Author
Vlad Tudorie
Over the past few months, I’ve been on a mission to connect with entrepreneurs, operators, and decision-makers across the world—not to pitch but to listen. To ask better questions. To discover the silent breakthroughs and behind-the-scenes brilliance happening in businesses we rarely hear about.
That’s how I found myself in conversation with John Golding, Chief Operating Officer of DragonPass International. If you haven’t heard of DragonPass, you’re not alone. Their website is outdated (which John mentioned is about to change dramatically soon), and they don’t make noise on social media. Yet, they quietly serve over a million new customers a month, working with giants like Visa and Mastercard across 170 countries.
Let that sink in.
“We’re a bit of a niche player,” John told me. “You’ve probably never heard of us […]. But we’re already growing. There’s no reason to be a big bullfrog at the pond when you’re already growing.”
That quote stuck with me. In a world obsessed with vanity metrics and performative thought leadership, DragonPass has been doing something radical: growing with intention, not attention.
Doing a bit of due diligence, I looked up DragonPass International LTDs financials, which, according to pomanda.com, have jumped from £10M in 2021 to almost £58M in 2022 and over £143M in 2023.
Scaling Without Crashing
One of the most eye-opening parts of our conversation was hearing John describe what it’s like to scale at that level.
“The growth, ironically, is really tough to manage,” he said. “Operationally, the growth can tear you apart because you can’t keep up.”
It reminded me of a principle I often share with clients: don’t automate chaos. Before you add tools, ramp up marketing, or chase new hires, your operations have to be strong enough to carry the weight. DragonPass lives that reality every day—delivering to thousands of issuing banks in wildly different regulatory environments, all while trying not to burn out their team.
“In two years, there’s been a 10,000% increase in support tickets,” John shared. “You can’t just keep on adding bodies.”
Decisiveness Over Perfection
I asked John how they make strategic decisions in a business running this hot. His answer was simple but powerful:
“The only thing worse than a bad decision is no decision. Just make the call. You’ve got a safety net. If, after a month or whatever, it’s the wrong call, just go back. It’s okay. Just keep on going. Keep moving forward.”
That mindset—humble, decisive, and execution-focused—is the opposite of what many “growth at all costs” companies practice. And it’s probably why they’ve managed to double year over year.
When I reflected back on how impressive that revenue-per-employee ratio was, I said:
“That puts you almost at NVIDIA’s revenue per employee numbers. That’s incredible.”
He just laughed and moved on.
That, in itself, says a lot.
The Quiet Blueprint for Success
What struck me most was how much DragonPass represents a kind of hidden excellence. It’s the kind of company you won’t find topping LinkedIn roundups or award stages—and yet it’s redefining what operational mastery and thoughtful growth look like in 2025.
No loud campaigns. No ego. Just clear execution, constant iteration, and the humility to adjust when needed.
There’s a lesson here for all of us:
- You don’t need to be loud to grow.
- Growth without strategy is just burnout in disguise.
- Execution beats branding—until your scale demands both.
Final Thoughts
These are the kinds of stories I live for. They don’t just inspire me—they sharpen my own perspective on what sustainable success actually looks like.
