Transcript

0:00 ... made me think and reflect about myself.
0:02 You exist in your own little bubble.
0:05 Especially when you start working for
0:07 yourself, your your bubble gets very
0:08 small. Going through things like mental
0:12 exercises, being forced to think about
0:14 why you're doing what you're doing and
0:16 and what your goals are with people with
0:18 different backgrounds and different
0:19 experiences is is a really challenging
0:22 but rewarding experience.
0:23 Welcome to Inside Ctox podcast. I'm
0:26 Donna, head of membership and
0:28 partnership, and today we're stepping
0:31 inside the minds of some of the most
0:32 innovative tech leaders out there. This
0:35 isn't just a podcast. It's a place where
0:38 CTO journeys come alive, where stories
0:40 of struggles, breakthroughs, and growths
0:43 unfold. We're here to unpack the
0:45 experiences of real CTO's navigating
0:48 through our CTOX accelerator and
0:50 membership program. So, sit back, tune
0:53 in, let's get into the story.
0:56 I am excited to welcome today's guest,
0:59 John Freeman.
1:00 Hi, thanks for having me.
1:02 Thank you, John. John is a UK-based
1:04 fractional CTO and fintech strategist
1:08 helping asset managers in London scale
1:11 smarter through technology. With over 15
1:14 years experience in the industry, John's
1:17 built trading systems generating over
1:20 100 million in P&L and scaled a team
1:24 from just seven to 90 plus. Now leading
1:29 Quant Finn, he partners with
1:31 forward-thinking firms to modernize
1:33 infrastructure, integrate AI, and turn
1:36 tech into a true competitive edge. John
1:40 lives just outside of London, England,
1:42 and enjoying the work from home life
1:44 with his wife and his son. Thank you,
1:47 John, for joining.
1:48 Thank you. Great intro.
1:50 Thank you. You're welcome. Okay. Now,
1:53 you joined COX back back back in
1:57 February of this year. If you can
2:00 remember that far back, what was the
2:02 pivotal moment that made you realize
2:04 that you needed to join CTOX? I I
2:08 remember discussing with Leor about the
2:11 program and and thinking about it and
2:13 sounded good, sounded useful and he made
2:15 a comment along the lines of uh the most
2:18 successful people would just make a
2:20 decision and commit and I was reflecting
2:23 on that made a decision and committed.
2:26 Sometimes it's just taking that step,
2:29 right? You've been very brave.
2:31 So thinking about your journey through
2:34 the CTOX accelerator, um tell me a
2:37 moment when you genuinely felt a
2:40 challenge. What happened and like
2:42 eventually how did you overcome that?
2:44 Some of the the roleplaying
2:47 exercises and and group sessions that
2:50 we've done has definitely challenged me,
2:52 made me think and reflect about myself.
2:55 And I I'd equate that with executive
2:59 coaching if people have been through
3:00 that. You exist in your own little
3:03 bubble. Especially when you start
3:05 working for yourself, your your bubble
3:06 gets very small. Going through things
3:10 like mental exercises, being forced to
3:12 think about why you're doing what you're
3:14 doing and and what your goals are with
3:16 people with different backgrounds and
3:18 different experiences is is a really
3:20 challenging but rewarding experience.
3:22 Great. And what was the thing that
3:24 helped you overcome that challenge?
3:27 I mean, sim similar to to my first
3:30 answer, I remember one of the the things
3:32 we were we we were asked to do was
3:35 thinking about occasions when we've
3:38 procrastinated and not committed and and
3:40 delayed decisions. And that's just not
3:44 really something that I do. So
3:47 overcoming that challenge, any challenge
3:50 for me is often as simple as as just
3:52 starting. So I like anyone will have
3:55 multiple things that I need to do at
3:56 once. But when I pick up the next task,
3:59 just get on with it. And starting
4:02 anything is the first the first step.
4:05 Probably pull out quite a few cliches at
4:07 this point. But it is it is genuinely
4:09 true. When you're working through
4:11 something that makes you a bit
4:12 uncomfortable and making you think quite
4:16 deeply, once you get into it, it it gets
4:19 easier and easier and hopefully becomes
4:22 interesting and and rewarding.
4:23 Is that what you would attribute your
4:26 success in the program to?
