Business

How Leor Massachi Conquered The Startup World And Became The Co-Founder Of His Company Dandy By Age 20

Published

4 years ago

April 3, 2021

We’d like to introduce you to Leor Massachi: a 23-year-old carrying the titles of co-founder, Chief Product Officer, and Chief Marketing Officer for a tech startup named Dandy. Massachi had been interested in business since he was in middle school, so it only made sense that he decided to pursue a business-related program at the University of Southern California after graduating high school.

Although his major was in real estate development, Massachi’s true passion always lied in learning about the realm of technology and how multifaceted it could become when starting a business. He became obsessed with the idea of entrepreneurship to the point where he began interviewing successful executives on a television segment he came up with for his school’s newscast called “Word Hard, Play Hard”. Massachi would also constantly find himself dreaming big and taking notes of “cool ideas” for potential business endeavors on his phone so he wouldn’t forget them down the line. Then, once he got to USC, he was able to learn directly from the experts about the dos and don’ts of launching a tech startup. Along the way, Massachi networked with a number of successful entrepreneurs that gave him some of the advice he still applies to his business today.

In 2018, Massachi and his partner, Daniel Newman, came up with a concept for a dating application while chatting in their dorm room at 1 AM. The app was brainstormed to be completely different than your average Tinder or Bumble; the college seniors noted that they didn’t want users wasting time while they waited for the other person to reply. Instead, the app would work instantaneously for all users. At 8 pm every night, the app would go “live” for 10 minutes and users would make the attempt to log on and find a match. Once two users “liked” each other, they would be automatically transferred into a three-minute message-based chat where they could get to know each other in real-time. If they both decided to move forward when the call was over, the application would provide each user with their match’s phone number.

The concept was unlike anything the market had ever seen, and the two seniors knew they were onto something big. But with great originality also came significant challenges. The two entrepreneurs hired top-tier engineers to work on the product due to its complicated synchronous nature. If too many users logged on at the same time and overwhelmed the server, the entire application could crash. Therefore, it took numerous rounds of trial and error to have the servers reach an optimized stage that could handle the load of thousands of users.

And despite the innovative concept of the product, however, Massachi knew the idea and design of the app alone would not be enough to get the users to participate in the launch. He began to brainstorm ways of marketing the product while remaining under the extremely limited budget he and Newman were paying out-of-pocket. They had to be resourceful and minimalistic with their spending while still making enough of a statement to gather brand recognition. An entire discussion of ideas later, they decided to buy hundreds of yard flamingoes that resembled the outline of the app’s logo and disperse them amongst the USC campus overnight with flyers that read “you’ve been flocked!”. People responded extraordinarily well to the marketing tactic, and just like that, Dandy gained over a thousand users overnight.

Eventually, Massachi was designated as the company’s CPO and CMO while Newman took care of logistics as the company’s CEO. “When things started becoming a bit more stable and the app began taking off, we decided to divide the workload based on what we were best at,” Massachi said. “I focused on the development of high-level product concepts and marketing strategies for Dandy because my natural way of thinking was: ‘how can I penetrate the market in a different and effective way that will still prioritize remaining as resourceful and low-cost as possible,’” he added. “Since I tend to lean more toward working creatively than logistically, it just made sense this way.”

In February 2020, the Dandy app went through some major rebranding after news of a possible pandemic began to consume the media. The company founders gathered in an emergency meeting to discuss the possible consequences of what a nationwide lockdown could mean for students who were still in the prime years of their college experience. They understood that the consequences could force students to leave campus and have classes resume virtually, along with the hopes of establishing new relationships going right out the window. But Massachi and Newman came up with a plan to fix that. They introduced the idea for Zoom University: a live two-on-two video chat application that would be aimed towards recreating the way millennials and Gen Zs formed new connections and relationships online. Since each user went live with a friend, the sense of comfort and trust allowed the product to run far more smoothly than the nerve-racking one-on-one video chats from Dandy’s early stages.

