The Exchanges

Q And Bucks itself operates in a very regulated environment. What, what advice would you give to entrepreneurs who, uh, active in regulated environments as the balance between getting a license and then time to market being not an easy one?

A Yes, I see quite a lot of, um, uh, entrepreneurs, especially in fintech, um, Doing everything in house. So getting a license, building a front end, building a back end. My advice would be to, uh, to focus on one part of your business. So let's say the front end or the back end and work with partners. We work with a company called Iondo markets in London. So, uh, and I own, we, we, we have teamed up with Iondo, uh, First of all, because they are better in the back end, and we are, we are very good at building a product. Uh, secondly, uh, I all know, uh, already has a license for, for, for Europe, so we can operate under their regulatory umbrella. Um, and that, that gives us a much more faster time to market. So my advice would be don't do everything yourself, but try to find partners and do the, uh, focus at the thing you're good at.

AI assessment note: “my advice would be don't do everything yourself, but try to find partners”

Q And Bucks itself operates in a very regulated environment. What, what advice would you give to entrepreneurs who, uh, active in regulated environments as the balance between getting a license and then time to market being not an easy one?

A Yes, I see quite a lot of, um, uh, entrepreneurs, especially in fintech, um, Doing everything in house. So getting a license, building a front end, building a back end. My advice would be to, uh, to focus on one part of your business. So let's say the front end or the back end and work with partners. We work with a company called Iondo markets in London. So, uh, and I own, we, we, we have teamed up with Iondo, uh, First of all, because they are better in the back end, and we are, we are very good at building a product. Uh, secondly, uh, I all know, uh, already has a license for, for, for Europe, so we can operate under their regulatory umbrella. Um, and that, that gives us a much more faster time to market. So my advice would be don't do everything yourself, but try to find partners and do the, uh, focus at the thing you're good at.

AI assessment note: “we can operate under their regulatory umbrella. Um, and that, that gives us a much more faster time to market.”

Q Now, as a huge fan of Bucks, I'm so excited to have you on the show. And I'd love to start off by hearing a little about you and Bucks. And for any of our listeners that may not know what Bucks is, can you give us a little background?

A Yes. Yes, I will. Um, let me first tell you a little bit about my, myself and my background. Uh, I worked in online brokerage for, uh, for 15 years. Um, so stock trading for, for retail investors. And, um, I met loads of, of, of investors, but I met even more people who wanted to invest because the financial markets, the stock exchange have a huge appeal to, to a lot of people. I think about the, the success of the film, uh, Wall Street. Um, so, um, uh, there's this huge group of people who want to invest, and there's only, let's say, a much smaller group that, that's, that's actually investing. And I was always wondering, Why is this large group not, not, not acting on their, on their, on their, their wish? Uh, so why don't they open an account? And by talking to them, I found out that, uh, uh, many of these people were a bit scared off by the complexity of, of trading, by trading platforms. Uh, you know, all these bells and whistles, charts, blinking lights, jargon, et cetera. So, I thought if I want to reach out to this much bigger group, uh, I have to come up with, with, uh, with a device, with a, with an app that's, that's, that's much more straightforward. Uh, the commission should be lower and it should be more fun. So that's what we did at Bucks. Uh, we basically created an app that makes trading. So stock trading, uh, very straightforward, very easy to understand, uh, …

AI assessment note: “we basically created an app that makes trading. So stock trading, uh, very straightforward”

Q 39. It kind of goes against the, the typical view of a kind of Stanford hoodie-wearing dropout founder. Um, so how have you found being a potentially slightly older founder?

A Um, I think it's, it's, it's good when you're, when you're slightly older. I read in an article in the New York Times that the idea about, uh, founders being very young is, is not, it's not completely true, actually, because the, the average, uh, uh, founder of, of a startup is 38, I read. Um, but I think it's, it's great to be a little bit older. First of all, um, you're much more focused when you're older. It's, it's harder to, to distract, uh, me. Um, many problems you come across, you've seen before. And, um, what, what, what really helped me is that, that during these 15 years in online brokerage, uh, I, I understood the importance of a team. Um, I kind of developed a talent for, for finding other talents, and what I did when I started Bucks is I, I started with a team, and I started to, to look, look out for top-notch co-founders, and what I see, uh, that a lot of young entrepreneurs do is, They, uh, they bump into a couple of guys at the university. They started a company together, but most or quite often the team is not, uh, very well balanced. So that's, that's a great advantage of, of being a slightly older.

AI assessment note: “it's great to be a little bit older. First of all, um, you're much more focused”

Q And you've raised funds from our friends at Orange Growth Capital with, uh, Mark Berninger as a previous guest on the show. How did you find the entire fundraising experience, and was there anything particularly challenging or maybe surprising about it?

