My thoughts too - this is the hook for tap talent
Sweet sweet options
Yes, bonuses in options is the best way to hold folks.
Otherwise FT trains them and pumps their CV and they jump to the new techy around the corner or they will demand massive salary hikes. Options allow a deferring of payment so to speak which is perfect for start ups.
The big tech companies are some of the highest paying companies in the Bay Area yet new unicorns still emerge. The same will happen in London. A startup with some good idea doesn’t need any of the top 20% of talent; it just needs the good idea and mediocre developers.
So if you have an amazing idea you can get away with crap developers?
There’s a greater number of candidates available in the US, so quality employees isn’t going to be an issue
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Having multiple employers wanting top talent is fantastic for an area - they pull in people from all over, the competition drives up salaries and the ability to move jobs easily forces companies to be great places to work.
Ah, nice to see a mention in this article. 
Google, Facebook, and Amazon have an exponential view of the future. I remember Larry Page giving an internal talk and mentioning the hiring of a million engineers and what we could achieve with that. They’re not there (yet 
), but these companies have an insatiable appetite for engineers, and they use their ridiculous profitability to offer compensation packages that are designed to take any questions of the candidates off the table. And the Brexit related drop in the value of the pound made London a bargain for them.
This is the environment we compete in.
On the other hand, there is a generation here that came through the ranks at these companies and they are ready to finally build European tech companies that scale.
Here’s the related part in the Forbes article:
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I think making the company more attractive to candidates is the last reason for involving a large VC, There may be reasons for a large institutional round but looking good on recruitment websites isn’t a good one IMO. Looks like Freetrade is already attracting some top talent without it.
I’m waiting till they open an office in Lancashire, don’t really want to move down south 
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I fully agree. Especially if you take potential liquidation preferences into account.
The right candidates are just as impressed with our crowdfunding track record as they would be with a brand name VC. Both are strong social proof.
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Any plans to have a non-London office or offer work from home.
Also are there any plans to have specialist financial services people down the line. Your vacancies generally seem a bit light on fin and heavy on tech, which makes sense at the current stage.
I think you’ve got that exactly the wrong way round, it needs a good team, and the initial idea doesn’t matter much, it sets a direction and nothing more.
An initial idea is just a starting point, on day 0 the idea and company are worth approximately £0. Continuously executing well, building on ideas people want to pay for is everything (ideas which your customers, when you have some, will constantly give you for free, so many you can’t build them all). Building a good team is central to that.
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We can agree to disagree. Most startups are a different twist on a CRUD app
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I’d love to work at Freetrade, I work in IT, and studied Computer Science and Mathematics. However my roles so for have not been developer roles so I’m very rusty on my coding. I’m starting to learn python in my free time.
To what level of experience do you require you’re developers / software engineers to be? are there any other IT related roles available?
Thanks Finki for sharing, I’ve already had a look at this and don’t see any junior engineering roles unfortunately. Would love to get into a software engineering role but don’t think I have the relevant on the job experience for the current roles available.
Wondering if there are any plans to hire junior developers in the near future?
I’m learning python now, to try an expand my skill set, as the biggest and best investment strategy, is to invest in youself :).
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Hey @mj-investor - we are! We’re just putting the details together but please don’t hold back - apply for the software engineering role and just leave a comment.
Cheers!
Ian
I’ve been in software development for a few years, after leaving a finance role and after studying physics. Changing careers is very common nowadays.
I’d love to apply to freetrade but I’d have to convince my family to move to London !
Oh this sounds great! I was hoping to hear that it was in the pipeline!
Will sort out my details and apply soon then! Thanks Ian! Freetrade seems like a company I’d be passionate to work for!
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Perfect!
Hoping for some digital marketing roles soon 
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Create roles north of the wall up here in Winterfell
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