A well known person in the FinTech space once commented that if you couldn’t dine out on FinTech every night – you weren’t doing FinTech right. From bank elevators, to the free beer at co-working spaces – it would be hard not to bump into someone who works at a fund or an accelerator, grinding away at a startup or a bank or even just a fanboy looking to ‘comment’ their way into a glam job at Monzo.
But where do you fit in?
But what type of FinTech’er are you? Well, take the quiz and find out!
Banks and bankers are:
- Trying really hard – really, they are.
- Dinosaurs. You welcome disruption and disintermediation. (But you are also looking to connect to the head honcho at Mega Global European Bank. You ask often for warm intros).
- No one you know anymore.
- Bank? You don’t care about banks, you just want your business to have better insurance.
Your work space is:
- Top floor, great view, coffee machine always works. (You have a full pension and lots of airline points)
- Co-working space that has a beer fridge and an aloof receptionist. You get a new delivery of laptop stickers every month.
- Kitchen table. You tend to send an email, around 3:00 pm, to see if anyone is free for a drink at Gow’s.
- Sheffield
You aim to promote FinTech entrepreneurship by:
- Welcome startups – they make the innovation magic happen. You often need to jet off to another meeting to justify your existence to the board. You hope the startups have enough Post It notes.
- Your days are an endless rotation of meetups, Demo Days, roundtables, hackathons. You comment on everything. If you can get a free ticket you are there. (But you never sponsor anything – you don’t have the budget).
- 20 years ago you were the CEO of a financial technology service provider. You think the Cab Sav at the wine bar down the road is excellent.
- You need someone to talk you through Starling’s Marketplace.
You been in the industry for:
- Two years. You used to work for a company that did that dating app. You ooze innovation, baby. That’s why you were hired.
- Since the 90s. Do you remember the 90s? You didn’t have any grey hair in the 90s. You miss the 90s. The canapes were better and the wine wasn’t from Tesco.
- Before you were born.
- You run a dog walking service and have an insurance app (Seriously, you really need someone who can talk you through Starling’s Marketplace).
Mostly 1s: You’re a FinTech Big Cheese. FinTech is having a moment and you are in the middle of a moment. You’ve been hired by a big bank, from a ‘cooler’ industry to shake things up and deliver ‘innovation’. You partner with an accelerator, you get quoted by the BBC, and you collaborate with government officials. (It doesn’t really matter that you think ISO 20022 is your PAs bike combination.)
Mostly 2s: You’re a FinTech Groupie/Hustler. You are a mentor at every incubator, co-working space and accelerator (and list it on your LinkedIn). You know you are the only authentic FinTech’er out there – and you aren’t afraid to write a LinkedIn post about it. You are the first to sign up to every meetup and event. You always remember to tag the ‘right’ people on your Twitter feed (It helps with the influencer rankings).
Mostly 3s: You’re an Aging Veteran. You lived through the Dot Com bubble. You remember Big Bang. You still drink during lunch. You are waiting for sanity to be restored to this industry. You’ve been waiting a long time.
Mostly 4s: You’re a well-meaning startup founder. Trying to insure your dog walking business made you think: ‘There has to be a better way’. You’re not quite sure what PSD II is (and you have a feeling it isn’t even relevant.) You wish the mentors at the co-working space were a bit more helpful.
