He shared how experience in bank risk management and financial modelling helps launch and scale technology-driven businesses, why automation is becoming a key driver of sustainable growth, and how data and analytics are transformed into strategic management decisions in international markets.
In a world where business processes are accelerating and competition is becoming almost a mathematical equation, the topic of rational management and innovation in finance sounds especially relevant.
Artjoms Blazko is someone who combines rigorous financial analytics with entrepreneurial vision. After working in banking, credit analysis, and corporate finance, he launched his own company in the United States and scaled the product across dozens of regions, creating a network of automated photo studios built on data, technology, and precise calculation. Today, his expertise lies at the intersection of FinTech, product management, and strategic leadership.
Artjoms, you’ve gone from classical financial analytics to leading a technology business. How do you explain this shift—from Excel spreadsheets to product creation?
— For me, it’s not a shift but a logical evolution. Financial analytics teaches you to soberly assess risks, identify patterns, and calculate scenarios. When you spend years building models, evaluating credit portfolios, and analyzing companies, you inevitably ask yourself: “What would I do differently if I were fully in control of the process?”
Entrepreneurship is the same analytics, just in real time. I simply transferred my approach to numbers into product creation. When I launched the network of automated photo studios, I viewed it not as a creative story, but as a mathematically managed system: unit economics, scalability, logistics, risk management. It turned out to be more effective than I expected.
Everything I do today is a continuation of analysis—only now the data works for me, not the other way around.
You are often described as a “financial strategist with an entrepreneurial mindset.” How do you combine these two ways of thinking in everyday decisions?
— I’ve never separated them. Financial strategies are needed not to survive, but to grow. Entrepreneurship is about identifying opportunities. In my case, the formula is simple: data provides direction, intuition provides speed.
I don’t make decisions based solely on inspiration or only on charts. When we entered our first U.S. regions, the numbers gave confidence, while entrepreneurial intuition suggested where demand would grow faster. When we expanded into Europe, pure analytics came into play—the culture of consumption is different, customer habits are different. True mastery is making these two modes of thinking work in sync.
Looking back at your financial background, which banking experience proved most critical in business?
— Without a doubt, credit analysis. In banking, you constantly assess a company’s resilience, its ability to handle crises, adapt, and meet obligations. Essentially, you learn to see a business through an X-ray: where the weak link is, what could collapse the project, which decisions are toxic, and which strategies are viable. I fully transferred this perspective into entrepreneurship. When I analyze business development directions, I act like a credit analyst—but with the ability to intervene and change the process, not just record risks. That’s a luxury I didn’t have in banking.
You are building a network of automated photo studios. Many people are surprised—why did a financial analyst choose this field?
— In reality, the business isn’t about photography; it’s about infrastructure and scalability. When I studied the market, I was looking for a product that could be replicated without limits, relying on technology rather than the human factor. An automated photo studio is an ideal business model in terms of predictable metrics, controllable costs, automation, and low operational load. It’s closer to FinTech than it seems: a system that generates data, optimizes itself through analytics, and evolves as a product rather than a creative service. I didn’t see a photo service—I saw an algorithm that could be scaled across dozens of regions.
What have been the most difficult decisions for you as a leader?
— The hardest part is letting go of directions where you’ve already invested time and resources but that don’t deliver growth. We tried expanding the product several times, adding services, experimenting with formats. Some ideas looked great visually but were useless from a unit economics standpoint. I had to make cold decisions and say, “Stop. We’re shutting this down.” A leader’s job is not only to launch, but also to remove. That’s part of strategy too.
Your business operates in the U.S., Europe, and across different regions. How does management differ in an international environment?
— The difference is huge. In the U.S., speed and convenience matter most; customers are willing to pay for predictability and simplicity. In Europe, value lies in quality, trust, and service. In each region, I build the strategy from scratch: in some places the main focus is price, in others visual quality, processing speed, or partner networks. Managing an international network is like playing several chess games at once—the pieces are the same, but the rules on each board are different.
What motivates you more right now: company growth or product development?
— Right now—scaling. It’s important to me to build a system that can operate across dozens of markets without my constant involvement. But the foundation of that scale is still the product. If the product doesn’t improve, growth turns into chaos. So I balance it: today we optimize internal algorithms, tomorrow we open a new region. The key is not to lose momentum. A business must keep moving, or it begins to stagnate.
In your view, how does an entrepreneur with a financial background differ from a “creative-type” entrepreneur?
— A financier doesn’t make romantic decisions. They think in terms of risk and return on investment. I notice that entrepreneurs with financial backgrounds make fewer fatal mistakes, but there’s a downside: sometimes we’re too rational. It’s important to remember that the market isn’t just numbers. Sometimes decisions need to be made quickly, almost instinctively. That’s difficult for a financier—but I’ve learned to trust intuition when it’s supported by facts.
What key principle would you pass on to young FinTech product managers?
— Don’t think in terms of “features.” Think in terms of systems. A feature can be copied. A system cannot. A true product manager doesn’t focus on improving a button or interface, but on how user behavior changes, which processes can be automated, and where scalability potential is embedded.
FinTech is, above all, about systems. About ecosystems, flows, scenarios, integrations—hundreds of micro-decisions that ultimately form a single mechanism.
If you imagine starting everything from scratch, would you choose the financial path again?
— Yes, and even more so, I would go through it faster and tougher. Financial training gave me a foundation that saved me dozens of times—during crises, scaling, and negotiations with partners and investors. It is the language of business, but I would have added IT education earlier. Today I work extensively at the intersection of finance, technology, and product thinking, and I understand that the synthesis of these fields provides a tremendous advantage.