‘Team’ category

Yummy treats at Zopa

Posted by Adam at 11:02 am

Here at Zopa we like to try weird and wonderful things. In July our nice friends at Gu sent our weight in chocolately treats, which we all very much enjoyed. Then on Friday we had a nice surprise from @loudmouthman who brought us a rather odd surprise in the form of Marmite Chocolate (Yes, you heard right. Marmite Chocolate!) which was made just for him by @mrsimmshorsham. However odd it may sound, it was in fact rather yummy! (Though Steve may say the opposite!) Nic recorded a video of his day out in London with the chocolate which you can see our reactions at the end. So, Marmite, love it or hate it? We do love to try new things here at Zopa, so if you have something you want some honest feedback with (or just fancy sending us a yummy present) please pop us an email or give us a call.

Posted in Funny, General, Office, Team | 1 Comment »

Now we are two.

Posted by Dave at 11:45 am

"Happy Birthday dear Zopa, happy birthday to us!" Crikey - was it really 2 years ago that we pushed the button on the Zopa website, and opened it up to lenders and borrowers for the first time? A quick check of the BBC news site or the Daily Telegraph suggests quite strongly that it was indeed. That was a mad day - we got far more publicity than we thought we would get - radio, press, online and TV - and we got a little submerged in the flood of visitors to the site, but the site stayed up, and Linda and her team battled through literally thousands of emails and enquiries. A lot has happened since then (much of which has been recorded on this here blog) - the site has changed beyond all recognition (take a look at what we looked like when we launched, courtesy of the Wayback machine), we've launched new markets, new features to help people lend and borrow, opened an affiliate scheme, won an award, opened to up Zopa Powerlenders, and admittedly, screwed up at least once. We also had to endure the tragic loss of an inspirational leader - Richard Duvall, who died last October. Although this was obviously a huge blow for us, we're confident that Zopa will continue to grow and succeed both in the UK and internationally, and become a fitting monument to Richard's vision and leadership. I'll finish this little post with a personal thank you to every single Zopa member - you've all made something that was once an idea, and then a Powerpoint presentation, into a living, thriving community of lenders and borrowers who are slowly changing the face of finance. We've a long way to go, but we've made a great start. Thank you.

Posted in Members, Team | 1 Comment »

Hair today…

Posted by Dave at 6:48 pm

Of all the mad things that people do to raise money, running the London Marathon is right up there with the maddest of them. Not only do you have to run 26 (ish) miles, but you have to raise prodigious amounts of cash for the privilege! Adrian (who works up in Tipton) is running in this years race - and as part of his fund raising, he recently volunteered to shave his head....the before and after pictures are offered below for your delectation! Good luck Adrian!

Posted in Team | 1 Comment »

The hardest post

Posted by Dave at 6:01 pm

It is with enormous sadness and regret that I write these words on behalf of everyone at Zopa. Richard Duvall, our co-founder and CEO quietly passed away early on Monday morning, with his family by his side, after a short battle with cancer. We send our heartfelt condolences to his family. It is very hard for me to put into words how we are all feeling at this time - but we wanted to tell you, our members, what has happened to Richard, and what this means for Zopa. Richard was always a lot more than a CEO. To those who knew him or worked with him, he was simply an amazing human being. Passionate, inspirational, possessed of an extraordinary creativity, intelligence and gentleness - a husband, a leader, a father, and a friend. Over the years that many of us at Zopa had known Richard, he was unceasing in his commitment both to the companies he was involved in, and the individuals he worked with. His understanding of people was unerring, and he would do whatever he was able to bring out the full potential of those he knew. We have all benefited from the times we spent with him, and become better people through his efforts. His passing leaves us all with a hole in our lives that is uniquely Richard. He is irreplacable and yet we, and Zopa, must move on without him. Zopa will continue to be led in the UK by James, and our San Francisco team continues to work towards launch in the US. Our Chairman and our investors remain totally committed to the success of Zopa and believe that we are well positioned for strong growth in the coming months. There is no question that we will miss Richard intensely, but although we are a company in mourning, we believe that Richard's memory is best served by building Zopa into the company he hoped it would be, and we are committed to achieving that. For those that knew Richard (or even those that didn't) - please feel free to write something in the comments - a memory, condolences or just goodbye. We will collect these, and pass them to Richard's family. Richard's wife Krys has asked that rather than send flowers, if people would like to give, they donate to Pancreatic Cancer UK. To this end, we have set up a page at JustGiving to collect - please give generously. Thank you. UPDATE: As of Friday afternoon (20/10) we've raised £840, thank you to everyone who has contributed. I have had a letter from the founder of Pancreatic Cancer UK thanking us for our support - they are hugely appreciative of our efforts. UPDATE: Friday evening - thanks to a wonderful contribution from Bessemer Venture Partners, we have met the first target of £1,500, and so I have increased the target to £3,000. Thank you to everyone for your generosity. UPDATE: Tuesday 24th - Thanks to yet more kind donations, we have met the £3,000 target, and so I have increased it again to £5,000 - thank you all again. Richard Duvall. 24/1/62 - 16/10/06

