After more than 30 years working at the intersection of finance, strategy and organisational change, Lisbeth Macmillan knows how to make sense of complexity.
Her career has taken her from chartered accountancy and mergers and acquisitions to senior strategy and operational roles in UK and US financial services. She has helped executive teams clarify their direction, brought together business plans following acquisitions, strengthened governance processes and supported the launch of a major financial services company onto the FTSE 100.
But today, Lisbeth is applying that experience in a more personal way.
Through mentoring, charity governance, the Women to Women programme and her involvement with Investing Women Angels, she has found a new outlet for the skills she built over decades: helping ambitious people turn ideas into clear, commercially grounded plans.
Her journey into angel investing reminds us that the knowledge women develop throughout their careers has value far beyond their existing roles.
It also challenges one of the most persistent assumptions about angel investment: that it is a world reserved for multimillionaires, professional financiers or people who already have all the answers.
Translating complexity into action
Lisbeth began her career by training as a chartered accountant with Ernst & Young in Glasgow before moving into mergers and acquisitions, with projects in London.
For a better work-life balance, she joined one of her financial services audit clients, where she worked on major finance projects. When the company was acquired, she joined the strategy team responsible for deciding what should happen next.
That pattern would come to define much of her career.
Rather than focusing solely on completing transactions, Lisbeth was drawn to what happened afterwards: bringing different parts of a business together, clarifying the strategy and turning high-level decisions into practical action.
“I was generally working with executive teams across all the disciplines of a business,” she explains. “It was about helping them clarify the next strategic step, developing the strategy and then implementing those key developments to deliver results.”
Her work involved communicating with boards, markets and employees, often acting as the central link between a chief executive, finance director and specialists from across the organisation.
At one stage, she moved to the United States and identified gaps in strategy, governance and delivery within the business she joined. Later, as a Deloitte management consultant, she helped develop the business plan required for a major financial services organisation to separate from a global group and launch onto the FTSE 100.
The scale of those projects was significant, but Lisbeth believes the fundamentals are equally relevant to early-stage businesses.
“If you’re a founder trying to pull together all the different things you need to juggle to be successful, the key business elements are the same as they are in a large multinational firm,” she says.
“It’s about understanding the characteristics of the market, bringing people together behind a clearly articulated mission and working out how they collectively deliver what’s required.”
Thinking about your audience, not yourself
Lisbeth describes her leadership style as relational, dynamic and solutions-focused.
Others, she says, would probably know her best as a communicator, particularly skilled at PowerPoint.
But the presentation skills were simply a product of a deeper ability: translating complicated information for different audiences.
“I could understand the really complex, technical parts of a business and explain them to somebody working in non-technical areas at all levels,” she says. “I was a translator.”
Whether she was communicating with financial markets, a board or employees speaking directly to customers, her starting point was always the same: what does this audience need to understand?
“People often start from the position of asking, ‘How would I like to say this?’” Lisbeth explains. “I ask: who is your audience? Where are they? How do you engage with them where they are, and how do you get your core messages across in a way they can understand?”
It is advice with obvious relevance for founders preparing to pitch.
A compelling business cannot rely on the audience doing the work of identifying its most important messages. Founders need to understand who is in the room, what those people need to hear and what they should remember when the presentation ends.
Lisbeth points out that “Whether you are an introvert or extrovert, audiences will be drawn to your confidence, passion and ability to clearly articulate every part of your business.”
Finding purpose beyond corporate life
Following her corporate career, Lisbeth began to focus more of her time on mentoring and governance roles.
She is Treasurer of Girlguiding Scotland and chairs two other charitable organisations. These roles have allowed her to use her finance, governance and strategic experience to support causes whose impact she can see more directly.
“What I get from those roles is making a difference that is tangible,” she says. “You see the stories of what happens because of a grant, or how girls build confidence through Girlguiding.”
Lisbeth is candid about where she adds the most value.
“I’m not necessarily the person who should be doing the front-line volunteering,” she says. “But if I can use my skills to maximise the income an organisation has, or make sure it has good governance, that frees up the people with those skills to deliver. We are a team”
It is a philosophy that shapes her approach to both mentoring and angel investment: contribution does not need to look the same for everyone.
The greatest impact often comes from understanding what you do particularly well and placing that capability where it will make the biggest difference as part of a team.
Asking the difficult questions
Mentoring has long been part of Lisbeth’s corporate life, particularly with colleagues identified as having high development potential.
Today, she works with people at different career stages, including finance directors, managers and trainee chartered accountants.
Her approach is direct, practical and rooted in experience.
“I’m quite a direct person,” she says. “I will ask the difficult question. In a safe space, people can tell me everything, and I’ll try to cut to the chase: what is the main issue here?”
For Lisbeth, mentoring includes offering perspective, sharing approaches that have worked in similar situations and helping someone reach the heart of a problem more quickly.
That ability to challenge constructively has become central to what she offers founders: supportive feedback rather than criticism, commercial discipline without removing the energy or ambition behind the idea.
