Payback for Venmo | Tony Robbins and Venmo co-founder on finding your own story and getting to “yes”

In this episode of the Tony Robbins Podcast we’re continuing our
Business Mastery Panelist series with an exclusive interview
between Tony and Iqram Magdon-Ismail, the co-founder of the
digital payment platform, Venmo.


In case you’re not familiar with Venmo, the premise is simple:
you connect the app to your checking account and you can send and
receive payments to anyone with just a tap and a swipe of your
smartphone. It’s the ideal solution for splitting bills and
paying your friends back - especially for anyone who doesn’t like
carrying around cash. Venmo makes exchanging money incredibly
simple, and it takes the awkwardness out of asking someone to pay
you back. Paying for everything from cab rides to dinners to rent
and utilities is streamlined.


Venmo was acquired by Braintree in 2012 for $26.2 million, which
in turn sold to PayPal for $800 million. And now, Venmo processes
more than $6.8 billion in payments per quarter.


Yet as ubiquitous as Venmo is today, it wasn’t an easy path to
success. Iqram and his co-founder Andrew Kortina endured
countless obstacles in their early years, struggling to raise
capital and almost closing their doors at one point.


In this episode, Tony talks to Iqram about the evolution of
Venmo, from idea to fruition to acquisition, and how they were
able to persevere through the darkest periods. They discuss the
importance of learning to embrace criticism, creating your
company’s story, and using the no’s to refine your approach to
find that pivotal yes.