“Lessons I Learned as a Queer Entrepreneur”

Patrick Penzo, a gay entrepreneur writing for PinkNews, reflects on his career in the tech industry, the lessons he learned, and how being his authentic self led to more meaningful relationships both at and outside of work. Masu.

If you’ve ever had to take a driver’s license photo or selfie on your phone to open a bank account or apply for a rental car, you’ve probably used Onfido.

Onfido recently announced that it is in the process of being acquired. The original investors have made huge profits, one of the largest profits in European technology history.

When I joined Onfido 10 years ago, I was the 11th member of the team, the first sales rep, and the first queer employee. I was also 22 years old and didn’t know much about it.

I was also closed at work. At the time, I thought being openly gay would hold me back professionally. As I said many times, I didn’t know much about it.

Now that the company is being acquired, it’s a good time to reflect on what I’ve learned about entrepreneurship, about having a successful career, and most of all, about myself specifically as a queer entrepreneur.

Recognize possibilities and hope for the best for things that are out of your control.

If you want to become a millionaire in a week, entrepreneurship is probably not the path. But if you decide to take the difficult path, it can be a very rewarding journey.

When I started, I was earning at least a third less than most other students at Oxford, but the company made up for the shortfall in salary with capital. Stock options are a bet to get into a company early. If you do it well, you will get a big profit. However, that’s a big assumption.

It’s foolish to give away stock if you sign up early for a startup, but don’t bet all your hopes and dreams on stock. The real power of entrepreneurship lies in the opportunity you have control over.

As I said, my starting salary was low, but after 6 months I signed a contract with Deliveroo, a now famous mid-sized company.

The food delivery business became Onfido’s first million-dollar customer. My salary has increased and if I had stayed in London he would probably have had two tax jumps in 12 months.

money isn’t everything

But one day I was in my office in Covent Garden when I received a phone call. The CEO, a 26-year-old genius entrepreneur named Hussein Kassai, asked me to spend a month in San Francisco.

“Of course,” I said.

He then asked a second question: “Can I fly out tomorrow?”

After spending a week in Frisco, Hussain asked me what I thought about moving to the United States for a year. I was 23 years old, didn’t know anyone in the country and had just started winning some big deals in the UK. I earned the highest commissions on the team and worked with the trendiest brands.

Moving to San Francisco meant starting over. No customers, a minimal (but better) salary, and a house on a different continent.

It took me less than 10 seconds to make that decision. It didn’t make sense financially, but I don’t regret it one bit. Working in a global technology capital was a no-brainer for me. Call me an idiot, but I felt that the experience, network and work I was about to do was more valuable than chasing victory in London.

America was a tough choice, believe me, it was tough. It took him only a few months to land his first big contract in London, but his first year on the other side of the Atlantic brought little commercial success.

It got so bad that I decided to stay in America for three more years.

By the time I was ready to retire, I was pitching to the largest bank on the West Coast and (or thereabouts) the most valuable private company in the world at the time. I was signing a contract worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

However, the road to success was not easy. It took a great deal of resilience and hard work to fully understand a foreign market and educate a growing company in London about why solutions that were popular back home might not appeal to “difficult Americans.”

Looking back now, I don’t think I would have made it this far without the most valuable victory of my time in America. One day, on a rideshare trip, a loud, passionate, thrilling American got into my car and we quickly became friends. A few years later he will become my husband.

Don’t underestimate career advancement

Perhaps this is a sign that I’m a millennial, but I think it’s strange to measure your progress solely by salary.

No, you shouldn’t work for a company that underestimates and undervalues ​​you, but you shouldn’t measure your progress solely by your salary either. At least not in the tech industry. Almost everyone I know has gone through many different careers to get to where they are.

At the age of 27, I was asked to become the regional manager for Southeast Asia. I stayed with her in Singapore for 6 months to set up an office, team and go-to-market plan. If I hadn’t been a newlywed, I probably could have lived there for another four years.

The reality is that entrepreneurship presents you with opportunities, but it’s up to you to pursue what you’re passionate about. Entrepreneurship is relentless and unforgiving. If you don’t find passion in what you do, you can burn out.

Paychecks will come later, so follow your passion over paychecks.

Authenticity is king

The founders were adamant that the company’s success was not a reflection of their own greatness, but of their uncanny ability to select great people. That was true for us too. Our greatness was not just the result of our individual excellence, but of the network of people around us.

The strongest cultural value at the company was “Succeeding Together.”

Success like Onfido experienced could have been a perfect breeding ground for ego and self-promotion. Building a culture where people genuinely care about the success of those around them is difficult.

With Onfido, this was self-evident. Leaders promoted inclusive workplaces where people can be who they are and share what success means to them. Founders have always encouraged employees to quit their jobs and start their own companies. They believe success is measured by their ability to develop the next generation of British entrepreneurs.

There are currently more than 10 startups founded by former Onfido employees, and they come from a really diverse range of backgrounds, but I believe there is still a spot open for the first queer founder.

Even 10 years later, it’s hard to explain how numbing it was to be cooped up at work.Until I read it [Apple chief executive] When I read Tim Cook’s coming out letter, I didn’t believe that gay people could hold their ground.

I couldn’t believe I would be one of the first. However, my company’s continued efforts to create an inclusive workplace and my own successes began to help me break out of that cage.

Having a boyfriend also helped. When colleagues or clients asked me what I did over the weekend, I had the choice of being vague or honest. I quickly realized that honest answers create deeper relationships, which in turn lead to more successful commercial relationships.

During the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year, Open for Business released a report showing that the 25 companies with the highest LGBTQ+ transparency scores were 2.3 times more profitable than the bottom 25. .

As an employee, you have no control over the company’s stock price. The best thing you can do is help everyone around you succeed. Because you all affect this number together.

Our inclusive culture of helping others succeed, no matter what they want to achieve, has made Onfido a unicorn company.

following a rough path

In my case, my journey pretty much took me back to where it started. He helps Hussein set up her second company and is once again starting down the difficult path.

Most founders still hide their sexual identity from investors. An entrepreneur’s goal is to create value for customers and investors, and he cannot control the attitudes of either of these two groups. You can’t control it, especially in the current climate where being who you are has become politicized. Sometimes it feels easier without conversation.

There are many reasons why your company isn’t successful, and I can imagine many people feeling pressured not to add to them.

A person’s success is built on the shoulders of many supporters. We were honored to be able to touch that shoulder. We want to build a company that helps everyone more easily get the best advice to succeed and grow in their ambitions.

Hopefully in 10 years I’ll be writing another article about my successful exit.