How To Build A Global Brand From A Reset

Arpit Gupta: [00:00:00] So we support founders from really early stage startups all the way down to IPO. And then on the other side of the fence, we're also supporting the funds who back these founders.

Amardeep Parmar: Today on the podcast, we have Arpit Gupta, who's the managing director of HSBC Innovation Banking. He led their rebrand last year, and it's helping them to expand into global markets this year. We talk about why he decided to back us. So HSBC Innovation Banking are our headline sponsors for this podcast.

Amardeep Parmar: We talk about why that's so important to have these relationships with the community. We talk about the rebrand itself, how they went about that, how they were able to make it so successful. We look at ARPIT's own angel investing and how being in the startup ecosystem has enabled him to find some amazing companies and offer some really great value to them.

Amardeep Parmar: We then also look at growth. How is HSBC expanding this year? And the key role that brand [00:01:00] pays within that. We're the BAE HQ and I'm Amar, your host and we're powered by HSBC Innovation Banking. So thanks so much for joining us today, Arpit. It's been so great to have you on and supporting us and what we're doing today and the entire mission of the BAE HQ.

Amardeep Parmar: So for those of you who don't know, HSBC Innovation Banking is our headline partners. And I'd love to know, like, and well, obviously I know, but can you tell the audience, like, why is it so important for the bank to support initiatives like us?

Arpit Gupta: Yeah, no, absolutely. I mean, I think, um, I think HSBC Innovation Banking has always been about, um, you know, playing a critical role in funding the founders and finding them the right investments.

Arpit Gupta: Um, so we've always backed bold ideas. We've always backed people who want to do something. And I think when we met and we started talking about what you guys are doing, it was very clear from the beginning that, you know, the mission that you're on is, is also very aligned to what we want to do. And, uh, it's, it's, you know, it's very much in our wheelhouse to support people like, uh, you and the work that you're doing.

Arpit Gupta: So it wasn't really a, I [00:02:00] wouldn't say it was a lot of maths behind it. Uh, I think it was a very natural alignment of vision, purpose, mission. And yeah, and I'm just excited to see how you guys are growing on a day by day basis. It's actually quite exciting to follow that. 

Amardeep Parmar: Yeah, thanks  so much. And what's really interesting as well is that we often, we'll have an advert during this episode, right?

Amardeep Parmar: Telling people about what you guys are doing, but I'd love to hear from your own words for the founders, listening people, listening, who potentially, they're starting company already. Maybe they're starting a fund. What is it they should come to you for? 

Arpit Gupta: Yeah, I mean, so I think, uh, I mean, innovation banking, um, our, our purpose is very simple, right?

Arpit Gupta: Um, and, and if I can just say our, our actually statement, our mission statement is to, to ignite bold ideas that reshape the world, right? I think that's the mission that we have. We truly believe in that. So we support founders from really early stage, uh, startups all the way down to, um, IPO. And then on the other side of the fence, we're also supporting the funds who back these founders.

Arpit Gupta: So I think our role in the ecosystem is [00:03:00] almost, um, on both the sides. If you play, we're always constantly connecting the dots in the ecosystem. So our role is that of, you know, always be the enabler of meeting people and making people connect with each other. Whether it is a fund connecting to a founder, whether it is a founder wanting to do an IPO.

Arpit Gupta: So our proposition is very simple. We bank the founders and investors and we bank them all the way from state startups, all the way to IPO.

Amardeep Parmar:. What's interesting for you guys as well is that it was had a big change in the last year. And some of that started mentality has had to come out too of like adapting and relaunching a new brand.

Amardeep Parmar: And you're behind a lot of that. Can you talk us through that process of going from the brand you had to then deciding, okay, we need to rebrand, set this up and do it successfully as you have.

Arpit Gupta: Yeah. I mean, I think, um, I think last year was an exciting year in a lot of ways. I think we had a lot of sleepless nights.

Arpit Gupta: Um, if I want to do it again, I'm not sure, maybe not, not so soon again. So yeah, I think the process was pretty, um, intense [00:04:00] because, um, you know, we, we were planning to launch this brand in a very short frame of time and it was almost starting from blank sheet of paper. Right. So we didn't have anything. We didn't have a name.

