292: Done Deal: Ollie Walsh on Pipit’s 12-Year Journey to Qenta

1
00:00:05,840 --> 00:00:11,000
Money never sleeps, pal.
Hey there.

2
00:00:11,120 --> 00:00:13,160
I'm Pete Townsend and This is
Money Never Sleeps.

3
00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:14,960
We look inside the minds of
entrepreneurs and at the

4
00:00:14,960 --> 00:00:17,640
crossover of startups,
enterprise, finance, technology

5
00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:20,320
and life as we know it.
This week I'm welcoming back

6
00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:24,200
someone who now officially holds
the all time record for most

7
00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:28,680
guest appearances on the show,
Ollie Walsh, Co founder and CEO

8
00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:31,800
of Pipit Global.
Now, Full disclosure, I've been

9
00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:34,760
on the board of Pipit since
2019, so I've had a front row

10
00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:38,400
seat to the remarkable and
occasionally soul scorching

11
00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:41,520
journey that Ollie's been on.
But today's chat isn't just

12
00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:43,320
another update.
This one's different.

13
00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:47,040
It's an exclusive first look at
Pipit's acquisition by KENTA.

14
00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:51,320
KENTA is rethinking how money
moves around the world, blending

15
00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:54,920
fintech, blockchain and impact
into one powerful payments

16
00:00:54,920 --> 00:01:01,080
platform.
Money never sleeps, pal.

17
00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:03,600
In this episode, Ollie and I get
into the weeds and what it

18
00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:06,720
really takes to build a startup
with social impact at its core,

19
00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:09,680
what it feels like to finally
get a deal across the line after

20
00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:12,840
years of trying and how it all
unfolds when you're leading with

21
00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:17,400
purpose rather than flash.
We cover everything from cash

22
00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:20,600
in, cash out points for the
unbanked to roller coasters on

23
00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:24,080
fire to what it actually means
to let go of your startup baby

24
00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:27,640
and become Mr. President.
So let's dive right in with

25
00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:30,920
Ollie Walsh.
All right, here on MONEY Never

26
00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:38,800
Sleeps.
So Ollie Walsh back for a record

27
00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:44,320
fourth time on Money News. 4.
Yeah, the Fantastic Four.

28
00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:47,040
Awesome.
You remember who was in the

29
00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:50,040
Fantastic Four.
Oh, Mr. Fantastic, The Invisible

30
00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:55,160
Girl, Human Torch and The Thing.
The thing very good.

31
00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:57,880
All right.
Anybody in this world that would

32
00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:00,800
be able to answer that question,
it'd be the former owner and

33
00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:04,360
operator of Needful Things in
Galway back in the 90s, which is

34
00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:07,160
where we think we might have
first.

35
00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:10,639
But not knowing who each other
was at the time, where we

36
00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:13,400
probably would have seen each
other back in the 90s when I was

37
00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:16,680
Galway as a student.
You were in Galway as a your

38
00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:19,760
first entrepreneurial venture.
Yeah, it was 30 years ago in

39
00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:21,560
December touched.
We opened the doors 8th of

40
00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:23,960
December 1994.
That's crazy.

41
00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:24,760
That's.
Crazy.

42
00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:28,160
That's my entrepreneurial
journey up until the 16th of

43
00:02:28,160 --> 00:02:30,760
January this year.
Yeah, and and you've been on

44
00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:33,960
quite a wild 1.
And so, First off,

45
00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:36,480
congratulations.
Thank you very much.

46
00:02:36,920 --> 00:02:39,800
This news that we are now
sharing with the world and we'll

47
00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:43,320
get into this in a minute.
I know it's been quite a journey

48
00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:46,440
for you and I've been pleased to
be part of it with you.

49
00:02:46,640 --> 00:02:51,040
And let's give the listeners who
may not have heard the first 3

50
00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:58,120
episodes just a quick history of
you and Pippet and what led you

51
00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:01,240
up to the point of this
conversation that we're having

52
00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:04,800
today.
OK so like Co founded Pippet 12

53
00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:08,160
years ago.
Originally the model was cash

54
00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:11,920
payments for e-commerce orders.
So my friends, Julian Callahan

55
00:03:11,920 --> 00:03:14,360
was the usual ideas man, you
know, it approached me, but

56
00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:17,040
doing the research, but there's
been a potentially good idea.

57
00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:19,360
The market being the unbanked or
underbanked or security

58
00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:21,680
conscious who didn't want to use
their cards or didn't have a

59
00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:23,760
card to use online because
obviously 12 years ago.

60
00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:26,560
So payments has moved
considerably since I've brought

61
00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:29,680
in another friend, Rory Ryan has
our CTO, Co founder.

62
00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:33,080
We've built a model basically on
on a locally on a laptop using a

63
00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:36,200
demo website to show how you
could create an order on a

64
00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:39,400
website and then send a bar code
to somebody's phone to to pay

65
00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:41,800
that.
We got that funded, 3 Dublin

66
00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:45,800
Angels, we got more funding from
Auk Accelerator, Forge Social

67
00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:49,000
Impact to tech and Accelerator
moved to England and then

68
00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:51,960
experienced to difficulty in
being a migrant and to

69
00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:53,960
difficulty in getting a bank
account in a new country.

70
00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:56,960
And that kind of led us to
thinking about what else can we

71
00:03:56,960 --> 00:03:58,440
do with this platform we've
created.

72
00:03:58,440 --> 00:04:00,120
How are migrants getting money
home?

73
00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:02,920
And we realized the Western
unions of the world were

74
00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:05,600
charging people 9.5% to send
money back to Africa.

75
00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:08,320
And as a social impact company,
which is where we, we came from

76
00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:11,520
the idea of the social impact
idea, we kind of aligned with

77
00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:14,400
our ethics and our mission that,
that we could do something to

78
00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:16,200
help migrants to get money on
cheaper and faster.

79
00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:20,800
So we, we built a model where I
can't send you €100 to pick up

80
00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:24,840
locally Western Union style, but
I can large cash, physical cash

81
00:04:24,840 --> 00:04:28,880
into an E wallet and then
transfers and the cost was 3.5%.

82
00:04:28,880 --> 00:04:31,320
Is it a 9.5%?
We launched that model.

83
00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:33,840
Our first transaction was from,
from the UK to Ghana, somebody

84
00:04:33,840 --> 00:04:36,200
loading an E wallet.
We connected with a lot of the

85
00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:39,320
big African networks, Z pay,
Flutter, wave, salient to be

86
00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:42,720
able to offer payouts,
remittances on AB to B to C

87
00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:44,200
basis for their customers in
Europe.

88
00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:46,520
And then we realized that we'd a
lot of potential connectivity

89
00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:49,160
with these companies and he's
been the biggest financial

90
00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:51,560
institutions in Africa.
So, so we integrated all their

91
00:04:51,680 --> 00:04:54,560
payments capabilities into our
stack and then we were able to

92
00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:58,320
offer European, Western Asian
companies payments in Africa.

93
00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:00,960
So that kind of evolved into
what we call the bridge to

94
00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:03,280
Africa.
That's through our partners.

