Covid 19, coronavirus, outbreaks, new outbreaks, lockdown, unlock down, pandemic, mask, hydroalcoholic gel, teleworking, “social distance“, economic crisis, ERTE, liquidity injections, ECB, ESG, …
At Fellow Funders we are used to making an in-depth review both internally (strategic, process, financial, …) and externally (competition, market, legislation, …) twice a year, in August (taking advantage of the summer) and January (coinciding with the end of the year). And this year 2020, when the team met in August for our half-yearly analysis, we certainly felt overwhelmed by the profound social, business, lifestyle and relationship changes … that have taken place in the first months of 2020 and that we may not be able to appreciate fully until we analyse the before and after with greater perspective, once enough time has passed.
When we started the year 2020 we already knew that this was going to be an important year for the Fellow Funders Group. We had incorporated several professionals of recognized trajectory in the market, we were structuring financially and legally the group, we were separating the different activities of the same one in order to promote each one of them (the platform of Equity Crowdfunding, Capital Markets, Alternative Assets, Fair Value, …), … that is to say we had an ambitious but also clear and possible road map. And suddenly, in January and February, increasingly alarming news appeared about a new virus, which was spreading throughout the world, and when we were still trying to assimilate this situation, one day, without warning, we were confined to our home. Was anyone, person or organization really aware that these events could occur and was sincerely prepared for it?
¿Y ahora que hacemos nos preguntábamos en febrero en el Grupo? And now what do we do? Were we wondering in February in the Group? At Fellow Funders we had always lived with teleworking, we were constantly working on simplifying processes, we were aware of the need to continue to fully develop our technology (there is a reason why the basis of our group is a Fintech), we knew the importance of focusing clearly and precisely on the clients, We understood the importance of digital marketing and we were acting accordingly… In a short, we were working on so many things that in many cases we considered strategic objectives but whose full development was often delayed by other needs of equal or greater importance (at least in appearance). But after a moment of hesitation (it was really a very brief moment, but that is why we are human) we thought we should take advantage of the occasion and why not say so, we remembered that the word crisis, in Chinese, is “Wei Ji” and has a double meaning: Wei (danger) and Ji (opportunity). And we got down to business, as they say, “let’s get down to business“.
Now, with the holidays coming up, we can say that these past few months have been very intense. We continue to learn, really, to use technology as a key factor in the development of our business (and I do not just mean enabling Zoom or other video conferencing applications). We continue to believe that the client is the centre of our universe and as such all work should be focused on them, but with an important nuance, we must generate enough added value to allow us to differentiate ourselves and establish long term “win-win” relationships with them.
We continue to learn and deepen the importance of team management, which cannot always be present in the same workplace, but which must feel and assume as their own the indispensable corporate culture of the Group. We continue to work and feel the need to have all our processes defined, optimized and known throughout the organization. We have internalized that if we want to offer quality and excellence in service to our clients we must start by trying to be excellent ourselves.
Every day we continue to learn that what matters in the projects and companies we try to help is not just the economic data and ideas, but also the teams trained to develop those ideas and the focus and adaptability of these teams to a changing and uncertain future environment. We continue to deepen and work on the importance of an ESG approach in all the investments we make, if we really (and not only from a theoretical approach) want to make the world we live in sustainable. In short, there are so many things that it would be difficult to list them in one article, but most importantly, we are aware that we are on a path of no return that will force us to constantly review our processes and our strategy. It is a difficult and tiring path, but we believe that the challenge is exciting and we are willing to work on it.
But everything we have done and what we want to do in the future we cannot do alone. At Fellow Funders we realise that we would not have got this far without the support of our clients, our investors and our partners and we want to continue to count on their help in the future. Our commitment to them is to continue building a business model focused on alternative investment based on quality standards, both technological and human. And we are going to put all the necessary means in place to achieve this.
We know that difficult times lie ahead, both economically and in terms of health and social issues, but at Fellow Funders we continue to maintain a lot of energy, our teams are motivated and “eager” and we remain clear that our ultimate goal is to provide sufficient added value to our clients (startups, micro-companies and SMEs) and our partners so that everyone perceives us as something “different”, as a group focused on the world of alternative investment but always under the principles of professionalism, transparency and trust.
In conclusion, we are aware that perhaps the next few months will not be the best months of our lives, but we must never forget that all major crises (of whatever kind) have always brought improvements and advances. We must anticipate and face the future with optimism and confidence and, above all, not resist the inevitable change that is taking place, but try to lead this change.
Do you want to join the world of Fellow Funders? We are waiting for you!
