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In today's episode, Wesley Aster hosts Carlos Netto, the Co-Founder and CEO of Matera, a leading provider of core banking, instant payment, and QR code payment solutions for financial institutions. Tune in to hear about: - Carlos’ journey from co-founding Matera in the 1980s to the Company's pioneering role in enabling real-time payments in Brazil - How Matera harnessed Brazil’s Pix payment system to grow 4x since 2020 - Matera's recent $100M raise with Warburg Pincus and strategic expansion into the U.S. For more FinTech insights, follow us on - WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech - WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech - WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech
In today's episode, lead host Djavaneh Bierwirth speaks with Shan Aggarwal, VP of BD & Corporate at Coinbase, as well as the Head of Coinbase Ventures. Shan discusses his broad spanning role at Coinbase and leadership of the company’s venture arm, his journey from studying neuroscience to investing in crypto, and the evolution of Coinbase Ventures as the crypto ecosystem has grown and matured over the last six years. They also explore key investment areas such as Web3 social media platforms and stablecoin based cross-border payments, as well as discuss the cyclical nature of the space. Tune in to hear Shan's insights on the future of crypto investing. [01:27] Shan's Journey: Shan discusses his unconventional path from studying neuroscience to becoming a key figure in the crypto investing space. [10:39] On-Chain Social and Web3: Insights into Coinbase Ventures’ investments in the evolving world of Web3, including platforms like Zora. [15:59] Simplifying Crypto UX: How Coinbase is supporting companies in make crypto more user-friendly and accessible to mainstream users. [16:59] DeFi and Cross-Border Payments: The potential of decentralized finance and how crypto is revolutionizing global payment systems. [19:35] Coinbase Ventures' Evolution: Shan discusses how the venture arm of Coinbase has grown from a side project to a major force in the crypto ecosystem. [27:11] Cyclical Nature of Crypto: A discussion on the cyclical nature of the crypto industry and how it impacts innovation and investment. [31:42] Crypto Valuations: Shan's take on high valuations in the crypto space and how investors should think about value in this emerging industry.
In today’s episode, lead host Djavaneh Bierwirth speaks with Daniel Marovitz, Senior Vice President of Fintech at Booking.com. Daniel shares his journey from studying East Asian languages to leading fintech innovation at one of the world's largest travel e-commerce companies. We explore the complexities of cross-border payments, the evolution of digital payments in the travel industry, and the strategies Booking.com employs to enhance the travel experience. Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 1:27 - Daniel's career journey 7:53 - Challenges of cross-border payments in travel 12:17 - Booking.com's payment innovations 16:58 - Partnering with local payment methods 21:31 - Balancing payment method complexities 29:26 - Evolution of Booking.com's fintech strategies 37:26 - Connected trip concept 38:37 - Build vs. partner decisions in fintech 45:04 - Advice for aspiring fintech entrepreneurs 47:26 - Closing thoughts
Zoey Tang sits down with David Jegen and Sarah Lamont from F-Prime Capital to discuss the State of Fintech 2024 Report. In today’s episode, we discussed -Latest updates in the fintech ecosystem -How should fintech companies cope in a more stringent regulatory environment? -Ten years in, where fintech startups have disrupted, been embraced, been outmaneuvered or outlasted? -Predictions for 2024 About F-Prime Capital: F-Prime Capital is an independent venture capital group that grew from Fidelity Investments. They have been backing entrepreneurs building ground-breaking companies for over fifty years. F-Prime has more than $3B under management and has invested in companies from Alibaba and Prosper to Toast and Flywire.
To celebrate the one-year anniversary of FedNow's debut, Zoey Tang sat down with an esteemed panel of experts, Nick Stanescu, Carlos Brandt, and Rocio Wu. In today’s episode, we discussed -Latest updates about FedNow -Lessons learned from Pix and other international instant payment network -Factors that drove differences in adoption across markets -Exciting innovations in the instant payment space About guests featured on today's show: Nick Stanescu is the Executive Vice President and Chief FedNow Executive at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. He leads the FedNow® Service, a groundbreaking initiative aimed at revolutionizing the US payments landscape with round-the-clock instant payment and settlement services. Carlos Brandt is a senior advisor at the Central Bank of Brazil for Pix and payments in general. He was the Head of management and operations for Pix since the launch in 2020. He has been instrumental in the design and implementation of Pix, Brazil's highly successful instant electronic payment system that has significantly increased financial inclusion and transformed the country's payment ecosystem. Rocio Wu is a Principal at F-Prime Capital, where she leads investments in FinTech and enterprise software. With a rich background in investing and operating roles at companies like Google and Amazon in Europe, LatAm, Asia, and the US, Rocio brings a global perspective on innovation and technology in the payments sector. For more FinTech insights, follow us on: WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Zoey's LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/zoeytang1007/
Kajol Char hosts Zuben Mathews, co-founder and CEO of Brigit. Brigit is a personal finance application dedicated to bringing financial stability to Americans by helping users avoid overdrafts, access instant cash, build credit, and budget effectively. This episode delves into Zuben’s journey to founding Brigit. In this episode you will hear about: -Zuben Mathews’ firsthand experience with personal finance challenges -Brigit’s holistic product suite -Regulatory opportunities -Power of cashflow data -And much more! About Zuben Mathews Zuben Mathews is the Co-Founder and CEO of Brigit. Zuben Mathews first immigrated to the U.S. on a full-tuition scholarship to the University of Chicago, where he worked two jobs to make ends meet. After school, he learned the ins and outs of finance by working in investment banking at Deutsche Bank for over eleven years. He then spent a year as Managing Director in Mergers & Acquisitions at Infosys before co-founding Brigit in 2017. About Brigit Brigit is a personal finance application dedicated to bringing financial stability to all Americans by helping users avoid overdrafts, access instant cash, build credit, and budget effectively. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Kajol’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kajol-char/
Podcast lead Djavaneh Bierwirth hosts Jenny Xia Spradling, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of FreeWill, a Bain Capital-backed startup on a mission to create access to estate planning for all individuals and promote high-impact charitable giving. In this episode, Jenny discusses her journey from founding her first fintech startup to disrupting estate planning with FreeWill. In this episode we discuss how FreeWill’s technology: supports nonprofits with planned giving programs simplifies complex donations of stocks and crypto assets provides innovative software solutions for fundraising And more… For more FinTech insights, follow us on - WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech - WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech - WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech - Djavaneh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/djavaneh/ About FreeWill FreeWill is a social-good enterprise offering online tools that empower Americans to address commonly faced estate planning needs and make charitable donations in tax-advantaged ways, all for free. FreeWill also features a charitable giving platform that makes it easier for nonprofit fundraising teams to unlock transformational non-cash gifts. Through its partnerships with 1,500+ nonprofits who understand that major gifts often are part of estate plans, the company is also able to provide a comprehensive suite of estate planning and related tools to consumers free of cost. To date, FreeWill has generated nearly $10 billion in planned and real-time gifts for more than 10,000 nonprofits while helping more than 1 million consumers create wills and plan their estates.