Posted in Team | 124 Comments »

It’s good to talk (to our members)

Posted by Dave at 5:11 pm

A few weeks ago, Justin and myself had a really great evening. Not by ourselves, I hasten to add (Lest our our better halves be reading), but with a group of Zopa members. I organised a 'Zopa member dinner' - the aim of which was to gather a group of really engaged members, ply them with decent food and wine, and get to the bottom of why they were so damn interested in Zopa. We had members who log in daily (Even i don't do that!), members who have been in regular contact with us practically since we launched, and members who have commited large sums of cash to lend to complete strangers. I had to investigate. And I needed a wingman. So, the wine flowed, the conversation was great and the evening passed all too quickly. I've got pages of notes written up about all that we discussed, and we'll be working some of the ideas that were mentioned into future development work. Many, many thanks to those who came. And to those who didn't - there will be more! What I was most amazed at though, was the number of questions these members still had about Zopa. People who have been members for a year, and log in with amazing frequency, still had so many things they wanted to ask, or check up about, or just get clear on. So what must all the other members be thinking and asking and unclear on?! The upshot of all this is - we're thinking of providing some form of Q&A session with the Zopa team, and I want to know if you think that's a good idea. I've started a discussion thread about it over here but you can also respond in the comments in the blog if you'd rather. Hope to talk to you soon! (And see the previous post for more communication related ideas as well.) UPDATE: The link now works. Thanks philipg27! UPDATE2: Justin has pointed me to a good little article on communities. Worth a read.

Posted in Members, Team | 3 Comments »

Skyping Zopa

Posted by Dave at 5:22 pm

We'd love to be the next Skype (Well, wouldn't you?), but in the mean time we've finally got ourselves Skyped up - and much hilarity in the office ensued as some of the less technically literate of the team struggled with such advanced concepts as headphones. (Hello Giles!) :) Anyway - we did it to cut down our communications costs between the UK and US offices, but if anyone fancies a chat with me please feel free to: If you want to get in touch, please do, and if you want to add me as a contact you can do as well - but put something about Zopa in your contact invitation or I probably won't accept you...too much dodgy Skype spam otherwise!

Posted in Members, Team, Technology | 4 Comments »

If you’re going to San Francisco….

Posted by Dave at 5:24 pm

...we'll be sure to wear some flowers in our hair! Oh yes - we're coming! Richard ("Yes of course I'll write a blog post") Duvall and myself are heading out on Monday to kick off Zopa California, and Tim ("IT Guru") Parlett is coming out the following week to start building the Zopa magic mechanical adding machine. With his bare hands. Watch out West Coast! If anyone out there in internetland fancies catching up for a beer (or indeed has some recommendations for top hostelries in SF - it's been a couple of years since I was last out there) drop me a line at dave@zopa.com or post in the comments and I'd be delighted to enjoy some American, and share some British, hospitality! I think the phrase is "Woooohoooo" :-) UPDATE: We made it, and it's raining like you wouldn't believe. And there's power cuts. Maybe we should try LA next time!

Posted in General, Team | No Comments »

Flickr photos

Posted by Dave at 6:25 pm

I just found a new feature on Flickr - probably the greatest photo sharing website in the world - you can create a Flickr badge with you own photos - this is mine! (I tried to make a snazzier one...but it didn't work :-( )

www.flickr.com

Posted in Non Zopa, Team | No Comments »