In this first episode of Working It Out Along the Way, I sit down with my friend Veronique ”V” Merriam Barbosa, whose career has taken her from investment banking to the fast-paced world of startups. The daughter of a diplomat and a banker, she grew up moving around the world before landing in London for university—without a clear plan for what came next.

V became an investment banker, then walked away from the big paycheques to join Revolut as employee number 4. Soon after, she co-founded Flux, a fintech startup aiming to digitise receipts, which grew to process nearly 4% of all UK card transactions. But after seven years, last-minute buy-out negotiations fell through, and V found herself shutting down her company—just two weeks before giving birth.

Now at Monzo, building their rewards platform, V reflects on the highs and lows of entrepreneurship, why she sees it as her true calling, and when she might take the leap again.

🎧 Tune in for a raw, insightful conversation about ambition, resilience, and the reality of building (and closing) a startup.