and then we would see where we were: either in a place where
we’re like, “This is actually fun and interesting, let’s continue.”
Or, “It’s not worked, let’s go back and do something else.”’
At the beginning, though, in order to break onto the scene
and be taken seriously, they had to act smart. ‘We tried so hard
to act like a bank. We would run around in suits, making sure our
business cards looked professional. It was important that our
phone number ended with lots of Os so it looked like there was a
switchboard,’ he recalls of the startup days in the early 2OOOs.
As work took over, studying took a back seat, much to the
chagrin of Siemiatkowski’s parents. ‘The company started
growing, so suddenly we were 1O people, then 2O. I would
call home to my parents and be like, “It’s amazing, we just hired
another person, numbers are looking great, we’re growing
super fast!” And they’d say, in
a very traditional way, “OK!
Great for you. When are you
going to finish your education?”
In a way, my father was never
proud,’ he says slowly. ‘He
struggled so much with his own
life and his own disappointments
of what he wanted to accomplish
and what he didn’t manage to. So,
he was always twisted between
prideandatthesametimehis
immensefrustrationoverhisown
failures.Upuntilhisdeaththat
wasalwaysthecase.’Evenfrom
hismother,hesayshewillnever
gettheaffirmationhecraves.‘To
somedegreeI amstilllooking
for that acknowledgement
thatI willnevergetfromthem.
So,I havetobasically
be happy myself,’
hedetermines,taking
a biteofhissandwich
andchewingslowly.
There’snodoubtthat
Siemiatkowski’sdrivehas
beenoneofthekeyfactors
in Klarna’s evolution.
Fiveyearsago,thecompany
underwenta seriousrebrand
inspiredbySiemiatkowski’s
wifeoffiveyears,Nina,who
alsowenttoStockholmSchool
ofEconomicsbutwhoheneverhadthecouragetoapproach:
‘Maybeaftera coupleofbeers[whichhepronounces‘bears’],
I’dstumbleclosetoherhopingtogetherattention.’
Severalyearslater,whenhewas28,theywereatthe
sameparty.Onlythendidhedaretotalktoher.They’renow
aSwedishpowercouplewithcelebritystatus:Siemiatkowski’s
teamhasdiscussedthegrowingneedtogethimasecurity
detail.IfKlarna,whichisworth $5.5billion,floatsonthestock market as its rumoured to do soon, they will be one of
the richest families in Sweden.
When he talks about his wife, who he lives with along
with his three children in the countryside just outside Stockholm,
his ice-blue eyes become even brighter. ‘Nina is a fantastic
marketer and has such a sensitivity for brands and fashion. She
was bugging me all the time, saying, “You don’t have a brand, you
don’t really get it. But you have potential.”’ So, Siemiatkowski hired
her. ‘And you can imagine the faces inside Klarna when I said that
my wife is going to take this job!’ he hoots. ‘They were like, “Oh my
god! Where the hell is this going?” But she was working pro bono
and she only did it for a couple of months.’
I get the sense that Siemiatkowski genuinely sees himself
as a banking saviour. In Sweden (the technology hasn’t been
introduced in the UK yet),
Klarna can connect all your
bank accounts so it allows you
to track your spending – a bit
like the different money ‘pots’
on a Monzo card – which is so
popular now. He shows me how
this works on his phone and I get
a glimpse of what he spends his
own money on: a trip to Paris
with one of his kids, flowers for
hiswife and a drone for him.iemiatkowski has also
personally invested
in Depop, the social
shopping platform. One of
theother big accusations that
people throw at Klarna is that
theeasy payment method can
encourage that quick-fix, fast-
fashion purchase. ‘The reason
I invested in Depop is because
I wantto understand better how
thesemodels are going to work.’
Heclaimsthere’sa lotofopportunity to position Klarna as
partofamorecyclicalretaileconomy. ‘Another one is
rentingitems.Wehavea lotofideas and plans for this year,
ofthingswecandotohelpdrive this change,’ he says,
adding,‘evenwhenyouseethat item list [of purchases],
youcanprovidemoreinformation – like what was the
humancostofproducingthisandhowcan you reduce that?’
Klarnais definitelybecomingmuchmore than a ‘buy now, pay
later’platform,butrightnowSiemiatkowski has another meeting
togetto.Inaweekthat’sseenhimtravel to Australia to launch
Klarnathere,thentoLondonformeetings with Farfetch’s CEO
JoséNeves,I askhimwhetherhehastime to sleep. He jokes
thatsleepistheonethingthat‘justworks’ for him: ‘I go home,
putmyheadonthepillowandI’mout.’With that, he packs up the
remainderofhisthree-coursebreakfastand hurries off to his next
meeting.AndI’mleftcontemplatingone thing: Where can I buy
myselfa cinnamonbun,orthree,andcan I Klarna it?” I WOULD CALL MY
PA R E N T S A N D S AY,
‘ WE’VE HIRED
ANOTHER PERSON.’
THEY WERE LIKE,
‘ W HEN A RE YOU
going to finishYOUR EDUCATION?’”
S
*Businessinsider.com.
Grooming:GinaBlondellusing Chantecaille and OUAI Haircare.With thanks to Wimbourne Studios/J J Media.95