021 Shameer Sachdev
Founder & Managing Director, Growth Gorilla
Shameer Sachdev is Founder & Managing Director of Growth Gorilla - a growth marketing agency that has worked with over 40 fintechs. Before founding the agency he worked in sales and marketing at Barclays Wealth Management and Logic Investments Ltd. He hosts The FML Podcast, which is a fount of fintech marketing intel.
“So as financial marketers we need to be creatives, educators, trust builders, and orators.”
The interview
What’s your coffee ritual?
If I’m working from home it’s a Nescafé Azera at 9am with milk and one sugar. If I’m on the go it’s either a flat white or cappuccino, depending on my mood.
What was your first marketing job?
I joined Spread Co Ltd, an online trading platform, as Head of Sales. I soon realised that there was no marketing department and we needed leads. Before I knew it, I was running a marketing team with a 7-figure budget.
Which newsletter, podcast, or book do you recommend most?
Newsletter - This Week in Fintech
Book - The One Thing by Gary Keller
Podcast - Talking Sopranos
What’s an underrated growth channel in fintech?
Podcasts. From every angle: creating one, sponsoring one, and appearing on one.
What keeps you up at night?
Everything, yet nothing! I think about everything from client performance (how can we do even better?) to my team’s happiness in their roles. Then I realise that I’m in control of these things and I fall asleep!
What’s one fintech brand (other than your own) that’s getting marketing right?
I think Wise is getting their marketing right across the board. The brand is strong and cohesive across all their channels, and their value proposition is solid. 10/10.
Why is marketing so hard?
Marketing is hard. Marketing financial products is even harder. You don’t have a tangible product to put in the hands of your customers. Instead it’s an app that you need them to log into and do some ‘finance’ stuff. So as financial marketers we need to be creatives, educators, trust builders, and orators.