Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
Bitcoin, I think we can say, is dead.
Changing behaviour is a very slow process.
No amount of PR works if you've got a bad product.
The world is getting smaller thanks to technology.
Talent is the lifeblood of a fast-growing company.
Most of my time at Skype was spent doing new things.
I get a kick out of helping the next generation of founders.
Competition and variety in financial services are always good things.
Hiring new people, opening up in new markets, all of that takes money.
I was pretty vocal about being anti-Brexit before the referendum vote.
Banks are really bad when it comes to building consumer-centred products.
Scaling a business at speed can feel like an out of control roller-coaster.
As a consumer, I'm definitely waiting for what's going to come after banks.
Companies that are natively technology-focused I would trust more than a bank.
As technology progresses, I believe that fintech will fundamentally change finance.
The banks never sent me one chequebook. I'm very happy not to have ever touched one.
While in two very different sectors, both Skype and TransferWise were born out of frustration.
Without immigration, nations would stagnate. It is key for innovation and for economic growth.
There's one thing a CEO should always keep at the front of their mind, and that's customer needs.
Climate change, migration... they transcend national borders and require an international response.
Creating a new country from scratch has given Estonia the license to imagine what a country could be.
Large incumbents become big and sometimes become lazy and set themselves up for failure in the future.
Celebrity-spotting is pretty standard at Davos. It's one of the things that makes it easy to criticise.
If the hard Brexit happens, I would assume that London wouldn't be the centre of the tech world in Europe.
Costs should always be presented up front so that consumers can make informed choices and get a fairer deal.
If the U.K. leaves the E.U., we'll have to consider whether it makes business sense to stay headquartered here.
A preoccupation with job title is an immediate giveaway that someone's priorities are not in line with the company's.
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.
For Estonia, joining Europe meant our potential as a country increased - not decreased - because of that connectedness.
'Big' problems are overwhelming, but when we distil them down to their simplest forms, then the solutions become simple, too.
We built TransferWise focused on customer innovation. That means we build our product based first and foremost on our customers.
Bitcoin and the whole discussion around it shows how big a need there is for innovation about what money is and how it is stored.
If you think about the influence it has had, it's incredible. Think of all the relationships that have been saved because of Skype.
Securing and attracting the best talent is an obsession in the tech industry for good reason. It's your main asset; it's your edge.
We're living in a world where international governance is failing to overcome borders, but technology is succeeding in removing them.
International money transfer is a massive consumer rip-off. Banks and companies like Western Union have gotten away with it for too long.
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.
Most banks tell their customers that they only pay a small upfront fee for international payments. But in reality, customers pay much more.
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.
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.
I think that if Britain does decide to leave the E.U., that would be a disaster for the technology sector here and probably also for the broader economy.
As consumers in general, and with Millennials in particular, we're getting used to everything being cheaper, faster, better - and banks aren't keeping up.
I think that's the beauty of being a private company: you get to choose when you disclose something. You can play it in a strategic way or in a tactical way.
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.
Maybe I think too highly of myself, but I think maybe sometimes I can give some good advice - sometimes bad advice, I'm sure - and I think that's a way of giving back.
I did an MBA because when I left Skype, I didn't have a clear idea of whether I wanted to create or join a company. But you don't need an MBA to become an entrepreneur.
Building a business is a marathon, not a sprint. I don't believe it when people tell me they've been working 80-hour weeks for five years in a row. I just don't think that's possible.
The U.S.A. is a huge market which has a large immigrant population from Europe, India, from all around the world; lots of them have, still, strong ties to home, so move lots of money.
The world is becoming more global. More than ever, people are proactively deciding where to live, where to study, where to work. Sometimes it's out of necessity, sometimes it's out of choice.
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.