Black Belt A masterclass for start-ups and entrepreneurs

Disillusioned with the four big Australian banks’ culture and strategy, Joseph Healy and David Hornery started thinking about a startup that would improve and disrupt the immovable banking sector. Although they were self-professed ‘ no spring chickens’ who fell outside of the usual millennial startup entrepreneur demographic, they forged a plan to start a new bank that would service small and medium-sized businesses (a sector the big banks were neglecting) in a highly regulated industry monopolised by four of Australia’ s biggest companies. Inspired by the Netflix mantra ‘ that will never work’ , Joseph and David founded Judo Bank in 2016 and disrupted the Australian banking market against all odds. The name is a nod to the fact that in judo, the smaller, weaker person can overpower a stronger opponent through the efficient use of energy. In Black Belt the authors share keys lessons from the Judo journey and their decades in business prior to the startup. This is a true masterclass in planning, launching and scaling a business.

David is also a 35-year veteran of the banking sector, beginning in the financial markets and investment banking before moving into commercial banking. He started out in 1986 at two broking houses – GB Nathan and Potter Partners – before moving to Macquarie Bank and spending 11 years in their Financial Markets division. Then he moved across to ANZ, spending seven years as Global Head of Capital Markets and four years in Singapore as CEO of ANZ Asia. He moved to NAB in 2008, stepping out in 2015 to work with Joseph on Judo Bank. Joseph is a 35-plus-year career banker with a broad background across most aspects of banking. He started his career at Lloyds Bank in London, followed by a long stint at Citibank (mainly in London) and then Canadian bank CIBC World Markets. He joined ANZ Bank in 1998 and National Australia Bank (NAB) in late 2006, leaving in late 2014. He then took a year sabbatical at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China, during which time he started working with David on what today is Judo Bank. He is the author of three books prior to Black Belt.

Your authors 1. Introduction: Setting the scene 2. ‘ Project Greengate’ : Our entrepreneurial journey begins 3. Measure twice, cut once: From vision to business case 4. The plan of attack: Competitive advantage and the ability to scale 5. Dodging blows: Pitfalls to avoid 6. Hearts, minds and money: Securing investors 7. Finding our balance: Building the team and culture 8. How to reach black belt: Ten lessons we learnt 9. The challenger mindset: Maintaining founder centrism 10. Sharing our start-up with the world: Taking Judo public Final reflections