Nov 27, 2024
From Therapy to Venture Capital: A Conversation with Allan Davis and Shelley Prevost
From Emma Will See You Now: Shelley Prevost and Allan Davis reflect on their 15-year relationship and professional journey, delving deeply into themes of therapy, personal growth, and entrepreneurship.
The story begins not with a boardroom strategy session, but in the private space of a therapy office. It’s 2009, and Allan Davis is searching for more than just professional guidance — he’s hunting for understanding.
Enter Shelley Prevost, a therapist who would become far more than a clinical confidante.Their connection wasn’t just professional. It was, you might say, alchemical. Like characters in a narrative larger than themselves, they discovered a shared language — one that translated the messy human experience into something profound and actionable.
Think less corporate jargon, more universal myth.
Drawing inspiration from unexpected sources — including the cult TV series Lost — they began exploring entrepreneurship not as a financial conquest, but as a hero’s journey. Each startup, each venture becomes a modern mythological quest. The real treasure? Not venture capital or exit strategies, but personal transformation.
Allan speaks with the wisdom of someone who’s wrestled his internal dragons.
Good therapy, he believes, isn’t about fixing something broken, but “revealing something extraordinary waiting to emerge. It’s about asking the right questions, building trust, and understanding that every challenge is an invitation to grow.”At Lamppost, their work transcended traditional business consulting.
They were more like cartographers of human potential, mapping the landscape where personal growth intersects with professional ambition. Their approach? Part psychology, part storytelling, with a dash of spiritual curiosity.The entrepreneurial path, they argue, is less about conquering markets and more about conquering oneself. Success isn’t measured in dollars, but in the richness of relationships, the depth of understanding, and the courage to repeatedly step into the unknown.
As technology accelerates and societal landscapes shift, Allan and Shelley remain committed to a radical proposition: that our greatest technology is human connection, and our most powerful algorithm is empathy.
Their conversation is an invitation — to entrepreneurs, to dreamers, to anyone navigating life’s complex terrains. It whispers: Your journey is the hero’s journey.
Your second mountain awaits.
