1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,880 I don't know if it's a culture thing, I don't know what's the problem, but everyone is so tied up and no, it won't work. 2 00:00:04,880 --> 00:00:07,200 It's easier to say no than yes. 3 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:16,080 There's a certain notion that we can't create these great big things from scratch within the islands. 4 00:00:16,080 --> 00:00:22,240 And that anything of any high significance has to come from outside. 5 00:00:22,240 --> 00:00:25,760 The modern work force or workspace should be flexible. 6 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:26,080 Yeah. 7 00:00:26,080 --> 00:00:28,400 I'm never going to tell you you need to be here and there and that. 8 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:30,480 The only thing I'm going to tell you is deliver what you say. 9 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:43,280 John, how are you doing? How's everything? 10 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:44,480 I'm good. I'm good. How are you? 11 00:00:44,480 --> 00:00:46,400 Awesome. Great. Great. Happy to be here. 12 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:47,600 Welcome to St. Martin. 13 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:50,160 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Beautiful island. 14 00:00:50,160 --> 00:00:52,000 And the trip was good? 15 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:52,800 The flight was good. 16 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:53,600 Yes, good. Smooth. 17 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:55,760 That was nice. Yes. Not too long, not too short. 18 00:00:55,760 --> 00:00:57,120 Nice. Yes. Yes. 19 00:00:57,120 --> 00:00:58,960 So you're enjoying the sunset out here? 20 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:01,120 I am. I am actually. It's beautiful. 21 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:07,360 Yeah. We got hooked up in this beautiful location to record our podcasting today 22 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:11,280 at the Sapphire Beach Hotel in Coupecoise in Martin. 23 00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:14,400 So thanks again for that. 24 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:17,760 And this is another episode of Sunside Kingdom. 25 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:23,200 And we're going to get into it with Marwan coming straight out of Curacao. 26 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:27,760 And you'll have to give those details because there's a bit of technicalities there. 27 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:29,280 There's a lot of technicalities there. 28 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:32,960 Sanjiv, we'll do a deep dive in a bit. 29 00:01:32,960 --> 00:01:35,280 All right. All right. Looking forward to it. 30 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:36,160 Let's do it. 31 00:01:36,160 --> 00:01:36,800 Let's do it. 32 00:01:40,320 --> 00:01:47,280 People, welcome to the Sunside Kingdom show. 33 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:52,640 Thank you to Sapphire Beach Club for sponsoring the location of this episode. 34 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:56,080 With me today is Marwan Rozier. 35 00:01:56,080 --> 00:01:57,440 Correct. Pleasure meeting you. 36 00:01:57,440 --> 00:01:58,480 Rozier? 37 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:00,800 Rozier. It depends where we are located. 38 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:04,240 Look, if you're from the French side of Saint Martin, I think it's going to be Rozier. 39 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:04,960 Yeah. 40 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:08,560 But considering we are on the Dutch side, I think we are going to mention it. 41 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:09,200 Rozier. 42 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:11,440 OK, nice. Welcome. Welcome. 43 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:12,080 Thank you. 44 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:14,080 So it's not your first time on Saint Martin, right? 45 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:14,640 No. 46 00:02:14,640 --> 00:02:17,440 Although it was a long time ago, first time I came here. 47 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:22,320 So I do consider it my first time because everything changed from the last time I was here. 48 00:02:22,320 --> 00:02:24,000 Well, your first time as an adult. 49 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:24,800 You can say so. 50 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:25,440 Yes. 51 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:29,840 So then that experience will be a lot different. 52 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:36,080 So let's get a quick little highlight, quick little elevator pitch. 53 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:36,880 Who is Marwan? 54 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:40,000 Who's Marwan? 55 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:42,240 So born and raised in Curacao. 56 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:49,920 So born and raised in Curacao, did the traditional middle school and Dutch system. 57 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:53,200 And then also VSBO. 58 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:56,240 After that, they did my HAVO, finished that, graduated. 59 00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:58,880 And then I went to the United States to study. 60 00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:03,440 So it was a change compared to most of the people from the islands. 61 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:04,240 They go to Holland. 62 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:04,480 Yeah. 63 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:10,160 I've decided to go to the United States, which was I'm really happy I did it 64 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:13,440 because I saw another part of the educational system, universities. 65 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:19,840 Long story short, I did my international business in bachelor. 66 00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:21,760 And then I did my master's in finance. 67 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:25,520 During my master in finance, actually, I was doing a lot of trading research. 68 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:28,080 I was a junior analyst. 69 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:30,560 And then I stumbled upon the word fintech. 70 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:33,360 That's how I was like, what is this? 71 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:37,360 Because we know banks doing financial things and then fintech. 72 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:38,960 Tech, okay. 73 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:44,160 And you know the banks back home, maybe at that time, you're like tech and banks don't really go together. 74 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:46,160 So what is this fintech stuff? 75 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:47,120 Exactly. 76 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:51,680 So then I remember very clearly I was super interested. 77 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:54,800 I was digging very deep into this topic, understanding. 78 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:57,920 And all these stories was actually coming up. 79 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:04,080 I remember the shift while I was in the States where we still had a POS of Bank of America. 80 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:08,480 And then a random company called Pfizer came along or Stripe came along. 81 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:10,560 So when we say POS, that's point of sale. 82 00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:11,360 The point of sale. 83 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:12,720 The terminal you make the payment. 84 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:16,560 So I saw the switch happening while I was doing all this research. 85 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:19,520 The word fintech was popping up more and more. 86 00:04:19,520 --> 00:04:21,840 So I was like, okay, this is the next big thing. 87 00:04:21,840 --> 00:04:22,960 What years are these? 88 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:24,080 This is 2015. 89 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:31,360 So I decided I'm going to do an internship in a payment company. 90 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:34,560 I figured out then there is a payment company. 91 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:41,360 It was funny because my father told me, listen, you want an internship? 92 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:41,920 Cool. 93 00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:44,640 But this is your allowance and I'm not going to pay more. 94 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:47,040 Internship at that time, they don't pay. 95 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:49,040 It's funny because it's unpaid. 96 00:04:49,840 --> 00:04:52,160 You want opportunity, come more, but it's unpaid. 97 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:57,840 That's actually one of the major differences, I would say, with internships in the Netherlands 98 00:04:57,840 --> 00:04:59,280 versus the States. 99 00:04:59,280 --> 00:05:01,600 Most of the internships in the States are unpaid. 100 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:06,560 Very exceptional situations where you would get paid for an internship. 101 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:10,320 So students in the Netherlands, be happy because your internships are paid, 102 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:11,520 even though it's very low paid. 103 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:12,320 It's something. 104 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:13,360 It's something. 105 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:13,600 Yes. 106 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:17,680 So then I decided I got this internship. 107 00:05:18,320 --> 00:05:20,800 Fun enough, I traveled to Croatia. 108 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:21,920 So I was working. 