Dom Pym’s playbook for building and backing winners

Australian fintech pioneer and serial entrepreneur Dom Pym knows a thing or two about starting companies and scaling them into market-leading players.

This week’s episode of The Business of Tech dives into Pym’s extraordinary journey, from bootstrapping niche financial platforms to building one of Australia’s most popular digital banks – Up – and then reinventing himself as one of the region’s most active startup investors. 

Pym’s path into fintech started long before “fintech” was a buzzword. After a whirlwind early career working with Fortune 500 giants, he went on to build a grain exchange platform that digitised how Australian farmers sell their product, followed by Pin Payments, an all‑in‑one payments service that expanded into New Zealand, Asia, the UK and the US before being acquired. 

That set the stage for Up, the app‑based bank that hacked its way through regulatory and infrastructure hurdles to become a breakout success with younger customers and a major strategic asset for Bendigo and Adelaide Bank.

Now, post‑exit, Pym is channelling that experience into backing others. As Australian Investor of the Year, he’s supporting funds and startups via his family office, and pushing for more secondary deals so founders don’t have to wait a decade for liquidity. 

In The Business of Tech, he explains his investing philosophy, why he doesn’t obsess over unicorn valuations, and how he thinks about risk in an era dominated by AI and software.

Pym is heading to Auckland in September to deliver a keynote at the inaugural NZ Tech Expo, New Zealand’s new flagship gathering for founders, investors and corporate leaders. 

If you want a preview of the themes he’ll bring to the stage – and a candid assessment of where New Zealand tech needs to lift its game – check this week’s episode of The Business of Tech, streaming on iHeartRadio or in your podcast app of choice.

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