This is Zack Fuss and today we’re breaking down European-based payment business, Adyen. We cover Adyen’s single-platform payments solution in detail, what has led it to achieve unusually high levels of profitability and growth, and why payments doesn’t have to be a winner-take-all market.
Our guest is Michael Willar, a portfolio manager at Stenham Asset Management.
Show Notes
[00:00:00] – Introduction
[00:02:55] – [First question] What Adyen is and what they do
[00:05:54] – General overview of how payment processing works
[00:07:29] – Flow of a transaction and how they manifest
[00:09:52] – How the business generates revenue and their revenue model
[00:11:25] – Where Adyen sits in the industry and the size of it today
[00:13:37] – The reality of processing 50-60% of their addressable market
[00:16:19] – What about their culture and founding story makes them so nimble
[00:21:18] – The competitive strengths of the business and their innovative solutions
[00:24:07] – Key revenue drivers for Adyen
[00:26:01] – What is it about Adyen’s business structure that enables them to grow so rapidly while still being profitable
[00:29:34] – Key growth drivers
[00:32:44] – What gives Adyen its competitive advantage over other payment providers
[00:35:56] – Having one platform is beneficial but why isn’t it a more popular approach?
[00:37:42] – The secret sauce behind their successful growth trajectory
[00:39:25] – The essence of Adyen’s culture and how it manifests in their day-to-day work
[00:42:04] – What Adyen plans to do with all of the cash they produce
[00:43:35] – What keeps him up at night and potential threats to the business
[00:47:54] – Is there a chance anyone could build a platform comparable to Adyen?
[00:50:06] – Key differences between Stripe and Adyen
[00:56:23] – Lessons learned from studying Adyen and what payment service builders can learn from them