Episode 12, published October 12, 2026
Why This Investor Said No to Neofin, Then Became Its CEO | Svitlanka Sergiichuk
Svitlanka Sergiichuk turned Neofin down as an investor. Today she's its CEO. She was a GP at a family office when Neofin's founder first pitched them. Still, he kept coming back. She joined as a consultant to help with go-to-market, stepped in as CEO, and is now one of Neofin's three co-founders. Neofin offers Lego-style building blocks for launching lending and other financial products, from onboarding and KYC to payouts. In this conversation, we get into: • Why she said no to Neofin, and what changed her mind • How the war in Ukraine took Neofin from break-even to losing money in two days, and the choice to pivot or go home • Product is temporary: "If there's a founder with a will, there always will be a way." • Why bigger merchants outgrow standard Pay in 4 plans • Getting comfortable with selling, since the first $5M in revenue is founder-driven • Her advice to B2B founders: bootstrap to your first $1M in revenue if you can • Why a business is a hobby until it brings in revenue
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