As the co-founder and CEO of Revolut, Nikolay Storonsky has spent over a decade tearing down traditional banking walls and turning a scrappy London startup into a global financial superapp valued in the tens of billions. Known for his intense operational rigor, low-tolerance for bureaucracy, and absolute obsession with speed, the fintech titan sits down to discuss the realities of scaling under pressure, why legacy banking is structurally broken, and what it takes to build a generational empire.
Muhammad Aljunied: Nikolai, looking back at when you launched Revolut in 2015, the banking sector was an impenetrable fortress dominated by sluggish legacy institutions. What was the core frustration that drove you to start the company?
Nikolay Storonsky: The sheer inefficiency and arrogance of traditional banks. When I was working as a trader at Lehman Brothers and Credit Suisse, I traveled constantly and was constantly ripped off by hidden exchange fees, terrible rates, and days-long delays just to move money across borders.
It was ridiculous. In an era where everything else in the world was becoming instant and digital, banking was still stuck in the 1990s, charging people exorbitant fees for basic services. I didn’t set out to build a friendly little startup; I set out to build a high-speed, borderless financial alternative that put the customer in control. We wanted to strip away the bullshit and create something ten times faster and infinitely cheaper.
Muhammad Aljunied: Revolut is famous for its hyper-aggressive growth, extreme operational speed, and a demanding corporate culture that has often polarized outside observers. How do you respond to critics who say your pace is too intense?
Nikolay Storonsky: Scale doesn’t happen by playing it safe or working forty-hour weeks. If you want to change the global financial system and compete with institutions that have centuries of history and billions in capital, you cannot afford to move slowly.
Our culture is built for people who want to solve hard problems and move at maximum velocity. We hire ambitious, high-performing individuals who thrive under pressure and want to make a massive impact. Bureaucracy, endless meetings, and slow decision-making kill companies. Speed is our ultimate competitive advantage. If you want comfort, go work somewhere else. If you want to build the future of finance, you have to be ready to run.
Muhammad Aljunied: You’ve expanded Revolut far beyond simple currency exchange into crypto, stock trading, business accounts, and global remittances, pushing toward a true financial superapp. What is the ultimate vision for the ecosystem you are building?
Nikolay Storonsky: Everything in one app. Think about how fragmented people’s financial lives are today: you have one app for spending, another for investing, another for crypto, another for insurance, and business accounts sitting somewhere else entirely. It’s completely disjointed.
Our goal is to build the single global financial platform where you can manage every single aspect of your money—instantly, securely, and seamlessly, anywhere on earth. We are building the operating system for global money. And we are only scratching the surface of what’s possible.
Muhammad Aljunied: Whether navigating complex global regulatory hurdles across dozens of countries or driving your team to hit near-impossible milestones, what core philosophy anchors your daily execution?
Nikolay Storonsky: Never settle and never assume you’ve won. The moment you start celebrating past successes is the moment a competitor overtakes you. I am always focused on what’s broken, what’s inefficient, and how we can do it ten times better tomorrow. Life is too short to build mediocre things. You push hard, you fix the problems, and you keep building.