95
00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:06,680
We could offer payments, but we
could also offer regulatory

96
00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:07,960
cover.
We could offer licensing.

97
00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:11,680
It meant that our merchants
didn't have to have an entity in

98
00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:13,480
any African country or a bank
account.

99
00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:15,880
So we could completely de risk
them because we could also do

100
00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:18,720
the FX, we could collect naira
and CDs and shillings and and

101
00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:22,400
settle it in USD or Euro.
So we, we were able to de risk

102
00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:24,720
Western companies from operating
in Africa.

103
00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:27,880
We built up a big network, 50
countries across Africa, Latin

104
00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:30,800
America, reconnected to every
bank account in Africa, every

105
00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:34,360
mobile money account, same for
Latin America, alternative

106
00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:36,200
payment methods.
And then we had physical cash as

107
00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:40,160
well across a lot of Western
Africa, which led us to a kind

108
00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:44,000
of a point where our plan was
always to get to a certain stage

109
00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:46,320
and then look for an acquirer
for scaling.

110
00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:50,760
So we, we started that process
2019, I would say 2020 maybe

111
00:05:50,840 --> 00:05:54,520
slightly before COVID.
So COVID complicated the process

112
00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:56,560
considerably.
So we started looking for an

113
00:05:56,560 --> 00:06:01,120
acquirer and we eventually found
KENTA, Houston based fintech

114
00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:02,960
company.
So we were acquired by them in

115
00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:05,160
January of this year.
So that's just been announced.

116
00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:09,760
Congratulations on the deal, but
things started to ramp up a bit

117
00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:15,280
probably about two years ago.
And tell us about the energy and

118
00:06:15,280 --> 00:06:19,840
momentum that you had to say.
All right, listen, you know,

119
00:06:19,840 --> 00:06:21,680
we've looked at a few deals,
we've looked at a few

120
00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:25,240
opportunities here.
What was the conversation that

121
00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:28,600
ultimately led to Pipit now
being acquired by KENTA?

122
00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:31,120
I think the first conversation
we had with Brent Sprinter Jong

123
00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:34,840
as the founder and president of
the group, we built a lot of

124
00:06:34,840 --> 00:06:37,080
capability.
There's five on the team.

125
00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:39,880
At one stage it was 12, but we
had reduced down to five.

126
00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:43,600
We built a network that's I just
outlined there with five people

127
00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:45,920
essentially and with about 2
million in investments.

128
00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:48,200
Which for a huge achievement
for.

129
00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:51,680
AUS Fintech.
That was a shocking, yeah,

130
00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:55,080
shocking outline.
So he was just intrigued by how

131
00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:56,680
we had done this and how we'd
managed to do it.

132
00:06:56,680 --> 00:06:59,240
And it was, you know, it was
obviously a very good team, very

133
00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:02,160
focused team.
Does the social impact mission,

134
00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:06,840
does that mission Driven Mind,
did that allow you to do this

135
00:07:06,840 --> 00:07:09,360
with only two million in funding
and five people?

136
00:07:09,400 --> 00:07:12,840
It did because you know, you
start just founders journey and

137
00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:15,520
you know I mentioned those
angels that those angels between

138
00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:20,360
them put in €125,000 which at
that point in your journey you

139
00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:22,480
think is going to last you
forever and then Fast forward a

140
00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:24,440
year or two and you're getting
750,000.

141
00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:25,680
I think it is only the last six
months.

142
00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:28,120
The funding is an ebb and flow
process.

143
00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:30,960
It's not a constant open up.
So there was definitely lean

144
00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:33,080
times where the the mission got
us True.

145
00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:36,240
I think as well, the very first
person that I've pitched very

146
00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:38,760
first investor that I didn't
know that I pitched Pippa 2 and

147
00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:41,200
I told him a social impact.
He didn't invest and his advice

148
00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:44,320
to me was never say that we're a
social impact company.

149
00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:47,640
Based on that advice, I going
forward LED with the fact we're

150
00:07:47,640 --> 00:07:49,920
a social impact company in every
investment conversation I've

151
00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:54,400
ever had.
And the ones that immediately

152
00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:56,560
glaze over, you know, you're
wasting your time and you can

153
00:07:56,560 --> 00:07:58,280
wrap it up.
And the ones that connect, you

154
00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:01,080
know, OK, this person is, is
aligned with us.

155
00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:04,200
And you know, when we're moved
to England and doing that social

156
00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:06,680
impact accelerator, we're
meeting the big English banks.

157
00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:08,440
We're talking about what we're
trying to achieve.

158
00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:10,960
And they kind of put us into
their, you know, their CSR

159
00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:13,840
department and their marketing
department because for them this

160
00:08:13,840 --> 00:08:16,960
was like publicity PR as opposed
to something real.

161
00:08:16,960 --> 00:08:19,600
But when you started talking to
the like the social waves and

162
00:08:19,600 --> 00:08:24,400
the big fintechs in Africa, they
really bought into it because

163
00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:27,360
they know on the ground the
differences that remittances

164
00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:31,640
make and the difference of a 9.5
or a 3.5% fee can make to

165
00:08:31,640 --> 00:08:35,880
somebody in Ghana or in Sierra
Leone or in Senegal receiving

166
00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:37,480
money from a family member in
England.

167
00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:40,640
You know, the difference for you
and me is a cup of coffee or

168
00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:42,520
two.
The difference in, in Syria

169
00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:43,880
alone, that's kind of three days
wages.

170
00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:48,360
So that social impact enabled us
to get to the senior people in

171
00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:51,920
these big payment institutions
and and get deals signed because

172
00:08:52,360 --> 00:08:54,920
we were very hurts on our
sleeves that were a win win

173
00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:58,000
operation that we didn't price
our model slightly below the

174
00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:01,240
Western Union of the world.
We did it as low as we possibly

175
00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:04,640
could to make as much impact as
possible with the model that the

176
00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:08,760
more merchants we got, the more
consumers we got, the more

177
00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:11,280
transactions we got, the more
revenue we made, but the more

178
00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:15,200
good we did at the same time.
And in those early conversations

179
00:09:15,200 --> 00:09:18,840
that you had with KENTA about
putting a deal together, how

180
00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:22,560
much of A balance was there in
their interest between social

181
00:09:22,560 --> 00:09:27,800
impact that look what we'd be
able to build with a lean team

182
00:09:28,400 --> 00:09:32,920
versus, hey, look at this great
network that we've built 50

183
00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:34,960
countries around the world?
Both helped.

184
00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:37,480
What?
What I think really helped from

185
00:09:37,480 --> 00:09:40,120
both sides in the conversation
is that Canada themselves did

186
00:09:40,120 --> 00:09:43,720
have a very strong social impact
position group.

187
00:09:43,720 --> 00:09:45,280
There's a lot more outside of
fintech.

188
00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:48,520
They align with UN sustainable
development goals in terms of

189
00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:50,920
employees and working in
emerging markets.