Arpit Gupta: We didn't have a logo. We didn't know what color we were going to be. We didn't even know, you know, um, how it is going to land in the market. So there was just a lot of ambiguity, but one thing that we were very clear was from the beginning is whatever we were going to build, it was going to be built in partnership with our clients.

Arpit Gupta: So we were always going to co-create. So uh, I think what we ended up doing and in hindsight, I think it was a great thing we did. is, um, we created this very small forum of some very exclusive clients with us where we were constantly going back and testing a hypothesis. So anything that we were coming up with, we were constantly engaging with them to say, what do you think about this?

Arpit Gupta: Is it going to work? Is it not going to work? And so on. So I think that really helped because that kept us true to, um, you know, what the ecosystem really wanted. And then I think when we did launch the brand and we did come up with our name and our visual identity, it wasn't really a shock to the system [00:05:00] because it was kind of built along the way with them or at least key inputs from them.

Arpit Gupta: So that really helped. And yeah, and, and obviously, you know, uh, we've had a successful launch at London tech week. We had, um, um, you know, the prime minister come and help us, uh, announce the brand. And then since then we've, uh, been scaling the brand into other markets as well. Right. So we're launching into US.

Arpit Gupta: We've already launched in US, Israel and, and, um, Hong Kong. And then we are constantly looking at the markets as well. 

Amardeep Parmar: So how was at London Tech Week in the audience as well? So I remember that where HSBC Innovation banking was just everywhere. So at that point, I think I knew a couple of people from the bank, but I didn't know too many yet.

Amardeep Parmar: And I remember me and my co-founder being like, we've got to get these guys to be the ones to support us because it's, there's so many different people in this industry and there's a lot of noise. But it just stood out so clearly as you guys were the leaders in this field, right? And you mentioned there about the brand and the visual identity.

Amardeep Parmar: Can you tell us some of the story behind that of why you made the decisions you did? 

Arpit Gupta: Yeah. So again, I think one of the key insights that we got from, you know, talking to the ecosystem was that we had to come up with our [00:06:00] own identity. I think the easiest job would have been to just adopt HSBC. You know, logo and identity.

Arpit Gupta: And I think that was, everybody could have slept a lot more earlier in the day. But the reason we didn't want to do that was because that would not, uh, give the message to the market that we are indeed a specialist bank, right? We do what we do in a very sort of a different way. So, so that was one of the reasons driving it.

Arpit Gupta: The way, and then when we started thinking about, okay, what would be the true representation of who we are, our expertise, our role that we play in the ecosystem, our focus on innovation. Right. Like what could be a true representation of that? And we landed on this idea of a prism, right? And that's our core visual identity.

Arpit Gupta: And the whole idea of the prism is that when you see things through a prism, they, they look different, right? You see different perspectives. And in this scenario, we are the prism of the ecosystem where founders and investors and funds and They look at the ecosystem through us, they see different perspectives and we are able to bring them that different [00:07:00] perspective to that.

Arpit Gupta: So, so I think the prism felt like the true, um, you know, it's a true representation of who we are. And I think that resonated really well. We also then looked at the different color scheme within the prism and I can, I can't even tell you how much debate on the different hues of blue and yellow and the red.

Arpit Gupta: But I think the whole idea again was that our identity sticks apart when you compare it with other banks. I think most of the banks, if you look at, are very corporate and rightly so, or wrongly so, I don't know. But our whole purpose was that we didn't want to come across as another red or another blue or another green.

Arpit Gupta: Um, because, you know, we, we want to position ourselves differently. So hence the idea of a prism, hence the idea of a multicolored prism as well. 

Amardeep Parmar: What part of that did you enjoy the most? Because I know there's obviously a huge challenge to change the branding and everything, but it must've been fun too to have this new blank slate that you could do whatever you wanted with.

