Sarah is a Founder, Behavioural Economist, Data Storyteller, Investor, and Author of the Amazon bestseller ‘What The Fuck Should I Do Now?’.

A Senior Behavioural Designer at Wix, Sarah previously founded two FinTech Ventures; BUKIT – a debt settlement platform for the stressed debt markets, and Civilize – a platform addressing fraud in the secondary defaulted debt market.

Sarah additionally provides ongoing expertise to the World of Economic Forum as an Expert Network Behavioural Economist.

The silver lining.

Sarah’s story began during the mortgage crisis in 2008.

Her friend bought back his $20 million mortgage at a 90% discount rate of $2 million due to the failure of his bank. That was the catalyst for Sarah’s obsession with the problems occurring in the secondary defaulted debt market and the motivation behind the creation of Sarah’s first company, BUKIT.

BUKIT accumulated a portfolio of $5 billion within the $3 trillion market. 

However, due to the enormity of the market, the company failed.

Sarah noted the silver lining and explained that this led to her second Venture – Civilize.

She says, “we pivoted to a more consumer-facing approach”.

Later, Donald Trump began repealing the regulations and laws that were the foundation of Civilize.

Nadav explains, “that was a huge hurdle. My co-founder and I had a commitment to each other to fail fast, and the regulatory issues were something we couldn’t overcome”.

However, there were many insights gained from those experiences also.

Sarah says she then could marry her behavioural and cognitive science background with her new “insight into the workings of finance”. That led to her career as a Behavioural Economist.    

Furthermore, when Sarah was presenting BUKIT, a member of the World Economic Forum was in the audience. They later introduced her to the forum, and the rest is history.

Serendipity.

The Expert Network Behavioural Economist is a forum composed of professionals from many fields, such as politicians, entrepreneurs, and academics, who provide expertise to the World Economic Forum community.

The purpose is to bring these professionals together to create serendipity, inform each other, and make connections.

Sarah explains the purpose of the Expert Network Behavioural Economist; “it is to facilitate a stakeholder economy where people are all talking to each other”.

Taking Ownership of Your Life.

Later, Aarish and Sarah discuss Sarah’s book, ‘What The Fuck Should I Do Now?’.

She says, “My book is not for everyone. It is very specific for people in a financial crisis.”

Sarah continues, “I don’t blame consumers. I’m an economist. I blame an era of planned obsolescence for items, inflation, the creation of financial products, the derivative market, the billionaire class, and inequality”.

The book is based on reverse engineering the experiences of people who have been through a crisis. That may include a job loss, or illness, leading to a financial crisis.

They later discuss shame, taking ownership of your life, and Sarah’s next book.

Sarah’s superpower.

Sarah talks about being neurodivergent.

She says, “I have an ability to see patterns and approach problems in a way that’s not linear”.

Another aspect of neurodiversity is hyperfixation, according to Sarah, which is often beneficial for her problem-solving. 

Furthermore, Sarah says her mind is sometimes very matter-of-fact and straightforward.

For example, she says, “I’m not interested in founders for who they are. I look for entrepreneurs I consider to be over-performers, and they need to have a credible business. It prevents bias. I see too many investors looking for founders they like, who they see they could be friends with, but I just see potential business partners.”

The founder.

Sarah thinks there are two types of successful founders; even-tempered geniuses that are obsessed with their work and people with big personalities – and often, they work very well together.

She adds that, as a founder, you cannot take things personally.

You cannot become emotionally entangled in a problem and let it disrupt your life, according to Aarish.

Listen to the full conversation with Sarah Nadav on this week’s Nothing Ventured Podcast to learn more about taking control in times of crisis, financial empowerment, and being a successful founder.

You can also find Sarah on LinkedIn (@Sarah Nadav) and Twitter @sarahnadav).