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For Saulius Žlabys, Payhawk's Country Manager for Lithuania, the experience was also unique, as he entered the fintech sector following an extensive career in banking. Currently, he leads a team developing a spend management platform that streamlines corporate payments, combines payment cards, accelerates employee expense reimbursements, and enhances accounts payable control—all of which simplifies the daily operations of finance professionals. Payhawk reached unicorn status in under four years.
"Today, creating a successful product requires delivering significantly more value. Even an exceptional single functionality isn't enough to capture and retain client attention. Future-proof solutions must offer greater complexity, broader range, more integrations, and genuine value to the end user," said Saulius when asked what new businesses should take into consideration.
– Tell us more about Payhawk. What makes it so exceptional that you and your team managed to reach unicorn status in less than 4 years?
– The first exceptional thing is our idea, because effective spend management is relevant to all companies. Consider a global business with frequent employee travel: when payments are made through Payhawk, the system immediately displays expenses, allowing finance teams to monitor information in real time. The product is tangible, with clearly visible results. Interestingly, we might be better classified as techfin rather than fintech—we started with the spend management system first, then integrated payment services, purchase management, and other functionalities later.
Secondly, our company is distinguished by exceptional talent with both domain expertise and international experience. Our management team deserves particular recognition—especially our founder and CEO, who has been deeply involved since day one: developing strategy, maintaining direction, setting ambitious goals, while staying connected to daily operations. This consistency and perseverance have yielded results—we've consistently achieved our annual growth target of 100%. For example, we hired almost 100 professionals last year, bringing our total group headcount to nearly 400. Our headquarters is in London, with our largest office located in Sofia.
– What role are Vilnius and Lithuania playing in Payhawk’s success story?
– The decision to establish a subsidiary in Lithuania came after evaluating several EU fintech hubs, including Luxembourg and Germany. Following Brexit, Lithuania successfully positioned itself to investors, leading to an influx of innovative fintech companies. Payhawk's founders recognized Lithuania's potential, particularly its numerous e-money institutions—including one they were already partnering with—and its pool of talented professionals whose expertise could support the company's growth. We were one of only two EMI institutions to receive licensing in 2023.
– What opportunities should people keep an eye on when growing the fintech sector?
– Lithuania's critical challenge today is its attempt to lead in regulation. We've seen numerous instances where Lithuania has implemented EU guidelines more stringently than other members. To maintain our attractiveness to investors, we need to monitor international developments more closely and be willing to take calculated risks. Our approach should be rational—evaluating when such regulatory rigor is necessary and beneficial, based on factors like market size and national strategy.
We must think globally and make decisions that foster economic growth, or risk compromising our competitiveness. Does Lithuania have the potential to remain a fintech hub? Yes, but it requires a more balanced regulatory environment. While Payhawk can operate across the EU's unrestricted market for goods and services, the stark differences between how financial supervisors operate in Lithuania versus other EU countries diminish our ability to attract investment, innovate, and achieve breakthroughs.
Change is possible, though. I witnessed firsthand how the State Tax Inspectorate transformed from its 1990s incarnation into an advisor on tax matters. Thanks to this new framework, companies now seek consultations without fear of repercussions. In contrast—and I'll be candid here—regulated fintech establishments fear audits because they face a 'guilty until proven innocent' mindset. The regulatory environment should function as a consultant and advisor, not a judge and jury. This isn't just my perspective; other fintech leaders share this sentiment.
– You’ve been working in finance for over 20 years. Tell us – how did it come about that a successful banker chose to pursue work in a startup?
– Since I like to enter new markets and areas I’m unfamiliar with, to encounter challenges, learn new things, figure out alternative solutions, and achieve set goals, I’m always looking for opportunities to improve and try my hand at something new. Building a business involves certain key components I would have never learned about at the bank, where I was just a cog in a large machine. I realised that I love searching for solutions when I know what the end result is supposed to look like, yet have the freedom to find my own way there. At a startup, every day is different, full of new challenges, and demanding far greater focus and energy. When leading new products and ideas, i.e., startups, you get way more responsibilities and grow faster as a professional.
– Tell us about your career before Payhawk and how you came to work here.
