Benjamin Feldman's career developed exemplary at Danske Bank throughout the 2010s. The future within the bank seemed promising.
There was just one but.
Increasingly, Benjamin Feldman could feel that something essential was missing.
"I had reached a point where it was no longer really fun for me. I needed bigger challenges."An entrepreneurial dream grew stronger within him. The dream had been there for a long time.
Unconsciously ever since he, as a boy, bought and sold used items on DBA. Commerce and negotiation had always been a particular interest.
He became aware of his dream when he started working in the financial sector at the age of 19. And 13 years later, at the beginning of 2018, he could no longer ignore it.
"The desire to do something different and solely serve the customers' interests excited me a lot. I asked myself: What will I regret not having done the day I die? Starting a company would be one of those things. And the further my business partner and I got with the idea for FinPro, the clearer it became to me that there was no doubt that this is what we should do. This will succeed!"
Far in a short time
It's a wonder that Benjamin Feldman is only 34 years old. For his achievements indicate otherwise.
He is the co-founder of the rapidly growing bank brokerage firm FinPro, which advises larger companies and private equity funds. Until 2018, he worked for eight years at Danske Bank, ultimately as an acquisition manager responsible for new large and medium-sized business clients.
In the spring of last year, he could add another accolade to his resume: Named Talent 100 by Berlingske.
In front of him for this interview, he has brought several pages of notes. He comes well-prepared.
The diligence and ambitions are easy to trace. Had he just followed the easy and comfortable path, he wouldn't be sitting where he is today.
The difficult beginning
His own expectations for FinPro were high from the start. Perhaps too high.
On the day of FinPro's launch in March 2018, everything was thought through. They had hired a PR agency to help with the press release. They sat in their newly established office in Copenhagen, ready in every conceivable way. And then this happened:
No media called.
No potential customers picked up the phone or took the time to listen. The phone was hung up immediately.
They were regarded as disruptive telemarketers. This continued for several weeks. In some cases, Benjamin Feldman had spent several hours analyzing a company and preparing a call, only to be hung up on after 10 seconds.
The transition to self-employment was more intense than Benjamin Feldman had anticipated.
"The first month, I considered many times, why did I get into this?""On a personal level, it was a big upheaval. Bigger than I expected. My mood changed very drastically. One day I was really happy, the next day I was in a bad mood. It was a big shock for me how much it affected me and how difficult it was for me to let go."
In hindsight, he thinks he should have sought a coach.
What worked for him, however, was a run around the Lakes in Copenhagen in the late evening hours. Preferably after 10:00 PM, at a time of day when most were heading to bed.
"It became a free space and a place for me to clear my mind and just be with myself. I have since found out that I need to run a couple of times a week to stay balanced."
Less focus on strategy, more on sales
The mood at FinPro changed shortly after.
When the first customer came on board, a snowball effect began. Since then, FinPro has shown its clear justification in the market - with clients like Eva Solo, Gubi, Kopenhagen Fur, and Rains - contrary to what many people in the industry had expected.
"When we started FinPro, people said: 'It has no chance - it won't be a success.' But when things start to get tough, and you have to push harder, I find it fun. The challenge is a driving force."
Learning from the failed attempt to make a grand launch of FinPro, Benjamin Feldman has today chosen to focus less on strategy and business development and more on engaging with customers.
"The most important lesson for me so far is to focus even more on sales. I think we quickly realized that it's about getting out and meeting companies and understanding them."
Armed with many years of experience from within the bank's walls, Benjamin Feldman is not afraid to challenge the established financial sector. In the pursuit of achieving the best possible terms for his clients, Benjamin Feldman draws on a directness in his personality that makes it natural for him to pinpoint the critical issues.
Just under two years into FinPro's existence, Benjamin Feldman can already see that he made the right decision by going independent.
"In the nearly two years we've been going, I've learned as much as five years in a bank. If I had known that, I would have started FinPro much earlier."
Benjamin Feldman in The Consultant
MAN IN THE SHIRT "The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood" - quote by Theodore Roosevelt in Paris, 1910. In the portrait series "Man in the Shirt," BARONS meets business people who have put themselves in play and at risk. Where do they find courage? What is the most important thing they have learned along the way? And what can we learn from them?
