Episode 397: How The Philippines Can Get Into The Digital Age w/ Greg Krasnov

Behind every fast-scaling startup is often a founder who's already been through a few reinventions. In this episode, Greg Krasnov, Founder and CEO of Tonik Bank, shares how his early hustles in finance and tech carried him through private equity and into founding a bank in Ukraine, shaping his approach to risk-taking, leadership, and building financial institutions from the ground up. 

Dive into how Greg’s journey through fintech and emerging markets shaped his approach to building Tonik—from earning customer trust to taking a bold bet on digital banking in the Philippines, which quickly reached 1 billion pesos in retail deposits and raised $17 million in Pre-Series B funding.

EPISODE TIMELINE:

00:00:38 - The sacrifices and long hours of Greg’s early career

00:05:37 - How coding and technology helped Greg pay his way through college

00:10:26 - Investment banking and private equity as career path

00:14:59 - Transition into private equity in Central Europe

00:18:09 - Why scaling consumer lending required a banking license

00:21:29 - Finding purpose and a new direction after a major business exit

00:27:16 - Identifying opportunities by combining existing technologies to solve major problems

00:31:34 - What Greg saw in the Philippines that led him to build a digital bank

00:36:23 - Building an international team to launch Tonic in the Philippines

00:40:09 - How Tonik integrates its values into hiring and employee development

00:45:24 - Greg’s six P’s framework for building a winning product

00:49:38 - Creating a more approachable and customer-friendly banking brand

00:55:12 - The importance of resilience and reliability in digital banking

00:58:36 - Why passion and commitment are essential to building a successful business

01:00:05 - What’s next for Tonik and where listeners can connect with him

QUOTE/S FROM GREG

"There are these six parameters... price, promotion, process, product, et cetera. And you just compare yourself on each one of these against the competition."

"Effectively, the Filipinos are paying their banks for holding their money. If you subtract the interest rate, you subtract the inflation, right? You're paying the bank for keeping your money there. That's not fair” 

Resources:

Website (Tonik Bank): https://tonikbank.com/

LinkedIn (Greg Krasnov): https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkrasnov/

Links/Sponsors: 

OneCFO: https://www.onecfoph.co/

PayMongo: https://www.paymongo.com/

This episode is brought to you by Villgro Philippines, Paymongo, GoTyme Bank & SeekCap

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