In a nutshell: AssetTribe is a digital wealth management platform focusing on thematic and engaging alternative investments. Alternatives are the fastest-growing segment of wealth management. Goldman Sachs predicts the overall asset class will expand from $10 trillion to $30 trillion by 2026, and alternative investment is now becoming a mainstream asset class outside of just institutions. By bringing technology to the sector, AssetTribe can offer previously inaccessible assets to its tribe of members.

Amar: Jeremy is a well-known character on the research circuit. When I first met him, we were working on competing solutions. After a successful exit of RSRCHXchange, AssetTribe is a great proposition tackling some interesting alternative asset classes. Who doesn’t like fine wine, collectable watches and fast cars?!

Amar: Can you tell us about your background and how you became a founder?

Jeremy: I spent sixteen years as an investor in both private and public markets, spending the last seven of those years as head of Global Special Situations at a hedge fund. I always wanted to start my own business since I worked in private markets and watched others build businesses. I was inspired to follow suit and watched several former colleagues succeed in their own businesses outside of finance. It takes a lot to cut the handcuffs of financial services, but I did. I started my first startup in 2014 and sold it in 2019, and now I am back with my second. 

Amar: What do you most enjoy about being an entrepreneur? 

Jeremy: I love building products and solving problems. I love the variety of the work and I love the challenge. I like to push myself. I like the buzz and the adrenaline of not knowing what is around the corner.

Amar: What keeps you motivated?

Jeremy: A fear of ending up back in the Midlands! Honestly, I get easily bored and I am never bored running a startup. Never.

Amar: What do you worry about when it comes to work? 

Jeremy: Fundraising in this environment. It is always the hardest part of the job and something that is never far off the top of the to-do list. This is a tough environment for startups in any sector as institutional money hunkers down and Angels sit on their hands for a bit.

Amar: What’s your biggest business learning?

Jeremy: Hiring is the hardest part of the job. People are your greatest asset in an early-stage business… in almost any business. Good people will make or break your business. Finding them is hard and keeping them is even harder. Things are not always easy and keeping employees who are probably underpaid and overworked motivated is tough.

Amar: What advice would you give new and aspiring entrepreneurs?

Jeremy: Always start with your customer and solving a problem for them. You may not get it right the first time, but listen and iterate. At AssetTribe, we have currently spent a lot more on customer discovery than we have on tech. That will flip over at some point, but we are still learning exactly who our customer is, where we find them, what their problems are today and what exactly they want from us. 

Amar: Anything else to add when it comes to your experiences as a founder?

Jeremy: Starting a business is about tenacity, organisation and getting things done above clever ideas.

Amar: Tell us something people don’t know about you…

Jeremy: I used to be a marine biologist.

Amar: What is the most important quality to possess as a leader?

Jeremy: Bringing people along with you on the journey. As I said, it is a people business. Inspiring those around you is an essential part of the job. It’s not always easy. Sometimes you are riddled with self-doubt, but you can’t show it on the outside.

Amar: Have there been any positives to come out of the upheaval of the last two years for you or your business?

Jeremy: Working efficiently remotely is an obvious answer. But, for me, it’s being able to juggle your time and conduct efficient meetings with action points in fifteen to twenty minutes – not sit through hour-long meetings in stuffy meeting rooms where everyone has to say something. As a result, not needing full-time office space at a startup makes the money go A LOT further, which is no bad thing.

Amar: Who would play you in a film of your life? 

Jeremy: Taron Egerton. Has to be someone with green eyes. We are a rare breed.

For more information on AssetTribe, visit assettribe.io. If you’d like your company to feature in our Argella Spotlight Series, get in touch at info@argella.co.uk.