In Collaboration with Bayes Business School
‘Surround Yourself with the Best People You Can Find.’
What if you could peer inside the mind of a serial entrepreneur? On April 2nd, Trinnovo Group joined forces with Bayes Business School to kickstart our new event series, From Ideation to Investment. With the help of our expert speakers, our inaugural panel discussion delved into the building blocks of a successful business.
When do you know when you’ve got a world-class idea? How do you find a position in the market? What does it take to build a multi-million-pound business? Read on to discover the key insights from the evening.
Why Now?
‘It might not look like it, but there’s never been a better time to start a business.’
Disruption is the word of the hour. Businesses grapple with change on every front, be it regulation, technology, shifting trade dynamics, the list goes on.
Big change means even bigger opportunities for innovators hoping to capture market value in a fast-moving environment. For the optimist (an important trait for someone building a business), more challenges mean more problems to solve, and problem-solving translates into new revenue streams.
Between the emergence of mainstream AI, pro-innovation approaches to regulation, and shifting consumer expectations, the playing field has begun to level out.
Whichever stage of the entrepreneurial journey you’re at, this landscape offers a chance to leapfrog established players and carve out new territories.
Our five-part series will cover the full lifecycle of building a sustainable, successful business, including raising capital. We’ll be joined by leading voices in businesses – founders, entrepreneurs, and C-suite leaders from our international network.
When do You Know You’ve Got a World-Class Idea?
‘You know you’ve got a good idea when you’ve sold it.’
Our panel explored the beginnings of a world-class idea – what makes it sell, where it comes from, and how do you identify an opportunity?
For some, it starts with the business model.
‘I started with the model and built the product afterwards this time around. We wanted to launch a people-first business technology business that has a high multiple on exit. Our product vision is super clear, but when you’re truly customer-focused, you can afford to be movable.
The customer-first motif continued throughout the evening, reflecting the rise of hyper-personalised services, changing consumer expectations, and regulatory focus shifts.
For others, the idea starts with a gap in the market:
‘We’re serving an underserved market. How do we target this segment? You have to put the work in – useful, pertinent, bottom-up research. Meeting with key stakeholders and embedding yourself in the community. Ask yourself, “What’s being done that we could do better?”’
Knowing when to say no to an idea was another recurring theme. You might have the best product in the world, but it won’t matter if there’s no market for it.
In this sense, perspective is essential. For example, tech teams are often driven by tech rather than the customer experience, when customer-centricity should come first.
This customer-centricity needs to cover all bases too. Whether that’s the CX/UX design process or your market research, you need to embed this approach into the business from day one.
Establishing a USP
‘A strong USP creates brand superiority. This allows you to stretch faster than you would if you were trying to fill too many markets.’
Technology’s negative influence is noticeable in the brand-building arena, particularly in areas like banking, where it’s often being used as a cost-reduction exercise. This tends to dilute the customer experience as their input suffers.
People are attracted to a purpose, not a tech stack (usually). Colleagues who are closest to the customers get the best insight into their needs, and yet this crucial information doesn’t always make it to the senior level.
This often results in the people making the decisions being the most detached from the customer. To build a better brand, you need to change this dynamic ASAP:
‘It’s liberating for people to be asked to share their insights, and it’s a virtuous circle. Any new brand needs its people to be hands-on.’
Getting closer to the consumer means getting close to the data. In today’s tech-obsessed business environment, there are more ways to track and record data than ever:
‘When you’re truly customer-focused, you can get closer to them as a business. Our framework for customer behaviours is both beautiful and successful. We can get close to the data and work on building a “wow” moment for them. We can sit and talk to them and listen to them, and it creates the ideal feedback link, but you have to know what you’re looking for.’
Bringing the Right People Onboard
‘You want to galvanise quality by having the right people on board. You need to find people you can trust.’
A sense of shared purpose is a powerful advantage in the business-building toolkit, provided you can allow people the space to be the best they can be:
‘As a leader, you’re not the smartest one in the room. You have to trust people to make mistakes, and you have to celebrate with them when they get it right.’
Developing strong communication dynamics is essential. Your team should be encouraged to share bad news with you, and they should feel safe and supported enough to be able to do it without fear of judgment. Everyone is looking for you to lead them through it.
Creating a space for honest and open conversation invites opportunities to show vulnerability, an often-underestimated trait in a founder/leader.
