From Founders to Funders: Lisa Blau and Amanda Eilian on the Venture Capital Landscape
We sat down with Able’s co-founders, Lisa Blau and Amanda Eilian, to discuss their journey into venture capital and the purpose behind their work.
Q: Can you tell us about your background and what drew you to venture investing?
Lisa: My experience as an entrepreneur raising money was how I learned outside of textbooks and classrooms. I find venture investing intellectually stimulating and rewarding, as it brings together all kinds of people with diverse experiences and you are constantly learning within an area you’re passionate about.
Amanda: I started out in private equity, where I really enjoyed getting to know entrepreneurs and founders and understanding how they get things done. I co-founded Videolicious, an enterprise software company, and learned about the operating side. We sold that company to Squarespace and I realized that I wanted to work with a portfolio of ideas and people instead of just one company. My passion for this led me to venture capital, where I work to help founders bring their visions to market. I get excited about meeting people who are smarter and better at something than I am.
Q: How do you view the role of venture capital in supporting human health?
Lisa: Venture is at its core about innovation and disruption. It’s about making bets and rewarding the great innovators. It helps bring new tools, services, and products to empower consumers in managing their health.
Amanda: Venture capital plays a crucial role in supporting ideas that might not fit into traditional systems due to their higher risk profile. Looking at the current state of human wellness, despite rising wealth, we’re seeing stagnation in measures of health and wellness, particularly in healthspan versus lifespan. There’s a significant need to back risky ideas with the potential for outsized outcomes. The venture model aligns well with this need because we’re willing to take bets, understanding that while some may fail, those that succeed could make a substantial impact.
Q: How has your experience in other industries shaped your venture investing approach?
Lisa: Once you’ve been a founder, being on the other side of the table as an investor, you have a lot of empathy for the founder and better understand what kinds of characteristics you want to back.
Q: How can VC funding be shifted to support underrepresented founders?
Lisa: Economic returns and business fundamentals are key. Many founders come from backgrounds that highlight gaps in care systems. With the current investor focus on AI, even fewer dollars are going to female founders. We need to make sure people are still getting a fair shake. The demographics of our country suggest that everyone should be thinking about a diverse set of consumer groups.
Amanda: There’s been recognition of pattern matching among VCs, where a significant percentage come from a few specific schools and tend to fund people who resemble themselves. We try to counteract this by bringing diverse perspectives into the investor pipeline. We value nontraditional measures of success — such as someone’s background in the Army or as an athlete — because these experiences can demonstrate quality outside of a traditional academic degree.
Q: What qualities do you look for when backing a founder?
Amanda: We look for an authentic connection to the problem or community the founder is addressing. Since we focus on health and wellness, founders should have a genuine passion for this area. We also seek a demonstrated history of success, though not necessarily through conventional markers. Grit and perseverance are crucial. We want to back founders who won’t be deterred by setbacks from investors or retailers or others in their journey.
Q: What emerging trends are you excited about, and how do you see the venture capital landscape evolving?
Lisa: The surge of investment in AI has overshadowed other promising areas. This shift might lead to overlooked opportunities in digital health and consumer-focused ventures. I also remain deeply curious about what the climate crisis means for the consumer.
Amanda: Some trends I’m particularly interested in include the gut-brain axis, microbiome and gut health, food as medicine, metabolic psychiatry, cancer survivorship, and the intersection of human health and climate. There’s also a growing focus on longevity with an emphasis on healthspan over lifespan.
Q: What gets you excited to invest every day?
Lisa: The most rewarding aspect is engaging with diverse, innovative thinkers and contributing to solutions that improve consumer health while achieving financial success. As deeply curious people, we’re constantly learning and meeting diverse thinkers who are moving mountains to solve problems. At its core this work is part of the American dream.
Amanda: I love the ideas and energy of founders. I’m excited by people who bring unique solutions to problems and who know more about their fields than I do. For me, every idea is a seed with the potential to grow into something remarkable. I’m intellectually curious and enjoy learning from those who have deep expertise. I am driven by the potential to change the world and make it a better place.
