Founding Be Franc, the UK’s Hot Startup Scene, Searching for Life, and Not Wasting My Life (on Football Manager)

Hello marketers,

I never thought I’d run my own business. But having resigned in February of this year and been placed on gardening leave, I had an opportunity to take stock of how I want the next chapter of my life to look.

When you hit 40, you realise you’re not a young person anymore. Of course, you’re not old - but you do need to really think about the decisions that you make, which may not have been so straightforward when younger.

In this edition, I assess the key considerations, commitments and risks that I took and continue to take in order to grow Be Franc.

Finding my feet

Since 2015, my goal has been to work in tech at a well funded startup and am compensated through stock options. This, for me was the biggest goal in my career, both to prove what I can do to grow a company and to be economically secure. I had a role that fit all the criteria, however - it sadly fell apart and didn’t work out as I had originally anticipated. But the bug was still stuck with me and I felt it was only a matter of time before I jumped back into a hot London startup.

Of course, there was a lot of pondering, strategising and larking about in my journey to Be Franc. One pastime consisted of scoring “banging garden goals”:

@af_279

Garden goals. #goal #skillz #berba

The [then] 4-year-old keeper was well beaten! Pick that out young man! I of course did not include the 73 shots that went over the fence. By the way, I’ve tidied the garden and relaid some turf since then. 🙏 

When not spanking in left footed volleys, I was interviewing at a couple of firms and there was only one role that I was truly disappointed about, having gotten to the final stages in a huge scale-up. It wasn’t meant to be and a former colleague told me, after I decided to leave my previous employment, “get ready for a lot of rejection”, which instantly transported me back to a North London Disco in 1993.

I work best when I am chasing something and building towards a goal. I have an intensity, which works very well with some people and in certain environments, and not so great with others. I’d spoken to my good pal from school, Mark Gilbert, who had started his own company up and had suggested that I look at doing the same with a focus on growth marketing. I liked the sound of building something from scratch and a company that reflects my personality and values, so after a few weeks - I decided to look into it.

Now, here are the three key things you need to ensure that you have when you’re thinking about going out on your own:

1. Financial runway: You need a runway for a couple of months to ensure that you can really focus on what you want to achieve, build distinctive assets, launch your business and acquire a client (or clients).

2. Know what you’re good at: Really focus on what you can deliver for clients, which hopefully coincides with what you’re good at and what you want to offer. You also need to be consider of which marketing channels you should prioritise to promote your brand. You can’t do everything.

3. Know what you’re not so good at: If there are goods or services that you think you can offer, but aren’t yet confident in your ability to deliver, then you must focus on building these skills through training and courses (some might be paid).

Once I had this blueprint laid out, I need to think of a name. Something that would encapsulate how I feel. Immediately, my brain went off down a rabbit hole and it threw out some whoppers. “Something ‘ify’ [like Spotify]” “Digitfy!, Nah. Strategify. Taken! Optimizeify. WTF, get out!”. I decided it would be better to write out my values prior to determining what I would call the company.

My values, which can be found on the website here, are as follows:

1. Transparency: This is crucial because if you try and bullshit your way through or not address key problems, you’re letting your client and yourself down. Be open, do not play games (others will) and be super clear in what you’re trying to achieve.

2. Customer-centric: When I’ve spoken about this as a value, some ex-colleagues have rolled their eyes at how ‘obvious’ this is as a value. But as obvious as it may be, not every person/company can live and breathe this. Customer-centric is understanding your audience, which requires you to significantly invest in understanding your client’s (or clients).

3. Accountability: Stand up and be brave, if you make a mistake, own it. It shows a high EQ if you can address what has happened, take responsibility and lay out a plan of how to fix it (or how you did fix it).

4. Never stand still: This is a mixture of ambition and curiosity that powers your ability to learn and develop, both as a person and, in my case, a marketeer.

5.  Resilience: This is so crucial as you need to have self belief, so much that you can pick yourself up again after a setback. Success is never linear and it speaks about a person’s character if you are able to respond positively after a negative experience.

