I think that this is it in a nutshell. It feels a bit like Tom isn’t happy that Monzo has to spend money in implementing regulations that - in his view - has no business benefit.
The reason I say this might lack nuance is that Monzo might well have a top notch public policy team talking to the regulator and to the Treasury about how they can help them get to the outcome they want but via different means. But the way that this is written it makes me think that Monzo still has some growing up to do.
Pretty certain that’s the guy who Tom mentioned in an interview was one of his biggest regrets (not hiring him instantly on recommendation because he couldn’t think of a specific role for him, rather than just biting his hand off and thinking about role afterwards, then seeing him rapidly excel at Deliveroo and become out of Monzo’s league).
Would need to skip through a lot of old interviews to find the quote, unless anyone else has it?
Not technically Monzo in the media, but more info about Mike Hudack’s previous role for anyone interested. At Blossom capital he specialised in Marketplaces and API-first companies.
(Personal opinion) It’s a huge vote of confidence that he is leaving that privileged role to go back to the coal face and help build Monzo.
Ps. I still can’t find the old interview where Tom said his biggest regret was not hiring Mike Hudack. I wonder if he could confirm my recollection of what he said?
Interesting how they say “sent £15 on Monzo” as though Monzo is some different and noteworthy service, rather than just the name of a bank. They stop short of using it as a verb (“she Monzo’d me £15”), but normally you’d expect the BBC to say “sent £15 through online banking” or “sent £15 by faster payment” rather than specifying a brand.
“Sent £15 on Metro Bank”, “Sent £15 on Santander”, even “sent £15 on HSBC” - these all sound wrong in a sentence, but somehow “sent £15 on Monzo” works and many people will Google “what is Monzo?” because of it.
I would have thought that any Tech driven company like Monzo needs the thought leadership and strategic thinking of a CTO on a permanent basis. Obviously not!
