Some bittersweet news to report today, weāre saying goodbye to our original CEO and Monzo co-founder, @tom
Tom took a new position as President last year, along with some well-deserved time off, as our new CEO TS Anil took a fresh lead on things. And now Tomās stepping away from Monzo entirely, though weāre sure heāll be cheering us on from the sidelines.
Iāve been a big admirer of Tom from the day I joined Monzo. Frankly, I didnāt know anything about the world of Fintech before I started and wasnāt aware of the fanbase he personally had. But I remember some early 2018 All Hands meetings where it became clear that Tom wasnāt just a great company leader, but a real visionary for the industry. (Although I still have the words āUNIT ECONOMICSā seared in my brain).
Tomās also been super candid about his own struggles, both internally and externally such as in the Techcrunch article. And this set a great example for all of us. Itās meant that weāve got a culture where itās ok to say youāre not ok. And thatās meant so much when Iāve found things difficult myself.
I say bittersweet because this means weāre entering a new chapter in Monzoās history. Weāve got some fresh faces at the executive level with Sujata and TS. And theyāve already done some amazing work. Iām looking forward for yāall getting to know them too once we get to do some proper introductions
Iām sure a lot of you will have your own memories of Tom too, and Iād welcome you to share them below. Iām sure heād love to hear from all of you
It was really powerful listening to him in our All Hands just now.
I said something similar on Slack but Monzo (the app, bank etc) has changed my financial situation hugely. So much so when somebody posted on these forums in May 2019 that Monzo were hiring I applied, even though I wasnāt looking for a job.
Iāve never worked anywhere with such a fantastic ethos and a large part of that is down to Tom. His honesty and openness is truly awesome and weāll be cheering him on from the sidelines!
All the best to him. He should be well chuffed with what he helped build, and good to see Monzo on a firmer financial footing after all the negative press RE down-round.
Vaccine volunteer is the icing on the cake - what a good bloke.
Such news can really bring both feelings: amazing and a good thing that this can happen in such openness and struggles can be shared - but also quite sad to know there wonāt be any more of his session where he talks about Monzoās plans.
I still remember the one from the first crowdfunding (when Monzo was still more of an experiment), explaining what big plans and aspirations Monzo had. Years later, theyāve (along with other fintechs) changed a whole industry!
tbutz
(š³ļøāš Producer of "low value commentary")
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One of my early posts on here way back when (it may even have been my first) had a reply from Tom. I will always remember that at the beginning ā before all the paperwork and other banky nonsense took him away and into the world of meetings and corporate jibber jabber ā he was taking time to engage with the community and genuinely wanted to get involved in the discussion about how to progress monzo and keep a finger on the pulse of what people wanted/needed. Feels like a different world!
Edit: forgot to say, good luck for your future endeavours, Tom!
Sad to hear, but Iām glad heās doing whatās right for him. He did an amazing job in building Monzo from a fledgling startup to a decent-sized bank, and inspired a great deal of change across the industry. How many other banks now offer card freezes, transaction notifications and decently-priced international card payments?
I remember 12 January 20016, when I first attended a Mondo meeting for Alpha testers, during which we were handed our cards, and given a talk about how things would definitely go wrong, but how Mondo would strive to put things right, so to be patient. In those days, if you used chat to talk to them, you generally got an answer within minutes, and it was as likely that Tom would be the one to pen the answer as anyone else. On one occasion, I reported a bug, and less than 24 hours later, was informed it had been fixed in the next release. Still today, other banks dream of this kind of turnaround, but it was clearly all hands on deck while they built a bank. This level of engagement inspired me to invest in Monzo, and I have done so in every round to date.
In August 2017, I attended one of the events during which they handed out a number of current account debit cards, as they finally transitioned towards being a bank.
Some people are well suited to run a company thatās already up and running. Others find their energy in building things from scratch - getting them off the ground, and getting a community involved - and that is clearly Tomās passion.
Sad to see him leave, but I wish him very well, and will certainly keep an eye on his next venture.
Well a change in leadership and direction often means that statements and plans made before are often discarded - so if Monzo can squeeze the customer base - as an investor, Iād be a liar if I would not say Iād be very happy.
Itās refreshing to see someone in a very senior position both admit to having struggles and being honest. All too often people try and carry on to save face and donāt speak up and we know where that can sometimes lead. More of a light should be shone on mental health in general - especially in younger men. It gives others the courage to speak up.
