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Scott Galit, CEO @ Payoneer
Age: 45
Lives in: New York
Significant others: Married + 2
Company’s main offices:
We have offices in New York, Tel Aviv, Silicon Valley, Gibraltar, Hong Kong and Shanghai.
What does your company do and why is it unique?
We’ve built a new global payments platform that connects businesses and their trading partners in new ways that make it easier for them to grow business together.
What are you most proud of in your company?
I’m really proud of two things:
1) That we really empower small businesses all over the world to participate in the global economy
2) The really great team and culture we have – people enjoy working together at Payoneer
Scott in his element, with members of the Payoneer team around the world (click to enlarge)
Who inspires you/who do you admire and why?
The two people I find myself admiring these days are Mark Zuckerberg and Malala. They couldn’t be more different, but to me they represent some of the most powerful themes of our time.
Mark Zuckerberg has recognized the power of the internet to transform the lives of people all over the world. His commitment to ensuring that everyone everywhere has the ability to connect, communicate, access information and participate in the digital global world is not just admirable, I think it is a driving contributor to the most significant wave of empowerment and inclusion in the history of the world.
And to me, Malala is a powerful and positive representative for all those people all over the world that Mark Zuckerberg sees the potential to connect and empower. She’s just a teenager, but Malala enables us to tell so many meaningful stories that are almost biblical in importance. This young woman has demonstrated the importance of education for all people, the power of one person to change to the world, and the critical role and opportunity girls and women have to shape the coming generation. And she embodies courage like few other people in the public consciousness.
When I think of Malala, I think she is exactly the type of strong, educated, courageous young person who has the chance to influence the world because Mark Zuckerberg enables people like her to participate in ways that weren’t possible before for a young girl from Pakistan.
Together Mark Zuckerberg and Malala represent the opportunity for a bright future for people everywhere, regardless of where they’re from, their age, gender or financial circumstances. We’re fortunate to have them both helping to shape our world.
Which other companies do you admire?
It’s hard not to admire Apple for their ability to innovate on a grand scale while also being very long-term oriented and customer-centric. All of those are hard to do. But the way they build layers on their business over time frames as long as a decade is really incredible.
I really admire the World Bank. They invest in many ways all over the world to help developing economies grow and they maintain a business discipline in the process so it’s sustainable and scalable. The people there are uniquely charitable capitalists.
What do you do for fun?
I like to cook, trek, and travel with my family.
iPhone or Android? Blackberry 🙂
Favorite Food:
Right now it’s a dinner of Cacio e Pepe and Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding I make with my daughter.
Favorite TV Shows:
Watching football with my son (about the only thing I watch anymore)
Favorite technological gadgets/apps right now:
As you can probably tell from my Blackberry answer, I’m not the most technologically savvy person. I’m pretty happy when I can make our video conference system work.
Uber is certainly very useful. Drone technology is cool, but a little troubling. I’m also excited about a lot of the new innovations in healthcare.
Favorite go-to websites/blogs for news on your industry/technology:
PYMNTS.com
Payments News
Finextra
B2B E-Commerce News
The best business advice you ever received:
Don’t be intimidated by anyone or anything, no matter how successful, important, old or rich they are.
What do you think would really surprise people to learn about you?
Well, I played hard rock guitar in high school, complete with long hair and an earring.
More recently, I dressed up as a grandma for a company Purim party. Hopefully no pictures are out there for either one of those…
Editors Note:Sorry Scott, your team is extremely efficient and given that this is a “Fun-Facts” post, it was too hilarious not to include 😉
VIDEOS FEATURING SCOTT:
