Phillip Valka

The central importance of a strong team culture. Teams comprised of members with complementary skills combined with a culture emphasizing intellectual curiosity, collaboration, integrity, learning, commitment to collective success and humour, drive the best outcomes.

I had such a trip on a recent month-long sabbatical when I travelled to South Africa, Egypt, Rome, Israel and Paris. South Africa was a particular highlight where I enjoyed the sun & sea of Cape Town, the majestic beauty of Stellenbosch, and the pinnacle of nature on a safari in Kruger Park.

Sleepwalkers by Christopher Clark. I’m a keen reader of history and the origins of First World War is an infinitely complex & fascinating topic. Clark’s study expertly weaves together the events which caused the world to descend from its heights of economic integration & technological development to unprecedented destruction. Its lessons concerning the compounding dangers of human misjudgement, contingency, and unintended consequences, will always remain relevant.

An attractive entry valuation for a stake in a company that offers a compelling value prop to customers in a rapidly growing TAM and enjoys strong unit economics, improving cohort performance, high operating leverage from a scalable product & tech stack, and led by best-in-class management team – a real unicorn!

I’ve spent my entire 15-year career within financial services – starting as consultant for troubled banks in ’07-08 financial crisis, spent several years in FIG investment banking, and most recently, on PayPal’s Corp Dev & Ventures team. I’ve been fortunate to work on incredible teams with supportive mentors to execute a wide range of deals at the heart of trends driving the evolution of financial services & commerce across the globe.

Strong financial services sectors help support strong economies. Technological innovation has enabled greater scalability & cheaper distribution, leading to new business models that can offer expanded access to a wider breadth of financial services. Given relatively early stages of their financial sectors, Growth Markets are well-positioned to leapfrog legacy structures to deliver digital-first solutions to a broader range of customers, with positive impacts for these Markets’ economies.