Angel investing: Familiar skills, a different world
Lisbeth had always known that angel investing existed, but she had never considered it as something she might do herself.
That changed through a conversation about the next stage of her career. She was already exploring non-executive and charity roles and knew she enjoyed mentoring. A member of Investing Women Angels suggested she learn more about the community over a coffee.
Although finance, strategy and governance were familiar territory, angel investing still felt slightly different.
Partly, she says, because this time it was her own money. But it was also far more personal than much of her corporate experience had been.
“In large financial services businesses, you can be talking to shareholders at a meeting who you will never meet again,” she says. “It can feel like you’re chasing numbers, but it can be more difficult to engage with the end customers.”
“With angel investment, it felt possible to make a direct difference. Even if you are one small part of a much larger raise, you are still part of the overall support mechanism helping that innovative product or service get to market.”
It offered something she had been looking for: another outlet for mentoring, giving back and using her experience to help people become more rounded and confident business leaders.
Angel investing was not simply a move from one form of finance into another. It created a direct connection between capital, expertise and the people building the company.
The barrier hidden in the name
Despite her financial background, Lisbeth believes the language surrounding angel investment can make it feel inaccessible.
“The term ‘Angel’ itself sounds quite ostentatious”, she says. “You envisage multimillionaires making enormous investments.”
That perception can prevent women from exploring angel investment before they have even discovered what it involves.
The reality she encountered was much more collaborative – a community of people contributing different amounts, experiences, perspectives and connections.
The investment matters, but it is only one part of what someone can bring.
“You’re joining a family of investors at IWA,” Lisbeth says. “You are not expected to be complete on your own. You are adding to that group because you bring a unique set of experiences and capabilities.”
Each investor still makes her own independent decisions. But she does so with access to the collective insight of people whose backgrounds may include finance, law, marketing, technology, operations, sales, governance or sector-specific expertise.
The strength comes from the combination of the unique.
Learning alongside founders
Lisbeth had already joined Investing Women Angels when she took part in Cohort 3 of the Women to Women programme, jointly delivered by AccelerateHER and Investing Women Angels.
With her professional background, she already understood many areas of finance and strategy. But she wanted to understand the whole early-stage investment journey.
“I wanted to learn the breadth of everything involved,” she says. “Even the finances are different when you’re looking at the sources of money available to a founder and what they may need to give up in return.”
She believed that understanding the founder’s full journey would make her both a better mentor and a better investor.
What proved particularly valuable was learning alongside founders rather than studying investment in theory.
“You get to spend time with the founders, understand their journeys, their capabilities, their gaps and where they may need help,” she says. “You understand the people much better, where you might fit in and how you can deliver your part in the ecosystem.”
The programme gave Lisbeth a clearer view of how varied early-stage businesses, and the people building them, can be.
A strong idea and an attractive financial model are not enough on their own. At an early stage, the founder’s capacity to adapt, communicate and execute can be just as important as the proposition itself.
Inspired by founders who start before everything is perfect
Coming from an established corporate environment, Lisbeth was accustomed to detailed planning, consulting specialists and putting everything in place before moving forward.
The founders she met through Women to Women often approached risk differently.
“They have a great idea, and they go for it,” she says. “They don’t wait until everything is perfect before they start.”
That does not mean they will get every decision right. But it means they learn quickly, solve problems in real time and keep moving.
“They’re willing to take the risks necessary and work out some of the details later,” she says. “They will do some things wrong, but they are learning at pace.”
For Lisbeth, the energy created by that combination of passion, bravery and perseverance was one of the most powerful parts of the programme.
“It was inspiring to see people who cared that much about an idea,” she says. “It awakened that feeling that you wanted to help them make it happen.”
She also saw founders’ confidence and pitching ability grow throughout the programme. That transformation reinforced her interest in supporting not only the financial journey, but the founder’s development as a business leader.
What Lisbeth looks for in a Founder
Lisbeth does not expect founders to have every detail resolved. She is, however, looking for evidence that they understand their business and can communicate it clearly.
A green flag is a founder who can succinctly explain:
- the problem being solved;
- the proposed solution;
- the target market;
- the commercial model; and
- Optionality in how the business intends to reach its customers.
She also looks for depth beyond the initial pitch.
“Can you describe the opportunity clearly in ten minutes, and then confidently answer a wide range of questions?” she asks.
When examining the business itself, she considers its underlying dynamics.
Is it a lower-value, high-volume model or one relying on fewer, high-value sales? How long will each sale take? What will customer acquisition require? Are there several products, revenue streams or routes to market? If one route becomes less attractive, does the founder have credible alternatives?
That optionality matters.
Lisbeth is more cautious when a founder appears unprepared or chaotic, when the proposition is too narrow, when projected cash requirements seem unrealistic or when there is little flexibility in the growth model.
But commercial rigour does not mean expecting certainty. Angel investing takes place precisely when much of the future remains uncertain.
The task is to assess whether the founder has the clarity, adaptability and resilience to navigate it.
