The builder half
Businesses built from zero
Most advisers have never started anything. I've built a bank inside a holding company, stood up an insurance brokerage in a new market in under a year, and put together a joint venture between a bank and an insurer. I've also founded and run two companies of my own, which is a different job and teaches you different things.
What does it take to launch a business inside an existing group?
A sponsor with real authority, a ring-fenced team that doesn't have to queue behind the parent's roadmap, a commercial model agreed before the build starts, and a clear line on which parent assets the new business gets to use and which it must not. Most corporate launches fail on the third and fourth of those rather than on the product.
For other people
Built inside someone else’s group
- 01
A European bank, from the holding company
Definition and launch, covering the commercial offering, the technology and the operation, through to a live product competing against incumbents.
- 02
An insurance brokerage in a new market
Defined, built and operated for a Latin American market, live in under twelve months, including the technology and the operation around it.
- 03
A bank and insurer joint venture
A brokerage set up jointly between a banking and an insurance parent — the structure, the commercial model and the operation.
- 04
New channels inside existing businesses
Digital channels for a Latin American bank and a European private bank, from design through implementation. An outlet channel defined, launched and run for a European retailer. A new channel for a European healthcare provider.
- 05
New functions where none existed
IT shared services and global technology and network functions at an international operator, built and staffed rather than designed on paper.
On my own account
Built for myself
Running your own thing is a different job from launching one inside a group, and the lessons travel in both directions. It's also why I'm quicker than most to tell a client their plan is optimistic.
An engineering company in renewable energy
Founded it at twenty-five and ran it for two years as its chief executive — sales, delivery, payroll, the lot.
A vertical software venture, today
Through Velchanos Partners, which is both my advisory firm and a studio building AI vertical software. I carry the same numbers I recommend other people carry.
Building something, or thinking about it
If you have a domain, a first customer and no technology co-founder, that is the conversation I am most interested in.