Beyond technology: What makes people fall in love with a startup?

For Tu B’Av, Israel’s holiday of love, figures from the technology and fintech sectors are turning their attention from valuations, algorithms and financial reports to a less measurable force: the emotional connection between companies and the people who invest in them, work for them and use their products.

Industry executives say that connection is not created by technology alone. It is built through trust, transparency, a clear sense of purpose and the ability to remain consistent during periods of uncertainty.

Eldad Tamir, founder and CEO of Tamir Fishman and Finq, said technology may attract initial attention, but loyalty is tested when conditions become more difficult. “In both traditional investments and the modern fintech world at Finq, ‘love’ isn’t just a metaphor. It’s the ultimate expression of trust,” he said. “A great product or smart algorithm might spark initial interest, but deep, lasting loyalty is forged in times of uncertainty.”

According to Tamir, investors, employees and customers are drawn not only to performance, but also to the way a company conducts itself. “They don’t just fall in love with technology or bottom-line numbers. They connect with transparency, resilience and vision,” he said.

“When a company uses innovation to genuinely empower its users and stays true to its core values through market volatility, it builds an emotional bond that goes far beyond the service itself. It creates true brand devotion.”

Michal Gat of Titan Branding said startups often devote years to product development while underestimating the role branding plays in shaping how the company is understood. “Startups spend years developing their products, but it’s branding that makes people fall in love with the company,” she said.

“It transforms a vision into a story, innovation into meaning and technology into something people want to be part of, whether as investors, employees or customers.”

Gat said effective branding combines emotional appeal with a credible business foundation. “When branding successfully combines emotional connection with a strong rational foundation, it becomes a strategic asset,” she said. “It brings different audiences together, builds trust and encourages them to choose the company again and again.”

She added that people rarely form an attachment to technology in isolation. “People don’t fall in love with technology. They fall in love with what that technology makes possible,” she said. “Branding turns that promise into a story people want to believe in.”

Based on her work with global technology companies, Gat said such connections are built deliberately rather than by chance. “They are created through clarity, authenticity and consistency,” she said. “Those qualities can transform a company from one of many into one that people actively choose to support.”

Elad Schulman, co-founder and CEO of Lasso Security, said brand loyalty often begins with employees’ sense of ownership.

He recalled a case in which a major customer requested a capability the company had not yet developed. The team built it from scratch, working nights and weekends ahead of the demonstration.

“On demo day, I was alone in the conference room, while everyone who had built it watched quietly from the other side of the screen,” Schulman said. “When everything worked flawlessly, I could see their excitement. It wasn’t my success. It was theirs.”

For Schulman, that moment illustrated why employee commitment cannot be manufactured through marketing alone. “Brand loyalty isn’t built through products. It’s built through ownership,” he said. “When employees truly feel that the company is theirs, they speak about it with pride, and customers and investors can sense that immediately.”

That sense of belonging becomes particularly important during difficult periods, he added. “People don’t stay because of perks. They stay because they feel they belong,” Schulman said. “Human capital isn’t just another line item on the balance sheet. It’s the only asset competitors can’t replicate.”

The executives’ accounts point to a common conclusion: strong technology may open the door, but lasting loyalty depends on the people, values and story behind it.