The next wave of Open Banking and what it means for customers with Stefano Vaccino, Founder and CEO @ Yapily
Stefano Vaccino delivers an unflinchingly honest account of building Yapily while challenging the romanticized narratives around startup success. He argues that open banking is following a predictable adoption curve similar to contactless payments—growing 4x faster than skeptics acknowledge—while offering hard-earned wisdom about the psychological and financial toll of solo entrepreneurship.
Key takeaways
- •Open banking adoption is accelerating at 4x the rate of early contactless payment adoption, despite widespread skepticism about its viability.
- •99% of startup success stories in media mislead founders by showcasing only the 1% who made it, creating dangerously unrealistic expectations.
- •Solo founders should pause advisor relationships when they're not adding value rather than forcing them to work—specificity in asks is crucial.
- •The brutal reality of startup failure rates (90%) requires founders to prepare mentally and financially for extreme stress before jumping in.
- •Waiting too long to pursue entrepreneurial ventures due to financial comfort can be more costly than making mistakes early in your career.
Listen to full episode
Best moment
Why forcing advisor relationships always backfires as a founder
and make a good use of your ancient time. So you be very specific when you go and ask for help. If you realize that, in the specific phase of the company, they are not able to give you much, put a pause, and then maybe one or two years after you come back, they might be helpful again. Don't force it, but, make sure that, you make a good use of the other person time rather than expecting them to be part of your management team. They are not part of your management team. Ultimately, everything is on your shoulder as a founder
“The reality is, extremely demanding.”
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