A Yeah, when I look back, I, I especially look back at, at our first round with, with great pleasure, uh, because in, in an early stage around, you, you often raise capital with informal investors, and, uh, those informal investors are, are often, uh, former entrepreneurs themselves. Um, and they all have their own story, and that's what I really, really liked, to hear their story, to see how they, uh, how they led their companies to success. Um, that, that's very helpful. Um, what I, um, what I actually found surprising when, when raising money, um, that are, that investors are just like normal people. Um, of course there are the metrics and, and, and the KPIs. Um, but when a startup gets hot and, and in, in, in the round, we, uh, in our previous round, we, in the beginning, we were, it got, it was quite tough, but, but, uh, gradually the bugs became hot and people started calling us if they, if they could invest. Um, so when you get hot, it's, it's, it's like investors are losing their, their minds a little bit. It's like you're the most beautiful girl on the dance floor and everyone wants to dance with you. Um, of course the question is how to become hot. I cannot answer that question, but that was surprising to me.

AI assessment note: “what I actually found surprising when raising money that investors are just like normal people”

Q And would you, would you have any advice for founders looking for another co-founder?

A Yes, the best advice is to find someone who is good at what you're not good at and, and the opposite. So make sure that, uh, within your team, and I think a team should, should consist of at least three or four people. Make sure that all necessary skills are, are there in the team. So there has to be a good presenter. There has to be a guy who's, who's obviously good in, in, in coding, um, Uh, I'm a guy, for example, I, I'd like to push the, the pedal to the metal and, and my, my colleague and our CFO and co-founder, he likes to push his, to push the brakes a little bit. So that's a great combination.

AI assessment note: “the best advice is to find someone who is good at what you're not good at”

Q Now, as a huge fan of Bucks, I'm so excited to have you on the show. And I'd love to start off by hearing a little about you and Bucks. And for any of our listeners that may not know what Bucks is, can you give us a little background?

A Yes. Yes, I will. Um, let me first tell you a little bit about my, myself and my background. Uh, I worked in online brokerage for, uh, for 15 years. Um, so stock trading for, for retail investors. And, um, I met loads of, of, of investors, but I met even more people who wanted to invest because the financial markets, the stock exchange have a huge appeal to, to a lot of people. I think about the, the success of the film, uh, Wall Street. Um, so, um, uh, there's this huge group of people who want to invest, and there's only, let's say, a much smaller group that, that's, that's actually investing. And I was always wondering, Why is this large group not, not, not acting on their, on their, on their, their wish? Uh, so why don't they open an account? And by talking to them, I found out that, uh, uh, many of these people were a bit scared off by the complexity of, of trading, by trading platforms. Uh, you know, all these bells and whistles, charts, blinking lights, jargon, et cetera. So, I thought if I want to reach out to this much bigger group, uh, I have to come up with, with, uh, with a device, with a, with an app that's, that's, that's much more straightforward. Uh, the commission should be lower and it should be more fun. So that's what we did at Bucks. Uh, we basically created an app that makes trading. So stock trading, uh, very straightforward, very easy to understand, uh, …

AI assessment note: “we basically created an app that makes trading... very straightforward, very easy to understand”

Q 39. It kind of goes against the, the typical view of a kind of Stanford hoodie-wearing dropout founder. Um, so how have you found being a potentially slightly older founder?

A Um, I think it's, it's, it's good when you're, when you're slightly older. I read in an article in the New York Times that the idea about, uh, founders being very young is, is not, it's not completely true, actually, because the, the average, uh, uh, founder of, of a startup is 38, I read. Um, but I think it's, it's great to be a little bit older. First of all, um, you're much more focused when you're older. It's, it's harder to, to distract, uh, me. Um, many problems you come across, you've seen before. And, um, what, what, what really helped me is that, that during these 15 years in online brokerage, uh, I, I understood the importance of a team. Um, I kind of developed a talent for, for finding other talents, and what I did when I started Bucks is I, I started with a team, and I started to, to look, look out for top-notch co-founders, and what I see, uh, that a lot of young entrepreneurs do is, They, uh, they bump into a couple of guys at the university. They started a company together, but most or quite often the team is not, uh, very well balanced. So that's, that's a great advantage of, of being a slightly older.

AI assessment note: “I think it's, it's, it's good when you're, when you're slightly older.”

Q So you started Bucks without a co-founder then. How did you find your co-founder?

A Um, I first started thinking, what, what do we need? And, um, one of my experiences, uh, In, in online brokerage was that loads of people don't trade to make money. Money for, for a lot of, uh, retail traders is only secondary. Uh, most of them trade because they, they just like it. It's fun. It's exciting. It's, uh, it's, uh, people, people, uh, like to learn about, about what's happening on the, on the markets. So I saw a lot of similarities between trading and gaming. Um, so I thought if there are so many similarities, I need to find someone with a lot of games knowledge. Uh, so I started looking around in the Netherlands. We're based in Amsterdam, and there's quite a big gaming community here in the Netherlands. And I, uh, by, by, uh, after drinking, uh, loads of cups of coffee with, with all kinds of people, I bumped into a guy, and, and he, he's a specialist in, in, in gaming, and, uh, and, and he's also a specialist in mobile, so he was like, uh, this was the best of both worlds, and, uh, we, we, we formed a great team, and then we bumped into another guy who, uh, who was, is great in, uh, in, uh, Um, developing scalable systems. Uh, he was in messaging before. Um, and the fourth, uh, the fourth founder of Bucks is, is, is a good friend of mine who used to work in market making.

