Rainmaking Innovation

Dealing with startups

I was sitting in a Starbucks in London a few months ago, typing away on my laptop (say what you want about Starbucks coffee, their international free Wi-Fi has kept me warm and connected in various global locations throughout the years) when a young man approached me.

Dealing with yourselves

The process of innovation, in any industry, can be hard to quantify, tends not to adhere to traditional methods of risk mitigation and rarely offers short term metrics. Because of this, there are many charlatans and snake oil salesman in the world of innovation. These types tend to lend…

The practical ‘How’

“We came here because we know we need to innovate. We need to work with startups. We want to know ‘how’? We’re hoping you can offer us some insight.”

That quote is real. It was said by an ‘innovation’ manager at one of our corporate partners at an event held at the…

Missed connections in the sandbox

This week, industry thought leaders from incumbent banks and FinTech startups gathered in the Rainmaking Loft for the first in the Autumn Season for the Rainmaking Sessions — Playing in the sandbox. The session looked at the establishment of the Regulatory Sandbox run…

Shaping the Future for Banks and SMEs

Peers from a wide range of UK and European banks, along with a couple of FinTech startups, arrived at the Rainmaking Loft for the last in the Summer Season for the Rainmaking Sessions. As the group munched on bacon rolls and sipped tea and coffee, all were in the room with the…

The key to corporate innovation success? InsideOut

The key to corporate innovation success? InsideOut

What do you want your bank to solve?

What Do You Want Your Bank to Solve?

A couple of years ago I attended a Bank Innovation afternoon, run by the lovely JP Nichols, where I encountered my first ‘persona’ exercise. The room was full of design people, FinTech folks and bankers…

Women Are More Fun :)

Women are more fun — game over :-)

After almost 22 years in this financial technology business, I have been to my fair share of events and dinners and meetups. I have sat through an hour long lecture on the problems inherent in the Payments Services Directive in…

Customer service and the ‘little pockets of data’

A few years ago Don Callahan, Head of Operations & Technology at Citi gave a talk at the bank’s annual Digital Money Symposium in London. He decided to conduct an experiment. He sat down with his family to try and construct a central view of…