In today's episode, Wesley Aster hosts Mrinal Manohar, the co-founder & CEO of Casper Labs, a pioneer in AI governance technologies leveraging blockchain to revolutionize AI governance. Tune in to hear about: - Mrinal's journey from computer science to private equity, and ultimately to founding Casper Labs - The mission of vision of Casper Labs to enhance transparency in AI systems - Insights into Casper Labs’ collaboration with IBM consulting and its impact on generative AI auditability - The unique challenges and opportunities at the intersection of blockchain and AI - Mrinal's outlook on the future of blockchain in enterprise AI and evolving regulatory landscapes For more FinTech insights, follow us on - WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech - WFT Twitter: http://twitter.com/whartonfintech - WFT Instagram: http://instagram.com/whartonfintech
Kajol Char hosts Doug Ricket, founder and CEO of PayJoy. PayJoy is the leading financial platform dedicated to serving the underserved in emerging markets by providing access to smartphones, finance, and the modern financial system. This episode delves into Doug’s inspiring journey and his vision for PayJoy’s future. In this episode you will hear about: - Doug’s early career and his love for tech and international development - PayJoy’s origin story - PayJoy’s innovation - Opportunities for growth - And much more! About Doug Ricket Doug Ricket is the Founder and CEO of PayJoy. Prior to founding PayJoy, Doug founded a residential summer school for female high school students to study engineering at MIT, helped take Google Maps global, and built the wholesale distribution network for d.light solar products throughout West Africa (among many other accomplishments). He earned an MBA from Stanford Business School, his Masters of Engineering from MIT, and his Bachelor’s degree from MIT. About PayJoy PayJoy is the leading financial platform for the underserved in emerging markets. By opening the door to smartphones, finance, and the modern financial system to those who have been traditionally excluded, PayJoy is helping the underserved escape poverty and gain economic freedom. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: https://medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: x.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Kajol’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kajol-char/
In today's episode, Wesley Aster hosts Jonathan Whittle, the co-founder and Managing Partner of Quona Capital, a global venture capital firm investing in fintech in emerging markets. Tune in to hear about: - Jonathan's journey from entrepreneur to investor and how his experience as a founder has shaped his approach to investing - Quona's mission to drive financial inclusion, its recent advanced impact verification from BlueMark, and success stories from its portfolio. - Insights into fintech opportunities in Brazil and Mexico, and how regulation influences innovation in Latin America For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech
Joshua Benadiva hosts Oded Zehavi, co-founder of Mesh Payments, whose innovative approach to expense management is reshaping how companies handle their finances globally. In this episode, they discuss: - Oded's rich background with giants like PayPal and Payoneer and how it paved the way for founding Mesh Payments. - The intricate challenges of launching fintech solutions in international markets and the strategies to overcome them. - How Mesh Payments is revolutionizing cross-border B2B transactions through the use of card networks. - The pivot of Mesh Payments during the COVID-19 pandemic to address the evolving needs of remote and distributed teams. - The transformation from a payment-centric to an automation-centric company, enhancing the operations of the office of the CFO. About Mesh Payments: Mesh Payments enables robust automation and management for any spend category from procurement to T&E via a single platform and is built from the ground up for a modern work environment. Mesh makes it easy to manage and control global spending across multiple entities and currencies, from saving on FX with local currency cards to customizing policies, approvals, automations and integrations. Today, more than 1,500 companies rely on Mesh to power global spend, automate manual accounting tasks, and optimize finance workflows. About Oded Zahavi: With a career that spans across major players like PayPal and Payoneer, Oded Zahavi brings a wealth of experience to the fintech industry. His journey from these companies to founding Mesh Payments showcases his deep understanding of financial technologies and market strategies. His insights are particularly keen on scaling operations internationally and navigating the complex global compliance landscape. For more FinTech insights, follow us on: WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Joshua’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbenadiva/
Kailee Costello hosts Davi Strazza, the North America President at Adyen. Adyen is a global fintech platform for enterprise businesses, offering end-to-end payments, data, and financial management in a single solution. Tune in to hear about: - Adyen’s unique value proposition, and how Adyen runs their platform across the world under a single tech stack - Why Adyen attained bank licenses and the opportunities this offers, such as short term loans, issuing and with FedNow - What Adyen is doing to enable FedNow - How Adyen partners with fintechs like BILL and Plaid - How Adyen's offering and focus areas have evolved over the past few years - Davi’s career path and motivation for joining Adyen - Key differences between Davi’s previous role as President Latin America and current role as President North America - Industry outlook and the future for Adyen For more FinTech insights from Wharton Fintech, follow us on: WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Kailee’s Twitter: @KaileeCostello_ Kailee’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaileecostello/
Nate Gee hosts Eric Sager, COO of Plaid, whose technology links fintech apps and financial institutions in a network empowering the fintech solutions that millions of people use. In this episode, they discuss: - How Plaid has transformed the fintech landscape in the past decade - Eric’s journey into fintech and becoming Plaid’s COO - The role of APIs and open banking in modern financial services - The growth of digital finance in recent years - Instant payments and alternative payment rails - Other fintech trends and how Plaid fits in - And much more! About Plaid Founded in 2013, Plaid has become essential infrastructure in the fintech world, connecting over 100 million users to financial services and facilitating integration among more than 12,000 financial institutions and 8,000 fintech apps worldwide. Plaid’s technology enables simpler, faster, and more transparent financial services, making it a cornerstone in the ongoing evolution of digital finance. About Eric Sager With over 20 years of experience in financial services, Eric Sager joined Plaid as COO in 2019. Before joining Plaid, Eric held senior roles at BlueVine and Square. Originally from Germany, Eric worked at Bain & Company in Europe after graduating from Harvard Business School in 2006. For more FinTech insights, follow us on: WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Nate’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathan-c-gee/
Zoey Tang sat down with serial Investor, VC, Former Techstars Exec Jon Zanoff. Previously featured on the Wharton Fintech Podcast before, Jon is the founder of Empire Startups, one of the the largest FinTech communities of entrepreneurs, investors, bank innovators, and operators. As a fintech legend in New York, Jon is back on the show to share latest updates about Empire Startup and the New York Fintech Week on Apr. 8th - Apr. 12th. For more FinTech insights, follow us on: WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Zoey's LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/zoeytang1007/ Previous episode with Jon: https://bit.ly/3VBahpY
In today's episode, Wesley Aster and Djavaneh Bierwirth host Graham Weaver, the founder and managing partner of Alpine Investors, a people-driven private equity firm that invests in software and services businesses. Tune in to hear about: - Graham's journey from starting Alpine in his Stanford dorm room to growing the firm to $16B in AUM - Graham's personal growth and investment philosophies, as well as how he thinks about driving long-term impact - Alpine's latest $4.5B fund 9, and Graham's experience fundraising in a challenging market
Trevor Prince sits down with John Beccia, the Co-Founder and CEO of FS Vector, and Edin Trto, a Managing Director at Canaccord Genuity. FS Vector is a strategic consulting firm in the FinTech industry, focused on regulatory issues and other critical functions. In this episode, John and Edin discuss how their teams prepared FS Vector for its first institutional capital raise, how they navigated market volatility during their process, their outlook on the FinTech regulatory landscape, and much more.
