Vivienne Hsu
Partner at Anabasis Partners
Please introduce yourself and your background. What has brought you into fintech?
My name is Vivienne, and I am a Partner at Anabasis Partners. My journey into fintech was somewhat atypical — I began my career over 20 years ago in advertising. I was passionate about brand strategy and the psychology of buying.
Spending about a decade in that industry has taught me a lot about client management, business development, creative thinking and strategic problem-solving. From there, I eventually transitioned into B2B finance and tech, working with startups, established corporations and investors across the whole spectrum of the financial industry.
I’ve been lucky to witness the fintech revolution, and how new technologies rapidly emerged and gained adoption. Constant innovations kept things fresh and challenging, and I was excited to live through this time. Still am, really!
Sounds like you’ve had a fascinating time! When you transitioned into fintech and VC, what unique challenges would you say you had to face as a woman? Have things changed for the better in recent years?
Early in my career, one of the biggest challenges was the lack of other well-established female leaders. Without many women in senior positions to serve as role models, I had to figure out a lot on my own. There were also times when I felt that my presence in the room wasn’t as highly valued as those of my male peers and I was often the only woman in the meeting.
Things have significantly improved since those days, but there’s still work to be done, and we should continue to make efforts towards building more inclusive and collaborative work environments.
It’s true that the finance and tech industries haven’t always been welcoming to women, but a lot of good work is being done to improve this. I strongly believe that we will see more women stepping into leadership roles in the next 5–10 years as the talent pool continues to grow in the investment industry.
What would have to change in order to help this transformation take place? In your opinion, what are some of the biggest misconceptions that keep women from leadership roles?
I’ve seen plenty of people in finance who assume women aren’t as capable of raising investments. Or that we may excel at organisation and project management but not at actually running a company. It’s quite an outdated belief.
There are also some double standards when it comes to leadership styles: some claim that female leaders can’t be as decisive as their male counterparts. And yet, when women do act assertively, they can often be labelled as aggressive, even though the same kind of behavior in men would be viewed as confident and self-assured.
As I already mentioned, these misconceptions are gradually shifting, but that is precisely why we need to continue challenging and educating each other.
And since we’re on the subject of challenging, what industry changes or initiatives would you like to see in terms of encouraging greater gender diversity and inclusion?
I think that to truly support gender inclusion, companies need to rethink workplace structures. Take maternity leave policies, for example. Instead of just treating it as “female workers being absent for some time”, I would like the industry to consider a more phased system in this matter. This way, a smoother “work–parenthood–back to work” transition can become possible.
For example, understanding how women’s health issues, such as menopause impacts the workforce is also important. If we are to ever destigmatise the idea of our colleagues asking for support and for companies to provide greater resources and benefits that recognise these needs. More training for managers to understand and support fellow employees through key life stages, whether it’s parenthood, menopause, or retirement would also be hugely beneficial.
Finally, Vivienne, what advice would you offer to young women who aspire to build careers in fintech, VC and other high-growth industries?
My best advice is to work hard, be smart, and show kindness. Know your value, and never give anyone a reason to question why you’re in the room. The more women we have stepping into leadership roles, the more we can progress the industry for the better.
