Octopus Ventures introduces Erin Platts
Over almost two decades at HSBC Innovation Banking (formerly Silicon Valley Bank UK), Erin Platts has worked at the beating heart of the UK and European tech ecosystem. Since moving to the UK with SVB UK at the tail-end of the noughties, she’s been a champion for diversity in tech, and key advocate through organisations including Founders Pledge and Tech Nation. Under Erin’s supervision, SVB UK grew to more than 800 people across 7 countries, with her leading the organisation through the transition period that followed its 2023 sale to HSBC and subsequent rebrand.
Now, she’s turning her skillset to the world of venture capital, joining Octopus Ventures as our new CEO. It’s been a busy few weeks, however Erin found time to sit down with us and introduce herself. She shared her thoughts on the most important asset a world-changing start-up has, how to lead well – and what a perfect Sunday looks like. But, as she starts the next chapter of her career, she started by sharing her reflections on the extraordinary changes she’s seen in UK and European tech.
EP: I’ve always worked at the intersection of innovation and financial services, first in the United States before moving to the UK in 2007, so it’s been 17, going on 18 years in this ecosystem.
Since I arrived, we’ve seen extraordinary growth in the amount of funding available for start-ups in the UK and Europe: it’s almost unrecognisable from then to now – in a good way. That’s everything, from the breadth of the subsectors and companies that are being started and scaled across the UK and Europe, to the depth of capital, ambition and sophistication. Now it’s about how do we take this progress, and the hard work of all these founders, and catapult it to the next level.
What can stakeholders across the UK and European ecosystem do to support scaling start-ups – or maybe do more of?
EP: I have a strong sense of loyalty and accountability towards the start-up ecosystem. I know that sounds quite grand, but I feel very fortunate and very privileged to have grown my career here and seen it flourish, with the hard work of some of the most amazing founders and investors in the world.
Over the last 15 or 20 years there’s been a seismic, positive shift around the depth of capital and talent here in Europe. Every five to seven years, the ‘problem’ we’re trying to solve as an ecosystem keeps moving upstream. First it was, ‘There’s not enough companies to invest in’. Then, ‘Well, there’s no Series A capital’. Now, it’s a lack of Series B capital at scale, or domestic growth equity. The headline is we’re making progress, and acknowledging that is really important.
We can always pick holes, and we need to keep progressing the competitiveness of our capital markets, and ensure we have sufficient domestic investment available to fuel public and private funds. We need to keep removing points of friction for scaling businesses. UK PLC, our corporates across the UK and those in Europe, need to keep taking early-stage risk and buy from earlier-stage technology companies more often. While there’s many things we need to do, we also shouldn’t tie ourselves up in knots or be too pessimistic about where we are.
What would you say is the most important asset for start-up success?
EP: If you’re talking early stage, it’s all about the founder. What are their unique attributes? What’s their vision? How effectively do they attract talent? A huge level of resilience and grit is also very important.
After that, it’s down to the strength of the founding team. They need to be able to attract and retain talent ─ regardless of whether the market is exactly where they expected it to be ─ and navigate bumps along the road in terms of product development or product-market-fit. The right team finds a way through.
What has your experience taught you about good leadership?
EP: I started my career answering the phone in client services, an entry level job, and I worked my way up the organisation to become CEO. I’ve seen how important it is to treat everyone you meet with respect, at every level of a company.
Leading a team and managing individuals is a privilege, not a right. A lot of people think about management and leadership as the next step in their journey, but one of my biggest learnings was it finally hitting home that my job as a manager is to make the team and the individuals that I’m responsible for successful and unlocking their confidence and potential – not getting them to hit certain KPIs. It’s about identifying how folks are motivated, what excites them, when and how they do their best work. Then you are really motoring.
I have plenty of experience in managing through change and crisis, and I’ve learned the work you put in when times are good is exactly what you’re going to get back in the challenging times. Once you’ve hit a rough patch, or a crisis, it’s too late to change that culture. You have what you have in terms of trust, communication, behaviours, passion, commitment and loyalty. You can’t make up for it when it’s needed.
I really buy into the whole servant-leadership approach. For me, my job is to make sure that everyone gets what they need to be successful and complement the unique ingredients of the team. With the right people you can do anything ─ that’s been my thesis, always.
Do you have any golden rules when it comes to finding those right people?
EP: There are attributes that I look for. It’s about real transparency, both ways. It’s about unquestionable integrity. That trust is critical, as are high levels of humility and empathy. Working in this industry is such a special opportunity that keeping that humility is really important.
We’re sharing founders’ journeys and have the honour to work alongside them. To be honest, they’re doing the hard work. That’s the reality of it – these operators are taking huge amounts of personal risk, and we get to support them.
The other golden rule is you don’t always get hiring right – and that’s ok. But you need to resolve things quickly, and with respect. It can be tricky, and it’s easier said than done. Being open, and having clear expectations, is vital.
What does a good investor look like?
EP: For me it comes down to behaviours and attributes that I admire, that I’ve tried to maintain throughout my career: empathy, humility, transparency.
Getting joy from seeing others be successful is key. Our job is to be behind the scenes, fuelling and supporting. Removing barriers of friction and providing capital for the operating teams that are running the business day-to-day. If you don’t get joy in seeing others succeed, it’s a hard industry to be in.
Having experience of founding a business can be helpful, but investors from a diverse array of backgrounds can make a huge contribution to a scaling start-up – they develop a breadth of experience across a range of companies, and get a first-hand look at a range of challenges that founders face. The ability to bring this experience to bear on a specific problem can make a massive difference.
You’ve had an amazing career at the centre of an industry that’s quite literally changing the world, but if you hadn’t spent the last 20 years in tech, what would you be doing?
EP: Probably something completely different. I have a fascination with child psychology, why the first years of one’s life are so formative. Regardless of what you achieve or do later, it all comes back to that. You can’t hide from it!
What does a perfect Sunday look like for you?
EP: I think this answer uncovers how boring I am and how busy the week usually is! Hopefully it’s sunny out, a nice cup of coffee outside with my husband and golden retriever. Maybe a bit of exercise, a long hike or walk, a nice country pub. A glass of wine while I prep for Monday – and cooking a roast for friends. I’ve turned really English – I’m embracing my British passport these days!
Finally, what’s the key piece of advice you’d give your younger self, or anyone else starting out in their career with leadership aspirations?
EP: Invest in relationships, and then really invest in maintaining those relationships. ‘Give before you get’ is always a motto I’ve lived by. Every success and opportunity that I’ve had was a result of investing in relationships with people and genuinely building rapport. Every business is a people business, but it’s particularly true for this one.
The second thing is to have confidence in my own abilities and surround yourself with world-class talent. It’s only in the five or six years, since hyper-scaling and then managing an organisation through a major (and well-publicised) crisis, that I’ve been able to look back and think: okay, we did a great job in an incredibly challenging situation. We built something of consequence that people valued. The outcome and feedback from the ecosystem validated both the business that we built, and mine and the team’s role in that. I suppose my second motto is that we can do hard things!