190
00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:53,760
The group owns, you know,
responsible gold, which is a

191
00:09:53,760 --> 00:09:56,840
model that traces gold from the
mine to the vaults, ensuring

192
00:09:56,840 --> 00:10:00,000
that there's no child labor or
there's no cyanide used or

193
00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:02,520
sulfur used in mining.
They already had an impact

194
00:10:02,520 --> 00:10:06,240
position across the group.
So our position and our model

195
00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:08,560
faced with them, which I think
is why the conversation

196
00:10:08,560 --> 00:10:11,720
proceeded and from Brent's
clicks quite quickly in terms of

197
00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:15,120
we're both trying to achieve.
The journey that you had been on

198
00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:19,080
with this deal, M&A is never a
straight line, ever.

199
00:10:19,880 --> 00:10:22,520
What were some of the unexpected
twists along the way that you

200
00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:24,200
can share?
Well, we, we, we made the

201
00:10:24,200 --> 00:10:26,760
decision, we've been the board
to start looking for an

202
00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:28,560
acquirer.
A lot of work within obviously

203
00:10:28,560 --> 00:10:30,560
to do in pitch decks,
acquisition decks and then

204
00:10:30,560 --> 00:10:33,880
lining up potential buyers.
And we worked with AUS based

205
00:10:33,880 --> 00:10:36,560
investment banker to help us
source conversations.

206
00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:40,080
I had kind of thought that it
was a 6 to 12 month process to

207
00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:43,040
get really dug in.
It may or may not have been the

208
00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:45,480
COVID effects, but like it took
18 months to get our first

209
00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:49,160
meaningful conversation.
We had a term sheet from a Swiss

210
00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:51,320
fintech.
We went through a six month

211
00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:56,000
process and got I think 8 days
out from the signing days and

212
00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:58,400
then that fintech lost her
funding to a virus.

213
00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:03,120
So, 6:00 AM E-mail, sorry about
this, was affected immediately

214
00:11:03,160 --> 00:11:05,640
Christine was pulled.
That went through your head.

215
00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:08,840
Nothing that can be shared I
think kind of hello kind.

216
00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:12,920
Of over a hood cast earmuffs
earmuffs.

217
00:11:13,240 --> 00:11:15,320
Yeah.
And what, you know, it was a

218
00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:18,400
real sucker punch.
You know, I'd already really

219
00:11:18,400 --> 00:11:19,960
taken up my position in the new
company.

220
00:11:20,040 --> 00:11:22,800
I'd already written a strategy
document for the new company and

221
00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:24,760
how we would align with it.
So it was very unexpected.

222
00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:27,720
And now the CEO of the company,
it was as unexpected to him as

223
00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:31,400
it was to me for stats, you
know, there, I suppose that was

224
00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:33,120
in November.
It was kind of pretty close to

225
00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:34,520
Christmas.
So we kind of regrouped over

226
00:11:34,520 --> 00:11:36,840
Christmas.
And then here's it again after

227
00:11:36,840 --> 00:11:39,360
Christmas.
We had two potential offers that

228
00:11:39,360 --> 00:11:41,720
following year, which would have
been 23.

229
00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:44,480
We had two more deals
potentially that fell apart

230
00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:48,760
relatively quickly. 24 was the
conversation with Brent.

231
00:11:49,560 --> 00:11:53,440
So from deciding to sell the
company to signing the deal was

232
00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:56,960
four years, with three deals
falling true in that time frame.

233
00:11:57,280 --> 00:12:02,560
The the the insanity of that is
accentuated by the fact that I'm

234
00:12:02,560 --> 00:12:06,400
sitting here thinking that feels
like with everything that had

235
00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:10,040
gone on during that process for
me, Obviously I'm a non

236
00:12:10,040 --> 00:12:13,640
executive director on your board
and witnessing it and seeing it

237
00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:19,360
that those four years to me have
just been Zook encapsulated and

238
00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:21,640
accordion style.
It just feels like there was so

239
00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:24,880
much activity there that how
could that possibly have been

240
00:12:24,880 --> 00:12:28,120
that long ago?
You know, unprecedented in terms

241
00:12:28,120 --> 00:12:32,000
of three deals out of four not
getting over the line in a

242
00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:34,760
period of four years from the
point in which you decide to

243
00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:36,640
sell the business.
It was tough for years.

244
00:12:37,920 --> 00:12:40,840
And you know, and as the CEO,
you know you need to run the

245
00:12:40,840 --> 00:12:42,440
company and you need to sign
deals.

246
00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:44,320
And as a small team, you're
reading contracts and you're

247
00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:45,960
doing compliance and you're
doing the marketing and you're

248
00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:48,640
doing sailors and you're doing
events and you're doing podcasts

249
00:12:48,640 --> 00:12:50,480
and you're doing stuff as your
day job.

250
00:12:50,520 --> 00:12:53,960
But you're also selling the
company is is kind of 80% of

251
00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:55,000
your time.
So you're trying to fit all the

252
00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:58,000
rest of it into 20%?
I talked to early stage founders

253
00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:01,680
Ali about when you are raising
money that that is basically

254
00:13:01,680 --> 00:13:05,160
100% of your time for the CEO
and that everything else just

255
00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:07,360
goes on top of that.
If you can.

256
00:13:07,520 --> 00:13:10,040
And depending upon the size of
your team, you may be able to

257
00:13:10,040 --> 00:13:12,360
spread that stuff out.
If not, you just you wear it

258
00:13:12,800 --> 00:13:14,880
right.
So you, you definitely wore it

259
00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:19,280
for a very, very long time.
When you think back to the early

260
00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:22,320
pivot days, would you ever
imagine that this is where you'd

261
00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:24,720
end up?
I founded Pivot when I was 40

262
00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:29,040
and it was the start of what I'd
set out as a 10 year personal

263
00:13:29,040 --> 00:13:31,520
strategy to establish a tech
company and social impact

264
00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:33,600
company and sell it by time I
was 50.

265
00:13:34,120 --> 00:13:36,320
That was the plan.
I missed that deadline by two

266
00:13:36,320 --> 00:13:41,600
years was I'm pretty happy with
my 10 year plan.

267
00:13:41,600 --> 00:13:44,200
Doing kind of this kind of two
ways you can go I think would

268
00:13:44,200 --> 00:13:47,280
start a tech company in Ireland.
One is to do it on a more lean

269
00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:49,880
basis in Ireland and you don't
want us to move to the States.

270
00:13:50,240 --> 00:13:53,440
And when I started his company,
my son was, he wasn't born

271
00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:54,640
actually he was born the
following year.

272
00:13:54,680 --> 00:13:55,920
Well, that's the founder
journey.

273
00:13:55,960 --> 00:13:58,720
You know, we got the funding on
a Friday from the accelerator on

274
00:13:58,720 --> 00:14:01,800
the condition that I moved to
Sheffield to do the accelerator.

275
00:14:02,520 --> 00:14:05,000
So I got the call on the Friday
and I moved on the Monday and my

276
00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:07,000
wife and then 11 month old moved
the following Monday.

277
00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:08,240
We spent seven months here in
Sheffield.

