Establishing a successful fintech company is immensely hard. Not only do you need to have an innovative idea that sets you apart from the rest of the industry, but you also need to build your company from the ground up, and make sure everyone involved in the company shares the same product vision. This will help everybody to pull in the same direction, creating efficiency and clarity in all business operations.
An essential part of creating a clear, strong product vision and then bringing it to life is having the right team of experts around you to advise you on how to design, develop and market your product.
Any strong and successful team is made up of different components that are combined together by bringing essential skills to the table. For fintech startups, creating a product vision requires different people to share their own unique expertise. A successful project will have been analysed from many different angles by many different minds.
The importance of a strong team
It is vital to have the right talent working for your fintech startup, bringing their own special skill sets and past experiences. You will find that if you source the right people for the company, the individuals will unite as a single team, and you will be surrounded by seasoned experts in their respective fields.
If you are a startup founder, you don't have time to micromanage each member of the team; you need to know that they can take responsibility for themselves and deliver excellent results without needing your help every five minutes.
The key components of a fintech team
App and site developers - Fintech startups have technology at their core and that means that a central part of the workforce will be focused on developing the software. App and site developers are needed to help build the engines and infrastructure that power the companies and help the solutions to run smoothly and without errors. Within fintech, there is a particular need for iOS, Android, SRE and full-stack developers, which are all skills that are fundamental to fintech apps and sites.
Commercial - When you've managed to develop an app or service that has the potential to grab a share of the market, you will now need to make your customers aware of the product and begin to use it. This is where the commercial team comes in. The team members in this part of the business - which covers sales, branding, and marketing - will effectively take your product to market and help drive revenue through sales and downloads.
UX - The user experience of your fintech service is what will make your customers fall in love with the company and keep them coming back again and again, driving your profits. The UX team will make your app or website user-friendly, informative, and intuitive to use. This can be difficult when you are trying to keep things simple and fit everything into a laptop or mobile phone screen! From signing up to using your product to recommending it to a friend, the user experience is a key focus for any fintech startup, and it needs to be slick from start to finish.
Product managers - Product managers are needed in fintech companies to make sure that the products are truly disruptive in their field. Although at the start the founder will provide this product inspiration, as the company scales, dedicated product managers will need to join the team to make sure that each solution is as impactful as it can possibly be.
Customer support - Fintech can be complicated for some people, and they may need help at points. Plus, tech is an industry where things can go wrong. That's why friendly and accessible customer support is essential at any fintech company, to make sure that everything runs smoothly, and the customers can keep using your app or website without any problems.
People & culture - Fintech startups are known for their positive and ambitious culture. They create this with the right human resource professionals who play the role of finding the right talent and mounding the individuals together to form a cohesive team. Having a motivated and happy workforce will help your fintech startup to grow and develop, and you will have people going above and beyond their station in order to help the company.
What attributes should you look to add to your team?
Every team needs the right combination of key attributes that will bring success for your product or service. Here are a few of the top attributes that you should be looking to add to your team, no matter what size it is:
Experience - The tech industry has evolved in many ways over the past two decades and has seen monumental shifts in almost every sector. Choose people with lots of experience so that they will help you to spot important trends, issues, and opportunities. They will also be able to draw on things they've seen and done and provide important pearls of wisdom.
Attention to detail - Any slight problem within your technology could be catastrophic in terms of the inner workings of your fintech product, so you should always look for people to add to your team who have excellent attention to detail. This will ensure that everything is checked and double-checked, and you can avoid careless mistakes.
Problem-solving skills - At the heart of any fintech company is the fact that it is trying to solve a problem. What's more, you will encounter many obstacles as you create and develop your solutions. This is why you need to seek out analytical thinkers for your startup who will be able to think outside the box and come up with unique and innovative ways to improve your product so that it becomes more disruptive.
Good communication - Startups generally have quite a flat structure, meaning that everyone can contribute their ideas to help the company. Communication skills are important so that if there is ever an opportunity, suggestion, or problem, it is raised quickly and efficiently so that it can then be worked on.
Passion for tech - The tech industry is a fast-paced and exciting bubble to work in, and unless you have a serious passion for it, you will very quickly be left behind. Tech demands that people grow personally and professionally as their company grows as well, and so every person that works for your company should have passion for the products, the company, and the industry as a whole.