WEBVTT - Silicon Valley Bank’s Collapse Had a British Silver Lining 0:00:08.760 --> 0:00:10.800 I'm David Merritt and I'm Francine Lakwaw and. 0:00:10.760 --> 0:00:13.520 This is in the City, Bloomberg's podcast, connecting you to 0:00:13.560 --> 0:00:15.720 the Conversations a part of the City. 0:00:15.440 --> 0:00:18.040 Of London, and this week, Dave, we talk London Tech. 0:00:18.200 --> 0:00:20.479 That's right, it is London Tech Week and we have 0:00:20.600 --> 0:00:23.799 both been down there at Westminster. I was there on 0:00:23.880 --> 0:00:25.440 day one. I think you've just got back. 0:00:25.720 --> 0:00:28.080 I just got back day two. So on the first 0:00:28.160 --> 0:00:29.360 day when you were there, and then you have the 0:00:29.400 --> 0:00:31.920 Prime Minister yep, pretty soon she was around the block. 0:00:32.120 --> 0:00:33.839 I heard it was quite difficult. I actually could. 0:00:35.040 --> 0:00:38.400 Actually we managed to producer. Producer managed to sort of 0:00:38.400 --> 0:00:41.159 slip me around. I actually had a cue barge. They 0:00:41.159 --> 0:00:43.520 were having to hand out water because it was so hot, 0:00:43.600 --> 0:00:46.240 so it was slightly chaotic in there, the big crowd, 0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:50.000 so Rishi Sunac and then I met with the Mayor 0:00:50.040 --> 0:00:54.200 of London City Khan afterwards as well. And also part 0:00:54.200 --> 0:00:58.600 of the event's kickoff was the announcement of HSBC relaunching 0:00:58.640 --> 0:01:03.800 the recently acquired ukr SVB, which has now rebranded itself 0:01:03.840 --> 0:01:07.679 as HSBC Innovation Banking, and later in this episode, on 0:01:08.000 --> 0:01:11.040 my conversation with the group's boss erin Klattz. 0:01:11.880 --> 0:01:12.119 Yeah. 0:01:12.360 --> 0:01:14.600 And then the next day they had the opposition leader 0:01:14.680 --> 0:01:16.760 Cures Darman. He laid out i think for one of 0:01:16.800 --> 0:01:19.840 the first times, actually his vision for a labor government 0:01:19.880 --> 0:01:22.160 on how they deal with AI, how they regulate, and 0:01:22.200 --> 0:01:25.200 how they incentivize tech companies solicit here. 0:01:25.080 --> 0:01:28.000 There's going to have to be an overarching regulatory framework 0:01:28.040 --> 0:01:32.200 of some sort. The government's talking about principles in legislation, 0:01:32.200 --> 0:01:34.800 which then find themselves in each of the sectors. I 0:01:34.800 --> 0:01:37.280 think we're going to have something stronger than that. I 0:01:37.319 --> 0:01:41.080 think foundation AI needs regulation as well, and that requires 0:01:41.080 --> 0:01:45.040 international leadership as well as leadership here, but also working 0:01:45.080 --> 0:01:48.000 with businesses, because you need a government that's on the pitch, 0:01:48.080 --> 0:01:50.600 working with business to say, if there are to be 0:01:51.280 --> 0:01:55.240 changes in jobs. Let's say there are job losses, what 0:01:55.280 --> 0:01:56.800 are we going to do about the workforce. 0:01:57.040 --> 0:01:59.800 Yeah, And of course you gave a profit grilling on stage. 0:02:00.000 --> 0:02:02.200 He could have had more policy, yeah, but actually his 0:02:02.920 --> 0:02:05.840 overarching theme was definitely, look, let's treat tech like an 0:02:05.840 --> 0:02:06.600 industrial plan. 0:02:06.760 --> 0:02:06.960 Yeah. 0:02:07.000 --> 0:02:10.079 And listening to Sunac, I mean you could, I mean 0:02:10.160 --> 0:02:12.160 he was clearly making the case that London is this 0:02:12.240 --> 0:02:15.680 kind of buzzing capital for tech. You know, we're going 0:02:15.720 --> 0:02:18.280 to try and sort of peel back the layers of 0:02:18.320 --> 0:02:20.040 reality on that. So we've got in the room with 0:02:20.080 --> 0:02:21.880 this now in the podcast studio with us now we 0:02:21.960 --> 0:02:24.800 have of fintech reports at Aisha Ghani iic, you've also 0:02:24.960 --> 0:02:28.720 been at tech Week this week. What is your impression 