AI assessment note: “after drinking, uh, loads of cups of coffee with, with all kinds of people, I bumped into a guy”

Q What do you think are the drivers for this incredible growth? And how are you planning to encourage this new wave of non-traders to use your platform?

A First of all, our app is extremely straightforward. We, uh, we do not use, uh, uh, complex bells and whistles. Uh, secondly, the, the commissions are very low. Um, if you look at a regular online broker, um, as a customer, you pay between five and 10 pounds or euros, whereas we start with 25 cents for, for a trade. Um, the third element is our, is our design. We, we, we love UX. We love UI. Um, we're from Amsterdam, like I said, and our designer has a kind of rule. Um, uh, he wants to be able to, to, to on his bike, a place of trades, riding over the canals in Amsterdam. That's, that's, uh, that's, that's, that's his rule.

AI assessment note: “First of all, our app is extremely straightforward. We, uh, we do not use”

Q And you've raised funds from our friends at Orange Growth Capital with, uh, Mark Berninger as a previous guest on the show. How did you find the entire fundraising experience, and was there anything particularly challenging or maybe surprising about it?

A Yeah, when I look back, I, I especially look back at, at our first round with, with great pleasure, uh, because in, in an early stage around, you, you often raise capital with informal investors, and, uh, those informal investors are, are often, uh, former entrepreneurs themselves. Um, and they all have their own story, and that's what I really, really liked, to hear their story, to see how they, uh, how they led their companies to success. Um, that, that's very helpful. Um, what I, um, what I actually found surprising when, when raising money, um, that are, that investors are just like normal people. Um, of course there are the metrics and, and, and the KPIs. Um, but when a startup gets hot and, and in, in, in the round, we, uh, in our previous round, we, in the beginning, we were, it got, it was quite tough, but, but, uh, gradually the bugs became hot and people started calling us if they, if they could invest. Um, so when you get hot, it's, it's, it's like investors are losing their, their minds a little bit. It's like you're the most beautiful girl on the dance floor and everyone wants to dance with you. Um, of course the question is how to become hot. I cannot answer that question, but that was surprising to me.

AI assessment note: “what I actually found surprising when, when raising money, that investors are just like normal people”

Q And would you, would you have any advice for founders looking for another co-founder?

A Yes, the best advice is to find someone who is good at what you're not good at and, and the opposite. So make sure that, uh, within your team, and I think a team should, should consist of at least three or four people. Make sure that all necessary skills are, are there in the team. So there has to be a good presenter. There has to be a guy who's, who's obviously good in, in, in coding, um, Uh, I'm a guy, for example, I, I'd like to push the, the pedal to the metal and, and my, my colleague and our CFO and co-founder, he likes to push his, to push the brakes a little bit. So that's a great combination.

AI assessment note: “find someone who is good at what you're not good at”

Q So you started Bucks without a co-founder then. How did you find your co-founder?

A Um, I first started thinking, what, what do we need? And, um, one of my experiences, uh, In, in online brokerage was that loads of people don't trade to make money. Money for, for a lot of, uh, retail traders is only secondary. Uh, most of them trade because they, they just like it. It's fun. It's exciting. It's, uh, it's, uh, people, people, uh, like to learn about, about what's happening on the, on the markets. So I saw a lot of similarities between trading and gaming. Um, so I thought if there are so many similarities, I need to find someone with a lot of games knowledge. Uh, so I started looking around in the Netherlands. We're based in Amsterdam, and there's quite a big gaming community here in the Netherlands. And I, uh, by, by, uh, after drinking, uh, loads of cups of coffee with, with all kinds of people, I bumped into a guy, and, and he, he's a specialist in, in, in gaming, and, uh, and, and he's also a specialist in mobile, so he was like, uh, this was the best of both worlds, and, uh, we, we, we formed a great team, and then we bumped into another guy who, uh, who was, is great in, uh, in, uh, Um, developing scalable systems. Uh, he was in messaging before. Um, and the fourth, uh, the fourth founder of Bucks is, is, is a good friend of mine who used to work in market making.

AI assessment note: “after drinking loads of cups of coffee with all kinds of people, I bumped into”

Q What do you think are the drivers for this incredible growth? And how are you planning to encourage this new wave of non-traders to use your platform?

A First of all, our app is extremely straightforward. We, uh, we do not use, uh, uh, complex bells and whistles. Uh, secondly, the, the commissions are very low. Um, if you look at a regular online broker, um, as a customer, you pay between five and 10 pounds or euros, whereas we start with 25 cents for, for a trade. Um, the third element is our, is our design. We, we, we love UX. We love UI. Um, we're from Amsterdam, like I said, and our designer has a kind of rule. Um, uh, he wants to be able to, to, to on his bike, a place of trades, riding over the canals in Amsterdam. That's, that's, uh, that's, that's, that's his rule.

AI assessment note: “First of all, our app is extremely straightforward. We, uh, we do not use”