In today's episode, Wesley Aster hosts Justo Benetti, SVP Head of Americas at dLocal. Justo formerly served as VP of Strategic Solutions at Worldpay. In this episode you will hear about: - Justo's background and new role at dLocal - Payment processing in emerging economies - Managing regulatory complexity across emerging markets - dLocal's $100M investment in Argentina, and how Argentina's new presidential administration will impact the fintech sector - Global fintech trends
In today’s episode, Joshua Benadiva hosts Irana Wasti, Chief Product Officer at BILL. Irana was previously the Chief Product Officer at Typeform and President of GoDaddy EMEA. In this episode you will hear about: - How to be a successful product manager in fintech - How Irana measures and implements successful strategies for building for small businesses - Best practices for managing product organizations in fintech - BILL's strategy to provide value as a full-stack financial operations platform - How BILL leverages machine learning and AI throughout its product - How to lead a product-led growth team and how to measure success, activation rates, and customer value For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Josh's Twitter: @josh_benadiva Josh’s LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jbenadiva/
Rhea Advani Bobba hosts Tess Bloch, co-founder and Head of Operations of Spade, a fintech startup reshaping the card ecosystem with real-time merchant intelligence. They delve into how Spade is revolutionizing transaction data clarity, enabling FIs to enhance fraud detection, authorize more transactions, and foster innovation in financial products and services. They discuss the journey of Spade from its inception and path to product-market fit. The conversation also covers the challenges and successes faced in expanding globally, the importance of a clear ROI for financial institutions, and Spade's ambitious plans for the future. About Tess Tess Bloch is the co-founder and Head of Operations of Spade. In her current role as Head of Operations, Tess leads Spade’s operations, finance, sales, and people teams, and grew the employee headcount 5x. Before co-founding Spade, Tess spent two years at the leading income and employment connectivity API, Pinwheel, where she started as the Chief of Staff before becoming its Head of Operations. In these roles, she helped scale the Pinwheel team 14 to 100 employees and supported growth that helped the company raise a $50M Series B. Previously, Tess also worked for McKinsey & Company in London, where she focused on payments, private equity, and public and social sector work, but her passion for fintech didn’t start there. Already, before graduating from Stanford, she realized her interest in the financial services ecosystem early on in her career, starting an internship at Venmo in her freshman year and taking time off during her junior year to work there full time. About Spade Spade provides real-time merchant intelligence for the card ecosystem. Spade leverages its ground truth database to link any card transaction to a real merchant identity – providing granular merchant, category, and geolocation information. Spade leads the market in terms of merchant coverage, geolocation matching accuracy, and speed of transaction enrichment. Customers such as Mercury, Sardine, Ramp, and Unit trust Spade's data to authorize more transactions, prevent fraud, and build more innovative features. — As always, for more Fintech insights and opportunities to collaborate, please find us below: WFT LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Blog: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Home: www.whartonfintech.org Rhea’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rheaa/
Kailee Costello hosts Ed McLaughlin, the President & Chief Technology Officer of Mastercard Tune in to hear about: - Evolution of payment systems: Mastercard's journey into the digital era - Adapting to the digital payment landscape: Mastercard's evolution and innovations - Navigating quantum computing: securing payment systems and anticipating future challenges - Quantum computing's potential in fraud detection and loyalty enhancement - Mastercard's AI-powered fraud detection and prevention strategy - The frontier of Generative AI technology - Mastercard's role in global economies: ensuring resilience, security, and innovation - Fostering fintech innovation: Mastercard's collaborative approach - Shaping the future of payments: Mastercard's vision and innovations - Consumer-facing interface of blockchain and stablecoin - Harnessing technology for financial inclusion For more FinTech insights from Wharton Fintech, follow us on: WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Kailee’s Twitter: @KaileeCostello_ Kailee’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaileecostello/
Trevor Prince sits down with John Mitchell, the Co-Founder and CEO of Episode Six. Episode Six is a provider of payments infrastructure to firms across the financial services industry seeking to build customized products for their customers. In this episode, John discusses his background in the payments industry, Episode Six’s business model and growth story, his view of the payments industry, and much more. About John Mitchell: John has served as the CEO of Episode Six since its founding in 2015. Prior to E6, John was the Chief Executive Officer of Rêv Worldwide which provides innovative, end-to-end payment solutions to global partners. John also spent seven years at NetSpend Corporation where he was responsible for shifting the firm’s strategy to serving underbanked Americans. John holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Texas.
Zoey Tang and Rocky Gowni sat down with Rex Salisbury and Nik Milanovic. In today’s episode, we discussed -Latest updates from This Week in Fintech and Cambrian -Nik and Rex’s experiences as solo GP -Their perspectives of the latest fintech ecosystem and what to look forward to in 2024 About Nik Milanovic & This Week in Fintech Nik is the founder of This Week in Fintech. He has been a key organizer in building the fintech community, bringing together fintech enthusiasts all over the world. Last year, he also started the Fintech Fund as the solo GP. About Rex Salisbury and Cambrian Rex is the Founder & Solo GP @ Cambrian VC. He started Cambrian previously in 2016 to cultivate a community focused on founders and builders in fintech. His community building had accidentally led him into the world of venture, as he ultimately became a founding member of a16z’s fintech practice, investing in companies such as Tally, Deel, and Oyster Technology. For more FinTech insights, follow us on: WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Zoey's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoeytang1007/ Previous episodes with Nik & Rex: -https://medium.com/wharton-fintech/nik-milanovi%C4%87-founder-of-this-week-in-fintech-and-general-partner-of-the-fintech-fund-on-9023790f242c -https://medium.com/wharton-fintech/podcast-with-rex-salisbury-founder-of-fintech-devs-and-pms-e40869eb4de1
Nate Gee hosts Gal Krubiner, Co-founder and CEO of Pagaya, whose AI-driven network of investors, lenders, and borrowers aims to reshape the credit underwriting process and extend financial opportunity to more consumers. In this episode, they cover: - Gal’s motivation for founding Pagaya - How qualified loan applicants can be left behind in traditional credit underwriting - Pagaya’s AI-driven lender network and how it works - The future of AI in financial services - Pagaya’s IPO in 2021 - And much more! About Pagaya Technologies Pagaya was founded in 2016 with a goal to promote financial inclusion through improved credit underwriting and evaluation. It aims to build the leading AI network to enable better outcomes and create new credit opportunities for financial services providers and their customers. The company became publicly listed in 2021 (NASDAQ: PGY). About Gal Krubiner Gal Krubiner has served as Pagaya’s Chief Executive Officer since he co-founded the company in 2016. Prior to co-founding Pagaya, Gal focused on structuring and distributing sophisticated credit and asset-backed securities products at UBS AG. He’s also held other roles in investments, entrepreneurship, and financial markets. Gal graduated from Tel Aviv University in 2012. For more FinTech insights, follow us on: WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Nate’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathan-c-gee/
In today’s episode, Joshua Benadiva hosts Dan Kimerling, founder and Managing Partner of Deciens, a leading early-stage fintech venture capital firm. Dan shares insights into the fintech industry, emphasizing the importance of timing in entrepreneurship and the need for businesses to have increasing returns and moats as they scale. In this episode you will hear about: - Dan's journey in the fintech industry and the founding and selling of Standard Treasury - The challenges and opportunities within the fintech space - The role of coaching in venture capital and the importance of customer satisfaction in the banking industry About Dan Kimerling: Dan Kimerling is deeply committed to investing in transformative companies at their inception, holding board positions in several Deciens portfolio companies like Chipper, Therma, and Treasury Prime. Before Deciens, he co-founded and led Standard Treasury to its acquisition by Silicon Valley Bank, establishing leading API solutions for the financial services industry. Standard Treasury garnered recognition from American Banker and SWIFT for its innovation. Post-acquisition, Dan headed API Banking and Open Platform at SVB. His early career included a stint at TechCrunch and an educational journey at the University of Chicago, where he achieved honors and won prestigious awards. Dan is recognized by Forbes’ "30 under 30," is a Kauffman Fellow, and actively contributes to the University of Chicago's Polsky Council and the Young Presidents’ Organization. He enjoys a personal life filled with reading, cooking, biking, and skiing in Chicago and Albuquerque. About Deciens: Founded in 2017 by Dan Kimerling, Deciens Capital is a venture capital firm dedicated to ushering in the next generation of financial services. By focusing exclusively on early-stage investments, Deciens aims to support foundational companies reshaping industries and regions, including significant collaborations with Chipper Cash, Treasury Prime, and Therma. The firm prides itself on being the initial significant investment for companies poised for substantial growth, deep market impact, and the establishment of strong competitive moats in sizable markets. Deciens' portfolio showcases a commitment to groundbreaking fintech ventures such as Treasury Prime, Chipper Cash, and several others, emphasizing its role in the digital transformation of traditional financial institutions. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Josh's Twitter: @josh_benadiva Josh’s LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jbenadiva/
Zoey Tang sits down with Sarah Hinkfuss and Saanya Ojha from Bain Capital Ventures. At BCV, Sarah and Saanya partner with growth-stage founders building the next generation of software products, with a particular focus in Fintech. Before joining Bain Capital, Sarah started her investing career on the growth team at KKR. She previously worked at Applied Predictive Technologies, an enterprise SaaS company in the predictive analytics space that was acquired by Mastercard in 2015. Saanya is a proud Wharton alum. After starting her career at Goldman Sachs, she joined Coatue in 2019 and then Bain Capital Ventures. In today's episode, we got to know about Sarah and Saanya’s stories and their views on the impact of Generative AI on Financial Services. -- As always, for more Fintech insights and opportunities to collaborate, please find us below: WFT LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Blog: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Home: www.whartonfintech.org Zoey's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoeytang1007/ About Bain Capital Ventures Bain Capital Ventures is the venture arm of Bain Capital, one of the world’s renowned private investment groups with $165B AUM. BCV is currently investing out of fund ten ($1.9BN) with a wide mandate, writing checks starting from $1M and up to $100M.