0:02:28.800 --> 0:02:30.440 is all that hype for real? 0:02:31.080 --> 0:02:34.560 Well, it's also worth mentioning that at the same time 0:02:34.639 --> 0:02:37.919 as UK Tech Week, we've also had Viva Tech in 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:40.240 Paris right at the same time, at the same time, 0:02:40.280 --> 0:02:40.760 and they've. 0:02:40.560 --> 0:02:41.840 Flowed didn't mention that, did they? 0:02:42.000 --> 0:02:44.720 I mean they've flown in Elon Musk. I've got their 0:02:44.720 --> 0:02:47.640 CEO of sales force. Meanwhile, we're having a lot of 0:02:47.680 --> 0:02:50.000 policy discussions here. So I think you can see the 0:02:50.080 --> 0:02:50.920 kind of contrast. 0:02:51.320 --> 0:02:53.440 And so must decided to get to Paris not London. 0:02:53.639 --> 0:02:56.360 Was he invited to London? This is a question is 0:02:56.360 --> 0:02:58.040 it just a bigger It feels like a bigger event 0:02:58.080 --> 0:03:00.480 in Paris because they've been doing it for quite some time, 0:03:00.840 --> 0:03:02.799 and I think London Tech Week started three or four 0:03:02.840 --> 0:03:03.160 years ago. 0:03:03.600 --> 0:03:05.880 They said that next year they're going to move to Olympia, 0:03:06.200 --> 0:03:08.240 much bigger. There's going to be lots. I mean, we 0:03:08.240 --> 0:03:09.840 were trying to organize some of the interviews and it 0:03:09.880 --> 0:03:12.000 was just chaotic getting up and down into the floors. 0:03:12.000 --> 0:03:13.960 There's no space for the cameras that and it's clearly 0:03:14.000 --> 0:03:16.440 completely outgrown that space. So it's going to be bigger 0:03:16.520 --> 0:03:19.679 and better next year. But we're kind of playing catch 0:03:19.760 --> 0:03:20.600 up with the French, right. 0:03:20.560 --> 0:03:22.560 Yeah, I mean I'd love to see the lineup next year. 0:03:22.720 --> 0:03:26.440 And we have other similar conferences. I went to IFGS 0:03:26.639 --> 0:03:29.760 Innovate Finances Global Summer earlier this year and like the 0:03:29.800 --> 0:03:34.680 headline speaker again was like the Economic Secretary. He basically 0:03:34.760 --> 0:03:37.320 was telling founders that we are a sovereign nation, we 0:03:37.440 --> 0:03:40.480 dealt with sbb UK, get on with it, which I 0:03:40.640 --> 0:03:43.000 thought was quite intriguing. So there's definitely a lot more 0:03:43.040 --> 0:03:44.320 like policy focus. 0:03:45.200 --> 0:03:48.080 So if you look at the UK, are they trying 0:03:48.120 --> 0:03:51.240 to get more funding than France? I mean again, France 0:03:51.360 --> 0:03:53.560 has a lot of billionaires and telecoms that have put 0:03:53.600 --> 0:03:56.240 a lot of weight behind it. Or is the UK 0:03:56.440 --> 0:03:59.000 trying to regulate AI and really become a tech hub 0:03:59.080 --> 0:04:00.560 to rival to look value. 0:04:01.000 --> 0:04:03.560 I don't think anyone could deny that the UK has 0:04:03.600 --> 0:04:06.880 slipped behind. And there are competing hubs and there are 0:04:06.960 --> 0:04:10.640 other exciting places it's changed from the last few years. 0:04:11.720 --> 0:04:14.440 So it's about I think there's a lot of it 0:04:14.480 --> 0:04:17.640 is about confidence as well. Everyone I speak to mentions 0:04:17.720 --> 0:04:21.600 political instability. They're kind of seeing where the chips will fall, 0:04:21.680 --> 0:04:26.040 so they're kind of holding on at the moment. I mean, 0:04:26.080 --> 0:04:30.080 we've seen really high profile CEOs and founders talking about 0:04:30.680 --> 0:04:34.080 their frustration with the UK at the moment, the revolute 0:04:34.200 --> 0:04:37.880 founders being the ones that come to mind, saying how 0:04:37.920 --> 0:04:41.920 the red tape has been so frustrating, dealing with months 0:04:41.960 --> 0:04:45.719 and months of delays with regards to their emails regarding 0:04:45.720 --> 0:04:48.520 their UK banking license. So that kind of gives the 0:04:48.600 --> 0:04:50.440 flavor of the sort of things that they're having to 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:51.919 deal with at a granular level. 