109 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:26,960 Yes, I went to Croatia for this internship where I was working for a company that was developing 110 00:05:26,960 --> 00:05:28,960 software for American Express. 111 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:29,460 Okay. 112 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:33,280 Very tech, low, low, low tier on the processing side. 113 00:05:33,280 --> 00:05:37,440 But I'm super valuable and happy that I work in this company because I understand the core 114 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:41,040 value of payments, which it's funny. 115 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:45,920 People that know payments are going to maybe agree or disagree with me, but the people in 116 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:48,080 banking industry, they complicate things. 117 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:52,320 So the people that understand logic cannot understand it. 118 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:54,640 It's simple. 119 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:59,760 So essentially things are very simple, but they use all this complicated language to 120 00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:03,040 make things sound way more complex than they are and confuse the people. 121 00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:03,600 Exactly. 122 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:04,720 Oh, that's payment. 123 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:05,220 Displaced. 124 00:06:07,280 --> 00:06:10,320 I'm very transparent in that because I'm like, dude, come on. 125 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:14,400 Now, there is some complexity in terms of security, right? 126 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:16,160 All these things that you have to give it to them. 127 00:06:16,160 --> 00:06:18,400 But the simple payment is very simple. 128 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:21,040 If you go back into how payment started, right? 129 00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:23,520 So from Barton, I'm going to give you a pack of cider. 130 00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:25,120 You're going to give me a drink or whatever it is. 131 00:06:26,640 --> 00:06:28,400 Essentially, is that happening all over again? 132 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:31,120 But just now you just tell me, I'll give you a pack of cigarettes. 133 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:31,920 I'll give you a drink. 134 00:06:33,120 --> 00:06:37,360 That was a real island example, but probably they were bartering on fish and bread back then. 135 00:06:39,840 --> 00:06:42,800 Well, you know, we are on an island, so I have certain things in my head. 136 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:48,320 So, yeah, going back, right? 137 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:50,320 It's a ledger. 138 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:50,800 It's a wallet. 139 00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:51,360 It's a balance. 140 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:52,480 You know, I give you this for that. 141 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:55,360 So it all goes back to the same thing. 142 00:06:56,320 --> 00:07:00,320 So, yeah, going back, Croatia, did my internship, went back to the States. 143 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:02,400 I knew exactly this is what I wanted to do. 144 00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:05,600 And I was set on payments, anything with regards to payments. 145 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:12,560 So I finished my university masters and then I started Hirosol. 146 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:18,800 Going back home, I was, you know, you're basically pitching an illusion. 147 00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:20,240 That's how I felt. 148 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:24,960 Yeah, because I'm sitting, I literally went to all the banks and they can agree. 149 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:26,240 All the banks on the islands. 150 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:28,480 I went and I pitched a product. 151 00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:33,360 Whatever you're pitching, Mr. Uzier, it's not going to happen. 152 00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:36,560 Okay, so I have to fine tune. 153 00:07:36,560 --> 00:07:37,680 But forget about it. 154 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:40,560 I went and if I tuned the pitch and I went again and I went again and I went again. 155 00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:44,480 Luckily, one bank was like, we won this. 156 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:46,080 So that was my first product. 157 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:49,440 Basically, it's a Paga Facil bill payment and product, 158 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:53,120 which is right now one of the largest bill payments on the island. 159 00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:55,440 It's a closed loop system, right? 160 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:57,280 Because it's not connected to anything external. 161 00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:02,560 It's literally from operator to the merchant and selling centrally for the bank to do the settlement. 162 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:05,680 It's the core of payments, but it's very simple. 163 00:08:05,680 --> 00:08:06,720 It's closed loop. 164 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:10,000 We launched in 2018. 165 00:08:10,720 --> 00:08:14,720 I knew exactly I want to do more because this is step one, but I want to do more. 166 00:08:14,720 --> 00:08:16,640 So when you say closed loop, right? 167 00:08:16,640 --> 00:08:23,200 Well, my profession is a UX designer and I work with a lot of technical people. 168 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:28,080 And also a lot of the projects that we do are very technical. 169 00:08:28,080 --> 00:08:30,240 So I fully understand what closed loop means. 170 00:08:31,280 --> 00:08:35,440 But break that down a little bit for persons that might not understand. 171 00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:39,760 So closed loop payment right now today, right? 172 00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:40,800 I have a wallet. 173 00:08:41,440 --> 00:08:42,880 We are on the same wallet. 174 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:44,960 I have 100 guilders, dollars, whatever. 175 00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:46,880 I'm going to send it to you, right? 176 00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:49,520 This closed loop means no one from the outside. 177 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:55,040 I cannot go pay to any merchant because the merchant is not accepting this closed loop. 178 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:55,680 It's closed. 179 00:08:55,680 --> 00:08:56,880 It's not an international. 180 00:08:56,880 --> 00:08:58,560 It cannot leave the system. 181 00:08:58,560 --> 00:08:59,840 It can leave the system. 182 00:08:59,840 --> 00:09:01,120 It's internally. 183 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:04,960 So whatever the system is, the money has to flow with it. 184 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:05,920 Exactly. 185 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:07,120 It's a closed loop system. 186 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:11,200 So open loop is the master card, is the visa, American Express. 187 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:13,600 Because you can pay anywhere in the world with that. 188 00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:14,080 Exactly. 189 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:16,160 Most wallets start at closed loop. 190 00:09:16,160 --> 00:09:20,160 And then once they attach a branded card network to it, it becomes open. 191 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:22,400 Because you can move your money away. 192 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:26,240 So that's in a nutshell, closed loop, open loop. 193 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:28,560 So the first project was a closed loop system. 194 00:09:28,560 --> 00:09:29,360 Make a success. 195 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:30,800 I'm super happy about it. 196 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:31,440 And good. 197 00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:37,520 It basically made me start or allow Heroes of the Start and then create credential and 198 00:09:37,520 --> 00:09:40,000 allow everyone to see what we are capable of. 199 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:44,880 And then we went again to all the banks because I told them, OK, I delivered this, but now 200 00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:46,400 I want to attach that. 201 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:48,640 I want to be able to connect as an open loop. 202 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:50,720 You want to open the loop now. 203 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:52,400 It's closed, but let's open it. 204 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:54,720 So I did the whole thing to all the banks again. 205 00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:55,680 All of them. 206 00:09:55,680 --> 00:10:00,080 I remember I have actually a track record of this, all the presentation, because I was 207 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:01,760 really mind boggled by. 208 00:10:01,760 --> 00:10:04,640 But you started all this stuff fresh out of college? 209 00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:05,200 Yeah. 210 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:05,920 OK. 211 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:06,560 Fresh. 212 00:10:06,560 --> 00:10:09,920 Actually, while I was there, I was working on a project. 213 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:18,240 While finishing, did that also do you believe that also kind of played a role in the nose 214 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:21,360 that you got from the banks that they were saying? 215 00:10:21,360 --> 00:10:22,080 Maybe. 216 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:22,400 OK. 217 00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:22,720 Maybe. 