In Ep 137 of Fintech Chatter Dexter Cousins chats to David M. Brear, CEO of 11:FS.
A celebration of sorts as both 11:FS and Tier One People celebrate their 7th anniversaries.
Tune in as Dexter and David discuss their contrasting experiences over the last 7 years as founder/builders in Fintech. They share their lessons in business, hiring, leadership, life, startups, parenthood, and everything else in between.
11:FS is a challenger consultancy that builds and launches next-generation digital propositions for some of the biggest banks in the world.
Driven by the belief that digital banking is 1% done and that digital reform is needed to improve systems and services for banks and their customers.
11:FS build new digital banks and banking products, and deliver benchmarking, research, and consultancy for banks, insurers, governments, regulators and startups around the world.
They are behind multiple podcasts including Fintech Insider, a bi-weekly show about all things fintech and financial services, which is downloaded in over 100 countries every week and is one of the top business podcasts on Apple podcasts; Blockchain Insider, a dedicated podcast specialising in all things blockchain, ledger technology and cryptocurrencies and Insurtech Insider, covering the latest news, insights, and trends in the Insurtech industry.
David is the CEO of 11:FS and since his dream of being a sportsperson was crushed (along with the ligaments in his knee!) and he had to get a proper job, he has worked in pretty much every angle of the financial services industry, never losing that competitive desire to drive forwards and win.
Having pitched, established, and run billion-pound transformations for some of the biggest FS companies on the planet the realisation that Digital Financials Services Is Only 1% Finished has spurred his desire to establish an organisation that can actually support the industry through its greatest challenge.
11:FS is a challenger to the incumbent consultancies. We create innovative strategies and build out new propositions and ventures in the UK, US, Europe and Asia for some of the biggest brands on the planet. Alongside this 11:FS build in-house products from competitor benchmarking tools like 11:FS Pulse, to core banking and modern architecture systems like 11:FS Foundry.
In 4 years 11:FS went from zero brand and zero revenues to a multimillion a month business with one of the hottest brands in fintech all with zero external investment in the group.