278
00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:09,680
I always wasn't prepared to move
to the States.

279
00:14:09,680 --> 00:14:11,920
It wasn't afraid to do that,
that maybe a younger man's game,

280
00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:15,520
a younger person's game.
So it really was that.

281
00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:18,640
We need to get this company to a
certain size in terms of our

282
00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:21,600
technology and our capability,
not in terms of revenue.

283
00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:25,240
We need to build something here
that that is worth buying for

284
00:14:25,240 --> 00:14:28,080
the stack because we were never
really funded enough from

285
00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:32,520
driving kind of real Unicorn
world, funded enough to drive

286
00:14:32,520 --> 00:14:35,080
growth to have revenue to show
this works.

287
00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:38,240
And I have, you know,
transactions every day in

288
00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:42,520
Nigeria and Mexico and Ghana and
Kenya and be able to say, here's

289
00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:45,600
a stack that it works.
And interestingly, those 3

290
00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:48,080
failed conversations and one
successful one in terms of an

291
00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:51,760
offer, but we probably had 4050
conversations with potential

292
00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:54,120
buyers.
Pretty much all of them said

293
00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:56,680
that to build what we would
build would take three years and

294
00:14:56,680 --> 00:14:59,120
cost $10 million.
The also three years and the

295
00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:01,640
also $10 million we probably
took longer, but we spent way

296
00:15:01,640 --> 00:15:03,480
less.
But that was kind of how we

297
00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:05,320
positioned the value of what
you're buying.

298
00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:08,600
So you really weren't buying
billions in revenue, which you

299
00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:11,840
were buying something was going
to save you three years in time

300
00:15:12,120 --> 00:15:13,840
and 10 million in money to get
there.

301
00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:18,680
Just thinking back that I've
always looked at what you've

302
00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:22,040
built is being, you know, when
I've said this to people, you

303
00:15:22,040 --> 00:15:25,520
need to look at what Pipit has
built here, look at this network

304
00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:27,400
that they've built and it's
ready to go.

305
00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:31,400
It's the volume.
And adding the volume into that

306
00:15:31,760 --> 00:15:35,320
from a global player is
something that is going to drive

307
00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:38,120
tons of value.
And not just tons of value for

308
00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:41,160
the shareholder, but tons of
value for people on the ground,

309
00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:43,520
right?
The people that are trying to

310
00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:45,840
send money back home cheaper
than safer.

311
00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:51,280
And that's almost answering my
next question, which is what was

312
00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:55,200
the key thing that made Pipit
acquirable beyond just having a

313
00:15:55,200 --> 00:15:58,680
good product and beyond having
the social impact mindedness and

314
00:15:58,680 --> 00:16:00,400
mission?
Although I think a part of that

315
00:16:00,400 --> 00:16:03,520
is from the seller's perspective
aligning with the buyer, I've

316
00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:05,280
mentioned doing doing the
acquisition deck, there's

317
00:16:05,280 --> 00:16:09,160
probably 50 of them in folders
now, each one tweaks or

318
00:16:09,160 --> 00:16:12,280
significantly changed to align
with the buyer and what their

319
00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:14,440
requirements are.
So we were talking to companies

320
00:16:14,520 --> 00:16:17,360
in the US that had bought AUK
based remittance company.

321
00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:20,480
So we kind of aligned that to
say, you know, this is how we

322
00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:23,080
face with what you've already
bought and this is how we can

323
00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:26,600
scale what you have together.
So it's not a case of just

324
00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:29,480
firing out the same memo of
understanding to everybody.

325
00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:32,120
It's a case of really aligning
what you're selling with what

326
00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:35,760
the buyer needs.
And as you got deeper and deeper

327
00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:39,160
into this process, I know that
you got closer and closer to

328
00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:41,760
KENTA, much like you did with
the first one.

329
00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:44,880
This was one where, you know,
you said you basically wrote a

330
00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:47,360
strategy document for them and
then that deal failed.

331
00:16:47,640 --> 00:16:51,440
Now, this time around, you did
more and it got even closer.

332
00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:56,760
And obviously it's been since
January and we're just

333
00:16:56,840 --> 00:17:01,400
announcing this now.
But you kind of had to go into

334
00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:05,119
that with just, hey, listen,
we're going to get this deal

335
00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:06,160
done.
We're going to get it over the

336
00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:07,800
line.
I'm going to go in and I'm going

337
00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:10,800
to start doing strategy right.
I am a relentless optimist.

338
00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:14,079
I'm just supposed to.
Go between those two.

339
00:17:14,079 --> 00:17:16,839
Was there ever any kind of gut
feeling like here we go again,

340
00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:20,520
I'm going to go all in.
But you know what, this one may

341
00:17:20,520 --> 00:17:23,040
not get over the line but to
help with it.

342
00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:25,440
Absolutely is, yeah.
Yeah, you know, it is.

343
00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:27,960
It is a roller coaster process.
I'm kind of startup guy, you

344
00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:29,400
know, I'm a strategy guy.
I'm a marketing guy.

345
00:17:29,400 --> 00:17:31,840
Background.
When you start getting stuck

346
00:17:31,840 --> 00:17:35,160
into the legals of your company
being acquired, it's an absolute

347
00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:36,520
nightmare.
And then you just realize

348
00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:38,680
there's all these potential
hurdles that you never thought

349
00:17:38,680 --> 00:17:41,240
of.
So yeah, I went all in was the

350
00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:43,960
only way to do it as far as I
was concerned is show them what

351
00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:45,480
you can do.
You know, really show them what

352
00:17:45,480 --> 00:17:47,360
you can do.
So when these hurdles come, they

353
00:17:47,360 --> 00:17:49,600
don't want to just let it go
because it's more hustle than

354
00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:51,600
it's worth.
You've kind of proven you, not

355
00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:53,720
just me individually, but the
team as well, because we all got

356
00:17:53,720 --> 00:17:55,680
stuck into our various
departments and meeting people

357
00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:58,920
and meeting teams and aligning
strategies.

358
00:17:59,040 --> 00:18:01,960
So everybody in there knew us.
And and when when hurdles

359
00:18:01,960 --> 00:18:05,400
appeared, which it did multiple
times, there was the wheel on

360
00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:07,200
both sides to to find a
solution.

361
00:18:07,560 --> 00:18:10,680
And and tell us now three months
on from closing the deal, three

362
00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:15,600
months plus, where is Pipit now
situated with in KENTA?

363
00:18:15,640 --> 00:18:20,000
How will the branding unfold?
What will the presence of Pipit

364
00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:22,920
be with in KENTA and within the
market?

365
00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:27,280
How does that all fit together?
So the brand Pipits will be

366
00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:29,040
disappearing over the next
couple of months.

367
00:18:29,320 --> 00:18:31,880
We didn't can't.
They've kind of restructured

368
00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:34,040
around a few other acquisitions
they made at the same time.