218 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:30,080 But I honestly think it's nonsense if I can use that word, because those mean when I was 219 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:33,920 at that age, that's when your brain in my perspective is the freshest. 220 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:34,240 Yeah. 221 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:36,320 Brains the best ideas on the table. 222 00:10:36,320 --> 00:10:37,280 Maybe I don't have. 223 00:10:37,280 --> 00:10:37,600 I don't. 224 00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:38,320 It's not perfect. 225 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:43,360 But with the expertise of the mature ones, which are the banks and the young ones, which 226 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:46,400 are the entrepreneurs up and coming, they have a bright idea. 227 00:10:46,400 --> 00:10:52,400 I think the bridge and until today, I still say there's no bridge for those people with 228 00:10:52,400 --> 00:11:00,640 great ideas to go and mature into amazing functional work, because we all I don't know 229 00:11:00,640 --> 00:11:01,680 if it's a culture thing. 230 00:11:01,680 --> 00:11:05,120 I don't know what's the problem, but everyone is so tied up and no, it won't work. 231 00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:07,600 It's easier to say no than yes. 232 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:08,160 Yeah. 233 00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:09,280 Not even give it a try. 234 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:09,600 Yeah. 235 00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:09,840 Right. 236 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:10,800 And I experienced this. 237 00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:16,080 I went to all the banks and now I can understand banks are more conservative than others. 238 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:16,240 Right. 239 00:11:16,240 --> 00:11:20,320 So that's I try to understand for them. 240 00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:25,920 But still, if you could see, for example, in Europe, if you see in America, Latin, North 241 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:30,080 America, the whole Americas, the banks are the ones supporting all the startup. 242 00:11:30,080 --> 00:11:30,400 Yeah. 243 00:11:30,400 --> 00:11:31,520 They support 10. 244 00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:32,320 Nine will fill. 245 00:11:32,320 --> 00:11:33,520 That one is hit. 246 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:34,160 Yeah. 247 00:11:34,160 --> 00:11:38,480 In Curacao, I don't know about Samartan, but I want to see how many supportive. 248 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:43,360 I think the numbers would be similar, maybe even less. 249 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:44,880 Unfortunately. 250 00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:49,760 So I'm happy about the banks. 251 00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:53,760 But I do believe that that is one part cultural thing. 252 00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:56,400 It's one part island mentality. 253 00:11:56,400 --> 00:11:57,200 It's also. 254 00:11:57,200 --> 00:12:04,560 It's a thing that when it's not invented here or not even the not invented here part, 255 00:12:04,560 --> 00:12:08,480 because technically you are trying to invent it there with their support. 256 00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:18,160 But it's the fact that it's not coming from outside major corporation. 257 00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:20,160 Then we're not. 258 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:23,600 I want to say they. 259 00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:28,400 Because I don't believe that, but I am an island person, even though I've been living 260 00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:31,280 in the Netherlands for the past 20 years. 261 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:41,760 So I will still say we that there's a certain notion that we can't create these great big 262 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:49,840 things from scratch within the islands and that anything of any high significance has 263 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:55,120 to come from outside that someone from outside has to invent it and then show us how to do 264 00:12:55,120 --> 00:13:00,240 it instead of really supporting our own from the ground up to build that. 265 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:04,240 So we've got to get past those challenges, guys. 266 00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:05,440 Yes. 267 00:13:05,440 --> 00:13:10,240 And I had this talk the other day with some young, young. 268 00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:13,040 So we had an intern and he was asking me, how do you do it? 269 00:13:13,920 --> 00:13:17,120 And one thing I can tell you is just don't give up because you're not going to be able 270 00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:20,000 to do it. 271 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:26,320 And I could have said, okay, it's enough. 272 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:29,920 But I said, no, eventually we need to do it. 273 00:13:29,920 --> 00:13:32,240 So we kept on pushing, kept on pushing, kept on pushing. 274 00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:38,080 And every time one bank and unfortunately, all my clients, they were in need. 275 00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:39,600 They were in it. 276 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:43,760 It wasn't like, oh, you know, let's I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt. 277 00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:45,840 For example, they were in need. 278 00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:47,280 I need your help. 279 00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:48,000 Can you do this? 280 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:48,560 Yes, yes, yes. 281 00:13:48,560 --> 00:13:49,440 Okay, do it. 282 00:13:49,440 --> 00:13:50,560 And that's the thing. 283 00:13:50,560 --> 00:13:58,640 Like, there's so much potential and so many people really desperately in need to move 284 00:13:58,640 --> 00:14:00,080 with the innovation curve. 285 00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:03,280 But now the funny thing is going to come, which I laugh about right now. 286 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:13,440 Those who are in need are those who actually trusted that external company blindly because 287 00:14:13,440 --> 00:14:15,840 they're not from the idea, not local. 288 00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:17,440 And guess what? 289 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:18,880 It didn't go as expected. 290 00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:21,760 So now I'm in need because I have that I need to deliver. 291 00:14:21,760 --> 00:14:24,320 I have this and I need the product. 292 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:24,880 Can you do this? 293 00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:25,280 Yes or no? 294 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:26,080 You have one shot. 295 00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:31,360 It's a different type of negotiation, different type of approach where you said, hey, you 296 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:32,640 know, I believe in you. 297 00:14:32,640 --> 00:14:34,240 I believe in the concept. 298 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:35,280 Let's give it a try. 299 00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:37,440 Or I want to do it face out. 300 00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:40,880 Step one, step two, step three, create a plan together. 301 00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:46,400 Just like you create your plan as an institution, help these young dudes that has vision to 302 00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:48,320 create a plan to allow them to try. 303 00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:53,920 So, you know, right now I look back at it and I think it's funny because I learned from 304 00:14:53,920 --> 00:14:57,680 how these things work and maybe it's how the industry works. 305 00:14:57,680 --> 00:14:58,720 Maybe these. 306 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:00,640 How many years when you say you look back? 307 00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:02,080 18. 308 00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:03,440 I started 18. 309 00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:04,560 Yeah, five years. 310 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:05,200 Yeah, right now. 311 00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:07,120 And then the pandemic in between. 312 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:14,480 So the pandemic actually was my where things really kicked off for Hiroso. 313 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:21,040 Yes, because all my ongoing project was instantly put on hold. 314 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:21,280 Yeah. 315 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:23,920 I had a team of payroll after pay. 316 00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:25,280 I already paid. 317 00:15:25,280 --> 00:15:25,840 I've committed. 318 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:26,880 I can tell them, okay, thank you. 319 00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:27,120 Bye. 320 00:15:27,120 --> 00:15:27,360 Yeah. 321 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:27,600 Bye. 322 00:15:27,600 --> 00:15:27,840 Okay. 323 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:31,840 Projects are putting on hold bluntly with no excuses because it's been them. 324 00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:32,800 We don't know what's going to happen. 325 00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:35,920 So we're sitting in just crossing our hands. 326 00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:37,120 So, okay, what now? 327 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:37,360 Okay. 328 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:43,040 So I start reaching out to people, just a friend's connection from guys. 329 00:15:43,040 --> 00:15:43,760 I want to do this. 330 00:15:43,760 --> 00:15:44,880 I want to do what can we do? 331 00:15:45,440 --> 00:15:48,160 I have people I have, you know, we're sitting doing nothing. 