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.