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Employer Insight Profile: FINIMIZE ‘Financial news for everyday people’
By UCL Careers, on 4 November 2016
Scott Tindle, Co–Founder & Head of Content of Finimize
How did you get into your role?
I co-founded Finimize, our financial news start-up, in 2015. After graduating from university I worked in equity sales at Barclays but after 7 years there I decided I needed a change. I wanted to do something more entrepreneurial. Around the same time, an old friend from university was starting to work on a new project called Finimize – and he needed someone with a finance background. There was a gap in the market for a financial news resource that was brief and not full of jargon – but still provided readers with the sophisticated information they wanted to know. So now, every weekday (and on Sundays!) I curate and explain the two most important financial news stories of the day and send it out to our subscribers.
What are the best things about working in your role?
I love the entrepreneurial aspects of working at Finimize. Co-running a small business means I get to do so many different things, from finding new stories to talking to investors – no two days are ever the same. Another definite pro is being able to shape the company’s destiny and take it wherever we want to go. Because Finimize is something that we have personally created it also means that its success is hugely rewarding – to know that we’ve made something that tens of thousands people appreciate and read is amazing.
What are the biggest challenges you face in your work?
Time! As an entrepreneur the most valuable commodity you have is your time and prioritising my time to get the most out of it is my biggest challenge. There are so many things I could be doing at once that I have to be disciplined and structure my day effectively. There’s also a lot of uncertainty that’s inherent in running a small business – dealing with that on a personal level can be stressful and is a big change from working at a big company (which can also be stressful, but often in different ways).
What top tips would you pass on to a student interested in this type of work?
Broadly speaking, there are two typical routes into the startup world. One is to dive in straight after university and look for internships or a junior position in a start-up. Another is to gain a bit of experience in a bigger company, acquiring skills and knowledge at a bigger company before switching tack to a startup. The benefit of the latter is that you learn a lot at big firms and you can bring that knowledge and experience with you to a small company. But jumping right into the startup world can also be the right move. There’s no “adjustment” to make later on and, especially now, the startup ecosystem is so well developed that you can gain relevant, high quality experience without working at a big traditional firm. In short, you have to figure out what’s right for you and run with it!!
More about Finimize:
Finimize is financial news for everyday people that strives to demystify finance by making financial news easy to understand, succinct and relevant to its readers. The email takes just 3-minutes to read each day, never uses any financial jargon and is a useful tool for students preparing for job interviews. Learn more and sign up here.