Sebastian's Journey From Flipping Burgers → $17B+ IPO

How do you go from pitching Sequoia to ringing the bell on a US IPO? Sebastian Siemiatkowski, co-founder and CEO of Klarna was raised in a home where ambition met accountability. Even as Klarna thrived in Sweden, his parents reminded him: “That’s fantastic. When are you going to get your degree?” That grounding, paired with Sebastian’s own ambition to measure up to companies like Google and Facebook, pushed Klarna beyond local success to a global stage. In this episode, we also get into: • how sci-fi books inspired him to see entrepreneurship as an adventure • how Klarna brought Sequoia on board • how Klarna got ahead of Afterpay in the U.S market • navigating co-founder tensions and pivoting leadership • turning Sweden’s strict bill collection into Klarna’s advantage ABOUT US: We’re proudly sponsored by Brex—a brand I co-founded, now supporting over 30,000 businesses like Anthropic, DoorDash, and Scale AI, helping them make every dollar count. I’m grateful for their continued support as I bring you all conversations with some of the most exceptional founders of our generation. For more information, please go to: https://www.brex.com/?ref_code=bmk_audio_HDinHD Connect with us here: 1. Sebastian Siemiatkowski- https://x.com/klarnaseb 2. Brex- https://x.com/brexHQ 3. Henrique Dubugras- https://x.com/hdubugras This episode was produced and distributed by our friends at Atomik Growth: https://atomikgrowth.com/ Chapters: 00:00 Intro 05:03 Background and Immigration 12:59 University Life 23:55 Gap Year Adventures 37:57 Finding Multiple Jobs 41:57 The Birth of Klarna 53:42 The First Product 01:15:32 Sequoia's Investment 01:34:50 Entering the US Market 01:49:01 AI and the Future