"Leadership is the art of confident decisions and fearless vulnerability."
Welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine, where we bring you exclusive interviews with visionary leaders who are shaping the business landscape. Today, we are thrilled to introduce you to Carly Furman, the CEO of Nayax, North America. Carly’s journey from her role as CFO at Nayax’s R&D Headquarters in Herzliya, Israel, to her current position overseeing operations across North America, is a testament to her remarkable leadership and dedication to innovation.
In this in-depth interview, Carly shares insights into Nayax’s mission of providing secure, omnichannel payment solutions to retailers, including the rapidly growing unattended retail sector. Nayax’s innovative features not only streamline day-to-day operations but also empower merchants to transform unattended machines into 24/7 retail stores with engaging customer experiences.
As we delve into Carly’s experiences and vision for the future, you’ll discover how Nayax is tackling challenges in the evolving EV charging industry, embracing change in the era of the Great Resignation, and capitalizing on the surging trend of online business.
Join us as Carly Furman unveils her strategies for success in 2023 and shares valuable lessons from her dynamic career.
Check out more interviews with entrepreneurs here.
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Table of Contents
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Carly Furman: Excited to take part in this opportunity! My name is Carly Furman, and I am the CEO of Nayax, North America. I currently oversee operations across the North America region, but previously worked at Nayax’s R&D Headquarters in Herzliya, Israel as CFO of all of Nayax’s subsidiary companies.
Prior to joining Nayax, I worked in public accounting and corporate finance, focusing on the biotech, fintech, and real estate sectors. I received a BA degree in Economics with an emphasis on Accounting from the University of CA, Santa Barbara (UCSB) and I am also a CPA.
For background on Nayax, our focus is on providing a secure, omnichannel payments solution including telemetry, management suite and consumer engagement tools to retailers, including unattended retail.
Nayax’s features help merchants improve their day-to-day operations and long-term planning, while our marketing tools assist operators in transforming unattended machines into 24/7 retail stores with consumer engagement activities.
We strive for all unattended retailers to be able to power their business through seamless and affordable acceptance of all cashless payment forms.
In the past year, what is the greatest business achievement you’d like to celebrate with your team? Please share the details of that success.
Carly Furman: Looking back on the previous year, I am most proud of our team’s work in addressing the EV charging industry challenges. The lack of charging infrastructure and standardization in this sector has been halting the potential for the EV industry.
As the potential market value of digital payments for EV charging stations is estimated at 12.5 billion dollars by 2027 (based on Juniper Research) our team continued developing both the infrastructure and software for manufacturers of chargers to adopt to open payment systems with point of sale (POS) devices that customers are familiar with.
What advice do you wish you had received when you started your business journey and what do you intend on improving in the next quarter?
Carly Furman: That everyone has waves of self-doubt in their career and that uncomfortable feeling is important to sit with and to understand where the doubt is coming from in order to achieve professional and personal growth.
It took me time to develop my leadership strategy, which is a blend of confidence to make decisions quickly based on data, and the ability show vulnerability without fear of it being mistaken for weakness.
Next quarter we will close out the year strong and continue improving our support and service infrastructure to ensure our customers can maximize our product offering to achieve their business goals.
Online business keeps on surging higher than ever, B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations, what are your expectations for the year to come and how are you capitalizing on the tidal wave?
Carly Furman: In the coming year, we fully expect online businesses, especially sectors like B2C retail, to continue on an upward trajectory.
Customers are prioritizing convenient, secure, and personalized experiences now more than ever, and it is up to businesses to make sure their needs are met in order to foster a loyal relationship with those customers.
In terms of capitalizing, we plan on continuing to do what we do best; supporting merchants in providing the high quality, trustworthy transactions in-person to convert into recurring sales.
Business is all about overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for growth. What do you see as THE real challenge right now?
Carly Furman: With the constant influx of technology, businesses have been facing the obstacle of finding a balance in hybridization over the past decade.
Connecting to customers and meeting their needs digitally is the biggest challenge, and while certain industries have been adapting successfully in the years following the pandemic, others are still learning how to convert their in-person experiences to be an equally, if not more, fulfilling experience online for customers.
A sector that exemplifies this would be hospitality, and more specifically, the hotel industry. When things shut down in 2020, nothing was the same for this sector once it resumed, and the impact of the pandemic still lingers on to the present day.
Certain demographics, like millennials, are traveling more now than ever, but the challenges of staffing shortages and outdated technology are holding many hoteliers back from creating repeat customers.
By merging their current business model with updated trends, like adding micro-market style lobby stores and creating a simplified payment system for guests from checking in to checking out, this industry can sustain over time.
In your experience, what tends to be the most underestimated part of running a company? Can you share an example?
Carly Furman: Even when overseeing operations, it is still essential for leaders to contribute consistently to innovation efforts.
Democratizing cashless payment acceptance is important to us at Nayax, so to keep up with consumers, we have to stay innovative and in touch with the present moment.
What does “success” in 2023 mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision.
Carly Furman: To me, success is continuing to leverage Nayax’s mission of more convenient, secure transactions for merchants and the customers who rely on them.
Developing our tech stack to meet consumer’s needs and expanding upon the solutions we offer to merchants would not only continue Nayax’s success through 2023, but it creates more personally fulfilling projects for myself and the team.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Carly Furman for taking the time to do this interview and share her knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Carly Furman or her company, you can do it through her – Linkedin Page
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