Fiona is Managing Partner at Crista Galli Ventures, an early stage healthtech VC fund based in London and Copenhagen. Previously a physician (consultant radiologist) in the NHS, she has cross-sector experience including being a health policy adviser in the UK government and a management consultant in the private sector. Fiona is dual board certified in Radiology and Public Health and holds an MBA and MPH. As one of very few women running a VC fund, she is very keen to improve representation of women on both sides of the founder-investor table.
1. Best piece of advice you’ve been given
Surround yourself with a range of people doing amazing things in industries different to your own. This variety will bring diversity of thought to your day-to-day, challenge your long-term life strategy and inspire you to think creatively.
2. Worst piece of advice you’ve been given
Wait your turn and stick around to go up the leadership ranks. This is what I was told repeatedly in the NHS. If I had listened to this unfortunate advice, I wouldn’t have taken the risks I did to run my own healthcare venture capital fund today.
3. What would you tell your younger self?
Remember to celebrate your successes, big and small. Don’t go from one achievement to the next as a box-ticking exercise; take a breath and enjoy the journey along the way.
4. What excites you most about the future of your industry?
Everyone across the world is thinking about health today in the midst of the pandemic. The necessity for change has meant that waves of technological change are sweeping across healthcare now. This makes it a very exciting time to be a founder or an investor in healthtech.
5. Who or what is your biggest inspiration?
When I met my Danish partner, Søren Fryland Møller, at London Business School, I was immediately struck by how brilliantly clever he was. With a background in investment banking and asset management, he couldn’t have been more different to me. Today, as partners in both work and life, I feel privileged to spend every day in his orbit, around his fizzing intellect which pushes me to reach higher.
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