Bankloch

A few weeks ago, I came across a LinkedIn post by Marcel Van Oost (whose content is truly remarkable, so if you’re not already following him, make sure to subscribe to his updates). Marcel’s post shed light on the " Revolut mafia ". In just five years, 102 Revolut alumni-led startups (such as Payday, Kiko, Belvo, Fuse, Pledge, Flux, Sync, Sardine, and more) have collectively secured an impressive $2.2 billion in funding. This surpasses Revolut’s own funding of $1.7 billion, highlighting the profound ripple effect that a successful startup can have. We are all familiar with the   iconic story of the "PayPal mafia" , a group of former PayPal employees and founders who, after the sale of PayPal to eBay in 2002, catalyzed the growth of numerous successful tech companies: Peter Thiel , PayPal co-founder and former CEO, is often referred to as the "don" of the PayPal Mafia. He became one of the earliest investors in Facebook and founded the hedge fund Clarium Ca...

Having a true "blue" (introvert and analytical) personality type, I often feel envy towards charismatic (often extravert) entrepreneurs and more specifically the ease with which they can setup new businesses and coordinate different activities. At the same time, it amazes me how many of those successful entrepreneurs have poor skills in   financial management   and have no clue how to build even a basic business plan. Maybe this is also the reason of their success, as they manage mainly from their gut-feeling and act before analyzing everything. Obviously this tactic has its limits, as when attracting investors or when scaling, some kind of business plan will be required as a common guideline to work towards. Having worked years as a consultant and working now as an Innovation and Product manager, I can honestly say I have seen my fair share of (financial) business plans. Obviously you can make a financial business plan as simple or as complex as you want. However given that ...