Startup software partnerships, content that actually converts faster | Tetiana Kobzar from Diversido

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Hey everybody, welcome to today’s episode of Pathmonk Presents. Today we’re joined by Tetiana Kobzar.

She’s the founder of Diversido. Tetiana, welcome to the show.

Tetiana Kobzar: Thank you, Rick. Thank you for having me.

Rick: Of course, more than glad to have you and, in fact, I’m excited. We had a chat briefly before starting this and you told me a little bit about Diversido. But what about sharing it with our audience right now, Tetiana? Can you tell us the big idea behind your company and how you would describe it to someone?

Tetiana Kobzar: The big idea behind the company is helping startups bring their products to the market, make them engaging, and help them with any technical needs they may have so they can focus on the business part — on marketing and other things. We focus on mobile and web development. We help with website creation, UI/UX design, and testing — basically anything that our clients need.

Rick: That’s awesome. And I’m sure these days it might be hard to differentiate, right? When you do software development or any kind of development really, are there any specific types of businesses that you prefer? Let me not say prefer, because maybe some of your clients will listen to this, but let’s say it’s easier to work with or you have more exciting projects to care about and where your services really shine?

Tetiana Kobzar: A lot of startups, because startups are innovative, exciting, and always have interesting ideas. That’s why we love working with them. We have very good experience in IoT, edtech, and healthtech, so those are our primary focuses. But we’ve also had critical projects in different industries as well.

Rick: Okay, fair enough. I see you’re being diplomatic here. You don’t want to pick favorites, but I understand. It’s exciting to work with startups. I work with many myself, and Pathmonk is a startup. There’s a kind of buzz when working with startups and different roles you cover. But I’m curious — how do most of your clients or potential clients discover you? Are there any marketing channels that have become your go-to for bringing in new clients at the moment?

Tetiana Kobzar: The majority of our clients still come to us by recommendation from our previous clients, or our previous clients returning to us with new projects because they like working with us. So that’s still our main client acquisition channel. We also have a couple of good clients who come from our website, and some from LinkedIn. So there are different channels, but recommendations are the top one.

Rick: Word of mouth, right? That’s the oldest and most effective one. When you work with someone and they talk about it to a friend, colleague, or business partner, it’s always going to be, “Okay, this person recommended X company, I’ll check them out before doing any Googling.” That’s awesome and speaks to the quality of your service and care for your customers — props to you.

Now tell us a little bit about Diversido. Obviously, you act as an agency, but how did it come about? What’s the story behind it, and how did it all start for you as a founder?

Tetiana Kobzar: I worked in a startup myself before founding my company. That startup didn’t succeed, and our team decided to start our own company to help startups because we understood the ecosystem and how it goes. We were a bit tired of fundraising and other parts of the startup world where we weren’t very successful, but we knew how to build software solutions and were very confident in that. So we decided to bring this value to other people who could handle the fundraising on their side.

Rick: Yeah, it can be pretty stressful and cutthroat as an industry — whatever industry you’re in, if you’re in a startup, it’s a little crazy, right? Especially when investors get involved. There are good parts and bad parts, as with anything in life. It’s interesting that the team from the startup transitioned into forming an agency together. That worked.

Tetiana Kobzar: Yes, and we split at some point. We started with one more person, so we were partners, but after three years working together, we split, and I continued as a sole founder. But the beginning was as a team.

Rick: Oh wow, that’s crazy. And it’s been going for more than a decade now, right? Initially, it was you, and then things changed, and now you have a team. That’s amazing.

Tetiana Kobzar: Yeah.

Rick: That speaks to the work you guys are doing. You mentioned word of mouth — that’s a big one. Now, I wanted to touch on your website. You said some leads come through it. How much of a role does your website play in pulling in new clients at the moment? Is there anything about it that you think really works, or things that you’re working on improving?

Tetiana Kobzar: I think it plays a less important role than it should, and that’s why we’re planning a huge redesign — a full rebrand and a completely new website. I see a lot of potential. I know the rumors that “search engine optimization is dead,” but I don’t think so. The same rules that work in SEO apply in GPT search as well, so I’m pretty sure making a good website is still very important.

What works for us is quality content — especially content that wasn’t made just from keyword research and a content plan, but things that came from real client needs. For example, when our clients keep asking the same question, we just write a blog post or create a landing page explaining it, so we can send them the link. Those types of pages work best.

We’re also recently trying a couple of lead magnets, sharing useful resources and checklists in exchange for emails. But it’s still early — we’ve been doing it only for a couple of months, so it’s too soon to say if it’s working well.

Rick: Fair enough. And it’s interesting you mention that the best content isn’t always the one planned for SEO, but the one that comes from what your team is genuinely interested in or solving for clients. That passion shines through.

Tetiana Kobzar: Yeah, totally. I totally agree.

Rick: I just want to switch gears for a second, Tetiana. I want to talk about you as a leader. Can you give us a glimpse into your typical workday — the main things you focus on day to day? What’s a day in the life of Tetiana like?

