Episode 107: The Art of Building Strong Fintech Teams

In Episode 107 of Fintech Garden Podcast, hosts Igor Tomych and Dumitru Condrea welcome special guest Anna Kovalenko, VP of HR at DashDevs, for an insightful discussion on team building in fintech. They explore the key principles of creating high-performing teams, the biggest challenges in hiring, leadership strategies, and common mistakes managers should avoid.

Defining What Makes a Strong Team

Anna opens the conversation by emphasizing that a team is more than just a group of people - it requires shared trust, vision, and motivation. She differentiates between functional groups that simply execute tasks and true teams that collaborate effectively and drive innovation. Igor and Dumitru add their perspectives, stressing that a team requires leadership, alignment, and emotional intelligence to succeed.

Challenges in Building a Fintech Team

The discussion highlights two major challenges in fintech team building:

• Building Trust – Without trust, team members won’t openly share challenges, leading to stagnation and inefficiency. Anna shares how managers must actively cultivate an environment where employees feel safe to contribute ideas.
• Ensuring Diversity of Thought – Hiring people who only echo a leader’s mindset leads to “groupthink.” Anna stresses the importance of diversity in perspective, ensuring that team members challenge ideas constructively rather than simply agreeing with their manager.

Dumitru adds that successful teams must be built on trust from day one. He shares an approach where new hires are given 100% trust upfront, with their actions either reinforcing or diminishing that trust over time. This method helps create a culture of accountability and confidence.

Lessons from Leadership: What Works and What Doesn’t

Igor shares his personal journey of building and managing fintech teams, breaking it down into three key phases:

• Early Startup Phase – A trust-based approach where initial hires had full autonomy. However, lack of clear decision-making structures led to inefficiencies.
• Process-Driven Phase – Focusing entirely on functional execution and rigid structures but lacking emotional and cultural cohesion. This resulted in employees completing tasks but not taking ownership of long-term goals.
• Balanced Leadership Approach – Combining clear structure with human connection, allowing employees to take accountability while feeling supported.

This evolution highlights a key lesson: successful fintech teams must balance technical execution with emotional intelligence and adaptability.

Motivating and Retaining Top Talent in Fintech

Anna and the hosts discuss effective motivation strategies, emphasizing that fintech employees need more than just financial incentives.

• Financial Security Comes First – Employees need competitive salaries to feel stable, but once that is secured, intrinsic motivation becomes more important.
• Career Growth & Professional Development – Employees stay engaged when they feel they are improving their skills and progressing in their careers.
• Company Mission & Values – People want to work for fintechs that have a clear purpose, whether it’s financial inclusion, innovation, or disrupting traditional banking.
• Workplace Culture – Building a fintech culture with humor, open communication, and team bonding fosters long-term engagement. Dumitru emphasizes the role of “social glue” personalities—people who help teams stay connected informally.

The Biggest Mistakes to Avoid in Team Building

The episode concludes with a roundtable on leadership mistakes that hurt fintech teams:

• Micromanagement – Controlling every decision stifles creativity and prevents team members from taking ownership.
• Lack of Clear Goals – Teams without a well-defined mission lose motivation and direction.
• Ignoring Psychological Safety – Employees who fear making mistakes won’t experiment, innovate, or take risks – which is crucial in fintech.
• Focusing Only on Hard Skills – While fintech requires technical expertise, soft skills like communication, collaboration, and adaptability are equally important.
• Not Encouraging Diverse Perspectives – Hiring only people who think alike leads to stagnation. Teams need challengers, disruptors, and fresh perspectives.

Anna explains the danger of negative reinforcement, where managers only provide feedback when things go wrong. Instead, leaders should recognize and reinforce positive behaviors, ensuring employees know what success looks like.

Recommended Books for Leadership & Team Building

To wrap up the discussion, the hosts share book recommendations for fintech leaders and managers:

• Dare to Lead by Brené Brown – A guide to building courageous teams and leading with vulnerability.
• The Lean Startup by Eric Ries – Essential reading for fintech founders looking to scale efficiently.
• Good to Great by Jim Collins – Research-backed insights into what makes companies and teams excel.

Why Listen to This Episode?

This episode is packed with actionable insights for fintech founders, managers, and HR professionals. Whether you’re scaling a fintech startup, leading a product team, or building a remote workforce, Igor, Dumitru, and Anna provide practical strategies for hiring, managing, and retaining top fintech talent.

• Learn how to build trust in fintech teams
• Discover the biggest hiring mistakes and how to avoid them
• Understand what truly motivates fintech employees beyond salary
• Gain leadership lessons from real-world fintech success stories

Tune in to gain expert insights on building and sustaining high-performing teams in fintech!