VALENTIN
VINCENDON
PRODUCT
DATA
STRATEGY
MISSION
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Fundamental Principles for Success in a $5.5bn Business
WHAT I DO
I currently lead the Market & Competitive Intelligence function for Checkout.com, the 2nd largest Fintech globally.
My main challenge: scaling this organisation.
This brings me to continuously reflect on Productivity, Management, and Leadership.
My professional expertise sits at the interface between Strategy, Data, and Product.
WHO I AM
I spent all of my childhood and teenage life reading about 50-100 books per year. The only sanction my parents had found that would have any impact on me was: “That’s it, you’re not allowed to read for X days.”. And that would still simply lead me to ruin my eyes reading under my blanket with a lamp torch at night. I read about science, history, literature. I studied Latin, Ancient Greek, and philosophy.
I thought I understood many things. Obviously I didn’t because I had zero life experience, but it gave me deep knowledge roots and consumption habits.
I spent the first 3 years of university studying the world through the prism of theoretical mathematics and physics, chemistry, and molecular biology. I taught physics and chemistry at university. Although incredibly enjoyable and useful, I realised those were not providing anything close to an exhaustive mental frame to truly understand the world beyond physical reality.
I then spent the following 3 years studying economics, quantitative finance, management, and strategy. I plunged myself into behavioural sciences and evolutionary psychology.
Still not enough to truly understand what matters.
I worked in strategy consulting, asset management, and built and lead product teams in two different Fintechs. I lived in several countries, worked with incredibly smart and successful people, learnt a third language and culture.
Guess what - it helped, but still not enough.
I also experimented a lot on the side: human psychology through professional magic tricks, decision-making under stress through private plane piloting and mountaineering, personal resilience through barefoot running and some MMA.
For 4 years, I have been building and leading functions at Checkout.com, the 3rd largest Fintech globally: first their Risk Product, then Data, and last Strategy.
3 years ago, I also started writing and publishing online.
Those two experiences forced me to think about how I actually consumed and processed knowledge, how I made decisions, and how I actually thought. I started mapping them, analysing them, and fixing them. I started seeing my blind spots much more clearly, and I learnt more in that year than in any other I can remember.
The last catalyst was welcoming a wonderful baby daughter, and wondering how I could save her some of those 30 years of trial and error. I still don’t think I know much - or at least nowhere close enough of what I would want to know - but I understand much better how to learn and apply what truly matters.
I am building this knowledge base in Roam Research, the most disruptive knowledge product created since the Internet.
CONTACT
