“我早就做好失敗的打算了。”安妮?博登深知,自己與人們想象中的金融科技企業家并不一樣。
“我是女性,身高1米5。我是威爾士人。人到中年。家庭出身非常普通,而且我在女廁所隨便就能跟別人聊天!”她說。
但這一切并未妨礙她創業。她說:“我已經準備好迎接失敗,當時我54歲,很自信也不在乎別人說我傻。”
博登創立了不設分支機構的英國銀行Starling,目前已經有180萬個客戶和1000多名員工。最近她向《衛報》(Guardian)介紹了創業歷程,仿佛三幕劇中的第二幕一樣起伏不斷,很是吸引人。
她剛開始工作時在倫敦的勞埃德銀行(Lloyds),后來在愛爾蘭聯合銀行(Allied Irish Banks)擔任首席運營官。2008年金融危機改變了她對銀行業的看法。因為當時銀行業面臨經濟大衰退和技術進步,還是以同樣方式經營,業務模式完全照舊。
2014年,她辭去工作創辦新型銀行。新銀行里沒有官僚作風,開戶非常容易,通知很及時,隨時可享受客戶服務。她花了數月為實現愿景尋找支持。好不容易找到了商業伙伴,后來卻離她而去,其他剛起步的團隊成員也選擇離開。2015年末她終于迎來突破,說服億萬富翁哈拉爾德?麥克皮克投資4800萬英鎊。2016年Starling獲得銀行執照。
博登承認,銀行是她一生追求的事業,也承認自己違背了社會的期望。她說:“我事業發展挺順利,也做了很多事。迄今獲得的成績我覺得很驕傲,我希望告訴更多女性,不必墨守成規一樣能夠快樂和成功。”(財富中文網)
譯者:馮豐
審校:夏林
“我早就做好失敗的打算了。”安妮?博登深知,自己與人們想象中的金融科技企業家并不一樣。
“我是女性,身高1米5。我是威爾士人。人到中年。家庭出身非常普通,而且我在女廁所隨便就能跟別人聊天!”她說。
但這一切并未妨礙她創業。她說:“我已經準備好迎接失敗,當時我54歲,很自信也不在乎別人說我傻。”
博登創立了不設分支機構的英國銀行Starling,目前已經有180萬個客戶和1000多名員工。最近她向《衛報》(Guardian)介紹了創業歷程,仿佛三幕劇中的第二幕一樣起伏不斷,很是吸引人。
她剛開始工作時在倫敦的勞埃德銀行(Lloyds),后來在愛爾蘭聯合銀行(Allied Irish Banks)擔任首席運營官。2008年金融危機改變了她對銀行業的看法。因為當時銀行業面臨經濟大衰退和技術進步,還是以同樣方式經營,業務模式完全照舊。
2014年,她辭去工作創辦新型銀行。新銀行里沒有官僚作風,開戶非常容易,通知很及時,隨時可享受客戶服務。她花了數月為實現愿景尋找支持。好不容易找到了商業伙伴,后來卻離她而去,其他剛起步的團隊成員也選擇離開。2015年末她終于迎來突破,說服億萬富翁哈拉爾德?麥克皮克投資4800萬英鎊。2016年Starling獲得銀行執照。
博登承認,銀行是她一生追求的事業,也承認自己違背了社會的期望。她說:“我事業發展挺順利,也做了很多事。迄今獲得的成績我覺得很驕傲,我希望告訴更多女性,不必墨守成規一樣能夠快樂和成功。”(財富中文網)
譯者:馮豐
審校:夏林
- 'I was prepared to fail.' Anne Boden knows she is not who you imagine when you think of a fintech entrepreneur.
"I’m a woman. I’m 5ft tall. I’m Welsh. I’m middle-aged. I’m from a very ordinary background and I’m the sort of person who’ll chat to somebody in the ladies [room]!” she says.
But that didn't stop her. "I’d reached the stage where I was prepared to fail," she says. "I was 54 and confident enough not to care if somebody said I was stupid."
Boden founded Starling, the branchless U.K. bank that now has 1.8 million customer accounts and a staff of more than 1,000. She recently talked to the Guardian about her startup journey, and it's the sort of second-act story that will stick with you.
She started her corporate career at Lloyds in London and later became COO of Allied Irish Banks. The 2008 financial crisis changed her perspective on banking. Even with the Great Recession and technological advances, banks kept operating in the same way; it was business as usual.
She left her job in 2014 to launch a new kind of bank; one without bureaucracy, where opening an account was easy, notifications were instant, and customer service was always available. She spent months trying to drum up support for her vision. She found a business partner, but later lost him and other members of their fledgling team. Her breakthrough came in late 2015 when she convinced billionaire Harald McPike to invest 48 million pounds in her business. Starling got its banking license in 2016.
Boden admits that the bank is her whole life and embraces the fact that she's bucked the expectations society set for her. “I’ve had a great career. I’ve done lots of stuff. I’m proud of what we’ve built," she says. "I wish I could help more women understand that you don’t have to conform to the stereotype to be happy, to be successful."