Ollie Preiss

A trip down memory lane 👴🏻. A couple months ago, Marcel van Oost posted a legendary video from TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin 2017 where the founders of Revolut, Monzo Bank and N26 – three direct competitors – shared a stage (moderated by Romain Dillet). I was in the audience that day and I highly recommend you watch the video of the panel. It is rare to witness the birth of a mega wave (consumer banking being moved to cloud and mobile). At the time, the three of them were roughly the same size, all sub 1m monthly active users.  Today? According to Data.ai Revolut has 27 million monthly active users, Monzo has 4m and N26 has 2m. So what can we learn from what happened post-2017? Revolut, Monzo and N26 all went on to raise roughly the same amount: between $1.6 and $1.8 billion. In fact, Monzo just announced it had raised an extra $190m on top of the $430m funding round it announced in early March, at a $5bn valuation, demonstrating its continuous success. But looking at their respective trajectories since that panel, it’s striking how different strategies from different entrepreneurs have had dramatically different outcomes years later. There will be business school case studies written about it, no doubt. Since Revolut is the one we invested in, I asked their VP of Growth Antoine Le Nel for his take on what led to their outsized success: 💰 They relentlessly focused on reaching profitability, which gave them the luxury to not have to choose between growth and profitability. Growth picked up in 2021, the year they first became profitable. 🎮 They applied systematic media buying techniques from the gaming world. Antoine actually came from King - further evidence that the startup ecosystem flywheel is starting to turn at full regime in Europe. 🌎 They treated their different geographies, channels and products like internal competitors. If any was overperforming, it got more growth support. In his own words: "The biggest competitor of Revolut France is not BoursoBank, it's Revolut Germany". 🏅 They leaned into market tailwinds for more chances to win. For example, Revolut’s breadth meant they were positioned to benefit from the crypto bull run and high net interest income. Their diversified product range and revenue streams mean they can benefit from most macro scenarios. 🥷 They built small teams that were highly scalable, highly quantitative and highly agile. And I’d add: 🌍 Strategically, going multi-product and multi-country from day 1 and having a strong bias for build vs buy, turned out to be a critical long-term advantage (I wrote about in a post last year, which I’ll share in the comments). 🤩 A delightful product and the killer value prop of free FX allowed for strong word of mouth growth in the early days, fueled by Chad West and his team’s brilliant guerilla marketing. Thank you, Marcel, for prompting this trip down memory lane. I’ll share the full TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin video below.

474

38 Comments

This is the first podcast I've recorded outlining why I started Break Free: Build A Micro-Business (& shifted away from product management training) 👇 Link in the comments below to the full episode👇

14

2 Comments

Just went to London's Spitalfields market for Lunch. Hundreds of independent stalls, each carving their niche. And it got me thinking about the app world... Many founders chase the "million user" dream, unicorn status, big exits. But what if success looks different? Maybe your app doesn't need to be the next Amazon. It could be the friendly local bakery app, serving a dedicated community and thriving. Success can come in many forms: a loyal user base, passionate reviews, or achieving a specific impact. Being small, but still profitable and serving customers. So I genuinely think it’s time to redefine how success for a digital product looks like. And it's totally fine if you build something small and simple. #entrepreneurship #appdevelopment #startup

