Launching a Start-up in Lockdown

Building a company can feel like a superhuman task at the best of times, let alone in the midst of a Global Crisis. I wanted to share 3 key lessons I've picked up as a founder attempting to launch a Fintech start-up during one of the most difficult economic periods in recent history.

This picture was taken in early March this year, having just moved from Cambridge into our London HQ. Suffice to say, we were at an all time high. Kestrl had just closed its first funding round, significantly expanded its tech team in Malaysia and moved into a swanky new office space in central London. Months of research, hard graft and sacrifice finally seemed to be paying off.

Ofcourse, you know what happened next.

The Covid induced lock down spelt calamity for multiple businesses across the nation. Our suppliers were forced to push timelines back by months, investors and client sentiment had hit an all time low and of course, our shiny new offices were rendered completely useless. It was a real low point for us as founders and one we weren't sure we'd be able to climb out of.

3 months later and i'm thankful to say we're in a very different place now. With the benefit of hindsight these are my main takeaways;

"The lockdown forced us to reevaluate what was critical to us as a firm as opposed to our egos"

• 1. Beware vanity projects: Yes- a shiny office space in the heart of the city serves as a great ego boost, however it's almost impossible to quantify how something like this benefits an early stage start-up. The lockdown forced us to reevaluate what was critical to us as a firm as opposed to our egos. When faced with stringent lockdown measures in Malaysia, we decided to rent an Airbnb and quarantine our tech team together. This drastically transformed the dynamic of the team, boosting morale and doubling productivity ahead of our upcoming launch. There's a great TechCruch article which defines the concept of vanity metrics in more detail here.

"The best advisers are those who fell into the role organically rather than those chosen because they'd look good on paper"

• 2. Don't be afraid to ask for help (continuously): At Kestrl we've been fortunate enough to rely on a network of trusted advisers in times of crisis, from entrepreneurs who've "been there, done that", to industry practitioners able to keep us grounded and pragmatic. However looking back, i realised that this network was formed more by accident than by design, simply by asking people for help at every point of our start-up's life cycle and naturally going back to certain people to bounce ideas off. The best and most reliable advisers are those who fell into the role organically rather than those chosen because you thought they'd look good on paper.

"It's sometimes best not sticking to what you know, but rather to adapt, evolve and even go back to the drawing board..."

• 3. Changing with the times: My final takeaway seems almost embarrassingly obvious but it's a trap that's all too easy to fall into especially when times are hard. In the face of uncertainty, it's sometimes best not sticking to what you know, but rather to adapt, evolve and even go back to the drawing board. The crisis saw our target markets' priorities undergo a seismic shift, with people less concerned with fancy debit card designs, and more so with ensuring they could make ends meet each month. This resulted in us pushing back our debit card product, and accelerating the launch of our budgeting tool in order to help our users immediate (and very new) needs.

You can find out more about Kestrl and what we're hoping to launch this month by checking out our website and Linkedin page here.