Tetiana Kobzar: You know that meme with the dog sitting at the table saying “I’m fine” while everything’s burning? That’s my typical day. Because I’m the founder and our company isn’t that big — around 30 people — I wear many hats. My main responsibilities are business development, marketing, and sales, but I also manage a few projects and work with some long-term clients who are my personal accounts. Sometimes I need to manage people or help with performance reviews or other things. It’s a combination of everything, so every day is different.

Rick: No day is the same, right?

Tetiana Kobzar: Never.

Rick: Fair enough. What do you enjoy most in your day among all the things you do?

Tetiana Kobzar: That depends. I’m a passionate person, very easy to get excited about new ideas. So the most enjoyable part is always whatever I’m enthusiastic about at the moment. Right now, it’s marketing — personal brand development, brand awareness, demand generation, all those things. That’s what drives me now and I’m really excited about it.

Rick: Okay. And if I may note — I can see that on your LinkedIn. You’re active, posting videos, consistent, and putting out content. When it comes to personal branding, consistency is key. But there’s a flood of content out there, right? Since you’re passionate about marketing and personal branding, and I assume you’re learning as you go, I’m curious: how do you stay focused and keep learning about these topics? Are there certain people, resources, or places you turn to for inspiration?

Tetiana Kobzar: When it comes to LinkedIn, I’m part of a community by Amelia Sdel — she’s brilliant for personal branding and content recommendations. She’s the person I learn from regarding LinkedIn.

There’s also a Ukrainian agency where I completed a marketing course recently. They’re very good at marketing for service companies like mine, so it was a lot of useful information and tips.

Books — that’s another topic that excites me: behavioral design and behavioral science. When I have time (which isn’t that often), I read books. The last one I read was Atomic Habits, and now I just downloaded The Design of Everyday Things to reread. One of my all-time favorites that I’ve reread twice is Actionable Gamification: Beyond Points, Badges, and Leaderboards by Yu-kai Chou. It’s brilliant — about gamification but really focuses on human psychology, how people make decisions, and why they do or don’t do things. Those are my main sources of learning.

Rick: I can tell — you lit up when you talked about that. It’s clearly something you’re passionate about. We’re coming toward the end of our time, but before we wrap up, we usually do a rapid-fire segment: quick questions, quick answers. Ready?

Tetiana Kobzar: Yes.

Rick: Do you prefer watching, listening, or reading?

Tetiana Kobzar: Reading.

Rick: Okay, what’s the latest book you picked up? You mentioned Atomic Habits — were there any ideas or gems that really stuck with you?

Tetiana Kobzar: From Atomic Habits, the idea that you should think of something you enjoy doing so much that you’d do it even if you weren’t paid for it — something others might find hard work. Invest your time in that. I love that idea. Society says success requires struggle, but some things come naturally to you and are easier than for others. You should lean into that.

Rick: That’s an amazing takeaway. I’ve read it twice myself. Now, if you had a magic wand and could fix one frustrating thing in your marketing life with tech, what would it be?

Tetiana Kobzar: Easy and fast good content — make it easier, faster, and better.

Rick: Just like that, with a wave of a wand, right?

Tetiana Kobzar: Yes.

Rick: What’s one repetitive task you’d love to put on autopilot forever?

Tetiana Kobzar: Following people I’m interested in — but automate it somehow. I’d love notifications about their activity and an easy way to comment, all gathered in one place across social media.

Rick: Better curation — I hear you. If you could go back and give your past self a pep talk at the start of your founder journey, what advice would you give yourself?

Tetiana Kobzar: Work on your personal brand from day one.

Rick: You think that’s the main thing to focus on?

Tetiana Kobzar: Yes, because it really helps and stays with you. It never hurts. I’d also tell myself to start investing in marketing earlier. We only started doing marketing a few years ago — before that, it was just outreach, and that was a mistake. I’d advise myself to start earlier with marketing and personal branding, because people buy from people. Being noticed and trusted is important.

Rick: That’s full of wisdom, Tetiana. I want to thank you for being on the show today. As we wrap things up, if someone forgets everything about today’s interview, what’s the one thing they should remember about your company and the work you’re doing?

Tetiana Kobzar: If you want to find reliable people to work with — who stay with you whatever happens and cover all your technical issues, even if you don’t have someone in your team — we’ll help you find the right people. That’s Diversido.

Rick: Amazing. Maybe we’ll see the next unicorn coming out of working with you guys — who knows! If someone wants to check you out, where should they go?

Tetiana Kobzar: The website is a good place — diversido.io — or my LinkedIn page. I’m there every day and answer all my messages personally, so I’d be happy to connect.

Rick: Perfect. Tetiana, thank you again for sharing your wisdom, your story, and some great book recommendations. I wish you a wonderful day and hope we can chat again soon.

Tetiana Kobzar: Thank you, Rick.

Rick: Bye everyone.

Tetiana Kobzar: Bye.