Podcast 137: Scaling Without Illusions with Nikolay Popandopulo

What happens when two technical fintech executives go all-out in a conversation about scaling and team management?

In this episode of the Fintech Garden podcast, Igor Tomych talks to Nikolay Popandopulo, CPO, Kaspi.kz — eGrocery division. The conversation serves as a switch of pace from the usual conversation taking place throughout the podcast. Starting with the guest’s educational background, to a journey through his earlier professional experiences, Tomych helps highlight how Popandopulo established methods that later led to Kaspi’s success.

Architecture, Metrics, and Reliability.

Since the genesis of Kaspi, Popandopulo explains, the team started small, so efficiency and effectiveness were always key when making any decision. As he elaborates, the team was never afraid of making mistakes, it was always the long-term mistakes that they focused on avoiding. 

Kaspi’s Early E-Grocery Startup Phase

Kaspi’s e-grocery business did not start as part of a large, polished fintech ecosystem. It began as a small operational startup that sat at the intersection of e-commerce, logistics, and payments. Having started with around 50 people in total, including 10 to 15 office staff, the team had to manage picking, packing, delivery routing, customer support, and inventory accuracy with very limited resources and almost no margin for error.

Why Sometimes Buy, Instead of Build

Kaspi acquired the e-grocery business instead of building from scratch. The startup was initially a merchant on Kaspi’s platform and it grew very quickly in volume and customer satisfaction. The decision to acquire the e-commerce business highlights how management decisions can be framed around ecosystem fit and customer value, not cost alone.