Thank you to everyone who joined us for the first Rise & Shine of the year—a morning packed with insight, collaboration, and the official launch of Scale & Grow!
A special thanks to Ian Horne, our expert MC for the event, who masterfully guided the discussions and kept each session engaging, insightful, and full of energy. His ability to ask the right questions and extract the most valuable insights from our speakers was invaluable in making this event a success.
I’m incredibly excited about this next step, and I want to share why we built it, how it’s different, and how it’s set to help fintechs scale smarter and faster.
With one-third of startups failing post-Series A and 75% of fintechs ultimately struggling to secure long-term success, this is the right time to be launching with a fresh offer to market to blow the cobwebs away and serve the market better.
Scaling beyond Series A+ is tough. Founders face a maze of investor expectations, regulatory hurdles, enterprise sales cycles, and hiring challenges—all while trying to hit ambitious growth targets.
The reality? Consulting hasn’t kept pace with fintech.
For years, fintechs have been overcharged for generic advice, left to navigate scaling challenges alone, or forced to rely on independent advisors without the structure they need to execute. The industry needed a shake-up, and that’s exactly what Scale & Grow delivers:
Agility – Support that moves at fintech speed.
Transparency – Clear, upfront pricing, no fluff.
Execution – Hands-on, real-world solutions, not just strategy decks.
Scale & Grow is built for fintechs, by fintech operators. We’re not career consultants—we’re people who’ve actually built, scaled, and exited fintech businesses.
That’s why today’s event wasn’t just about launching a new consultancy—it was about bringing together the best fintech minds to share real, practical lessons on what it takes to scale successfully. And trust me, the insights from these sessions were pure gold.
Key Themes from the Event
- Scaling Is Hard—But Avoidable Mistakes Make It Harder
- Investment Alone Doesn’t Guarantee Growth—Execution Does (No, Really.)
- Sales, Regulation, and Market Expansion Are Critical for Sustainable Scaling
- Talent, Fundraising, and PR Can Make or Break Your Scale-Up Success
- The Right Advisors Can Save You from Painful, Expensive Lessons
Here’s what we learned from the Scale & Grow launch event—direct from the experts themselves, no fluff, no nonsense, just straight-talking fintech reality checks.
Lessons from Scaling a Fintech Unicorn—Jon Prideaux, Boku
Scaling a fintech isn’t just about ambition—it’s about survival.
Jon Prideaux, CEO of Boku, shared a raw, honest account of his journey—how he led Boku from near collapse to a $700M valuation. His session was equal parts war story and masterclass in resilience.
In this session, he pulled back the curtain on what really happens behind the scenes of a fintech scale-up, from making tough calls to keeping investors on board. His insights underscored the importance of resilience, commercial viability, and maintaining investor confidence as a fintech grows.
"Scaling isn’t just about growth—it’s about survival. You can have the best product, the best team, and the biggest market opportunity, but if you run out of money, you’re done. Investors don’t fund hope, they fund returns."
"Happy investors are the outcome—not the goal. The best fintechs focus on happy customers first. Everything else follows, including a much nicer valuation on your next term sheet."
Regulation & Legal: The Unseen Scaling Risk
Regulation can feel like the villain in every fintech founder’s journey—but the smartest companies turn compliance into a competitive advantage.
Alison Donnelly (FSCOM) and Chris Hill (Fox Williams) broke down the most common regulatory pitfalls that trip up scale-ups, from failing to anticipate licensing needs to underestimating compliance costs.
They shared best practices for embedding regulatory strategy early and staying ahead of the curve rather than reacting to problems too late.
"You're only ever one bright idea away from a regulatory breach. Product teams love innovation, but one wrong move and suddenly you need an FCA license you didn’t plan for."
"Don’t fight regulation—embrace it. The fastest-growing fintechs don’t see compliance as a burden; they see it as a competitive advantage."
Talent & Culture: The Secret Weapon of High-Growth Fintechs
Scaling is as much about people as it is about product.
Toby Babb, CEO of Harrington Starr, delivered a frank and insightful talk on the role of talent strategy in hyper-growth fintechs.
He stressed that culture isn’t just about perks and ping-pong tables—it’s about hiring the right leaders, retaining key employees, and fostering a performance-driven culture.
