How Dovile Jasikoniene bet on an idea and helped turn it into €3 billion
Most CFOs are hired to keep a well-oiled machine running. Dovile joined when there was no machine. FINCI was just a licence, a slide deck, and a handful of true believers.
Despite having other offers from large financial institutions (and having to Google what an “electronic money institution” was), she signed her contract on 15 March 2020. But the next day the world locked down. COVID-19 became the backdrop to her first official workday on April Fool’s Day.
And with zero customers and a global pandemic raging, she might have wondered whether it was all a joke.
Writing her own script
Dovile chose to get in on the ground floor, with a chance to build something from scratch. She chose to shape the future, rather than just operate within it. Not everyone is built like that.
“I could have gone to an established company where I’d do things I already understood. At FINCI, the role wasn’t clearly defined, I’d be creating the processes myself. Everything was new, and that challenge excited me.”
While learning a new language
Her first in-person meeting was with FINCI’s Anti-Money-Laundering Director.
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When we met, he talked about AML, FATCA, and CRS. I had no idea what he was talking about, but I nodded along and thought to myself, ‘Don’t worry, everything is learnable.
”
A few weeks later she was the one explaining those acronyms to new hires.
Five years and €3 billion later
In 2021, she drafted FINCI’s first annual report and a three-year plan. But the projections looked too rosy to her trained eye.
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We had prepared the plan. But I looked at it and thought, ‘Even the pessimistic scenario seemed too optimistic.’ I spoke to our CEO, Mihails, and he said to trust him, we’ll do it. I didn’t believe him at first, but he was right.
”
This year, FINCI surpassed €3 billion in annual transactions processed, well beyond those early forecasts. That’s what happens when a team believes. And when a courageous CFO chooses a blank page over a balanced book.
Happy fifth anniversary, Dovile. We couldn’t have done it without you.
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