The Un-Dutch Playbook: How To Build with Speed (like bunq)
A practical guide to owning it, clearing the path, and scaling fast — lessons from Bianca Zwart, Chief Strategy Officer at bunq
👋 Hey, Dan here!
Welcome to this week's edition of In Founders Words, where I interview founders and leaders building big from Europe—to uncover their hard-earned insights and practical strategies. In their words.
Today I'm sharing insights from Bianca Zwart, Chief Strategy Officer at bunq. She’s helped scale the company from 30 to 700 people while maintaining a speed that rivals the best of Silicon Valley.
What makes bunq stand out is its decidedly un-Dutch approach. Its high-performance, fast-executing culture is more Palo Alto or Beijing than Amsterdam — and yet, here they are.
So how do they do it? 👇
Speed is Silicon Valley’s superpower. European founders often watch from the sidelines, wondering: "How can we move faster — with all our regulations and laid-back work culture?"
bunq cracked this code. Founded by Ali Niknam, this Dutch neobank is scaling globally at speed — while staying nimble as a startup — in one of the world’s most regulated industries.
bunq is one of Europe's fastest-growing neobanks with over 15 million users across more than 30 countries.
What you'll learn:
How bunq went from idea to product in just 8 weeks
How AI already handles 60% of bunq's operations
How to eliminate unnecessary meetings
The hiring framework that identifies high-performers (who thrive in fast-paced environments)
The balance between maintaining speed and preventing burnout
🏛️ Building an Un-Dutch Company
"It's very un-Dutch," Bianca explains when describing bunq's culture. "It doesn't fit the typical culture of any Dutch company."
In the Netherlands, many companies value consensus and comfort — often at the expense of speed.
bunq took a different path. From day one, they built:
A high-performance culture that attracts a specific type of person.
"bunq is a great company for entrepreneurs and athletes," Bianca notes. "People with that background tend to thrive at bunq because they're used to pushing for growth. They're people who don't wait for others to make things happen. People who know that failure is feedback."
Three principles underpin bunq’s culture:
1. Ownership
"Ownership is not a buzzword at bunq. People get end-to-end ownership throughout all layers within the organisation. People own very specific outcomes, not just the task, but the outcome. It’s like you're running your own part of the business."
2. User First
"We're relentlessly user-first in everything we do. It doesn't matter if it's changing the coffee machine in our office, everything we do starts with one question: ‘What's in it for the user?’"
Fun Tidbit: even bunq’s logo is user-first: "bunq" is always written lowercase and is point symmetrical. This symbolises their commitment to being hand-in-hand with their users. As their name stays the same when flipped upside down, it symbolises always seeing things from users’ perspective.
3. Courage
"Banking is super outdated. So it's up to us to rethink and challenge everything. That requires quite some bravery, especially to go against banks that have all the power in this industry."
This approach is about having the courage to challenge the status quo in the best interest of users. It means being ready to completely rethink banking when necessary, not just accepting how things have always been done.
Users, not Customers: bunq always says ‘user’, not ‘customer’. That’s because bunq sees themselves as more than just a bank. Users interact, automate and take control — more than just a transactional relationship.
👑 The Ali Factor: Leadership That Drives Execution
Ali Niknam's leadership style at bunq has been both lauded for its execution-focused approach and critiqued for its intensity.
While different perspectives exist, Bianca Zwart, who worked closely with Ali as his Chief of Staff, offers an insider’s view:
"I sometimes think I know Ali better than I know myself," she remarks with a smile.
So what is it that makes Ali's leadership so effective at driving execution?
1. No Concessions on Culture
"Ali makes no concessions on culture," Bianca explains. "That's different to how things usually work in the Netherlands. We love consensus. We love to agree with each other. If you look at our politics as an example... but Ali makes no concessions on cultural fit."
2. Discipline
"He's incredibly disciplined himself, not just requiring that from others. He puts in the work, day in, day out."
