Fintech Leaders
00:30:37 · Miguel Armaza, Kamran Zaki
[00:30:37] S1: Yeah. On on the front of prioritization, an exercise that I I think is very good is you you get a team together and you ask everyone to write down their top 10 priorities and then ask them to kill the bottom five and then ask them to kill the next three and then ask them to kill the the remain... One of the remaining two and they're left with just one. And it's like, that's what you need to focus on because if you have temporaries, you have no priority. [00:31:05] S0: No. I I I fully agree. And I think that's one of the challenges of of scaling, Miguel. Right? So I think to your point, when you're a small team, I'm making this up a tenet, you go through that exercise and it's a lot faster and you have more discipline in sticking to it because you're all sitting in one room where you know each other well. And if you don't stick to it, you call each other out really quickly. When you become thousands of people across multiple geographies and products and industry verticals, even though you do what you said and you share it with the whole company, it just gets harder to enforce on a day to day basis, right? Because it isn't one. You've added a whole spectrum, as I said, of countries and products and features, and you have to keep supporting those and growing those, let alone the new things. And I think that's the other common thing I found. All successful companies as they scale, the sheer size and order of magnitude does just make it more complex even though at its heart is that it is as simple as you said.
00:31:05 · Kamran Zaki, Miguel Armaza
[00:31:05] S0: No. I I I fully agree. And I think that's one of the challenges of of scaling, Miguel. Right? So I think to your point, when you're a small team, I'm making this up a tenet, you go through that exercise and it's a lot faster and you have more discipline in sticking to it because you're all sitting in one room where you know each other well. And if you don't stick to it, you call each other out really quickly. When you become thousands of people across multiple geographies and products and industry verticals, even though you do what you said and you share it with the whole company, it just gets harder to enforce on a day to day basis, right? Because it isn't one. You've added a whole spectrum, as I said, of countries and products and features, and you have to keep supporting those and growing those, let alone the new things. And I think that's the other common thing I found. All successful companies as they scale, the sheer size and order of magnitude does just make it more complex even though at its heart is that it is as simple as you said. [00:32:03] S1: Kamran, before we go, is there a book that you find yourself either rereading often or recommending? Doesn't have to be a business book, could be fiction, could be business, what... Whatever whatever want.
00:32:03 · Miguel Armaza, Kamran Zaki
[00:32:03] S1: Kamran, before we go, is there a book that you find yourself either rereading often or recommending? Doesn't have to be a business book, could be fiction, could be business, what... Whatever whatever want. [00:32:18] S0: Not really. So I'll be honest. I used to be an avid reader, and unfortunately, I found over time that my attention span shrank. Maybe it's the nature of today in social media and stuff. So I've been reading mainly fiction, but less often going back to existing things. Two, I've honestly also found that I learn a lot more better through talking with really smart people than reading books. So that is one of the things I do try and do of make sure I'm talking to as many people out there as possible. Right? Getting to know new people and learn from them. And and also, I think something that maybe we're struggling with as a country and as as the globe is often seeking people who have different opinions. Right? And trying to learn from them and their perspective and not thinking we're the smartest people in the room. So that is something that I do spend a fair amount of time trying to take the blockchain example. There's a lot of people out there who know a lot more about stablecoin and blockchain than I do, and so definitely trying to learn from them and and trying to make sure I'm talking to people who are very bullish and people who are the naysayers, and and how do I then form my own opinion based on that amalgamation. [00:33:27] S1: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that's why I do the podcast because I get to talk to a lot of interesting people like you.
00:33:27 · Miguel Armaza, Kamran Zaki
[00:33:27] S1: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that's why I do the podcast because I get to talk to a lot of interesting people like you. [00:33:33] S0: You're in a great position. [00:33:36] S1: Well, Kamran, thank you again. Although we did this remotely, I look forward to our next walk around Palo Alto next time in California. [00:33:46] S0: Looking forward to it and or in New York next time I'm there. [00:33:49] S1: Absolutely. Thank you, Kamran. Thanks for tuning in. I hope you enjoyed this great episode with Kamran, partner at Iconiq Growth. If you want more interviews, make sure to subscribe, follow and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or whatever get your shows. It helps and truly means a lot. And if you have any suggestions or thoughts about the show, just drop me a line on Twitter or LinkedIn. Signing off till next week. I'm your host, Miguel Armaza. The Fintech Leaders podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial or investment advice.