Cruxy founder: The worst advice I’ve ever had? Stay in your lane

Each week, we dig into the memory bank of the City’s great and good. Today, Carrie Osman tells us about going from mucking out stables to building a tech start-up in Square Mile and Me

CV

• Born: Epsom, Surrey
• Lives: Bayswater (but really live in meetings in either St James’s or Mayfair, or walks around Hyde Park).
• Studied: Politics at the University of Nottingham – 3 years learning how to build an argument, defend it passionately, and occasionally discover I was completely wrong.
• Motto: “The standard is the standard.”
• Biggest perk of the job? Watching my team solve a problem a client thought was impossible using data they’ve owned for 12 years and never looked at.
• Coffee order: Double macchiato
• Cocktail order: A Perfect Manhattan
• Favourite book: Tough one. Probably The Outsider by Albert Camus

What was your first job? 

Helping out around stables from when I was about three! Horses teach accountability faster than most things. Then lots of waitressing which I loved. 

What was your first role in tech?

Accidental. I thought I was helping software companies grow.  Turns out I wandered into tech and never left.

When did you know you wanted to build a career in tech? 

When I realised how fast technology can solve problems and drive things that need to be addressed systematically.

What’s the one thing about London you love? 

#The melting pot & the reinvention on top of the tradition. When you’re bored of London you are absolutely bored of life.

And one thing you would change?  

The growing belief that ambition is something to apologise for.

What’s been your most memorable business lunch? 

A “Dads & Daughters” lunch at Angler. Two fathers. Two daughters. A lot of unsolicited advice and a surprising amount of wine.

And any business faux pas? 

Leaving someone sitting alone at a business lunch because I’d put it in the wrong month.  They were gracious.  I wanted to emigrate.

What’s been your proudest moment? 

Building Cruxy from scratch. No investors, no safety net, plenty of people convinced it wouldn’t work. The best bit has been watching the Cruxy team achieve things sceptics didn’t think we could.

And who do you look up to?  

Founders who can hold two opposing thoughts at once: “I might be wrong” and “I’m willing to bet the company I’m right.”

What’s the best career advice you’ve ever been given? 

“If you don’t stand for something you fall for everything”.

And the worst? 

“Stay in your lane.”

Are you optimistic for the year ahead? 

Massively. The pace of change is uncomfortable, but it’s creating opportunities for people willing to rethink how things work. I hope London can be at the heart of that, but we need to move faster.

We’re going for lunch — and you’re picking — where are we going? 

Scott’s, Le Petit Maison or the River Cafe. Depends where the person is based. Somewhere with high standards, excellent food, good wine and is enough quiet to have a proper conversation.

And if you’re grabbing a drink after work? 

67 Pall Mall for a glass of Burgundy or Dukes if it demands the hard stuff.

Where’s home during the week? 

At Cruxy HQ in St James’s, in a tech or private equity firm’s office, on a plane to the US, or somewhere between all three.

And where might we find you at the weekend?  

Gym, Pilates, Hyde Park, lunch that accidentally becomes dinner, or planning to switch-off and immediately failing.

You’ve got a well-deserved two weeks off — where are you going and with whom? 

Italy with my partner.  Long lunches, family-run businesses, beautiful craftsmanship, excellent wine and deep thinking time on the business.