Alex King (BSc Management 2011) always dreamed of founding his own business. Realising the difficult financial environment Generation Z are growing up in, Alex decided to start a financial education business. We spoke with Alex to find out about his career and the idea behind .
Choosing ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳
I was born and raised in east London. This area felt very entrepreneurial, and I grew up with dreams of one day owning my own business. When it was time to think about university, I applied for Management at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ because the range of disciplines covered in the course would provide a great foundation for running a business. However, my favourite ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ memories are of meeting so many people from all over the world. Although I’m from London, it felt exciting to be on campus at the heart of one of the world’s great capital cities.
Strangely, some of my fondest memories were during exam season. That was when my life became a routine of hours in the library interspersed with lunch in the sun with friends in Lincoln’s Inn Fields and the odd trip to Wright’s Bar for snacks. Recently I’ve begun working from ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳’s Alumni Centre a few times a month and it’s remarkable to see how campus has transformed since my time as a student!
Entrepreneurship at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳
During my time at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ there was a strong entrepreneurial culture. Various events on offer, as well as the teaching itself, brought this to life. That helped strengthen my resolve to set up my own business in the future. ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳’s culture also shines through in the network you’re able to build as a student which comes in handy later in life.
There are also lots of resources, events and support available to ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ alumni. Aside from the practical support, one of the most useful aspects has been the speaking events ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ hosts with its alumni entrepreneurs. These are particularly inspiring when thinking of starting your own venture. I’ve recently seen the great resources from , and I’m planning to get more involved with them.
Generation Money
After graduating, I worked at Barclays, starting as an Analyst in 2014 before ultimately progressing to a Vice President position in 2021. Working from home during the pandemic gave me time to think about finally starting my own business. With the economic impacts of COVID-19 and the cost-of-living crisis looming large, I wanted to find a way to help people take control of their finances.
I was particularly concerned about young people struggling in this difficult economic environment. For many young people, owning a home isn’t more than a pipe dream. Inflation has been shown to disproportionately hit the lowest paid the hardest, and it is young people who tend to be the lowest paid. This then has a huge effect on young people’s outlook on life and their mental wellbeing.
But where do these young people turn? Social media is full of unscrupulous finance “influencers” who take advantage of young people’s desire to improve their economic opportunities. So, I decided to launch Generation Money to provide the best financial educational content possible with insights from professionals that you won’t get anywhere else. Since launching in 2023 we’ve created hundreds of guides on budgeting and saving, investing, pensions and tax planning. We have provided expert personal finance insight for the BBC, CNN, The Telegraph, Fortune and more.
Looking Forward
Looking to the future, my immediate plans are to expand Generation Money’s content output to become a multimedia publisher, particularly on social media and video content, and to increase our reach. Beyond that, we aim to develop more content around financial wellness. We’d like to grow financial wellbeing workshops and courses for employers to help improve employee wellbeing. It’s an area that I think is still underserved and my goal is to bring expertise and professionalism to it.
Additionally, the knowledge we’ve gained from running a personal finance business aimed at Gen Z has also allowed us to start offering consulting services to financial brands who want to connect to younger generations.
We’re always looking for partners to work with, so if any ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ alumni are interested in collaborating or working with us on personal finance education/content, financial wellbeing – particularly to improve employee wellbeing – and on how brands can connect to Gen Z consumers, then we’d love to hear from you.
Get in touch with Alex