Bianca recalls Ali's early years building bunq:
"I remember the first years of bunq he was just working... I don't know how many hours a week. He is one of these people that if something doesn't work, he just keeps going until it does. He doesn't give up. He has a relentless drive."
3. Determination (that’s Contagious)
"I think that's what sets him apart," Bianca notes. "It's contagious as well, because I notice I'm becoming a bit like that."
This combination of unwavering standards, personal discipline and relentless drive creates a culture where excellence is expected by everyone, from Ali down.
4. Passion
On top of determination and drive, Ali's leadership style is about passion. bunq’s origin story helps paint the picture of where that passion came from:
Why bunq started
“We were founded just after the financial crisis of 2008. Ali looked around and he saw a lot of people hurt by what was happening. A lot of his friends couldn't get a mortgage… or they couldn’t get a loan as an entrepreneur. He looked around and he saw that people were just pointing fingers, blaming each other, and nobody was actually fixing the problem. He had nothing to do with the banking industry, he was a tech entrepreneur, and he was like, ‘You know what? I'm going to solve this problem.’” - Bianca
What drove Ali to start bunq wasn’t profit—it was a reaction to injustice he saw. He wanted to fix the system.
That takes passion.
Watch more of Bianca talking about bunq’s origin story:
🚄 The Self-Funded Path to Speed
bunq's origin story contains a key to their culture of speed. As Bianca explains:
"bunq was completely self-funded for the first 10 years. That meant we had to be as efficient as possible. We achieved incredible growth with a fraction of the resources of other challenger banks.”
Maximum efficiency, minimal resources, fast results.
This bootstrap mentality created a culture of efficiency that persisted even after they raised funding:
“It also created this mindset throughout the company."
The technical foundation matters too:
"We're tech-first in the sense that we've built our own entire infrastructure. Everything, which makes us incredibly nimble. That means we can move fast, way faster than any traditional bank."
Efficiency + tech independence = speed.
🛠️ Removing Obstacles
As Chief Strategy Officer, Bianca's role involves removing operational obstacles. And she has implemented systems to overcome two major barriers to execution for bunq:
1. Compliance Barriers
In banking, regulations can easily become innovation killers. bunq's approach flips this on its head:
"It's about understanding what a regulation is trying to achieve rather than it being a law you have to follow exactly like 'the rules say X, so I do X.'"
Bianca shares a practical example of how this mindset applies to their international user base:
"Let's say I now live in Rome, but I move to Spain. I get a Spanish phone number and I try to sign up for a bank, but my address is still in Italy. From a compliance perspective, you might think, 'She has a Spanish phone number, but she lives in Italy. A flag is going off because this is potentially fraud.'"
"But if you look at our target audience—people living an international lifestyle—this is completely normal. So it's constantly challenging compliance and regulations to understand what they're trying to achieve. Are we trying to confirm identity? Then there are multiple ways to do that."
2. Manual Work Barriers
"We've already been working with AI for years. Which has been great. "
bunq's early adoption of AI has had remarkable results:
"We built our own GenAI platform, 'Finn', which we use in the app, but also in the background in our operations. We already have 100 AI applications in all parts of the business. Believe it or not, 60% of our operations are now handled by AI."
This isn't just about efficiency—it's about removing any friction that slows execution:
"It's incredible to see what's possible when you let technology handle the routine work."
AI is not just hype at bunq, it’s a speed enabler.
⚡ Product Development at Warp Speed: From Idea to Launch in 8 Weeks
"We went from idea to bunq Stocks being live in eight weeks."
A standout story:
"A few months ago, we launched bunq Stocks, our investment product. It's not like we woke up one day and thought, 'We need to build an investment product.' Instead, we kept hearing from our users that they wanted to start investing, and they simply didn't know how to."
Bianca breaks down their approach:
1. Solve Real Problems
"We have a very simple approach at bunq: solve real problems. We always start with the problem."