Arpit Gupta: Yeah, I mean, it was super exciting, right? Like, I think you don't get an opportunity to build a big financial brand on a daily basis. So I think it was an opportunity for a lot of [00:08:00] people, which is great. I think the fun part of that was to come up with this idea and this concept and, and, and tinker with it until you get it right.

Arpit Gupta: So I think that the whole process was quite exciting. What was not so exciting was the debates and the, you know, you have to take people along on a journey and the sleepless nights that everybody had. And the process itself is going to be quite cumbersome, especially when you're trying to squeeze. you know, what could have been potentially a six to eight month of work into eight weeks, right?

Arpit Gupta: That makes the process even more intense. So yeah, that's what I said. If I want to do it all over again, probably, but not so soon. 

Amardeep Parmar: And like, as we look like to where we are today, right? So you continue to manage the brand and what are some of the things that often you have to think about what's on the challenge you have and what are you working on in the, in the background in order to keep pushing the HSBC innovation banking brand and pushing it forward.

Arpit Gupta: Yeah. So I think our focus, um, you know, uh, so last year the focus was all about making people aware of who we are. Right. I think it was all about [00:09:00] telling them our proposition. It's about landing the brand in the right position and the right place. I think this year is going to be all about scaling. Right.

Arpit Gupta: I think this is all about us telling more and more people of what we do, how we do. Um, I think it's also looking at things in a more international way. So rather than just focusing on the UK, we look at ecosystem in a more global holistic way. I think those are going to be our more focus areas. Then on the more, I think, creative part of it, we're going to be starting to look at how can we push our identity forward.

Arpit Gupta: Even further, the last year was all about, you know, just getting the basics out of the door. This series is going to be, you know, what does our brand 2.0 looks like and how can we make it a lot more contextual and how can we really use the brand to showcase the stories of our clients? Um, because really, I think at the end of the day, where we want to be is we want to make the prison or a visual identity synonymous with the success of our clients.

Arpit Gupta: So we need to find a way of how we merge the two  together. 

Amardeep Parmar:You mentioned that we're expanding [00:10:00] internationally and you said there's been three more countries so far, right? So that's US, Hong Kong and Israel. Was that a new challenge for you as well? Because I guess, obviously, before you've been very UK focused, what were some of the difficulties you had there?

Amardeep Parmar: And how did you overcome those? 

Arpit Gupta: Yeah, I mean, I think, look, it's a work in progress, right? Um, so US has historically been a very strong market for us, especially when we were SBB. But with HSBC, I think it's a new dynamic, right? So, so the market over there is very much in a mode where we need to tell people who we are.

Arpit Gupta: And it's almost kind of starting from scratch. Israel and Hong Kong, again, have different market dynamics. Israel is a smaller ecosystem, but a much more tight ecosystem there. So over there, again, I think the job is very much about. Explaining to people what the brand looks like and so on. I think Hong Kong is the most interesting one for me because HSBC is such a massive brand in Hong Kong.

Arpit Gupta: It's almost synonymous with banking, right? People don't think of anything else except HSBC there. Uh, so over there I think the challenge is more about how do you [00:11:00] bring your innovation credentials out, right? So people don't think of you as a traditional old school bank. People are more focused around, okay, this is a new kind of a bank.

Arpit Gupta: This is innovation capabilities. So I think each market have their own challenges and, uh, the way we're going about it is we're looking at it at an individual market level. We're not putting big, you know, blanket sort of solution that covers everything. Um, and I think that's what we're going to continue to do this year.

Amardeep Parmar: And I think what's interesting too is obviously, as I said, you're doing this big expansion itself, which some, which a lot of your clients are going to be doing. So it's interesting to see you've got that now parallel of, You understand each other very well, and you must have seen so many different startups and scale ups through your ecosystem.

Amardeep Parmar: What are some of the things that you think, like from your experience, that maybe they should be paying attention to, lessons they could take from your experience when they're trying to build their own brands? 

Arpit Gupta:Yeah,  look, I mean, I think, uh, I think any, any business trying to build a brand or scale, right? I think you've got to, you've got to stay true to, um, the market, right?