In today’s episode, Joshua Benadiva hosts Asaf Horesh, Managing Partner at Vintage Investment Partners. Asaf recently co-led a $200m raise for Vintage's new growth fund. In this episode, he discusses the importance of building meaningful relationships in venture and the unique structure of Vintage's investment strategies. He explains the structure and metrics of Vintage's data platform and shares insights on trends in early-stage fintech investments. Asaf also discusses the challenges faced by companies with valuation issues and the targeting of specific verticals in the secondary market. He offers advice for those looking to grow their careers in venture and fintech. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Josh's Twitter: @josh_benadiva Josh’s LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jbenadiva/
Russell Matambo hosts Wemimo Abbey and Samir Goel, co-CEOs and co-founders of Esusu, a leading Fintech platform that reports on-time rental payments to credit bureaus so renters can build credit while building owners and property managers maximise their portfolio health. They discuss how Esusu is expanding financial access in the US, Esusu’s growing pains and lessons learnt along the way, Samir and Wemimo’s principled and purposeful leadership as Co-CEOs, and much more! About Wemimo and Samir: Wemimo Abbey and Samir Goel are co-CEOs and co-founders of Esusu. Esusu is the leading Fintech platform providing rent reporting, property management analytics, and rental assistance to unlock financial access and stability for renters and property owners in the US. In 2023 alone, Esusu unlocked $21.9 Billion in new credit activity for Esusu renters, by enabling 107,000 renters establish credit score for the first time while helping many more with existing credit scores increase theirs by at least 36 points. Most recently, Esusu was valued at $1 billion in their $130 million Series B round. Prior to Esusu, both Samir and Wemimo founded social enterprises and had successful corporate careers. Samir Co-Founded Transfernation, a nationally recognized non-profit that used technology to direct over 5 million pounds of excess food to nearly 2.5 million people in underserved communities across New York City. Wemimo on the other hand founded Clean Water for Everyone, a global social venture providing affordable access to clean water for 250,000+ people in six countries. He also founded a data analytics company gathering data on NGOs operating in Africa, which was acquired in 2014. Collectively Wemimo and Samir have been featured in over a dozen major business publications including but not limited to the 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30, the 2022 Fortune 40 Under 40 and the 2023 TIME 100 lists. -- As always, for more Fintech insights and opportunities to collaborate, please find us below: WFT LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Blog: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Home: www.whartonfintech.org Russell's LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/russell-matambo-cfa-a5900039/
Kailee Costello hosts Jack Zhang, the CEO and co-founder of Airwallex. Airwallex is revolutionizing the way that businesses operate globally; their financial infrastructure provides a modern tech stack for businesses of all sizes to operate internationally without the challenges of the current global financial system. They discuss: - Airwallex’s growth story - How Airwallex built their global money movement infrastructure - AI opportunities Airwallex is pursuing, including using LLMs to improve KYC and onboarding processes - Why Jack does not expect crypto to play a significant role in cross-border payments For more FinTech insights from Wharton Fintech, follow us on: WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Kailee’s Twitter: @KaileeCostello_ Kailee’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaileecostello/
In today’s episode, Joshua Benadiva hosts Bobby Morrison, Chief Revenue Officer at Shopify. Bobby was previously the Chief Revenue Officer at Intuit and a Senior Vice President at Verizon. In this episode you will hear about: - What makes Shopify unique and so fast-paced - Bobby's vision for the future of enterprise e-commerce - Shopify's product-led growth motion with enterprise e-commerce - Using Shop Pay, highest converting checkout experience, to illustrate the value of Shopify with little integration costs - How Shopify thinks about partnerships vs. building features themselves, what they call "main quests" vs "side-quests" - Building out omni-channel features and working alongside ERPs - Why massive brands are moving over to Shopify For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Josh's Twitter: @josh_benadiva Josh’s LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jbenadiva/
Matt Watson, Origin Co-Founder and CEO - Financial Advice for Everyone by Wharton Fintech Podcast
In our final episode of 2023, Trevor Prince sits down with Tommy Nicholas, the Co-Founder and CEO of Alloy. Alloy is a platform that provides banks and FinTechs with a unified operating system for risk, fraud, and credit evaluation and monitoring in retail financial services. In this episode, Tommy discusses his background, Alloy’s business model and what it took to scale the company, Tommy’s outlook on Alloy and FinTech heading into 2024, and much more. About Tommy Nicholas: Tommy has served as the CEO of Alloy since co-founding the company in 2015. Prior to Alloy, was the Head of Product at Knox Payments, and spent time as a software developer. He was born and raised in Richmond, VA, and graduated from the University of Virginia, where he received a Bachelor’s in History and African American Studies.
