Why I love recessions and what the military taught me, Arik Shtilman, Co-founder Rapyd

Arik Shtilman heads up global payments solution Rapyd – one of Europe’s most highly valued fintechs.  Arik’s first rung on the career ladder was the Israeli army, which taught him a ‘carpe diem’ approach to business that has since helped him win over investors and turn Rapyd into  Israel’s most valuable private company (it recently achieved a 15bn dollar valuation).

Arik explains that the genesis for Rapyd lies in a fellow founder being stung on FX charges on a stag do to the Czech Republic.  It was a steep learning curve where they encountered ‘every single problem on planet earth’ before pivoting and establishing a B2B product rather than B2C.  The company continues to go from strength to strength, undaunted by the pandemic (Arik kept everyone working in the office believing working from home hinders productivity) and the potential of a recession (‘I love a recession’).

This is a great episode and a great example of true entrepreneurship with many career and life lessons highlighted.

1:49 – the story of Rapyd and its move into venture capitalism

3:43 – Getting ready for a macro turndown

6:19 – ‘I love recessions’

8:13 – Investing in clients

10:05 – SME trends

11:39 – Becoming an entrepreneur

14:01 – Understanding the early potential of computers

15:12 – The potential of blockchain

16:22 – The next big trend in tech

18:10 – Starting out in the military and learning ‘anything is possible’

19:46 – What push ups and tennis camp can teach you

21:43 – Starting his first company

23:00 – The first big mistake

24:19 – Lessons learned

25:34 – The birth of Rapyd (after an expensive stag do to the Czech Republic)

30:00 – The importance of failure

31:38 – How Arik’s role has changed as the company has grown

34:16 – Rapyd’s culture

35:40 – Calling BS on working from home

38:05 – Future goal for Rapyd

41:54 – Greatest achievement – and being fearless