“Category Visionaries” podcast with Steve Pomfret on revolutionising signatory management
Recently, our CEO and co-founder, Steve Pomfret, appeared on The Category Visionaries podcast by Front Lines. Here’s a brief summary of his interview.
Cygnetise’s CEO and founder, Steve Pomfret, recently shared his incredible journey of transforming the tedious world of signatory management with cutting-edge technology. In this blog, we’ve summarised Steve’s insightful conversation with Brett Stapper, CEO of Front Lines, where he touches on his inspiring background, the challenges he faced building Cygnetise, and his vision for the company's future.
From banker to innovator
Steve Pomfret’s story isn’t your typical banker-to-founder tale. With a career spanning 20 years in operational change within major banks, Steve was always the "process guy," focused on ironing out inefficiencies with technology. He worked across the globe—from New York to Moscow, Switzerland to Italy—so he's seen it all. But banking wasn’t his end game.
Despite a stable career, Steve always admired entrepreneurs from afar. The confidence to start his own venture didn’t come overnight. It took 20 years and a career ceiling to push him into freelance consulting. This was his "stepping stone," as he calls it, where he began to taste the freedom and challenge of running his own show. By 2016, Steve was ready to jump headfirst into founding Cygnetise.
The blockchain revelation
Steve didn’t just wake up one day with a business idea. He educated himself extensively on innovative technologies, particularly blockchain. In 2016, blockchain was all the rage—promising to revolutionise industries left and right. Steve saw beyond the hype. He recognised practical applications for enterprise blockchain outside of cryptocurrencies, focusing on replacing cumbersome manual processes rather than existing technologies.
His “Eureka” moment? Identifying signatory management as a perfect fit for blockchain’s immutable and decentralised capabilities. Instead of Excel sheets and PDFs, Steve envisioned a streamlined, secure platform for managing authorised signatories—a concept that banks desperately needed but hadn't yet perfected.
Humble beginnings and big breaks
Starting Cygnetise was no small feat. Steve and his team faced the daunting task of creating a market for a brand-new category: signatory management. The early days were rough—two years passed before their first sale. Targeting smaller, more autonomous offices in the Channel Islands proved to be a smart move. These early adopters didn't mind the risk and are still loyal customers today.
The real turning point? Landing Société Générale as a client. Passing their rigorous due diligence was a massive confidence booster. It validated the technology and opened doors to more significant opportunities.
Customer-centric approach
Interestingly, Steve found that customers aren’t as enamored with the technology itself as they are with its benefits. The immutability and security of blockchain are fantastic selling points, but clients primarily care about the practical advantages—efficiency, data ownership, and secure data sharing.
This insight shaped Cygnetise's marketing philosophy. Education is key, but so is adapting the message to different audiences. Whether it's a hedge fund in the US or an oil company in the Middle East, the core benefits of signatory management remain compelling across the board.
Facing challenges head-on
No startup journey is without its dark moments. For Steve, fundraising was a steep learning curve, with only a few months of runway left at times. The key to navigating these rough patches? A supportive board of directors who have "been there, done that" in the financial technology space. Their guidance has been invaluable.
Steve’s advice to fellow founders is gold:
Be brutally honest with potential investors. The right ones will appreciate your transparency and align with your vision, making the partnership far more effective.
Looking ahead
So, what’s next for Cygnetise? The future looks bright with potential channel partnerships and enterprise deals on the horizon. Steve is excited about scaling the company’s reach through these new avenues, building on the solid foundation they’ve established.
Wrapping up
Steve Pomfret’s journey from banking to blockchain is a testament to the power of innovation and the courage to pursue a vision. His entrepreneurial story is exemplary, illustrating that with the right mix of experience, education, and sheer determination, you can indeed revolutionise an industry.
Listen to Steve’s full interview below:
About Cygnetise:
Cygnetise uses the latest blockchain technology to help organisations reduce the risk of fraud, facilitate business continuity and contribute to ESG by digitising the process of authorised signatory management and bank mandates. Our application enables users to update their signer data in real time and has a variety of sharing mechanisms so that all relevant counterparts can have constant access to the most up-to-date information without you having to recompile and redistribute.
To learn more about Cygnetise and request a free demo, click here or email our team at info@cygnetise.com