In previous episodes we’ve touched on emerging fintech payments products that are attempting to take a piece of the payments pie. Today, we’re going to talk about Fiserv with Sunil Sachdev on the fintech giants’ approach to Embedded Finance and the changing paradigm in payments. About Sunil Sachdev: Sunil is a global fintech executive with a significant breadth of experience in banking, acquiring, DeFi and payments at companies such as American Express, Meed, Pershing and Fiserv. He has worked at Fiserv for nearly a decade in various roles and geographies, including leading the Fiserv payments business in international markets when Fiserv partnered with SWIFT to launch real-time payments in Australia. In recent years, he headed up the U.S. Community Bank segment for Fiserv before taking on a new role leading the Fintech and Growth segment to build out Fiserv’s self-service, low-code services and extend the dual-core and banking-as-a-service capabilities from Fiserv. These diverse experiences have helped deepen his appreciation for the power of collaboration between financial institutions, fintechs, brands and other businesses looking to extend banking and payment capabilities to their customers around the world. In 2023, Sunil was tapped to stand up the Embedded Finance business with true horizontal accountability across banking, merchant acquiring and issuing businesses at Fiserv. Sunil and his team leverage the full power of Fiserv for the benefit of its clients, including financial institutions, brands, ISVs, merchants and fintechs. About Fiserv: Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE: FI), a Fortune 500 company, aspires to move money and information in a way that moves the world. As a global leader in payments and financial technology, the company helps clients achieve best-in-class results through a commitment to innovation and excellence in areas including account processing and digital banking solutions; card issuer processing and network services; payments; e-commerce; merchant acquiring and processing; and the Clover® cloud-based point-of-sale and business management platform. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Rhea’s Twitter: @rheaadvani Rhea’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rheaa/
In today’s episode, Kailee Costello hosts David Brear, the CEO and co-founder of 11:FS and one of the hosts of the Fintech Insider podcast. In today’s episode, David shares his insights on 3 topics: 1. How digital technologies and fintechs have unleashed innovation in commercial banking. We talk about the unmet needs of SMEs and why David expects to see a transition to more service-based models in the future. 2. The banking battlefield. The competitive landscape is shifting from being about the “number of customers you can acquire” to a landscape where digital is increasingly important. We discussed strategies that incumbent banks can take to stay competitive. 3. How fintech and financial ecosystems differ across different global markets. We spoke about the impact of generational and cultural differences, and why David expects there to be different winners in different regions. Check out the 11:FS podcast ‘Fintech Insider’: https://content.11fs.com/podcasts/fintech-insider For more FinTech insights from Wharton Fintech, follow us on: WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Kailee’s Twitter: @KaileeCostello_ Kailee’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaileecostello/
Russell Matambo hosts Henry Ward, CEO and co-founder of Carta, a global equity management platform on a mission to unlock the power of equity ownership for more people in more places. They discuss Henry’s entrepreneurial journey, the challenges of simultaneously innovating and scaling a company, Carta’s mission to democratise ownership, and much more! About Henry: Henry is the CEO and co-founder of Carta. Carta manages over three trillion dollars in equity for over two million people globally. The company is trusted by more than 40,000 companies, and over 7,000 funds and SPVs to manage cap tables, compensation, valuations, liquidity, and more. Prior to Carta, Henry was founder and CEO of Secondsight, a portfolio optimization platform for retail investors. He also held leadership positions at software companies including Reddwerks Inc. and BetweenMarkets. Henry graduated from the University of Michigan with a BGS in Mathematics and Computer Science and holds an MSC in Market Finance from EDHEC Business School. -- As always, for more Fintech insights and opportunities to collaborate, please find us below: WFT LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Blog: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Home: www.whartonfintech.org Russell's LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/russell-matambo-cfa-a5900039/
Russell Matambo hosts Serigne Dioum, Group CEO of MTN Fintech, an African mobile financial services platform and subsidiary of MTN, Africa’s largest mobile network operator. With a footprint of 16 countries, over 69 million customers, and an annual transaction value of over US$220 billion, MTN Fintech is among the largest mobile financial services platforms in Africa. They discuss MTN’s ambition to scale Africa’s largest fintech platform, the strategic importance of carving out MTN Fintech and its partnership with Mastercard, and much more! About Serigne: Serigne Dioum is the Group CEO of MTN Fintech. Prior to this, Serigne was the MTN Group Executive for Mobile Financial Services. Serigne joined the MTN Group in September 2013, and has since then been responsible for driving MTN Mobile Money (MoMo) and related mobile financial services products and services across the MTN footprint. Serigne is passionate about financial inclusion and is spearheading MTN’s ambition to build Africa’s largest fintech platform, accelerating economic and social development through digital innovations for the benefit of citizens across the continent and beyond. Prior to joining MTN, Serigne headed Orange Money Skill Centre from 2008 to 2010 where he coordinated the launch of Orange Money in several Orange affiliates. Serigne holds a qualification in Telecommunications Engineering from the French institution ENST Bretagne. -- As always, for more Fintech insights and opportunities to collaborate, please find us below: WFT LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Blog: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Home: www.whartonfintech.org Russell's LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/russell-matambo-cfa-a5900039/
Zoey Tang sits down with Vinay Nair, founder and CEO of TIFIN, a fintech platform that drives personalization for wealth using AI and investment intelligence. TIFIN operates a collection of fully-owned subsidiaries in wealth and investments that are shaping the future of investor experience. Vinay was also the Founder and Chairman of 55ip, which was successfully sold to J.P. Morgan. As a serial entrepreneur and investor, Vinay was also a former finance faculty member of Wharton. His teaching focuses on venture capital, private equity, and entrepreneurship. He is also recognized as an expert in the areas of sustainable and responsible investing and has written “Investing for Change”, a book published in 2008 by Oxford University Press. In the episode, Vinay covers his journey from academics to entrepreneurship, how TIFIN is helping transform Wealth Management for consumers and financial advisors, and how TIFIN is pioneering in the space using Gen AI through partnership with incumbents.
Nate Gee hosts Anthony Scaramucci, Founder and Managing Partner of SkyBridge Capital, an alternative investment firm with a significant focus on digital assets. In this episode, they cover: - Anthony’s partnership with FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried - What led to FTX’s 30% stake in SkyBridge, and takeaways from FTX’s collapse - Risk-taking, facing criticism, and moving on from mistakes - Insights from Anthony’s time as White House Communications Director - Recent performance and the road ahead for SkyBridge - Bitcoin, other digital assets, and the future of money - Anthony’s macroeconomic and geopolitical concerns - SkyBridge’s SALT Conferences - And much more! About SkyBridge SkyBridge Capital is an alternative asset manager and investment advisor whose holdings include digital assets, public and private equity, and hedge funds. It was founded in 2005 by Anthony Scaramucci, also the founder and chairman of SALT, SkyBridge’s venture studio and networking forum covering public policy, finance, and technology. About Anthony Scaramucci Anthony Scaramucci is an investor and entrepreneur whose focus in recent years has included digital assets and related technology at SkyBridge Capital. Scaramucci has also worked in politics, most notably in a brief stint as the White House Communications Director for President Donald Trump in 2017. He was ranked among Cointelegraph’s most influential people in crypto and blockchain in 2022, and in 2016, he was listed among Worth Magazine's 100 most powerful people in global finance. Scaramucci has authored multiple books and speaks on CNBC, Bloomberg, and other media. Before founding SkyBridge, Scaramucci sold his prior investment business, Oscar Capital Management, to Neuberger Berman in 2001. He began his career at Goldman Sachs and holds a JD from Harvard Law School and a BA from Tufts University. For more FinTech insights, follow us on: WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Nate’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathan-c-gee/
