Business

Gen Z Entrepreneur Surpasses the Traditional Education System to Build His Own Empire

Published

4 years ago

November 10, 2021

“Believe in yourself. If you’ve got an idea behind you and enough belief in it, you’ll make it work.”

Such is the advice of 18-year-old Flynn Blackie, specialist in psychological marketing and the founder of MOD Digital Limited. Starting a business fresh out of high school isn’t exactly the kind of plan everybody shares: usually, people gun for an undergraduate degree before pursuing their dreams.

But Flynn had a different outlook on how his life should go. In fact, he left school at the tender age of sixteen before starting his own business.

An Early Start in the Business

Blackie knew for quite some time that he wanted to eventually start a business of his own.

“I was always looking at side hustles and ways to make extra money. I always felt like I was going to be successful,” Blackie explained.

But at first, like most – if not all – of us, he mapped his life out in such a way as to adhere to the traditional education system. He’d planned to get into a university, snag a degree, and then have a high-paying job.

However, it was his initial dabbling in entrepreneurship that changed his point of view. He started off simple: buying and selling chewing gum. What he did was purchase wholesale chewing gum before selling these to the other kids in school. Soon, his small business evolved to include selling rare sneakers for a profit.

All of this was second nature to him. He began to get the hang of how attracting customers and appealing to a certain niche works.

“I kind of saw my potential as an entrepreneur, leading and getting clients and selling – all of these factors that you need to build up your entrepreneurship skills,” he said. “These qualities were recognized within me when I took a step back to look [at myself]. It became very clear that one day, I wouldn’t just work for a company – I would own it. And it turns out, my first employer was myself.”

Taking That Leap of Faith

Of course, Blackie’s idea of ditching the path of traditional education wasn’t met with unanimous support at first.

“I had to make my own decision before I went to [my parents] and tried to convince them,” Blackie said. “It became pretty apparent that if I were to not leave right now, I’d just be leaving one year later anyway. I knew that, no matter what, this is what I wanted to do.”

It wasn’t about taking the easy way out for Blackie. He made the decision to abandon the traditional education system because he knew where his heart lay: in entrepreneurship. He understood early on that no matter what, he wanted to venture into this realm, and his dream would only be put on hold for as long as he stayed in school. There wasn’t exactly a need to pursue a typical education in Blackie’s eyes.

That was the logic he presented to his parents. His father understood rather immediately. However, it was his mother who took some convincing. After all, this wasn’t a typically ‘safe’ path to tread. Every entrepreneur knows all too well how risky the business is. And for someone at such a young age, Blackie had tons to lose.

However, Blackie made it clear to his mother that he simply had to start his own business. “There were going to be bad grades, or my clients were going to have a terrible experience; it was one of the two,” he said.

In 2019, Flynn Blackie decided to drop out of school.

Thus began his endeavor into the unknown. Equipped with a dream and plenty of in-depth research, Blackie took that risk.

Starting Out with One’s Priorities in Mind

When talking about his initial interest in selling gum and sneakers, Blackie compared these experiences to his current niche. “Nothing really captured me like web design. It felt fun, and it felt pretty easy to make and it came really naturally.”

It was the thrill of receiving payment for the first website he built that made him realize this was the model he wanted to base a solid portion of his business upon. Blackie and his team at MOD Digital started out selling web design services. They also branched out to dabble in social media-related projects and several other ventures. However, the team realized that all these extra services didn’t actually bring MOD Digital the results they were gunning for. They soon learned that they wanted to deliver a more results-based service.

So, they went back to basics. Currently, MOD Digital has gone from a humble start-up to a six-figure agency that has garnered over sixty clients.

When Generation Z Delves into the Realm of Entrepreneurship

Blackie credits a portion of MOD Digital’s success to a youthful mindset. “Being my age can play as a good factor,” he noted in an interview.

Any young person, particularly someone who has grown up in this current technological day and age, knows all too well the power of screentime. As an ardent lover of video games and someone who’s grown up in a tech-savvy environment, Blackie’s mind has become accustomed to the lingo of algorithms.

“The second factor [that makes MOD Digital unique] would be that we’ve niched into a specific service. We have our core service, no matter which client we’re working with. We’re more specific about our system.”

MOD Digital puts the value of its service before anything else. In focusing on how they can best help their clients, they put forth a more personal brand, one that markets authentically and attracts loyal clients. Blackie also acknowledged the pivotal role psychology plays in their marketing process. MOD Digital uses subliminal forms of psychological triggers.

Pushing Past Doubt and Breaking Barriers

Despite Blackie’s current success, he’s no stranger to backlash. Some people assumed that being young equates to inexperience.

“There have been sales pitches where they took the meeting, but as soon as you get on [the call], they stop taking you seriously. You can hear it from their tone or the way they pay attention. You feel insulted, being on the call,” Blackie recalled.

Even communicating with a bank was tough. It was difficult to find someone who would open an account for a mere 16-year-old. However, Blackie persisted.

Today, MOD Digital continues to grow. Even with its current celebrated success, Flynn Blackie has no intentions of getting comfortable. To young entrepreneurs looking to build their own businesses, Blackie actually cautions against taking the risk he took unless one is at a level where they can afford to do so.

“The fundamental thing is to make sure you’re actually in a position where you can leave [school]. Work tirelessly to get to that point. And when you’re there, that’s when it’s time to go. You can’t leave because you ‘want’ to do something, leave because you are doing it, and doing it well.”

Flynn Blackie has certainly walked the path less traveled. His story marks as a calling to other young entrepreneurs: be smart, but don’t be afraid to take calculated risks.