Arpit Gupta: And I think that's the [00:12:00] one learning that we've always had is that you have to put the client. In the middle of everything that you do, because at the end of the day, you know, we can have very fancy process and big agencies and big budgets to build something really cool. But if it doesn't stake and if it's not resonating with your core audience, then it's never going to see the light of day.

Arpit Gupta: So. So I think, uh, keeping your client in the middle of it, I think it's going to be very, very crucial. The other thing as well, I feel is that, um, you need a lot of support, um, when you're doing something. I mean, we had massive support of our ecosystem, right? I think people really were rooting for us. Um, it isn't something that we were doing in a silo, right?

Arpit Gupta: And I think that that that support is so infectious in a way because it just, you know, it just lets you carry on. So I think if you can find those advocates around you, whether it is industry players, whether it is, uh, your own customers, whether it is, you know, employees, you have to find those advocates who can continue to cheer for you.

Arpit Gupta: Um, that makes the job slightly more easier, I think. [00:13:00] 

Amardeep Parmar: And one of the things I know you do as well yourself is angel investing. So it's one way that you're connected to the start to be consistent in your own personal capacity too. And sometimes I think some people listening, obviously you're going to be either bankers or consultants or things like that.

Amardeep Parmar: And they didn't quite realize that some they can do. So what got you into angel investing? Was that because you were seeing so many incredible companies through the bank? Or is it, what was the motivation there? 

Arpit Gupta: Yeah. I mean, I think, um, I think it's always kind of been from this idea that, look, I, um, have always been drawn to problem solving.

Arpit Gupta: Right. And in my way, the way I kind of interpret this is with entrepreneur journey, you're effectively trying to solve a problem. So I've always been drawn to that mindset that if somebody is trying to solve a problem, let me see if I can help in any way. So that's been my start. And I think, uh, when I see, you know, an interesting proposition or interesting company doing kind of, you know, something and solve a problem, I, my first question is actually not even how can I fund you?

Arpit Gupta: My first question is, Hey, can I help in [00:14:00] any way? And it could be something as simple as, Hey, I don't know how to do this. Can you just tell me how to do it? So it's not always starting with investing. I think it's always just starting about, okay, I'm really curious about the problem you're trying to solve.

Arpit Gupta: Um, and just let me know if I can help in any way. And then eventually, obviously, you know, the more you get deeper into it, the more you realize that actually this is a, you know, this can be a pretty good business. So if there is, you know, if you guys are looking for investment, happy to start there. So that's how I usually start.

Arpit Gupta: And again, I think for me, I find that if anybody wanting to get into that space, I think if you look at anybody around you who's either starting a business or who's wanting to start a business, I think always if having that mindset of you can, how can you help them in solving the problem is a great starting point, uh, rather than going with the mindset that, okay, I'm going to put some money in it.

Arpit Gupta: So I need five answers from you before I can start. I think then you're effectively creating more questions for the, for the person rather than trying to solve the problem.

Amardeep Parmar: How do you tend to help these [00:15:00] founders? So is it to do with your brand role and you try to help them on the brand side or is it a variational mix of things? 

Arpit Gupta: I think it's a real mix, really, I think, because everybody's on a different trajectory, right?

Arpit Gupta: Some people are just starting off. Some people have done that bit and now looking to scale. Um, so my expertise obviously is, is kind of, um, you know, in multiple areas. So there, you know, whether it is marketing, whether it is product, whether it is general business, um, you know, growth strategies, um, so really is whatever, you know, the stage of the companies and what they're looking for.

Arpit Gupta: And, um, sometimes I have, I have, I think I find founders just need also, um, just somebody to listen, right? They're not necessarily wanting me to do anything. And I've had those conversations as well that people just come into me like, look, man, I just want to talk to you. Like, yeah, sure. So, yeah, I mean, I think it's just, like I said, I think you just, you just have to be with them.

Arpit Gupta: And I think sometimes you just listen to what they're looking for. Uh, sometimes you can play a part in it. Sometimes you just don't, and that's fine too. 

Amardeep Parmar: What are you excited for looking into 2024? Like you obviously have these different hats you wear. So the angel [00:16:00] investing side, all of the amazing stuff happening with HSBC innovation banking.

