Banking on it is more than just a story of becoming a next gen bank. Anne shares her personal journey to becoming one of the most well respected, successful, courageous and progressive leaders/gladiators in banking.
The Big Messages
- Get yourself an office, and brace yourself for faking it before you make it; with any venture start of as you mean continue. If you are looking for the idea to be taken seriously, operate in a way that inspires confidence. Showing that the office exists is a clear sign you mean business
- Power of financial modelling is critical to understanding how you can build a sustainable business; try and model how your business will generate value based on how prospects become customers, and mirror each financial line base on how the product will be used. Then layer on all the normal costs associated with running a business. The business plan is key to provide a true north when needed
- Pay-it forward and being genuine in investing in relationships before you need them; in any industry the standard piece of advice is never burn any bridges.. this is perhaps truer in banking than any other industry. The word of finance and small, so always try and help someone out as you never know when you may need their help going forward
- In it for the long-haul & prepare for at least on near-death experience as a start-up; persistence and grit are must have personality traits if you are looking to disrupt an entire market, let alone create something which many say cannot be achieved. Anne points out even Metro bank saw 300 investors before they got funding
- Listen to feedback, but look for wash-rinse-repeat; feedback on products, services and ways of innovating are vital to developing a proposition that appeals to consumers. However, listening to everyone and every piece of advice, means you can end up with Frankenstein’s sapient creature…which may not appeal to most consumers. Only act on things you hear a few times, as those will help to design for what is essential
Why read this book?
Anyone looking to understand how to distrupt a market, and show that new ways of working can deliver tangible results. A very inspiring story of a personal and business battle to do the right thing, in an industry which does not always demonstate customer-centricty & innovation.
