AMA: Mike McCudden, CEO of InfinitX

Our partners InfinitX (formerly CrowdX) are on a mission to transform access to capital and break down barriers to business growth. And we're all for it!

CEO Mike McCudden shares his story and talks about team InfinitX.

Hi Mike! Tell us a bit about your company.

Our technology and vision enables supporting private growth companies through the phases of financing all the way to exit and giving them access to capital along the way.

We do this using the capital market model, but instead of companies having the distraction of being ‘public’ we are able to offer them the same transparent and trusted network to do this ‘privately’.

In parallel, we are embracing new technologies, blockchain and digitised assets. Watch this space!

How did the idea for InfinitX come about?

I was struggling to sell my own investments in private companies easily. The market was closed, and fragmented and there was no rulebook on how to do this or how to value the investments either.

I thought, what if you took the stock exchange model, which has been used successfully for generations, and applied it to private companies?

I was introduced to my co-founder Andrew through a friend and quickly discovered we had the same passion for change in this space.

Andrew brought the technology and shared vision to make this possible. It was the perfect storm and we quickly realised we could make this a reality.

How do you keep your team aligned?

Like many companies, we kick off each week with a run-through of where we are strategically and check-in across departments regarding performance against various deadlines and goals.

We like to keep a very open environment where everyone has a voice and all ideas are open for discussion. We make our goals as a team very simple and clear so everyone is on the same page on what needs to be accomplished.

Can you share any practical tips or processes to help people work remotely?

Our team is spread between Glasgow and Cape Town via London and Nice, so efficient remote working practices are a must.

As a team, we use a suite of great tools from Slack to Trello and Miro, which allow us to work effectively together and we hire people who can be trusted to manage their own time and give them the incentive to make this work.

Do you have a share or option scheme in place for your team? 

We are a new company so we are just building and implementing these schemes now.

This is of paramount importance as we firmly believe in sharing any success as everyone has played an important role in getting us to where we are now.

Vestd as a service provider is an ideal partner for us as its technology and culture align with ours and it’s highly intuitive to use.

Thank you. Glad to hear it! What does company culture mean to you?

Everything. We are building a trusted and transparent network so our tone of voice and the way we treat one another has to be authentic too.

We will be the product of the culture we create. We always want to lead by example to our client companies as we also scale up with them.

Did you ever experience a business disappointment that led to something better?

Yes, and the key to survival is to dust off the disappointment, learn, stay positive, believe in yourself and keep moving forwards.

From way back in my trading days, learning from mistakes was painful, but always the quickest way to truly learn and build some resilience.

What is the biggest mistake you've made as an entrepreneur?

Not listening to my gut instinct about people or situations has led to problems.

Give us an interesting fact about yourself that the business community doesn’t know.

I recently gave up smoking and started a regular boot camp. The positivity of growing a business which could be so transformational for so many has started to transfer into my daily life too.

I believe we’re all flawed and all on personal paths towards constant improvement even as we get older and this is my time to be the fittest and healthiest I can. Wish me luck!

Who would play you in a film of your life?

Kiefer Sutherland (the healthy version).

Good call! Thanks for your time, Mike. It's been a pleasure.