Ep. 200. 11:FS Turns TWO! Company culture, consultancy, and cupcakes

In our birthday episode we take you on a lookback from the entire 11:FS team over the last couple of years. Including the highlights and challenges of taking on clients, applying for projects with banks and everything we do besides make podcasts. Our founders share why the company got together, where they saw a gap in the market and how they made the leap to take it on. Fintechs of the future have to do things in a slightly different way today to stand out from the major consultancies. Growth is the keyword for most banks these days across the world. Can fintechs deliver that level of growth needed or are banks going to be forced to keep repeating the cycles pre-2008? We also take you under the hood of 11:FS Pulse 2, set to launch at the end of the month, and why even with a small team it’s possible for fintechs to deliver next-gen services. Simon shares a few of his favourite rumours about what we do for big banks, but Jason brings it back to what we’ve actually done and what banks actually need in the new era. Doing something new from a business standpoint in an intelligent way. Sophie shares the challenges of actually growing a startup in a smart and sustainable way from an employee numbers standpoint. When word gets out applications shoot up and how finding the right match between roles, people, and the company itself is an art. David and Jason share a few of their core beliefs on making a startup grow properly, how pyramid growth is outdated in an agile market. Even with three distinct business faces, media, consulting and research, 11:FS is, at its heart, only one team. It’s vital to startups for all their teams to adapt and work together. Diversity of thought is a driving factor behind 11:FS growth, Sophie explains why diversity isn’t just about gender but finding people who can blend together different ideas and use them to drive forward the company's goals. Storytelling is a huge part of what we do, Ollie and Laura give their feedback on why 11:FS media has been so successful. Podcasts like this, speaking events, providing narratives with the real facts and the real reasons behind stories instead of focusing on soundbites are all just one part of why. Transparency at all levels only ever helps. Conflict works in a startup, rather than sticking to a company line, Simon shares how it’s proven to be a big help to 11:FS to have disagreements. So long as the entire team is driving towards the same goal having a discussion only helps to achieve that. All this and more on this week’s special Fintech Insider. Of course none of this would be possible without you our listeners and so we want to say thank you for all your support so far and we're looking forward to delivering even better content in the future. Thank you for listening! You can find us on Twitter @FintechInsiders or @11FSTeam or find us on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram or drop us a line podcasts@11fs.com Don’t forget to subscribe to the show so you never miss an episode, and if you really love us, leave us a review on iTunes. Special Guests: Jeff Tijssen, Ollie Judge, Ross Methven, and Sophie Theen.