332 00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:50,640 Yeah, that's just something just doing nothing for me. 333 00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:51,520 You're dying, right? 334 00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:55,520 So that's where everything connected. 335 00:15:57,360 --> 00:16:01,520 We connected actually to MasterCard Labs because we were already working with MasterCard 336 00:16:01,520 --> 00:16:04,880 at this moment to see how we are going to shape 337 00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:07,120 the Caribbean payment ecosystem. 338 00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:10,160 But it was very raw, very from, yeah, you need a bank. 339 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:11,840 They also tell you, you need to go to a bank. 340 00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:13,680 Yeah, but banks don't want to work with us. 341 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:14,640 It's okay. 342 00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:15,600 We can do anything about it. 343 00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:15,840 Yeah. 344 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:16,960 So the pandemic came. 345 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:25,520 We were working with MasterCard Labs, which is a separate entity that actually developed 346 00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:27,280 things way ahead of time. 347 00:16:28,080 --> 00:16:30,240 So they're kind of like a startup fund. 348 00:16:30,240 --> 00:16:34,160 It's just a team in MasterCard that developed the future. 349 00:16:34,160 --> 00:16:38,560 So for you to understand in 2021, 2020. 350 00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:44,160 So when we started, it was almost 2021, we developed App on Phone, which I can convert 351 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:47,040 your phone to a point of sale terminal to a set card. 352 00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:53,600 You're only seeing that in the market now being launched, but we developed it a while 353 00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:54,400 ago with them. 354 00:16:54,400 --> 00:16:54,800 Yeah. 355 00:16:54,800 --> 00:16:57,440 One example, there's other track BPS. 356 00:16:57,440 --> 00:17:00,720 They didn't kick off as it's, but there's many different projects we did with them. 357 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:00,960 Yeah. 358 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:02,800 And that's how we built the trust, right? 359 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:04,800 We develop and our work ethic and everything. 360 00:17:05,360 --> 00:17:12,080 And yeah, that's how we actually landed where we are right now with all the licenses and 361 00:17:12,080 --> 00:17:18,320 the system that we have, because we constantly delivered what we promised them. 362 00:17:18,320 --> 00:17:19,920 That was one of the main things I think. 363 00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:27,120 And also, yeah, when we did another funny thing because of the banks, when we developed 364 00:17:27,120 --> 00:17:28,560 all this technology, yeah, right. 365 00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:31,120 You develop the technology. 366 00:17:31,120 --> 00:17:32,080 You have to have a phone. 367 00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:32,560 Okay. 368 00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:35,360 Now you cannot roll it out because you're not a buyer. 369 00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:37,440 You need to go to an acquirer. 370 00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:38,560 So banks are the acquirer. 371 00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:39,280 Okay. 372 00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:43,040 So MasterCard in this case are going to go now and they're going to sell it for you 373 00:17:43,360 --> 00:17:45,840 because they have all the relationship with all the banks. 374 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:46,320 Yeah. 375 00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:48,080 Not even the bank. 376 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:50,320 Yeah, not even them. 377 00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:53,520 They were managing or succeeding to launch it, to sell it. 378 00:17:54,080 --> 00:17:56,720 And that's when we said, okay, listen, we are going to launch it. 379 00:17:56,720 --> 00:17:57,200 Okay. 380 00:17:57,200 --> 00:17:57,680 Launch it. 381 00:17:57,680 --> 00:17:58,560 Here's your license. 382 00:17:58,560 --> 00:17:59,520 Go launch it. 383 00:17:59,520 --> 00:18:01,040 So that's how everything connected. 384 00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:06,240 And we became where we are right now as a one-stop shop, processing, acquiring, issuing. 385 00:18:06,240 --> 00:18:10,080 So you know, you want to issue a point of sale or you want to connect your gateway 386 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:11,600 to process, you can come to us. 387 00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:14,320 We can onboard your merchant or you want to issue a card. 388 00:18:14,320 --> 00:18:15,120 You can come to us. 389 00:18:15,120 --> 00:18:16,880 We will onboard you as an issuer. 390 00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:22,400 If you're a bin, you can basically have your Apple Pay, Google Pay, virtual card, digital 391 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:23,520 card, physical card. 392 00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:28,400 You can put your logo on it, customize it as you want and we process in-house. 393 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:34,080 So what do you mean that have your Google, Apple Pay, Google Card? 394 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:40,080 So you have, so the merchant would have their own card branded. 395 00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:41,840 But then what is it? 396 00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:42,880 It's a MasterCard. 397 00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:43,600 It's a MasterCard. 398 00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:44,160 Yes. 399 00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:44,800 Okay. 400 00:18:44,800 --> 00:18:49,120 So you have to understand, it's important to understand the phases, right? 401 00:18:49,120 --> 00:18:50,960 So you have a bank right now. 402 00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:52,000 I'm a finance institution. 403 00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:52,720 I have my clients. 404 00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:54,960 I need to go to MasterCard or Visa for my license. 405 00:18:54,960 --> 00:18:56,000 Yeah, simple. 406 00:18:56,000 --> 00:19:01,760 I need to go to a processor to process all the transaction because a processor just process. 407 00:19:01,760 --> 00:19:03,840 So you need to go independent processor. 408 00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:08,960 Then you need to go to a technology provider that will sell you all these cool gadget like 409 00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:11,680 Apple Pay, Google Pay, whatever you want to do tokenization. 410 00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:12,160 Yeah. 411 00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:16,160 That will then you can compile these two, three components together. 412 00:19:16,160 --> 00:19:19,200 Then you can actually offer a card service in the market. 413 00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:19,760 Okay. 414 00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:21,760 There are three different entities. 415 00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:26,400 When you come to us, I was thinking, no, it's a one-stop shop. 416 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:28,960 I will provide you all in one component. 417 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:29,360 Yeah. 418 00:19:29,360 --> 00:19:32,560 So that's what we actually started building since 2022. 419 00:19:33,120 --> 00:19:38,400 And we are rolling it out right now with some clients in the Caribbean. 420 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:39,360 Oh, nice. 421 00:19:39,360 --> 00:19:39,920 Yes. 422 00:19:39,920 --> 00:19:45,440 So when you say in the Caribbean, in how many islands are you currently active? 423 00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:48,480 Dominic Republic, Curaçao. 424 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:51,920 We have a potential client in St. Martin. 425 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:55,920 Those three are the main and then Latin America. 426 00:19:55,920 --> 00:19:58,800 Columbia, we're doing a lot in Columbia. 427 00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:01,920 We actually have a new bank, a teen new bank, very cool stuff. 428 00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:02,880 So it's like a what? 429 00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:03,520 A new bank. 430 00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:05,520 It's like a digital bank, a challenger bank. 431 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:06,000 Yeah. 432 00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:12,000 So basically, we can offer a bank account, Columbia bank account, a wallet, crypto account, 433 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:13,040 everything in one package. 434 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:13,600 Oh, wow. 435 00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:14,160 Yeah. 436 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:16,560 And we focus on teens, teeners. 437 00:20:16,560 --> 00:20:19,040 So from the age of 10 to 18. 438 00:20:19,040 --> 00:20:21,040 Of course, if you're 20 something, you can open that account. 439 00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:21,520 Yeah. 440 00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:24,800 But our marketing concept is on the teen side. 441 00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:27,600 And that's based in Columbia where you guys are all the time. 442 00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:28,160 Yes. 443 00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:30,240 So that's in Columbia, what we're doing in Columbia. 