The document discusses how building a startup around a mission or cause can help drive growth. It uses the example of Transferwise, which was started to solve the problem of high fees for international money transfers. The mission of Transferwise is to make money transfers fast, cheap, and easy worldwide. The document emphasizes that evangelism and inspiring customers with the company's mission are major drivers of growth for Transferwise. It has grown from a few employees transferring small amounts to hundreds of employees transferring over $1 billion per day and saving customers over $1 million daily in fees.

1. @nilanp
THE MISSION DRIVEN
STARTUP

2. @nilanp
HOW BUILDING CULTURE AROUND
YOUR CAUSE, BUILDS A PRODUCT
THAT GROWS ITSELF

3. FIRST INTRODUCTIONS

4. @nilanp
INTROS

5. WHAT IS ONE
ANYWAY ?

6. A MISSION DRIVEN STARTUP IS A
CATALYST FOR CHANGING THE
WORLD

7. TRANSFERWISE WAS STARTED
TO SOLVE A PROBLEM
@nilanp@nilanp

8. IN OUR CASE A PERSONAL PAIN POINT
HELPED TO SEE AN EPIDEMIC DYSFUNCTION IN
THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY, WHICH LACKED ANY
NATURAL FORCE OF IMPROVEMENT OR MOVE
TOWARDS RESOLUTION.
— KRISTO KÄÄRMANN & TAAVET HINRIKUS@nilanp@nilanp

9. OUR MISSION ?
TO MAKE MONEY ZIP AROUND THE WORLD:
AT THE TOUCH OF A BUTTON;
FOR ALMOST ZERO COST;
INSTANTLY

10. @nilanp
A BANK COULD HAVE STARTED
TRANSFERWISE AT ANY POINT IN THE
LAST 100 YEARS
@nilanp

11. THE MISSION IS MORE IMPORTANT
THAN OUR SHORT TERM
COMMERCIAL SUCCESS

13. PROGRESS

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$0.5 MILLION ➤ $1 BILLION

15. @nilanp
60 TRANSFERWISERS ➤ 600
TRANSFERWISERS

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LDN, UKR, EST ➤ LDN, UKR,
EST, TKY, SYD, SGP,TPA,BDP

17. @nilanp
8% OF THE UK
SAVING £1M A DAY

18. @nilanp
HOW ?

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EVANGELISM IS THE BIGGEST
DRIVER OF GROWTH

20. WE BELIEVE WE CAN CREATE
EVANGELICAL CUSTOMERS

21. SO WHY DO PEOPLE RECOMMEND
OUR PRODUCT ?

22. RATIONALRATIONAL EMOTIONAL

23. RATIONALPRODUCT BRAND

24. RATIONAL
SPEED
CONVENIENCE
PRICE
COVERAGE
BRAND

25. TO ACHIEVE ADVOCACY YOUR PRODUCT
NEEDS TO BE AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE
BETTER THAN THE ALTERNATIVE

27. BUT DON’T DO THIS AS “GROWTH
HACK” DO IT BECAUSE THE WORLD
DESERVES IT

28. RATIONAL
SPEED
CONVENIENCE
PRICE
COVERAGE
BRAND

29. @nilanp
PEOPLE DO NOT TALK ABOUT MONEY
TRANSFER IN THE PUB
@nilanp

30. @nilanp
GIVE YOUR CUSTOMERS STORIES
TO TELL
@nilanp

32. #RIPHIDDENFEES

33. @nilanp
INSPIRE PEOPLE WITH YOUR CAUSE AND
YOU WILL CREATE A MOVEMENT
@nilanp

36. You can’t copy
that !

37. PRODUCT STRATEGY

38. WHAT ARE THE PROBLEMS WE NEED
TO SOLVE TO ACHIEVE THE
MISSION ?

39. @nilanp
Regulated
and
available
Instantly
and almost
zero cost
IdentityOnboarding Worry Evangelism
Problem
awareness

40. Currencies OperationsVerificationConversion Experience ViralityMarketing
@nilanp
Regulated
and
available
Instantly
and almost
zero cost
IdentityOnboarding Worry Evangelism
Problem
awareness

41. CULTURE == OPTIMISING FOR
EXECUTION SPEED

42. WE WORK IN AUTONOMOUS
INDEPENDENT TEAMS THAT
FOCUS ON KPIS THAT MAKE A
DIFFERENCE TO OUR
CUSTOMERS AND DRIVE OUR
GROWTH
@nilanp@nilanp

43. @nilanp
THE CURRENCIES TEAM WORKS ON
LAUNCHING NEW CURRENCIES
@nilanp

44. @nilanp
IT IS AUTONOMOUS & INDEPENDENT
@nilanp

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HOW DOES THIS WORK IN PRACTICE ?

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VALUES

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PRODUCT

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CADENCE
@nilanp

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TEAM MATURITY

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WEAK PRODUCT OWNERSHIP

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EVERY PART OF THE PRODUCT IS
OWNED

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ANY TEAM CAN CHANGE ANY PART OF
THE PRODUCT

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57. MARKETING
PRODUCT
@nilanp@nilanp

58. @nilanp
ENGINEERING CULTURE:
PRODUCT ENGINEERING

59. @nilanp
PRODUCT MANAGERS CANNOT TELL
ENGINEERS WHAT TO DO
@nilanp

60. @nilanp
IF YOU FAIL TO INSPIRE AN ENGINEER
YOU WILL FAIL TO INSPIRE CUSTOMERS

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62. @nilanp
TARGETS

63. @nilanp
WHAT CONSTRAINS OUR GROWTH
RATE ?

64. @nilanp
TITLE TEXT

65. TRADE OFFS
- Consistency
- Efficiency
- Singularity of vision
- Swiftness of collective
decision making
- Ownership
- Speed
- Agility
- Matrix structure

66. ONWARDS
@nilanp