I’ve built multiple teams from scratch that prove this is the key to success, starting ten years ago with my first startup, City Cake that was exited to Resto-In. In the United States, Fithouse was a business in another space entirely which I was deeply passionate about, health and fitness. Between these ventures, in Europe I founded and scaled Stuart in on-demand delivery. Stuart was an innovator, breaking into an untapped niche with huge potential before mobility became one of the hottest tech sectors. 

Now I’m at it again with Europe’s first social and investing app Shares, following the same playbook in yet another industry, taking a great idea and finding a team that’s as passionate as I am to make it a reality. Here’s a snapshot of how we made Shares a success:

1) We’re on a mission with Shares

The idea behind Shares comes from my own experience with investing apps and a real need for one platform to discuss opportunities with people you trust. It’s how people invest today, switching between Reddit forums, WhatsApp and sources of news that are dubious, at best, and fake at worst. Simply put, there wasn’t an app out there so we set out to build it.

In less than a year we’ve taken the concept and made Shares into a fully social app - not just an ‘add on’ to another investing platform - ready to launch in the next few weeks in the UK. Overcoming the technical, regulatory and scale-up challenges for the business at such a pace wouldn’t have been achievable unless there was real passion in the mission.  

The mission: to deliver an app that is truly innovative, transforms the experience of investing, and empowers first time investors with confidence to invest. Our app will reassure those reluctant investors to join the conversation, on a journey with their family and friends, that’s ultimately beneficial to their collective financial wellbeing.

2) Build a team with equal passion in the idea

Competitive and increasingly crowded markets like consumer fintech require truly unique innovation that can only be achieved through world-class talent regardless of how great your idea may be. The timeline for the Shares app to go-to-market is unprecedented and we’ve quickly grown into a team of over 100. Passion for the mission of Shares has solved some of the biggest challenges we would otherwise have faced.

First, there is a skills gap in the market for the best and brightest in fintech. The mission we’re on is one that has attracted some of the most experienced startup and scaleup veterans in the industry, including from Revolut, Stuart, Bumble and more. Similarly, it has also helped us attract the long-term support of top tier venture capital and angel investors, who backed us with $10m in one of Europe’s largest-ever pre-product seed rounds. 

But any well funded startup could throw money at that first challenge. Most importantly, the passion our team has to create a better way to invest accelerated the development of the Shares app. It’s such a unique social experience that we couldn’t wait for new investors to join our community.

3) You’re building a culture not just a business

“Talent wins games, teamwork wins championships” captures an important feature of most dynamic and successful businesses. A team’s collective passion to take a great idea and build it well must also be maintained. While Shares is still an early stage startup, I’m proud of the culture we’ve built over and above the launch of the app.

How you build culture is more specific to a business. But making sure it’s dynamic and suits the needs of your team is key. To take one example, our team chooses where they work, from home, or any one of our offices in Krakow, London, Paris and Toulouse. However, even if the CEO is ultimately responsible for culture, the culture starts with people in every business.

The single most important question we ask potential hires is to explain their vision for Shares - our mission has to be on the same page, and then maintained to have the long and productive employee relationships we strive to build. For a fast-growth startup to keep momentum our team must be committed and in it for the championship, not just a game!