Skip to main content

Nooman is Managing Director, Life Sciences and Healthcare for EMEA at Silicon Valley Bank

Nooman will be formally admitted to the Fellowship on 27 January. Read about his career in business, finance and innovation and find out what expertise and support he will bring to the Lucy community in this inspiring interview.

Tell us about your current career or area of research. What did you study and how did that lead into what you're doing now?

I am a banker specialising in innovation, currently as Head of Life Sciences and Healthcare for EMEA at Silicon Valley Bank, a global bank serving innovation companies and their investors.

I originally studied psychology with the aim of pursuing further research but after graduation my earlier interests in business and finance were rekindled and I left a position at the Institute of Zoology to go into finance. I completed  an MBA and later an Msc in Economics. My practical interests lay in financing – both how companies get financed and how the financial system works. My early career in management consulting coincided with the emerging dot com boom and increasing globalisation/reduced regulation in finance. We helped companies adapt to this new environment and tried to make sense of how these different drivers of ‘normal’ business change and the aggressive introduction of technology would affect our clients. I was also fortunate in that in between working for financial services companies, I was exposed to healthcare – the common ground being it was also a heavily regulated sector. That’s how my interest in R&D finance came about.

I’ve also spent time in Government as a competition economist; helped set up a new bank and been an investor in technology and healthcare.

This varied window into innovation has proven valuable at SVB where we strive not only to finance our clients businesses, but provide guidance, introductions and challenges to help them move their ideas to reality.

What inspired you to pursue this career? What are your key motivations? What are you ultimately trying to achieve?

I’m fascinated by how businesses adapt to their environment and the process of innovation itself. Innovation within healthcare is a particularly interesting problem given the long lead times and cost of developing drugs; an effective drug development ecosystem needs a wide variety of parties: public and private, to cooperate seamlessly. I’m privileged to have been asked to help make that overall system better and it’s an ongoing goal – and it’s where history, experience and theory can bring clarity to the problem.

Part of that change will be around the financial tools themselves so working at SVB is particularly exciting as we’re always looking to see if we can innovate ourselves to serve these companies better. 

Lastly, and from a social perspective, I was interested in questions of why innovation happens in one place but not another. And relatedly, why some people have access to opportunities and others don’t. An economist would abhor the inefficiency of a system that misallocated capital or labour, or failed to allocate it at all. Growing up in the North East the issue of unutilised labour was ever present and I continue to wonder how we solve for this and what role, if any, innovation can help.

What would be your advice to students who wanted to pursue a similar career?

Firstly, don’t be put off by stereotypes. Finance is more open now as a career and it can be a great platform to pursue other interests. For example, part of the solution to mitigating the risks of climate change will be the development of new financial tools to provide the right incentives (along with legislation) to change our behaviour.

Naturally in finance analytical skills, structured thinking and a personable approach help. Outside of complex finance and trading, practical experience is helpful. I’ve seen journalists become venture investors and medics become entrepreneurs. In venture capital especially, domain knowledge is more important than finance knowledge. Cambridge is lucky in having a unique concentrated ecosystem where large and small firms live side by side; there are many people who are willing to give their time and network to help. 

Building a personal ecosystem is critical – this is very different to the ‘old school tie’ model of networking as it focuses around a theme or interest primarily.

What do you think is different or unique about Lucy Cavendish College, how did you become involved with the College and why did you want to be part of it? 

I like that the College is relatively new (in Cambridge terms!) and rapidly changing and innovating, yet part of an ancient institution that changes more slowly – this is similar to many business ecosystems. I also like that the College is actively challenging its admissions criteria at this time whilst striving to maintain both academic excellence and its long-standing commitment to admit students from ‘non-traditional backgrounds’. I see this as a key part of the innovation process because one is more likely to get new ideas not only through admitting the most capable students, but students who see things from different perspective.

My involvement with the College happened gradually, through my work in Cambridge itself and ultimately through a couple of Fellows who recognised that some of my interests perhaps overlapped with the College’s aims.

It’s perhaps a cliché but the College provides a platform to shape, influence and be influenced by strong, smart minds. I look forward to interacting and supporting the student body. I also think I can bring my professional experience to bear on the strategic aims of the College, in terms of its growth.

Please describe what your role is in the community and what you would like to achieve as a Fellow?

As a Fellow I want to promote and help realise the College’s growth. I’d like to use my own platform at work to support the students gain wider experience and insight to help them think through their career direction. Long-term I’d like to promote a culture of innovation  whilst maintaining excellent governance and standards.

View Nooman Haque’s Fellow’s profile here