If you’re sitting in an office with the door closed, you’re sending the wrong message to your team:
‘For me, one of the biggest challenges was managing the founder. We realised quite quickly that our board was becoming too operational, and we needed to move beyond this. I needed to acknowledge him and show him that there was a wall at the same time. Once we worked out a new dynamic, it worked very well.’
Too often, new leaders fall into the trap of filling positions as quickly and ‘affordably’ as possible. When you’re building a resilient, sustainable business, failing to surround yourself with the right people (in favour of perceived speed and cost-effectiveness) can prove disastrous.
Bringing the right people on early is vital:
‘Always get the best people. You can be pennywise and pound-foolish. We mistakenly thought that we couldn’t afford the best people, or so we thought. This way of thinking will come back to bite you.’
Resilience
How important is it to be resilient when you’re building something new?
‘Resilience is probably everything. A must-have. We built a product that completely fell through, and it meant we had to redesign the whole tech stack. As a result of that failure and the rebuild, we’re now miles ahead of where we were before.’
In some respects, mistakes and failures are all but guaranteed. The upside can be massive if you’re able to turn this into growth and opportunity, and resilience is the trait that enables it.
Plus, founders and leaders tend to get measured on their ability to navigate adversity. How you behave is critical to how others perceive situations from the outside, and resilience is a clear determinant of how people perform.
There are levels of resilience needed through each touchpoint of the business lifecycle, including the restart, if necessary:
‘Part of leadership needs you to be brave and realise you’re going back to a blank page. Resilience is about learning that and finding the courage to do it while everyone is watching.’
Meet the Panel:
Colin Maher - CEO
As the CEO of Mars Capital, Colin led the company’s transformation from a two-person startup to a 400+ strong team managing nearly €10bn in assets, establishing it as a key player in the Irish Credit Servicing sector. Under his leadership, they onboarded some of the most respected firms in Irish Financial Services, Investment Banking, and Fund Management. Mars Capital expanded further with the acquisition of Start Mortgages, strengthened its commitment to community initiatives, and maintained a customer-first approach. Colin was honoured to lead the company to CBI (Central Bank of Ireland) regulation and become the first Credit Servicing CEO on the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland Board.
Simon Featherstone – Chairman and NED
Simon Featherstone is a seasoned financial services leader with over 35 years of experience in banking, fintech, and specialist lending. He currently serves as Chairman of SilverRock Bank and Monument Technology, alongside his role as an Independent Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Risk Committee at Oxbury Bank.
Throughout his career, Simon has held executive leadership positions, including Global CEO of Bibby Financial Services, Managing Director at Shawbrook Bank, and senior roles at Lloyds Banking Group and Barclays. He has also served as Chairman and advisor to multiple technology and financial services firms, contributing his expertise in governance, risk management, and strategic growth.
Simon continues to shape the financial industry by guiding innovative businesses and supporting SME-focused ventures.
Jason Oakley – CEO
With over 39 years in banking and investment, Jason Oakley is a visionary leader in financial services. As CEO of Afin Bank, he drives innovation to serve diverse clients, leveraging fintech to reshape banking. Previously, he founded and scaled multiple successful ventures, including Acorn to Oaks RAIF, a regulated real estate fund, and Proplend, a peer-to-peer lending platform. He also played a key role in launching Recognise Bank, achieving full authorization and rapid growth. A seasoned investor and entrepreneur, Jason continues to transform financial markets through strategic leadership and innovation.
Alexandra Farrell – Founder and CEO
Alexandra Farrell is a seasoned entrepreneur and business leader with a track record of founding and scaling successful digital and tech ventures. As Founder and CEO of Autometry, she drives AI-powered automation in recruitment. Previously, she led and exited multiple businesses, including Gift Wink and The IT Job Board, Europe's largest tech careers site. With expertise in business strategy, revenue growth, and digital innovation, Alexandra continues to shape the future of technology-driven enterprises.
Helena Sullivan – CMO
Helena Sullivan has over 20 years’ experience leading high-performing marketing teams in the recruitment industry. Helena has developed and delivered marketing strategies for global, multi-brand organisations across the UK, the USA, Asia, and the UAE. She is the CMO for Trinnovo Group, where she leads the international marketing strategy for all brands. Her team are responsible for communities, social media, and thought leadership, including events, podcasts and blogs, digital marketing, bids and tenders, and technology.
Quotes have been edited and summarised for clarity.