FinTech Magazine March 2020 | Page 39

of an idea to the more formal title of CEO . Chen , like many others , described this as a tough learning curve , stating “ it takes a lot of hubris and lack of self awareness to say ‘ I ’ m going to start a company and do better than anyone else ’ — you have to be lucky too ”.
He continued : “ At some point you have to fundamentally change your mindset and be open minded enough to see the opportunities and the changes happening around you . Things like building the right team to change my job , to take my ego out of decisions and disagree with me and so on . They ’ re pretty natural growing pains that entrepreneurs , CEOs and leaders go through .”
With growth comes the seeking of funding or further investment with which to scale startups . According to research by CB Insights , for example , fintech startups raised $ 33.9bn in 2019 worldwide . While this figure is slightly down on that of 2018 , which saw $ 40.8bn invested in startups , it demonstrates the voracity with which keen investors are willing to be involved in innovation in the sector .
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