"I worked for a nightmare fintech that was more corporate than a bank"

I used to work at a major fintech startup in London. The culture wasn't very startup-like.

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Working at this fintech was very intense. It had a high-pressure culture and lots of competition. Performance, however, wasn't measured objectively. It was all about perception. People often felt the need to be extremely vocal in order to be recognized, but this came at the expense of collaboration and efficiency.

There were corporate-style management techniques like 'calibration' sessions where managers would spend hours comparing employees at the same level. They would debate who was strongest, who was weakest, and decide on promotions or 'exits' accordingly. This approach can work in a large corporation or bank. At a smaller startup it created a lot of tension. 

Since then, I've moved to another major fintech. It's a refreshing change; there's a more collaborative approach here where impact is valued over visibility. 

Douglas Chowder is a pseudonym.

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