The late Nick Hungerford, Fintech founder & investor

*** This article was written before Nick’s passing in 2023. It was a privilege to talk to Nick about his life, work, family and career journey; a moment and a friend I will never forget. ***

Nick Hungerford grew up wanting to be a teacher.

I’m sure he would have been inspiring, effective at managing the classroom and a tough marker…but he didn’t take that path. Nick is an award-winning entrepreneur and one of London’s Fintech pioneers. In 2011, he co-founded Nutmeg, an online investment management service which made headlines earlier this year when it was acquired by JP Morgan Chase. Now working as Venture Partner at Portage Ventures, Nick invests in Fintech companies that aim to change the way the financial system operates, for the better.

From leadership and fostering a long-term career mindset, to following the rules of investing, saving and charitable giving – here, Nick shares a wealth of business knowledge and insights, together with some powerful advice for anyone wondering if it’s too late for a career change.

Tell me about your journey from banker to entrepreneur and investor; was there a plan or a vision from the start?

I knew from pretty young age that I wanted to run my own business, but I didn't have a timescale on that - so, working in a large corporation after my undergraduate degree was absolutely fine for me. It gave me a lot of experience, a lot of satisfaction; I had a really good time, learnt a lot. And when I got to about age 26, I realised that I needed to get more formal training on running my own business.

There's really only two ways to do that: one is to go and work in a start-up, where you’re very close to the action; and the other is to do a qualification and training. I was more familiar with the latter route and so I went to do my MBA - to learn how to operate and run a start-up business and study the traits of entrepreneurs.

Coming out of it, I didn't have the urgent need to start a business there and then. I wanted to wait until I had a good idea - even though I was trying super, super hard to start a business. I went through lots of ideas and I had given myself a few months after graduation to find a job whilst I was brainstorming. But I knew from a very early age that being a founder was what I wanted to do because the people around me who ran their own businesses seemed to have this extra layer of investment in the work they were doing…. freedom to control things… their destiny in their own hands. But I had no idea what it really meant.

So, you knew that you wanted to start your own business, but not what kind of business - what else was guiding your decision process?

I always think with career conversations the easy bit is knowing what you don't want to do. For me, that's pretty stark! I think anyone that knows me would agree that anything to do with manufacturing or DIY is probably out of the question. Most people who know me would say that fashion and music is probably out of the question. My skills really revolve around getting stuff done, organising, teaching and maths - so it was always going to be a combination of those four things.

When I started working in a bank after university, I soon found that I really loved investing as well; that was a passion - so, it was going to be in that general area. I grew to learn that working with money could be very profitable and financially rewarding, so that was definitely a motivator for me as well.

Tell me more about the other motivators that have contributed to your work as an investor and Fintech entrepreneur.

I get lots of benefits from being someone who, until very recently, didn't understand there is a “grey” in life; I only ever knew black and white. So, it took me very little time to understand that if you want to be a good investor and end up wealthy, the solution is ‘get rich slow’… it’s not get rich fast. I probably realised that when I was one year into the job, at age 21. That became undeniable logic for me.

Because I grew up wanting to be a teacher until entering the finance world, it was very natural that I put together ‘the facts’ with the ‘communication of the facts’… and in the tech world, if I was building something, I would build something that communicated those facts and made them more obvious to people. Once you outline a few simple rules like: -

-        the younger you start saving the richer, you are going to be;

-        the less you touch the money, the richer you're going to be;

-        every time you introduce cost, you are getting poorer

…it makes sense. So, in answer to your question - there were lots of things motivating me, but my desire to communicate what I saw as basic home truths was compelling.

I know that you’re also highly motivated towards giving back – tell me more about that.

In terms of social investing or charity, I think the key lesson that I've learnt and try to share with others is that, when you put that $100 or pounds on a sponsorship for someone's cycle ride when you're at university - and it feels like a lot of money - it's meaningful to that person you’re sponsoring, it's meaningful to you and it probably makes you feel altruistic and purposeful. Where we fall over is that, as our income increases, we stick with that $100 as a default amount. But 10 years later or 20 years later after university, that $100 is not the same as the $100 you had in university. Where we've got to go with social enterprise - and I suppose I've only worked on this myself over the last 10 years - is: if we were earning $10,000 at university and $100,000 now, we should now be giving $1,000 dollars as our sponsorship for the bike ride. Because all of us have a responsibility to give back in some way and to scale that contribution as or if our circumstances improve.

