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" We believe that the future of money is digital. "
Taavet Hinrikus
Digital
Believe
Future
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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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" People need the financial sector to be safe; people also need the financial sector to go through a massive phase of innovation. That means delivering on the positive rhetoric, like around settlement accounts, not allowing Open Banking to be diluted, and leading the way on AML. "
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" The banks never sent me one chequebook. I'm very happy not to have ever touched one. "
Taavet Hinrikus
Never
Touched
Happy
" 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. "
Taavet Hinrikus
Finance
Unfair
Monopoly
" 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. "
Taavet Hinrikus
Seed
Sun
Rain
" While in two very different sectors, both Skype and TransferWise were born out of frustration. "
Taavet Hinrikus
Born
Two
Different
" International money transfer is a massive consumer rip-off. Banks and companies like Western Union have gotten away with it for too long. "
Taavet Hinrikus
Union
Money
Consumer
" 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. "
Taavet Hinrikus
Entrepreneur
You
Create
" 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. "
Taavet Hinrikus
Creativity
Community
Meet
" 'Big' problems are overwhelming, but when we distil them down to their simplest forms, then the solutions become simple, too. "
Taavet Hinrikus
Down
Too
Simple
" We're living in a world where international governance is failing to overcome borders, but technology is succeeding in removing them. "
Taavet Hinrikus
Living
Overcome
Technology
" 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. "
Taavet Hinrikus
Think
Advice
Bad
" Costs should always be presented up front so that consumers can make informed choices and get a fairer deal. "
Taavet Hinrikus
Up
Costs
Choices
" Most of my time at Skype was spent doing new things. "
Taavet Hinrikus
Doing
New
New Things
" 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. "
Taavet Hinrikus
Talent
Best
Edge
" Banks are really bad when it comes to building consumer-centred products. "
Taavet Hinrikus
Banks
Building
Products
" As technology progresses, I believe that fintech will fundamentally change finance. "
Taavet Hinrikus
Believe
Change
Finance
" There's one thing a CEO should always keep at the front of their mind, and that's customer needs. "
Taavet Hinrikus
Front
Always
Customer
" Talent is the lifeblood of a fast-growing company. "
Taavet Hinrikus
Company
Fast-Growing
Lifeblood
" 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. "
Taavet Hinrikus
You
Start
End
" Competition and variety in financial services are always good things. "
Taavet Hinrikus
Always
Good Things
Good
" A preoccupation with job title is an immediate giveaway that someone's priorities are not in line with the company's. "
Taavet Hinrikus
Line
Someone
Priorities
" 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. "
Taavet Hinrikus
Bank
People
Slow
" If the hard Brexit happens, I would assume that London wouldn't be the centre of the tech world in Europe. "
Taavet Hinrikus
World
Assume
Happens
" There's the risk of a serious case of FOMO at a place like Davos. "
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Risk
Serious
Case
" There are so many instances in banking where 'free' simply doesn't mean free, whether it's opaque overdraft charges or credit card providers that are quietly raising interest rates without customers noticing. "
Taavet Hinrikus
Credit Card
Credit
Without
" 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
Think
Google
Long
" The world is becoming more global. More than ever, people are proactively deciding where to live, where to study, where to work. Sometimes it's out of necessity, sometimes it's out of choice. "
Taavet Hinrikus
Choice
Live
People
" 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. "
Taavet Hinrikus
Kid
Age
Rest
" Companies that are natively technology-focused I would trust more than a bank. "
Taavet Hinrikus
Would
Than
Trust