444 00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:31,920 And it's actually really cool. 445 00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:36,240 Finzi, you can look it up. 446 00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:38,240 There's a lot of educational Finzi. 447 00:20:38,240 --> 00:20:40,240 Yeah, like Generation Z. 448 00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:42,240 Oh, Finzi. 449 00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:44,240 Not FinTech. 450 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:46,240 Finzi. 451 00:20:46,240 --> 00:20:54,240 There's a bunch of educational video about how we spend and how you manage your financials. 452 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:58,240 We didn't want to do, for example, you have the financials. 453 00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:05,600 We didn't want to do, for example, you have the famous buy now, pay later concept. 454 00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:11,840 So we thought, OK, I don't want to have this kid starting with buy now, pay later at a young age. 455 00:21:11,840 --> 00:21:15,120 So we introduced safe now, buy later. 456 00:21:15,120 --> 00:21:16,000 Oh, OK. 457 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:16,240 Right. 458 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:17,520 So you want to buy something. 459 00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:19,520 We can buy it. 460 00:21:19,520 --> 00:21:25,520 But we will generate an automated purchasing plan where you can save money, according to buy it. 461 00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:27,760 So you're not never in debt with yourself. 462 00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:39,760 So then from your, let's say, your current account, your check in account is an automatic payment made to a specific sub account to buy this specific item. 463 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:41,760 So how many different sub accounts can you make? 464 00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:43,760 You can have as many as you want. 465 00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:45,760 OK, so they can be like, OK, this is for my new iPhone. 466 00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:47,760 This is my vacation. 467 00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:49,760 Yes. 468 00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:51,760 Nice, the different buckets. 469 00:21:51,760 --> 00:21:55,760 So small things that gives value to a financial application. 470 00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:57,760 A bank is a bank gives value to the user. 471 00:21:57,760 --> 00:21:59,760 That's our core thing. 472 00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:01,760 That's the core. 473 00:22:01,760 --> 00:22:05,760 You really studied what the user needs are. 474 00:22:05,760 --> 00:22:13,760 And even some of the needs that they might not know that they need, but knowing that they can run into these traps later. 475 00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:21,760 You're trying to help also coach better financial literacy and a healthy financial balance. 476 00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:23,760 So that's our focus in Colombia. 477 00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:29,760 And then we are, for example, in Uruguay, we're doing it's like an affluent client program. 478 00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:33,760 Very specific. Those clients just want their own brand. 479 00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:35,760 Some people just want their own brand. 480 00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:37,760 For example, you want a John Carr. 481 00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:39,760 We can support a John Carr. 482 00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:41,760 You know, things like that. 483 00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:43,760 So they need a sub site. 484 00:22:43,760 --> 00:22:45,760 For example. 485 00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:49,760 So it goes, it's very broad. 486 00:22:49,760 --> 00:22:51,760 You have the issue in acquiring and the process. 487 00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:55,760 And so it's really a broad aspect of business. 488 00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:57,760 I will say, broader than people think. 489 00:22:57,760 --> 00:22:59,760 Yeah, definitely. 490 00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:01,760 But I enjoy it. 491 00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:07,760 I mean, it's something that I tell people if you don't sleep, dream it, wake up, think about it. 492 00:23:07,760 --> 00:23:14,760 You know, if you don't do that every day on your what you like, which in my case is payments, you're not in the right field. 493 00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:15,760 You need to do. 494 00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:17,760 And it comes down to what are you passionate about? 495 00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:25,760 So that's for me really important to be passionate about the topic that you are interested in. 496 00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:30,760 And payments is something that I think grass me since I was 19. 497 00:23:30,760 --> 00:23:32,760 And until now, I think I'm still in. 498 00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:33,760 So how old are you? 499 00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:34,760 Twenty nine. 500 00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:35,760 Twenty nine. 501 00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:36,760 Yes. 502 00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:37,760 All right. 503 00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:38,760 So sub 30. 504 00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:41,760 Last year, I just turned 29 in July. 505 00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:43,760 So, yeah. 506 00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:48,760 And how many how many staff do you currently have? 507 00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:54,760 So we have five, four in Brazil. 508 00:23:54,760 --> 00:23:56,760 We have a team in Brazil and some policy as well. 509 00:23:56,760 --> 00:24:00,760 And then we're about 10 in so like 20, I would say. 510 00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:02,760 OK, full time. 511 00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:03,760 There are some part time. 512 00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:05,760 That's a pretty sizable company. 513 00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:09,760 So the Colombian team takes a lot, but they are because of the B2C. 514 00:24:09,760 --> 00:24:11,760 They're the only one that does B2C. 515 00:24:11,760 --> 00:24:14,760 It's our only product that caters directly to consumers. 516 00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:16,760 All our other products are Finsi. 517 00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:17,760 Finsi, correct. 518 00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:20,760 So they're a big team because it no customer support. 519 00:24:20,760 --> 00:24:22,760 It takes a lot. 520 00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:24,760 And the other ones are B2B. 521 00:24:24,760 --> 00:24:27,760 It's more tech or back and support. 522 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:31,760 So that you can delegate faster between everyone. 523 00:24:31,760 --> 00:24:38,760 So, yeah, I think that's why the main chunk of a big team is from Colombia. 524 00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:41,760 But then we have sales and all over. 525 00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:44,760 Basically, you have a Mexico and Dominican Republic as well. 526 00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:45,760 Just sales. 527 00:24:45,760 --> 00:24:53,760 Yeah, we believe or I believe that the modern work force or workspace should be flexible. 528 00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:54,760 Yeah. Right. 529 00:24:54,760 --> 00:24:57,760 So I'm never going to tell you need to be here and there. 530 00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:00,760 And that's the only thing I'm going to tell you is deliver what you say. 531 00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:01,760 Right. 532 00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:02,760 This you tell me Friday. 533 00:25:02,760 --> 00:25:04,760 I'm going to get it. Make sure you get it Friday. 534 00:25:04,760 --> 00:25:10,760 If you want to work in your course or your terrace or your house or whatever you want to work. 535 00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:11,760 Yeah. Feel free. Right. 536 00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:14,760 You're flexible in that sense. 537 00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:18,760 Yeah. But just be be honest to the company. 538 00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:19,760 Yeah. Right. 539 00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:20,760 Transparent. Transparent. 540 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:22,760 Transparent. Honest to the company. 541 00:25:22,760 --> 00:25:24,760 We're not going to we don't have really vacation days. 542 00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:26,760 You need to ask for vacation days. 543 00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:29,760 Of course, you need to notify that you're not in office. 544 00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:32,760 Yeah. But just don't abuse it. 545 00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:34,760 You know what the company is doing. We're a startup. 546 00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:39,760 We're a small company and we need to work together to grow and be bigger. 547 00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:41,760 So that's something I really stress about. 548 00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:45,760 But other than that, it's very flexible, very lenient because I believe in that. 549 00:25:45,760 --> 00:25:46,760 Yeah. 550 00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:51,760 I think it increases the productivity in the office and the work culture, especially. 551 00:25:51,760 --> 00:25:52,760 Awesome. Awesome. 552 00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:56,760 So we're in Kurosawa, you guys based. 553 00:25:56,760 --> 00:25:58,760 So our office is in Otrobanda. 