20VC: $0-$260M in Revenue in Three Years: How We Did It | You Need to Work Weekends to Win — Most Founders Aren't Ambitious Enough | The Revolut Playbook: Speed, Urgency, Extreme Ownership, and Zero Excuses with Alan Chang @ Fuse Energy
The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
The Twenty Minute VC
4.4 • 693 Ratings
🗓️ 5 January 2026
⏱️ 57 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
I have interviewed 1,000 entrepreneurs over 10 years. Nik Storonsky and our guest today are the two best that I have interviewed.
Joining the show today; Alan Chang, Co-Founder and CEO of Fuse Energy. Alan has scaled Fuse Energy from $2M in revenue in the first year, to $20M the second year to now $400M in the third year. Like Netflix beat incumbents to own media, Revolut beat incumbents to own banking, Fuse will beat incumbents to own energy. Prior to founding Fuse, Alan was one of the first three hires at Revolut where he played a crucial role alongside Nik (Founder) in scaling the company to over $75BN valuation.
AGENDA:
00:04:00 — The interview process that led to the $150M pay packet
00:05:05 — The moment I knew Revolut was going to be a $TRN company
00:06:10 — How Revolut drove speed and urgency in their teams
00:07:35 — Biggest lesson from Nik Storonsky @ Revolut
00:09:40 — If you want to build a generational company, you cannot have work-life balance
00:11:40 — What I disagreed with Nik @ Revolut on most
00:13:35 — Is Nik right that Revolut should have got a banking licence earlier?
00:15:05 — The green movement and the idea of "using less" is BS
00:22:55 — Why China is the shining light for regulation to follow
00:33:00 — What Nik at Revolut taught me about ownership and excuses
00:34:50 — The signs of truly top performing people in a team
00:36:55 — We do not have enough ambitious founders — we need to do more, not focus
00:39:55 — You need to work weekends to win
00:43:50 — Every single year we 10x revenue — now at ~$400M
00:44:35 — Why Eastern European engineers are the best
Items Mentioned in Today's Show:
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | If you have a gun pointed to your head today, would you have done more? If the answer is yes, that means you're not doing a good job. There's nothing wrong with wanting work-life balance. But I think the only way to build a generational company is like very, very strong work ethic. I just don't see any other way to do it. Excuses don't matter. If you're a leader of an area in the company, excuses don't matter. |
| 0:25.7 | If you succeed, you get all the praise. If you fail, you get all the blame. And it does not matter why you failed. We increase our revenue 10x every year since inception. The first year was |
| 0:30.8 | two million pounds. Second year was 20 pounds. And then this year, we're going to end at over 200 pounds. |
| 0:37.2 | Simply put, I have interviewed a thousand of the best entrepreneurs over the last decade |
| 0:42.3 | and two stand out above all others. |
| 0:45.7 | Nick Zoronsky, founder at Revolut and then our guest today, Alan Chang. |
| 0:50.7 | Alan is the co-founder and CEO of Fuse Energy, where check this out. Every single year, he has scaled revenue 10x. |
| 0:59.0 | The first year, 2 million. The second year, 20 million. And the third year, 200 million. |
| 1:06.0 | So like Netflix beat incumbents to own media, Revolut beat incumbents to own banking, Fuse will |
| 1:12.6 | beat incumbents to own energy, I think three of the most important categories that technology can own. |
| 1:18.6 | Prior to founding Fuse, Alan was one of the first three hires at Revolut, where he played a crucial role alongside Nick in scaling the company to an over $75 billion valuation. |
| 1:30.3 | But before we dive into the show today, as an investor I'm always on the lookout for tools that really transform how I work, |
| 1:37.3 | tools that don't just save time but fundamentally change how I uncover insights. |
| 1:41.3 | That's exactly what Alpha Sense does. |
| 1:43.3 | With the acquisition of Tegas, |
| 1:44.8 | Alpha Sense is now the ultimate research platform built for professionals who need insights |
| 1:49.5 | they can trust fast. I've used Teegas before for company deep dives right here on the podcast. |
| 1:55.2 | It's been an incredible resource for expert insights. But now with Alpha Sense leading the way, |
| 2:00.0 | it combines those insights with premium content, |
| 2:03.2 | top broker research and cutting-edge generative AI. |
| 2:06.1 | The result? |
| 2:07.1 | A platform that works like a supercharged junior analyst delivering trusted insights and analysis |
... |
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