Recognising the skills you already have
One of Lisbeth’s strongest messages is for women in established careers who underestimate how much they could contribute as angel investors.
A woman may define herself through a particular professional specialism. But progressing through business usually requires a much wider range of skills.
“If you have become successful in business, you have learned how to network, deliver, communicate and deal with people,” Lisbeth says.
“You know how to analyse opportunities. You know how to ask the right questions. You know how to support people.”
These capabilities in angel investors are highly relevant to founders, who need not only finance but encouragement, practical insight, network connections, broader perspectives and people willing to challenge their thinking.
No single investor needs to possess every skill.
“You are not expected to be complete,” Lisbeth reiterates. “Your unique experience and capabilities are valuable to the rest of the group.”
For an investor-curious woman who believes she does not know enough, that may be the most important mindset shift of all: the aim is not to arrive as a fully formed investment expert. It is to recognise what you already bring, learn what you do not yet know and contribute as part of a broader community.
One of Lisbeth’s strongest messages is for women in established careers who underestimate how much they could contribute as angel investors.
A woman may define herself through a particular professional specialism. But progressing through business usually requires a much wider range of skills.
“If you have become successful in business, you have learned how to network, deliver, communicate and deal with people,” Lisbeth says.
“You know how to analyse opportunities. You know how to ask the right questions. You know how to support people.”
These capabilities in angel investors are highly relevant to founders, who need not only finance but encouragement, practical insight, network connections, broader perspectives and people willing to challenge their thinking.
No single investor needs to possess every skill. “You are not expected to be complete,” Lisbeth reiterates.
“Your unique experience and capabilities are valuable to the rest of the group.”
For an investor-curious woman who believes she does not know enough, that may be the most important mindset shift of all: the aim is not to arrive as a fully formed investment expert. It is to recognise what you already bring, learn what you do not yet know and contribute as part of a broader community.
Backing means more than capital
Ask Lisbeth what “backing female founders” means, and she does not begin with money.
“For me, it is uniting behind someone who is working her hardest to move forward,” she says. “It is becoming part of her support network, her financing and sometimes her customer base.”
“It is about widespread, wholehearted support and ensuring that she has the best possible chance of success.”
Capital remains essential. But founders who raise through the Investing Women Angels syndicate specifically can also gain access to the experience, expertise and contact networks of multiple investors.
For Lisbeth, this is what makes the relationship particularly powerful.
“When angels come together, the strength comes from the shared experiences,” she says. “You are considering the products, the contracts, the routes to market, the people and the commercial realities.”
For founders, that means accessing more than a collection of cheques.
For investors, it means having the opportunity to play a meaningful role in helping an ambitious business progress.
Explore before you commit
Lisbeth is also clear that early-stage investing carries genuine risk. It should only involve capital someone can afford to put at risk, with no assumption that it will be returned, and it is important to have a portfolio of investments
But exploring angel investing does not require an immediate financial commitment.
Her advice to anyone who is curious, whether a potential investor or a founder considering the Women to Women programme, is simple:
“Explore.”
“For those who are investor curious, you can explore before you have to commit,” she says.
“Take a broad view of your expertise, your experiences and your connections. Value them and recognise that they could have real value to these founders.”
For Lisbeth, the Women to Women programme offers a practical way to do exactly that: learn how early-stage investment works, understand the realities founders face and experience the energy of the community firsthand.
“It gives you a chance to be part of one of the most supportive communities I have ever seen,” she says. “One that can really make a difference to somebody’s business journey.”
Lisbeth’s story shows that becoming an angel investor is not about having all the answers. It is about being willing to contribute what you know, learn from other people and use your experience to help founders move forward.
After decades spent turning complex corporate decisions into clear action, she is now applying that same ability where the impact feels immediate, personal and full of possibility.
And for the many women who have built successful careers without ever considering themselves investors, her message is worth remembering:
“You may already have far more to offer than you realise.”
Curious about angel investing?
You do not need to make an immediate commitment or arrive with a background in investment.
Join an upcoming Investing Women Angels Lunch & Learn session to explore how angel investing works, what experience you could bring and how women are supporting the next generation of ambitious founders or register your interest for the next Women to Women Programme.
Women to Women (W2W) Programme
The Women to Women programme is a unique peer accelerator connecting female founders and aspiring angel investors.
Delivered by AccelerateHER and Investing Women Angels, it offers practical, real-world insights from experienced angels, founders who have successfully raised investment, and key players across the ecosystem.
It is designed for women who want to understand the realities of early-stage investment, build confidence and take their next step in a supportive environment.
Whether you are building a business or exploring angel investing for the first time, W2W is designed to help you move forward with credibility and confidence.
Lunch & Learn webinars
If you are earlier in your journey, IWA’s Lunch & Learn sessions are the perfect place to start.
These free, informal webinars are designed for women who are curious about angel investing, whether they are just beginning to explore it or already considering their next move.
They cover the basics of angel investing, what to expect as a new investor, and how to get involved with Investing Women Angels. They are accessible, practical and pressure-free, a chance to learn, ask questions and explore.