Amardeep Parmar: What's some of the stuff that you're looking forward to the most in terms of challenges or? 

Arpit Gupta: Yeah, I think, I think,  look, 2024, I think is going to be quite an interesting year, especially from where we're coming in 2023. Right. So I think, uh, I feel that 2024 is going to be about, you know, things are going to start to get a little bit steady.

Arpit Gupta: Right. We've had pretty sort of, uh, a choppy couple of years, especially last year, I think. I think things are going to start to get a lot more steadier. So people are going to start to calm down, um, whether it is founders, whether it is investors, whether it is in general. The other thing I'm also thinking is going to happen is, and I think this is more of a human emotion, is people are, uh, I think they're starting to get into this mode of de-accelerating.

Arpit Gupta: Um, I read this somewhere the other day and I think it really resonated with me that I think we've had such rapid growth for the last couple of decades. You know, when it is, whether it is innovation, whether it is economic growth, whether it is [00:17:00] personal growth, there's just so much new that has happened over the last couple of decades.

Arpit Gupta: I think we're reaching a point where people are starting to think about, you know, de-accelerating from that. People wanting to go back to basic, simple things. And I think there's something in there, which I feel is going to really resonate with a lot of people. Um, I don't think people are particularly

Arpit Gupta: looking for the next technological advancement. I know there's a lot of talk about AI and I think again, AI is actually, it's going to be great, but AI, I think is going to be great where it is making your life simpler and helping you get to that de-acceleration mode. Right? So if you can use chat GPT on a, on a regular basis, on a day to day basis, then that's great because that'll help you de-accelerate from a couple other things.

Arpit Gupta: I'm not sure if people are going to be looking for an AI powered backpack, for example, because I don't know what they're going to do with it. It's a great innovation, but I don't know if they're going to do anything with it. So I think that's where I feel 2024 is going to be, it's going to be about that.

Arpit Gupta: I [00:18:00] think it's going to be level setting a little bit. I think it's going to be steadying the markets a little bit. And I think people are going to have this realization that, um, you know, we're gonna, we're gonna decelerate a little Yeah, I think, I think, 

Amardeep Parmar: x We hope you're enjoying the episode so far. We just wanna give this quick shoutout to our headline partners, HSBC Innovation Banking.

Amardeep Parmar: One of the biggest challenges for so many startups is finding the right bank to support them. Because you might start off and try to use a traditional bank, but they don't understand what you're doing. You're just talking to an AI assistant or you're talking to somebody who doesn't really understand what it is you've been trying to do.

Amardeep Parmar: HSBC have got the team they've built out over years to make sure they understand what you're doing. They've got the deep sector expertise and they can help connect you with the right people to make your dreams come true. So if you want to learn more, check out hsbcnnovationbanking.com. 

Amardeep Parmar:Yeah, if you need to see as well, because I said this AI is just changing so many things at once, and it's difficult because some people feel like they have to keep up who is going to fall behind. [00:19:00] What I was thinking about with that kind of stuff is like, I let everybody else experiment. Once they've worked out how it works, then I'll just follow their playbook, right?

Amardeep Parmar: That's the easy way, because say for example, a podcast. I probably have had a hundred people in the last year reach out like, I'm creating an AI podcast tool, do you want to test it? And I don't really want to test it. Once it, once it's working and you've got customers and it's working that great at this early stage, it's like, it's going to be noise.

Amardeep Parmar: And this is obviously one of the difficult things, many innovators, right? Is that you need to get the right problem. And sometimes it's that problem that people aren't paying attention to is where you can really make a difference. Whereas if you're rushing into everybody else is trying to do, then you're just part of the pack and there's some really exciting things coming out from people who are doing things differently.

Amardeep Parmar: And I think it was health tech was the biggest investment last year, right? The most invested sector. Because people, as you said, they think about health, they think about how do they live longer, how do they live healthier. And that's something that doesn't get the headlines. The AI things maybe get the headlines, whereas healthcare [00:20:00] is actually what's on a lot of people's minds, right?

