Pleo: The Startup That Became A Major European Company

Pleo is a fundamentally new way to manage company expenses (not to mention being one of the sponsors of this illustrious podcast). Founded in early 2015 by fintech veterans Jeppe Rindom and Niccolo Perra, core listeners may have a good understanding of who Pleo are, but how much do you know about their actual journey? “It was all about the product in the beginning. And we were just figuring out what are the tangible pain points out there? And how can we bring a solution? We didn't think too much about purpose and all that until later.” Having raised over €70m in 5 years, Pleo has become one of the biggest card payment companies in Europe. But to take Pleo from idea to reality, keeping payments in companies simple, transparent and manageable for all, requires some incredible leadership. Which is why we're talking to Jeppe, co founder and CEO of Pleo, to find out more about their rocket ship journey. “The way I think about organisation is a little bit like I think about our products. Your organisation fit constantly needs to be nurtured and changed. The way we communicate, the way we organise, the way we make decisions, the way we come together as a company - it needs to change all the time, because what worked a year ago no longer works. You need to nurture it as a product and you need to invest into it.” We chat about: The trials of naming your company The inspiration and motivation for starting Pleo The purpose, values and vision for Pleo Raising money before having an Alpha or Beta in the market Going through leadership development process as a leadership team Find what makes you happy in life - don’t settle -- Sponsors Vorboss - get better internet: https://vorboss.com/secretleaders Vanta - get 20% off security certifications like ISO27001 and SOC2: https://vanta.com/secretleaders Vertice - save on your SaaS or cloud spend ($5k off or a free benchmark) using the code secretleaders: https://www.vertice.one/l/secretleaders -- Newsletter Sign up here: https://secretleaders.email/ You can find our historic newsletters here: https://www.secretleaders.com/episodes