369
00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:38,480
So the the group is now called
the Q ecosystem, which includes

370
00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:40,480
also KENTA.
So KENTA is the payments

371
00:18:40,480 --> 00:18:42,280
company.
I got the job as the president

372
00:18:42,280 --> 00:18:44,600
of KENTA.
You've been AUS company, that's

373
00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:46,960
the title.
Congratulations, Mr. President.

374
00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:50,400
Mr. President yeah.
And the rest of our team got VP

375
00:18:50,400 --> 00:18:54,920
roles, so VP of technology of
operations and product of sales

376
00:18:54,920 --> 00:18:57,160
and partnerships and of treasury
and finance.

377
00:18:57,240 --> 00:18:59,520
So we, we've gone from, you
know, a team of five, including

378
00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:03,640
me to now leading a team of 35,
probably 25 with those are tech

379
00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:07,640
and mostly based in Pakistan.
But the trader business units in

380
00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:11,200
the ecosystem, which is create,
which is a, uh, regulated

381
00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:14,760
entity, QoS, which is our kind
of in house blockchain, which

382
00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:17,600
we're developing into an
operating system for fintech and

383
00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:21,480
QID, which is AID verification
and data tracking company.

384
00:19:21,480 --> 00:19:24,360
So not just ID for people, but
ID for things, which is a very

385
00:19:24,360 --> 00:19:27,000
interesting model.
So I've three other presidents

386
00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:29,760
to work with and then the group
CTO and the group head of

387
00:19:29,760 --> 00:19:32,280
accounts are part of this team.
And then Brent as the big boss.

388
00:19:32,640 --> 00:19:36,680
So between those four companies,
we've got 150 people, including

389
00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:38,840
share of resources in terms of
compliance and legal and

390
00:19:38,840 --> 00:19:42,120
marketing and websites.
We continue to to be a payments

391
00:19:42,120 --> 00:19:44,720
company as KENTA.
The 4th presidents are meeting

392
00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:48,040
next week in London for a kind
of QE code strategy where we'll

393
00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:51,520
be positioning Q ecosystem as we
can do everything from

394
00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:56,440
onboarding your customer ID for
vacation validation to tracking

395
00:19:56,440 --> 00:19:58,720
logistics would have blocked
chain to doing your payments in

396
00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:01,080
and payments else on a global
basis.

397
00:20:01,080 --> 00:20:05,800
So moving to much bigger
projects and there's

398
00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:08,200
conversations going on at
government levels for projects

399
00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:10,760
that we can provide.
Even though obviously I've known

400
00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:13,560
that all of this has been going
on, just hearing you speak about

401
00:20:13,560 --> 00:20:17,400
it in a way that I know will be
public is just gobsmacking to

402
00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:21,400
me.
You're finally.

403
00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:26,760
There your Irishness now.
You're finally there that, you

404
00:20:26,760 --> 00:20:29,320
know, becoming president of a
division within a global

405
00:20:29,320 --> 00:20:34,120
fintech, the whole team taking
on VP roles, being responsible

406
00:20:34,120 --> 00:20:37,120
now for a strategy for a much
larger team.

407
00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:43,240
All of this and to know that the
original Pipit vision is being

408
00:20:43,240 --> 00:20:47,560
carried forward into KENTA and
that you're championing that.

409
00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:51,160
Is it tough to let go of Pippet
as an independent company?

410
00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:52,600
No.
Why?

411
00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:56,080
Well, you know like I said to
start his 30 years since I

412
00:20:56,080 --> 00:20:57,680
started this entrepreneurial
journey.

413
00:20:57,680 --> 00:21:00,080
So Pippet's been the last 12 of
us Yeah, I've been 30 years

414
00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:02,840
self-employed.
I've been 30 years dragging

415
00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:06,240
businesses along behind me.
Yeah, you know that they're hard

416
00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:09,480
yards been self-employed and and
when you get into, you know, a

417
00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:11,120
lot of those years were
consulting years.

418
00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:12,880
I'm not sure I would consider
consulting to be

419
00:21:12,880 --> 00:21:14,600
entrepreneurial.
It's service provision really,

420
00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:17,080
but it's self-employed.
You know, there was there was

421
00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:19,200
many, many hard years.
There was more hard than easy

422
00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:22,960
years Pipit.
So I'm satisfied where we've

423
00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:25,480
gotten into as a company.
And I'm also very satisfied as a

424
00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:28,800
personally that entrepreneurial
journey that I've, you know,

425
00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:32,760
closed that loop and gone from
an idea and start up true to

426
00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:35,080
growing it, scaling it, funding
it and selling it.

427
00:21:35,120 --> 00:21:36,840
It's a loop that not many people
get to close.

428
00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:40,680
No, it's not.
So just hearing you say that,

429
00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:44,360
Ollie, makes me think of an
e-mail that went out after the

430
00:21:44,360 --> 00:21:50,400
deal had closed to shareholders.
And there was a list of bullet

431
00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:54,640
points there that sent chills
down my spine when I read it.

432
00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:57,960
And what you're talking about
here on being on that journey

433
00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:01,080
really was reflected in this
very quick list.

434
00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:05,400
And do you mind if I read these
bullet points from that e-mail?

435
00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:07,680
So what was said in the
shareholder letter that you

436
00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:10,200
wrote was that it's been quite
the journey for us.

437
00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:13,440
The full range of the startup
world, The original idea,

438
00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:18,800
researching markets, developing
strategies, building tech,

439
00:22:18,800 --> 00:22:23,240
building the team, sourcing
funding from angels, VCs and

440
00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:27,600
crowdfunding, going to market,
onboarding merchants and

441
00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:30,360
collections partners.
Our first transaction, then our

442
00:22:30,360 --> 00:22:33,040
second.
Traveling to exotic

443
00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:36,840
destinations, traveling to
boring destinations, recruiting

444
00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:40,400
staff, having to let staff go,
needing to raise more money,

445
00:22:40,600 --> 00:22:42,960
having good days and having bad
ones.

446
00:22:43,520 --> 00:22:50,600
That was poetic, you know?
That's one thing before has been

447
00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:53,600
a poet.
That is like the founder's poem

448
00:22:53,840 --> 00:22:56,680
right there.
OK, the founder's journey poem.

449
00:22:56,960 --> 00:23:00,680
Will you be doing more writing?
I'm trying to develop a more

450
00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:03,280
ongoing blog habit.
I mean, my own website,

451
00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:07,280
hollywatch.com has probably 20
blogs on a sort of space at the

452
00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:09,080
last four years.
But I've been trying to get into

453
00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:11,480
a, into a more weekly flow of
doing blogs.

454
00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:14,520
You know, I used to do a lot
more blogs when he's doing more

455
00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:16,720
traveling.
I found that kind of having two

456
00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:19,160
hours in train was time to write
a blog, whereas I'm not doing

457
00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:21,720
much traveling now.
But but yes, I do like writing

458
00:23:21,720 --> 00:23:24,760
so I do plan to do more.
Yeah, it can be quite

459
00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:26,960
therapeutic.
What are some of the most

460
00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:30,480
important lessons that you've
taken from this chapter or this

461
00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:36,000
book that you wish you could
kind of send back to 2015 Ali?

