How Monet used Facebook groups to sign up 7,500 content creators before building the product

Jacob Casson spent years trying to solve cash flow for the entertainment and media industry — influencer agencies, production houses, film and TV — while nearly running his own company into the ground twice. In this episode, he breaks down how Monet evolved from a creator banking product into a financial back office and lending platform, how he recapitalized under a hostile takeover attempt, and why the UK media industry is one of the most defensible fintech niches nobody is building for.

Topics Discussed

• Why traditional lenders systematically misprice influencer agency risk

• How Monet ended up inside Coldplay's global marketing payment flows

• The pivot from creator-facing banking to agency financial infrastructure

• Surviving a hostile takeover attempt and engineering a recapitalization

• The decision to stay UK-focused in 2025 and what it would actually take to enter the US

• Expanding into film and TV debt: tax credits, pre-sales, and broadcasting license fees

• Raising debt vs. equity: why conflating the two is a costly fintech mistake

• The founder psychology of performing better under pressure than in calm

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