He also highlighted the risks of rapid hiring, sharing stories of companies that scaled too fast without the right talent infrastructure.
"Your first 50 hires shape everything—culture, strategy, speed. Get them right, and scaling gets easier. Get them wrong, and you’ll burn money fixing it. Scaling isn’t just about hiring—it’s about retaining the best talent. If you’re losing great people, you’re losing momentum."
Fundraising & Financial Management: More Than Just a Killer Pitch Deck
"The best founders treat investors like customers—give them FOMO, show them why you’re the deal they can’t afford to miss."
Raising money isn’t the end goal—it’s just the beginning.
In this session, Alex Reed, Co-founder of Mountside Ventures, and Jon Dawson, Partner at HaysMac, tackled the realities of financial management beyond the fundraise. They discussed how successful fintechs use capital efficiently, plan for sustainable growth, and avoid the trap of over-raising without a clear plan. The session offered practical advice on maintaining financial discipline, structuring investment rounds, and keeping investors engaged for long-term success.
Alex and Jon gave founders the brutal truth about raising capital and managing financial growth—because money alone won’t fix a broken business model.
"If you’re not managing your financial health properly, fundraising is just a temporary bandage over a bullet wound."
"The best founders treat investors like customers—give them FOMO, show them why you’re the deal they can’t afford to miss."
PR & Brand Positioning: Why No One Knows You Exist
Even the best fintechs can struggle to gain traction if no one knows who they are.
Angela Yore, CEO of SkyParlour, explored the power of strategic PR and brand positioning in creating trust, credibility, and visibility in the fintech ecosystem. She shared how companies can craft compelling narratives, leverage media relationships, and build a brand that attracts investors, customers, and partners. Her key takeaway? Fintech PR isn’t just about press releases—it’s about storytelling that resonates with the right audience.
Angela tackled one of the most underrated parts of scaling—visibility.
"Your brand is your shortcut to trust. If no one knows you, no one funds you. A strong brand makes everything easier—fundraising, sales, partnerships. It’s not an afterthought; it’s a growth strategy."
Sales Strategy: Unlocking Revenue Growth
"Your sales process needs to be as scalable as your product. If you're still closing deals like you did at Series A, you're already behind."
You can have the best fintech product in the world, but without a scalable sales strategy, it won’t reach its full potential.
Antony Bream, James Barker , and Aislinn McKibben led an engaging session on how to build and optimise fintech sales engines. They covered everything from navigating long enterprise sales cycles to adapting sales processes for different global markets.
A key focus was on creating frictionless buying experiences—because in fintech, making it easy for customers to buy is just as important as the product itself.
Antony, James and Aislinn led a powerful discussion on the critical role of sales in scaling fintechs. From navigating complex enterprise sales cycles to building predictable revenue streams, they shared real-world lessons on what separates fintechs that scale from those that stall.
"Fintechs that master B2B sales have one thing in common: they make it easy for customers to buy. Remove friction, and you’ll remove objections."
"The biggest mistake scaling fintechs make is relying too much on their product to sell itself. Even the best tech needs a strategic sales function to scale."
US Expansion: How to Break into the Biggest Market
Cracking the US market is one of the biggest challenges fintechs face when scaling globally.
Thomas Wells (Frazier & Deeter) took a deep dive into the key financial, regulatory, and operational factors fintechs must consider before expanding to the States. He shared insights on navigating complex state-by-state regulations, setting up US banking relationships, and ensuring that local hiring and operational structures align with business objectives. The session provided a roadmap for fintechs looking to scale successfully into the US.
"A US presence isn’t optional if you want to scale globally—it’s inevitable. The sooner you plan for it, the smoother your expansion will be. And remember, the US isn’t one market—it’s 50. Each state can have its own rules, so don’t assume what works in the UK will translate easily."
Why Scale & Grow Exists
The Scale & Grow launch wasn’t just another fintech event—it was a wake-up call for scaling fintechs.
Scaling isn’t just about money—it’s about execution. And avoiding entirely preventable screw-ups.
If you’re a fintech founder looking to scale with confidence, it’s time to connect with Scale & Grow.
Let’s talk about how we can help
Calypso Harland, Founder
[email protected]
+44 (0)7816-774-519