Legacy finance clings to its castles and checklists.

Revolut stormed in—winning by ignoring the script, outsmarting the gatekeepers, and betting on action over approval.

Nikolay Storonsky, its architect, cut his teeth on physics problems and swim meets. His big realization? Barriers are breakable, and effort outpaces ease.

That ignited Revolut’s climb from a niche card to a border-busting financial force, daring banks to keep up.

In this episode, we tackle:

• Why Nik funded the launch with his own wins, despite later landing $2 billion

• How Revolut danced around regulators and outran the competition

• Why chasing scale means nailing efficiency when costs bite hard

ABOUT US:

We’re proudly sponsored by Brex—a brand I co-founded, now supporting over 30,000 businesses like Anthropic, DoorDash, and Scale AI, helping them make every dollar count.

I’m grateful for their continued support as I bring you all conversations with some of the most exceptional founders of our generation. Onward and upward, together. 

Connect with us: 

1. Revolut - https://x.com/RevolutApp

2. Brex - https://x.com/brexHQ

3. Henrique Dubugras- https://x.com/hdubugras

00:00 Trailer

00:49 Introduction

01:52 Nik's Early Life and Education

11:50 Transition to Finance and Trading

14:19 The Collapse of Lehman Brothers

25:15 Starting Revolut

36:28 YC Combinator and Fundraising Challenges

41:24 Product Development and Market Fit

44:23 Company Culture and Hiring Philosophy

47:01 Management Style and Systems

59:52 Expansion and Systematizing Processes

01:06:30 Reflections on Success and Challenges

01:09:00 Closing Thoughts

This episode was produced and distributed by our friends at Atomik Growth: https://atomikgrowth.com/