The information made public by Revolut yesterday is a good reason to draw attention to a particular drawback associated with setting up a technology company. Szymon Janiak, among others, wrote about this in his recent book - ‘The dark side of start-ups’. Technology companies, such as the fintech protagonist of today's article, quickly attract many customers by launching an exciting product or service, often cheaper than the competition. This large audience is a good argument for attracting an investor who will invest money to develop the company further.

So, the cheaper and better the product, the more customers there are, and the higher the company's valuation, often going into billions of dollars. The co-founder of a start-up, who usually leaves himself a significant stake, is thus a dollar billionaire, but his wealth remains purely theoretical. Until he sells at least part of his stake at a valuation estimated based on funding rounds, he has nothing but media applause, and, on the financial side, he often cannot afford the next mortgage installment because investors do not agree to pay a high salary. For this reason, the transaction made public by Revolut is enjoyable. Although the number of shares in the company held by Nik Storonski is unknown, it probably allows the co-founders to continue controlling the company. At the same time, the sale of part of the shares will enable Revolut to benefit from its global success.