6. Be yourself: This is important and something I have learned over my career as it defines who you are as a person and your values. Don’t take one view in front of one person, but then have a totally contradictory position with someone else (most likely aiming to score brownie points).

After I jotted these down, I blurted out “Be Franc”, which I liked the ring of. This encompassed all of the values above and I felt this was the best reflection of my personality. “Be Brave, Be Bold, Be Franc”. It felt right and where I wanted to go. I designed a website, picked strong brand colours and developed a smart looking logo. I began networking and secured my first client agreement, which is going very strong six months in. I am working with great people in the fintech space and enjoying running my own company as I look to grow further.

The three commitments I now adhere to are:

• Focus: I go to the gym most days, have given up chocolate and ice-cream (I have a ridiculous sweet tooth) and most importantly, I am now teetotal having not drunk alcohol in seven months. This is big change for me and I will most likely do a follow up email, given how ingrained alcohol is within British society and how it was a big part of my lifestyle. This is the blueprint that enables you to build great products or services. You need to look after yourself.

• Networking: I used to think this was for wanky PR people (Darling! Kidding! I love PR ), but it helps you realise how many good people you’ve met and worked with in your career that are willing to help, offer advice or even hire you for for a marketing position. I’d highly recommend speaking with positive, yet realistic, contacts on LinkedIn and sign up to newsletters, webinars/conferences and go for a coffee. You never know where it will lead.

• Continuous learning: I read a lot across marketing, product and finance with the aim of always learning something new. Ideally, it should be something you can integrate into your proposition but it should expand your knowledge and make you better at what you do. I’ve completed a number of certifications and once I get year one under my belt, will undertake Mark Ritson’s mini-MBA and Grace Kite’s Magic Numbers data course. Never stand still.

So, this is where I am today on my journey with Be Franc. I’ve still got a lot to do, to build and to learn. I also need to up my garden goals game again…

What I read this week

The UK leads the charge on European startups

According to Wired, the UK leads the likes of France, Germany and the Netherlands in Europe’s biggest startups, with the cluster described as the “The New Palo Alto”. The Dealroom.co excellent data features heavily throughout the article, and so far in 2024, the UK leads the European nations in third, ahead of India but some way off China, in terms of VC Investment.

London really does lead the way, with Wise, Monzo and Revolut calling the London capital its home. Wise is already public, whereas the fintech darlings Monzo and Revolut could be eyeing up a 2025/26 listing. Arm and Raspberry Pi are also listed within the article, both of which started in the UK.

One point I found interesting is that early staged funding for the ‘New Palo Alto’ far outpaces that of Bay Area startups, however there is a $30billion gap compared to their west coast counterparts when it comes to the crucial scale up stage. There are four key components that contribute towards this:

1. Less mature investment ecosystem

2. Risk appetite differences

3. Fewer large-scale success stories

4. Institutional investor participation

London performs exceptionally well, behind the three tech hubs in the US and is, unsurprisingly, the real driving force behind the UK’s performance.

Src: https://www.wired.com/story/europe-is-the-new-palo-alto/

Uber looks to Expedia for potential growth plan

The FT reported that Uber has explored a possible acquisition of Expedia, the travel booking company, formed as an independent business from Microsoft in 1999. Of course, Dara Khosrowshahi, the current CEO of Uber, led Expedia from 2005 to 2017 - so has had to recuse himself from discussions due to COI concerns. The deal is estimated to be worth $20 billion, which would blow previous acquisitions out of the water.

The acquisition would move Uber towards a ‘super app’ status, a one stop shop for all travel requirements. Since going public in 2019, Uber has been expanding its services into areas like food delivery, freight, logistics, and advertising. This acquisition fits well into Uber's broader strategy of becoming a 'super app,' offering a wide range of services beyond ride-hailing. By adding Expedia’s travel technology to its portfolio, Uber could consolidate its position as a one-stop shop for users looking for transportation and travel solutions.

