#58 - Why am I Joining Sardine

This week I announced that I’ve joined Sardine.

Making such a decision wasn’t hard, but it wasn’t simple either–for the first time in 11 years I’m going to be an employee again.

When I confided my decision to some of my close friends I got a lot of questions: Why join a team? Why Sardine? Why now? What about Native[risk]?

I’m sure that some of my readers had the same questions going through their heads when they saw my post on Linkedin.

So this week I want to share my thought process, how I reached this decision, and what’s next for me and my advisory clients.

Why join a team?

The million dollar question. To answer that I need to share why I started solo-consulting in the first place.

When Fraugster, my previous company, went through bankruptcy I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to do next. Everything was on the table: from starting a new venture, joining a scale-up, or even becoming a woodworker (for real).

But after months of soul-searching and speaking about it with my partner, I realized that I want to orient my life around my family for a change.

In the 9 years I’ve been a founder, it felt like I always needed to juggle two competing sets of priorities–work and family. 

Usually, work won. Regardless, I always felt guilty towards both parties.

My life also changed. I became a father, we were planning a second kid (who just turned one!), and we were thinking seriously about leaving Berlin (which we did earlier this year!).

Working solo was the answer for it all–no co-founders, no employees, no boss, no investors. I can work with whomever I want, whenever I want, from wherever I want.

This was the freedom I wanted.

And consulting worked out great for a while–I had a blast, I grew tremendously, I re-ignited my passion for fraud prevention, and yeah, I also made a decent profit.

But after 2.5 years, I realized that the sense of freedom I was holding onto was an illusion.

If you’ve ever worked in the B2B services business, you know that forecasting your revenue is practically impossible.

Some 6-figure clients would materialize from thin air and we’d start an engagement the following week. Other clients could take long months to decide if and what they wanted to do together.

It put me in an awkward position.

Even when I signed big deals, I was still anxious. “What if that’s the last big deal for this year?”

The result was that I held myself back from anything but basic spending–not really investing in my business on the one hand, but also not taking much-needed holidays on the other.

It all hit me when I took my first vacation this summer. Even though I was making good money and in control of my time, it was the first family vacation in three years(!).

That’s when I realized I craved some certainty in life. For a change.

Joining a team could give me just that.

Why Sardine?

Looking at what kind of role I wanted to take on, I knew two things: it had to be a remote role (the biggest tech company around me is the local garage) and it had to be part-time.

That meant choosing between two options:

The first would be to go back to my roots and take a leadership role in data/product/engineering in the fraud prevention space. Many open positions, low likelihood I could keep it part-time, and I was afraid it’d feel like going backwards.

The second would be to capitalize on the brand and presence I’ve built over the years and take an evangelizing/strategy role with one of the vendors in the space. A handful of opportunities, but it got me really excited.

If there was anything I really enjoyed in my solo career, it was delivering high-impact, educational content.

It was always a passion of mine, and the last couple of years have been immensely fulfilling in that regard.

I actually only thought about such a role because just before that eye-opening summer vacation the team at Sardine reached out to see if there was a chance to collaborate.

Back then I was hesitant as many of my prospects were competitors. But once I made up my mind, they were my first call.

But it wasn’t only that.

Watching Sardine throughout its journey left me with a strong impression.

They knew what they were talking about (so many founders today come from outside the industry).

Their product was incredibly impressive–the first fraud orchestrator, designed for fintechs and FIs, low-code and yet sophisticated. 

I had never seen something like that before, and to be honest? I was glad Fraugster went out of business just before we had to compete with them directly.

But the thing that I liked most was different: they were killing it with their marketing and branding. Every bit of it reminded me of what guides my own content: value-first, educational, and practitioner-led.

This was exactly the team I knew I would be proud to be part of.

What would I do at Sardine?

My new role bridges two worlds I'm passionate about: creating content and shaping fraud prevention strategy.

I'll be contributing to Sardine's educational content–publishing insights that cut through vendor noise and speak directly to fraud practitioners. Think of it as TSFS, but with Sardine's resources and data behind it.

Beyond content, I'll work with the product and leadership teams to make sure what we build actually solves real problems. After 16 years in the trenches, I know the gap between what vendors promise and what practitioners need. My job is to close that gap.

I'll also represent Sardine externally–at events, through partnerships, and in strategic conversations–while keeping the team grounded in what actually works in production.

Rapid fire questions

Is Native[risk] shutting down? 

No.

Are you still consulting? 

Yes. I will continue to consult, although with a reduced capacity and mainly in fintech advisory positions.

Will your content now be all about Sardine? 

No. I will write about the same topics, and in the same format. From time to time I might dip into Sardine’s resources (=data), but that would only be to illustrate a point, not the point.

Does this mean no more memes on LI? 

No. Memes are ON.

I’m really excited, and even more so curious, at what the future holds and how this new phase in my journey would shape up. I promise to keep you posted.

Have additional questions, thoughts, or feedback? I’m genuinely curious to hear it, so don’t hesitate to hit Reply.

In the meantime, that’s all for this week.

See you next Saturday.

P.S. If you feel like you're running out of time and need some expert advice with getting your fraud strategy on track, here's how I can help you:

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