Ellen Wilcox holds the role of Head of Listening at Listen Ventures, where she brings ethnographic research and in-context interviews into due diligence to spot behavior shifts before they become obvious trends, such as her study on midlife women's health that let women describe their experiences in their own words rather than sorting them into predefined categories. She looks closely at the difference between what people say they want and what they actually do, and she sees part of her job as connecting scattered observations and conversations into a clearer, lasting point of view that shapes investment decisions.

• Focused on the intersection of food and holistic health, specifically how nutrition drives physical and mental well-being. Advises founders to market the direct benefits of their products, such as increased energy, rather than over-educating consumers on science. For instance, points out that people naturally associate nutritious meals with feeling energized and junk food with feeling sluggish, creating either vicious or virtuous behavioral cycles.
• Emphasizing the importance of tangible product results, a concept referred to as feelability, for maintaining long-term customer engagement. Suggests that health products must offer observable progress because motivation drops when consumers cannot feel a difference. Uses the example of low retention rates for cholesterol medications compared to the high motivation seen with obvious physical changes like pain relief.
• Attentive to consumer mental shortcuts and brand perception, noting that shoppers rely on automatic assumptions rather than nutrition labels. Warns founders that since people naturally assume convenient food is unhealthy, brands selling healthy convenience foods must dedicate significant effort to their messaging to overcome this built-in bias.
• Deeply interested in the wellness and consumer habits of midlife women. Actively researches the specific motivations, daily barriers, and overall mindsets of this demographic to understand how they approach staying healthy. Specifically published a consumer report on this topic and regularly seeks out new literature to imagine the future of wellness for this life stage.