0:04:52.520 --> 0:04:54.880 So one of the things that the Prime Minister said 0:04:55.040 --> 0:04:57.760 was that Britain's biggest problem is less the kind of 0:04:58.080 --> 0:05:01.640 capacity of this economy create tech companies, but more just 0:05:01.680 --> 0:05:05.080 the confidence to sort of celebrate it. 0:05:05.480 --> 0:05:07.920 The government can do all these things, but fundamentally it 0:05:07.960 --> 0:05:13.120 requires the entrepreneurs to just keep going. To be not 0:05:13.200 --> 0:05:16.560 content with building one hundred million pound business and then 0:05:16.600 --> 0:05:20.320 the billion pound business, but just to keep growing and 0:05:20.680 --> 0:05:23.920 that I found in California is very much the attitude. 0:05:24.160 --> 0:05:26.560 It's just the sky is the limit. Everyone thinks they 0:05:26.560 --> 0:05:31.120 can create a one hundred billion dollar company and actually, 0:05:31.400 --> 0:05:34.279 you know, changing that culture is tough for government to do. 0:05:34.360 --> 0:05:35.760 But I don't know what you think about that. 0:05:35.920 --> 0:05:37.520 Do you agree with that? Is it just about sort 0:05:37.520 --> 0:05:39.120 of the swagger or the ambition? 0:05:39.440 --> 0:05:42.440 Oh, that has so much to do with it. I 0:05:42.480 --> 0:05:45.360 recently caught up with Tom Blomfield. He was a co 0:05:45.440 --> 0:05:50.520 founder of Monzo, one of UK's unicorns, and he's now 0:05:50.720 --> 0:05:55.360 moved to sunny California as a partner at y Combinator, 0:05:55.440 --> 0:05:58.800 the Accelerator, and this is exactly the point he made. 0:05:59.160 --> 0:06:02.080 He's on the streets of San Francisco and he's seeing 0:06:03.120 --> 0:06:09.440 Driverller's cars and people are people's startups are totally AI 0:06:09.600 --> 0:06:13.119 driven And he said, like the comparison ten years going 0:06:13.400 --> 0:06:15.920 in London was that it was really difficult for him 0:06:15.920 --> 0:06:17.719 as a founder to raise any money. 0:06:17.880 --> 0:06:19.920 Yeah, And it was interesting, isn't it. I was sat 0:06:19.960 --> 0:06:23.360 there listening to the Prime Minister to talk and about 0:06:24.120 --> 0:06:27.920 Britain as this hub and his focus on cutting regulation 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:30.279 and making it easier for people to come in on 0:06:30.400 --> 0:06:32.400 visas and the reality of what we hear from executives 0:06:32.480 --> 0:06:35.120 is very different. And then this political instability question because 0:06:35.160 --> 0:06:38.000 of course when he took questions from the media, what 0:06:38.160 --> 0:06:40.599 came up, well, it was the weekend of headlines about 0:06:40.640 --> 0:06:45.520 Boris Johnson and the honors list and that controversy, and 0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:48.279 that was what made the news from the summit was 0:06:48.320 --> 0:06:50.000 his response to now you know, the war of the 0:06:50.080 --> 0:06:52.560 supposed war of words with Johnson. So yet again he 0:06:52.640 --> 0:06:55.280 goes down the kind of rabbit hole of politics rather 0:06:55.360 --> 0:06:58.160 than actually pushing forward with policy. And you can sort 0:06:58.160 --> 0:07:01.320 of sense the frustration from the company's present. They want 0:07:01.320 --> 0:07:03.400 to hear about what we're doing to kind of promote 0:07:03.400 --> 0:07:06.600 business rather than getting sucked into the Tory psychodrama that 0:07:06.600 --> 0:07:07.719 we've been in the last few years. 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:10.640 Also, I mean, I look at it, I kind of 0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:13.200 put myself in a founder's shoes, and if you're just 0:07:13.240 --> 0:07:16.600 starting out right now, you need to be hiring the 0:07:16.680 --> 0:07:19.400 top talent, you need to secure the R and D 0:07:19.560 --> 0:07:23.720 tax credit, you need to deal with licensing. How do 0:07:23.800 --> 0:07:26.920 you get that through when they're regulators dealing with a backlog. 