Amardeep Parmar: You want to make sure you're healthy. It's going to be healthy. It doesn't matter how good AI is if you can't enjoy it. 

Arpit Gupta: Yeah. And it's funny you say that, right? Because I was in a, in a session a couple of days ago and, um, you know, we were looking at a couple of stats and one of the stat that jumped out for me was there was a survey that was done.

Arpit Gupta: And in that, uh, it was just general public, like no segments, nothing just general public random, you know, pool. And the people were asked a question that what do you, what are the top five things you expect from companies? What do you expect a company for you to do? Right. Just very general. The second thing on that list was I want a company to contribute towards my health and wellness.

Arpit Gupta: Any company, any brand, doesn't matter what sector. So, I think there's a general perception in people or the expectation from people that corporates or organizations need to do more. In order to contribute towards my well being as a human being, right? And I think it goes back to that whole idea, [00:21:00] that simplicity and that whole idea of I want to go back to basics or I want to go back to simple living.

Arpit Gupta: And if an organization can help me do that or achieve that, whether it is by taking away unnecessary friction from my life, whether it is about creating a product which will take away that chaos from my life and be, I think that is what going to quite going to be quite successful. 

Amardeep Parmar: And howdo you think like HSBC Innovation Banking is adapting to that trend or what's maybe happening within the bank that's reflecting that?

Arpit Gupta: So I think,  uh, I mean HSBC Innovation Banking is a relationship based bank, right? It's always been a relationship based bank. And I think that's what differentiates it. So the idea of having this human to human contact. We're not sitting behind a wall, we're not sitting behind AI, we're not, uh, we don't have complicated, uh, long, you know, drawn processes and all that stuff, I think.

Arpit Gupta: So the bank has always been very human led. I think [00:22:00] we're, we're even going further now and with the power of HSBC is, is doing that at scale. So what we were able to do in the UK for, you know, UK companies is now having to be replicated across, you know, maybe four of the markets or five of the markets, right?

Arpit Gupta: So the scale is different, but also now I think able to, whereas the banking solution, innovation banking solution was kind of, you know, whatever the product suit that we had. We could offer that, but now with HSBC, we are suddenly able to offer a much bigger product suite as well. Right. So, which means, you know, we can actually talk to you not just from a startup to an IPO to a fund, but then when you, let's say if you're a founder and you start a company and you check out, now suddenly you have a lot of this money.

Arpit Gupta: What do you want to do with this money? Right. So the wealth management solution comes in. So I think, um, our approach again to our product and solution is all about how can we create simplicity in life. Um, and it's more at a human level. 

Amardeep Parmar: I also hope the wealth management side is doing the other way around.

Amardeep Parmar: So some of [00:23:00] the founders have exited. Maybe they didn't bank with HSBC, oh, HSBC Invasion Banking before. But now, when they're going to start their next startup, then hopefully they send them your way as well. And it's obviously that virtuous circle, right? 

Arpit Gupta: Yeah, absolutely. And I think we've, uh, I mean, we, uh, we are probably one of the very few banks which actually have a huge referral network because I mean, again, I think it goes back to the, so that we are a relationship based bank, right?

Arpit Gupta: So if, uh, people have a good relationship with some product or some brand, the chances of them recommending is much higher, right? And, and I think banking is probably one of those industries where referral is even the hardest. I don't remember the last time you refer to a bank to someone, right? Nobody, nobody refers a bank.

Arpit Gupta:  Um, it's just, it's not something you do that, right? You can, you can refer. Somebody, your car or something else. So, so I think we're, we're fortunate in a way that people do feel passionate about us.

Amardeep Parmar: I think like you said there about the relationship side as well, because when we've, we've been going for a year and three months now at this point.

Amardeep Parmar: And at the beginning, one of the tough things was [00:24:00] you're getting, you're trading emails with people, but one of the things that you guys did is that you do so many events. And that means that you can go along, you can learn for free. You get to meet people from the ecosystem. Then we were able to make friends with different people.

