HiveMind Podcast

About HiveMind Podcast

Having a good product and having a business are two different things. Fintech HiveMind is a conversation with the founders, CEOs and revenue leaders building technology companies that sell into regulated markets — where your customer answers to a regulator, nothing is a quick yes, and the buying committee is bigger than the room you're in. We get into the commercial decisions behind the growth. How they price it and take it to market. When they hire, and when they deliberately don't. What they'd build differently. The deals that taught them the most, including the ones they lost. Past guests include Steve Lamb of Kyckr, James Bushby of Tuum, Matt Mills of Ripjar, David Brear of 11:FS, David Jarvis of Griffin and Simon Rogerson of Octopus. Hosted by James Barker — 26 years in sales, 16 of them in fintech and enterprise technology, up to Chief Revenue Officer.

Publisher

jamesbarkert

Category

business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

31 Jan 2025

Latest episode

21 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

28 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   21 Sept 2026

   AI Can’t Sell Core Banking

   James Bushby is four months into the CRO job at Tuum, and he is blunt about the one thing AI will not do for you: cold-call its way into a core banking deal. He and James Barker get into why complex sales still turn on warm introductions and culture, why the date a bank puts on its decision is almost never the date it decides, and the red flags that say a prospect was never going to buy. Plus a quick-fire round on which channels are actually underrated in 2026. What we get into Why AI belongs around core banking, not inside the system of record Where AI genuinely speeds up enterprise selling, and where it quietly costs you the deal How to read the real timeline on a bank's buying decision, not the one written on the RFP The two red flags that tell you a prospect will be a bad customer long before contract Why culture outranks a salesperson's black book when James Bushby hires What a quick-fire channel audit says about partners, paid media and events in 2026 About the guest James Bushby is Chief Revenue Officer at Tuum. He started out in the ATM industry, co-founded an independent ATM deployer that went into administration in the 2008 crash, and spent the years after that in large organisations including Mastercard, before moving to Mambu. He joined Tuum in 2026. Chapters 00:00 Cold open 02:02 From ATM entrepreneur to administration in 2008 07:09 Which size of company actually fits you 10:36 Core banking in 2026: fintechs moving in on the banks 12:29 The two extremes of core platforms, and where Tuum sits 15:09 SaaS, private cloud and the quiet return of on-premise 16:56 Partners, direct sales and marketing: what opens doors 19:43 Quick fire: underrated, overrated, correctly rated 22:23 Is AI in core banking actually a thing? 26:46 Where AI helps you sell, and where it does not 29:32 Can you speed up a bank's buying decision? 34:15 The red flags that make a prospect the wrong customer 38:27 Hiring: market knowledge, gravitas, and why culture wins 44:30 The biggest mistake of his career More from GTM Hive Watch the full Fintech HiveMind series and get the next episode when it drops More on Tuum: tuum.com Our sponsor Thanks to our sponsor, the FTT Fintech Festival by VC Innovations, the UK's largest fintech festival, in London on 9 and 10 November 2026: FTT Fintech Festival, London, 9 to 10 November

2. 

   7 Sept 2026

   Why Challenger Sales Fails in Enterprise Sales | Matt Mills, CEO of Ripjar

   Most teams do not have a Challenger Sales problem. They have a problem applying it. Matt Mills, CEO of Ripjar, joins James Barker to unpack what actually changes when you move into the CEO seat, why generic AI prospecting is already easy to spot, and how commercial leaders can use AI without compromising judgement, security or trust. They cover why Challenger Sales is so often poorly executed, how to handle RFP-heavy enterprise buying, what an effective commercial team looks like around complex technology, and why AI needs real guardrails. Explore more GTM HiveMind conversations Chapters 00:00 — Why Challenger Sales is so often misapplied 01:05 — Meet Matt Mills, CEO of Ripjar 02:39 — The first year as CEO 07:58 — Why Matt joined Ripjar 12:22 — Building a commercial team around deep technology 17:25 — Why generic AI prospecting fails 25:50 — AI in sales and marketing 29:20 — Building AI adoption into the organisation 33:09 — AI guardrails, hallucinations and information security 37:05 — CEO decision-making and commercial risk 43:36 — Why Challenger Sales is broken 46:19 — Buyer value, RFPs and better sales questions

3. 

   20 Oct 2025

   Stephen Lemon on Fintech’s Harsh Lessons and Big Breakthroughs

   In this episode of Hivemind, Stephen Lemon, co-founder of Currency Cloud, shares insights from his entrepreneurial journey, discussing the challenges and triumphs of building a fintech company. He reflects on the importance of product market fit, the role of APIs in innovation, and the significance of strategic partnerships. Stephen also emphasizes the lessons learned from near failures, the value of organizational health, and the current trends in fintech investment, particularly in the context of AI and evolving business models. ⏱️ Timestamps 00:00 The Journey of Currency Cloud 05:57 Navigating Growth Phases and Product Market Fit 12:05 The Role of APIs in Fintech Innovation 18:00 Building Strategic Partnerships 24:04 Lessons from Near Failures 30:03 Organizational Health and Team Dynamics 35:54 Current Trends in Fintech Investment 41:50 The Future of AI and Business Models

Who has been a guest on HiveMind Podcast

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Goran Bosankic
• David Jarvis
• Simon Rogerson

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

15,042

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Podcast Authority Score: 31 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

33

Social presence

0

YouTube

72

Engagement

0

Contact HiveMind Podcast

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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