Martin Kassing is the founder and chief executive of Upvest, a platform founded in 2017 that enables fintechs to offer their end users the full range of investment opportunities and brokerage services securely and across international borders.
The Berlin-headquartered firm has been FCA licensed since October 2024 and raised €100m in its latest Series C fundraising round.
In this week’s Founder in Five Q&A, Kassing discusses the motivations of a successful founder, a leader he admires and his productivity hacks.
What advice would you give to a first-time founder?
There are two primary, often overlapping, motivations for becoming a founder: a powerful ambition to build a significant and successful company and a strong desire to revolutionise an outdated industry for positive change. The most successful founders typically possess both.
Aspiring first-time founders should be prepared for challenging early years. You earn little, you will fail so many times trying to find product market fit, you will make many wrong hires, and you might clash with co-founders and friends.
From a purely risk-reward standpoint, joining a rapidly growing startup as an executive might be a more rewarding path. However, the unique draw of being a founder lies in these intrinsic desires for achievement and impact. It seems to me that the most successful founders are driven by an unwavering passion for their goals, leaving them with little choice but to pursue them.
Who’s a leader you admire in your industry?
Pieter van der Does, Adyen’s founder, serves as a significant role model. He has quietly scaled a global payments leader valued at over €50 billion. His success stems from a clear long-term strategy for their payment platform, a focus on key clients, and the maintenance of a startup-like, energizing culture. In my view, he is one of the most underestimated founders globally. We at Upvest are using Adyen as our blueprint to develop a lasting API-first fintech company.
How do you prevent burnout?
You don’t burn out when you love what you are doing and succeeding. The most challenging times are those of high effort and no result/reward. As a father, I am very mindful about how I spend my time and make sure I have enough space in my week to focus on my family, as well as my friends. I also care about staying fit and so exercise regularly. I also say no to 90% of business and private meetings to have the energy and impact on the 10%.
Excluding your own, what’s a sector that’s ripe for disruption?
It is surprising that B2B tax management remains an untapped area. Numerous business taxes affect cash flow, regulations differ across global markets, and there are complex compliance issues. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a €100 billion API-first company emerge to address business taxes as a platform globally.
Do you have a productivity hack?
Great chief executives prioritise focus and swift decision-making. I structure my annual goals into critical and measurable objectives, further dividing their achievement by quarter, week, and day. This disciplined approach ensures that 80% of my calendar is dedicated to what truly matters.
This intense focus, combined with delegating other decisions to capable leaders, enables me to make bold decisions quickly. I operate on the principle that acting decisively with 70% confidence is more beneficial than delaying a decision for excessive research.
In high-growth environments, the ability to make rapid decisions and remove organisational roadblocks is more crucial than being right.
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