In today’s episode, Kailee Costello hosts David Haber, General Partner at a16z. David focuses on technology investments in financial services.David was previously a senior executive in Firmwide Strategy at Goldman Sachs where he helped lead partnerships, new ventures and M&A. Before joining the firm, David was the Founder and CEO of Bond Street, which aimed to transform small business lending through technology, data, and design. Bond Street was acquired by Goldman Sachs in 2017. In this episode you will hear about: - The outlook for fintech: challenges and opportunities - How seeing the world from the perspective of an operator, an entrepreneur, and an investor has shaped David’s investing today - David’s current investing theses - David’s learnings from Bond Street about the importance of “leading with software” - How David’s lessons from Bond Street and his time at Goldman Sachs have influenced what he looks for in an investment and a founding team - David’s rationale for leaving his VC role at Spark Capital to found a startup - What David liked and disliked about his roles in VC compared to his role as founder and CEO at Bond Street For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Kailee’s Twitter: @KaileeCostello_ Kailee’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaileecostello/
Zoey Tang sits down with Mark Fiorentino, partner at Index Ventures. Founded in 1996, Index Ventures is a global Venture Capital firm with offices in San Francisco, New York City, and London. Index Ventures has previously invested in prominent fintech companies such as Adyen, Plaid, Robinhood As part of the early members of the San Francisco team, Mark is focused largely on fintech and application SaaS. He is especially interested in fintech infrastructure, verticalized payment workflows, and SaaS tools disrupting legacy incumbents. He’s currently invested in RevenueCat, Loop, Catch, Pomelo, and Mercantile. Prior to Index, Mark helped build and lead business strategy and finance at Stripe from 2015 to 2019, driving key initiatives for sales operations, global growth, and fundraising. He helped the company assess international product market fit, grow from a couple hundred to nearly 2,000 people, and move upmarket into late-stage and enterprise. Before that, Mark was an investor at GI Partners, focusing on vertical SaaS and insurance marketplaces, including the acquisition of MRI Software. He was also an investment banker at Goldman Sachs, and served as a board member of the Stonestown YMCA for three years. In today’s episode we discuss Mark’s journey into Fintech and venture investing, his investment philosophy for companies in different stages, and his advice for founders in a period of volatility. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Zoey's Twitter: @zoeytang1007 Zoey's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoeytang1007/
In this episode, Blythe Masters reflects on her career that spans three decades within financial services. She discusses pivotal moments, from navigating through major mergers and market upheavals to becoming a mother at an early age. Addressing the evolving landscape of financial services, she delves into the transformative impact of AI and technology on Motive’s investment thesis, portfolio companies and day-to-day operations. Her experiences and observations provide a unique perspective on the industry's past, present, and future, making this podcast a must-listen for finance professionals and enthusiasts alike. About Blythe Masters Blythe Masters joined Motive Partners in 2019 and is a Founding Partner. At Motive, Blythe sources and executes investment opportunities with a focus on strategy and growth for Motive portfolio companies, through her extensive experience as a financial services and technology executive. Blythe is Chair of Motive Ventures, the early-stage investment capability at Motive Partners. Prior to joining Motive, Blythe was the CEO of Digital Asset Holdings, the leading enterprise blockchain fintech company responsible for the Australian Securities Exchange’s ground-breaking post-trade infrastructure replacement project. Previously, Blythe was a member of the Corporate and Investment Bank Operating Committee and firmwide Executive Committee at J.P. Morgan. Her J.P. Morgan career spanned 27 years, fulfilling several roles including head of global commodities, head of corporate and investment bank regulatory affairs, CFO of the investment bank, head of global credit portfolio and credit policy and strategy, and head of structured credit. Blythe is a graduate and Senior Scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge where she received a B.A. in Economics. About Motive Partners Motive Partners is a specialist private equity firm with offices in New York City, London and Berlin, focusing on growth equity and buyout investments in software and information services companies based in North America and Europe and serving five primary subsectors: Banking & Payments, Capital Markets, Data & Analytics, Investment Management and Insurance. Motive Partners brings differentiated expertise, connectivity and capabilities to create long-term value in financial technology companies. For more information, please visit www.motivepartners.com For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Rhea’s Twitter: @rheaadvani Rhea’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rheaa/
In today’s episode, Kailee Costello hosts Nikhil Lakhanpal, Co-Founder at Narmi. Narmi’s mission is to offer financial institutions the best digital banking platform in the industry. Narmi does this through an API-driven platform that layers on top of existing banking infrastructure to give these financial institutions access to Narmi’s products, including digital account opening, consumer and business digital banking, and an admin platform. In this episode you will hear about: - Nikhil’s journey from running a financial institution during his undergraduate years at Georgetown to founding a fintech. - How Narmi integrates with the tech stack for financial institutions to provide a superior customer experience - How Narmi thinks about segmenting and targeting potential customers - How Narmi approaches selling to financial institutions (which have typically been risk-averse and slow to adopt new technologies) - Who Narmi’s main competitors are, and how Narmi distinguishes its value proposition from theirs - Outlook for the banking sector, including the impact of FedNow and how banks have recently started focusing more on digital and tech spend - What’s top of mind for Nikhil given that 2023 has been a tumultuous year for the banking sector - How Narmi approached developing their suite of products, and whether what Narmi looks like today is what Nikhil envisioned when he started working on the company - Narmi’s short-term goals, and where Nikhil sees Narmi 5 years from now About Narmi Narmi offers state of the art digital banking and digital account opening platforms to financial institutions. The platform – built for the enterprise – allows financial institutions to open accounts in less than 2.5 minutes, and then grow that relationship over a lifetime through intuitive mobile and online channels. Every single product at Narmi integrates with leading core banking systems. About Nikhil Lakhanpal Nikhil Lakhanpal is the Co-Founder of Narmi. Prior to Narmi, Nikhil ran a financial institution as CEO and also held roles in Investment Banking at Citi. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Kailee’s Twitter: @KaileeCostello_ Kailee’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaileecostello/
In today’s episode, Rhea Advani hosts John MacIlwaine, Co-Founder & CEO at Highnote. They delve into the evolving payments processing space, emphasizing the rise of innovative embedded finance platforms like Highnote. The conversation also unveils insights into Highnote's latest Credit Issuing product. In this episode, you will hear about: The complexities of payments processing and regulatory challenges faced by fintech companies. Highnote's innovative approach as an embedded platform, emphasizing differentiation and flexibility. Insights into Highnote's latest product, the Credit Issuing platform, and its implications for the market. The future of issuer processing, where legacy platforms coexist with cutting-edge solutions like Highnote. Highnote's strategies for navigating the competitive fintech industry and their vision for the evolving market landscape. About John MacIlwaine John MacIlwaine is the the CEO and co-founder of Highnote, an embedded finance company setting the new standard for modern card platform management through differentiated payment experiences. John has over two decades of experience leading in technical and management roles at global financial companies. Prior to founding Highnote, he served as General Manager of Braintree, a leading global payments platform that powers some of the world's most innovative and fast-growing companies, including Uber, Airbnb, and Dropbox. During his tenure at Braintree, John was instrumental in driving the company's global growth and expansion. Before joining Braintree, MacIlwaine served as the Chief Technology Officer of Lending Club, a pioneering online lending platform that connects borrowers with investors. In his role, John laid the groundwork to establish the company’s technical foundation while driving innovation across the organization. Throughout his career, John has been committed to helping businesses move faster and innovate more through differentiated payment experiences. He believes that payments are a critical touchpoint in the customer journey and that businesses must deliver seamless, personalized experiences to stand out in today's competitive landscape. About Highnote Highnote is an embedded finance company setting the new standard in modern card platform management. Purpose-built to realize customer loyalty and engagement through embedded card experiences, Highnote’s fully integrated tech stack provides every service needed for innovative companies to launch new ways to use card payments. Utilizing the developer-friendly Highnote platform, product and engineering teams at digital enterprises of all sizes can easily and efficiently embed virtual and physical payment cards (commercial and consumer prepaid, debit, credit, and charge), ledger, and wallet capabilities into their existing products, creating compelling value for users while growing revenue and building a unique and differentiated brand. The company has raised more than $100 million from leading investors and strategic partners and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. For additional information, please visit www.highnote.com. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Rhea’s Twitter: @rheaadvani Rhea’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rheaa/
