How Apron’s Bogdan Uzbekov Builds High-Performing Teams and Fixes Small Business Payments

In this episode, Apron founder Bogdan Uzbekov explains how he built a 100+ person payments team, created a culture where people “do the work of their lives”, and why his 10-year vision includes building something in space. For UK bookkeepers, accountants and small business owners, this is a practical masterclass in leadership, team culture and modern business payments. The way you build your team and choose your technology stack directly affects cash flow, client experience and your capacity to grow. Bogdan shares what he learned in almost a decade in payments, how Apron was designed around accountants and bookkeepers, and the leadership principles he uses to scale quickly without losing quality. By the end of this episode, viewers will understand how high-growth fintech thinking can be applied inside a small UK bookkeeping practice. Hosted by Jo Wood and Zoe Whitman from The 6 Figure Bookkeeper, this Leadership Takeover Session connects real founder experience with the day-to-day reality of running a modern practice. Bogdan has spent nearly 10 years in payments, built Apron from concept to a fast-growing funded company, and now leads a team serving SMEs, accountants and bookkeepers across the UK. In this conversation, Jo and Zoe explore how Bogdan moved from a background in physics and research into startups and payments, why he chose the pace of entrepreneurship over a PhD, how Apron evolved from a simple frustration with broken business payments into a platform used by practices and their clients, what it really takes to grow a team from the first hire to over 100 people, how to design team culture deliberately so people can thrive, why he openly says “I love hustle” and how he balances that with family life, and his long-term ambition to “do something in space”. Bogdan is clear that great products are built by great teams. He explains why hiring is “really hard”, how Apron uses structured culture-led interviews, why values and learning speed matter more than technical skill alone, and why founders must eventually let go of control to allow new leaders to step forward. For UK bookkeepers, this offers a blueprint for moving from a solo practice to a small, high-impact firm. Apron is a business payments platform that helps small businesses pay suppliers and staff while keeping accountants and bookkeepers at the centre of the workflow. Bogdan Uzbekov is Apron’s founder and currently leads a 100+ person team building payment infrastructure for UK SMEs. Platforms like Apron allow UK bookkeepers to centralise outgoing payments, improve visibility over cash flow, and introduce more structured client processes. Get started with Apron for free at https://getapron.com/?utm_source=6fb ----------------------------------------------- About us We're Jo and Zoe and we help bookkeepers find clients, make more money and build profitable businesses they love. Find out about working with us in The Bookkeepers' Collective, at: 6figurebookkeeper.com/collective ----------------------------------------------- Promotion This video contains paid promotion. ----------------------------------------------- Disclaimer The information contained in The Bookkeepers' Podcast is provided for information purposes only. The contents of The Bookkeepers' Podcast is not intended to amount to advice and you should not rely on any of the contents of the Bookkeepers' Podcast. Professional advice should be obtained before taking or refraining from taking any action as a result of the contents of the Bookkeepers' Podcast. The 6 Figure Bookkeeper Ltd disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on any of the contents of the Bookkeepers' Podcast.