Digital Irish Podcast

In this episode, we sit down with Elena Levine, Founder and CEO of Forcoda and the newly launched Forcoda Ventures. Elena has spent over a decade building a US-based product and engineering agency from the ground up as an immigrant founder, shipping more than 200 projects for enterprise clients including M&T Bank, Shake Shack, Oral-B, and the University at Buffalo — while also helping startup clients collectively raise over $100m. Today, she runs curated investor luncheons in major US cities, sits on the founder side and the investor side of the table, and has rare 360-degree visibility into what actually moves a fundraising conversation forward.
In this conversation, we get into:
Why clarity of thought is the single biggest differentiator Elena looks for in early-stage founders — and how investors read it in the first 30 seconds of an email or meeting.

How to research investors properly before reaching out, including the underrated move of talking to founders already in their portfolio.

What “smart money” actually means in practice, and how to spot the investors who will pick up the phone at 10pm on a Saturday — versus the ones you’ll regret bringing onto your cap table.

Why approaching investors too early can damage a relationship for years, and how to find the right moment to start the conversation.

The fine line between ego and confidence — and why Elena, raised in Russia, had to relearn how to talk about herself when she landed in the US.

If you’re an Irish founder preparing to raise capital in the US — or any non-American founder building a credible US footprint from abroad — this episode is packed with practical, candid advice from someone who has lived every side of the table.

Elena Levine is the Founder and CEO of Forcoda, an AI-first product and engineering agency she has built from the ground up over 12 years, shipping 200+ projects for US enterprise clients including M&T Bank, Shake Shack, Oral-B, and the University at Buffalo. Forcoda works across two tracks — rapid MVPs and prototypes for startups, and AI readiness, roadmaps, and agentic infrastructure for enterprise. She also founded Forcoda Ventures, which connects founders with US investors through curated luncheons in major cities, and is currently raising the firm’s first fund focused on early-stage fintech and AI companies. Having built her own company as an immigrant founder in the US market, Elena has a first-hand perspective on what it takes to land enterprise clients, raise from US investors, and build a credible American footprint from abroad.
Forcoda is an AI-first product and engineering agency founded in 2014. The firm has shipped over 200 projects for enterprise clients and funded startups, and operates two distinct tracks: rapid MVP and prototype delivery for early-stage founders, and AI readiness, roadmaps, and agentic infrastructure for enterprise. Its sister venture, Forcoda Ventures, runs curated investor luncheons that connect founders with 15–20 hand-picked US investors per session, and is raising a debut fund targeting fintech and AI companies.
Want to get in contact with the Digital Irish team? Email us at podcast@digitalirish.com

About Elena Levine
About Forcoda

Digital Irish podcast celebrates Irish innovation and the Irish startup ecosystem: connecting founders, investors, and innovators across Ireland, the diaspora, and beyond. Each episode features candid conversations with VCs, entrepreneurs, and business leaders sharing the real story behind building companies: the setbacks, the playbooks, and the lessons you don't find in press releases. Whether you're plugged into the Irish startup scene or part of the Irish community abroad, Digital Irish is your window into one of the world's most connected startup communities.

In this episode, we sit down with Stephen Tallon, a Partner at McCann FitzGerald, one of Ireland's leading law firms, where his practice focuses on emerging companies, venture capital, and M&A. Stephen trained in Ireland before spending almost a decade in London at Orrick, a global firm with deep roots in Silicon Valley, where he worked on some of the biggest deals across Europe and the US — including transactions involving Stripe, Revolut, and Salesforce Ventures. He's since returned home to Ireland with his family and joined McCann FitzGerald, which has one of the largest and most experienced emerging company and VC teams in the country, advising founders from pre-seed all the way to exit.
In this conversation, we get into the legal side of fundraising that most founders overlook until it's too late. We cover:
What investment readiness actually means from a legal standpoint, and what VCs are really evaluating in those first conversations

Why your cap table could make or break a deal before it even gets started

What founders consistently get wrong before and after signing a term sheet

The key terms founders should push back on and which ones are genuinely non-negotiable

What a Delaware flip actually involves for Irish companies pursuing US investment, and when to do it

If you're an Irish founder thinking about raising investment, this episode is packed with practical, honest advice on how to protect yourself and set your company up for the long run.

