Exclusive: ‘Once Upon a Time in The Netherlands’ – Conny “Dutch Daredevil” Dorrestijn, BankiFi in “Buckaroos 2022”

We can’t write about all Conny Dorrestijn’s experience and achievements because we’d run out of word count. Let’s just say it’s a hell of a lot, and it’s baffling to us how one person can achieve SO much. Literally right now at this very second, Dorrestijn is chairing, advising, or directing no less than seven different (and super important) fintech organisations. SEVEN!

If our cowboy world was real, she’d be lassoing a wild horse, shooting the bad guy and hammering out a classic ol’ country tune on the piano all at the same time! She’s got grit, determination, and vision. We couldn’t be prouder to welcome this Dutch daredevil into our roaring gang of buckeroos.

Seven organisations, two mentees and one podcast

Starting her career in the edgy Netherlands, Dorrestijn found that the simple and straightforward tech ethos helped her to get ahead.

“We are pragmatic”, she tells us about the culture. “We look to solve problems”. As she rose through the ranks and work took her abroad, Dorrestijn quickly found – like so many of our 2021 buckaroos and 2020 Swashbucklers – that it’s one rule for men and another for women.

“Having worked in the City in London in the 80s I have experienced discrimination against women in this financial and technology industry in many shapes and forms”, she elaborates. “My key lesson is that whilst it is important to jointly strive for and build a better world, it all starts by surviving and thriving in an imperfect world”. And just like that, we fell in love with her. Is it any wonder Dorrestijn is one of the top ten voices in EU Fintech?

Thriving in an imperfect world is something Dorrestijn excels at. She’s now at the top of seven organisations, helping two mentees and even co-hosts a podcast, “Fintech Cappuccino”. Which is a brilliant name for a podcast. A frothy little pick-me-up all about fintech. We love it.

Bringing focus and fierceness to fintech

Dorrestijn’s pragmatic attitude carries through her work and is a distinctive part of her character. As ghost-writers we completely related when she told us

“One has to be low on ego, and high on pragmatism for this white label type of approach”. We hear ya sister!

And as fintech freaks we nearly lost our minds when Dorrestijn began with, “We gain very little from the old versus new, incumbent versus challenger debate”. We knew she was on track to say something brilliant, and sure enough, Dorrestijn came out with “I feel we should all very clearly define our purpose, out road to market and look for collaboration whilst being brave enough to embrace the new and untested”. Yes Dorrestijn!

This article was published in “Buckaroos 2022”, Page 32