462
00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:38,760
There's a lot of things that you
don't realize on the way that

463
00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:41,360
when the problems in the future,
I think funding is because of

464
00:23:41,360 --> 00:23:43,280
those.
When you're in the startup world

465
00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:46,280
at the beginning, you don't
really think of things like cap

466
00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:48,160
tables being a problem in the
future.

467
00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:54,280
We'd some significant angels.
We, we did around 20/17/2018,

468
00:23:54,280 --> 00:23:56,040
which is where Western
Adventures came in and

469
00:23:56,040 --> 00:23:58,320
Enterprise Ireland with some
people who wanted to invest

470
00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:00,320
relatively small amounts of
money in that round.

471
00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:04,440
Relatively small as in you know,
between 1500 and €5000 and they

472
00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:07,600
become kind of names in the cap
table and your cap table starts

473
00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:10,320
getting longer.
And when you're at that stage,

474
00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:13,160
that money is really useful, but
it kind of becomes a problem

475
00:24:13,160 --> 00:24:15,360
when you start dealing with
legal people in a, in a fintech

476
00:24:15,400 --> 00:24:17,520
institution that are like, why
is there so many people on your

477
00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:19,800
cap table?
We also do crowdfunding round,

478
00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:22,400
which is in that list there.
That began really problematic.

479
00:24:22,600 --> 00:24:25,520
I certainly wouldn't recommend
crowdfunding for any anybody in

480
00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:27,720
the so well and good.
If you're doing a brew dog kind

481
00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:30,600
of style where you put in $20
and you get AT shirt, put it

482
00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:32,240
here.
If you're people who are who are

483
00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:34,920
getting kind of a nominee
structure in your company, it

484
00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:37,600
becomes very difficult then when
you're trying to unwind that.

485
00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:39,560
So that's certainly something I
wouldn't do again.

486
00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:42,080
And you can't solve that with a
free pint of beer.

487
00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:45,760
No, no, no.
And you can't solve a good drink

488
00:24:45,760 --> 00:24:49,920
of the beer yourself either.
It needs to be faced up on

489
00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:50,920
whole.
What makes?

490
00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:52,760
It worse, yeah.
Yeah, yeah.

491
00:24:53,120 --> 00:24:56,280
So but you know, you, you kind
of along the way you've, you

492
00:24:56,280 --> 00:24:58,080
meet people that excel and you
meet people that really let you

493
00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:02,520
down and it's difficult not to
take it kind of personally a lot

494
00:25:02,520 --> 00:25:04,320
of time.
So what they always say when I'm

495
00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:08,040
talking to people myself, it is
a roller coaster, ups and downs

496
00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:11,280
and you need personally as an
individual to stay centered.

497
00:25:11,360 --> 00:25:13,560
And as that goes up and down,
you're doing a straight line and

498
00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:16,800
not get too carried away by the
successes and not get too down

499
00:25:17,120 --> 00:25:20,840
failures for the problems.
And as ACEO, you should always

500
00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:23,760
have like support structures out
there and a particularly good

501
00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:26,840
board who are including yourself
who are supportive all the time.

502
00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:29,760
You know, I'm a member of a kind
of leadership group called Power

503
00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:33,320
7, which is a very well from
just no no relation, very Welsh

504
00:25:33,320 --> 00:25:36,280
with it's a nationwide peer
leadership group for for

505
00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:39,840
business owners in in batches of
seven where you can kind of go

506
00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:42,360
for a day every second month and
just support other people to get

507
00:25:42,360 --> 00:25:45,360
to problems off your chest.
I'd kind of tree friends in

508
00:25:45,360 --> 00:25:47,840
particular that I'd spent a lot
of time with just like

509
00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:50,560
structured plans time.
Thus I'm just coming here to

510
00:25:50,560 --> 00:25:52,360
meet you for coffee to rant for
half an hour because of some

511
00:25:52,360 --> 00:25:54,720
stuff to get off my chest.
And two of our investors were

512
00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:58,000
also in that list and and and my
wife as well, which is debatable

513
00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:00,480
for a lot of people.
For me, it's my my wife was

514
00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:01,920
crucial in keeping me on the
straight and narrow.

515
00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:04,440
But for for a lot of people that
like to keep the business world

516
00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:07,080
away from home, which I know can
accentuate the problem as

517
00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:10,320
opposed to solve it.
But you need an extensive list

518
00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:14,080
of close contacts that can
support to the process, because

519
00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:16,400
you can't always go through the
problems with your team because

520
00:26:16,520 --> 00:26:20,160
other problems are your own.
Yeah, I found in all of this,

521
00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:23,000
having a supportive spouse is
absolutely essential.

522
00:26:23,560 --> 00:26:25,320
And what I've also found is
having kids.

523
00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:27,120
You want them to be proud of
you.

524
00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:29,440
You want to be proud of what
you've built and proud of what

525
00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:31,840
you do.
Do you ever have any of that

526
00:26:31,840 --> 00:26:35,800
element in what drove you?
Yeah, my well, my son's 11 now.

527
00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:38,200
He recently asked me can he, can
he start working in Pippet?

528
00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:41,360
So he now, he now does my
computer updates every every

529
00:26:41,360 --> 00:26:43,240
Friday afternoon and he charged
me 7 year old.

530
00:26:43,240 --> 00:26:47,560
So he's the team.
When you think about where you

531
00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:51,640
sit now, what does this
acquisition mean for the people

532
00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:55,960
that Pippet was originally built
to serve, the unbanked and

533
00:26:55,960 --> 00:27:00,360
underserved globally?
Oh, it means we can, you can

534
00:27:00,360 --> 00:27:03,680
really scale those benefits.
I think the velocity of the

535
00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:06,000
company is definitely limited by
the size of the team.

536
00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:08,120
You know, there's only so many
contracts you can read at the

537
00:27:08,120 --> 00:27:09,920
same time.
You know, we fight at the moment

538
00:27:09,960 --> 00:27:12,680
that we've gotten in, in the
last for this month, we've,

539
00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:15,720
we've got 5 new contracts being
reviewed now by our legal and

540
00:27:15,720 --> 00:27:19,200
compliance team as opposed to by
me and Trisha was our Head of

541
00:27:19,200 --> 00:27:22,400
operations.
So we, we can really accelerate

542
00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:26,160
what we're doing as part of a
group with a lot more heft for

543
00:27:26,160 --> 00:27:28,680
want of a better words.
You know, we can go and talk to

544
00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:31,400
bigger institutions and when
they do their due diligence.

545
00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:33,440
We're not a five person team in
the West of Ireland.

546
00:27:33,440 --> 00:27:35,960
We're a part of the global
fintech organization and it's a

547
00:27:36,080 --> 00:27:38,520
meaningful entity that bigger
institutions don't have to be

548
00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:43,280
concerned about dealing with.
We want more global reach now in

549
00:27:43,280 --> 00:27:47,240
terms of the senior people
through the Q ecosystem are kind

550
00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:49,640
of spread geographically quite
wide people coming from

551
00:27:49,640 --> 00:27:52,320
different backgrounds, we've a
lot more reach into different

552
00:27:52,320 --> 00:27:54,320
networks.
So I mean networking is really

553
00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:55,800
part of how we prove this
business.

