We're not a Unicorn. We're a Zebra.

Eight months ago I had to do the most challenging thing in my career - restructure our company and let people go in order to do so. It really sucked. Thinking about it still makes me sad and pensive.
 

The restructure, the reorganization, and the retrenchments were necessary to ensure our sustainability and navigate a time of extreme uncertainty, in case… in case of another COVID wave… in case anything else happened. 
 

At that time, we had no clue what was about to happen.
 

And sadly, it did. 

On the 24th of February, Russia invaded Ukraine and a terrible war started. Millions of people have been displaced. Thousands have died. The world is worried.
 

The economic impact of this conflict is present in all our lives. We see it in the price of everyday things - fuel, energy, food. We constantly hear about it.
 

Similar to COVID, no one can predict how long this will last or how severe the impact will be.

This has been a tough year on many fronts. 

These are challenging times for all, but nevertheless, we must do what we can to persevere.
 

For Mama Money, we still feel the impact of our restructure from earlier this year. Some long-time colleagues have left us and we have stretched our family mindset while embracing a new way of working with a more integrated, caring, community culture. 
 

We have had to make sacrifices and hard decisions to ensure we would be sustainable. 

It was the right and wise thing to do, as today we are stronger.

I’m incredibly optimistic about Mama Money’s future, and I’m so glad we are where we are today.
 

1. We have the teams we can afford - and we can afford them.

Financial health is the core of our strategy and ensures we have a strong foundation to build on. That means we can sustain our team’s salaries, our growth and all other costs WITHOUT external funding, but through the activities of our customers.

For a fintech company, the idea of not raising money may have seemed unambitious one or two years ago, when investments were crazy and popping in the news every week.
 

Unfortunately, many of these companies are now facing challenges to carry on fundraising because their valuations have decreased in line with the market.
 

We do not face this challenge. Being financially self-sustainable and building that resilience is an immense achievement. I’m very proud of all the efforts that have led to us being in this fortunate position.
 

2. We have learned many lessons about frugality and quality

Frugality is a word that is on everyone’s lips today, from governments to CEOs, and in many households. If you’re not thinking about it you probably should start.

I believe being frugal doesn’t mean being cheap. It doesn’t mean being weak or unambitious.

It means being prudent. It means actually focusing on quality and not quantity, and really appreciating and optimising what we have.

Obviously, that means prioritising. We cannot do everything we want. But for me, it means really paying attention to our quality. To how well we do things and, in line with this, who we hire.  

More than ever, we are looking for the right people. 

People who strongly believe in what we do, in what we’re trying to achieve, and who can strengthen how we do this.
 

3. We are obsessed with our customers and our communities

We do not worry about funding, we do not worry about raising money. This means we can focus on what really matters: our customers. Indeed, they are the ones paying our salaries. 

That means a lot in our world, where our customers are working extremely hard in difficult circumstances, and may not be as fortunate as the people working at Mama Money. 

That means we have a big responsibility towards them, and this is something we embrace every day. 

We try to be closer to them. Closer to their reality and their needs. Our efforts are focused on them, on making their experience better, on being responsive and responsible. We are here to support diasporas and communities that have tangible problems 

So here we are, and I am very grateful. 

To Matt and Raph, thank you for the trust, the guidance and the support.

To all our team members, old and new, who believe in us and have helped us turn things around, worked endless hours and embraced our way, thank you.

THANK YOU so much for your commitment, for your passion and for your contribution to building something much bigger than any of us individually.

Our next chapter has already started, and I’m super excited about our prospects.

We are not trying to be the shiniest new fintech or shout the loudest about our achievements to maximize our valuation at all costs.

We are learning to navigate through dry lands, we value coexistence and communities. We’re building ourselves for the long run as we try to improve society.

Who knows if we’re really out of the woods? For sure, we’re ready for our next challenge.

We’re not a Unicorn, we’re a Zebra.