Google Marketing Manager Marta Mozes: ‘Our superpower should be our diversity’
Marta Mozes, Marketing Manager at Google for Startups (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa), speaking at The Jerusalem Post Women Leaders Summit at the Google for Startups Campus in Tel Aviv on Wednesday evening, said that gender-diverse teams raised more funding than men-only and women-only teams combined and that startups with women among their founders have a greater chance of success and survival than those with an all-male team. Her remarks were based on a recent study conducted by Google and the IVC Research Center of Israeli entrepreneurs and tech companies.
“Diversity is key,” said Mozes. “When we think about diversity, in leadership, or start-ups in general, we shouldn’t think of it as a good deed or something we should do, or if it’s good for a photo-op. It’s something that keeps startups afloat, and it’s what’s best for our ecosystem.”
Mozes added that diversity is the next stage of Israel’s development as the Start-Up Nation. “Our superpower should be our diversity and what sets us apart from ecosystems around the world,” she said. “What we’ve also learned in a post-October 7 world is that diversity in leadership and diversity in founding teams is key. We don’t know what will happen and who will have to go to miluim (army reserve duty) the next day, whether that be a man or a woman, but we know that we need to have a diverse team to keep that start-up afloat.”
The mission of Google for Startups, said Moses, is to level the playing field for founders from diverse backgrounds, whether they are female founders, haredi founders, Israeli Arab founders, or founders from Israel’s periphery. “We’re here to embolden them,” she said.