The Art of Smart Risks Creditspring's Hannah Matson on cost discipline, culture design, and why women should stop waiting to feel ready

By the time many women feel ready to lead, the opportunity has already passed them by. It's a pattern Hannah Matson, Chief Operating Officer at Creditspring, a London based fintech company that offers interest-free loans through a subscription modelknows all too well - and one she's determined to disrupt. "You don't need to tick every box before taking the leap," she says. "Many women wait until they feel 110% prepared before stepping into leadership, while men are more inclined to go for it at 60% – and often, that's enough."

Matson, whose career spans senior operations roles in high-growth fintech, believes deeply in learning by doing - even when the terrain is unfamiliar. "The truth is, a lot of it is learning as you go, making mistakes, and taking smart risks – one of our key values," she adds. "You are more capable than you think. And don't be afraid to ask the 'stupid' questions, others will thank you for it!"

That balance of confidence and curiosity has informed her leadership approach at Creditspring, where smart scaling, not breakneck growth, has been the strategy. Years ago, she and the team made a deliberate pivot: profitability and sustainability first. "At Creditspring, our focus on cost efficiency has been instrumental in driving both profitability and sustainable growth," she explains. "A few years ago, we made a strategic decision to optimise spend across all cost centres."

From automation to customer acquisition and team structure, that shift touched every part of the company: "This meant leveraging automation and technology to streamline customer support, significantly reducing customer acquisition costs by refining our paid channels and accelerating organic growth, and enhancing team productivity through clearly structured, shared goals. These changes not only improved our bottom line but also fostered a culture of operational discipline and continuous improvement across the business."

As a COO, Matson doesn't court the spotlight. Nor does she believe that's a prerequisite for success. "That success only comes from being a visionary or the loudest voice in the room," she says of one of tech's more persistent leadership myths. "As COO at Creditspring, my role is often to test the foundations, kick the tyres so to speak, to ensure the infrastructure is in place to support sustainable growth."

What drives long-term results, she argues, isn't volume, but clarity and consistency. "You don't need to be the loudest voice in the room to make an impact," she says. "Consistency, accountability, and focus are what truly drive results." That same clarity underpins Creditspring's internal culture. Diversity isn't an initiative; it's embedded in how opportunity is designed. "We're focused on allyship and structured progression," Matson says. "Through our IDEA team, we encourage everyone to actively support underrepresented colleagues."

She's quick to point out that creating equitable access to leadership means more than slogans - it requires systems. "We've built clear, transparent pathways for growth, based on outcomes and values, not just opinion." And it's working. Today, Creditspring's senior leadership team is 50% women, with a near-equal gender split across the organisation. "We want to build a culture where anyone can succeed and grow with confidence."

It's a version of leadership that trades ego for empathy, perfectionism for progress, and swagger for sustainability - a model more companies could learn from.