LFP037 – Special Episode – Dealing with Crises and The Platform Black Story with John Regan

Platform Black is the UK’s second largest invoice discounting marketplace having traded over 2,000 invoices and recently passing the £100m mark.  On the show John Regan an Angel Investor who co-seed-funded PB joins us to discuss its journey and in particular a much-rumoured about (in cognoscenti circles) problem with a default/recovery. He also takes this […]

Platform Black is the UK’s second largest invoice discounting marketplace having traded over 2,000 invoices and recently passing the £100m mark.  On the show John Regan an Angel Investor who co-seed-funded PB joins us to discuss its journey and in particular a much-rumoured about (in cognoscenti circles) problem with a default/recovery.

He also takes this chance to talk about crises in general and how to react to them – whether in life (sailing across the Atlantic) or in business.

In a world where most everyone seems to portray themselves as an entrepreneur John is the real deal. He has a track record of building 3 businesses from start up to trade sale. How many folks have done that once let alone three times?

In the bars and bazaars the whispers/gossip goes around about this company or that. As I have indicated before in terms of verticals in fintech the equity crowdfunding scene seems to produce the most [and if you want some gossip check out a very un-fluffy bunny blog on deals and companies in that sector – The Truth About Equity Crowdfunding].

In P2P by far the most rumoured/gossiped about company has been Platform Black – the number two player in the fintech invoice discounting market. I have heard countless stories from countless sources. Plenty of smoke but differing accounts of the fire and how much damage it did. John has kindly come on the show today to dispel the smoke and talk about the fire.

Normally at this point I summarise the main topics of the show.

In a world obsessed with “data” its hard to recall that data is at the bottom of a hierarchy. Above it is information. Above that knowledge. Above that at the top of the tree is wisdom.

This show is about wisdom. That wisdom applies in life and in business and plenty of it in P2P (not least of which the weaknesses of a “true” (Ebay-like) marketplace model).  If I summarised it the real juice would get lost – a bit like me saving you going to a performance of Macbeth by telling you it’s about an over-ambitious bloke who egged on by his pushy wife tops a king and it all ends in tears.  Thats a summary but you see how it loses most everything.

So this is one for the audio listeners only

Dive in and enjoy!