"I landed in August 2008, and I looked around me and thought: "Jeez: what I have done?"." That was Christian Faes' first impression when he moved back to London to set up property finance fintech LendInvest, in the midst of the global financial crisis. After a year spent googling and cold-calling investors, raising no funds and doing no business, he'd have been forgiven for packing in the whole thing. But Christian and his cofounder persisted, the company grew, and despite challenges that would prove existential to many, LendInvest continues to thrive.