A biography for Taavet Hinrikushasn’t been written yet.
“Historically, people have flocked to Silicon Valley because of the belief that that's where the latest innovation is happening. It's a snowball effect.”
“When a new hire is afraid to roll up their sleeves and get things done, it's a clear sign it's not going to work out.”
“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.”
“Doing something that empowers people makes you realise how boring it would be to work for a place where the goal is just to make more money. It's much easier to get out of bed and look forward to 12 hours of work if you're making the world a better place.”
“Being a 'global citizen' is not something reserved for the global elite anymore. Thanks to the democratising power of technology, it's not a trend determined by privilege or even age but by attitude.”
“With a smartphone, we have a supercomputer in our pocket and are always connected. The way we bank is changing as part of this macro trend.”
“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.”
“We believe that the future of money is digital.”
“I was pretty vocal about being anti-Brexit before the referendum vote.”
“Hiring new people, opening up in new markets, all of that takes money.”
“If you think about the influence it has had, it's incredible. Think of all the relationships that have been saved because of Skype.”
“'Big' problems are overwhelming, but when we distil them down to their simplest forms, then the solutions become simple, too.”
“There are lots of people building the next TransferWise, not in a sense of competing with us but in a sense of building large, successful companies that are doing something important. I just enjoy helping these founders navigate the journey.”
“If the hard Brexit happens, I would assume that London wouldn't be the centre of the tech world in Europe.”
“Without immigration, nations would stagnate. It is key for innovation and for economic growth.”
“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.”
“Changing behaviour is a very slow process.”
“Banks are really bad when it comes to building consumer-centred products.”
“To be a global business, you need access to the best talent from around the world - fix this, everything else falls into place. Whether it's homegrown or imported, we don't mind where it comes from - we just want the best.”
“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.”