacks the concept of growth mindset in business and private life. Topics we discuss:
About Nadine Mezher (guest): Nadine co-founded Sarwa, a one-stop platform for investment and personal finance, after years of consultancy and executive roles in growth strategies for government entities as well as multi-national corporates. She comes from a multi-disciplinary background with over 18 years of experience in growth strategies across industries and geographies. Nadine is an award-winning regular speaker on global platforms on topics of business ownership and hacking growth, Fintech, and women in the workforce. Nadine is based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Darya is a data industry professional, a startup mentor, and a speaker. She is committed to narrowing the gender investment gap for female founders and diverse teams. Darya is based in Berlin, Germany.
| |||
| 30 Dec 2021 | Trailer | 00:01:45 | |
Female founders, investors and ecosystem enablers share their stories, knowledge, fears and failures, moments of growth and pieces of advice. With these conversations, we want to inspire more women to build their own businesses and invest as well as support them on this journey. | |||
| 16 Jan 2022 | #1: Money, founder's superpower and first steps to investing – Leitha Matz | 00:30:48 | |
Many women diligently save money but never take that next step into investment. If women do not invest in companies, they gain no power to direct projects and co-create the future. Money is closely connected with power, and power brings opportunities and choices. In this episode, I talk to Leitha Matz, an entrepreneur, an advocate of financial independence for women, and a startup mentor. Topics we explore:
About Leitha Matz: Leitha is a Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at FinMarie, a fintech company focused on serving women that aims to close investment and pension gaps. She is also a Co-Founder of Mind the Gap, a financial education non-profit for women as well as a startup mentor. Leitha is based in Berlin. Darya is a Co-Founder of Manifest Taproom, a craft beer bar in Berlin, an investor, and a data industry professional. In the last 10 years, she has been driving or supporting various projects empowering women. Darya is based in Berlin. | |||
| 01 Feb 2022 | #2: AI in the coffee industry, fears, and emotional amplitude – Darina Onoprienko | 00:27:24 | |
Enjoining our morning coffee, we rarely think about the journey that coffee beans make to end up in our cup. Even more rarely do we associate coffee and the energy boost that it brings with artificial intelligence. My guest in this episode is Darina Onoprienko, the founder and CEO of Agrivero.ai. It's a technology company that develops solutions for quality control and traceability of green coffee and other agricultural products. Topics we discuss:
About Darina Onoprienko: Darina Onoprienko is the founder and CEO of Agrivero.ai. It's a technology company that develops solutions for quality control and traceability of green coffee and other agricultural products. As a public speaker and educator, Darina shared her entrepreneurial journey at around 30 events internationally including a keynote at AI for Good Conference, organized by the UN. She has been recently featured by LETA Capital on the list of 100 Russian-speaking female tech founders. About Darya Kamkalova: Darya is a host and producer of Venturing Women, a co-founder of Manifest Taproom, a craft beer bar in Berlin, an investor, and a data industry professional. In the last 10 years, she has been driving or supporting various projects empowering women. Darya is based in Berlin. | |||