BILLIONS From selling his company to Booking.com to building a fintech unicorn! - Arthur Waller [Pennylane]
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Jan 23, 2026 
Arthur Waller, a serial entrepreneur and co-founder of fintech unicorn Pennylane, shares his journey from selling his first company to Booking.com to tackling the accounting industry. He reveals the power dynamics among co-founders and discusses fundraising strategies that minimize dilution. Arthur emphasizes transforming accountants from adversaries into allies, while navigating the complexities of European expansion. He also touches on the importance of remaining private versus going public, and offers invaluable advice for aspiring founders.
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Raise Early To Build A Bigger Cake
- Raising from day one can be fine if your goal is to build a huge company and you value growth over ownership.
- For PennyLane the founding equity split reflected previous exits and who joined at ideation versus later.
Protect Ownership By Limiting Dilution
- Optimize fundraising around minimal dilution per stage, not just the total amount raised.
- Arthur targeted ~10% at pre-seed and capped later-round dilution at ~5% when possible.
Choose Investors For Quality, Not Just Price
- Investor quality and understanding of your business matter more than a marginally higher valuation.
- Top-tier investors self-police because reputation risk prevents them from making destructive moves.