Nate Gee hosts Jeremy Tsui, co-founder and CEO of Finley, which simplifies and streamlines companies’ debt capital raise and management. In this episode, they discuss: -Finley’s inspiration from innovations in consumer credit and equity capital management -Trends in private credit and Jeremy's original idea for Finley -Jeremy’s views on AI in fintech and beyond -The ways Finley helps companies manage their debt -Jeremy’s experience with Y Combinator and recent venture capital fundraising -And much more! About Finley Finley creates software that provides companies with a range of tools to better manage their debt capital, from automating operations and digitizing credit agreements to providing analytics and performance tracking. About Jeremy Tsui Prior to co-founding Finley in 2020, Jeremy worked in Goldman Sach’s Special Situations Group where he invested across a range of industries. Beforehand, he worked as a strategy consultant for financial institutions at Oliver Wyman. Jeremy grew up in Texas and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin. For more fintech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Nate’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathan-c-gee/
Kailee Costello sits down with Stacy Greiner, Chief Operating Officer at DailyPay. DailyPay offers an on-demand pay solution that helps employers to improve the financial well-being of their workforce. DailyPay has over 1000 enterprise clients, and over 4 million of these company’s employees use the DailyPay platform. In this episode you will hear about: - DailyPay's mission to provide employees with on-demand access to their earnings - Why DailyPay's target market spans across industries, and why DailyPay didn’t start by focusing on a specific industry - DailyPay's revenue model - Stacy's perspective on competitive position, and the importance of truly "earned wage" access - The future for earned wage access - The risk for employers that fall behind in the Earned Wage Access movement - The impact of wage compression in healthcare - DailyPay's strategic priorities over the coming years - Stacy's journey from her marketing roles at Dun & Bradstreet and Cisco to COO at DailyPay, and what Stacy’s role looks like day-to-day About DailyPay DailyPay is on a mission to build a new financial system for everyone. DailyPay delivers an on-demand pay solution with modern, insight-driven pay strategies that help America's leading employers to activate their workforce and build stronger relationships with their employees, so they feel more engaged, work harder, and stay longer. DailyPay works to ensure that money is always in the right place at the right time for employers, merchants, and financial institutions. DailyPay is headquartered in New York City, with operations based in Minneapolis and Belfast. About Stacy Greiner Stacy Greiner serves as Chief Operating Officer, DailyPay. She most recently served as the General Manager of the Sales and Marketing Solutions division of Dun & Bradstreet, where she was responsible for all Profit & Loss. Her experience spans Senior Executive roles at Cisco, IBM, and Accenture where she led globally-diverse Product, Marketing, Engineering, and Data & Analytics organizations. Trained as an Aerospace Engineer at Iowa State University, Greiner also holds an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School of Management. She sits on the board and serves as a member of the Audit Committee of Proto Labs, Inc. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Kailee’s Twitter: @KaileeCostello_ Kailee’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaileecostello/
Rob Straathof, CEO of Liberis - Embedded Finance and Small Business Lending Trevor Prince sits down with Rob Straathof, CEO of Liberis, an embedded finance platform that partners with companies like Klarna, Barclaycard, and Worldpay to empower small businesses with funding solutions. Through analysis of data on its partners' platforms, Liberis provides small businesses with pre-approved funding offers and streamlined access to capital. To date, Liberis has funded over 50,000 businesses with more than £1 billion in funding. In this episode, Rob discusses his path from an aspiring astronaut to leading a global FinTech company, Liberis' platform relative to traditional lenders, as well as business funding options and their impact on small businesses. He also discusses his experience and perspective on working with regulators in financial services, GenAI’s applications in business, and much more. About Rob Straathof: Rob has served as the CEO of Liberis for over 8 years. Prior to Liberis, he led Corporate Development at Wonga.com and worked in Tech and FinTech M&A at JP Morgan. Rob's career journey began early on in his family's delicatessen and catering business in the Netherlands. Rob is passionate about creating value and impact for small businesses and their communities. He earned a Master of Science in Economics from Erasmus University Rotterdam, and enjoys flying as an instrument-rated private pilot.
Joshua Benadiva sits down with Arad Levertov, founder and CEO of Sunbit, a pay-over-time, point-of-sale financing solution for everyday expenses such as auto-repair, dental care, vet care, and more. Sunbit offers a no-fee credit card, as well as a point-of-sale lending option available at over 20,000 service locations. In-line with Arad's founding vision, Sunbit approves over 90% of borrowers, and the company was most recently valued at $1.1 billion. In this episode, Arad shares how and why he started Sunbit, his vision for the future of the company and the buy-now-pay-later model more generally. He also shares some of his secrets to building a mission-driven company, as well as how Sunbit integrates powerful machine-learning models to maximize value for customers. About Arad Levertov: Arad Levertov co-founded Sunbit, where he currently serves as Chief Executive Officer. A FinTech veteran, Arad’s strong leadership skills come from his background as a Major in the Israeli Navy Seals. Arad holds an MBA degree from Duke University Fuqua School of Business. Previous to Sunbit, Arad was COO of Enova International, where he successfully managed an $800M business and led teams across product, marketing, strategy, HR, and operations. Prior to Enova, he ran Operations and Systems Development at Intel.
Russell Matambo hosts Anthony Noto, CEO of SoFi, a member-centric one-stop shop for digital financial services in the US. In this episode you will hear about: - SoFi’s trajectory since Anthony took over as CEO 5 years ago - the background to the SoFi stadium naming rights deal - what it will take for SoFi to meet its goal of becoming a top 10 financial institution in the US - how Anthony’s upbringing and varied professional experiences have influenced his leadership style - and much more! About Anthony: Anthony Noto is the CEO of SoFi and serves on its board of directors. Since joining SoFi in February 2018, Anthony has led the company to double down on its mission to help people reach financial independence and realize their ambitions, by developing and executing a strategy to make SoFi a relationship financial services company that provides solutions for all of the major financial decisions in a member’s life and all of the days in between. The company transitioned to a fully mobile-first full suite of products, launching several non-lending products including SoFi Invest, SoFi Checking and Savings, SoFi Credit Card, SoFi Relay, as well as relaunching Home Loans and introducing college loans. The company has increased its member base from 430,000 members in January 2018 to over 5 million members getting their money right and 8+ million products as of April 2023. Additionally, SoFi has built a financial technology platform business (often called the AWS of Fintech) where it serves over 130 million end-accounts via the Galileo payment processing platform and Technisys Core banking products. Under his leadership, SoFi became a public company in June of 2021 at 3x the value from just three years prior. Before joining SoFi, Anthony served as Chief Operating Officer of Twitter since November 2016, and as its Chief Financial Officer when joining the company in July 2014. Prior to Twitter, Anthony worked at Goldman Sachs from 1999-2007 as a Partner in Equity Research and 2010-2014 as Partner and Co-Head of Global TMT Investment Banking. Before returning to Goldman, Anthony was Chief Financial Officer of the National Football League from 2008-2010. A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, Anthony also holds an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. ----- As always, for more Fintech insights and opportunities to collaborate, please find us below: WFT LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Blog: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Home: www.whartonfintech.org Russell's LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/russell-matambo-cfa-a5900039/
Joshua Benadiva hosts Bill Capuzzi, the CEO of Apex Fintech Solutions, a leading provider of custody and clearing services for the financial industry. Apex's powerful brokerage solutions and APIs serve over 300 customers including Betterment, SoFi, and Public.com. Bill is also a partner at PEAK6 Investments, the parent company of Apex Fintech Solutions, and a board member of DTCC, a leading provider of market infrastructure for the global financial services industry. In this episode, Joshua and Bill dive deep into the history and evolution of broker-dealers and trading, from the days of paper tickets and phone calls to the era of digital platforms and APIs. They reveal how Bill leveraged his experience and vision to shape Apex Fintech Solutions, a company that simplifies and streamlines the plumbing of the financial industry. He also shares his insights on the importance of failing fast, taking risks, and making big leaps in your career. Bill gives us a glimpse into his innovation mindset and his passion for wealth-tech, as well as the opportunities and trends he sees in this space. Finally, they look ahead to the future of fintech and what Bill anticipates to see in the next decade.