Massachi’s marketing tactics for Zoom University were more digitally-focused than those for their previous product. This time around, the CMO utilized a cutting-edge social strategy that involved having hundreds of TikTok creators tell their audiences about ZoomU in their own organic way. “We wanted the content to be as authentic as possible, so we let the creators do it however they felt was most relatable to their community. It was a win for them because they were able to use their own creativity and brand personality to talk about the product, but it was also a win for us because people received it as a genuine endorsement rather than as some random ad,” Massachi explained. As it turned out, the CMO’s approach was immensely effective. One of the influencers’ videos uploaded to Tiktok ended up going viral overnight, and in a matter of 48 hours, the video was viewed over 2.5 million times. Zoom University ended up adding hundreds of thousands of users to their waitlist as a result of that one video.

A couple of months after its launch, Zoom University surpassed a user mark of 100,000 and it even gained a spot in the Top 10 Social Networking Apps on the App Store. That alone was a dream come true for Massachi and Newman. But the work didn’t stop there. Since August of 2020, the two co-founders have been in the process of developing yet another new project alongside some big investors. Details cannot be discussed quite yet, but they have shared that they will be implementing all learnings and feedback from their prior products into perfecting this new endeavor.

Bearing in mind their monumental milestones, you’re probably wondering how these fairly young business owners have time for anything else besides attending to their ever-evolving business. But they actually happen to heavily prioritize the balance between work and social life. “I’m very mindful. I try to live every day like it’s the weekend,” Massachi said. “Occasionally, I’ll go biking, I’ll eat good food, I’ll meditate, or I’ll hang out with friends. Taking a break helps me reset so that I can continue coming up with fresh, new ideas once I’m back to work. I’ve gained a lot of knowledge along the way on how to manage this heavy lifestyle, but I’m also still learning as I go. That pretty much goes for everything when you’re involved in a startup.” Massachi adds that he is eager to wake up every morning and think of new product ideas to improve people’s everyday lives; products that will not only provide high efficiency, but will also be meaningful enough to bring joy to its users.

Business

Remote Professionals Getting More Value for Their Work Thanks to Borderless Banking

Published

1 week ago

July 10, 2025

Matthew Wiles

Not too long ago, the idea of working remotely from an island in Thailand or a co-working space in Berlin sounded like the kind of fantasy only tech moguls or backpacking freelancers could afford.

Fast forward to today, and it’s as good as a global reality. Millions of professionals have cut the cord from traditional office life in exchange for flexibility, freedom, and a work-life balance that fits their personal rhythm and not their employer’s timezone.

However, as remote work has reshaped how people earn a living, it’s also pointed out the existing limits to most of the world’s financial systems. Traditional banking simply wasn’t built for a workforce that’s always on the move, operating in multiple currencies, and getting paid across borders.

Thankfully, that’s where borderless banking like Black Banx have proven vital, and has quietly transformed the way money is managed for people vacationing and working overseas alike.

The Rise of the Remote Work Economy

Remote work isn’t just a pandemic-era trend that faded with Zoom fatigue—it’s become a defining feature of the modern workforce. A recent survey revealed that over 39% of Gen Z and Millennials planned to live and work abroad for extended periods this year, many staying six months or more in a single location. That’s beyond a short trip, and can be considered as good as a sabbatical with a substantial lifestyle shift.

According to recent estimates, the digital nomad economy now also contributes as much as US$787 billion annually to the global economy. And this isn’t just entry-level gig work. A third of digital nomads earn between US$100,000 and US$250,000, while another third take in US$50,000 to US$100,000 annually.

It is indeed evident that the manner in which many make a living has changed. Unfortunately, most financial systems haven’t kept up.

Where Traditional Banks Are Still Falling Short

For those who have ever tried to open a bank account abroad or receive payment from a foreign client, they already know the drill: the paperwork is endless, delays are frustrating, and the fees? So much to do, even for the smallest amounts of money.

Just to name few of the hurdles remote workers still face with conventional banking:

Account setup restrictions: Need proof of residence, tax IDs, or a local job offer—things many digital nomads simply don’t have.
Slow international transfers: Payments can take days to process, which is a nightmare when rent’s due.
High foreign exchange fees: Currency conversions often come with steep, hidden costs.
Limited multi-currency support: Most banks still force users to operate in a single currency, making financial planning chaotic at best.