4:27 In part, yeah, I I see comments from
4:31 others about putting off XY Z or I've
4:34 I've just come back to this and I did it
4:36 and it turned out to be great. some of
4:37 the things that helped me get where I
4:40 am, I could have put off. And as an
4:43 example, we we're asked to to build a
4:46 list of people to reach out to. And that
4:49 list is intentionally quite deep and
4:51 broad. And as I was working through it,
4:54 there were people on there that made me
4:56 think, I mean, I'll I'm going to do
4:57 this, but I'm not expecting to get
4:58 anything out of it. It'll be nice to
5:01 catch up with them, but what's going to
5:04 actually come out of this? And several
5:06 of those turned into paying clients.
5:08 Oh, excellent. So, you never know where
5:10 the the next client is coming from like
5:14 that's that's great. Um, thinking about
5:16 your personal your personal story uh
5:19 through COX, um, what has surprised you
5:22 the most about your own personal growth?
5:25 I came into the program thinking the
5:27 marketing side was just going to be a a
5:31 task that I'd have to do. and some of
5:34 the initial bits that I went through
5:37 were really not that exciting or
5:39 enjoyable. So, so researching my niche,
5:41 using Apollo to dig into companies and
5:45 individuals that we could reach out to,
5:47 I really didn't enjoy that. But I've
5:49 seen the the approach that CTOX is is
5:53 recommending evolve as well. So, less
5:56 male shots and more very targeted
5:58 outreach. And that that suits the way
6:01 that I work much better because the
6:03 people that I want to do targeted
6:05 outreach to, I enjoy my niche. I've
6:07 spent 20 years in in this business and
6:11 the people that I want to reach out to,
6:13 I will have genuine topics of
6:16 conversation to to talk to them about.
6:19 So that felt a lot more natural to me
6:21 and turned out to actually be quite fun.
6:24 Yeah. Oh, good. Good. Um, okay.
6:30 Can you share a story uh about a
6:33 relationship or a partnership that
6:34 you've built through COX and and the
6:39 impact that that's made particularly on
6:41 your journey?
6:42 Relationships through COX, I'd probably
6:45 highlight the staff if nothing else. So
6:47 yourself, Marissa Leor, the ability to
6:52 reach out and work through a problem or
6:55 an idea or even just share feedback and
6:58 and talk through what we can learn from
7:02 things that have happened. That's very
7:03 valuable to me and it it feels pretty
7:06 natural. So I' I'd probably highlight
7:10 that as a as a good relationship thing.
7:13 Oh, that's great. I promise we didn't
7:16 make him say that.
7:18 All of this is your own words, right,
7:20 John?
7:20 Yeah,
7:22 I do. And what's one piece of advice
7:26 that you've learned through the
7:27 accelerator, but that you'll carry
7:29 forward forever?
7:31 Coming from the UK, we have a different
7:34 sort of psyche to the US. So, it's been
7:36 really interesting to spend time with so
7:39 many entrepreneurs
7:41 from the the other side of the pond. And
7:45 that seems to be a thread that's quite
7:47 common if startups from the UK go over
7:50 to to San Francisco. It's it's
7:53 lifechanging for the founders just to
7:55 see how other people approach the same
7:59 sorts of problems. It brought quite a
8:01 bit of clarity to me to see Leor and
8:04 Marissa talk through opportunities that
8:07 that myself and others encounter and and
8:10 really drill down into how it will move
8:14 you and your business forward. So the
8:17 equity
8:18 offering versus actual cash each month
8:22 in your bank when you start your
8:25 fractional journey, you'll be approached
8:27 with with those opportunities and
8:29 potentially really interesting ones as
8:31 well. But I I think Marissa and Leor
8:33 brought the clarity to me that you can't
8:36 run a business like that. And the key
8:40 bit about joining CTOX and setting
8:43 myself up as a fractional CTO is it's
8:45 it's not a side hustle. It's not a
8:49 evenings and weekends thing for me. I
8:52 came down this road because I want more
8:54 freedom for my own time. Weekends and
8:57 evenings is the exact opposite of what
8:59 I'm trying to do. So that means I have
9:01 to be very thoughtful and and focused on
9:04 what a good engagement is for me and my
9:08 business. And that that clarity is is
9:10 not something you would figure out on
9:13 your own until you've been through a
9:16 year or two of of ups and downs. I think
9:18 it's clarity. That's a really good one
9:20 actually. That that's good because you
9:22 can use that in so many different
9:23 aspects of life as well with
9:26 relationships
9:27 um uh other projects that you're working
9:29 on. So that's interesting. And where do
9:32 you see yourself in 12 months?
