Competition, Intensity & Building a $115 Billion Global Bank | Nik Storonsky, Revolut
Oct 25, 2026 · 1:07:02
Revolut co-founder and CEO Nik Storonsky tells David Senra he is building the number one bank in 100 countries, arguing founder-led firms beat professional CEOs who protect their jobs. He calls delaying the banking license his worst mistake—UK approval took five years—and says Chime-style fintechs without licenses can never win prime customers. He runs the company as a machine, funding product bets algorithmically: sunsetting the bottom 25% and doubling down on top bets growing 10-20% monthly. AI is rethinking teams from 10 to 2-3 people, automated 90% of customer support, and powers Pragma, an LLM trained on 30 million daily transactions. He explains hiring self-guided people, keeping VCs off his board, his 56% IRR Quantum Light fund, and buying 50% of Europe's airport ads.
