Deutsche Bank
Marcus Trotter, Deutsche Bank.
- Marcus Trotter, 28, is an innovation specialist at Deutsche Bank and one of Business Insider's UK Fintech 35 under 35.
- Trotter helps the investment bank identify the most promising startup to work with. He previously ran Telefonica's tech accelerator Wayra in the UK.
- Trotter shared his advice and tips for young people looking to get ahead in business with Business Insider.
LONDON - Marcus Trotter, 28, is one of Business Insider's UK Fintech 35 under 35, a ranking of young rising stars in the UK financial technology industry.
Trotter is an "innovation specialist" at Deutsche Bank, helping the bank monitor UK fintech startups and decide which ones to work with. He came to the bank in 2016 after stints helping to run Telefonica's UK startup accelerator Wayra and advising the Duke of York on tech.
BI jumped on the phone with Trotter to hear how he got where he is today and what advice he would give to anyone looking to follow in his footsteps. Here's what he said:
'I jumped at the opportunity, not aware I was extremely naive'
"There was no clear destination when I embarked," Trotter told Business Insider.
He studied Modern Languages and History at London's UCL before considering a career in law but he quickly realised he wanted something "a little bit more hands on."
"I got this random call from a headhunter asking if, because I'd studied languages, I'd be interested in joining Telefonica in the UK in their leadership graduate programme," Trotter recalls.
He thought, why not? And after 18 months working in strategy, Trotter got the chance to work at Wayra, Telefonica's startup accelerator.
At Wayra, "an opportunity came up to move over and complete what was a short assignment running one of their programmes, what was at the time their social impact programme, Wayra Unlimited," he said.
"I jumped at the opportunity, probably not aware that I was extremely naive about what I was getting myself into. I think in the space of probably three to four months I probably made up for all of the time which I spent sitting behind an excel or a powerpoint in the previous 18 months."
Trotter threw himself into the task and performed so well that he was offered the opportunity to run all the Wayra programmes in the UK. He ended up spending two-and-a-half years there, designing an entire programme that was rolled out to Telefonica's other accelerators around the world.
'Thirst and zeal'
How did he go from graduation to running a startup accelerator in less than five years?
"I joined at a time where there was a lot of flux within the organisation," Trotter said. "The old school management were being replaced by a new team. Within that almost chaotic situation, there was an opportunity for people like myself to just get on, get the job done, get their hands dirty, and in the space that had been created show the value that they could bring. Just really that thirst and zeal."
Through Telefonica Trotter ended up working with the Duke of York who was setting up a tech pitching competition, Pitch @ The Palace.
"Then I was trying to figure out, what do I want to do next?" Trotter said. "I'd dabbled in strategy, dabbled in venture, [and] knew that entrepreneurial space was the thing which really interested me."
He "vividly" remembers reading that Deutsche Bank was planning to open innovation labs around the world and "just knew I had to be involved somehow."
Trotter "hustled" his way to a meeting with John Pearson who ran innovation for Deutsche Bank in the UK and Ireland at the time.
"They took a punt on someone who didn't have a financial services background, and LinkedIn tells me I've been here for two years," Trotter said. "I'm now looking at how do we consolidate some of the experience that I've had here in London to further add to the capability globally with the rollout of our fifth innovation lab in Singapore."
'There's always room to learn new things'
What has Trotter learned in his whirlwind career so far?
"I think it comes back to always being inquisitive," Trotter said. "One of Telefonica's board members, I remember him saying to the new cohort of entrepreneurs we had just invested in: 'Never stop being curious or inquisitive.' That's something I think I've always employed."
"Irrespective of how much of an expert you become in a particular area, there's always room to learn new things."
He added: "If we look at the innovation space, that is very true. I might not be an expert in artificial intelligence but what are the other factors around that artificial intelligence ecosystem that may affect the future development of it?
"There's nothing I like more than when I get a couple of hours on the weekend of downtime to pick up a paper, have a look at Twitter, have a look at the Economist, just kind of absorb what's going on because you never know the next week you can lean on that kind of knowledge that you've ingested to help shape your thought process."
