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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. "

Taavet Hinrikus

Strong

World

Immigrant

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" If the hard Brexit happens, I would assume that London wouldn't be the centre of the tech world in Europe. "

" Building a business is a marathon, not a sprint. I don't believe it when people tell me they've been working 80-hour weeks for five years in a row. I just don't think that's possible. "

Taavet Hinrikus

Marathon

People

" I spent my workdays at Skype creating a more connected world. We were shrinking the distances between people, making it easier to connect across countries. Then I'd go to my bank to transfer my euros to pounds, and it was like going back in time 50 years: expensive, inconvenient, and painfully slow. It was a nightmare. "

" Talent is a complex subject: from the education our kids get in kindergarten and beyond to the re-skilling of some parts of the workforce; from the opportunities available for research to how we attract the best people to work in our companies. "

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

" 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. "

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

Taavet Hinrikus

Costs

Choices

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

" 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. "

" Securing and attracting the best talent is an obsession in the tech industry for good reason. It's your main asset; it's your edge. "

" There's the risk of a serious case of FOMO at a place like Davos. "

" International money transfer is a massive consumer rip-off. Banks and companies like Western Union have gotten away with it for too long. "

" The attitude to failure is one of the characteristics that's often called out as the difference between the U.S. and Europe. And we do need to be less risk-averse, more embracing of failure. Having failed makes you look bad in Europe. But in the U.S., it makes you look experienced. "

" Maybe I think too highly of myself, but I think maybe sometimes I can give some good advice - sometimes bad advice, I'm sure - and I think that's a way of giving back. "

" There's one thing a CEO should always keep at the front of their mind, and that's customer needs. "

" There's always been a lot of interest in the tech community about how to foster innovation and creativity - both within a company but also in the ecosystem of a tech cluster. In both cases, creating opportunities for people who don't encounter each other normally to meet and talk is key. "

" 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. "

" Changing behaviour is a very slow process. "

" 'Big' problems are overwhelming, but when we distil them down to their simplest forms, then the solutions become simple, too. "

" We're living in a world where international governance is failing to overcome borders, but technology is succeeding in removing them. "

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

" 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. "

" At TransferWise, we started out as - and continue as - idealists. We start with what we can do to make things better and how we can solve problems, focusing on what people need. It turns out you can focus on building the best service and be successful as business. "

" We built TransferWise focused on customer innovation. That means we build our product based first and foremost on our customers. "

" 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. "

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

" 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. "

" 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. "

" The banks never sent me one chequebook. I'm very happy not to have ever touched one. "

" People bought bitcoin because they thought it would be worth more tomorrow. And a lot of people got lucky. But we're not seeing real people use bitcoin. And we don't know what problem it solves. Now, blockchain, I think, is a genius advancement in technology. "