Founding WIRED 2014's Winner, with Mutaz Qubbaj, Founder @ Squirrel
The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
The Twenty Minute VC
4.4 • 637 Ratings
🗓️ 24 July 2015
⏱️ 22 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Mutaz Qubbaj is Founder @ Squirrel, a financial wellbeing platform that allows employees to regain control of their financial lives. Mutual has celebrated much recent success with Squirrel having been named winner of WIRED 2014 and Pitch @ The Palace. Mutaz is also an expert on all things accelerator having been an alum at Barclays Techstars London with Squirrel, which you may remember from our interview with Greg Rogers, where Greg named Squirrel the next company to disrupt an industry. Prior to Squirrel, Mutaz has had a financial career that includes an LBS Masters in Finance and more than a decade at Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and PIMCO as a trader, strategist and marketer.
In Today's Episode You Will Learn:
- How Mutaz made his movement from banking to being a startup founder?
- Was it difficult for Mutaz to leave the security of banking for the risky journey of entrepreneurship?
- What would Mutaz advise anyone looking to make the jump into the world of entrepreneurship?
- How did joining Techstars, help Squirrel as a company and Mutaz as a Founder?
- What is the Barclays Techstars process like?
- How can Founders decide which accelerator is right for them?
- What red flags should founders look for when investigating accelerators?
- How much equity do traditional accelerators take?
- What tips does Mutaz have to get the most out of the accelerator experience?
- How do individuals know when to give up the day job and become an entrepreneur?
Items Mentioned in Todays Show:
- Mutaz's Fave Book: Exponential Organisations: Why New Organisations Are 10 Times Cheaper, Faster and Better Than Yours by Salim Ismail and Michael Malone
- Mutaz's Fave Reading Material: TechCrunch
As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Squirrel on Twitter here!
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's Friday and that can only mean one thing here at the 20 minute VC. It's time to bring out a fantastic founder and interview them. |
| 0:08.0 | So I'm delighted to interview Mutas Kubadj today, founder at Squirrel, a financial well-being platform that allows employees to regain control of their financial lives. |
| 0:19.0 | Mutas has celebrated much recent success with Squirrel, having been named winner of Wired 2014 |
| 0:25.3 | and Pitch at the Palace. |
| 0:27.5 | Mutas is also an expert on all things accelerator, having been an alum at TechStars, London, |
| 0:33.5 | which you may remember from our interview with Greg Rogers, where Greg named Squirrel, the next company to disrupt an industry. |
| 0:40.8 | And prior to Squirrel, Moutas has had a financial career that includes an LBS Masters in Finance, |
| 0:46.9 | and more than a decade at Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, and Pimco, as a trade of strategist and marketer. |
| 0:53.6 | But before we dive into today's incredible episode with MUTAS, do you know what gets me more |
| 0:58.0 | than anything? |
| 0:59.0 | So when you find a product and you see that one version has significantly less than a more |
| 1:03.9 | expensive version. |
| 1:04.9 | Well, that just isn't the case with hiring screen, as all plans include unlimited users, |
| 1:10.4 | a full analytics dashboard, and dedicated |
| 1:13.0 | customer support from the delightful Richard and Luke. It's a truly incredible experience, and I highly |
| 1:18.5 | recommend you check them out at www.hiringscreen.com. But ladies and gentlemen, without further |
| 1:25.1 | ado, here is Mutas Kubage, founder at Squirrel. |
| 1:33.2 | You have now arrived at your destination. |
| 1:37.6 | Well, Mutaz, welcome to the 20-minute VC and this special episode of Founders Friday. |
| 1:42.1 | I'm so excited to have you on the show. |
| 1:45.0 | Thank you very much for having me on the show, Harry. Thank you for the opportunity to get the world about Squirrel out |
| 1:50.8 | there and just very much looking forward to the next 20 minutes. And I'd love to hear a little about |
... |
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