This is a BIG post for me .... 5 years ago Matt Thomas and I launched Smarta and it was an incredibly bitter sweet moment for me. 6 months previously my wonderful partner and my sons Dad had passed away. Smarta was an idea Steve and I came up with whilst on holiday in Florida, but tragically, he was never able to see the idea come to life. For the first two years, I filled every available moment with work; I figured the more I worked, the less pain I would feel and Smarta gave me a sense of belonging, of doing something good, of giving something back. I am truly proud of what we have achieved; the support weve given to small businesses and the people weve inspired to do it for themselves. The Smarta100 Awards is the highlight of the year for me and I think this years was the best one yet - not least because the lovely Oli Barrett was hosting it. If you want to see Britain at its best, look no further than the Smarta100 entrants - they simply warm my entrepreneurial heart. Over the last 2 years, Smarta has undergone enormous change. What started out as a content and event based business has become a leading software provider; creating, building and developing platforms for many of the high street banks. In turn, this software has empowered thousands of businesses to be able to run their business better and that makes me very proud. When businesses change, its easy to get caught up into thinking that you should be able to change with them and that your natural skill set should just fit right in, but thats rarely the case. I love technology, but I dont build it. I love building the relationships and brokering the deals, but Im not the big data analyst. At the beginning of this year, I realised two things: 1. I was missing creating the content and events that Smarta set out to do and 2. We needed someone with real technical and banking experience to drive the business forward if we were to fully realise the potential of the software we were building. So in March, I took a tough decision to replace myself. Alongside help from the Board and my Chairman, we scoured for not just the right credentials, but also the right fit. We found him - his name is Toby Gordon and Ive actually known him for 8 years ... funny that. Often what you are looking for is right in front of you. So as of today, I am very happy to announce that Smarta has a new CEO, Toby Gordon. In fact, Toby has been in this role for the last month, just operating under the radar! My role as Founder wont change and I will still be very much involved. The Chairman thinks my new title should be CIO (fortunately this doesnt mean Chief Information Officer, rather Chief Inspiration Officer) but that feels a little too American to me. :-) Thankyou to everyone who has been part of this journey with me and with Smarta. You got me through the most difficult time in my life and for that I will be forever grateful. This feel like a wonderful new chapter for me and for Smarta and for the first time in a long time, I am actually looking forward to a New Year. Shaa X
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 14:53:50 +0000
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