IT at Opto: opportunity (and challenge) in marrying tech and finance

At a 2024 offsite, one of our co-founders challenged us to think about what being a technology company focused on the finance space means for how we work as a team and our culture. They asked the following questions:

  • How can we create a company of top investment thinkers while never compromising on a top technology culture?
  • How can we apply a technology mindset in every area of the firm?
  • How can we create ample investment context and education for everyone?
  • How can we teach everyone to think like an engineer and systemize their processes?
  • How can we partner more deeply with our clients by partnering more deeply with each other?

These questions are very much worth considering, given that the financial services industry as a whole massively underperforms even the next-worst industry (transportation) in terms of agility, execution, and innovation. (See chart below.)

geek way - chart of innovation by industry Source: The Geek Way: The Radical Mindset that Drives Extraordinary Results, by Andrew McAfee, November, 2023.

This only fuels our fire further to make this marriage a success. We see a bunch of uncompetitive dinosaurs flailing around at a $13T market opportunity (rising to more than $20T by 2030!) when we know we can do it 10-20x better with a tech-centred approach.

When you feel the energy we get with everyone together over the lunch table in the office, you’ll definitely understand why we think we’re on the right track.

Opto is a tech startup

When someone asks for “IT Support” to copy/paste values out of a website into a spreadsheet, courier a laptop to their home, file a Linear ticket for them, or screenshare because they can’t figure it out - this signals that the learned helplessness has yet to be expunged.

we are not your geek squad, analyst pool, or tech team

That isn’t to say that there aren’t real problems that we need to support with a non-scalable IT Helpdesk mentality. Those usually are physical IT, such as:

  • My laptop is having problems with the keys sticking
  • The office wifi is persistently slow when I try to connect
  • Please get a mouse for my desk

Otherwise, we can use scalable/automated techniques to provide as close to a self-service experience as possible to all Optonauts - in line with what we’re trying to achieve as a company as a whole.

Freeing yourself from being a machine

For people used to seeing IT and technologists as a servant class, this is a dramatic shift… to finding freedom in building something new versus being a merchant in a dying field.

Are you ready to embrace your freedom from being a machine? We’d love to talk with you!

redpill

For disclaimers, visit https://www.optoinvest.com/disclaimers.