00:21:19 · Miguel Armaza, Kamran Zaki
[00:21:19] S1: So before we started recording, was I was telling you, Kamran, that I'm starting to see a bit of a shift. Smells a little bit differently in the air. Much more positive for Fintech at least at the mainstream level. Looks like we're getting a few IPOs. Q1 of next year Klarna, Chime. I'm sure there's more. I've heard that from very senior investment bankers that there's about 100 to 200 tech companies that have filed confidentially. This is not just Fintech but tech. And they can keep extending the filing, but they're trying to be ready for when the market is actually open. What do you envision for Fintech in the coming months, specifically 2025 where it's around the core? [00:22:09] S0: Yeah. I think as you and I discussed, we're we're both Fintech geeks and pretty deeply versed, so so we may be biased. [00:22:15] S1: But that being said,
00:22:16 · Kamran Zaki
[00:22:16] S0: yeah, I think somebody in the industry put it well. They said, hey, for those people who are saying, you know, nothing exciting is happening in Fintech. If you look at your personal life, do you feel like you are having a wow experience as a consumer in all of your Fintech interactions? Right? Whether it's your bank, your wealth management, your insurance, your other capabilities, and the same question for small business. And if you don't feel like that's the case, which I don't, then that means there is a ton of opportunity still ahead for people to innovate and, make life better. So I think long term, I continue to be very bullish because I think there's still a lot of friction in all these experiences. Two, I think people sometimes underestimate how long things take, right? Because in the end of the last decade or beginning part of this decade, Fintech was so hot, right? And everyone was wanting to invest in it. But when I joined PayPal in 2004, when we would go to talk to large financial institutions around the world about partnering with them, we used to have to spend the first half hour educating them on what PayPal was risky and why we were really doing the right things on the compliance side and why they should feel comfortable taking us on as a customer. Right? And, you know, similarly, Adyen has had a ton of success, but Adyen started way back in 2006. And so to your point, if you look at, I think, some of the fintech companies that are doing well and have scaled, they've been around for quite a while. Right? I think there was an article today that Klarna filed potentially. I think Chime has in the recent past. I think examples in Europe of companies doing well are Monzo and Revolut. So I think there is a big wave of really staled fintechs, but they've been at it for quite a while. And I think there's also this sort of still quite a lot of friction in consumer and small business fintech related experiences that I think hopefully either companies that exist today or new companies that are getting formed will help solve. So that's why I'm quite bullish, not just about next year, but about the whole fintech space for the coming years.
00:24:16 · Miguel Armaza
[00:24:16] S1: So assuming there's a wave of Fintech IPOs coming, whether it is a small or big wave, we'll see. Take us through the IPO process. For the companies going through it, what is important and what do those companies have to keep in mind, the leadership throughout that process? Because it's a highly risky and complicated process.
00:24:41 · Kamran Zaki
[00:24:41] S0: I think it goes back to trying to focus on the right long term aspects. Right? If if you're a founder, you started this company not with a goal in mind of going to an IPO. You started it because you got really passionate about some problem or some unmet need that you thought you were uniquely positioned to solve and would add value to your customers. And then of course, as a byproduct create a lot of value, right, for investors and employees. And I think that should still be the goal, right, of, hey, this is a milestone or a step in the process. Hopefully you're still very bullish about the future and the untapped growth that is still ahead. And how do you sort of work backwards from there and manage this process as, again, a step in time rather than an end all be all. I think absolutely, you know, the founders, the the team should be proud of getting to a milestone like this, but, ultimately, you always have to be looking for that long term because you're going to hopefully welcome a new set of investors. Right? Public market investors, consumers, and you should still want to paint that vision to them of why should they invest today because there's a lot of potential in the future and why you're the right team to keep running and growing this business and delivering value. I So think that would be my 2¢ of definitely important milestone, definitely something to be proud of, but also important not to get too caught up in it and lose sight of why you originally started things. Hopefully, have many ambitions for the coming years or decades as well.
00:26:22 · Miguel Armaza
[00:26:22] S1: Speaking of great leaders, I mean, you've worked with great CEOs like Peter from Adyen, but also just dozens of others around the industry that you have personally worked with, interacted with, you know very well. In your opinion, you know, what makes them special?
00:26:41 · Kamran Zaki
[00:26:41] S0: Yeah. It's interesting because like all human beings, everyone has their own unique personality. And and so it is often hard to sort of crystallize down to the handful of things. But I think it goes back to what we were just discussing. I think, typically, they get really excited about or irritated about a particular problem, And they become somewhat infatuated or maniacal about solving that. Right? And they're willing to break through many obstacles. Right? And many people telling them that it's not possible or not worth it and really have this sort of long term vision in mind, who I think they're able to inspire others with that vision, right, and bring other great leaders on board with them. Because in the end, I feel strongly that, you know, the companies that succeed, it's often, yes, there's a founder or a set of founders that started it, but the reason they get to sort of long lasting and critical success is because they were able to build a great team that truly worked together in a very complementary way. And over time, as you scale, it becomes less about one individual and becomes about sort of that complementary core. So those are sort of the two or three things that I've seen. Peter did really well and other great leaders do really well, but I should call this out. And by default, therefore, they are very humble. Right? They often talk about the team and how that's how they got to success. And some of them don't, but most of them are very humble and talk about the we and not the I. Right?