Aakash Pathak

#10 - Your network is your net worth

Conversation with Ilana Diamond - Managing Partner at 412 Venture Fund

“I wish someone told me this when I started my career” - I found myself saying this many times as I was preparing this episode for you all.

Another audio episode is here and it’s filled with knowledge that I wish I had when I was starting. My guest for this conversation is Ilana Diamond - Managing Partner at 412 Venture Fund - Investor, entrepreneur, fire-starter.

Ilana is one of the few people I have met who tend to be networking powerhouses. It appears as if everyone knows them and they know everybody. In Ilana’s case, this all was true as I was able to witness firsthand her charisma, thoughtfulness, and intelligence. I saw her operate firsthand when I was part of a robotics startup that went through the Alphalab Gear accelerator.

In this conversation, Ilana shares her wisdom about building startups, defining culture, and building a productive career and life. It took me a long time to get this episode ready as I kept going back to listen and take notes on the many insights.

This conversation packs golden nuggets to help you level up your game no matter what level you are operating at in your career. I had so much fun and learned a ton from this conversation. Hope you enjoy this as much as I did!

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About Ilana

Ilana is the Managing Partner at 412 Venture Fund headquartered in Pittsburgh. 412 venture fund invests in early-stage startups and focuses on the untapped potential of underrepresented founders in the region.

Before this, Ilana was the founding Managing Director of Alphalap Gear – the hardware arm of the nationally ranked accelerator program Alphalab. At Alphalab gear, Ilana worked with hundreds of startups – sourcing and coaching portfolio companies as well as serving on the boards of many. Even before, Ilana was President & CEO of Sima Products Inc, which produced consumer electronics under several different brands.

Ilana is a master networker, and I got the opportunity to witness her operate firsthand when I was part of a robotics startup that went through the Alphalab Gear program. During my time in the Pittsburgh Startup scene, I felt Ilana was everywhere and everyone knew Ilana

If you enjoy the conversation, share it with someone you think will enjoy it.

I love you all, keep going!

Originally published on substack.