Fintech Leaders Uzum, from 0 to $1.5Bn in Four Years. Building Uzbekistan's First Tech Unicorn. Nikolay Seleznev, Co-Founder
Jan 28, 2026
Nikolay Seleznev, co-founder of Uzum and builder of Uzbekistan’s first tech unicorn, led rapid e-commerce and fintech scale-up. He recounts turning a bad online purchase into a super‑app vision. Topics include next‑day delivery without warehouses, issuing millions of debit cards, building trust via infrastructure, and choosing a focused Uzbekistan‑first growth strategy.
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Super‑App Blueprint That Stuck
- The founders sketched a super‑app ecosystem from day one: acquire cheaply, retain with banking, monetize via credit.
- Four years later the major pieces exist largely as planned, which is unusual for startups.
Use Time Pressure To Force Focus
- Treat time as your scarcest resource and set near‑term constraints to force focus and decisions.
- Use time pressure to prioritize projects and allocate effort like capital allocation.
Build Talent With Leaders Plus Local Training
- Hire senior leaders first to attract junior talent and then invest heavily in developing local hires.
- Partner with government training and education flows to scale technical and product capabilities.
