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" I was pretty vocal about being anti-Brexit before the referendum vote. "

Taavet Hinrikus

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" Climate change, migration... they transcend national borders and require an international response. "

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" Financial services have always been about trust. Perhaps the biggest barrier to entry has been getting new customers to trust an unknown brand or service, and that's particularly true with digital disruptors who lack a physical presence on the local high street. "

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" Costs should always be presented up front so that consumers can make informed choices and get a fairer deal. "

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" I did an MBA because when I left Skype, I didn't have a clear idea of whether I wanted to create or join a company. But you don't need an MBA to become an entrepreneur. "

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" We believe that the future of money is digital. "

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" In 2011, when we launched TransferWise, it was our frustration with banks not giving us what we wanted or needed as customers. The motivation was a strong desire to solve a problem and not just fix something that was broken but create a better alternative and a new system for doing things. "

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" Banks are really bad when it comes to building consumer-centred products. "

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" Large incumbents become big and sometimes become lazy and set themselves up for failure in the future. "

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" The world is getting smaller thanks to technology. "

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" When we talk about technology changing the world, we often hear about how it makes our lives easier, more connected, safer, or even healthier. They're all things we can easily identify with. The Internet makes our lives easier; services like Skype and WhatsApp allows us to be more connected - the examples are endless. "

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" While in two very different sectors, both Skype and TransferWise were born out of frustration. "

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" I was in my early 20s when Estonia joined the E.U. For a kid who'd grown up in the Soviet Union, it seemed like my country had come of age. For a country that had been isolated and cut off from the rest of the world, it seemed like we were becoming part of the global community. It opened a whole new world of possibility. "

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" A seed depends on a whole host of factors to grow - from the fertility of the soil to the right mix of rain and sun to not being eaten by a passing bird. The same goes for an idea. For an idea to really take hold, other factors come into play, from timing to the emerging technology that makes it possible. "

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" The growth of FinTech has been driven by adoption across age groups, but the demand from the millennial generation to innovate and think about financial services differently has been a catalyst for change. "

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" Scaling a business at speed can feel like an out of control roller-coaster. "

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" For Estonia, joining Europe meant our potential as a country increased - not decreased - because of that connectedness. "

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" Without immigration, nations would stagnate. It is key for innovation and for economic growth. "

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" With a smartphone, we have a supercomputer in our pocket and are always connected. The way we bank is changing as part of this macro trend. "

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" I think that if Britain does decide to leave the E.U., that would be a disaster for the technology sector here and probably also for the broader economy. "

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" If we think about how long Google spent searching - I think they came around in '98? And, OK, Gmail came in 2004, but it was literally built by one engineer as a 20%-time project. It was probably 10 years before Google started diversifying. "

Taavet Hinrikus

" You start a business being hungry, foolish, and a little bit naive. But more often than not, you end up being disrupted yourself. It happened to Skype. "

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" Talent is the lifeblood of a fast-growing company. "

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" To be a global business, you need access to the best talent from around the world - fix this, everything else falls into place. Whether it's homegrown or imported, we don't mind where it comes from - we just want the best. "

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" Traditional consumer finance has been unfair for decades. Banks have had a monopoly on financial services and have been able to overcharge and underserve consumers. "

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" Competition and variety in financial services are always good things. "

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" The U.S.A. is a huge market which has a large immigrant population from Europe, India, from all around the world; lots of them have, still, strong ties to home, so move lots of money. "

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" There's most definitely a Davos bubble. You're in a small Alpine town that, for just four days in January, sees its population tripled with world leaders, CEOs, media, police, the army... and a whole bunch of people who aren't invited but just come to hang out. "

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" Sometimes, companies are better placed than politicians and governments to make change happen. That doesn't mean that they should not be held to account and follow international rules. But with the right motivation, they can be the force for change. "

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" The financial crisis of 2008 created a seismic shift in the dynamics of trust in financial services. FinTech would have happened without the global financial crisis - but it would have taken much longer. "

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" Bitcoin and the whole discussion around it shows how big a need there is for innovation about what money is and how it is stored. "

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