Corefy’s COO on work & personal life at TechTalks by Raiffeisen

Last week, Corefy’s Co-founder & COO Den Melnykov took part in Tech Talks, an internal event by Raiffeisen Bank Aval to discuss various industry issues with guests. This time, Den shared the mic with Olena Khlon, CEO at Fairo Ukraine, and Alexandra Gladyshevskaya, CEO and Co-founder at SPOKK. Dmytro Samko, IT Director Delivery Loans at Raiffeisen Bank Aval, was a moderator. They discussed different aspects of startup life and shared some personal experience and views. Given that the event was internal and there was no option to join, we tuned in and outlined Den’s thoughts on the four main topics discussed.

Scaling & related issues

• Given that startups mostly have limited resources for development, they’re forced to work extra hours. Until their product gets in the live mode, the only resource they have entirely under control is time.
• Corefy has been live for more than two years. In 2020, we successfully processed over 106 million transactions. This year, we expect to double this amount.
• Many successful businesses continue calling themselves startups because they’re snowballing. We’re on a scaling stage, where we have a sophisticated product and are currently focusing on a particular target audience with the highest growth potential.

Testing hypotheses

• We know exactly where to go in terms of product development because our clients require specific features for their businesses, and that’s what we strive to implement. For instance, if our client wants integration with Raiffeisen International, that’s what we do. The needs of our clients are our guiding light when it comes to product development.
• Internally, various teams experiment with their processes and look for ways to improve them, staying in line with the company’s strategy.

Internal processes

• At Corefy, various teams work with clients on different steps of their journey. The Marketing team is attracting public attention. The Sales team works with leads, and the Development team helps to evaluate their technical needs and our ability to deliver what’s expected on time. In their turn, the Customer Success, Business Development, and Technical Support teams help clients all their way along with us.
• We organise Strategy Days, a monthly internal event where all the team gets together to showcase their achievements and discuss challenges. It helps to keep everyone on the same wavelength.

Personal motivation

• Most startups die in their first year of activity. To survive, they often have to pivot, switching focus from one vector to another and testing one hypothesis after another, which may be emotionally draining for some people. Moreover, the technological environment constantly changes and evolves, and for many, it’s hard to keep up. Den says he’s now immune to such rhythm and even finds it inspiring and motivating. Like most of us at Corefy, he enjoys challenges, learns from mistakes, and gets an emotional boost from wins.
• It’s essential to surround yourself with like-minded people who share your values. Exploring the unknown is much more efficient and satisfying when you’re with the team.

Internally, it’s better to have roles than a strict hierarchy.

• When Den needs to clear his mind and relax, he resorts to what was earlier his dream and now is his hobby. He learns to pilot a small aircraft!

COVID-19 effect

• People started making more online payments, accelerating the ongoing digitalisation trend. That’s why the pandemic affected our business positively.

If you’d like to learn more about how Corefy’s doing amid the pandemic, visit Startup.Info and take a look at an interview with Denys Kyrychenko, Corefy’s Co-founder & CEO. He shared how we managed to double performance and team amid this uncertain time.