Amardeep Parmar: So I want to shout out a couple people, but then I'm going to, I'm going to figure out other people. So I'm not going to do it, but they know who they are, hopefully. And they'll probably send me this clip of the podcast now that you didn't say my name. But what that meant is that we had this relationship with people and we could actually tell that they cared.

Amardeep Parmar: Because like I said, even with our angel investment, we are helping people before you have anything to gain from it. And what stood out to us is that they were genuinely curious about what we're doing. Even if it wasn't necessarily a sponsorship point of thing at the moment, it was about like, Oh, like what you're doing is cool.

Amardeep Parmar: Like, Oh, how can get involved? Like, have you talked to these guys? And there was that proactiveness that I think came from the people at HSBC Innovation Banking, which we weren't really getting elsewhere. Other people, you'd have a call with them, what can we get out of this? That was it. That was just, that was a conversation for what we're doing.

Amardeep Parmar: That's not what we wanted. So there's [00:25:00] another way you guys stood out to us is that we actually, there's a good, probably 50 people. We ended up at the bank now where we can have a chat with them where they message me. I've got some of them WhatsApp. I've got some of them I can just go and play football with.

Amardeep Parmar: And it does feel more like that family kind of style vibe or like team vibe. rather than like that barrier that a lot of other companies, I think, have. 

Arpit Gupta:Yeah. Yeah. And I think that's,  that's literally, um, the reason why the bank stands out right in the innovation economy, because I think I do feel that innovation economy is a very tightly knit community, right?

Arpit Gupta: Founders, entrepreneurs, investors, funds, they all know each other, right? Everybody kind of interacts with each other one way or the other. So I think it's such a tight knit community. You cannot be, uh, sort of a traditional bank in a way that you have to have a relationship based approach. So I think that's what stands us apart.

Arpit Gupta: And that actually came to our rescue a lot as well, right? So, um, last year, because of all of the changes that we were going through, the one thing which was the rock solid, uh, [00:26:00] constant was the support of the ecosystem, right? And that would have not happened if we didn't have those relationships, right? So I think it's, um, uh, it's slightly weird actually of how people feel about a bank.

Arpit Gupta: I've never actually known for somebody to feel so passionately about a bank, but I think it's, it's a good weird in a way, because I think that makes you, you know, makes you special. 

Amardeep Parmar: It comes down to people. I think, right? Is that when I remember when, because we already knew people at the bank when the news broke and you're worried for the people that, right, because you know, they've treated you well.

Amardeep Parmar: So you want the best for them and say other banks refuse or like your high street bank. You don't really have a personal connection to them because you don't know anybody there. They've never really made an effort with you. Whereas that's the big thing that stands out. And I think especially if it starts to be consistent too, is that there's so many things that a founder is worried about all the time, right?

Amardeep Parmar: So the same things that can go wrong, the legals, all this kind of stuff. And On the banking side, you don't really know what you're doing. So to have somebody to [00:27:00] kind of hold your hand a bit and just give you a bit of guidance, it actually makes a huge difference because you're worried about hiring, you're worried about clients, you're worried about so many other things.

Amardeep Parmar: To know that you've got somebody, a trusted partner who's gonna, that you also, you're, you've got a vested interest in their success too, right? You want to see them succeed because you want to maintain that relationship. So to have that, I think, makes a huge difference. Whereas, say for a traditional business, It's such a large organization.

Amardeep Parmar: It's quite faceless. They just don't really, the people you interact with don't really care about what you're doing all the time, right? 

Arpit Gupta: Yeah. And I think that's  why, um, you know, this whole thing is that, um, a founder's journey is not an easy journey, right? Or any, you know, fund manager or an, or an investment fund.

Arpit Gupta: None, no journey is fun at the start of it because they're just going to be so much more that you have to do, the planning in it, the obstacles that you're going to get. Um, so it's never a, you know, nobody's flying, uh, you know, had a great start. So I think our job and our role that we play in the ecosystem is that how [00:28:00] can we reduce that friction from those early days in anybody's life, right?