0:07:27.000 --> 0:07:30.400 Those are the kind of questions that founders are raising, 0:07:30.760 --> 0:07:33.080 and some of these founders, you know, they are obsessed 0:07:33.080 --> 0:07:36.000 with looking at these headlines and trade deals for example, 0:07:36.040 --> 0:07:38.400 and they thought maybe they'll be like a little bit 0:07:38.440 --> 0:07:39.720 of hope there. 0:07:39.680 --> 0:07:43.000 Which is to make things easier with the EU, because. 0:07:42.680 --> 0:07:44.840 They were saying for months and months, well for years, 0:07:44.880 --> 0:07:48.120 it seems as though we can't even speak about Rexit. 0:07:48.240 --> 0:07:51.040 And one of the big problems is obviously as everyone 0:07:51.120 --> 0:07:54.640 said about visas. And you know we've heard Sunak saying 0:07:54.640 --> 0:07:56.960 that the system is perfect. But the Mayor of London 0:07:57.240 --> 0:07:58.800 so did it calm when he spoke to me, said 0:07:58.840 --> 0:08:00.559 there's still a lot of work to do to ensure 0:08:00.560 --> 0:08:01.960 that we can attract the right sort of talent. 0:08:02.160 --> 0:08:04.800 We can't be complacent and we've going to recognize is yes, 0:08:04.800 --> 0:08:07.400 it's wonderful. Some of the world's best companies choose to 0:08:07.440 --> 0:08:10.760 London as the European headquarters. They expand in a London. 0:08:10.840 --> 0:08:12.880 But we've got to recognize an out doorstep is a 0:08:12.960 --> 0:08:15.880 market more than five hundred million people. The European Union, 0:08:15.960 --> 0:08:18.640 even the prime ministers are recognizes you can't turn your 0:08:18.640 --> 0:08:21.240 back on the European Union. So I welcome the fact 0:08:21.240 --> 0:08:24.840 that prominence is here today, the Chancelly is here today. 0:08:25.320 --> 0:08:27.720 So the good news to those watching this from overseas 0:08:27.720 --> 0:08:30.440 is you've got a government that understands some of these issues. 0:08:30.520 --> 0:08:33.000 The only problem is that prominence is too weak to 0:08:33.040 --> 0:08:34.120 take them on and address them. 0:08:34.120 --> 0:08:36.480 But I think that is the concern that First, there 0:08:36.520 --> 0:08:39.040 is a skill shortage, so if you're a founder, you 0:08:39.040 --> 0:08:41.760 don't necessarily know if you find the right people to 0:08:41.840 --> 0:08:44.480 come in and fulfill the jobs that you need them to. 0:08:45.200 --> 0:08:48.880 And then second, because the Tories are doing so badly 0:08:48.920 --> 0:08:51.079 in the polls, are they just wanting to know more 0:08:51.080 --> 0:08:53.560 about what labor government would look like and we're still 0:08:53.559 --> 0:08:55.880 thin on details. I don't know whether because the election 0:08:56.040 --> 0:08:59.079 is still like sixteen seventeen months away or because they 0:08:59.080 --> 0:09:01.160 haven't really of framework on it yet. 0:09:01.280 --> 0:09:04.840 I think it's both. But their immediate concern is we 0:09:04.920 --> 0:09:07.160 can't hire the best talent. What are we meant to do? 0:09:07.240 --> 0:09:10.400 How we even meant to progress as a company. One 0:09:10.440 --> 0:09:12.840 founder I spoke to he was really frustrated and he 0:09:12.920 --> 0:09:16.160 said the government needs to wake up. He's spent upwards 0:09:16.160 --> 0:09:19.760 of like ten k trying to hire top engineers from 0:09:19.840 --> 0:09:23.800 Europe and wait, no exactly and has already been waiting. 0:09:23.920 --> 0:09:25.880 Much This has come up so many times I said, 0:09:26.040 --> 0:09:28.559 I mean and again keep going back to this sort 0:09:28.600 --> 0:09:30.600 of distance between the reality and what's soon. Ac said 0:09:30.640 --> 0:09:33.160 on stage, he said, We've got this fantastic visa system 0:09:33.200 --> 0:09:34.160 now to bring in talent. 