KARL MALLALIEU
London
Summary
Accomplished professional with expertise in product vision, strategy, and lifecycle management. Proficient in cloud transformation, digital integration, and agile methodologies. Demonstrated success in commercial strategy, subscription monetization, and team leadership. Strong skills in stakeholder management, cloud infrastructure oversight, and data architecture, driving innovation in technology-driven environments.
Overview
31
31
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work history
Founder & Director
Bond Radar Ltd
London & Hong Kong
09.2002 - 03.2025
- Founded Bond Radar Ltd with £10k personal investment and no external debt; scaled the business to £4.5m annual T/O, serving institutional clients across 40+ countries, including JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank, and Goldman Sachs before 2025 exit/sale to 9fin.
- Full product ownership across a multi-product portfolio; P&L accountability; 40-person cross-functional team (editorial, product, engineering, operations). Partner ecosystem incl. Bloomberg; distribution via web, API and mobile.
- Selected Product Outcomes:
- Scaled from zero to a portfolio serving 850+ institutions; embedded products into daily workflows across global DCM/syndicate teams; drove £4.5m annual turnover through subscription models, enterprise/site-wide licensing, and new product lines.
- Built/launched Bond Radar, Loan Radar, Roadshow Radar, and Events Radar; delivered via Bloomberg, REST API, web, & mobile.
- Drove £4.5m annual turnover through subscription models, enterprise/site-wide licensing, and new product lines.
- Led successful exit to 9fin; retained to advise on product/integration roadmap post-transaction.
- Product Strategy & Roadmap
- Owned the evolving multi-year roadmap: discovery, business casing, sequencing, and cross-functional delivery governance.
- Translated market problems into outcomes & hypotheses; ran experiments and usage telemetry (Heap) to guide prioritisation.
- Defined pricing/packaging across segments; introduced deferred-income reporting to align recognition with product delivery.
- Platform, Data & Architecture
- Directed full AWS cloud migration (2023); refactored and migrated 120K+ bond records and syndicated loan entries.
- Architected data pipelines and search/league-table engine (“Data Wizard”) to power analytics and client-side filtering at scale.
- Implemented entitlement and alerting frameworks; ensured performant, low-latency distribution and screen updates.
- Integrations & Distribution
- Secured the first AWS-hosted third-party newsfeed integration with Bloomberg; collaborated with Bloomberg engineers to deploy real-time feeds and terminal distribution.
- Grew proprietary Bloomberg messaging list from 25 to 9K+ global DCM and syndicate bankers, building a durable growth loop.
- Provided REST APIs and data feeds for enterprise clients; supported web and mobile app delivery.
- Reliability, Security & Risk
- Re-platformed hosting from Lithuania to the UK in response to geopolitical risk; established twin UK data centres (Maidenhead, Croydon) with tested failover.
- Embedded GDPR compliance, DR/BCP, security controls (Cloudflare, Sophos); monitored latency & virtualisation infrastructure.
- GTM, Growth & Community
- Designed GTM motions across capital-markets segments; built commercial models, pricing tests, and renewal/expansion plays.
- Launched Events Radar – scaled to four high-margin events per year, deepening community and creating incremental revenue.
- Led content/product alignment to drive daily adoption; created deal-time alerts that became a market habit.
- Org, Ways of Working & Tooling
- Built/led teams across London and Hong Kong; hiring, coaching, and performance frameworks for product, data, and editorial.
- Implemented product and delivery tooling: Jira/Confluence, GitLab, Swagger/Postman; established robust working agreements and release cadences.
- Digitised back-office processes, including ACT CRM onboarding and contract workflow; SAGE 50 for billing, forecasting, and subscription reporting.
- Financial Stewardship & Board
- Owned budget, forecasting and P&L; ran scenario analyses for new products and M&A; produced insightful board-level reporting and pricing models.
- M&A / Exit
- Authored the information memorandum; built SharePoint data room; owned Q&A and due diligence (legal, financial, product/tech) culminating in £10m sale (2024); retained as strategic board advisor to support integration.
Emerging Markets Desk Head
International Insider (Informa Plc)
London
01.1994 - 01.2002
- Began career as a junior reporter and rose to lead the emerging markets desk at International Insider - then the dominant provider of international bond market data via Reuters. Pioneered real-time intelligence reporting on sovereign and corporate debt issuance in emerging markets, creating the first data-led insights and league tables used by global investment banks. Working under market pioneers, modernised information flow across capital markets long before digital tools were standard, shaping how deal data was consumed and trusted, laying the groundwork for future entrepreneurial success.
- Conceived & led the world’s first emerging-markets bond desk -a new product line for sovereign/corporate issuance intelligence.
- Built an industry-first EM league tables (bank rankings by issuance), adopted by DCM teams for pitching/share-of-wallet plays.
- Digitised real-time deal alerts via Reuters intranet – replacing print reports and resetting expectations on speed and utility.
- Developed trusted 9-to-5 relationships with global syndicate desks (London, Frankfurt, Paris, New York, later Hong Kong).
- Grew 2-person desk to deliver £1m+ subscription revenue; modernised data flow setting foundation for later SaaS success.
Education
MA - Development Economics
01.1992 - 01.1993
Included field research in Central America published by the UK’s Overseas Development Administration.
BA - Development Studies
01.1985 - 01.1989
- Focus on political economy and international systems.
- GPA: 2:1 (Hons)
FT Non-Executive Director Diploma (Level 7) - Corporate Governance
06.2025 -
Skills
- Product vision and strategy
- Lifecycle management
- Agile methodologies
- Platform and data expertise
- Cloud transformation
- Digital integration
- Commercial strategy
- Subscription monetization
- Team leadership
- Stakeholder management
- Cloud infrastructure oversight
- Tech stack management
- Security compliance systems
- CRM and finance integration
- Product delivery monitoring
- Data architecture
Certification
- Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Business Strategy, MIT Sloan and MIT CSAIL – starts Jan 2026
- FT Non-Executive Director Diploma – in progress, finishes Jan 2026
- Formalising board-level governance, fiduciary duties, and strategic oversight expertise
- Member, Institute of Directors (IoD UK) - engaged in governance & leadership circles to support transition into plural roles
NON-EXECUTIVE & STRATEGIC ADVISORY ACTIVITIES
- Able to offer strategic insight, product innovation, and operational experience from launch to exit. Building a portfolio as a trusted advisor for fintech, SaaS, data-led or similar spin-off/start-up or PE-backed businesses navigating scale, transformation, or M&A.
- Retained by 9fin to provide transitional product & strategic advisory support following the acquisition of Bond Radar.
- Engaged in confidential ad hoc M&A consulting, supporting founder-led businesses and investors with due diligence structuring, digital readiness, and strategic preparation.
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
- Regular participant in fintech, SaaS, and data product innovation workshops and peer forums.
- Rescue Diver Certification - PADI First Responder, Demonstrates composure, leadership, and risk response under pressure.
References
References available upon request.
Timeline
Financial Times - FT Non-Executive Director Diploma (Level 7), Corporate Governance
06.2025 -
Founder & Director - Bond Radar Ltd
09.2002 - 03.2025
Emerging Markets Desk Head - International Insider (Informa Plc)
01.1994 - 01.2002
University of East Anglia - MA, Development Economics
01.1992 - 01.1993
University of East Anglia - BA, Development Studies
01.1985 - 01.1989