Leaders

To be called a successful entrepreneur these days, many elements are required, but most importantly, a high level of ambition and a favorable outcome. Successful women are becoming more prominent in our society as more women develop the fortitude and courage to just - Go for it. Their success can be attributed not just to their passion, hard work, and inspiration, but also to their capacity to overcome hardship. Hilla Ovil-Brenner, the Managing Director of Techstars Tel Aviv Accelerator - Israel, is one such business leader and serial entrepreneur who believes in the power of passion, expertise, and skill to transform visions into reality.

Hilla has spent the last 20 years as a serial entrepreneur in the hi-tech business, and she is a firm believer in innovation and teamwork. Hilla established Yazamiyot, Israel's largest female founders' organization, with over 8000 members and global projects. She is also an investor, a mentor, and a member of numerous advisory boards.

How Does Your Past Professional Experience Help You In Leading Techstars Today?

Founders make the same mistakes all the time; it's difficult for them to obtain money, find the correct business strategy, and comprehend what the market is like. And all of these things, as well as leaving a small ecosystem like Israel and becoming worldwide, are things I've gone through. It's all assisting me in helping start-ups in growing outside of Israel and becoming worldwide, as well as bringing them into the network and supporting them with all of the issues that I faced. My professional knowledge aided me in assisting start-ups in learning more, countering, and also improving the network and introducing them to the appropriate investors.

How Does Techstars Help Start-Ups And Entrepreneurs? What Are The Various Interventions And Support Mechanisms That Techstars Has Put In Place To Help Upcoming Start-Ups?

Techstars is a fantastic resource for entrepreneurs since we teach them the foundations of starting a business. We offer three months program, and we are a mentor-driven accelerator that connects them with hundreds of mentors both locally and worldwide. And it's thrilling because we're able to assist them, generate funds, and develop commercial opportunities through our network. We introduce them to decision-makers, for example, since we work with corporations a lot, and so we introduce them to corporations and investors, and the mechanism is that we also teach them how to approach and present to them so that they can maximize the value of their start-up and technology.

What Are The Various Roles And Responsibilities That Your Current Role As Managing Director Of Techstars Entail? What Are Some Of The Most Challenging Aspects Of Your Job And How Do You Counter Them?

Being a Managing Director of Techstars entails researching the Israeli ecosystem and forming a network of mentors, investors, and entrepreneurs. Also, from a macro perspective, look at the network that exists between all of these local ecosystems, as this generates a massive network. The plan is to start with small ecosystems, then expand into a much larger ecosystem.

The most difficult component of my job is selecting the proper companies; it's quite difficult to do so since there's so much talent out there. Start-ups are tenacious, and there will be teams that are truly changing the world. And the objective is to choose businesses based on their team, their resiliency, their business model, and their chances of success. And I think the key problem is to help them focus their efforts after that because the big challenge of a start-up is that there are very few resources available, so you have to focus on the appropriate targets.

‘‘Being a founder is a difficult task that involves a lot of ups and downs. Like any start-up, it's been a roughroad but my path has been filled with joy, and i've always felt like i'm following my dream’’

As The One Leading The Firm, How Do You Drive Growth Within The Organization? What Is Your Leadership Mantra?

Driving growth is rather exciting, as part of such a large organization, you did not only drive growth for your local territory, but also the overall portfolio's growth and value. As a result, I believe it comes down to genuinely connecting entrepreneurs with the correct possibilities and seeing them raise more money, generate more chances, and develop in this manner.

How Has Your Journey Been As A Business Leader So Far? How Do You Keep Yourself Well Aligned With The Periodic Evolutions Occurring In The Industry And The Tech World?

Being a founder is a difficult task that involves a lot of ups and downs. Like any start-up, it's been a rough road but my path has been filled with joy, and I've always felt like I'm following my dreams. And I hope for everyone to be able to do whatever makes them truly happy at all times. When it comes to keeping up with the industry's evolution, we take great pride in knowing where the trends are, as well as networking and keeping up with one another on various technologies and how they work. As a result, we have numerous communication channels connecting us all around the world. We read and attend conferences; we are always up to date on what's going on in the industry.

What's Your Vision For Techstars' Growth In The Days To Come?

Techstars is the worldwide network that helps entrepreneurs succeed. Our mission is to assist and support founders in their efforts to identify and create innovation and to help build successful companies.

As A Successful Business Leader, What Would Your Advice Be To Young Women Who Aspire To Become Business Leaders And Entrepreneurs In The Future?

I believe it would be helpful for both men and women, but especially to women, who confront various challenges. Just don't be scared to dream big and follow your ambitions, as they say, since you will never regret it.

Hilla Ovil Brenner, Managing Director, Techstars

Hilla personally witnessed the hardships that women encounter in this male-centric society as a woman Founder and CEO, which inspired her to form Yazamiyot - Women Entrepreneurs, a nonprofit organization with a clear aim to drastically expand the presence and number of women entrepreneurs in the hi-tech and biotech industries. Currently, Hilla is leading Techstars in Israel as the Managing Director.

Hilla Ovil-Brenner, Managing Director, Techstars Tel Aviv Accelerator Israel

For the past 20 years, Hila has been an entrepreneur and an investor. Hilla has been a source of mentorship for entrepreneurs both in the Israeli ecosystem and worldwide.