Mimi Messawer

Partnering With Founders

In my role at Vista, no two days are the same. I’m constantly learning about new sectors or speaking with different management teams. As part of Vista Credit Partners, I have the unique opportunity to work directly with founders when their companies are at a critical inflection point of growth: after venture debt but before private equity or public markets.

It’s an exciting window to work in, and for me, it goes beyond investing in a company. We invest in the founder, their journey and vision — and in most cases, their life’s work.

The Value of Mistakes

I once heard that you learn more from your mistakes than from the things you get right. I’ve carried this philosophy throughout my career and see it personified at Vista.

The firm’s culture of knowledge sharing encourages us to learn from what went well and, even more importantly, what didn’t. No one is perfect, but we extrapolate all we can from mistakes and impart those teachings across the firm. So I’m improving not only from my own experiences but also the team’s combined experience.

Challenging Preconceptions

One of my passions is travel. And it surprises people when I say that my passion for travel blends into my work. How could investing and travel evoke the same feelings?

Travel forces you to abandon your preconceived notions. You have to be open to new places, people and experiences.

Similarly, each investment I work with is different. No industry, company or founder is the same, so it requires this same openness and curiosity — which inspires me in my work every day.