9

4 Comments

Numbers & insights from a deep tech venture studio that launched 11 companies (all are active) in the last 7 years, reaching £85M valuation across the portfolio: 1. Post Urban, initially bootstrapped by Luke Robinson, an academic with a PhD in physics from Cambridge, now operates with external funding from a UK-based fund. 2. Launched 5 companies during the first 5 years and 6 companies during the last 2 years. 3. All 11 completed pre-seed rounds; 1 of them got Series A, 2 of them are approaching their Series A. 4. The startups have collectively raised ~£25M in venture capital, in addition to receiving grants. The total valuation of the 11 companies is ~£85M, half of which have not yet undergone subsequent funding rounds. 5. Initial equity splits: the venture builder 20%, CEOs of startups 35% (vests over 4 years), CTOs – 20-25%, employees 10-15%. 6. The initial valuation of startups was £2 million, with £300K invested by the venture builder. The last 2 startups were at £3.5-4M initial valuation. 7. Building deep tech ventures requires significantly higher initial funding because these projects need more time to develop demonstrable products. Two portfolio companies hit £1M in ARR. 8. The venture builder has increased the capital for the last 2 startups to ensure they reach meaningful milestones. The CEOs of the startups were able to secure additional funding through their networks, £350K and £450K, respectively. 9. The deep tech investor pool is smaller than that for sectors like SaaS, which requires a stronger proof of concept and market readiness to attract funding. 10. 3-4 times, potential customers became investors in Post Urban Ventures. This is a great approach because it secures investment and validates the concept by gauging whether these potential customers truly believe in the solution and its market necessity. 11. They don't start with a technology or an idea; instead, they integrate insights about global problems and, by actively engaging with advisory boards, founders, and industry experts, identify pain points and align them with technological solutions. 12. They do not bring universities in as co-founders but source scientists or professors to contribute to research and development. This involves leveraging academic expertise to support the technical aspects of startup projects until a prototype is developed. 13. The studio maintains strong connections with major academic institutions, including Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial College, and UCL, supporting its deep tech focus and facilitating access to new technologies and potential founders. 14. Areas of focus in deep tech: AI (Knowledge Graphs, NLP, DNNs, Computer Vision, Edge AI, Active Learning), Quantum Technologies, Biotech, AgTech, Enterprise SaaS. Watch the full interview to gain insights into the portfolio companies, handling IP collaborations with universities, key challenges, and team construction: https://lnkd.in/dCi7fZ7G

48

5 Comments

Question for all the founders in my network: What tools are you using for your customer waitlists? 💡 I've seen everything from simple one page websites to more developed integrated engagement/management platforms. Keen to know what people think is good! #founders #vc #startup

37

31 Comments

49 founders and senior startup leaders respond to a survey from Sifted on the relationship between founders and VCs. Are expectations off from the start as VCs try too hard to pander to their founders with over promises of "value-add" and extensive platform teams? Do founders need to be reminded of their primary role - execution?

3

Which UK #Fintechs are now profitable? £1bn OF PROFIT GENERATED BY UK FINTECHS The startup scene has been brutal the past couple of years. Redundancies are at an all time high, recruitment at an all time low, and startups are going bust or raising down rounds at an unprecedented level. BUT, some startups have shown incredible resilience and have achieved profitability, and deserve to be celebrated. Here are the 8 profitable UK Fintechs: Revolut: Founded in 2015, Revolut quickly became one of the UK’s top startups, are have recently confirmed a $45bn valuation. Their 2023 results were INSANE: 🚀 $2bn of revenue 🚀 $545m profit Monzo Bank: #Monzo released their latest annual results a few months ago and they are INSANE: 🚀 £15.4m of profit (vs £116m loss in 2023) 🚀 £880m of revenue (+147% YoY) 🚀 9.3 million users (+26% YoY) Allica Bank: #Allica is the UK’s only digitally-native challenger bank committed to providing a full-service banking relationship to established SMEs and entrepreneurs, offering them lending, savings and payments. It launched in 2019 and became one of the fastest UK fintechs to achieve profitability: 🚀 Revenue increased 141% to £191 million 🚀 Pre-tax profit of £16.1 million Starling Bank: Founded in 2014 the fintech first achieved profitability in 2022. Their latest results show them operating an an incredible 37% profit margin: 🚀£453m of revenue 🚀£169m of net income Zopa Bank Zopa began as the world's first peer-to-peer lending company in 2005. It has since expanded to broader fintech products and gained a full banking licence in 2020. It became a unicorn in 2021 when it raised £220m at a valuation of $1.03bn. Since then it has gone from loss-making to very profitable: 🚀 £222m of revenue (+44% YoY) 🚀 £16m of profit (vs £24m loss in 2022) ClearBank #ClearBank is a technology-enabled clearing bank that enables its clients to offer real-time payment and innovative banking services to their customers.
They released their FY2023 results which showed them operating on a 20% profit margin: 🚀 £111m total income (+91% YoY) 🚀 £18m of profit (+109% YoY) 🚀 £6.1bn in deposits (+103% YoY) Clear Junction Founded in 2016 by Dima Kats Kits, Clear Junction is a global leader in cross-border payments for regulated financial institutions. It's the only bootstrapped company on this list, and is very profitable: 🚀 £19m of Revenue 🚀 £8m of Net Profit OakNorth Oaknorth became a unicorn 2 years after being founded and their latest accounts demonstrate why they deserved it: 🚀 £466m revenue (+73% YoY) 🚀 £187m of profit before tax (+24% YoY) 🚀 30% net profit margin. Other fintechs, such as Freetrade, Moneybox, #Chip, Atom bank and Tandem Bank, have also all achieved profitability recently, but either on shorter time frames or after tax! #isapexchange #isapwallet www.isap.exchange iSAP Exchange FZCO iSAP Group Investments ltd Tino Herold