554 00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:01,760 Yeah. Yes. 555 00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:04,760 I was just thinking which side is Otrobanda? 556 00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:07,760 It's on the other side. 557 00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:10,760 Yeah. That's literally the translation. 558 00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:11,760 Right. 559 00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:16,760 So it's not on the side with the little famous Kurosawa houses. 560 00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:18,760 No, that's Handelsgarde on the other side. 561 00:26:18,760 --> 00:26:19,760 Yes. Yes. Yes. 562 00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:22,760 And what is what? 563 00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:26,760 No, there's another name for that area as well or the area right behind it. 564 00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:28,760 You have Punda. 565 00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:32,760 Punda is the main downtown where Handelsgarde is, where the beautiful houses are. 566 00:26:32,760 --> 00:26:33,760 Yeah. 567 00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:36,760 After Punda, if you continue, you get Pithermai. 568 00:26:36,760 --> 00:26:38,760 So those are the two districts, Punda and Pithermai. 569 00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:41,760 But then if you cross the bridge in front of Punda, then you go to Otrobanda. 570 00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:44,760 And you go to the other side. 571 00:26:44,760 --> 00:26:48,760 So we are in Otrobanda, a small office. 572 00:26:48,760 --> 00:26:53,760 Again, because we are very flexible, we have a flexible workspace. 573 00:26:53,760 --> 00:26:55,760 We don't get a lot of people that come to the office. 574 00:26:55,760 --> 00:27:00,760 I love going to the office because I'm more productive, but not everyone wants to do that. 575 00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:06,760 But now I'm realizing that I started by saying, let's go with a small introduction. 576 00:27:06,760 --> 00:27:10,760 And we went straight into the story. 577 00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:12,760 So let's rewind a bit. 578 00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:17,760 Let's get in to how little Marwan spent his days. 579 00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:18,760 So where were you born? 580 00:27:18,760 --> 00:27:19,760 Kurosawa. 581 00:27:19,760 --> 00:27:21,760 I was born in Kurosawa. 582 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:23,760 And parents? 583 00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:28,760 So my mom is a Rubian, but she was born in Kurosawa. 584 00:27:28,760 --> 00:27:30,760 But her parents are a Rubian. 585 00:27:30,760 --> 00:27:33,760 And my dad is Kurosawa. 586 00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:35,760 My dad's dad is a bit more on the Dutch side, though. 587 00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:39,760 And my grandmother from my dad's side is local. 588 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:43,760 So I can say pretty much Yuli Kurosawa, how you call it. 589 00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:45,760 Born and raised in Kurosawa. 590 00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:50,760 And Yuli Kurosawa is like the youth or the child of Kurosawa, right? 591 00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:52,760 If you translate it literally, yes. 592 00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:55,760 That's for the English listeners. 593 00:27:55,760 --> 00:27:59,760 I know most of us in the Dutch Caribbean know Yuli Kurosawa. 594 00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:05,760 But it's funny because actually, it was about five years ago, I think, 595 00:28:05,760 --> 00:28:08,760 when the last time I might have been in Kurosawa. 596 00:28:08,760 --> 00:28:13,760 And what do you call those people again? 597 00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:19,760 The ones that you meet on the airport when you first get in before you go through customs? 598 00:28:19,760 --> 00:28:20,760 Immigration. 599 00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:22,760 Immigration, yes. 600 00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:24,760 It's been a long day. 601 00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:28,760 So the immigration folks were like, Yuli Kurosawa? 602 00:28:28,760 --> 00:28:34,760 To pick me out of the line, like, don't go in the line with all the international people. 603 00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:35,760 Yuli Kurosawa? 604 00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:36,760 I see Saint Martin. 605 00:28:36,760 --> 00:28:37,760 Oh, oh, bong, bong. 606 00:28:37,760 --> 00:28:39,760 Yes, yes, yes. 607 00:28:39,760 --> 00:28:45,760 But what I wanted to say is, you go to Latin America, you don't say hijo de Kurosawa. 608 00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:46,760 It's Kurosalenho. 609 00:28:46,760 --> 00:28:51,760 Right, but yeah, Yuli Kurosawa, so yeah, born and raised there. 610 00:28:51,760 --> 00:28:54,760 Spent most of my childhood there. 611 00:28:54,760 --> 00:29:00,760 And then the time that you spent in America for your studies, bachelor, master. 612 00:29:00,760 --> 00:29:01,760 Correct. 613 00:29:01,760 --> 00:29:07,760 And you said before you completed your studies, you were already pitching your business idea. 614 00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:09,760 Yes, so my last year, my last year of my master. 615 00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:16,760 So I was doing the accelerated program in one year, so it was full day courses. 616 00:29:16,760 --> 00:29:20,760 My curriculum was really intense, but I was already aware of what I wanted to do. 617 00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:27,760 So I started working, preparing, pitching, and talking to other people in the market to understand, you know, what I need to fine tune. 618 00:29:27,760 --> 00:29:35,760 So I invested a lot of time in my last year of master's actually to prepare for the startup. 619 00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:36,760 Yes, yes. 620 00:29:36,760 --> 00:29:37,760 Awesome, awesome. 621 00:29:37,760 --> 00:29:40,760 So you mentioned July, when in July? 622 00:29:40,760 --> 00:29:43,760 Is that towards the end of July or beginning of July? 623 00:29:43,760 --> 00:29:44,760 Of the third day? 624 00:29:44,760 --> 00:29:45,760 Beginning July 3rd. 625 00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:46,760 July 3rd. 626 00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:48,760 Yes, yes, yes, yes. 627 00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:51,760 I won't get into the horoscope talk on the podcast. 628 00:29:51,760 --> 00:29:55,760 Well, I'll cancel my heart. 629 00:29:55,760 --> 00:29:58,760 It's funny, I had someone ask me this today earlier today. 630 00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:00,760 You know any famous cancers? 631 00:30:00,760 --> 00:30:02,760 Oh, no, you're asking too much. 632 00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:04,760 50 Cent is one of them. 633 00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:05,760 Oh, interesting. 634 00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:06,760 Cool. 635 00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:07,760 I'm actually, yeah. 636 00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:08,760 I mean, I said like a smart businessman. 637 00:30:08,760 --> 00:30:09,760 I like it. 638 00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:11,760 You know, he converted the rap game to a businessman. 639 00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:12,760 I like that. 640 00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:13,760 I like that. 641 00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:17,760 He innovated in the entertainment show business, doing a lot of different things. 642 00:30:17,760 --> 00:30:18,760 No, no, smart. 643 00:30:18,760 --> 00:30:20,760 He did the crazy deal with Smartwater. 644 00:30:20,760 --> 00:30:21,760 Was it Smartwater? 645 00:30:21,760 --> 00:30:23,760 Yeah, that was the first big crazy business deal. 646 00:30:23,760 --> 00:30:29,760 And that was the first hip hop business deal that was not hip hop. 647 00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:30,760 Okay. 648 00:30:30,760 --> 00:30:35,760 Because at that time, so well, I'm about 10 years older. 649 00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:39,760 So I lived through that era as a teenager. 650 00:30:39,760 --> 00:30:44,760 Jay-Z had the record label. 651 00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:47,760 Then Puff Daddy had the record label. 652 00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:50,760 After the record label, then they went into clothing. 653 00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:55,760 So and then you just saw everyone sort of following the same form. 654 00:30:55,760 --> 00:30:58,760 Okay, get the record label, get the clothing company. 655 00:30:58,760 --> 00:31:03,760 And then, but 50 also did that because he had a Doge unit clothing. 656 00:31:03,760 --> 00:31:06,760 He had the record label. 657 00:31:06,760 --> 00:31:07,760 He had the clothing. 658 00:31:07,760 --> 00:31:10,760 And then out of nowhere, he was selling bottled water. 659 00:31:10,760 --> 00:31:11,760 And that was like, what? 660 00:31:11,760 --> 00:31:13,760 But hip hop, we don't do this. 661 00:31:13,760 --> 00:31:14,760 This is not the formula. 662 00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:20,760 But he was like, this is formula 50. 663 00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:27,760 And he definitely did a lot of different moves and always kept it true to himself. 664 00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:28,760 Yes. 665 00:31:28,760 --> 00:31:29,760 That's smart. 666 00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:30,760 No, no, I like this stuff. 667 00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:31,760 I like this stuff. 668 00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:34,760 I mean, we're going a little bit into a change of topic. 669 00:31:34,760 --> 00:31:40,760 But what I like the most was he had a challenge with Kanye to stop rapping. 670 00:31:40,760 --> 00:31:41,760 Kanye won, right? 671 00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:42,760 And he stopped rapping. 672 00:31:42,760 --> 00:31:49,760 But I think he scored bigger than Kanye eventually, if you look at it career-wise. 673 00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:50,760 Right? 