#4 How to Network Your Way Into a Unicorn Startup With Varo Bank Co-Founder Roger Van Duinen
Manage episode 425684773 series 3578604
Today’s guest, Roger Van Duinen is the co-founder of Varo Money – an “entirely new kind of bank” that uses tech to bring financial inclusion and opportunity to all of its users.
With 25 years of experience working as a C-level executive in the banking and financial services sector – he brought a lot of industry expertise to the table.
In that time, he built and nurtured an extensive network of like-minded entrepreneurs and business leaders.
In fact, it was that network that led him to co-found Varo Money in the first place.
It started when a mutual connection put Roger in contact with Colin Walsh.
Colin was also a veteran in the banking industry but had taken a very different path than Roger.
They got to talking and realised that, despite their different paths, they saw a lot of the same problems in the industry.
Before long, Roger and Colin had co-founded Varo Money. Fast forward to today, and Varo has raised over $990M to date – most recently raising $510M in their Series E round, at a $2.5B valuation.
In this episode, Roger and I dive deep into
- The idea behind Varo
- The road to product-market fit
- The lessons Roger and his team learnt from dealing with investors
- Key insights on building an early-stage startup team
- Balancing the intense work every entrepreneur faces with their personal life (something Roger admits, was a huge challenge for him)
- Advice on every facet of the entrepreneurial journey
Tune in as Roger shares entrepreneurial insights from a career spanning nearly three decades.
Find Altar on LinkedIn.
Subscribe to our Newsletter.
Check out our library of entrepreneurial resources.
Contact Us to talk about your startup.
Let us know what you thought of Kathryn’s episode.
Follow Roger on LinkedIn.
11 jaksoa