Prioritise solving the most common high-impact problems.
2. Cut Through Complexity
"When you start investing, people always give you their unsolicited advice. 'Oh, you should really invest in S&P 500.' Now that might be true, but when you try to do that, you're confronted with dozens of versions. So you're still confused about what to buy."
"At bunq, we chose the best performer with low cost. So you don't have to choose. We cut through the complexity for you."
3. Maintain Brutal Simplicity
"I remember during that process, our head of new products, Tom, kept beating the drum. He said, 'If it takes more than three taps, then we definitely fucked up.' So we solve real problems and we keep it simple."
4. Stay Close to Users
This speed comes from a deep understanding of users that permeates the entire company:
"Everyone at bunq answers a couple of tickets from users each week, no matter their role within the company. Or they talk to users in interviews. Everyone in the company is in touch with our users."
This is central to bunq's mission. Being close to users helps every team member listen and understand user needs. This creates a direct connection between every employee and the real-world impact of their work - making it something everyone at bunq contributes to.
📝 Decision-Making and Meeting Culture
bunq's approach to meetings and making decisions is refreshingly efficient:
1. Clear Ownership for Decisions
"We cut a lot of the fluff. If you look at other companies, there's usually way too many people involved in decision making. And often by having so many people involved, nobody actually makes a decision."
bunq solves this with clear decision paths:
"We have a couple of clear processes when it comes to decision-making. It's always the end owner who takes the final call within their area of ownership."
2. Documents Over Meetings
"Information flows through documents. Meetings happen only if there's anything on top of that to discuss."
3. The Two-Person Meeting Rule
"99% of our meetings, there are only two people. Because in most cases, you don't need more than that."
4. 30-Minutes
"Keep meetings under 30 minutes."
Less meetings = more time to solve problems for users.
🔍 The bunq Hiring Framework
bunq's hiring approach is designed to identify people who will thrive in their high-performance culture. Beyond checking for discipline and drive, Bianca has two unusual tests for hiring:
1. No Ego
"Within bunq, the best idea wins. Always. It doesn't matter if it comes from someone with 30 years experience or from the intern; the best idea wins."
She looks for people who focus on solving problems, not on who gets credit:
"If you are able to look at the problem at hand, and not focus on who is making the decision, or where they come from, and all their background? That doesn't actually matter when you look at the problem."
2. Introspection
"My favourite test is introspection. I test everyone on that because I think you're generally not a good fit if you do not have any introspection. "The ability to look at yourself from the outside and pinpoint both strengths and gaps."
Bianca's favourite interview question reveals this quality:
"I end every interview the same way. I ask candidates: 'Based on everything that we've discussed, everything you've read, everything you heard, can you give me one reason why you would not be a good fit for this role?'"
The surprising pattern she's noticed:
"You would be surprised that the more senior people get, the harder it gets to answer this question."
⚖️ Balancing Autonomy and Accountability
How does bunq maintain its high standards while giving teams and employees freedom?
"Autonomy and accountability aren't opposite - they're two sides of the same coin," Bianca explains. "Autonomy means having the freedom to make a decision, but with that freedom comes the responsibility to own the outcome."
This philosophy shapes how teams operate at bunq:
"The best owners at bunq thrive on both. They take initiative, they make choices and they stand by the results, good or bad."
Failure isn't punished, but they should learn from it:
"If something goes wrong, that's totally fine, but they learn from it and implement fixes to avoid it in the future."
Failure is fine — as long as you fix it fast and learn.
🌍 Global Mindset from Day 1
Another "un-Dutch" feature of bunq is its global focus from day one.
bunq's international ambition shaped its culture from the beginning:
"When I started, we were only Dutch people, but the internal language was always English. We documented everything in English. We did meetings in English. Everything was English. Our global mindset was there from day one."
A clear communication style was established early too:
"Most communication has always run through digital channels - docs and Slack. With a focus on speaking as clearly and tangibly as possible. Without any fluff."
