001 Tom Davies
VP Marketing, Yonder
Tom Davies is VP Marketing at Yonder, and before that he worked at Monzo and Wise. His CV reads like the starting lineup for a fintech All-Star Game. He’s made some enviable work and he shares his thinking on his Substack, which you should definitely subscribe to.
“I literally have a Substack called ‘Marketing is Hard’ so I could give you a hundred reasons.”
The interview
What’s your coffee ritual?
I make it at home. Been working on the froth. That’s the tricky bit. Gotta hold it just right, and slightly to the side.
What was your first marketing job?
I hand delivered newspaper subscription pamphlets for my family’s newspaper store to every house in my hometown. I guess my career started in direct mail.
What finance apps do you have on your home screen?
All my spending goes through Yonder, obviously. I love scrolling Venmo to guess which of my friends in the US are paying for drugs.
Which newsletter, podcast, or book do you recommend most?
I spend too much time working already so I don’t really read or listen to anything related to work. My favourite newsletter is Outta Town which curates absurdly cheap villas and townhouses around Europe. Anyone wanting to go halves on a Lake Como 2-bed should DM me immediately.
What’s an underrated growth channel in fintech?
I think it’s adequately rated but you can’t really build a fintech business without embracing comparison sites. It’s a vital part of almost every user journey in financial services. Invest in it properly.
What keeps you up at night?
Should I bring children into a world full of existential AI and climate change dread? Also scaling our tone of voice.
What are the most useful measurement tools you use in your work?
I built our own in-house Brand Score which is fun and helps non-marketers track how we’re growing.
What’s one fintech brand (other than your own) that’s getting marketing right?
Autopilot is hilarious. Their entire strategy is built around trolling Nancy Pelosi’s investment record. Brilliant.
Why is marketing so hard?
I literally have a Substack called ‘Marketing is Hard’ so I could give you a hundred reasons. Everyone thinks they’re a marketer.
Whose answers to the above questions would you most like to read?
Sam Bankman-Fried or the guy who built the Silk Road website. We need more thought leadership from fraudsters.