We are excited to welcome Fisayo Omilana as our newest Venture Associate at Silicon Foundry. Fisayo brings a diverse background spanning marketing, strategy, and venture development, especially with a strong focus in the sports industry. His career has taken him across industries and regions, from private equity in London to helping launch a basketball league in Atlanta. At Silicon Foundry, he will focus on forging high-impact relationships and uncovering opportunities that drive growth at the intersection of technology, capital, and transformation.
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TANYA PRIVÉ: We recently welcomed our newest Venture Associate, Fisayo Omilana. Fisayo, welcome to the team. We’re thrilled to have you on board!
FISAYO OMILANA: Thanks, Tanya. Excited to be here!
TANYA: Starting from the beginning, you started out at Stanford studying Symbolic Systems with a focus on human and artificial intelligence. How did that foundation in emerging technologies—and your exposure to global business at Duke—shape the direction of your career?
FISAYO: My career looks less like a straight path and more like an upward spiral as a result of living a couple of different lives up until this point. At Stanford, I was a track student-athlete studying computer science and, therefore, gained a lot of exposure to early-stage tech in Silicon Valley. After college, I ended up working a variety of roles at different venture-backed sports media companies – the highlight being the athlete manager for aspiring NBA players, including three future top 5 draft picks. I left to earn my MBA at Duke, later working in financial services at Goldman Sachs and Chiron Sports Group on two different continents, and eventually, found my way back to the Bay Area with the kind of global investment experience, warm network, and interdisciplinary instincts that apply to navigating the startup ecosystem. Each chapter of my story gave me an edge and prepared me to contribute at a place like Silicon Foundry, where I’m eager to work with so many multidimensional perspectives and talents similar to mine.
TANYA: Given how each chapter of your career sharpened a different skill set, one stop that really stands out is your time with the Golden State Warriors in their basketball analytics and innovation group. What lessons from that experience translate most directly to venture and business strategy?
FISAYO: By far, the most important lesson was about communicating complexity with clarity. No matter how advanced your tools or data are, they count for nothing unless you can explain them to the people who actually need to use them. At the time, I was doing cutting-edge predictive analytics for the Warriors front office, utilizing neural networks to supplement scouting and draft strategy. But cutting-edge doesn’t cut very deep if you can’t translate insights into stories that resonate for decision-makers. Making the complex feel actionable became essential to the work itself, and it’s something I’ve carried with me ever since.
TANYA: Based on your experience and expertise in the sports industry, what challenges in sports and sports-adjacent industries do you see as opportunities for innovation?
FISAYO: Franchise valuations are through the roof, and at those levels, you can’t just focus on bringing in more revenue—you have to operate more cost-efficiently, too. I think sports organizations can serve as a proving ground for efficiency gains as a result of innovative pilots that change the game, such as discovering competitive advantages for coaches and athletes, or improving the fan experience on gameday. For consumers, I’m particularly convinced that live sports will be an AI-proof form of entertainment, and there are still other ways technology can help to ensure the next wave of fans can fall in love with the purity of live sports, whether it’s mixed reality, gaming, prediction markets, or new forms of digital engagement.
TANYA: You’ve had a front-row seat to both startup scrappiness and large-scale institutional thinking. Having operated in both environments, what have you learned about how each approaches innovation differently?
FISAYO: Naturally, I would say institutions have a tendency to resist change, and startups have a tendency to take risks. Both these approaches have their merits, but it’s important to remember that every institution was once a startup. It requires a measured approach and discipline to really discern what is and isn’t worth the risk. However, that balance is something I always try to be thoughtful about whenever I enter new environments. I feel lucky I can naturally apply those past experiences at a place like Silicon Foundry that’s uniquely positioned to balance both for the ultimate benefit of our members.
TANYA: What drew you to Silicon Foundry, and how does the environment here support the kind of ambitious, high-impact work you want to do?
FISAYO: It’s the best of both worlds at Foundry: a small, tight-knit team with the muscle of a multi-national firm. That blend means I learn every day directly from exceptional colleagues on a diverse set of day-to-day work, while still having the resources and support to propose and pursue ambitious projects. A great example that I’m actively working on is the Pilot Studio, our joint offering with Kearney (our parent company) that helps enterprises go from “what’s possible?” to “here’s what works” by actually getting AI solutions up and running in weeks instead of years. Most corporate-startup pilots fail due to misalignment and unclear ROI, but we’ve developed a framework that addresses this by combining Silicon Foundry’s new venture expertise with Kearney’s operational pedigree, supported by hands-on execution. I’m excited to be part of growing this “try before you buy” offering for our members.
TANYA: As you look toward the next few years, what areas of technology or business model innovation do you think will define the next wave of venture opportunity?
FISAYO: I’m intrigued by the tokenization of capital markets and real-world assets, not only because of democratized access to investing or ownership, but also by the downstream effects of how customer relationships might evolve in industries where no sort of fiduciary duty previously existed. Off the top of my head, attitudes towards financial literacy may change, the fairness and safety of lending may be questioned, and overall, I think we’re just scratching the surface of what it all means for global markets, especially in communities where traditional banking infrastructure hasn’t reached everyone.
TANYA: Thanks, Fisayo. It’s been great hearing your perspective. We’re thrilled to have you on the team and look forward to everything you’ll help shape in the years ahead.
