For The Founders series (hosted by Mark Frost – ERUPT Growth Partnership Manager at Annapurna ERUPT) is a discussion-based series of interviews with industry leaders from start-up and scale-up companies. With digital technology vastly improving and changing the landscape, For The Founders aims to uncover the secrets and insights into how technology is impacting the growth of businesses.
FinMarie
This particular discussion was held with Leitha Matz, Chief People Officer and Co-Founder of FinMarie and Digital leader and mentor with 20 years of experience in product and program management.
FinMarie, founded in 2018, is the first online investment solution made by women, for women in Europe. The business was created to provide women, at any stage of their financial journey, the opportunity to have control and confidence over their finances. They combine personal financial advice with an online investment solution. They have built a platform with a mission to develop the technology and services that address women’s professional potential and aim to close the investment and pension gaps.
This discussion demonstrated how FinMarie has been able to transform the traditional, in what is seen as a typically monolithic industry, which is generally slow-moving to change.
How have FinMarie shown that finance, an industry which is typically detained by mass-market approaches, has become progressive?
Mark instigated the discussion by referring to other services, like the media, that have moved further away from a one-size-fits-all product and service to more customised content for niche audiences.
Leitha suggested that women in the world of banking and finance are also niche audiences. She implied that more and more start-ups are focussing on smaller groups of people and their needs. Smaller companies have an advantage within this market as they are able to listen to their audience.
What are your thoughts on future ways to improve automation and how are Finmarie addressing these?
Leitha implied that you either filter out too many qualified candidates for the role or engage with the wrong type of candidate. This is described as finetuning the algorithm which needs continuous human input. FinMarie uses these recommendation systems or filtering systems for repetitive tasks but understands that this is a risk that doesn’t necessarily have a seamless outcome every time. This can sometimes feel like an expensive risk, however, not using the technology to assist these processes can create further problems for efficiency and security reasons.
Leitha also discussed the effect of shifting market conditions on the business and how going remote shifted mindsets and forced this adaptation.
What trends and saving habits are we seeing within the market?
Mark then raised awareness of the different trends and saving habits within the market. Leitha suggested that the new normal is an environment of inflation that erodes your savings. Therefore, individuals and businesses should be looking for safe havens for growing cash value.
What does it mean for a company to become more sustainable?
Leitha believes that sustainability can’t be ignored and should be within every businesses’ portfolio.
However, Leitha deems that there is no clear path forward for the consumer to rely on and that there is still a grey area in the future of sustainability. Companies must aim to be transparent within their ways of sustainability, but the consumer needs to demand this from heads of business in a top-down approach to witness a clear impact.
Click here to listen to the full podcast.
