Real voices of scale-up

From founders on the front line

Latest

Taking SME financing to the next level

Freidrich Hubel – Lendico

We sat down with Friedrich Hubel of Lendico to hear his views on pivoting from B2C to B2B, preparing the team for acquisition and building a sustainable business.

Lendico was founded in December 2013 by the incubator and venture capitalist, Rocket Internet. The team are rethinking financing in Germany by offering companies an easy, fast and good value product. Together with ING, they are helping SMEs realise their full potential by not having to focus on the hassle of raising funds in the traditional way.

Videos

Making the most of a unique opportunity

Freidrich Hubel – Lendico

What motivates you to come to work everyday?

A long-term investment

Freidrich Hubel – Lendico

How do you build trust and credibility?

The benefits of being backed by a corporate

Freidrich Hubel – Lendico

In 2018 you were acquired by ING. Tell us about that experience.

From consultant to entrepreneur

Freidrich Hubel – Lendico

What motivated you to move from Rocket Internet to Lendico?

Taking insurance back to what it should be

Harry Franks – Zego

Other than to make money, for what reason does Zego exist?

The more we practice the luckier we get

Harry Franks – Zego

How much of your success would you attribute to good luck?

Unpacking the gig economy

Harry Franks – Zego

In 2018 you were acquired by ING. Tell us about that experience.

Creating the right culture

Harry Franks – Zego

What motivated you to move from Rocket Internet to Lendico?

Doing things the right way

Jeff Lynn – Seedrs

How did you prepare the company for sustainable growth?

When it's time for a role change

Jeff Lynn – Seedrs

Last year you switched roles, from CEO to Executive Chairman...

Advocating European interconnectedness

Jeff Lynn – Seedrs

What has the take up been like in the EU?

Moonshots take patience

Jeff Lynn – Seedrs

If you could have a conversation with your former self, what would you say?

Unveiling the best kept secret in cloud communications

Shachar Radin-Shomrat – Voxbone

Tell us about the rebrand.

When to trust your instincts

Shachar Radin-Shomrat – Voxbone

If you could have a conversation with your former self, what would you say?

Building a platform on trust

Cem Savas – Plentific

Tell us about the pivot from your earlier product.

From banker to startup co-founder

Cem Savas – Plentific

What motivated you to start your own business?

Chasing a £235bn market

Cem Savas – Plentific

How much market share do you plan to capture?

If you do something well, the money will follow

Cem Savas – Plentific

Why does Plentific exist?

The benefits of bootstrapping

Joris Van Der Gucht – Silverfin

When and why did you decide to fundraise?

A risk that paid off

Niall Barton – Wrisk

Tell us about one risk that paid off and one that didn't?

On choosing crowdfunding

Niall Barton – Wrisk

Why did you choose crowdfunding?

Moving into Insurtech

Moving into Insurtech

What prompted your move into insurtech?

It's time to shake up Insurance

Niall Barton – Wrisk

What's been key to your success?

Podcasts
June

Scaling a sustainable business

Friedrich Hubel – Lendico

“Communicating hard evidence and being confident in our decision to pivot has helped us to scale successfully”.

JANUARY

Overcoming growth challenges

Elina Räsänen – Holvi

“Growth itself is a challenge that needs to be addressed at every step. Everything we learned would work for us as a team of 20 didn't work once we were 40. And everything that worked when we were 40 did not work once we were 80”.

OCTOBER

Building a world class team

Harry Franks – Zego

“We focus a lot on culture, trying to make sure we’ve got the right balance of transparency and team work. That means we think less about ping-pong tables and more around things like a mental health programme for the whole company”.

JULy

Scaling a sustainable business

Friedrich Hubel – Lendico

“Communicating hard evidence and being confident in our decision to pivot has helped us to scale successfully”.

June

From software engineer to CCO

Shachar Radin-Shomrat – Voxbone

“As a software engineer I was missing the bigger picture. I wanted to be at the intersection of business, technology and creativity".

May

Recognising it's time to pivot

Cem Savas – Plentific

“If we’d been stuck doing what we were doing, unwilling to make changes, then we would have missed opportunities that were better than what we started out with".

April

Why scaling really is ‘a people thing'

Joris Van Der Gucht - Silverfin

“We want to build a global company. It’s the only goal we have. We're in London because there's better access to (B2B SaaS/ specialist) talent here".

March

Validate demand with crowdfunding

Niall Barton - Wrisk

"People say it’s 20% inspiration, 80% perspiration. You have to be out there to find the lucky breaks and opportunities".

June

A worthy reason to leave Apple

Raph Crouan - SBC IOT

"I wanted to get back to the product getting to market, to see people enjoying and imagining the next big thing. So, I jumped".

BLOGS

#RVoSu – Lendico, Friedrich Hubel

“The real reason Lendico exists is to change SME financing. Our users can access a simple and fast product that delivers value. Delivering value leads to success thereby a sustainable business model that allows us to support more SMEs".

#RVoSu – Holvi, Elina Räsänen

“We exist to serve micro-entrepreneurs and build a sustainable business ourselves. I think that every entrepreneur wants to make the world a little bit better. So we set out to serve a market that was previously underserved and help entrepreneurs fulfil their potential”.

#RVoSu – Zego, Harry Franks

“One of Zego’s values is that if it’s important then it’s important enough to be challenged. That’s something that I think has helped us a huge amount over the last couple of years, just constantly challenging, iterating it and striving to be the best”.

#RVoSu – Seedrs, Jeff Lynn

“Crowdfunding is a component of what we do, but ultimately we want to be a full-service marketplace for big and small investors, so that people are able to invest in the business as they like".

#RVoSu – Voxbone, Shachar Radin-Shomrat

“When you want to disrupt an industry you cannot talk as though you are the same kind of creature.“

Recognising it's time to pivot

“I recognised that if I didn’t give up control we wouldn’t grow. The only way to scale is to give others more responsibility".

Why scaling really is ‘a people thing'

Joris Van Der Gucht - Silverfin

"At first we did not have any plans to go international. The focus was on finding clients and securing sales. We got a lot of nos but we kept going and all of a sudden it took off".

Validate demand with crowdfunding

"I wanted to get back to the product getting to market, to see people enjoying and imagining the next big thing. So, I jumped".

#RVoSu – Wrisk, Niall Barton

"I’ve been in the insurance sector for my whole career; I became tired of ghastly experiences customers were having and in the end, I thought it’s probably about time to do something about it".