Tom Blomfield: How I Created Two Billion-Dollar Fintech Startups

There aren’t a ton of people in the world who can say they founded a billion dollar company. There are far fewer that can say they did it twice. YC Group Partner Tom Blomfield is one of them.

Each episode of our series Backstory will introduce you to one of YC’s Group Partners and the path they took to get here. If you aspire to change the world with your startup, Tom's story exemplifies the joys and trials of pursuing these ambitious ideas.

00:00 - Intro
02:52 - GoCardless
05:07 - Starting Monzo
08:46 - COVID challenges
10:24 - Stepping away from Monzo
13:10 - Joining Y Combinator
13:54 - Outro

Directors:
Ryan Loughlin
Zach Both

Director of Photography:
Matt Piniol

Editors:
Hoku Uchiyama
Zach Both
Ryan Loughlin

Additional footage provided @jakewrightnet

[chapterme]

Chapters (Powered by ChapterMe) -
00:00 - Intro: Tom Blomfield Backstory
01:35 - Growing up fascinated with computers
02:12 - Career path: Corporate lawyer
02:33 - Starting an online student marketplace while at Oxford
02:52 - Bill splitting app to GoCardless
04:24 - Leaving Go Cardless, turning Monzo into a global payments powerhouse
06:50 - Monzos ambitious vision and user growth
08:46 - COVID challenges - Funding crisis risking company's survival
10:24 - Stepping away from Monzo
11:59 - Transitioning to angel investing
13:10 - Joining Y Combinator
13:54 - Outro

[KshitijPatil]

Watching a Funded Billionaire Tech Founder be so grounded, human and vulnerable made it all seem a little more achievable. Thank you for doing this Tom. I needed it today.
Really look forward to meeting with you in person in the next 10 years!

[WalkerJones]

This was amazing. Please do this for all of the YC partners.

Tom, you're an inspiration to everyone.

[alvarojneto]

This is the sort of content I have been scraping YouTube and the web for.

Please, please, more of this!

[lfgoooo]

Tom's a huge inspiration and incredibly humble!

[fiyinfoluwaenis]

This video was so emotional. I cried at the moment he said Tom said he took a year off just recovering basically. I could relate because I also had a similar situation as the Licensee and organizer of a TEDx event and though the event was a sucess I was really drained from the challenges we encountered along the way and I took almost 2 months recovering from that.

[Cygx]

Starting a company takes a significant toll on mental health. The experience Tom describes is the norm not the exception. Don't forget to take care of yourselves my fellow founders!

[zedrake]

More of Tom! Love listening to him! Been a Monzo users for 5 years now!

[tininottiny]

I've loved Monzo for years even though I don't have an account. As a founder myself now, I relate very much with what Tom is discussing here. Thanks for this!

[joyz]

Thank you for sharing your story - staying true your struggles and building resilience to bounce back!

[KageManTV]

The editing on this is incredible. Great story too but all those small touches with music and the timing if thebbites and the subtle image changes are amazing.

[MBAnoBrainer_GMATPrep]

I love listening to Tom. And I also liked knowing that he and Harj were cofounders.

[josecarlostinomaxia]

I'd have never heard about this guy but wow he has inspired to follow a path out of the traditional path that society I has standed us and well basically to "create a new things"

[juanjosegouvea]

please do this with all YC Partners!! super interesting and motivating

[unknownname]

Thank you, Tom Blomfield, and Thank you, the video team at Y Combinator.

[priyeshsrivastava]

Knowing when to step away is the most important takeaway from Tom's experiences.

[aafrancom]

Amazing video. I really liked how Tom showed himself vulnerable as a founder and CEO. It really makes us, entrepreneurs, humans.

[sltho]

I love the Steve Jobs quote at the end

Here I come YC

[DineshKumarRamasamy-dvst]

Thank you for making this video. I could relate so much and I am at a tipping point and Blomfield's words made me tip.

[suphasitthongniam]

Thanks for the inspiration! Now, I have immense energy to push forward with my startup.