Matthew Newton

Full transcript: Matthew Newton on London Real

0:00 I am here with Matthew Newton, recent graduate of the Business Accelerator program. Matthew, tell us about yourself. Much to tell. 29 years old, born in Dublin, spent most of my life there, but last six years I’ve been all around the globe. Lived in China, Hong Kong, been in London there for about two years, so, and working in FinTech. Nice growing, buzzy industry, so there’s a lot going on.

0:25 Can you be more specific? What FinTech you doing? FinTech, okay, so we worked for a company, you provide a platform for people to trade on the markets. So it’s a bit of wild, you know, the retail industry is a bit wild, Porter, I think we’re one of the good guys, and it’s a fast-growing company, dynamic, has lot going on, and we’ve had a big summer, big 2016, so 2017 awaits. There’s a lot going on, so it’s exciting personally and professionally, and the next step is also, I also want to ponder as well.

1:06 What’s a typical day like for you in that job? Get in early. Don’t need to be in early, you know, FinTech, not quite finance, it’s a little bit more edgy, you know what I mean, a little bit more Shoreditch rather than in the City or Canary Wharf. But we are in Canary Wharf, so I’d get in early, you know, just kind of assess what’s going on, prepare, then it’s just your normal day on the phone, smile and dial, call the clients, keep them happy.

1:29 And try and create a bit of value for them. That’s something that the accelerator certainly helped me do, and it helped me elevate my game in there and work. So that’s it really, and it’s just, yeah, on the phones all day, work late, and do it all again the next day.

1:50 And so by doing that process, it sounds like you’ve got a plan in your career, and so what made you think, okay, I want to go and get this extra bit of knowledge, this extra bit of instruction? What you thinking about doing a different way? Well, okay, I arrived in London in 2014 or 2015, early beginning, in January, and I spent a year in China, and that was really an eye-opener, and it was my first real professional experience. A bit of a late bloomer to my career.

2:22 And I wanted to get into something financial, but I wasn’t doing that over there, so my initial plan was to go to Hong Kong, try and get into finance. My dad lives there, but because I didn’t have much experience, it was difficult with visa issues. So I came to London, and when I arrived here I thought I kind of had an idea of what I was getting into, and it was all pre-arranged by people that I knew, and got set up with one of the brokers in the City.

2:47 And had such a grandiose thought of it. I thought it was real trading, real finance, big hitters, and you realised straightaway it’s not that at all. If anything, anybody just trading on products they shouldn’t be trading, just pure carnage really. So it was a real eye-opener in that sense, and then it was a difficult first year here trying to get set up, and I was working for a company that wasn’t great.

3:11 So you saw a lot of that, saw a lot of dirty stuff within the industry, so that’s really what kind of propelled me to do the accelerator and kind of try and get a few ideas in my head out, and just try and help these people a little bit more.

3:34 Okay, and why London Real? Well, I suppose it was a process of, it was a voice, love podcast, stuff like that. Long, you know, a long discussion rather than just an interview on TV. And Joe Rogan was the initial one, and I think I actually might have listened to you guys the first time but never really picked up on it.

3:57 And it was funny how I was just listening to Joe Rogan for a long time, and then how I got more into you guys was probably when Conor McGregor was getting big, and then Ido Portal started, he started training with Conor, and then somehow Ido Portal popped up on YouTube with you guys, and then I watched that, and I think I wash it down hard he won, and that was it.

4:20 And it was just a process, and then I think it was Dan Peña when I really said, wow, I like this, and that was when I started to really focus on it more. So it’s actually very quick, because it’s not like I was following it for a year. I think I started listening to you within three or four months, I joined the Academy, and then it wasn’t that long after when I put the money for the accelerator.

4:42 Okay, and why trust us on a Business Accelerator program? You never really know, you never really know. And I can’t remember the exact quote, but I think Ernest Hemingway said, you know, the only way to trust someone is to trust them, or only way to learn if you can trust someone is to trust them. So it was just, just went for it, and I was curious, and I was willing to pay to find out.

5:13 Okay, and what were the first two or three weeks like, if you had to describe it, and what you were feeling? You know, I don’t know, it was, there were certain things I didn’t find difficult. I didn’t find putting the phone in front of myself difficult, I didn’t find putting stuff out in front of the accelerator and people I didn’t know, I didn’t find that difficult.

5:38 It was more when you have to do it with the people you know, I found out, because that was the real… So in the first three weeks I was okay doing the content. It was, I took it seriously as well, you know, I wasn’t just doing a warmth and giving it out. I was like, trying to say, I was coming up with a script and rehearsing it for a bit, and then I’d do a few takes and put it off. So I didn’t mind that, it was quite exciting doing all that type of stuff.

5:54 But then when I got to the point where you needed to open yourself up to people that you already knew, that I found difficult. Okay, but the strangers are easy, and so that was your biggest challenge, when you had to start, like, letting people around you, or a community, know that you were doing that? Yeah.

6:10 But also as well I found, I found something should always be simple. When you hear something, you don’t want to think, oh, that’s difficult, I can’t do that. It should be, that makes sense, why didn’t I think of that, and it should be easy to put together. So I found that it was a nice, concise, easy-to-follow routine that you guys were setting up. It wasn’t just buzzwords and complex nonsense, hollow words pretty much.

6:40 I thought it was a nice, simple, step-by-step process, so that was another thing as well. I thought, yeah, this is, I think I said it to you before, something should be simple, and I found that it was simple to get to know, and it’s just a case of taking it and doing what you need to do.