This approach set them up well for their current global expansion:
"We now have people all across the world, with core offices in Amsterdam, Istanbul and Sofia, and smaller offices/co-working in New York, Berlin, Munich, Madrid and other locations around the world."
Bianca, who splits her time between Rome and Amsterdam, explains that bunq also has a hybrid model that reflects its global orientation:
"We believe in freedom, but we also believe that you can often get things done faster if you're together. So we have a hybrid model, hybrid in the sense that you have to be at any office 3 days a week (it can be a different office). For example, the other week, I was in our office in Istanbul, another week I was at our business in Sofia."
🔄 A Marathon: The Sustainable Side of Speed
Despite the high-intensity culture, there's an important nuance to how bunq operates:
"Working at bunq is perfect for someone like me. The pace really keeps you on your toes. If I want to work long hours, I can work long hours because there's always something to do."
But it isn’t about being expected to work long hours — it’s about having the autonomy to jump in where and when you can add value.
But sustainable execution requires balance. Bianca recalls an important lesson from Ali:
"I've worked closely with Ali as his Chief of Staff, but throughout almost my entire journey with bunq, I reported directly to him. He was my lead. He always kept reminding me, 'It's a marathon, not a sprint. Make sure you take some time.'"
Ali gives practical advice on this too:
"He gave me very clear guidance, like: 'Block all your meetings on Tuesday, make sure that the rest of the days you actually have time to get things done.'"
This perspective shift was crucial for Bianca:
"It's so important to take a breath, to take a step back and look at what's going on, especially in such a fast-paced company. It gives you new insights, new perspectives, and it actually helps you focus on the important stuff. Because not everything is equally as important."
Speed requires recovery.
✅ Build Like bunq - The Fast Execution Checklist:
Want to implement bunq-style execution in your startup? Bianca offers practical steps you can take immediately:
1. Establish Clear Ownership
"People should own very specific outcomes, not just the task, but the outcome."
2. Streamline Communication
"Information flowing through documents. Super crisp meetings, no endless meetings."
"Have a clear way of communicating that makes sure the message gets across."
3. Cut the Fluff
"Remove anything that distracts you from the main focus - ego, meetings - anything that distracts you from the main focus."
4. Practice What You Preach
"Practice what you preach. Ali is highly efficient, and as soon as you copy the way he works, you know that you can be very efficient too."
"When you see the results, that should be enough reason to keep going."
5. Make No Concessions on Culture
"If as a founder, you still see or feel resistance, then that might be an indicator that the people are not a right fit for the culture you're trying to build. And that's also okay. It's whether it's aligned or not, but I wouldn't then make any concessions on the culture you have in mind."
6. Fail Fast and Embrace Failure as Feedback
"You're not moving fast enough if you're not making any mistakes."
"A lot of tech companies talk about innovation, but they don't always reward people for stepping outside of their comfort zone."
"If you want real growth, and want to innovate fast, it requires discomfort and it requires failures. The only way to get there is if you fail fast (and fix it fast of course)."
7. Build for Simplicity
"We cut through the complexity for users. Our approach is to solve real problems and keep it simple."
8. Keep Everyone Close to Users
"Everyone in the company needs to be in touch with users."
9. Balance Speed with Sustainability
"It's so important to take a breath, to take a step back and look at what's going on, especially in such a fast-paced company. It gives you new insights, new perspectives, and it actually helps you to focus on only the important stuff."
⚡️ Final Thought
Creating a high-execution culture in Europe doesn’t mean giving up on European values. It means being clear about which values you choose to focus on.
The key is clarity. This means clear ownership, clear communication, clear priorities, and a culture that attracts the right people for your company.
This article is based on an interview with Bianca Zwart, Chief Strategy Officer at bunq. bunq is one of Europe's fastest-growing neobanks with over 15 million users across more than 30 countries.
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Until next week,
Dan