Expedia Group is some way off Booking Holdings, its main competitor, current market valuation of $145.86B, with 2023 revenue 31.6% lower than its main rival.

Uber's interest is still in the early stages, and no formal approach has been made. There's no guarantee that a deal will happen, but the company has been evaluating how such a transaction could be structured.

Src: https://www.ft.com/content/94a25bf7-e62b-462a-a4f0-e4feb6e244f7

Europa Clipper heads to Jupiter to search for life

I have always been fascinated with space, our evolution in understanding it and the philosophical implications of what we are yet to discover. I was in a science class in 1995 when I the teacher, Mr Webster (I think that was his name, sounds a bit ‘science teachery’), informed the class about the discovery of the first exoplanet, a planet that orbits another star other than our own.

That was 1995. I was 13. It is insane to think of the history of humanity and we only discovered less than 30 years ago, evidence of a planet outside of our solar system. It is just over 100 years ago that another galaxy was discovered (in 1923 by Edwin Hubble), again outside of our own Milky Way, which we now know as the Andromeda galaxy. There is so much out there that we do not yet know nor could we possibly understand.

In the week, NASA launched the Europa Clipper, a space probe that will visit the icy moon Europa, in what many believe could be home to some sort of life. Below the ice, there could be a huge ocean, which contains more water than we have on Earth. The probe will take six years to get to the icy giant and has been 18 years in the making.

I’ve been lucky to see the images beamed back to Earth from the countless Mars missions (which seem to be more impressive each time). The Cassini–Huygens probe, which spent a decade and a half orbiting Saturn, before entering the gas giant’s atmosphere and burning up (the Huygen’s probe was deployed to Saturn’s moon Titan, which sent back some unbelievable images). Finally, the New Horizon probe, that visited Pluto and sent back images so clear, they didn’t look real.

The big philosophical questions I have asked myself and my eldest son:

1. Are we alone? Probably not.

2. What was before the big bang? Who knows.

3. What is the purpose of the universe? Saddo, your eldest son is 8. Chat about fun stuff.

4. Will football come home? Doubtful.

Src: https://phys.org/news/2024-10-penetrating-ice-sheet-ocean-moon.html

Football Manager delayed until March 2025

There aren’t many things that are certain in life, but death, taxes and losing a large chunk of your life in trying to guide Barnet to the parthenon of Europe’s Football Elite in Football Manager, are a certainty.

Robbie Williams once locked himself in a hotel room playing Football Manager for nights on end (honest!) and there have been divorce cases that have cited Football Manager as as the root cause. Yes, for some fans, the sheer mention of Cherno Samba, Freddy Guarin or Chucks Nwoko will sends a shiver down their spines reminiscing about a lost youth playing Football Manager (or before 2004 - Championship Manager).

Not only did you have to fend off such idiotic questions such as “So, you don’t play? You just watch?”, nor make up a story that you were “hungover after big night out with the lads”, despite staying up until 4 in the morning having scored 120 goals in one season with Mario Jardel at FC Porto, using the 3-4-3 Owen (cheat) tactic. True story.

What is interesting from a customer demand perspective, is that the cult following that the game built up in the 1990s and early 2000s, you saw a seismic shift from ‘Championship Manager’ to ‘Football manager’ as Sports Interactive split from Eidos, with the former retaining the golden database of players and the latter keeping the name and look/feel of the game:

I was surprised to see that the game has been delayed until March 2025, when there will only be a few months remaining of the 2024/25 season. Setbacks happen and given the quality that I know the team at Sports Interactive puts into each game (even if I haven’t purchased the desktop version for some time), it won’t have been an easy decision but the finished product will no doubt be excellent. The trade-off is that for the majority of this season, you’ll just have to play with the 2023/24 squads (unless there is an update I do not know about!).

Src: https://www.footballmanager.com/news/football-manager-25-delayed-until-march-2025