674 00:31:50,760 --> 00:31:52,760 Yes, Kanye did score big with Yeezy. 675 00:31:52,760 --> 00:31:58,760 But if you ask me right now, you know, with all the drama and all the chaotic things going around, 676 00:31:58,760 --> 00:32:04,760 I'm leaning towards 50 on that sense a little bit. 677 00:32:04,760 --> 00:32:18,760 So if we look into the crystal ball of the future, what is 39-year-old Marwan doing? 678 00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:19,760 Good one. 679 00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:24,760 I think still in payment, but not how can I explain this? 680 00:32:24,760 --> 00:32:28,760 So right now I'm really paving the way, right? 681 00:32:28,760 --> 00:32:29,760 I'm building the foundation. 682 00:32:29,760 --> 00:32:30,760 You can say so. 683 00:32:30,760 --> 00:32:38,760 I have a lot of ideas and innovative concept that I want to start working on, I think, 684 00:32:38,760 --> 00:32:45,760 in the next year or two, because after this pavement, it's about selling. 685 00:32:45,760 --> 00:32:46,760 It's about the end clients. 686 00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:47,760 Right? 687 00:32:47,760 --> 00:32:49,760 So we work hard on getting all the license needed. 688 00:32:49,760 --> 00:32:52,760 We work hard on preparing the framework on how we're going to sell. 689 00:32:52,760 --> 00:32:54,760 Yeah, what is our value proposition? 690 00:32:54,760 --> 00:32:57,760 That's all being done in the last year and a half. 691 00:32:57,760 --> 00:33:01,760 So I think another year of this to make it really solid. 692 00:33:01,760 --> 00:33:07,760 But then I want to go into more attributive payment solution. 693 00:33:07,760 --> 00:33:08,760 So what I mean by that is... 694 00:33:08,760 --> 00:33:09,760 Attributive payment solution. 695 00:33:09,760 --> 00:33:10,760 Yes. 696 00:33:10,760 --> 00:33:12,760 So you have the core, right? 697 00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:13,760 This is the core. 698 00:33:13,760 --> 00:33:14,760 This is the process. 699 00:33:14,760 --> 00:33:19,760 Alongside, I just explained you have like the card issuing licensing, but you have to acquire in the POS. 700 00:33:19,760 --> 00:33:22,760 But now you can go a step further, right? 701 00:33:22,760 --> 00:33:32,760 Where you like, for example, you're combining two different components and packaging for a very specific niche of people. 702 00:33:32,760 --> 00:33:33,760 Right? 703 00:33:33,760 --> 00:33:35,760 Let's think about for now. 704 00:33:35,760 --> 00:33:37,760 It's a very simple example. 705 00:33:37,760 --> 00:33:40,760 It's things about an airline industry. 706 00:33:40,760 --> 00:33:41,760 Right? 707 00:33:41,760 --> 00:33:43,760 You have all your stewards and stewards. 708 00:33:43,760 --> 00:33:45,760 All you work is people work on the airline. 709 00:33:45,760 --> 00:33:46,760 Okay. 710 00:33:46,760 --> 00:33:47,760 They're from all over the world. 711 00:33:47,760 --> 00:33:48,760 Yeah. 712 00:33:48,760 --> 00:33:52,760 So what if they have a car where they manage essentially for everybody? 713 00:33:52,760 --> 00:33:54,760 Right? 714 00:33:54,760 --> 00:33:57,760 For the airline, it's perfect because now everything is centralized. 715 00:33:57,760 --> 00:34:05,760 And it's an open loop system because that person can actually use the funds anywhere in the world. 716 00:34:05,760 --> 00:34:06,760 Yeah. Right? 717 00:34:06,760 --> 00:34:10,760 Now, that same person or that same platform, right? 718 00:34:10,760 --> 00:34:24,760 You can connect it to a, let's say, lending institution that if that person wants a credit line or wants any type of finance, they can get it also from this system. 719 00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:25,760 Right? 720 00:34:25,760 --> 00:34:27,760 So this is just one example. 721 00:34:27,760 --> 00:34:28,760 Right? 722 00:34:28,760 --> 00:34:34,760 You have, for example, right nowadays, something that's becoming very famous is a payslip model. 723 00:34:34,760 --> 00:34:35,760 I don't know if you know. 724 00:34:35,760 --> 00:34:36,760 Payslip model. 725 00:34:36,760 --> 00:34:40,760 So you have gig economy. 726 00:34:40,760 --> 00:34:41,760 Yeah. 727 00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:48,760 So a bartender working every day in the bar, that bartender is making just assumption here, $10 an hour. 728 00:34:48,760 --> 00:34:49,760 Okay. 729 00:34:49,760 --> 00:34:54,760 What if we can pay him the $10 at the end of his shift and not at the end of the month? 730 00:34:54,760 --> 00:34:55,760 Okay. 731 00:34:55,760 --> 00:34:56,760 Okay. 732 00:34:56,760 --> 00:34:57,760 Should be possible. 733 00:34:57,760 --> 00:34:58,760 Right? 734 00:34:58,760 --> 00:34:59,760 Because he worked eight hours, $80. 735 00:34:59,760 --> 00:35:00,760 Here you go. 736 00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:01,760 Done. 737 00:35:01,760 --> 00:35:02,760 Yeah. 738 00:35:02,760 --> 00:35:09,760 But it's attribute of it's then constructing it for a specific niche of people. 739 00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:12,760 For a very specific use case, target group, et cetera. 740 00:35:12,760 --> 00:35:13,760 Exactly. 741 00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:18,760 We're working, for example, in Columbia, we're working on a P2P lending. 742 00:35:18,760 --> 00:35:19,760 Right? 743 00:35:19,760 --> 00:35:20,760 You have $1,000. 744 00:35:20,760 --> 00:35:22,760 You don't know what to do with it. 745 00:35:22,760 --> 00:35:26,760 You want to put it on this marketplace where I need $1,000. 746 00:35:26,760 --> 00:35:27,760 Yeah. 747 00:35:27,760 --> 00:35:29,760 Now I connect with you. 748 00:35:29,760 --> 00:35:34,760 I use that term because it's your $1,000 and the platform is just standing in the middle. 749 00:35:34,760 --> 00:35:35,760 Yeah. 750 00:35:35,760 --> 00:35:40,760 Now you need some, it's all payments, but it's so like that I can keep brainstorming a lot 751 00:35:40,760 --> 00:35:42,760 of different things, but the core needs to be set. 752 00:35:42,760 --> 00:35:43,760 Yeah. 753 00:35:43,760 --> 00:35:44,760 So that's where I would go. 754 00:35:44,760 --> 00:35:48,760 And that's the direction I would go eventually. 755 00:35:48,760 --> 00:35:54,760 And apart from that, I think the venture capitalism work also really, I'm really getting into 756 00:35:54,760 --> 00:35:55,760 this right now. 757 00:35:55,760 --> 00:35:56,760 Yeah. 758 00:35:56,760 --> 00:36:02,760 I think understanding these startups, listening to the youth or these guys with great ideas. 759 00:36:02,760 --> 00:36:03,760 Yeah. 760 00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:08,760 I don't have the lump sum of the big checks, but whatever it can help with, we always contribute 761 00:36:08,760 --> 00:36:10,760 and we always push and we help. 762 00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:15,760 I think that's something that I would like to also look into further in the future. 763 00:36:15,760 --> 00:36:16,760 Okay. 764 00:36:16,760 --> 00:36:17,760 Definitely. 765 00:36:17,760 --> 00:36:18,760 Nice. 766 00:36:18,760 --> 00:36:24,760 Well, usually I also ask the question of what advice would you give 18-year-old you? 767 00:36:24,760 --> 00:36:31,760 And 18-year-old you wasn't that far away. 768 00:36:31,760 --> 00:36:32,760 No. 769 00:36:32,760 --> 00:36:35,760 So maybe let me flip the question. 770 00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:39,760 What advice would you give 18 to 25-year-olds? 771 00:36:39,760 --> 00:36:46,760 So those that are now going through their journey, sort of figuring out and discovering 772 00:36:46,760 --> 00:36:47,760 themselves. 773 00:36:47,760 --> 00:36:53,760 And it doesn't matter whether they're trying to get into finance or other avenues, but 774 00:36:53,760 --> 00:36:58,760 what sort of general advice would you give those persons? 775 00:36:58,760 --> 00:36:59,760 Okay. 776 00:36:59,760 --> 00:37:06,760 I'm going to say it study well, but when I mean study well, it's not study in school. 777 00:37:06,760 --> 00:37:11,760 That also, but yeah, study well is like when you have an idea, great. 778 00:37:11,760 --> 00:37:13,760 We all get ideas, right? 779 00:37:13,760 --> 00:37:16,760 I can be walking and an idea pops up in my mind. 780 00:37:16,760 --> 00:37:17,760 Okay. 781 00:37:17,760 --> 00:37:18,760 Assess it, study it. 782 00:37:18,760 --> 00:37:22,760 Don't run away and go tell someone the idea immediately. 783 00:37:22,760 --> 00:37:23,760 Immediately. 784 00:37:23,760 --> 00:37:26,760 Go brainstorm, go in your cave, wherever you're comfortable. 785 00:37:26,760 --> 00:37:29,760 If it's in the park, in your room, doesn't matter. 786 00:37:29,760 --> 00:37:33,760 Go in your comfort zone and work it out. 787 00:37:33,760 --> 00:37:38,760 I hear a lot of stories or ideas or concepts that are pitched to me. 788 00:37:38,760 --> 00:37:42,760 And unfortunately, I don't like to be rude, but I need to tell them guys, sorry, but you 789 00:37:42,760 --> 00:37:44,760 just didn't finish thinking. 790 00:37:44,760 --> 00:37:46,760 You know, you stop thinking. 791 00:37:46,760 --> 00:37:47,760 You're like, okay, I'm done. 792 00:37:47,760 --> 00:37:48,760 I'm going to be a millionaire. 793 00:37:48,760 --> 00:37:49,760 No, it's not going to work like that. 794 00:37:49,760 --> 00:37:51,760 So study the case, work it out. 795 00:37:51,760 --> 00:37:53,760 Invest them in yourself. 796 00:37:53,760 --> 00:37:55,760 Like that's my main thing. 797 00:37:55,760 --> 00:37:57,760 Invest in yourself in all aspects, right? 798 00:37:57,760 --> 00:38:00,760 I believe very strongly in a balance in life. 799 00:38:00,760 --> 00:38:04,760 So you need to go to school, study. 800 00:38:04,760 --> 00:38:07,760 You need to do some type of exercise, right? 801 00:38:07,760 --> 00:38:11,760 If it's a sport, if it's a gym, something, because that's where your muscle, you need 802 00:38:11,760 --> 00:38:13,760 to read a book, right? 803 00:38:13,760 --> 00:38:14,760 It can be a magazine, it can be news. 804 00:38:14,760 --> 00:38:20,760 You have to read something and you need to close your eyes sometimes and just think inside. 805 00:38:20,760 --> 00:38:21,760 You can call it meditate. 806 00:38:21,760 --> 00:38:22,760 You can call it pray. 807 00:38:22,760 --> 00:38:23,760 You can call it whatever. 808 00:38:23,760 --> 00:38:24,760 I believe in these things. 809 00:38:24,760 --> 00:38:26,760 You need to do it to keep your body balanced. 810 00:38:26,760 --> 00:38:31,760 And this is something that you've incorporated in your life from when? 811 00:38:31,760 --> 00:38:32,760 Yeah, good question. 812 00:38:32,760 --> 00:38:37,760 So I will say before I left to the States, so this is like 17. 813 00:38:37,760 --> 00:38:38,760 Oh, wow. 814 00:38:38,760 --> 00:38:39,760 Yes. 815 00:38:39,760 --> 00:38:40,760 That's 17 year old. 816 00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:42,760 That was already pretty thoughtful. 