“It’s brave to be an entrepreneur,” says John Caplan is co-Chief Executive Officer and Director of Payoneer. Caplan, a seasoned executive, investor, and entrepreneur with a track record of scaling companies, is no stranger to the bravery it requires.With former roles at Alibaba (following its acquisition of OpenSky, an SMB software platform Caplan founded in 2009), Caplan says that with the way the world, and notably India, is going, everyone can become an entrepreneur.

Or at least try. “Yes, some fail. But that’s part of the ballgame. It is brave to be an entrepreneur, it’s brave to be a freelancer. I am confident the freelancer economy in India is going to explode because there is so much capability and capacity. There is such an incredible education system. So if you sit there and combine this with the fact that the world is more global, then everybody can be an entrepreneur,” Caplan tells
ET Panache.

Motivation On The Move

What gets him out of bed every morning with the same amount of enthusiasm he’s had for decades is his mindset, says Caplan. “I jump out of bed in the morning thinking how I can serve more people,” he says, adding that although Payoneer is a public company with 1000s of employees, they are just getting started.

Creating and nurturing a bond with his colleagues is a quality that also motivates the energetic Caplan. “It’s a big compliment when people say that they have learned a lot when working with me. When people say I created a community of people regardless of background, age, religion, education. That all of us together achieved something bigger than we could have if we had not been together,” adds Caplan, summing it up by saying, company building is community building.

But even the happiest of families have to deal with some amount of conflict. “I am direct,” says Caplan and encourages bosses and people to speak up if they see something they don’t like. “At work, if someone is not carrying the water then I let them know. Just like I want people to let me know. I am less concerned about individual results than I am with effort. Because if we have the mindset and effort then we get the outcomes.”

Leadership Lessons

Given his extensive career, Caplan shares the biggest thing that has stuck with him through the years: Breathe. He says, “Breathe. Look at the data. Make decisions even with imperfect information. Trust your instincts. Be your authentic self.”

When it comes to making a tough decision, he says he has a few tricks to help get through the challenge. “Ask ‘why’ 5 times and you will get to the root reason of why something is not or is not working. Get to the root and you can adjust and get to the appropriate decisions,” Caplan shares. But the most important thing as a leader, he says, is to make a decision.

“I think just taking the decision itself is the right decision. This may sound a little nuts – the thing you’re worried about today, once you wake up the next day, that’s the thing you did yesterday. In a funny way I wake up everyday thinking how I keep climbing the mountain today and not spend a lot of time looking in the rear view mirror and worrying. It’s important that CEOs use data, dialogue and speed to make decisions. There is a tremendous amount of anxiety that people have when making a decision but when you make it, do your best with it and adjust. You will be just fine.”