And perhaps most tellingly, many banks have digitized their operations but haven’t personalized their services. According to Accenture’s 2025 Banking Trends Report, while digital transformation has improved efficiency, it often sacrifices the customer experience. That’s not great news for people who live outside the lines.

Borderless Banking for Professionals Across the Globe

The concept of borderless banking goes far beyond wiring money internationally. Fundamentally, it’s also about being able to eliminate the friction between people and their money, no matter where they are in the world, and maintaining an ecosystem where geography, bureaucracy, and currency don’t stand in the way of financial freedom.

A working example of this is Black Banx, a Toronto-based fintech founded by German billionaire Michael Gastauer. Since launching globally in 2015, it has grown to serve over 78 million clients in 180+ countries as of Q1 2025, proof that people take to digital banking solutions when it is accessible, affordable, and is useful in just about any locale.

In the first three months of this year, Black Banx had also earned US$4.3 billion in revenue and US$1.6 billion in pre-tax profit, more than double from the same quarter the previous year and showing it has consistently delivered tangible value to global customers—remote professionals included

How Borderless Banking Maximizes Value for Remote Workers

1. Instant Account Access—No Strings Attached

The times of hunting down local branches or collecting endless documents just to open an account are finished. With borderless banks, users can open an account in minutes using just a photo ID—no proof of address or income required. That’s a lifesaver for anyone living outside their passport country or hopping from one location to another.

2. Multi-Currency Mastery

Managing money in multiple currencies used to mean juggling several accounts—or worse, losing money on conversions. Borderless platforms like Black Banx support 28 FIAT currencies and allow real-time currency conversions at competitive rates. That means remote workers can:

Invoice clients in one currency
Spend or save in another
Hedge against local currency fluctuations
Avoid excessive conversion fees altogether

3. Seamless, Real-Time Global Payments

Getting paid late, or paying others late, isn’t just inconvenient; it can damage relationships and disrupt your cash flow. With real-time payment support, remote workers can receive funds instantly, no matter where their clients are. This is particularly valuable for freelancers and entrepreneurs juggling multiple contracts across time zones.

Plus, bulk payment features and API integration streamline processes for those running teams or businesses.

4. Built-In Crypto Options

It isn’t surprising that many digital nomads are already deep into crypto. Whether it’s for investment, faster transactions, or avoiding traditional finance red tape, crypto is becoming essential.

Since 2016, Black Banx has allowed users to send, receive, and convert crypto (like BTC and ETH) within their accounts. That integration saves users from having to manage separate crypto wallets, and adds another layer of flexibility to their financial toolkit.

5. Secure Transactions

Remote workers often log in to work from cafés, coworking spaces, and airports, to name a few. Of course, this flexibility of being able to work almost anywhere should never come at the cost of security. Borderless banks like Black Banx use end-to-end encryption, AI fraud detection, and two-factor authentication to keep accounts safe from risky elements.

Financial Freedom, Not Just Convenience

Perhaps the most overlooked benefit of borderless banking is the freedom it provides. Not just to access money, but to fully participate in the global economy. For millions of professionals in underbanked regions like Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, borderless banking has become a gateway to financial inclusion and a way to take on opportunities that typically wouldn’t be available to them if not remote.

By removing barriers to entry, platforms like Black Banx empower underserved individuals to both take control of their finances and increase their earning power by working with companies from higher paying markets. This democratization of finance isn’t just good for individuals, it’s good for the global economy as a whole.

As Black Banx CEO Michael Gastauer put it: “Our multi-currency solutions enable businesses to tap into global talent without worrying about payment complexities. We make cross-border transactions as seamless as local ones.”

The Road Ahead

By 2030, the number of digital nomads worldwide is expected to soar past 60 million, according to the Forbes Technology Council. That means tens of millions of workers will be navigating foreign currencies, time zones, and financial systems—all while expecting the same seamless experience they’d get at home.

Indeed, remote professionals aren’t just looking for places to work—they’re looking for systems that work for them. In a lifestyle built on flexibility, traditional banking is proving too rigid, too slow, and too expensive.

Borderless banking services like those offered by the likes of Black Banx, on the other hand, offer exactly what today’s global workforce needs: instant access, multi-currency support, real-time payments, crypto integration, and enterprise-level security—all in a streamlined experience.