She Offered The Receptionist The Same Shares As The CEO.
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At 17, Sam Smith took on a two-week sandwich round at her grandparents' bakery in Wales. She set up her stand each morning. Worked out what people liked. Made it look better. Came back the next day and improved it again. Simply because she loved it. A month after finishing, her aunt mentioned, almost in passing, that Sam had doubled the takings during those two weeks. She didn't fully understand what that meant until years later. But looking back, it was all there: the instinct to iterate, the obsession with the customer, the determination to make something a little better every single day. That was the seed. Everything else grew from it. I sat down with Sam recently for the Bulletproof Entrepreneur podcast, and what followed was one of the most insightful conversations I've had about what it actually takes to build something special. The Decision Nobody UnderstoodSam qualified as an accountant and, on the day she qualified, decided she wanted to do something else. She was in the interview process for analyst roles at big banks when something stopped her. The non-compliant streak kicked in. She turned down the safe options and joined a small stockbroker to build a corporate finance division from scratch. At 24. With a desk, a phone, and three textbooks she'd ordered for herself. Every single person around her thought it was a mistake. Her response was direct: "I don't think I've got the same approach to risk as you. Because I think the biggest risk for me is doing something I can't stand doing." That single reframe is worth reflecting on. The safe choice is simply a different kind of risk. What Actually Made the DifferenceOver eight years, Sam built FinCap into the leading investment bank for small-cap companies in the UK. She did it by caring about her clients in a way her competitors simply did not. She became the trusted adviser. The person a CEO would call at any hour about the real questions:
That relationship was the product – and the key differentiator. Skin in the GameWhen Sam bought out FinCap and took it independent, she gave every member of staff — including the receptionist — the opportunity to buy shares at the same price. Equal access. No hierarchy. The result was a cultural shift. People stopped thinking like employees and started thinking like owners. "I have never found something that incentivises people more than being an owner. Even if it's small." She much prefers people to pay for their shares, even if the company loans them the money to do so. Skin in the game changes behaviour in ways that free equity simply does not. That’s worth remembering if you’re considering an equity or option scheme for your team. When Everything Was Falling ApartSam described two moments that tested her to her absolute limit. The first was navigating the 2008 financial crisis — hiring aggressively whilst the market imploded and eventually making redundancies she had hoped to avoid. The second was trying to complete FinCap's IPO during a period of political chaos when every other deal was being pulled. Both times, she was completely certain they would come through. "You've got to have something that's driving you beyond money. Which makes you utterly unaccepting of failure." She also knew when it was time to stop. After 24 years, she stepped away from FinCap. The first ten days were, by her own admission, horrendous — chest pains, difficulty breathing, the full weight of it landing at once. But she knew in her gut it was right. She always trusts her gut. It has served her well. The Question She Asks Herself Every Day.Sam now sits on four boards and co-leads SuperScalers, a not-for-profit community helping under-represented female founders scale to £50 million in revenue. Only 144 women in the UK have ever built a business to that level. She's trying to change that number. Her definition of true wealth, when I asked her at the end? She rates her happiness out of 10 every single day. Anything less than nine, and she does something about it! Simple. Precise. Completely her. If you’re building a business and want to inspire your people, this one's for you. Listen on Apple or Spotify — or watch the full conversation on YouTube. Until next time, Alan PS One of my favourite moments didn't involve finance, investing or deals. It involved a receptionist, a share certificate and a lesson every founder should hear. This newsletter is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. If you'd like to explore how we work with founders and entrepreneurs, reply to this email or click this link to book a call. |