0:09:34.840 --> 0:09:37.400 Whether it's the new scale up visa that I introduced 0:09:37.400 --> 0:09:40.360 as Chancellor for companies who are scaling up to able 0:09:40.400 --> 0:09:42.760 to get the talent they need, whether it's our Innovative 0:09:42.800 --> 0:09:46.040 Founder visa, which is globally extremely competitive, or the High 0:09:46.080 --> 0:09:49.440 Potential Individual visa that I created, which essentially says, if 0:09:49.480 --> 0:09:52.559 you graduated from a global top fifty university, just come 0:09:52.600 --> 0:09:54.760 to the UK. You don't need a job offer. We 0:09:54.880 --> 0:09:57.800 just want to make sure that you can speak English 0:09:57.840 --> 0:09:58.920 and that you have a certain amount of money to 0:09:58.920 --> 0:10:01.320 support yourself. Otherwise, we want you here because we think 0:10:01.320 --> 0:10:03.920 it will be additive to our economy. That's a massive 0:10:04.280 --> 0:10:07.400 We're open for business sign to the world's most talented, 0:10:07.440 --> 0:10:08.440 and I think that's important. 0:10:08.679 --> 0:10:10.240 No one seemed to have heard of that as well, 0:10:10.320 --> 0:10:12.360 So no one knows about these schemes, and the ones 0:10:12.400 --> 0:10:14.040 that are in place seem to be not fit for 0:10:14.080 --> 0:10:16.079 purpose at least in terms of what the founders need 0:10:16.120 --> 0:10:19.040 and want. And yet the prime Minister doesn't agree exactly. 0:10:19.120 --> 0:10:20.720 I'm going to get a bit nerdy here, but like, 0:10:20.760 --> 0:10:23.440 of course, we know that the government pulled back their 0:10:23.480 --> 0:10:26.720 funding of TechNation, which dealt with a lot of these 0:10:26.760 --> 0:10:29.360 global tech visas, and then we had a bit of 0:10:29.360 --> 0:10:32.760 stalemach because we didn't know who would be responsible in 0:10:32.880 --> 0:10:36.680 issuing these tech visas anymore. So that happened earlier this year. 0:10:37.000 --> 0:10:39.680 So I show what is your outlook for Lumber's tech scene. 0:10:40.480 --> 0:10:43.920 I mean, London is not dead, that's key, and I 0:10:44.000 --> 0:10:48.480 do think we need to just be a bit more 0:10:48.520 --> 0:10:50.719 measured and I think some of it is a bit 0:10:51.480 --> 0:10:54.520 scare mongering, but at the same time we have to 0:10:54.559 --> 0:10:58.720 recognize that it is just becoming more difficult and there's 0:10:58.760 --> 0:11:03.040 real competition, and you have people like Macron literally rolling 0:11:03.040 --> 0:11:06.480 out the red carpet for founders to be at their 0:11:06.480 --> 0:11:09.320 Eliz Palace and then you've got these founders, they have 0:11:09.400 --> 0:11:13.120 photos with him and they go to US investors. And 0:11:13.160 --> 0:11:15.960 then on the other side, when the US investors come 0:11:16.000 --> 0:11:19.040 to the UK and ask founders, well, how are you 0:11:19.080 --> 0:11:20.880 going to grow, where are you going to expand what's 0:11:20.920 --> 0:11:23.439 your passporting like have you got a foot in Europe? 0:11:23.720 --> 0:11:27.480 And they can't really respond then obviously there are challenges. 0:11:27.800 --> 0:11:32.640 There are real bureaucratic challenges that I think it totally 0:11:32.640 --> 0:11:35.640 depends on where you are in the ecosystem. 0:11:35.760 --> 0:11:38.920 But does that matter. We're going to regulate AI worldwide. 0:11:39.080 --> 0:11:39.920 The UK is. 0:11:40.320 --> 0:11:42.600 That's the big pitch at the moment, right, that Britain's 0:11:42.600 --> 0:11:44.600 going to take some role. And you know, saying this 0:11:44.720 --> 0:11:46.960 with the deep mind guy there who reports say, actually 0:11:47.040 --> 0:11:49.240 spending increasing amounts of time in the United States, right, 0:11:49.320 --> 0:11:53.040 rather than but putting that aside, cam Briton really be 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:56.880 a leader kind of marshaling all of the different arms 0:11:56.960 --> 0:11:58.800 races that are going on an AI around the world. 0:11:58.880 --> 0:12:00.719 It feels like that stretch incredibility. 