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Strategic Communications Advisory For Visionary Founders
Actionable
Takeaways
Solve the integration burden:
Qolo succeeded by taking on the complex task of unifying different payment types that customers previously had to integrate themselves. Patricia explained, "That burden is actually shifted to the client...Qolo actually unifies it for them." B2B founders should look for opportunities where they can absorb complexity that customers are currently forced to handle themselves.
Navigate market corrections strategically:
During the fintech market correction, Patricia's team refocused on fundamentals: "Put the excitement aside...let's make sure we're all focused on verticals that we have a right to win in, that we have a fast path to monetize." B2B founders should be prepared to make hard decisions about resource allocation and organizational focus when market conditions shift.
Balance product and go-to-market investment:
Qolo initially focused heavily on product perfection at the expense of sales and marketing. Patricia admitted, "We are terrible at marketing and we're going to change that." B2B founders should ensure they don't over-index on product development while neglecting go-to-market capabilities.
Leverage strategic customer wins:
Qolo used their success with major banks to build credibility: "To the extent that you get a top 25 bank to sign an enterprise level agreement...we capitalize on that from a social media and marketing perspective." B2B founders should strategically amplify significant customer wins to build market momentum.
Focus on sustainable unit economics:
Rather than pursuing growth at all costs, Qolo prioritized efficiency and profitability. Patricia noted, "We're all sort of now thinking about profitability versus grow at all costs. I think that's a healthy thing." B2B founders should build their growth strategy around sustainable unit economics rather than pure top-line growth.
Conversation
Highlights
Building the Future of Unified Payments: How Qolo Reached $7M ARR by Solving Integration Headaches
In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, Patricia Montesi shared how Qolo, a cloud-based payments platform, is transforming payment infrastructure by unifying capabilities that traditionally required complex integrations. After raising $30 million and reaching $7M ARR, they’re now on track to join the elite 13% of startups that cross $10M ARR.
The Hidden Cost of Payment Innovation
The payments industry has a dirty secret: as major fintechs expanded their capabilities through acquisitions, they created a hidden burden for their customers. “Whenever they thought, ‘oh, I need a different payment functionality,’ a lot of times it was done through M&A,” Patricia explains. “But they created this amazing company that has all these capabilities, but they never connected at all.”
This meant customers had to build complex integrations themselves just to use the features they were paying for. “That burden is actually shifted to the client,” Patricia notes. “They have to sort of build what we always call ‘you have to code around the inefficiencies and unify it yourself.'”
A Different Approach to Payment Infrastructure
Instead of cobbling together disparate systems, Qolo built a unified platform from the ground up. “We combine card issuing, we combine all of the bank payments, both traditional and modern. And then we underpin all of that with a third layer which is our bank grade ledger and core,” Patricia explains.
This approach allows companies to modernize their payment capabilities without completely replacing their existing systems. As Patricia puts it, “Now we have a pretty interesting solution for them without having to rip and replace your current solution. COLO can actually, you know, in an instant make you truly modern.”
Navigating the Fintech Winter
The 2021-2022 fintech downturn forced Qolo to make hard strategic choices. “Hard decisions have happened over the last couple years,” Patricia acknowledges. “Hard decisions around the number of employees, hard decisions around the way we’re organized and really focusing on the outcomes.”
They shifted from a “grow at all costs” mentality to sustainable growth, focusing only on verticals with clear paths to revenue. This disciplined approach paid off – they’re now growing 100% year over year and winning major bank clients like KeyBank and Huntington.
The Product-Marketing Balance
One key lesson from Qolo’s journey is the importance of balancing product excellence with go-to-market execution. “We are terrible at marketing and we’re going to change that,” Patricia admits candidly. The company initially focused heavily on building a perfect product at the expense of sales and marketing efforts.
To address this, they brought in an experienced CRO first as a fractional hire, then full-time. “We invested in him to help us get to this place where now we’re adding to the biz dev team, now we’re adding to the marketing efforts,” Patricia explains.
Looking Ahead
Qolo’s vision extends beyond just serving fintech companies. “When I look out three to five years, we’re gonna be powering dozens of top banks around the country,” Patricia predicts. “We are going to help them innovate without having to rip and replace a core that costs millions of dollars and years to do.”
Their unified approach to payments infrastructure, combined with their newfound focus on sustainable growth and balanced go-to-market execution, positions them well to achieve this vision. In an industry where integration complexity often holds back innovation, Qolo’s platform promises to remove those barriers and enable the next generation of payment capabilities.
The key insight from their journey? Sometimes the biggest opportunities come not from building new capabilities, but from making existing ones work better together. By taking complexity off their customers’ plates, Qolo has found a path to sustainable growth in the competitive fintech infrastructure market.
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