Business

Inside the $4.3B Quarter: What’s Fueling Black Banx’s Record Revenues

Published

4 days ago

January 16, 2026

Matthew Wiles

Every quarter brings fresh headlines in fintech, but few make the kind of impact achieved by Black Banx in Q2 2025. The Toronto-based global digital banking group, founded by Michael Gastauer, reported an extraordinary USD 4.3 billion in revenue and a record USD 1.6 billion in pre-tax profit, while improving its cost-to-income ratio to 63%.

These results not only highlight the company’s operational efficiency but also mark a pivotal moment in its journey from challenger to global leader. The big question is: what’s fueling such impressive financial performance?

Customer Growth as the Core Driver

One of the clearest engines of revenue growth is Black Banx’s expanding customer base. By Q2 2025, the platform had reached 84 million clients worldwide, up from 69 million at the end of 2024. This 15 million net gain in six months demonstrates both the attractiveness of its services and the scalability of its model.

Unlike traditional banks, which rely heavily on branch expansion, Black Banx leverages digital-first onboarding that allows customers to open accounts within minutes using just a smartphone. This approach is especially effective in regions underserved by legacy institutions, where access to affordable financial tools is in high demand.

More customers don’t just mean higher transaction volumes—they generate a compounding effect where network size, brand trust, and service adoption reinforce one another.

Real-Time Payments and Cross-Border Solutions

A major contributor to Q2 revenues is the platform’s real-time payments infrastructure. Black Banx enables instant cross-border transfers across its 28 supported fiat currencies and multiple cryptocurrencies, helping both individuals and businesses bypass the traditional bottlenecks of international banking.

For freelancers, SMEs, and multinational clients, this means faster liquidity, reduced foreign exchange costs, and simplified global operations. The demand for real-time financial services is growing rapidly—Juniper Research projects global real-time payments turnover to hit USD 58 trillion by 2028—and Black Banx is strategically positioned to capture a significant share of this market.

Crypto Integration as a Revenue Stream

Another key revenue driver is crypto integration. While many traditional institutions remain hesitant, Black Banx embraced digital assets early and has built infrastructure to support Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the Lightning Network. In Q2 2025, 20% of all transactions on the platform were crypto-based, reflecting strong customer appetite for hybrid banking services that bridge fiat and digital assets.

Revenue comes not only from transaction fees but also from value-added services like crypto-to-fiat conversion, staking yields (4–12% APY), and blockchain-enabled payments. For customers in markets with unstable currencies, these services act as a financial lifeline, further expanding the platform’s relevance.

AI-Powered Efficiency and Risk Management

Record revenues would be less impressive if costs ballooned at the same rate. But Black Banx has proven adept at balancing growth with efficiency. Its cost-to-income ratio improved to 63% in Q2, down from 69% a year earlier, thanks to heavy reliance on AI-powered automation.

AI now drives fraud detection, compliance, and customer onboarding—areas where traditional banks often struggle with cost inefficiencies. By automating these processes, Black Banx can process millions of transactions securely while maintaining profitability at scale. This level of efficiency is rare in fintech, where high growth often comes at the expense of margins.

Regional Expansion and Untapped Markets

Geography also plays a role in fueling revenues. Much of the Q2 growth came from Africa, South Asia, and Latin America—regions where demand for mobile-first banking continues to soar. In 2024 alone, Black Banx reported a 32% increase in SME clients from the Middle East and Africa, signaling the strength of its positioning in underserved markets.

By extending services to populations previously excluded from formal banking—migrant workers, rural communities, and small businesses—Black Banx taps into vast pools of latent demand. The strategy proves that financial inclusion and profitability are not mutually exclusive but mutually reinforcing.

Diversified Revenue Streams

Another factor behind Q2’s record revenues is Black Banx’s diversified business model. Income is not tied to a single service but spread across multiple streams, including:

Transaction fees from cross-border transfers and payments.
Crypto trading and exchange services.
Premium account features for high-net-worth clients.
Corporate services for SMEs and international businesses.

This diversification insulates the company against volatility in any single segment, creating stable revenue growth even in shifting market conditions.

Michael Gastauer’s Strategic Blueprint

Behind these results is Michael Gastauer’s long-term strategy: scale aggressively but with efficiency, innovation, and inclusion at the core. His vision has always been to create a borderless financial ecosystem, and Q2 2025’s performance is evidence that this vision is not only achievable but sustainable.

By balancing mass-market accessibility with premium features, and by blending fiat with digital assets, Gastauer has positioned Black Banx as a category-defining player in global finance.

The Road Ahead: Toward 100 Million Clients

Looking forward, the company’s goal of reaching 100 million customers by the end of 2025 will likely be the next catalyst for revenue growth. More customers mean more transactions, more data insights, and more opportunities to refine and expand its service offering.

If current momentum holds, the USD 4.3 billion quarterly revenue milestone could be just the beginning of an even larger growth story. The challenge will be ensuring systems scale securely while maintaining trust in an environment where privacy and compliance are paramount.

A Record That Signals More to Come

Black Banx’s Q2 2025 performance—USD 4.3 billion in revenue, USD 1.6 billion in pre-tax profit, 84 million clients worldwide, and a lean 63% cost-to-income ratio—is more than a financial milestone. It is a signal of how the future of banking is being rewritten by platforms that are borderless, crypto-inclusive, and data-driven.

What fueled this record-breaking quarter is not one innovation but a combination of strategies—scalable onboarding, real-time payments, crypto integration, AI efficiency, and expansion into underserved regions. Together, they form a model that doesn’t just challenge traditional banking but actively builds the foundation for global dominance.

For Black Banx, the road ahead is clear: the $4.3 billion quarter is not an endpoint but a launchpad for even greater scale and profitability.