About Stephen Tallon
Stephen Tallon is a Partner at McCann FitzGerald LLP, where he focuses on emerging companies, venture capital, and M&A. He trained in Ireland before moving to London in 2017 to join Orrick, a global law firm headquartered in San Francisco, where he spent almost a decade advising on landmark transactions across Europe and the US with companies including Stripe, Revolut, Butternut Box, Graphcore, Salesforce Ventures, and Macquarie. Now back in Ireland, Stephen works with founders and investors at every stage, from pre-seed through to exit.
About McCann FitzGerald
With over 640 people across four countries and more than 480 lawyers and legal professionals, McCann FitzGerald LLP is one of Ireland's premier law firms. Operating from offices in Dublin, London, New York, and Brussels, the firm provides expert legal counsel to clients in Ireland and around the world across corporate, banking and financial services, disputes, and real estate. McCann FitzGerald has a long-standing reputation for innovation and excellence, and its emerging company and VC team is one of the largest and most experienced in Ireland.
Want to get in contact with the Digital Irish team? Email us at podcast@digitalirish.com

Marty Loughlin is back for round two. Where the first conversation was about why Irish founders think globally, this one's about what actually happens inside the room. Dave and Marty get into how DIVF makes decisions, what they do after the cheque is written, and some pretty blunt advice for any founder preparing to raise.
Marty Loughlin is a partner at the Digital Irish Venture Fund (DIVF), the fund built on the back of the Digital Irish Angels investment group, founded in 2016. DIVF backs Irish founders scaling globally with a particular focus on those entering the US market, drawing on a network of Irish-American business leaders across the diaspora.
What we cover
What Marty looks for in a first founder meeting
DIVF's playbook after the cheque is written
How to know if you're actually ready to raise
The pitch deck advice every founder needs to hear
Get in touch
Marty Loughlin: marty.loughlin@digitalirish.com
Learn more about DIVF: digitalirishfund.com
podcast@digitalirish.com

In this episode, we sit down with Marius Smyth of the Digital Irish Venture Fund (DIVF) for a follow-up to our earlier conversations with Marty Loughlin. Where Marty walked us through how DIVF picks founders and the realities of pitching the fund, Marius zooms out to the layer underneath: how DIVF is building the Irish diaspora into a working venture ecosystem rather than relying on it as a goodwill network. He is leading the build-out of a physical “Green Room” for Irish founders in New York, architecting the fund’s co-investment strategy, and thinking hard about where a fund of DIVF’s size best fits in an industry increasingly polarised between mega-funds and solo angels.
In this conversation, we get into:
Why the Irish network is a sourcing engine, not just a hospitality network — and what DIVF is building to keep it commercial rather than a mutual appreciation society.

How DIVF co-invests alongside other funds without becoming dependent on whoever is leading the round.

Why the right place for an Irish venture fund right now is not at either end of the cheque-size spectrum, and where DIVF deliberately sits.

The most practical first step for a founder coming out of Ireland with no US network, plus where the gaps still are in the Irish ecosystem itself.

If you’re an Irish founder building for the US market — or thinking about the next layer of infrastructure the diaspora needs — this episode is the strategic counterpart to Marty’s tactical advice from the earlier episodes.
About the Digital Irish Venture Fund (DIVF)
DIVF is an early-stage venture firm focused on Irish and Irish diaspora founders building for global markets. The fund operates as “friendly operators” rather than traditional shark VCs — providing hands-on operating help, warm introductions, and access to a diaspora network across New York, London and Dublin after the cheque is written. DIVF co-invests alongside other funds and works alongside the broader Irish ecosystem — Enterprise Ireland, universities, accelerators, and angels — to bring strong Irish companies into the US market.
Want to get in contact with the Digital Irish team? Email us at podcast@digitalirish.com