5

👻 👺 Halloween horrors for founders: RIP Procrastination 🕸️ 🧟 There are lots of potential horrors for founders, involving funding, tech, marketing, hiring, and more. However, whilst external factors are important, being self-aware and brutally honest are also vital to get a new company off the ground. One of the real horrors for founders is Procrastination. I know, it's personal and real. I've focused on polishing content, perfecting website features, writing presentations that never see the light of day, 'researching' market data, reading endless 'how to...' guides, absorbing endless business advice on YouTube. The list goes on. So, what should I have done? Does anyone actually want what I'm building? Can I give them the minimum requirement as quickly as possible? Have I, and my co-founder, got the right skills to deliver this? Can I find enough early adopters willing to pay for the imperfect because they understand and value our 'why? Is my growth plan fit for purpose? The list goes on. As Halloween approaches, I'm laying Procrastination to rest, and am focusing on growing BizEquals into the business I believe it can be. #B2B #SME

2

Exciting to see the growing activity in the #vcsecondary market in Europe as reported by Sifted. While I agree we’re likely to see growing secondary activity in 2025, a resurgence in IPOs and M&A may also introduce a new dynamic among would-be sellers top performing companies — with more shareholders instead opting to keep their chips on the table for more upside at an IPO. In any case, more demand in this market should lead to better outcomes for founders, employees and investors seeking liquidity — something we’re laser focused on at Flywheel Capital. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out!

10

2 Comments

An AI agentic framework can tackle fraud in recruitment and do what humans hate to do - go through every interview. Can you imagine how boring it is as a recruiter to go into an interview to see if the candidate showed up, take a screenshot and then sit and compare it with the next? #RippleHire

7

The UK is well ahead of its continental counterparts when it comes to tech startups* generating revenue. 🇬🇧 👑 💂 *Let’s be honest, at these revenue levels most of the companies counted here aren’t startups. They’re scaleups or established privately held tech companies. https://lnkd.in/ebSnfcYz #vc #venturecapital #startups #entrepreneurs #entrepreneurship #tech #technology #innovation #money #business

226

33 Comments

How overseas startups can raise funds in the UK (from unknown to investor magnet) Struggling to get UK investors interested?   Feeling like your overseas status is a disadvantage?   You’re not alone. But here’s what most founders don’t know…   There’s a game-changing opportunity waiting for you: SEIS and EIS. Even if you’re based overseas, your startup can **still qualify** for these powerful tax reliefs. I’ve seen it happen.   (again and again) Let me break it down: • 50% Tax Relief for Investors  → If someone invests £10,000, they get £5,000 back in tax relief.   → Their real “capital at risk”? Just £5,000. But that’s not all: - Loss Relief: Investors can offset any losses.   - 0% Capital Gains Tax: They won’t pay taxes on profits.  (With SEIS, you can raise up to £250,000. For larger rounds, EIS gives 30% tax relief.) Here’s the key part:   How can you qualify? You need a permanent presence in the UK by doing one of the following: • Fixed Place of Business   → Have a physical location where your key operations happen. • Agent in the UK   → Appoint someone who can sign contracts on behalf of your company. So, what’s the next step? • Do it yourself: Manage the application process solo.   • Get legal help: A law firm will cost around £3,000 but they’ll handle it for you. Even without tax relief, you can raise funds.   But using SEIS/EIS? That makes your startup way more attractive to UK investors. Don’t sleep on this opportunity.   Wanna beat the odds? Play smarter. ___ ____ ___ __ Enjoy? Follow Denys Khomyn 🇬🇧 for your daily dose of creative, startup and VC insights. #startup #fundraising #vc #founder #business #venturecapital #entrepreneur #uk #ceo #raising #investment #work #job #usa #tech #angel #ai

