#4 How to Network Your Way Into a Unicorn Startup With Varo Bank Co-Founder Roger Van Duinen

The Startup Journey Podcast

Today’s guest, Roger Van Duinen is the co-founder of Varo Money – an “entirely new kind of bank” that uses tech to bring financial inclusion and opportunity to all of its users.

With 25 years of experience working as a C-level executive in the banking and financial services sector – he brought a lot of industry expertise to the table.

In that time, he built and nurtured an extensive network of like-minded entrepreneurs and business leaders.

In fact, it was that network that led him to co-found Varo Money in the first place.

It started when a mutual connection put Roger in contact with Colin Walsh.

Colin was also a veteran in the banking industry but had taken a very different path than Roger.

They got to talking and realised that, despite their different paths, they saw a lot of the same problems in the industry.

Before long, Roger and Colin had co-founded Varo Money. Fast forward to today, and Varo has raised over $990M to date – most recently raising $510M in their Series E round, at a $2.5B valuation.

In this episode, Roger and I dive deep into

• The idea behind Varo
• The road to product-market fit
• The lessons Roger and his team learnt from dealing with investors
• Key insights on building an early-stage startup team
• Balancing the intense work every entrepreneur faces with their personal life (something Roger admits, was a huge challenge for him)
• Advice on every facet of the entrepreneurial journey

Tune in as Roger shares entrepreneurial insights from a career spanning nearly three decades.

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