Inspiring and emotional

This book was very well written and the narration is perfect. I must confess, it made me quite emotional and I went on a tangent researching Tom (Monzo) and the rest of the team. I had to put faces to the people who would take such questionable actions!!

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Part memoir, part thriller, part business book

An entertaining listen. I wasn't sure how some of the early foreshadowing was going to turn out, but I'm glad it didn't turn spiteful and showed the real nature of building a business.

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Brilliant book from start to finish,

Brilliant story full of heart, passion & resilience as told by Anne. Inspirational and real - such a great business book.

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The Last Woman Standing1

What a story Anne! I cried, laughed, cried, cursed and was totally amazed. Anne is a fierce force! Really amazing to hear the history of Starling. What is even more amazing, is the fact that Anne didn't bullshit around the pains of raising capital and how she almost lost it all. Many founders only want to pain the good side of entrepreneurship, but Anne told it as it is.

Very sad how things unfolded with the first team, but she lived to tell the story. The pure grit, hard work, focus and perseverance really shows in this book.

It only takes one person with a crazy idea, and one person with a check to believe in the crazy idea, for innovation and disruption to happen.

Absolutely brilliant! Kudos to Anne and her team at Starling.

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Inspirational - Brains, Courage & Grit

A fantastic listen for everyone, especially entrepreneurs. This is beautiful written and narrated. Anne Boden shows what can happen when you have the courage to follow your dreams. Certainly not a smooth ride, Anne shows us you can dust yourself off after near failure and if you have the drive and determination to continue, it is possible to overcome the odds and succeed.

To take on the juggernaut of the banking industry with very limited resources shows what can be achieved when you believe a better solution is possible. Anne Boden is a true inspiration to all. In a world dominated by young entrepreneurs, Anne has the courage to question the status quo of the banking system and the brains and belief to bring it to life. It would be easy to think she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth or had come from floating a previous fintech success (or at least learned from previous failures). The truth is that her grit, accumulated knowledge of the banking industry and determination to be customer centric was foundation to Starling Bank's success.

Anne Boden is a rare human being with traits similar to that of Walt Disney or Colonel Sanders. When people laughed and said it couldn't be done, she persevered, putting everything on the line and overcame the odds. Well done Anne.

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Excellent story!

Gripping and inspirational. A must for all entrepreneurs and people wanting to working in early stage start ups - either your own or someone else’s.

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Captivating! - a transport of delight

What a masterstroke of Anne Boden to get Janine Cooper Marshall to be the narrator voice in telling her tale of how Starling Bank came into being. The rhythmic inflection with strong and weak stress on alternating syllables of the “classic” Welsh accent places the listener deep within the story from the first moments of the taxi driver and that journey in Dublin. Instead of a strident story of doing battle with institutions and cartels "Banking on it" is a tale of hope learnt from experience, of envisaging things that never were and saying "Why Not?" rather than seeing things as they are and saying "Why?"

Anne was open to new ways of working, new technologies, new opportunities. But unlike many of her rivals in the FinTech space she remained an ethical banker of thirty years standing - someone who knows that the core elements of banking must be build upon trust between the banker and the customer.

Her timing to open a bank without physical branches could not have been better. Digital payment volumes are surging as Covid-19 lockdowns worldwide prompt consumers to do more shopping online. Sensible bankers know that customers do not want to pay for premium accounts with perks like metal cards; they want well designed and tested services which are secure, transparent and scalable. But how you build such a bank using the crooked timber of humanity is a story worth telling - and Anne, with Janine's narration. tells it well.

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2 people found this helpful

Great Insights and enjoyed narration

I enjoyed ... its insightful and an example that despite a lifetime in the sector, one still needs tenacity and willingness to bet on yourself and your life savings when promoting innovation.

I used the Audible version fabulously narrated by Janine Cooper Marshall

#bankingindustry #innovation #financeandeconomy #leadership #bookcovers #inspiration #culture #transformation #purpose

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Amazing

Amazing story which I only knew the headlines of. Especially good if you were an early adopter of Starling

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The narrator makes it sound patronising at times

Easy listening sometimes a little basic or obvious

The narrator makes it sound patronising at times

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1 person found this helpful