The following insights, structured by department, have proven especially valuable in that process – from finding the right people and building scalable IT infrastructure to operational structures that support growth. Every fintech faces its own unique challenges, but these lessons from Artur Schlaht, CEO and Co-Founder of Hamburg-based fintech payever, show which factors have consistently shaped long-term success.

IT: remote-first as a strategic advantage

For fintechs founded in smaller cities or university settings, one of the first big questions is how and where to find talent. In IT and product development especially, it quickly becomes clear that the local talent pool rarely meets the demand for specialised skills.

Expanding the search radius from the outset, whether to major metropolitan hubs or international markets, can be a smart move. In recent years, Eastern European countries have cultivated strong remote work cultures, giving companies access to highly skilled development teams. The benefits go beyond the broader talent pool: remote setups often offer greater flexibility and scalability than rigid on-site structures.

A fully remote IT team is no longer a workaround solution, for many fintechs, it’s become a core component of their business model. Hybrid structures, where a small local team maintains market proximity and specialised teams work remotely, have proven especially effective.

HR: global teams and data-driven hiring as keys to success

In many fintechs, IT isn’t just support, it’s the beating heart of the entire business model. The demands on speed, quality and scalability in software development are high. Traditional hiring approaches, often focused on local markets, quickly hit their limits.

More and more companies are opening up their recruitment strategies and going international from day one. Instead of relying on local networks, they turn to data-driven processes: large pools of developers are screened using standardised tests and assessments before the top candidates move on to the next stage.

This systematic emphasis on quality over location pays off, especially in specialised tech areas. Whether it’s Node.js, Go, or Kubernetes, the right expertise for any growth phase can be found globally. Most fintechs today are set up to fill even senior roles remotely without compromising control or productivity.

Sales: bridging two worlds

One of the biggest challenges for fintechs is bridging the gap between two sides of the market. In ecosystems that rely on both merchants and banks, this often means double the effort, with entirely different approaches required.

Merchants can usually be approached directly and informally, while banks and institutional partners are harder to reach. Cold calls or emails may work for merchants, but not for banks. For financial institutions, it’s more effective to analyse relevant trade publications or whitepapers to identify key contacts. LinkedIn and industry-specific events can then help establish that all-important first connection.

In highly regulated industries, personal interaction remains essential. Trade shows, conferences and networking events are still key to building trust and forging long-term partnerships across both sides of the market.

Operations: Building structures that support growth

Once the first major partners are on board, focus quickly shifts from acquisition to scaling operations. With new customers comes more responsibility – and complexity. Without solid internal systems, growth itself can become the biggest bottleneck.

Support and ticketing systems are especially critical. Customers expect fast, reliable responses, and disorganised support structures can quickly become a liability. Many fintechs invest early in professional tools to ensure every enquiry is tracked and handled efficiently.

Equally important is knowledge management. As platforms grow, so do processes, interfaces and edge cases. Documentation isn’t just an internal formality, it’s a prerequisite for scalability and quality. Structured, accessible knowledge saves time and ensures critical expertise isn’t siloed with individuals.

Marketing: Focus beats scattergun

In the early stages, it’s tempting to go broad with marketing, to be everywhere at once, from LinkedIn to Instagram to TikTok. But without dedicated resources for each channel, this rarely works long-term.

Successful fintechs take a channel-focused approach, zeroing in on where their target audience is actually active. In B2B, website content and LinkedIn have proven particularly effective, not just because industry-specific content performs well, but because it allows for direct engagement with decision-makers.

Search engine advertising (SEA), by contrast, is often a challenge. While consumers search for financing options, specific B2B keywords rarely offer strong ROI, simply because there’s little search volume. A merchant isn’t likely to Google “offer customer financing” – here, targeted outreach tends to work better.

The core takeaway: marketing is most effective when content and audience are perfectly aligned. Rather than spreading thinly across platforms, it’s better to focus on one or two key touchpoints.

The art of adapting

Founding a fintech means constantly stepping into the unknown. Plans rarely go as expected, markets shift, and promising strategies sometimes hit dead ends. Yet certain decisions prove spot-on in hindsight, even if they didn’t feel that way at the time.

For instance, startups are often warned against working with large corporations, the processes are slow and deals frequently stall before the contract is signed. We consciously took that path, and without external growth funding, it helped us build a profitable company.

Growth isn’t just about the right idea, it’s about the ability to adapt. The biggest breakthroughs come not from perfect strategies but from pragmatic solutions to urgent problems. And often, it’s only in retrospect that you realise which choices really paid off.

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