0:12:00.880 --> 0:12:03.880 We're already playing catch up though that Europe and the 0:12:03.960 --> 0:12:06.959 US have been having these conversations for a while. They've 0:12:06.960 --> 0:12:10.120 already joined up in terms of research with regards to 0:12:10.160 --> 0:12:14.400 AI and the public good. They've already been discussing at meetings. 0:12:14.440 --> 0:12:16.640 I mean, the UK wants to host this global summit 0:12:17.200 --> 0:12:20.320 when in the autumn, and it's a bit late. 0:12:20.960 --> 0:12:37.040 I should thank you so much, thank you, Dave. The 0:12:37.040 --> 0:12:39.080 other questions, of course, how do you get funding? So 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:41.400 you need a strong bank that will lend to some 0:12:41.440 --> 0:12:44.800 of these startups. And you had a great conversation with 0:12:44.880 --> 0:12:49.200 the newly minted chief executive of the former SVB UK. 0:12:49.720 --> 0:12:52.800 That's right. Erin Platt used to run SVB UK. Remember 0:12:52.840 --> 0:12:56.080 the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. That unit was brought 0:12:56.120 --> 0:13:01.040 by HSBC for a pound was rescued. She is now 0:13:01.080 --> 0:13:04.599 the CEO of the newly minted HSBC Innovation Banking and 0:13:04.640 --> 0:13:07.800 they announced the new name for that unit at Tech 0:13:07.840 --> 0:13:10.200 Week yesterday. She stood up and asked the first question 0:13:10.520 --> 0:13:12.240 to Rishis. Soon that she came into Bloomberg and we 0:13:12.280 --> 0:13:14.280 sat down and talked I think the question. Remember when 0:13:14.320 --> 0:13:16.200 we did the podcast around the claps so SVB we 0:13:16.280 --> 0:13:19.360 talked about what it would mean for the startup scene 0:13:19.360 --> 0:13:23.440 in the UK. Would that kind of ecosystem collapse? What 0:13:23.480 --> 0:13:27.320 would HSBC even be able to replicate that kind of 0:13:27.320 --> 0:13:29.520 culture because it comes from a very different sort of 0:13:29.520 --> 0:13:33.360 place that SVP did. We're very delighted to have Erin 0:13:33.400 --> 0:13:37.480 plattz the chief executive of the newly minted HSBC Innovation 0:13:37.679 --> 0:13:39.440 Banking UK. Welcome to the podcast. 0:13:39.520 --> 0:13:40.920 Erin, thanks so much for having me. 0:13:41.360 --> 0:13:44.920 Can we believe the hype of London tech week. Yeah. 0:13:44.960 --> 0:13:47.520 So I've been here now for over a decade and 0:13:47.559 --> 0:13:52.720 a half working with innovation businesses, so tech companies, life sciences, 0:13:52.880 --> 0:13:55.800 whether that be early stage startups, late stage public and 0:13:55.840 --> 0:14:00.240 private corporates, and it is astonishing to see how far 0:14:00.360 --> 0:14:02.719 we've come in the next in the last decade and 0:14:02.800 --> 0:14:05.000 a half. And I do think that we are at 0:14:05.040 --> 0:14:08.440 a really pivotal moment. The market, of course, is a 0:14:08.480 --> 0:14:10.640 lot different than it was in twenty twenty one and 0:14:10.679 --> 0:14:15.160 twenty twenty two. There is some I would say systemic 0:14:15.240 --> 0:14:18.880 change is happening. Raising money is harder, the public markets 0:14:18.920 --> 0:14:23.360 remain closed, inflation remains sticky, so there's a lot to 0:14:23.400 --> 0:14:26.000 contend with. But if you take a step back and 0:14:26.040 --> 0:14:28.880 you look at the foundations that the UK has in 0:14:29.000 --> 0:14:32.200 terms of innovation, I'm really optimistic. 0:14:32.560 --> 0:14:32.720 Right. 0:14:32.720 --> 0:14:36.960 We've got great universities, we've got fantastic talent, we've got 0:14:37.240 --> 0:14:41.520 largely friendly regulation. We're closer than we've ever been to 0:14:41.880 --> 0:14:46.320 unlocking pension capital. I think we're a hub right still. 