PAYONEER
ABOUT PAYONEER
Payoneer empowers global commerce by connecting businesses, professionals, countries and currencies with its innovative cross-border payments platform. In today’s borderless digital world, Payoneer enables millions of businesses and professionals from more than 200 countries to reach new audiences by facilitating seamless, cross-border payments. Additionally, thousands of leading corporations including Amazon, Airbnb, Getty Images, Google, and Upwork rely on Payoneer’s mass payout services.
With Payoneer’s fast, flexible, secure and low-cost solutions, businesses and professionals in both developed and emerging markets can now pay and get paid globally as easily as they do locally.
ABOUT YUVAL TAL
Yuval Tal is the founder, President and a board member of Payoneer.
Before founding Payoneer in 2005, Tal co-founded Borderfree (NASDAQ: BRDR) and was its CEO from 1999-2005. Borderfree is a provider of services that expedite cross-border e-commerce and payments for many large online and offline retailers. Tal previously served as vice president of business development for RADWARE (NASDAQ: RDWR). He is a member of YPO and an angel investor in a number of start-ups in the payment space, including ZooZ and TravelersBox.
Tal is a member of Harvard Business School plan for managers.
Tal holds a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering and an M.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering, with minor in business administration, from Tel Aviv University
CAMELTARY (Camel Commentary)
Breaking the Borders in Personal and Professional.
Payoneer has overcome some big problems to become Israel’s largest fintech company. You don’t have 1000 employees worldwide with a $1 billion valuation without having to solve the inevitable issues that arise. For Yuval Tal, this meant accepting one of the largest problems that men face: humiliation.
“If I would do it all again, I would have more courage. I wouldn’t be so scared of failure. That’s what everyone in Silicon Valley fears most.” He explains how running your own company isn’t just about getting the money, or finding the niche, it’s about embodying the company and implanting your identity into your work. Suddenly, the line between your personal and professional life becomes blurred.
Payoneer allows companies across borders to pay each other through cross-border commerce. It frames its own regulatory infrastructure and doesn’t rely on any other solutions. The system avoids the banks and works with international governments to ensure people and companies can move money legally across borders. Founded in 2005, it now has offices in Tel Aviv, Hong Kong, the UK, and Japan – with a headquarters in the US.
“You need to talk to everyone and take advice whenever you have the chance,” Yuval says. “Don’t expect anyone to show you the light, but always take advice.” The fear of humiliation and risking his ego is what made Payoneer as successful as it is. He never switches off and is inspired to ‘create something out of nothing’ every day.
Any entrepreneur understands that a certain degree of rejection is inevitable. You’re not always going to get the funding round you need, and the path to success is never a straight line. He claims that this is why there are more men in the startup world than women. As he suggests, men are better at dealing with rejection than women. They, for better or worse, are more prepared to allow work to seep into every aspect of their life.
His hubris and fear of humiliation have been the main drive of Payoneer’s success. Many times, people are warned of the financial or professional pitfalls when starting any company. For Yuval Tal, it was always more of a personal risk. The bruise on the ego cuts deeper than the dent in the business.
“I’m not an idea guy, I’m an execution guy. I hope I don’t come across arrogant…” For someone who runs Israel’s largest fin-tech company, he certainly does not come across as someone who lacks the courage he so claims.
James Spiro