6:55 How was the class, the rest of the class, like interacting with them, and whether some members you’re closer with than others? Yeah, you do, you develop some relationships with other people, and I suppose you connect with some people, and I don’t know whether it’s because you start talking to someone early so you stay talking to them.

7:14 Or, you know, I think characters will gravitate towards each other, and if there’s some sort of mutual, well, actually now, if there’s some sort of mutual, you know, if you’re doing something similar, there might be some, you know, key, get close but not too close in a la way, as far as it’s a competitive thing. But then, yeah, I think if you open up to a few people then you tend to stick with them throughout the course.

7:40 What are you gonna take away from the course and use next year or maybe in your career? Are there any key points? Yeah, I think the whole creating value. My mindset completely changed, and not that I was ever, you know, ’cause I’ve worked in sales for a while, and not that I was ever the hard-sell kind of guy, it wasn’t my style, but I mean, I found that even in my own professional career the things started to change quite a bit.

8:13 So I think it was a case of really thinking about your target audience, your clients, a lot. That was what really I think may have been the biggest takeaway. So yeah, thinking really what the other part, you know, who you’re talking to, and trying to tailor everything to them, because at the end of the day they’re the people that’s gonna buy from you.

8:35 And I think the consumer has changed over years, so it’s all about creating that value for them, and you got to give them something tangible. So like giving something away for free, that was something that you were constantly trying to drill into us, and I think that is the case. I think you’ve got to create value for them from the beginning. You don’t want to give them everything, but you’ve got to create value for the people.

8:58 So you’re starting off a lot of interactions thinking that way? Yeah. Like what’s gonna move the needle, right? Because they get inundated with lots of things, and it’s gonna be something that they’re like, oh yeah, wow, that actually does address my problem. Yeah, yeah. People are busy. Why should they talk to you? Why should they deal with you? You’ve got to make them want to listen to you.

9:21 Are you gonna use any stuff to help develop the Matthew personal brand in the years to come? Yeah, definitely, definitely. You know, it’s hard, because I mean I’m in this moment now where, when I started the etc, I had an idea, but the idea required a partner who was more experienced than I am, because I have a bit of a chip on my shoulder Abed what happens, about a lot of what happens in my industry.

9:55 So I do not want to project myself as that person who is the experienced industry professional, because I haven’t been at that highest level, but there’s a big part of me that wants to get to that highest level, you know what I mean? Because I’m good at it at the level that I’m at, but I feel that I can maybe do something bigger at a higher level.

10:20 So now I’m in that moment where I’m like, alright, what do I do? Because I may be a bit too early for what I’d like to do. I could team up with someone and fill that gap, but I think it’s such a key part of what I’d like to do that I think I’d prefer to have that experience myself, so I wait for the timing to be right. That’s kind of what I’m thinking.

10:42 I’m going home now in two weeks, or less than two weeks, I’m gonna have to eat break back in Dublin and have a good think about what I’m gonna do for 2017, but I feel a big year is on the way. And me too, actually. Where do you think you’d be without the course? You know, it was an emotional decision when I took the course, and I was in a kind of phase where I was a bit uncertain.

11:06 I’m just in the whole human process between doing the coursework, learning a lot of new material, but also realising that sometimes you need a bit of a adult to think, okay, hang on a second, you always want a bit too much, or maybe a bit too more, but hang on, have a look around what’s happening now, it’s not that bad.

11:25 So I think that the course has actually really centred me and focused me on what I want to do and the direction that I want to go in, because I was still kind of looking at different industries and different things of what I wanted to do. But then I realised, hang on a sec, a lot of the markets, I do love trading, I love this type of this industry, so focus on it and go to the next step.

11:48 And then what will happen, we don’t know, but instead of looking all around, narrow your focus. So I’m really, I’m a lot more focused now and a lot more certain of where I’m going. Yeah, I can tell.

12:03 Advice to someone who’s on the fence, not sure if they should take the course or not, what do you tell them? Just take a chance, you know what I mean? At the end of the day, the course, the way I’d like to look at it is, it’s a, you’re putting in a solid foundation for something. If they have an idea they should certainly go for it. If they don’t, obviously there’s a little bit more work to do, but it will help you to maybe think a little bit more, or to act.

12:40 So you put in a good foundation, you can help a little bit with the architecture, but you can’t build it for them, you know, they still have to do it. So there’s never gonna be a perfect time. In a year’s time you don’t know where you’re going to be, so if you’re even thinking about doing it and you can afford to do it and you have the time, just go for it.

13:02 Yeah, there’s never a perfect time to do anything, so unless there’s like a really serious reason why you can’t do it, just dive in and test yourself, because it might in wider my task set up a, my set up a good year, or good ten years afterwards.

13:26 Matthew, you seem very focused, and I’m a little scared about what you’re gonna accomplish next year. So it’s been awesome having you on the course. You got really cool energy, and I think also your heart’s in the right place as far as what’s the right and wrong things to do, and I think that’s gonna just set you up for a huge career, because if you’re not making those shortcuts now, your clients, they know it, people, they know it, long-term.

13:48 And I dealt in the industry for 10 years, and I had clients for 10 years, and you only have clients for that long if you do the right things every day and provide value to them every day, and people are smart. So I love the way you’re approaching this, and you seem laser focused. So thanks for being on the course with us, and all the best, and let me know how we can help. Yeah, thanks.