554
00:27:56,440 --> 00:27:58,800
So we we, we can see that
expanding quite a lot.

555
00:27:59,640 --> 00:28:02,520
Excellent.
Big opportunities other than

556
00:28:02,520 --> 00:28:07,000
that for PIPIT as part of KENTA.
Oh, I think so, yeah, yeah,

557
00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:08,920
yeah.
People first, geography second

558
00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:10,680
is kind of their their mantra in
terms of their team.

559
00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:13,000
So there's there's a lot of
opportunities for growth for all

560
00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:15,440
the team that we're start of
world wise, we're quite mature

561
00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:18,320
for our team.
This is the ways to go for is

562
00:28:18,320 --> 00:28:20,080
yes, career wise.
So there's I think big

563
00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:22,040
opportunities.
There's a lot for us as

564
00:28:22,040 --> 00:28:24,720
individuals learning and growth.
And, and for me, it's my first

565
00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:26,080
time having a job where I'm not
the CEO.

566
00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:28,080
It's my first time having a job
where I'm not responsible for

567
00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:30,160
making enough money.
There's one to pay my own wages.

568
00:28:30,480 --> 00:28:34,560
No, it's not getting a a bit
more insightful into all of

569
00:28:34,560 --> 00:28:35,680
this.
And you've been very insightful

570
00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:37,840
in this conversation, Ollie.
So thank you.

571
00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:42,840
But if the first ten years of
Pippit were a book, what would

572
00:28:42,840 --> 00:28:45,840
you call it?
Probably roller coaster on fire

573
00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:52,880
or something like that.
And hair on fire.

574
00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:56,280
The roller coaster on fire.
Roller coaster on fire.

575
00:28:56,280 --> 00:28:59,360
We had, we had a part of our,
you know, part of that group

576
00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:02,040
Power 7 piece.
We do like a retreat every year.

577
00:29:02,040 --> 00:29:05,240
And Barry's very good at kind of
exercises like you should

578
00:29:05,240 --> 00:29:07,240
exercise.
We have to draw where you are in

579
00:29:07,240 --> 00:29:09,120
life.
Last year, what I drew was a

580
00:29:09,120 --> 00:29:14,520
rollercoaster on fire.
OK, there you go.

581
00:29:14,520 --> 00:29:15,640
Probably a good title for the
book.

582
00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:17,200
There you go.
Yeah.

583
00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:19,920
And, and what you're you're
talking about with with Barry

584
00:29:19,920 --> 00:29:22,960
that the power of seven.
It feels like Founders

585
00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:25,040
Anonymous.
Yeah, well, you know, you've,

586
00:29:25,040 --> 00:29:27,520
you've 7 founders in a room and
you know, there were quite

587
00:29:27,520 --> 00:29:29,320
different businesses.
But essentially we all have the

588
00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:32,280
same problems.
The Power 7 is itself family and

589
00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:34,720
business in that order is, is
how things are structured.

590
00:29:34,760 --> 00:29:37,280
So it's not like Enterprise
Ireland do a similar thing

591
00:29:37,280 --> 00:29:40,040
called the Founders forum, which
I think Barry might have been

592
00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:42,320
behind actually setting it up.
But it's purely business.

593
00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:43,920
You know, you have to look after
yourself 1st and then your

594
00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:45,440
family and then then you can
take care of your business.

595
00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:47,800
So 7 founders, we all do the
same business problems and we

596
00:29:47,800 --> 00:29:50,040
all the same life problems.
So like I said, those support

597
00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:52,840
structures are very important.
You have the opportunity to do

598
00:29:52,840 --> 00:29:56,160
this while going through this
Pipit journey of the roller

599
00:29:56,160 --> 00:29:59,360
coaster on fire.
I'm glad you had that.

600
00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:00,440
Yeah.
Oh yeah.

601
00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:03,160
I'm glad you had that.
Absolutely invaluable.

602
00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:09,320
If you were to think, well,
maybe a bit early to ask you

603
00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:13,040
this, but can you name book 2
now that you're part of the

604
00:30:13,040 --> 00:30:16,640
Kenta family?
Could you actually give book 2A

605
00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:18,880
name yet?
Well, something like The Future

606
00:30:18,880 --> 00:30:20,640
is Bright.
Sounds really cliche, but it's

607
00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:23,600
just it's the new dawn.
It's a new dawn, new day.

608
00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:26,920
Yeah, I, I kind of like I said
it was, it was a 10 year plan

609
00:30:26,920 --> 00:30:29,760
that took 12 years to, to
complete, but I haven't started

610
00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:31,120
much.
We're going to do a 10 year.

611
00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:33,600
I went to an 8 year to up to 60
plan, but I haven't started

612
00:30:33,600 --> 00:30:35,040
that.
Yes, I'm just kind of settling

613
00:30:35,040 --> 00:30:38,720
into my new role, really.
I heard the redemptive sigh of

614
00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:42,800
relief there and the optimistic
smile there for a minute there.

615
00:30:42,920 --> 00:30:46,120
Ollie.
So, like, you're in the right

616
00:30:46,120 --> 00:30:48,200
place, yeah.
Yeah, a friend of mine that sold

617
00:30:48,200 --> 00:30:50,280
his business a few years ago
said it doesn't really settle in

618
00:30:50,280 --> 00:30:51,920
for three months.
He said it's 3 paychecks.

619
00:30:51,920 --> 00:30:54,000
The first paycheck, great,
because my first actual

620
00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:55,160
paycheck, 2nd 10.
Brilliant.

621
00:30:55,160 --> 00:30:59,920
This happens every month and the
third one is like so I'm on 4.

622
00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:04,880
Yeah, yeah.
You've been on the show now, you

623
00:31:04,920 --> 00:31:08,280
know, three times before this.
And I may or may not have asked

624
00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:10,560
you this question each time.
I know I did ask you at least

625
00:31:10,560 --> 00:31:15,040
once, perhaps twice.
But this is the last question

626
00:31:15,040 --> 00:31:19,040
that we ask everybody on this
podcast, which is what is

627
00:31:19,040 --> 00:31:21,400
something that people would not
expect to know about you.

628
00:31:21,400 --> 00:31:24,760
And in your case, this will be
one more thing that people

629
00:31:24,760 --> 00:31:26,120
wouldn't expect to know about
you.

630
00:31:26,600 --> 00:31:27,880
Giving me a lot of secrets on
the show.

631
00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:30,040
You have?
Yeah, Yeah.

632
00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:32,800
The first time you asked me
this, I think the answer was

633
00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:34,440
about my Tai Chi practice.
Yep.

