--- title: When Martina met Mike:  Featurespace's journey from Spin-Out to Global Scale description: "CEO of Cambridge spin-out Featurespace, Martina King discusses the rise from university spin-out to global fintech scale in a live interview with TechCrunch Editor-At-Large, Mike Butcher. The Interview was hosted by ThoughtLDR in partnership with the Europas Awards as part of the Cambridge Tech Week 2023." image: https://www.thoughtldr.com/hubfs/Mike%20Giff-%20Martina%20Vid.gif --- ![thought_ldr](https://www.thoughtldr.com/hubfs/Homepage/Images/thought_ldr.svg "thought_ldr") # When Martina met Mike:  Featurespace's journey from Spin-Out to Global Scale by [ThoughtLDR](https://www.thoughtldr.com/news/author/thoughtldr) Sep 04, 2023 **Name: ThoughtLDR ** **Date: Sep 04, 2023** Rome wasn't built in a day - and nor is a world-beating tech company. At this year's Cambridge Tech Week, we hosted an event in partnership with [The Europas](https://www.theeuropas.com/), where [Martina King](https://www.linkedin.com/in/martina-king-ba26969/), CEO of [Featurespace](https://www.featurespace.com/) talked to TechCrunch Editor-at-Large [Mike Butcher](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikebutcher/) about their ten-year journey from University of Cambridge spin-out to global fintech leader.  Martina is, in the words of Mike Butcher, "a bit of a legend". From CEO of Capital Radio, to Managing Director of Yahoo Europe, to launching one of the world's first augmented reality platforms and holding board positions for FTSE listed companies including Capita and Debenhams.    For the last ten years, Martina has been CEO of Featurespace, steering the company from University research to a world-leading fintech platform serving customers incl. HSBC, Worldpay and Natwest Group. In this fireside chat with Mike, Martina shared what it's like to lose a co-founder to cancer - the renowned and much loved [Professor Bill Fitzgerald](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/bill-fitzgerald-influential-cambridge-professor-who-did-groundbreaking-work-in-the-field-of-signal-processing-9464834.html) - and the promise she made him to make the company as commercially successful as he had been academically. Martina talked about what early-stage companies need to deliver to win customers, how managing technical teams compares to managing radio DJs, and much more.  If you're an academic considering spinning-out, or a founder at the early stage of your company journey or simply want to learn more about world-class leadership - be sure to watch the full fireside video below.   Share this article: - [**](https://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thoughtldr.com%2Fnews%2Fmartina-king-mike-butcher-the-featurespace-story) - [**](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thoughtldr.com%2Fnews%2Fmartina-king-mike-butcher-the-featurespace-story) - [**](https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thoughtldr.com%2Fnews%2Fmartina-king-mike-butcher-the-featurespace-story) - [**](mailto:?subject=%20site&body=Check%20out%20this%20site%20https://www.thoughtldr.com/news/martina-king-mike-butcher-the-featurespace-story) ## Recommended reading [Thought Leadership](https://www.thoughtldr.com/news/tag/thought-leadership) [Startups](https://www.thoughtldr.com/news/tag/startups) ### A Storytelling Masterclass at Hello Tomorrow Conference At Europe’s number one deeptech conference - Hello Tomorrow - deeptech venture, journalism and marketing collided in an exploration of the power of founder storytelling. As Tamara said in her wrap up... [Thought Leadership](https://www.thoughtldr.com/news/tag/thought-leadership) [Startups](https://www.thoughtldr.com/news/tag/startups) ### Why Storytelling Is Every Deeptech Founder’s Secret Weapon Tamara's article first appeared on Startups Magazine. Deeptech is hard. You’re breaking new ground on technology to solve intractable problems. Your roadmap is longer, your market is often unproven,... [News](https://www.thoughtldr.com/news/tag/news) ### A week with ThoughtLDR: Featuring our marketing intern, James James Neal, a marketing student at Newcastle University with a passion for rugby, football, and golf, recently spent an action-packed week at ThoughtLDR. Here's a glimpse of his journey, which offers... - [ Terms & Conditions ](https://www.thoughtldr.com/terms-and-conditions) - [ Privacy Policy](http://thoughtldr.com/privacy-policy) - Company Reg. 7671832 ThoughtLDR Ltd. 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