Episode 8: Colm Lyon

In Episode 8 of the 'Life and Leadership Podcast,' host Bobby Kerr interviews Colm Lyon, a fintech entrepreneur with a remarkable journey from a 14-year tenure at Ulster Bank to founding his own successful payment processing business, Realex, which he later sold for over €100 million. Lyon shares his early life experiences, including growing up in a large family in Clontarf and his formative education influenced by John Teeling, an inspiring lecturer and businessman. Lyon's academic journey was not straightforward, marked by an initial struggle with school and a repeat of his leaving certificate, but it eventually led to a commerce degree from UCD and a master's in management science. His career at Ulster Bank was a time of learning and growth, where he climbed the ladder to become the head of Central IT, gaining invaluable experience in problem-solving and the importance of methodical innovation.

Lyon's entrepreneurial spirit is evident as he recounts the inception of Realex in a pub, explaining the simplicity of his business model that connected online retailers with banks to process payments. The company's growth was organic and strategic, with a focus on building relationships with web developers and acquiring banks, which eventually led to significant partnerships and white-labelling opportunities. Lyon highlights the challenges and triumphs of building Realex, including a major system outage that led to the creation of a highly robust and secure infrastructure. The decision to sell Realex was a collective one, made over a reflection dinner with his management team, ultimately leading to the acquisition by Global Payments.

Post-Realex, Lyon's journey continued with the founding of fire.com, a digital account business. He discusses the challenges faced by fire.com, including setbacks due to Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic, but also the successes, such as securing significant contracts with large financial institutions. Lyon expresses his concerns about the future of fintech startups in Ireland, the need for regulatory changes to foster innovation, and his philosophy on investing in startups, which hinges on the people behind the ventures.