iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Sarah Kocianski @sarahkocianski.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

Is anyone else getting podcast ads from Canada's FDI dept encouraging them to expand their business to the country...? To be clear, I listen to 0 podcasts related to my profession so I'm wondering if this is a blanket approach by the Canadians. 🤔

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Sarah Kocianski @sarahkocianski.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

I know people have different levels of what's acceptable on trains but the woman behind me has been humming, badly, to the point I can hear it through my noise cancelling headphones, for 1 hour — there's 3.5 more to go. I think it's worse than the whole watching-tiktok-without-headphones situation.

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Sarah Kocianski @sarahkocianski.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

I've said it before but for the people at the back: If you ask me to speak at your event and I accept, please, please, PLEASE send me a diary invite for the time you want me at the venue and the event details. Otherwise it's highly likely I will forget/book something over the top...

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Sarah Kocianski @sarahkocianski.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

This is fascinating and a brilliant idea. Nevermind how much you upset customers, regulators do NOT like outages either. Plus Monzo has the option to monetise this by white labelling it. www.finextra.com/newsarticle/....

finextra.com

Monzo develops backup bank to cover outages

Engineers at Monzo have developed a fully independent backup bank — covering data, software, and infrastructure — which can be instantly activated during outages.

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Sarah Kocianski @sarahkocianski.bsky.social · 09/01/2025

Hmm. On one side, automating lead generation is something VCs have been attempting for years so there's definitely a need, and there's a case it could help underrepresented founders. On the other, so much will depend on the quality of data fed in. Also: The photo... techcrunch.com/2025/01/09/d...

techcrunch.com

Defiant is a new European VC firm that uses data and products to make better investments | TechCrunch

Defiant is a new early-stage VC firm focused on B2B SaaS and fintech coming out of stealth Thursday. Joseph Pizzolato (pictured right) and Cam Rail

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Sarah Kocianski @sarahkocianski.bsky.social · 09/01/2025

This is just one set of numbers, but it illustrates the trend we're all seeing — VC funding continues to be ever harder to come by for fintechs. It would be interesting to see some data on PE and how the trends compare if anyone has any? www.innovatefinance.com/capital/fint...

innovatefinance.com

FinTech Investment Landscape 2024 - Innovate Finance – The Voice of Global FinTech

FinTech Investment Landscape 2024 The UK has been a global leader in FinTech for the past decade, repeatedly securing more investment than anywhere else

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Sarah Kocianski @sarahkocianski.bsky.social · 17/12/2024

Siemiatkowski's known for giving journos quotes to create clickbait headlines & this is a perfect example. There's so much nuance here but mainly, Klarna overhired post 2021 (like many fintechs) & rather than admitting that, it's diverting attention by talking about AI techcrunch.com/2024/12/14/k...

techcrunch.com

Klarna's CEO says it stopped hiring thanks to AI but still advertises many open positions | TechCrunch

Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski recently told Bloomberg TV that his company essentially stopped hiring a year ago and credited generative AI for

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Sarah Kocianski @sarahkocianski.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

It's well known that people find it easier to use cash to budget & I can see why — it's tangible, when it's gone it's gone. But what does that say about financial education and the psychology behind how we think about "money"? Shoppers increasingly using cash to budget www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.uk

Shoppers increasingly using cash to budget

Notes and coins used in a fifth of transactions, say retailers - a second consecutive annual rise.

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Sarah Kocianski @sarahkocianski.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

Today is our first ever all day conference! We've brought investors and ecosystem supporters from across the UK to Wales to help our founders understand what the most appropriate funding for them is, and how best to get it.

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Sarah Kocianski @sarahkocianski.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

This is an interesting example of "fintech for good". Third party calculators already exist, but you have to have the head space to go and find them. If it's in your banking app, it's in context and therefore may see higher usage. ffnews.com/newsarticle/...

ffnews.com

Lloyds Launches Tool to Help Eligible Customers Claim Benefits, With £23bn a Year Going Unclaimed

Lloyd's has launched ‘Benefit Calculator’, a new feature that gives customers a simple way to identify the benefits they may be eligible for

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Sarah Kocianski @sarahkocianski.bsky.social · 08/11/2023

You don't try and compete with Nubank, that makes zero business sense.

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Sarah Kocianski @sarahkocianski.bsky.social · 08/11/2023

Given our European friends can't join us on Threads I'm here as well, but how the hell do I find my fintech people?!

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