FIVE MINUTES WITH ...
“ I ENJOY WORKING WITH BLOCKCHAIN AND INVESTMENTS , AND HAVE NO PLANS TO REDUCE MY ACTIVITY LEVEL ”
Q . WHAT ’ S THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE YOU EVER RECEIVED ?
» EI had the privilege of knowing Jack Welch and his very focused approach on keeping things simple and delegating responsibility to your management . I found it very helpful .
Q . WHO OR WHAT INSPIRES YOU IN FINTECH TODAY ?
» I am very involved in blockchain technology , following the synergies between this new technology and the traditional financial sector with great interest . I believe many inefficient processes in settlement , trading , compliance , and many other areas can be greatly improved by managing data on a blockchain .
Q . HOW DID YOU GET INTO BLOCKCHAIN , AND WHAT EXCITES YOU MOST ABOUT IT ?
» I was made aware of Bitcoin back in 2011 and have followed the industry with increasing intensity since then . I believe that blockchain has a similar transformative potential as the internet had back in the ‘ 90s , and I enjoy being involved at the cutting-edge of technology again .
Q . IF THERE ’ S ONE PIECE OF TECHNOLOGY YOU COULDN ’ T LIVE WITHOUT , WHAT WOULD IT BE ?
» I am a heavy user of my IPad , which has replaced the normal portable computer for me . It ’ s easy to carry around , and is invaluable for both business and recreation .
Q . WHEN YOU LOOK BACK AT FOUNDING SAXO BANK , IS THERE ANYTHING THAT YOU THINK WOULD BE DIFFERENT ABOUT THAT PROCESS TODAY ? HAS THE STARTUP EXPERIENCE CHANGED ?
» We never took in funding in the first 10 years , which taught us a healthy balance between income and investments . We simply had to build the platform at a pace where profitability followed along . So we never over-extended ourselves or had to focus on bringing client adoption along .
Today , many startups have too much money , really , and therefore focus too much on product and too little on client relevance . That leads to a lot of white elephants , and you find out too late that the clients don ’ t like or don ’ t use what you have built .
24 June 2023