A LEAN , AGILE FINTECH
LEADERSHIP
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A LEAN , AGILE FINTECH
OakNorth has leveraged the latest technology in order to provide a bespoke service to clients which cannot be offered by smaller or more corporate lenders . Machine learning deals with the unstructured data provided by clients . “ You need to be able to take that spreadsheet – SMEs aren ’ t sophisticated enough to have a big , expensive accounts package – and structure this information .” The firm then adds localised market data to this information and uses AI to draw insights . “ That ’ s then handed to a human to do analysis on : nobody in our company wastes time doing things that do not add value . They ’ re doing deep credit analysis insights that then lead to underwriting decisions . That ’ s how we can scale and serve these customers in a profitable manner .”
And scale OakNorth has – but integral to its success has been retaining a startup mindset . “ Businesses can get bloated . Having too much funding is a bad thing : it clouds your vision . Even though we were cash flow positive within 11 months of founding this business , it didn ’ t change our behaviour . Even with several hundred million from Softbank , that still won ’ t change . Every decision will be made commercially – is there a business case ? Is there a return on that money within a timeline we ’ re happy with ?” For any growing business , Nooriala offers the same advice . “ Act as if you have no money , even if you have money . It was that leanness that got you there in the first place .”
The company has not only remained lean but also humble , keeping operations and services simple and relevant to customer needs , as well as retaining an original ethos of ensuring employees are valued and feel part of the business , often in more ways than one . In fact , Nooriala himself has invested in the company . “ I got shares when I joined and I ’ ve bought additional shares since . I believe in the company and I think that earnest mentality our employees have is a massive advantage .”
APRIL 2019