Personally, I try and find charities that are meaningful to me: places I've been where I see a need, people I know doing good things... and I think my wife Nancy and I are learning to do that pretty well.

 What makes your work meaningful to you?

Work is meaningful to me when it is moving things forward. And that could be in a number of senses - but ultimately always judged by the fact that things have progressed since you started. 

I could never bear to work in an environment where I wasn't doing something that made a difference to people in a way they hadn't experienced before. Whether it's starting a company or running a non-profit, I don't want to be involved where we’re doing the same as someone else. The bit that's exciting for me in any aspect of work or life is when you’re slightly over your skis and you don't really know what's going to happen. But you do know that if you pull it off, it's going to have a meaningful impact for one person or for lots of people. In my world you can certainly try and fail, and I've had business ventures where I've failed even though the mission was noble, the purpose was great and it would have helped a lot of people. But I would rather die trying, then not try at all.

Creating meaningful impact for others is clearly a strong value of yours and something that guides your decisions?

It’s a key element and I think it is quite consuming in the sense that once you know that you're doing something that is going to have an impact, it's hard not to think about it day and night. Some days I reflect, and I wish that I didn't have that part of my brain…that I could be content doing something which maybe gave me the opportunity to relax more or focus on my health more or be chilled out. But I know that's not me and I've grown to enjoy who I am. It always takes…. well, in my case, it certainly took some getting used to being that person.  

Key decisions on work and projects in my life also have input from thoughts like: What am I going to do that moves this forward? Who am I working with? Is this a good team to be part of? Do we think it can work?

How would you describe yourself as a leader?

I think it all really comes back to my firm belief that ‘X is the way to do things and therefore, we're going to do X.’ I tend to manifest things through force of will and some people aren't necessarily ready for that charge. Saying that out loud is a good reminder on why my leadership style has limitations.

My leadership is helping people rally behind the mission and the vision and the purpose - and demonstrating through example and hard work that this is the way we're going to do it. But for outside people, potentially it’s more of a crusade… especially when you're inventing something new that hasn't been done before/that people haven't seen. You must accept that people are never going to be warm to it or embrace it until it's familiar and comfortable to them.

As you think about formative moments in your career to date - what stands out?

I think my love of work at some point transitioned into a realisation that work produces money and money produces treats and the ability to make your own choices.

During university term time, I worked at a bar in the hours of the day when I didn’t have class and then at night-time as a pizza delivery boy. The guy who owned the pizza franchise – he just seemed like a great business guy to me. I don't know how well he did; he had two or three franchises so probably did very well, but he would fill in any job that needed to be filled in and he would work really hard…  he had a grasp of everything… operations and accounts and all the rest of it. I took a lot of lessons from that… He was the boss, but he really knew everything that was going on and I remember thinking that's a good lesson. 

Ultimately, it's not just about having an idea and then magically it comes to life; it's about a lot of hard work and training and preparation. 

What advice can you share on navigating career change or transition?

You know, really, until you're 65 years old, you can take a very long-term view on pretty much anything. I think I've been very fortunate in the sense that I've always felt confident about that. So, for me now, around the age of 40, I wouldn’t have any worries about a complete transition. I still feel that I've got so much time in my career; that the compounding impact of my experiences to date and what I will continue to learn are good enough. So, I would say remember that it really is a long time that you’ll be working, and you don't have to make decisions too soon or stick with the ones you’ve made. The risk is that you get to the end of your life thinking, why didn't I change? Very, very rarely is it about ‘why did I change?’ Generally, when you're changing, and it’s your decision, you are changing because of something …because of a learning you've had or realisation you've had …so think long-term. It's just never too late.

I would say another important rule is: spend 30% of your income on your housing, 30% on your savings, 30% on everything you want to buy and 10% for charity. Sticking to that rule will mean that forever (or as close as it’s possible to be to forever) you stay out of financial trouble and you have optionality. The moment you break that rule is the moment you're going to have to compromise in your career because you will not have the same optionality afforded to you. So that’s something important if you want to maintain control.

Where does this rule come from?

The rule has been around for a very, very long time. I remember my grandma telling that to me. The people I advise are encouraged to do that! So that's why it's important for you and Rich to be doing pensions and ISAs for your children now! Every year, fill up their pensions and fill up their ISAs!

Nick Hungerford died on 6 July 2023. Before his passing, he and his wife Nancy setup Elizabeth’s Smile (named after their daughter): a charity to support bereaved children. Elizabeth.org