“I couldn’t help reflecting that there was a fine balance between the stringent requirements of the regulator and what our potential investors would like to see. For the PRA [Prudential Regulation Authority] we needed to be people who had done it all before, who knew how the committees and governance processes worked, and who were fully aware of our responsibilities to look after our customers’ money. On the other hand, for the private equity (PE) world we needed to appear as hard-headed business people who were going to sweat the assets and run a traditional high-return banking business. Meanwhile, any potential venture-capital investors would be on the lookout for a bunch of smart people who wanted to change the world.We just needed to fulfil each and every role somehow! Or rather, some people on the team would have to be all three people on the same day, while others picked a side and stuck with it.“
Brilliant condensation of the tensions of a startup bank by Boden, the founder of Starling (h/t Net Interest)
