37 Angels with Lisha Davis | E122

Moving from being a founder, to a change agent, to a venture capitalist.

In this 122nd episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira, award-winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host interviews Lisha Davis, Founder of Arable Ventures LLC, an innovation and startup consulting/advisory practice in NYC. Davis is also an investor at 37 Angels, Venture Partner at VU Venture Partners, and Former Head of Innovation at Vanguard.

Episode Highlights:

●          00:40 – Lisha Davis introduces herself and her career history. 

●          02:28 – Lisha talks about being the Head of Innovation at Vanguard. 

●          05:44 – What are some common problems she would come across when 

                         proposing change at Vanguard?

●          07:00 – She talks about staffing talent at Vanguard.  

●          09:00 – What types of projects, categories, and areas she worked to 

                         improve at Vanguard? 

●          15:30 – What drove her transition into her current role? 

●          17:47 – She discusses the 37 Angels investment group of women 

                         investors. 

●          21:27 – Women-founded businesses statistically do better in terms of 

                          growth, traction, and returns. 

●          23:44 – What change in her business or industry she would like to see?      

●          25:46 – What has been the biggest challenge that Lisha has faced?

●          27:03 – What has kept Lisha Davis excited about the work she is doing?  

3 Key Points

1.   In the innovation space, you have to have a planning mindset. But, there is no fixed plan you are going to execute flawlessly to get to a predetermined outcome.

2.   Horizons Framework for Innovation is a methodology for the types of innovation that can take place: Horizon 1 is about making the business better/faster/cheaper, Horizon 2 is growth innovation, and Horizon 3 is things that disrupt or create new categories. 

3.   Generation Z, Generation Y, and Generation Z have an all-time low of mistrust in financial institutions.  

Tweetable Quotes:

●     “I am interested in identifying the most interesting start-ups to invest in in the early stage, across a variety of verticals, primarily consumer, enterprise SaaS, and within the fintech space.” – Lisha Davis

●     “With a lot of success and growth also comes size, operations, policies, procedures, and all of the trappings of what good companies rely on to make their ship run.” – Lisha Davis

●     “There is a saying in innovation that we value diversity of the crowd. We actually want people who think differently, have different backgrounds and experiences.” – Lisha Davis

Resources Mentioned:

● Facebook – Jason Pereira’s Facebook

● LinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedIn

● FintechImpact.co – Website for Fintech Impact

● JasonPereira.ca – Sign up for Jason Pereira’s newsletter

● Linkedin – Lisha Davis’ Linkedin