00:00:02 · David Senra, Nik Storonsky
[00:00:02] S0: All right. I had to tell them to start recording immediately because even the conversation we were just having, was like, oh, we're going to have a lot of fun today. I texted my partner Rob. Was like, I think me and Nick are going do a masterpiece because I've been hearing about you from other founders for years about, like, this guy is super competitive, he moves excessively fast, and he's a conqueror. Can you explain, like, how you view competition and, like, what you're trying to do in the world? [00:00:24] S1: I was extremely competitive since I was six years old, so it was always in competitive spots or competitive Olympias as well. And for me, it was always a natural desire to be number one in whatever I choose to do. Right? Like, if I choose to play a game, I need to be number one. Then I'm extremely pissed pissed off if I'm number two. So I always had this character. [00:00:48] S0: You think the competitive drive came from sports? What sports were you playing? [00:00:50] S1: I was doing a lot. I was doing kind of, you know, swimming, boxing, a lot of sports in childhood. I think it's more like a character genes combination that you get. Some people are extremely competitive, some people are not competitive at all. [00:01:04] S0: So how do you look at the competition? I heard this... We were talking earlier. It was one of the most hilarious quotes where somebody asked you like, oh, you want to expand the bank into The United States. Right? And are you coming for Jamie Dimon's lunch? And you go, I'm coming for his dinner.
00:01:04 · David Senra, Nik Storonsky
[00:01:04] S0: So how do you look at the competition? I heard this... We were talking earlier. It was one of the most hilarious quotes where somebody asked you like, oh, you want to expand the bank into The United States. Right? And are you coming for Jamie Dimon's lunch? And you go, I'm coming for his dinner. [00:01:20] S1: I mean, the idea was that lunch is always something small and dinner is usually in The US much larger than in Europe as well. Coming for dinner meant not only going for retail business but also for enterprise as well, also potentially for investment banking. Because it's also possible to disrupt investment banks. How so? I mean, it's still very manual, still very expensive. I mean, it's all possible to make it all much cheaper as well. Why not? [00:01:51] S0: Okay. So explain... Because, like, I think a lot of people that are gonna be listening to this don't under... Like, they don't... They're not gonna understand what Revolut is today and where you're trying to go. So, like, explain what you're doing, like, the state of the business now Yeah. And then what you're trying to do moving forward.
00:01:51 · David Senra, Nik Storonsky
[00:01:51] S0: Okay. So explain... Because, like, I think a lot of people that are gonna be listening to this don't under... Like, they don't... They're not gonna understand what Revolut is today and where you're trying to go. So, like, explain what you're doing, like, the state of the business now Yeah. And then what you're trying to do moving forward. [00:02:04] S1: So maybe I started with twelve years ago with what we started. So I started with a simple cut which allowed you to spend money abroad at interbank rates, avoiding effective banking fees and with good FX rates. And then at later stage, expanded into other products into credit, wealth and trading, crypto, business accounts. We also build a lot of non financial services business. So as a result now, we are a large digital bank providing all the services the banks provide, plus providing a lot of services on top of it. For example, you can book stays with us. You can buy e seams and so on. And then the idea is to build a large global bank, which is number one in at least 100 countries. That's what we are trying to do now. So right now we're live in 30... Probably 38 countries. In majority of them, we have banking licenses. And then we are slowly expanding 10, 15 new markets every, I would say, one to two years.
00:02:04 · Nik Storonsky, David Senra
[00:02:04] S1: So maybe I started with twelve years ago with what we started. So I started with a simple cut which allowed you to spend money abroad at interbank rates, avoiding effective banking fees and with good FX rates. And then at later stage, expanded into other products into credit, wealth and trading, crypto, business accounts. We also build a lot of non financial services business. So as a result now, we are a large digital bank providing all the services the banks provide, plus providing a lot of services on top of it. For example, you can book stays with us. You can buy e seams and so on. And then the idea is to build a large global bank, which is number one in at least 100 countries. That's what we are trying to do now. So right now we're live in 30... Probably 38 countries. In majority of them, we have banking licenses. And then we are slowly expanding 10, 15 new markets every, I would say, one to two years. [00:03:08] S0: Okay. So this goes back to, again, we just hit on how this conversation started. You're super competitive. You say these like little lines, right? That you're like, you just drop there. But like, you're just like, oh, I want to build the number one bank in a 100 different countries. Yeah. You understand that's a wild, wild thing to say and an ambition. And I don't think you say it casually, oh yeah, just want to be a 100, top number one in a 100 countries. Like you actually mean it. So like go into like how this... Like what is your inner monologue in terms of, like, competition and how you view, like, this game that you're playing?
00:03:08 · David Senra, Nik Storonsky
[00:03:08] S0: Okay. So this goes back to, again, we just hit on how this conversation started. You're super competitive. You say these like little lines, right? That you're like, you just drop there. But like, you're just like, oh, I want to build the number one bank in a 100 different countries. Yeah. You understand that's a wild, wild thing to say and an ambition. And I don't think you say it casually, oh yeah, just want to be a 100, top number one in a 100 countries. Like you actually mean it. So like go into like how this... Like what is your inner monologue in terms of, like, competition and how you view, like, this game that you're playing? [00:03:42] S1: Yeah. Basically, mentally, for me, if I chosen to do this game, right, and as I said before, I need to be in number one on this. And right now, is a huge opportunity in the world while we have many countries. And then in in each country, we have 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 banks. They're all very fragmented. Basically, there is a unique chance in the world to build a global bank, which provides much better services and products at a much better price in every single country. And then effectively to optimize, compete with these banks, to to drive prices on their products down, to improve customer experience, to save customers' time as well, because you don't need all these physical branches for banks and so on.
00:03:42 · Nik Storonsky, David Senra
[00:03:42] S1: Yeah. Basically, mentally, for me, if I chosen to do this game, right, and as I said before, I need to be in number one on this. And right now, is a huge opportunity in the world while we have many countries. And then in in each country, we have 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 banks. They're all very fragmented. Basically, there is a unique chance in the world to build a global bank, which provides much better services and products at a much better price in every single country. And then effectively to optimize, compete with these banks, to to drive prices on their products down, to improve customer experience, to save customers' time as well, because you don't need all these physical branches for banks and so on. [00:04:23] S0: Will you say more about this, like, this ambition or this, like, competitive drive that you have? So like, like, how how does it manifest in your life every day? Like, you wake up with just like a burning desire to achieve mission success? Are you looking yourself in the mirror and just like, I'm not doing enough? Like, what is happening? Like, I'm interested in you, the entrepreneur, and then we'll talk about the business, but like, this is