Building Fintech That Actually Works

Five Things Investors Expect You to Get Right from Day One

Every year, hundreds of fintech startups launch with bold ideas - better payments, smarter lending, more accessible insurance. Unfortunately, many exciting ideas don’t make it past their first audit. The gap between a great product concept and a product that survives due diligence isn't vision - It's engineering discipline.

We're excited to welcome Oleks Mykolaienko, CEO & Founding Partner of Tallium Inc., to this Startup Grind Zürich event.

With over 12 years in the industry and more than 200 digital products delivered across fintech, edtech, and healthtech, Oleks has seen firsthand what separates the startups that ship from the ones that stall.

In this fireside chat, Oleks will break down the five things investors expect fintech founders to get right from day one - from security-by-design and integration planning to the smart use of AI coding tools - and share practical lessons from building products across 16 countries.

📅 Date: Tuesday, 24 February 2026
⏰ Time: 11:00 AM CET
📍 Location: Online (Virtual Event)

🎤 Meet the Speaker

Oleks is the CEO and Founding Partner of Tallium Inc., a software engineering company he built from the ground up to a team of over 100 people across five countries.

With over 12 years in the industry, Oleks has delivered more than 200 digital products for startups and enterprises alike - with deep domain expertise in fintech, edtech, and healthtech. Today, Tallium operates in 16 countries with offices in Ukraine, Poland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Hong Kong and Canada. Beyond Tallium, Oleks is CTO & Partner at This Is Valid , serves on the board of iDEALER, and mentors early-stage founders through GrowthMentor.

He's a builder at heart - whether that means scaling a company, advising on digital transformation, or summiting 🏔️ Mont Blanc or Kilimanjaro.

💡 What You'll Learn

✅ Why security and compliance must be designed in from day one - not bolted on at launch
✅ How to structure communication and decision-making between your team, vendors, and investors
✅ What makes fintech integrations so difficult - and how to plan for them before writing a line of code
✅ How to use data intelligence and ML to differentiate your product in a crowded market
✅ The real trade-offs of AI coding tools in fintech - where they help, where they hurt, and why the human in the loop still matters

🎯 Who Should Attend?

🚀 Startup founders building in FinTech, InsurTech, or any regulated industry
📈 CTOs and technical leads responsible for architecture and vendor decisions in financial products
🧠 Investors and advisors evaluating the technical readiness of early-stage fintech startups
📢 Product managers and operators navigating compliance, integrations, and AI-assisted development

🚀 Don't miss this opportunity to learn what investors actually look for in a fintech team's technical foundation

📌 RSVP now to secure your spot