“The thing that's made me most proud in my professional career has been the way I've treated the people that I work with and the people that work with me,” Nikolas Ioannou, the US-based Co-Founder of Hyper, which was earlier this year acquired by American Express (AMEX).
Speaking to the camera as part of the Live Podcast Series at INSPIRE 2026, 24-year-old Ioannou, who has a Cypriot father and a Norwegian mother and who was born, grew up in, and is still based in the USA, shared the moments that have stood out most in his career so far.
Elaborating on the importance of positive relationships with the people you work wih, Ioannou noted, “It's one thing to make a lot of money and be successful and it's another thing to have a room of people that you can celebrate your success with and where they're successful with you. So this is the thing I'm most proud of in my career.”
Ioannou also revealed that, “The most enjoyable part of being an entrepreneur is solving the hardest problems you can find, looking out for things that no one else has thought to try, and tackling those as best you can.”
The entrepreneur also talked about how, “My biggest goal for the next few years, as it has been the last five years, is to continue learning as much as I can and using those learnings to make an impact on people's lives.”
Ioannou also discussed the most memorable experience he has had in his career so far, which occurred in May when Hyper was acquired by AMEX.
“When you sell a business, you can't tell anyone at the company what's going on until you sell. So the whole company had no idea that we were selling. We brought everyone together in Mexico, in Tulum, and we told the whole company, and everyone was freaking out. We had the best time ever. This was the most memorable experience of my career,” he said.
Ioannou also talked about the most difficult business-related decision he has had to make, saying, “Two years into this company, Hyper. We realised that the business wasn't going anywhere. We had already spent a couple of million dollars building it. We'd spent a lot of time and sacrificed, and the most difficult decision was realising that we had to shut that down and start something new.”
It was the new version of Hyper that went on to be hugely successful and garner AMEX’s attention.
Also read: US-based Nikolas Ioannou on Hyper’s acquisition by Amex, the future of AI and his Cypriot roots