817 00:38:42,760 --> 00:38:45,760 Well, it's I will say life circumstances. 818 00:38:45,760 --> 00:38:46,760 So funny, fun fact. 819 00:38:46,760 --> 00:38:47,760 I have HAD. 820 00:38:47,760 --> 00:38:50,760 I am dyslexic and I have flight autism. 821 00:38:50,760 --> 00:38:56,760 So when I went to school, I remember so in middle school, no one cared about this because 822 00:38:56,760 --> 00:38:57,760 it wasn't famous. 823 00:38:57,760 --> 00:38:58,760 Yeah. 824 00:38:58,760 --> 00:38:59,760 I schooled. 825 00:38:59,760 --> 00:39:01,760 They noticed that I never used to finish my exams. 826 00:39:01,760 --> 00:39:03,760 So they sent me to the old tests, a college, whatever. 827 00:39:03,760 --> 00:39:05,760 So the reports came and guess what? 828 00:39:05,760 --> 00:39:08,760 You know, so they guided me how to work it out. 829 00:39:08,760 --> 00:39:15,760 But for me, it was more like an open mind opening because I came to understand myself 830 00:39:15,760 --> 00:39:16,760 better. 831 00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:17,760 Right. 832 00:39:17,760 --> 00:39:21,760 And yes, sometimes I jump from one to the other because my brain just work like that. 833 00:39:21,760 --> 00:39:27,760 But because I know myself, I can work with my mind to actually go in the direction I 834 00:39:27,760 --> 00:39:28,760 want to go. 835 00:39:28,760 --> 00:39:32,760 So this is where meditation, you know, you call it meditation, you call it yoga. 836 00:39:32,760 --> 00:39:36,760 Just for me, close your eyes, close your eyes, close your mouth, close your mind. 837 00:39:36,760 --> 00:39:40,760 Shut everything down for 15 minutes and extend it for 30 an hour if you can. 838 00:39:40,760 --> 00:39:41,760 Yeah, it helps. 839 00:39:41,760 --> 00:39:42,760 It helps immensely. 840 00:39:42,760 --> 00:39:44,760 People don't understand the power of that. 841 00:39:44,760 --> 00:39:45,760 You go to the gym to work your muscle. 842 00:39:45,760 --> 00:39:46,760 Why don't you work your brain out? 843 00:39:46,760 --> 00:39:48,760 Yeah, that's my philosophy. 844 00:39:48,760 --> 00:39:51,760 So keeping the balance again in this part. 845 00:39:51,760 --> 00:39:53,760 And one other part is your social life. 846 00:39:53,760 --> 00:39:54,760 You know, don't don't. 847 00:39:54,760 --> 00:39:58,760 Yeah, you can stay in your home because you're introvert, which is fine. 848 00:39:58,760 --> 00:40:03,760 But socialize, talk to people, share ideas, you know, have friends like you. 849 00:40:03,760 --> 00:40:05,760 This is a whole part of life. 850 00:40:05,760 --> 00:40:09,760 You need to have the balance to actually in my perception again, I'm not going to tell 851 00:40:09,760 --> 00:40:10,760 you what to do. 852 00:40:10,760 --> 00:40:15,760 But I think to be to be comfortable, to be truly happy, you need to have this complete 853 00:40:15,760 --> 00:40:16,760 balance in life. 854 00:40:16,760 --> 00:40:23,760 And I have implemented this in my life in a very early stage, which allowed me to like 855 00:40:23,760 --> 00:40:26,760 I can easily say I had a very smooth college career. 856 00:40:26,760 --> 00:40:27,760 Right. 857 00:40:27,760 --> 00:40:28,760 I'd never struggled. 858 00:40:28,760 --> 00:40:32,760 I mean, I struggled, but it was smooth because, you know, I knew my friends. 859 00:40:32,760 --> 00:40:36,760 I knew when I was partying or social life, I knew, OK, now it's time to do work. 860 00:40:36,760 --> 00:40:37,760 Now it's time to go to the library. 861 00:40:37,760 --> 00:40:40,760 It's it's it's not mood study mode. 862 00:40:40,760 --> 00:40:48,760 So so so what I'm kind of hearing here is a lot of the early challenges during your teens 863 00:40:48,760 --> 00:40:54,760 forced you to create more structure in order for you to be able to succeed. 864 00:40:54,760 --> 00:41:01,760 And because you created that strong foundation of structure, then it allowed you to to touch 865 00:41:01,760 --> 00:41:07,760 on all those different aspects of your college experience and still have enough energy to 866 00:41:07,760 --> 00:41:10,760 be focused and be successful there as well. 867 00:41:10,760 --> 00:41:14,760 And based on all of that, I'm just hearing that carried on throughout your career as 868 00:41:14,760 --> 00:41:15,760 well. 869 00:41:15,760 --> 00:41:16,760 And mastering, right? 870 00:41:16,760 --> 00:41:18,760 You're trying to master every day. 871 00:41:18,760 --> 00:41:19,760 You want to be better than the day before. 872 00:41:19,760 --> 00:41:20,760 Yeah. 873 00:41:20,760 --> 00:41:21,760 Right. 874 00:41:21,760 --> 00:41:23,760 So so we are not perfect, but you want to be better every day. 875 00:41:23,760 --> 00:41:29,760 So if you have this again, I believe if you have this in your mindset, like at the end 876 00:41:29,760 --> 00:41:33,760 of your life, you can look back and you can say no regrets. 877 00:41:33,760 --> 00:41:34,760 Exactly. 878 00:41:34,760 --> 00:41:37,760 No regrets. 879 00:41:37,760 --> 00:41:46,760 So that's yeah, that's really and funny thing, because a lot of times you are actually thinking 880 00:41:46,760 --> 00:41:47,760 about these things. 881 00:41:47,760 --> 00:41:48,760 Right. 882 00:41:48,760 --> 00:41:52,760 But but we were and you question yourself, is this the right thing? 883 00:41:52,760 --> 00:41:53,760 Right. 884 00:41:53,760 --> 00:41:54,760 Am I actually doing it right? 885 00:41:54,760 --> 00:41:55,760 Or am I wasting my time? 886 00:41:55,760 --> 00:41:56,760 Yeah. 887 00:41:56,760 --> 00:42:00,760 And that's where the social part comes in, because then you talk to other people and 888 00:42:00,760 --> 00:42:05,760 you see their struggle and then you advise them and then they, you know, counter advise 889 00:42:05,760 --> 00:42:06,760 you or whatever. 890 00:42:06,760 --> 00:42:07,760 You have a dialogue about it. 891 00:42:07,760 --> 00:42:11,760 And most of the time you can see that, hey, if you maintain a balance, right, not nothing 892 00:42:11,760 --> 00:42:12,760 too much is good. 893 00:42:12,760 --> 00:42:13,760 Yeah. 894 00:42:13,760 --> 00:42:14,760 Too much. 895 00:42:14,760 --> 00:42:15,760 Anything. 896 00:42:15,760 --> 00:42:16,760 Exactly. 897 00:42:16,760 --> 00:42:20,760 So if you keep a balance in life, I think you will succeed and you will be very comfortable 898 00:42:20,760 --> 00:42:21,760 with yourself. 899 00:42:21,760 --> 00:42:22,760 And that's where everything starts. 900 00:42:22,760 --> 00:42:23,760 Right. 901 00:42:23,760 --> 00:42:24,760 You can be insecure. 902 00:42:24,760 --> 00:42:26,760 You can be. 903 00:42:26,760 --> 00:42:28,760 You don't walk ahead of life. 904 00:42:28,760 --> 00:42:30,760 You're not constantly thinking in the future. 905 00:42:30,760 --> 00:42:31,760 You don't think in the past. 906 00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:32,760 You're thinking not today. 907 00:42:32,760 --> 00:42:36,760 And then that's the key that I carried on. 908 00:42:36,760 --> 00:42:39,760 You can say that I am where I am today. 909 00:42:39,760 --> 00:42:41,760 Let me put it like that. 910 00:42:41,760 --> 00:42:42,760 Awesome. 911 00:42:42,760 --> 00:42:43,760 Awesome. 912 00:42:43,760 --> 00:42:44,760 Marwan, this was an amazing conversation. 913 00:42:44,760 --> 00:42:45,760 Thank you. 914 00:42:45,760 --> 00:42:47,760 Glad to meet you. 915 00:42:47,760 --> 00:42:48,760 Likewise. 916 00:42:48,760 --> 00:42:53,760 Like I mentioned off camera, this is actually the first interview now that I've ever had. 917 00:42:53,760 --> 00:42:58,760 This is the first interview now that I've done where I don't have like a bit of a personal 918 00:42:58,760 --> 00:43:02,760 history with my guests. 919 00:43:02,760 --> 00:43:05,760 So it's been amazing to hear your story. 920 00:43:05,760 --> 00:43:10,760 And I mean, as a young man coming from the Caribbean, already have achieved all that 921 00:43:10,760 --> 00:43:11,760 you've achieved. 922 00:43:11,760 --> 00:43:14,760 And it sounds like there's a lot more in store. 923 00:43:14,760 --> 00:43:20,760 So we look forward to continuing to see how the career progresses. 924 00:43:20,760 --> 00:43:29,760 Any final words for our viewers, folks at home or wherever they are at in the diaspora, 925 00:43:29,760 --> 00:43:32,760 in the States, in the Netherlands? 926 00:43:32,760 --> 00:43:34,760 Honestly, go get it. 927 00:43:34,760 --> 00:43:35,760 Go get it. 928 00:43:35,760 --> 00:43:36,760 Go get it. 929 00:43:36,760 --> 00:43:37,760 Don't be afraid of anything. 930 00:43:37,760 --> 00:43:39,760 Life is very beautiful. 931 00:43:39,760 --> 00:43:41,760 Make the best out of it. 932 00:43:41,760 --> 00:43:42,760 Yeah. 933 00:43:42,760 --> 00:43:43,760 I believe in that. 934 00:43:43,760 --> 00:43:44,760 Right. 935 00:43:44,760 --> 00:43:46,760 If you're working, you're liking your work, do it the best possible. 936 00:43:46,760 --> 00:43:47,760 Just do your best. 937 00:43:47,760 --> 00:43:49,760 Do your best and go get whatever you want to get. 938 00:43:49,760 --> 00:43:52,760 Nothing and going back, no regrets. 939 00:43:52,760 --> 00:43:53,760 No regrets. 940 00:43:53,760 --> 00:43:54,760 You do it. 941 00:43:54,760 --> 00:43:55,760 You do it well. 942 00:43:55,760 --> 00:43:56,760 You can never regret anything you do. 943 00:43:56,760 --> 00:43:57,760 So I think that's the key. 944 00:43:57,760 --> 00:44:03,760 And that's what I will always tell anyone standing in front of me having this type of conversation. 945 00:44:03,760 --> 00:44:04,760 Yeah. 946 00:44:04,760 --> 00:44:05,760 Awesome. 947 00:44:05,760 --> 00:44:06,760 So thank you again. 948 00:44:06,760 --> 00:44:07,760 Thank you. 949 00:44:07,760 --> 00:44:09,760 It was a pleasure and I think great conversation. 950 00:44:09,760 --> 00:44:10,760 Awesome. 951 00:44:10,760 --> 00:44:13,760 Guys at home, that was it. 952 00:44:13,760 --> 00:44:18,760 What another episode in the bag of Sunside Kingdom show. 953 00:44:18,760 --> 00:44:23,760 We would like you to please subscribe, like, share with a friend. 954 00:44:23,760 --> 00:44:25,760 I think that's important to do. 955 00:44:25,760 --> 00:44:27,760 Share with a friend. 956 00:44:27,760 --> 00:44:47,760 These conversations need to be shared amongst our Dutch Caribbean community wherever they are in the world, whether they're on the islands, the beautiful islands that we call home, whether they're somewhere in the diaspora in the Netherlands, in the states, other parts of Europe, in Asia, wherever they are in Africa, wherever you are. 957 00:44:47,760 --> 00:44:54,760 Share with share with the folks and let's get the word out and let's continue to smile. 958 00:44:54,760 --> 00:44:57,760 Have a great time and live life with no regrets. 959 00:44:57,760 --> 00:44:58,760 No regrets. 960 00:44:58,760 --> 00:44:59,760 Thank you, baby. 961 00:44:59,760 --> 00:45:27,760 Bless.