634
00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:38,440
Which at the time was very much
a physical practice contradi

635
00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:41,080
classes.
But over the last two or three

636
00:31:41,080 --> 00:31:44,200
years I've gotten very much into
the, into the philosophy behind

637
00:31:44,200 --> 00:31:47,480
it as well and Taoism and
reading a lot around Dao's

638
00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:50,200
philosophy.
And that is really aligned with

639
00:31:50,200 --> 00:31:54,000
my mindsets, but aligned with
the requirements of being a

640
00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:57,160
founder and, and being on that
rollercoaster on fire of

641
00:31:57,160 --> 00:31:58,920
aligning with the universe and
its energy.

642
00:31:58,920 --> 00:32:01,240
You can't, you can't fight, you
can't swim against the current.

643
00:32:01,320 --> 00:32:02,680
You need to find a way to swim
with the current.

644
00:32:02,680 --> 00:32:05,800
So that's been taking up a lot
of my my spare time recently.

645
00:32:05,800 --> 00:32:08,360
Is, is really getting deep into
the study of that.

646
00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:12,080
Where does that intersect?
With Zen, Zen comes from when

647
00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:16,480
when when the Indian Buddhists
were moved east and into China

648
00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:18,680
and they they kind of interacted
with Taoists.

649
00:32:19,200 --> 00:32:21,200
The original Taoist philosophy
didn't have anything like

650
00:32:21,200 --> 00:32:24,000
Buddhists or temples.
When the Taoist and the Buddhist

651
00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:28,920
mess, that kind of became
Chinese Buddhism, which then

652
00:32:28,920 --> 00:32:31,320
developed Zen from there.
So it's kind of part of Chinese

653
00:32:31,320 --> 00:32:33,440
Buddhism.
There's, there's some roots

654
00:32:33,440 --> 00:32:35,840
there and I found a lot of that
calming for me.

655
00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:38,400
And that the whole way that I
got into that was just reading

656
00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:42,880
one of Phil Jackson's books, the
famous former coach of the

657
00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:46,120
Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles
Lakers with Michael Jordan.

658
00:32:46,120 --> 00:32:48,080
And then Kobe Bryant, may he
rest in peace.

659
00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:51,320
You being obviously a huge
student of this and being

660
00:32:51,320 --> 00:32:54,720
totally immersed in that is, you
know, has had a fantastic,

661
00:32:54,720 --> 00:32:59,360
almost necessary impact on how
you keep saying in that roller

662
00:32:59,360 --> 00:33:02,320
coaster on fire.
But I, I definitely have started

663
00:33:02,320 --> 00:33:05,320
to dig into that a little bit.
And the one thing that I've

664
00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:08,600
gotten out of it is that there
are things you can control and

665
00:33:08,600 --> 00:33:09,920
there are things that you can't
control.

666
00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:13,840
And there will be times where
you feel a certain emotion that

667
00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:17,120
can be all-encompassing and you
kind of just have to sit back

668
00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:20,680
and think, why am I actually
feeling that and what does it

669
00:33:20,680 --> 00:33:23,480
actually mean?
And then put it where it needs

670
00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:27,640
to be and get on with things.
You know, I feel like that's

671
00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:30,720
Ollie Walsh in a nutshell.
You, you just kind of waste

672
00:33:30,720 --> 00:33:33,400
energy on something you can't
control and something people do,

673
00:33:33,400 --> 00:33:37,320
you know.
So Tai Chi is, is the, the

674
00:33:37,320 --> 00:33:38,880
physical manifestation of
Daleism.

675
00:33:38,880 --> 00:33:41,640
It is the way they put it.
So I kind of started with the

676
00:33:41,640 --> 00:33:43,840
physical manifestation and work
my way backwards into the into

677
00:33:43,840 --> 00:33:47,840
philosophy.
And that versus startup life

678
00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:50,120
roller coaster on fire, night
and day.

679
00:33:50,440 --> 00:33:54,640
Yeah, what is?
The best way for people to get

680
00:33:54,640 --> 00:33:56,640
in touch with you and learn more
about KENTA.

681
00:33:58,080 --> 00:34:00,680
Well, you can get in touch with
me and LinkedIn is probably the

682
00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:04,520
best way.
Olliewalshwiththemollie.walsh@kenta.com

683
00:34:04,520 --> 00:34:07,040
with my new e-mail address.
Fantastic.

684
00:34:07,280 --> 00:34:11,080
And then it's QEN ta.com for
KENTA.

685
00:34:11,560 --> 00:34:14,719
Yep, fantastic.
Well, listen, Ollie, thank you

686
00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:18,800
for coming out to the show to
tell the story and thank you for

687
00:34:19,199 --> 00:34:21,760
keeping me on board with you
since 2019.

688
00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:24,600
And I know this bitch.
Thank you.

689
00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:26,520
You were part of the
aforementioned support

690
00:34:26,520 --> 00:34:30,679
mechanism.
Absolutely doing my best and

691
00:34:30,719 --> 00:34:35,400
that I think this journey, you
know, Book 2 is not written yet.

692
00:34:35,719 --> 00:34:39,120
I think there's some thoughts
and ideas on how that might all

693
00:34:39,120 --> 00:34:42,280
unfold.
And anything that will come in

694
00:34:42,280 --> 00:34:46,239
the future between you and me
will be completely agnostic to

695
00:34:46,360 --> 00:34:49,320
any of this because it's been
such a pleasure being on this

696
00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:53,320
journey with you and I can't
wait to see how this all plays

697
00:34:53,320 --> 00:34:54,600
out.
Super.

698
00:34:55,120 --> 00:34:56,440
Thanks, Ollie.
Thanks.

699
00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:02,160
That does it for this week,
folks.

700
00:35:02,160 --> 00:35:04,840
Thanks to Ollie for opening up
his mind one more time to help

701
00:35:04,840 --> 00:35:06,240
us figure out why he does what
he does.

702
00:35:06,680 --> 00:35:08,840
Check out the show notes on
Money Never Sleeps dot IE for

703
00:35:08,840 --> 00:35:11,360
all the relevant links to learn
more about Ollie and KENTA.

704
00:35:11,720 --> 00:35:13,720
If you like what you heard,
please leave us a rating and a

705
00:35:13,720 --> 00:35:17,560
review on Spotify, Apple or on
Money Never Sleeps dot IE slash

706
00:35:17,560 --> 00:35:19,480
rate.
Thanks to Conan Brophy from

707
00:35:19,480 --> 00:35:21,560
Create Sound for mixing and
editing this episode.

708
00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:24,040
Conan is an excellent media man
to work with on your own

709
00:35:24,040 --> 00:35:26,560
podcast.
As for me, I'm an early stage

710
00:35:26,560 --> 00:35:29,080
startup investor in the next
version of the Internet and I

711
00:35:29,080 --> 00:35:30,800
lead the Techstars Web 3
accelerator.

712
00:35:31,080 --> 00:35:33,200
There are plenty of links in the
show notes on money never sleeps

713
00:35:33,200 --> 00:35:35,720
that IE on how to get in touch,
so don't hesitate to reach out.

714
00:35:36,080 --> 00:35:38,320
Finally, till next time, thanks
for listening.

715
00:35:38,320 --> 00:35:41,120
See you.
Money never sleeps, pal.