Tips for running a FinTech as a Young CEO

by Startacus Admin
Anna Tsyupko is the 24-year-old CEO of London-based FinTech company Paybase. Paybase delivers an end-to-end solution for payments, compliance and risk – all rolled into one unified API. Anna has previously written for Startacus on some of the key challenges of building payments into an app and now she returns to share some top valuable tips she has learnt along the way on running a FinTech startup as a young CEO...
My involvement with the company led me to understand just how antiquated the payments ecosystem is and how difficult it is for FinTechs to fulfil users’ expectations of usability and ingenuity whilst being constrained by legacy technology, high costs and regulatory compliance.
The vision to solve these problems with the latest technology and to thus democratise access to payments infrastructure is what drove our CTO Chris Wessels and I to evolve the business from Payfriendz into Paybase.
Here are some of the things I have learned on my journey so far.
Your employees are your experts
At Paybase we are a team of 15 and growing. I am one of the youngest people in our team, which has meant mostly managing people who are older than I am and who have been working for more years than I have.
I believe the key to being a good leader is to acknowledge that your employees are experts in their fields and are best equipped to make recommendations, which is why micro-managing people and being overly prescriptive makes no sense. Instead, it is important to focus on the bigger picture and to set your employees the right tasks – not to worry about the minute details of their processes.
Taking this approach has certainly helped me to establish good working relationships with my team members. When employees have autonomy and the opportunity to be heard, they have the space to prosper regardless of any age difference between themselves and their leader.
Jumping in at the deep end is the fastest way to learn
Sometimes I wish that I’d had a chance to learn all the important lessons of the last year gradually rather than all at once. Then again, being thrown into the deep end is what truly and most effectively teaches you how to run a business. I believe that starting young and jumping in at the deep end gives you a chance to build a foundation of experience early on in life and the chance to continuously improve.
Don’t regret mistakes – learn from them
There are many things I know now that I didn’t know when I first started out and that, had I known them, would have changed some of the decisions I made. Could we have done things better? Absolutely! Do I believe that the decisions we took were the right ones at the time? Yes. I have no regrets and wouldn’t have done anything differently, but I am grateful for all the things I have learnt.
Look at the industry as a whole when you’re planning for the future 
For the foreseeable future, my focus is Paybase and its development, growth and expansion. I believe that we are building something truly innovative and I am excited about launching the Platform this September, onboarding our first clients and eventually expanding our offering into new territories. I hope we will play an important part in shaping and changing the future of payments by democratising access to payments infrastructure and opening this industry up for more innovators.
Be passionate in everything you do
To succeed you need passion. Be passionate about the problem you’re trying to solve and genuinely interested in the sector and market you’re in. This excitement and enthusiasm will give you the strength and ability to keep going and to push even harder when things get difficult. It is almost impossible to perform to the best of your ability if you’re not 100% committed.
Anna Tsyupko is the 24-year-old CEO of London-based FinTech company Paybase. Paybase delivers an end-to-end solution for payments, compliance and risk – all rolled into one unified API. The Paybase Platform is perfect for marketplaces such as sharing economy or crowdfunding sites as well as FinTech apps and products that have complex payments requirements.
Subscribe to our newsletter
If you would like to receive our startup themed newsletter, full of the latest startup opportunities, events, news, stories, tips and advice, then sign up here.
The UK’s fastest-growing plant-based meat brand, THIS™ set to launch Seedrs campaign to support further innovation, bold marketing and international expansion.

Voicy, the online content platform for discovering, creating and sharing sound-clips and sound-effects secures investment to support team expansion and global growth.

Career Masterclass has launched a new website to showcase its offerings, as a strategic partner for businesses wanting to bolster D&I policies.

NI Startup? Fancy showcasing your startup at this year's Digital DNA event? We've got up to 10 spaces for NI startups to do just that. Here's the details!

Germany's leading digital solar platform, Zolar secures major investment to support roll out of new digital energy products.

Metro Bank seeks startups and scaleups with a focus on customer experience, community banking, optimisation of systems & data and sustainability for its second innovation lab.

Need a little extra motivation to get your daily step count up? Treekly will help you do your bit for the climate crisis with every step you take...

The lowdown on London-based SaaS startup Adadot and its innovative performance and wellbeing tracking platform for developers.

Henrik Grim, European GM of Capchase shares insights on how founders can navigate these more challenging funding conditions.

Storyblok secures major investment to further accelerate product innovation and growth into the US and Europe.
Published on: 23rd August 2017
If you would like to enable commenting via your Startacus account, please enable Disqus functionality in your Account Settings.







- Voicy lands €1.2 million pre-Seed from Global Founders Capital to build the GIPHY for sound 20th May 2022 Voicy, the online content platform for discovering, creating and sharing sound-clips and sound-effects secures investment to support team expansion and global growth.
- Zolar Lands €100 Million Series C On The Back Of Surging Demand For Affordable Green Energy 19th May 2022 Germany's leading digital solar platform, Zolar secures major investment to support roll out of new digital energy products.
- Metro Bank opens call for participants for second Magic Makers programme 17th May 2022 Metro Bank seeks startups and scaleups with a focus on customer experience, community banking, optimisation of systems & data and sustainability for its second innovation lab.
- Storyblok Raises $47M Series B to Make Headless Content Management the New Standard 17th May 2022 Storyblok secures major investment to further accelerate product innovation and growth into the US and Europe.