9:34 I've been pleasantly surprised at the
9:37 commercial success that I've had. So I'm
9:39 I'm in a very fortunate position that I
9:41 now have clients and I've hit my revenue
9:45 targets in 12 months. I'd like the the
9:49 clients that I'm working with now to
9:50 still be my clients because I see
9:53 genuine runway in in terms of impact
9:58 that I can make with them. What I deem a
10:01 success in in a year from now is having
10:03 a book of clients that I'm working with
10:05 that I enjoy working with. Uh I'm I'm
10:08 very lucky that I've got several
10:10 projects ongoing that are all
10:12 intellectually interesting. If that's
10:15 still the case, I'm going to be
10:17 getting paid and and pretty happy and
10:19 enjoying myself as well.
10:20 Yeah, that's great. That's great. And
10:22 you mentioned like enjoy. How important
10:24 is it to you to enjoy the work and the
10:27 clients that you're that you're part
10:29 that you're working with?
10:30 I think that's one of the main
10:32 advantages of fractional work on on a
10:36 spectrum. You have a full-time
10:38 employment. You have a contract by
10:41 contract employment fractional and then
10:44 some sort of gig type arrangement. I
10:47 guess
10:48 that that gig gig model doesn't work for
10:51 senior technologists. So the fractional
10:53 side for me is about maximizing my
10:56 impact to be impactful. that that
10:59 equates for me with with interesting
11:01 stuff because when technology can be a
11:05 strategic enabler and an advantage for a
11:07 business that that implies an
11:10 interesting problem which keeps me
11:12 interested.
11:12 That's good to stay interested. That's
11:14 so important. Uh I think to to your
11:17 point of of enjoying him. All right.
11:19 Thank you. Thank you uh John. Really
11:22 appreciate that. Now for our final
11:24 segment, we're going to do something a
11:25 bit special. I'm gonna ask Chat GBTE
11:30 live right here. John doesn't know
11:33 anything about this.
11:35 I'm gonna ask chat a thoughtprovoking
11:38 timely question and you have to answer
11:40 it.
11:40 Okay.
11:41 Are you ready? All right. I'm going to
11:43 dictate this to chat.
11:44 Maybe.
11:46 We'll see. You know, we're all big fans
11:47 of so.
11:50 Okay. So, I'm I'm just gonna uh put this
11:53 into chat. Hello chat. GBT. We love a
11:57 bit of spontaneity.
11:59 So we thought, who better to challenge
12:01 us than AI? What question would you like
12:05 to ask fractional CTO John at this
12:10 moment in time? Okay,
12:17 John Chat GPT would like to know
12:21 if a client's product in AI
12:25 becomes more strategic
12:28 than your leadership team,
12:31 do you let it lead or limit its
12:34 influence to protect human decision
12:37 makingaking culture?
12:38 Interesting. So, at at the time of
12:41 filming, I should uh premise this in
12:44 July 25, AI is a little bit away from
12:48 that. So, Anthropic let Claude run a
12:52 vending machine and uh it it definitely
12:55 didn't get to beyond human strategic
12:58 levels. But if we assume it it does,
13:02 then why not? I think the the value
13:06 proposition of of AI in some businesses
13:10 is about efficiency and driving cost
13:14 down and those are the the businesses
13:16 that won't be long-term successful. The
13:18 ones that are long-term successful AI as
13:21 a way to do more. So if you've assembled
13:25 a leadership team that have got you to
13:27 the point where you've achieved AGI
13:30 within the the the concept of your
13:32 boardroom then
13:35 lean into that and and see how you can
13:38 take it further. I mean yeah sounds fun.
13:44 Time will tell.
13:46 Thank you so much John. Um thank you for
13:48 sharing your journey and your insights
13:50 with us um today. Your experience and
13:53 your your advice are incredibly
13:55 valuable, not just to the CTO's, but to
13:57 the broader tech community. Check in
13:59 again for our next episode where we'll
14:01 continue to exploring the stories behind
14:03 the tech leaders shaping the future,
14:05 just like John. Until next time.
14:08 Stories, experiences, and advice you
14:10 hear today are incredibly valuable, not
14:12 just for CTO's, but for the broader tech
14:15 community and leaders. To our listeners,
14:17 thanks for tuning in to Inside Cox.
14:20 Don't forget to follow us on social
14:21 media. Tag us and share your favorite
14:23 insights from the episode. We love
14:26 hearing your feedback. Make sure to
14:28 subscribe and check in again for our
14:29 next episode where we'll continue to
14:31 explore the stories behind the tech
14:33 leaders shaping the future. Until next
14:36 time.