0:14:46.360 --> 0:14:49.320 For the US to come in and Andresen horowitz announcement 0:14:49.400 --> 0:14:52.400 that their first international office is in London is a big, 0:14:52.520 --> 0:14:56.080 big deal. So you put all of that together, yes, 0:14:56.360 --> 0:15:02.520 the macro economic situation remains difficult. The innovation economy backdrop 0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:05.440 is challenging the pockets, but for me, the next five 0:15:05.440 --> 0:15:07.760 to ten years will be hugely exciting. 0:15:08.280 --> 0:15:12.280 When SVB was bought SBBUK has brought HSBC. One of 0:15:12.320 --> 0:15:14.280 the questions we asked, in fact we talked about it 0:15:14.280 --> 0:15:17.320 on this podcast back at the time, was will there 0:15:17.320 --> 0:15:18.680 be some sort of cultural loss there? 0:15:18.680 --> 0:15:18.840 You know? 0:15:18.920 --> 0:15:22.359 SVB was kind of funky, right, people talked about the parties. 0:15:22.720 --> 0:15:24.400 It was a bit of a badge of honor if 0:15:24.400 --> 0:15:27.440 you were a founder to have an SVB account. Do 0:15:27.480 --> 0:15:30.520 you think HSBC Innovation Banking is going to step into 0:15:30.560 --> 0:15:34.320 that place easily that was vacated by SBB and be 0:15:35.240 --> 0:15:38.240 the bank of choice for startups in Britain. 0:15:38.760 --> 0:15:42.120 Taking a step back, So what's changed and what hasn't changed? 0:15:42.160 --> 0:15:45.200 I think that's a really important perspective to keep front 0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:47.520 of mind. So our name has changed, and actually we 0:15:47.560 --> 0:15:51.040 spent a huge amount of time with a community, speaking 0:15:51.040 --> 0:15:54.240 to entrepreneurs at every stage, speaking to investors, and not 0:15:54.320 --> 0:15:57.280 just in the UK, but in the US and Israel 0:15:57.760 --> 0:16:00.200 on the continent to make sure that this new brand 0:16:00.240 --> 0:16:03.640 name would resonate and what we found is actually the 0:16:03.720 --> 0:16:08.280 client base was really very happy to have HSBC feature 0:16:08.360 --> 0:16:11.360 front and center. It's been a tremendous three months in 0:16:11.400 --> 0:16:14.840 the banking sector and HSBC has always been a stalwart 0:16:14.880 --> 0:16:19.120 of strength, right, plus than the innovation component we need 0:16:19.160 --> 0:16:23.040 to retain and again what hasn't changed, Well, we're really 0:16:23.040 --> 0:16:27.760 fortunate that our whole entire sub UK team has remained together, 0:16:28.200 --> 0:16:31.200 continuing to service our clients in the same ways before 0:16:31.400 --> 0:16:36.720 those relationships, continuity, consistency and market so they're working with 0:16:36.760 --> 0:16:39.920 the same people, you know, same mobile phone numbers, right, 0:16:40.000 --> 0:16:44.600 So that feels really really familiar. But then I think 0:16:44.600 --> 0:16:46.680 the trick is, and what we're working really hard to 0:16:46.720 --> 0:16:49.720 do is how do we keep what was great about 0:16:49.840 --> 0:16:54.000 svb UK and then bring together what's great about HSBC 0:16:54.200 --> 0:16:57.119 the breadth of the platform, the sophistication of the products, 0:16:57.200 --> 0:17:00.280 the global reach. So we need to continue you do, 0:17:00.560 --> 0:17:03.200 work really really hard to make sure that we're showing 0:17:03.240 --> 0:17:07.320 up externally in the same way. But the feedback, you know, 0:17:07.800 --> 0:17:10.199 will be led by the feedback from our clients. And 0:17:10.280 --> 0:17:12.879 it's been great and we've seen more demand actually in 0:17:12.880 --> 0:17:15.320 the last ninety days than I expected. 