Build the Right Culture, Align Product with Market, and Pivot Fast

Folley Ogundele, a proven operator with experience leading enduring FinTech companies like Stripe, Wise, and now finmid, joins our Catalyst program. This program is designed to fulfill our promise of meeting founders at eye level, providing world-class sparring partners, and offering insights from those who’ve walked in their shoes. Folley dives straight in with the top three things startups must get right: culture first, then product, and crucially—learn from your mistakes, FAST.

“One big reason startups fail is their culture. It’s true: culture eats strategy for breakfast. If you create a high-performance culture, you’re in the best place—and that doesn’t necessarily mean everyone’s working 18 hours a day, seven days a week. It means everyone is aligned to the goal and prepared to go above and beyond to achieve it. You need to reinforce this goal, not just through a company mission statement, but through the way you work and incentivize employees. When you get the culture right, it becomes the default, and exceeding expectations becomes the way you operate.”

Culture is fundamental according to Folley, but it is just one part of the equation. For Folley, tackling the connection between product quality and distribution is a must. "After culture, startups need to ensure they are not only establishing product quality but that the product is aligned with distribution," he advises. "You don’t need a perfectly clear and coherent plan from day one, but you need to have a sense of who your customers are, why they’re going to buy from you, how you're going to get the product solution into their hands, and what impact it’s going to make."

To navigate this, Folley stresses the importance of a strong and adaptable value proposition. "Articulating the impact of your product is an essential element in this go-to-market journey—that’s your ‘value proposition,’ which will evolve. You might start by offering one solution or solving one problem, and suddenly you’ll be solving multiple problems that a customer might not have even anticipated. What’s imperative is that you can consistently articulate the impact of your product, even as it evolves," he explains.

However, moving quickly and learning from mistakes is also critical in a fast-paced startup environment, with an emphasis on the quick, according to Folley. "If you’ve got the culture right, and the product is solid, and you know how to take it to market, the next thing you need to learn is how to move fast and learn from your mistakes. You will make mistakes, and that's a good thing in startups," says Folley. “But the better thing is calibrating your direction based on those mistakes. Don’t over-correct. Recognize when something’s not working, pivot, and move quickly in the process. That’s the difference between a big, established company and a startup. You can say, ‘Hey, we tried this for a week or a quarter, and it wasn’t working. Now we are going to do it differently.’ Learning and iterating should always be a priority.”

Getting the hierarchy of focus right is never easy, and everyone benefits from guidance along the way. The right advisors provide both a high-level vision and a deep dive into pain points: “The Catalyst Program will marry the macro and the micro. You’ve got a successful, long-standing VC with that bird’s eye view at the table with operators who can translate that advice specifically for the industry and position of the operator.” 

At the heart of the Catalyst program is the idea of a true sparring partner—someone who challenges, refines, and stress-tests ideas alongside founders. As Folley puts it, “In the startup world, sparring partners are two people refining a solution—literally going through as many permutations and evolutions of the concept as possible. The trick is, you don’t necessarily have to end up with the best solution because you might not know what that is. It’s about getting to the crux of what the best option—or options—are, with someone who’s prepared to be in the ring with you.”

As we continue to bridge the gap between operator challenges and investor insights, leaders like Folley will help set the foundation for a new generation of enduring companies. With a background across fintech and traditional financial services, Folley has honed his expertise in scaling sales teams, expanding into new markets, and refining value propositions. Folley says, "If you're looking to move from founder-led sales to a dedicated sales team, scale that team, prioritize industry verticals, expand into new markets, and refine your value proposition—those are my specialties.”

For more expert insights reach out to Folley via LinkedIn.