– Hailing from Šiauliai, where I grew up in an environment that encouraged entrepreneurship, I was always convinced I’d find my success in business. Upon graduating from high school, I enrolled in the Business School of Vilnius University and interned at a financial brokerage. This was a dream come true already – I’d only seen brokers in movies before. Upon realising that I really liked the financial sector, I went to study abroad. In England, I obtained a Master’s degree in Banking and Financial Services. Once back in Lithuania, I got a job at SEB Bank as a financial broker. Things went quite well and by the age of 23 I was responsible for trading in foreign markets, i.e., all markets outside the Baltics. Trading in New York and London, and opening up markets like Kazakhstan and Turkey, at a time when, in order to buy shares, you still had to send information by fax, was a unique experience. The tipping point came when we started building Lithuania’s first trading platform, which made me realise that digitisation was the way of the future. I worked in trading for about 6 years in total.
Then I transferred to a different branch, where I worked with business clients, introducing them to hedging transactions for risk mitigation. It was a fascinating time. I’d put on a suit, grab my briefcase, and go to, e.g., some garage in Šiauliai, where companies with revenues in the millions were making furniture for export to Sweden. I’d try to help them understand they were losing fairly significant amounts of money due to the inappropriate management of risks associated with currency conversion. I’d also help them find potential solutions to getting the most out of financial flow management. You could say that sales has always been my hobby horse. I had also worked in business development at Nordea Bank, and was at one time the head of a call centre, where my managerial career had its start.
When I saw that making swift changes at the bank, where everything is highly regulated, was unlikely, I joined a rapidly-growing company out of Singapore making short-term loans to private clients in Southeast Asia. Given their high demand for capital, they were looking for the best way of funding their operations. To this end, we’d built a platform for EU investors. Unfortunately, when the pandemic hit, I personally witnessed the company, 1,000-strong, go bankrupt in just 3 months. That was a new, invaluable experience for me. A while later, I met my partners from Hong Kong who wanted to build a payments business in Europe. Despite lacking all relevant experience, I took on the challenge. With a business plan in place, I organised the infrastructure, people, responsibilities, and control functions, and 5 months later we got our license. This was my work for 3 years before joining Payhawk. During the early talks with Payhawk, I was highly impressed by the founders’ enthusiasm, idea, and business potential. Being a unicorn that provides spend management services to companies operating in Europe, we’re at a whole new level now, which also means a larger team, more interesting projects, and an opportunity to learn new things and contribute to the company’s growth.
– What could encourage more talent to consider a career in tech? What does your personal experience tell you about it?
– I’d say that external motivation isn’t a very important factor. People must be pro-active and enthusiastic about doing more and achieving more. They must have a high risk tolerance – not be afraid of making mistakes or losing their lucrative jobs in favour of a bigger, longer-term goal.
– You touched on an interesting topic – what other principles guide your personal and professional life?
– In my view, to be a good leader, you must surround yourself with strong people. And if you’ve decided to work together, you must empower them, trust their competencies, allow them to grow. Of course, you should also be reachable, help them see the broader context, and address their doubts. I take great pains to prevent exhaustion by striking a good work-life balance. Overworked people are less productive and they make more mistakes. I also hold to the principle that it’s better to make a mistake and move on, than to be passive and avoid necessary changes.
– What is the most important when building a tech startup? What should people seeking growth, success, and efficiency focus on the most?
– Early on, founders should clarify the market relevance of their ideas. For instance, both of Payhawk’s founders started out with €15K to their names, half of which they spent on Amazon gift cards. They would give them as gifts to financial managers who agreed to interviews about their biggest challenges at work. Then, analysing the list of interviewees, they identified the problems relevant to their target audience with precision and got to work. It’s also important to believe in your idea and to work a lot, perhaps having agreed in advance with your family and close ones that you’ll be spending much of your time on this. Support of loved ones is crucial because it’s very likely that, at the start, not all will go to plan and you’ll probably have doubts whether the solution you’re developing is relevant to the market. In such moments, you need your loved ones to help you maintain belief in your idea and keep plugging away at it. Before the first investment, Payhawk’s founders spoke to over 60 venture capital funds, until they found partners who bought into their idea. When building a startup, you shouldn’t hold back – nothing gets done automatically, working 4 hours a day or 4 days a week. You must give all of yourself to it.
– What needs to happen for Lithuania to have more startups, fintechs, and unicorns?
– I think we have a strong talent base capable of building high added value products. We have plenty of intellectual resources – people who’ve seen a lot: studied, travelled, worked in good companies. What we need is more courage. How best to foster it depends on the individual, but I can assure you that, when people start taking those first key steps, all the rest usually falls into place automatically – what matters is simply daring to change.
