Growth+
"You have to be where the market is. It's hard to understand from the outside"
As part of the Growth+ initiative by Calcalist and Poalim Tech, Maayan Cohen, CEO of Hello Heart, met with Karny Ilan, CEO of Feminai, to offer advice, support, and insights on entrepreneurship, startup management, and scaling companies for growth.
"When the war started, our first instinct was to stop. To postpone meetings, to wait for calmer days. It felt almost self-evident. But we heard something different from the entrepreneurs themselves. They were not looking for more answers or advice, they were looking for a way to stay in motion. To continue thinking, debating, and making decisions amidst uncertainty. This made us realize that the value of mentoring during such periods is different: less about 'giving direction' and more about helping people not get stuck. In an era where you can get an answer from any AI tool in seconds, what you really need is the ability to hold onto complexity and continue operating even amid uncertainty. In this sense, it is precisely now that mentoring is becoming (again) most important," said Michal Kissos Hertzog, CEO of Poalim Tech, who is leading the initiative as part of the Growth+ project by Calcalist and Poalim Tech, now in its third year. The 1:1 meetings between founders of leading Israeli tech companies and entrepreneurs of promising startups is aimed at advising, supporting, and providing tools, knowledge, and tips on entrepreneurship, creativity, managing startups, and building companies for growth.
As part of Growth+, Maayan Cohen, co-founder and CEO of Hello Heart, met with Karny Ilan, CEO and co-founder of Feminai, which is developing a solution in the field of breast cancer.
Maayan, tell me about a crisis or challenge you encountered early on and what you learned from it.
"The message is that you have to be where the market is. It's very difficult to understand markets from the outside, you have to live them. I started in Israel 13 years ago, and no one understood what I wanted. The market was in its infancy, and no one gave me money for our seed round. I spoke to all the investors, and the answer was no. I took my things and moved to Silicon Valley, where people began to understand my vision and see the future of digital health. There’s an ecosystem there that supports the creation of new markets. Even though I didn't know anyone and wasn’t American, they gave me money. Today, we're at $140 million behind. It was complicated, I was alone for part of the time, but it was worth it."
Karny, what was your most significant challenge this year?
"Our biggest challenge as a company began after we raised the seed round. We were a small team of three founders, each handling an entire vertical, and suddenly we had to expand, start delegating authority, distributing tasks, and trusting others to do work that only we had done before.
"On a personal level, the fundraising period was difficult. I felt that if I had sought the money in the United States, it would have come more easily because that’s where I had the best investor conversations. For convenience, we chose to focus on doing the round in Israel, but it was difficult because I felt we were misunderstood by the local market."
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Maayan, what advice did you give Karny?
"I advised her to connect with people who have succeeded and understand the American healthcare market from the inside. It’s the largest healthcare market in the world, and it’s incredibly complex, with huge players, politics, and nuances behind the scenes. A lot of amazing innovation with excellent clinical results has failed commercially.
"Karny quickly realized that her main challenge was to crack the commercial side, understand the map of interests, who benefits from what, and how to build a product that creates real value for a major player in the market."
What did you learn from each other?
Karny: "It seems that nothing stopped Maayan. She knew how to rise from any crisis and achieve something extraordinary in digital health. It provides light at the end of the tunnel. The best way to move forward is to find someone who has done what you want to do and learn from them."
Maayan: "I learned more about breast cancer risks, a topic that concerns me personally as a BRCA1 gene carrier who needs testing every six months. It was refreshing to meet an entrepreneur of such sophistication, entering the market with all her might and the goal of doing amazing things for patients."
Maayan Cohen's Golden Advice
"The best tip I received was: 'Don't stop having fun. The moment you stop having fun, the company will die.' Don’t forget to enjoy the journey and have fun."
