01
Find what is broken before writing code.
Assemble people who will say exactly what is broken. Then watch a normal user try the product without explanation.
In The Grill | Episode 001
In The Grill | Episode 001
Delivering Exponential Results in Banking
Ned Phillips sits down with Laksh Gangwani to pressure-test what a 10x digital wealth platform would actually require inside a bank: customers, systems, talent, pricing, and the courage to build differently.
With Ned Phillips | Founder, Bambu
10xThe revenue outcome under pressure
6Chapters for fast scanning
4Parts: customers, systems, talent, business
"Great technology is like a good joke. If you have to explain your joke, it was not a good joke."
Ned Phillips
1 / 5
Key Insights
02
Customer discovery should be direct.
Go into the streets. Stop real people. Ask why they do not use the bank's wealth offering, then listen hardest to the rare person who loves it.
03
Dependencies are not the customer problem.
Legacy systems explain what is hard internally. They do not explain what customers actually want from a digital wealth product.
04
The speedboat needs a different crew.
Hire for conviction and tolerance for ambiguity. The people who still volunteer when the odds are ugly are the ones you need.
05
Price in plain English.
If a hundred people understand what they pay and the business still makes margin, the model is clearer than another AUM percentage.
Highlights
The shorts now appear as fast thumbnail cards. A video loads only when someone chooses it.
"Will it probably fail? Yeah. Will you get laughed at? Sure. Could you get fired? A hundred percent. You want in? Let's go."
Ned Phillips
The Conversation
Chapter 01 | Defining the Mission
What Does a 10x Outcome Actually Mean?
The conversation starts by stripping transformation language down to a commercial outcome: ten times the wealth revenue.
Transcript
Chapter 01 | Defining the Mission
What Does a 10x Outcome Actually Mean?
The conversation starts by stripping transformation language down to a commercial outcome: ten times the wealth revenue.
Laksh
We are delivering the 10x Digital Transformation Playbook. You are now head of digital transformation at a bank. How would you define a 10x outcome?
Ned
The revenue that we receive from wealth goes up ten times. That is the 10x.
Laksh
Let's structure this in four parts: customers, capabilities, talent and resources, and business. You are head of retail now. How are you going to identify the customer segment first?
Chapter 02 | Customer Discovery
Go Into the Streets. No Survey Will Tell You the Truth.
Ned argues for direct, uncomfortable observation: internal honesty first, then real users, no over-designed survey theater.
Transcript
Chapter 02 | Customer Discovery
Go Into the Streets. No Survey Will Tell You the Truth.
Ned argues for direct, uncomfortable observation: internal honesty first, then real users, no over-designed survey theater.
Ned
Most of us know what piece of our technology sucks. Gather a group internally, exclude anyone who did not speak honestly. Find somebody who knows nothing about our system and record their face using it. Then go into the streets myself. No survey. Stop people. Ask them why they do not use the bank's wealth offering. Done in one week. No longer.
Laksh
Build a team of Avengers who tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear. Then raw one-on-one feedback from real people.
Ned
Great technology is like a good joke. If you have to explain it, it was not good. Give it to a normal human. Say nothing. If they cannot open it and use it, we have a problem.
Chapter 03 | Build vs Partner
One Button. Two Outcomes. That Is the Product.
The episode sharpens around a product thesis: make the decision easy for the customer before surrendering to bank dependencies.
Transcript
Chapter 03 | Build vs Partner
One Button. Two Outcomes. That Is the Product.
The episode sharpens around a product thesis: make the decision easy for the customer before surrendering to bank dependencies.
Ned
I want one killer feature, a button with two outcomes. Invest or do not. Nobody wakes up wanting a balanced equity portfolio. They want a better financial life.
Laksh
Why go to a partner before analysing system dependencies? When a wealthtech comes in, half your tech does not support fractional shares. Your custodian does not. Now we are talking about open-heart surgery.
Ned
Because you will build something mediocre if you start with dependencies. Your systems have no relevance to what a customer wants. Your dependencies create half-built tech and then you justify it.
Chapter 04 | The Skunk Works Solution
Jump Off the Oil Tanker Into a Speedboat.
The proposed answer is a skunk works: prove customer pull with a smaller, freer build, then take evidence back to the institution.
Transcript
Chapter 04 | The Skunk Works Solution
Jump Off the Oil Tanker Into a Speedboat.
The proposed answer is a skunk works: prove customer pull with a smaller, freer build, then take evidence back to the institution.
Laksh
What started as a frontend project has become a rip-and-replace of the middle office, back office, custodian, and broker. How do you solve it?
Ned
Skunk works. A band of rebels who build in a vacuum. One screen, one button: Invest Now. If the oil tanker bank is moving slowly, you scale down the side on ropes, jump in a little boat, get ahead of it, and show them: this is what customers want.
Chapter 05 | People and Culture
The Shackleton Advert: Who Do You Want in That Room?
Culture is framed as selection under pressure: who still raises their hand when the work is risky and success is uncertain?
Transcript
Chapter 05 | People and Culture
The Shackleton Advert: Who Do You Want in That Room?
Culture is framed as selection under pressure: who still raises their hand when the work is risky and success is uncertain?
Ned
Today I would write: you see that dusty room no one's in? Come in, I am locking the door for a month. Will it probably fail? Yeah. Could you get fired? Absolutely. You want in? Let's go.
Laksh
You have to start from a place of respect. Why did you take the decisions you took? That completely changes the equation.
Ned
With love, kindness, and belief. Nobody wakes up wanting to create confusion. Give me a month. If I am wrong, I am wrong.
Chapter 06 | Revenue and Pricing
Price for Humans, Not for the Industry.
Ned pushes against opaque industry pricing and returns the test to comprehension, margin, and growth.
Transcript
Chapter 06 | Revenue and Pricing
Price for Humans, Not for the Industry.
Ned pushes against opaque industry pricing and returns the test to comprehension, margin, and growth.
Ned
Every month we produce one feature, one button only. On pricing: ignore AUM percentages. Our industry has made itself incomprehensible. If a hundred people all understand what they are paying and you still make margin, you have found your model.
Laksh
Your wealth team will say one RM could put this volume through. How do you manage the CEO?
Ned
The RM is a dying business, make a choice. If the CEO cannot get behind 10x revenue, that is cool, I am out. You cannot fix a problem if the person above you does not want it fixed.
In The Room
Laksh Gangwani
Founder, Digijanus | Host
Laksh Gangwani is Founder of Digijanus and a C-level executive at a global financial institution. He has built and scaled capital markets and wealthtech businesses from scratch across the Asia-Pacific region, helping institutions connect to global markets faster.
Ned Phillips
WealthTech Entrepreneur | Guest
Ned Phillips founded Bambu, one of the world's foremost digital wealth technology providers, delivering cloud-based, algorithm-driven platforms that made saving and investing accessible for institutions of every size. He has sat on both sides of the transformation table and refuses to accept legacy infrastructure as an excuse.