Arpit Gupta: So I think that whole idea of if we can take away the pain of at least the banking side of things. So then you can go and focus on what you really are passionate about, which is your idea, which is what you want to build, right? So the last thing that you want to be doing is drawing your energy on boring stuff, stuff that you don't actually want to be, you know, you're not passionate about, which is fine.

Arpit Gupta: And I think this is where the partnership really works with a bank like ours, because we have sector expertise, we have deep expertise, and we know what we're doing, which you can totally rely on so that you can focus on what you really want to do. I think that's why, um, uh innovation banking credibility in the ecosystem is quite good.

Amardeep Parmar: So thanks so much for coming on today, Arpit. We're going to need to move into the quick five questions now. So first question is who are three British Asians, they love to shout out, they think you're doing incredible work and the audience should be paying attention to?

Arpit Gupta: So three British Asians I would love to [00:29:00] shout out to is one is, um, Joel Gujral.

Arpit Gupta: He has a startup called MYNDUP. Um, which I think is doing phenomenal. And I think I love the work that he's doing because it's so purpose driven. Um, and, uh, and I can, I can just see him making such a big impact to the community and the work that he's doing. So I think go check out MYNDUP. I think it's doing some great work.

Arpit Gupta: Um, the other one is, um, it's a guy called Musa Tariq. Um, he comes from the world of brand and marketing and I think he's done some really good projects around, um, leading brand transformation for companies like Airbnb, Ford, Apple, um, and he's just an all around good guy to think about business and have conversations.

Arpit Gupta: I think he's a great guy to be around. Um, and the other one is Lopa Patel. I think she's a really, really strong advocate for British Asians, entrepreneurs particularly. And I think she's keeping the flag high in terms of making sure that we show up at the right forums, we have a voice at the right table.[00:30:00] 

Arpit Gupta: Um, so yeah, I'm all about her.

Amardeep Parmar: Awesome. So obviously, you know, Joel's been on this podcast before. I think he shouted you out, did he? 

Arpit Gupta: Oh, did he? If he did, he better did. 

Amardeep Parmar: We'll find out. We'll check off of this. So next question is if people want to find out more about you, find out more about HSBC Innovation Banking.

Amardeep Parmar: Where should they go to? 

Arpit Gupta: Please do. I'm all over, I'm all over the internet. So I'm at all of the usual, um, social media channels. So catch me on LinkedIn, catch me on Instagram. Um, I'm not sure if I've checked my Facebook anymore, but yeah, I'm still there. Uh, but yeah, that would be the best way to get hold of me.

Amardeep Parmar: And then is there anything that you need help with right now? that maybe the audience could help you with or help HSBC with? 

Arpit Gupta: Yeah,  no, I mean, I think, look, I'm always very keen, um, to, uh, you know, hear new ideas. I'm always very keen to see, like I said earlier, um, if there are any particular challenges or problems that, um, I could help with or, uh, there's anything that I can contribute to.

Arpit Gupta: So please do reach out to me. Um, but yeah, any comments, any advice? [00:31:00] Always welcome. 

Amardeep Parmar: Awesome.  So thanks so much for coming on today. Have you got any final words? 

Arpit Gupta: Nope. I think it's been fantastic. It's been great. Uh, I love what you guys are doing. I. Um, I'm really, really passionate about, I think, uh, the impact that you're going to make in the community.

Arpit Gupta: And I think we've, it's been long coming to have a forum and a platform like this. So well done to you and Gurvirr. Um, and I can only wish more power to you guys, right? So keep going, keep doing the good work. Uh, and I'm only, I have 2024 is gonna be one of a moonshot ear for you guys, so I'm hoping for that.

Amardeep Parmar: Hello. Hello everyone. Thank you so much for listening. It makes a huge amount to us and we don't think you realize how important you are because if you subscribe to our YouTube channel, if you leave us a five star review, it makes a world of difference. And if you believe in what we're trying to do here to inspire, connect, and guide the next generation of British Asians, if you do those things, you can help us achieve that mission and you can help us make a bigger impact.

Amardeep Parmar: [00:32:00] And by doing that, it means we can get bigger guests. We can host more events. We can do more for the community. So you can play a huge part. So thank you so much for supporting us.

‍

‍