14

11 Comments

Compare this to founders and startups from developing Asia. The avg pre-seed round would be around €100K and Founder's salary would be around €10K PA. Startups with lower burn will be invincible as Innovation and tech tools aren't geo-restricted anymore. #Startups #VentureCapital #Investment #Innovation #Funding

9

We've given our homepage a little refresh to share more about the use cases we hear from our users. It's always the most fascinating time, to find out from someone how they use your product and what for. Recently we had a call with a long distance couple on opposite sides of the world who met online and planned to meet offline. They used Outside to organize this and make the best day out of it. Another was someone who started using Outside to organize their fantasy football and use the app as a form of communication between the group and plan events together. They're group keeps growing and so do the activities they do together! We're always discovering new use cases and always curious to hear these stories from users. The diversity does give a challenge in how we build, but at the same time it means we're able to support much more use cases. We like lot's of use cases :)

20

🚨 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐄𝐖𝐎𝐑 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐜𝐨𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 🚨 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲: 🚀 Real founders (who have built companies worth €12BN collectively) as one-to-one mentors. 🚀 Immediate funding up to €150,000. 🚀 A focus on hands-on company building, not just theory. A bonus fourth: I am a fellow already, so let's hang and build the future together! More about the Fellowships EWOR 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐬: 💡 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 - for founders who are pre-idea or early stage 📈 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 - for founders already generating revenue More about EWOR The community is incredible. I never expected such a warm and supportive group of Mentors or Peers. I thought business was meant to be cut-throat and ruthless?! Some examples from the current cohort include: Konstantinos (Kostas) Fetfatsidis: A former aerostructures engineer who founded a 3D printing company that was acquired by Desktop Metal. Natalie Pace: A Los Alamos National Laboratory fellow who developed a first-in-class rapid diagnostic test for bacterial pneumonia. Ricky Knox: A serial entrepreneur who has built 3 businesses, each with 1,000+ employees, respectively securing 8 and 9 figure acquisitions. Best part? 💰 You get real support securing your next funding round within 12 months. 🗓 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞: 02 December 2024 💬 Happy to answer questions about my experience - DM me or drop a comment 👇 📝 Ready to apply? https://lnkd.in/eCRVcTRJ

12

In 2005, Klarna came in with a simple but powerful idea—"buy now, pay later." It totally flipped how people think about paying for things. No more stressing over big upfront payments—customers could spread it out, making shopping easier and more accessible. Fast forward to today, and Klarna is valued at over $45 billion. They’ve become a huge player in the fintech world by sticking to one clear mission: making payments simple and flexible. That’s a massive lesson for anyone with a startup idea—sometimes, it’s not about inventing something new but improving what already exists. Their journey is proof that listening to what customers need can lead to big wins. They’ve shown that even an industry like payments can be disrupted with the right approach. If they can take such a simple idea and grow it globally, maybe the next big idea is closer than you think.

5

Social commerce is exploding in the UK and enara is at the forefront The UK social commerce market is set to double by 2028, reaching nearly £16bn. It’s no wonder - creators are turning social media platforms into community-driven businesses with their content. I’m excited that enara is jumping headfirst into helping creators to make this leap. From curating product collections that match their unique style to setting up branded stores on Shopify, we’re making it easy for creators to seamlessly sell across their channels. Inspired by my recent chats with TikTok creators and TikTok shop trends, I wanted to dig further into key statistics in UK social commerce (Source: Retail Economics and TikTok report June 2024.)… 🌟 Social commerce is growing 4x the rate of overall e-commerce, expected to hit 10% of the total online market by 2028 (in the UK, US is closer to 25%). 🛒 56% of UK users have purchased directly through social media - rising to 73% for those under 45. 👉 TikTok leads the charge, with 44% of its users having made a direct purchase, and 1 in 4 purchasing at least once a month 💄 Fashion and beauty dominate TikTok Shop, with beauty at 32% and fashion at 25% of sales. Social commerce makes shopping more participatory and engaging. Our favourite influencers are doing all the pre-vetting and research, making it easy to buy directly from those we trust. What have you bought recently from your socials (not only been influenced by but bought directly)? These trends are becoming the new ‘norm’. #socialcommerce #creatoreconomy #tiktokshop #enara

31

5 Comments