0:17:15.720 --> 0:17:17.840 Yeah, it was it was certainly there was, as I said, 0:17:17.840 --> 0:17:20.400 a real buzz in the room there. I just wanted 0:17:20.400 --> 0:17:21.880 to sort of sense check there a little bit more 0:17:21.880 --> 0:17:23.680 as well. You talk to a lot of these founders 0:17:23.680 --> 0:17:25.400 and you know, one of the things is the relationships 0:17:25.440 --> 0:17:29.120 you've got with everybody. Publicly, a lot of the more 0:17:29.200 --> 0:17:32.840 prominent founders and entrepreneurs have been pretty critical about the 0:17:32.840 --> 0:17:37.080 state of the market in Britain. For many reasons, companies 0:17:37.119 --> 0:17:39.199 and startups don't want to list their shares in London 0:17:40.359 --> 0:17:43.239 and increasing and looking overseas. I mean, just is it 0:17:43.280 --> 0:17:45.600 really is the hype that we saw yesterday? Is it 0:17:45.640 --> 0:17:48.960 for real? Or really? Has Britain got some structural problems 0:17:49.280 --> 0:17:51.760 that are making it harder for people to found and 0:17:51.760 --> 0:17:52.600 grow businesses here. 0:17:53.440 --> 0:17:55.119 When I take a step back and I think about 0:17:55.160 --> 0:17:58.000 the UK, right, we are still the third largest innovation 0:17:58.080 --> 0:18:03.000 economy in the world. Fintech continues to be world class, 0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:06.679 world leading here and in London. There's a lot to 0:18:06.720 --> 0:18:09.639 be proud of and there is a lot to do 0:18:09.880 --> 0:18:14.399 to continue to make this a top innovation destination and 0:18:14.480 --> 0:18:18.560 hopefully continue to climb the ranks. You are absolutely right 0:18:18.880 --> 0:18:23.320 the reforms needed to make the London Stock Exchange competitive 0:18:23.560 --> 0:18:27.159 with the US markets. We are on that journey and 0:18:27.200 --> 0:18:30.040 we're not remotely done. And I know Julia Hugget is 0:18:30.080 --> 0:18:34.359 a huge proponent of trying to drive change and really 0:18:34.400 --> 0:18:37.800 listen to entrepreneurs and investors to figure out what do 0:18:37.800 --> 0:18:40.480 we need to do to make the London change. 0:18:42.960 --> 0:18:45.200 On the you mentioned pension funds. 0:18:44.920 --> 0:18:49.919 On liquidity, there's culture, there's media, there's I mean a 0:18:50.000 --> 0:18:53.359 ton to unpick and I think with that, it's you know, 0:18:53.400 --> 0:18:56.280 are we going to see the London Stock Exchange be 0:18:56.320 --> 0:18:59.959 as competitive with the US markets in the next twelve month? 0:19:00.040 --> 0:19:00.679 It's probably not. 0:19:01.640 --> 0:19:02.400 Let's be realistic. 0:19:02.680 --> 0:19:07.359 Yeah, okay, I agree. No, should we continue to aspire 0:19:07.720 --> 0:19:11.640 and drive change over the next three to five years. Absolutely, 0:19:11.720 --> 0:19:16.840 I'm really thoughtful. As an ecosystem, let's not perpetuate historic 0:19:18.280 --> 0:19:23.119 perhaps challenges. You know, we often hear, well, you know, 0:19:23.200 --> 0:19:25.879 the ambition here isn't isn't as big as the US. 0:19:26.000 --> 0:19:28.200 I do not buy into that at all. 0:19:28.520 --> 0:19:30.040 Think says we're talking ourselves. 0:19:29.760 --> 0:19:30.040 Down a bit. 0:19:30.359 --> 0:19:32.080 Yeah, I mean we have. 0:19:32.640 --> 0:19:36.879 We are creating global category leaders in almost every single 0:19:36.880 --> 0:19:41.040 sub sector. Let's celebrate that. I'm not saying it's perfect, 0:19:41.440 --> 0:19:43.359 but there is a lot to be proud of. 0:19:43.800 --> 0:19:45.919 What's the toughest challenge for these startups or is it 0:19:45.960 --> 0:19:48.560 interest rates? Is it raising capital? Is it getting the 0:19:48.640 --> 0:19:52.040 talent to come or to find the talent around the world. 0:19:52.040 --> 0:19:54.080 What's the biggest hurdle to success. 0:19:54.280 --> 0:19:57.280 I think there's often there's kind of top three challenges 0:19:57.359 --> 0:20:01.320 that regardless of the year they start, they switch ranking, 0:20:01.480 --> 0:20:05.400 but it's always access to capital, access to talent, and 0:20:05.480 --> 0:20:10.879 access to customers, usually on an international basis. And again 0:20:11.080 --> 0:20:16.320 this year, access to capital has really stayed number one. 0:20:17.600 --> 0:20:21.200 As venture capital and private equity funds are there's still 0:20:21.240 --> 0:20:25.119 a lot of price discovery going on as LPs are 0:20:25.160 --> 0:20:28.120