Zoey Tang hosts Urvashi Barooah, a fellow Wharton alum and Principal at Redpoint Ventures. At Redpoint, Urvashi specializes in early-stage fintech investments, and her portfolio includes ventures such as Dune Analytics, Offchain Labs, XMTP, Flexe, among others. In our conversation, we delved into various aspects of Urvashi's journey. We discussed pivotal moments in her life, including her transition from consulting to venture capital while at Wharton. Urvashi also shared valuable advice for those aspiring to enter the world of venture investment and entrepreneurship. We gained insights into her investment philosophy and her current areas of passion. Wrapping up our discussion, we turned our gaze toward the future, where Urvashi shared her thoughts on her favorite investors and the kind of investor she hopes to become.
“We build the monetisation engine for Google. We build the entire stack that moves money and we do it at Google scale. The reason we have to build it internally is (because) at our scale and with all our different business models and products that we support at Google there is not really one product out there that does it all. You have to piece together multiple different things and some of that is very unique to the way Google runs and its scale and reach… billions of users, hundreds of countries and territories. So that’s why we do what we do.” Sonal Goyal and Kareem Itani host Kan Liu, VP of Product for Payments Platform at Google, which provides fast, easy and trusted payment solutions to Google’s businesses and their end users. Kan has been at Google for almost two decades where he previously led Google Desktop and Chrome OS. In this episode, they discuss Kan’s career journey, everlasting product principles, balancing innovation with regulatory compliance, Google’s big bets in digital payments, advice for fintech and product enthusiasts, and much more!
Zoey Tang hosts Kevin Zhang, partner at Bain Capital Venture. At BCV, Kevin partners with inception-stage entrepreneurs at the intersection of business software and financial services, with particular emphasis on finserv enablement, productivity & automation, and data infrastructure. During our conversation, we delved into Kevin's professional trajectory, his initial attraction to fintech, and the transition from operations to investment. We then discussed his specific criteria when it comes to evaluating founders in the early stage, as well as the decision-making process he and his colleagues employ at Bain Capital Ventures. Lastly, our conversation concluded with Kevin's interests outside of work, including his revelation of a political figure with whom he would be eager to share a dinner table. About Kevin Zhang Kevin Zhang is a partner at Bain Capital Ventures, leading early-stage investments in financial technology and developer products. Previously, he has invested in companies including Argyle, Column Tax, Alloy Automation, Hightouch, and others. Prior to Bain Capital Ventures, Kevin was the first business hire and Head of Product at Fundera, a lending marketplace acquired by NerdWallet (NASDAQ: NRDS). Kevin built the initial content and acquisition marketing efforts, before leading roadmap, user research, and analytics as Head of Product. During Kevin’s tenure, Fundera grew from 5 to 65 employees, raised $20M+ of venture capital, and was ranked #69 fastest growing company on the Inc. 5000 in 2018. About Bain Capital Ventures Bain Capital Ventures is the venture capital arm that operates within the larger Bain Capital ecosystem. With a focus on investing in early to growth-stage startups, BCV has built a strong reputation for backing innovative and disruptive companies across various sectors.
Nate Gee hosts Eric Satz, Founder and CEO of Alto, a self-directed IRA custodian that facilitates individuals’ tax-advantaged investments in alternative asset classes. With the goal of “alternatives for all,” Alto aims to be the world’s premier alternative assets marketplace. In this episode, they discuss: - Eric’s career journey and how Alto came about - Why alternative investments as a means of diversification, and why now - Alto’s growth in a space of increasing competition - Alto’s capabilities with crypto - Expanding access to alternatives - Eric’s advice and insights from years as a founder, operator, and investor - And much more! About Alto As a self-directed IRA custodian, Alto launched its original Alto IRA platform in 2018 to simplify the process for individuals to diversify their retirement investments beyond stocks and bonds into a range of assets from private equity and credit to real estate, art, and wine. Supplementary to its original platform, Alto launched its CryptoIRA in 2020 to facilitate tax-advantaged crypto trading. About Eric Satz Before founding Alto, Eric worked as an investment banker, serial entrepreneur, and venture capitalist. Among his prior ventures, he co-founded Currenex, which was acquired by State Street for $564M. Eric graduated from Amherst College and currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Nate’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathan-c-gee/
Zoey Tang hosts Gary Hoberman, Founder and CEO at Unqork. Unqork provides a codeless enterprise application platform designed for customers in financial services, insurance, health care, government, and others. Throughout our conversation, we explored Gary's career journey and the motivation behind initiating Unqork. Our conversation delved into how Unqork empowers clients through its no-code application platform, expediting development, amplifying customization, and mitigating technical debt. We concluded by examining Gary's insights into the future evolution of the financial services technology landscape. About Gary Hoberman Gary Hoberman is the CEO & Founder of Unqork. Before founding Unqork, Gary was the former CIO of MetLife and spent more than twenty years working in financial services.
Joshua Benadiva hosts Itzik Cohen, Co-Founder and CEO of PayZen, a patient financing platform for healthcare. PayZen helps hospitals, health systems, and physicians groups of all sizes to offer affordable payment plans to their patients, while funding providers up-front for all billings regardless of a patient’s credit score. PayZen was founded in 2021 by Itzik and his co-founders to fight the healthcare affordability crisis. In this episode you will hear about: - Itzik’s journey from being a serial entrepreneur and a tech veteran in lending, healthcare lending, and debt settlement to founding PayZen - The intersection of healthcare and fintech, and the challenges and opportunities in this space - PayZen’s unique approach to payments in the healthcare space, and how it leverages data and AI to create individualized patient payment plans that families can afford - The vision and mission of PayZen, and how it aims to make healthcare accessible and affordable for everyone About PayZen: PayZen is a global technology company building the best way to pay for healthcare. PayZen delivers better financial outcomes for patients and providers from day one. Its platform leapfrogs traditional patient financing results, is quick to implement, and integrates well with existing revenue cycle and engagement solutions. PayZen is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. About Itzik Cohen: Itzik Cohen is the president and CEO of PayZen. He is a serial entrepreneur and a tech veteran with experience in lending, healthcare lending, and debt settlement. He co-founded PayZen with Tobias Mezger, and Ariel Rosenthal in 2021 to fight the healthcare affordability crisis. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Josh’s Twitter: @josh_benadiva Josh’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbenadiva/
Kailee Costello hosts Matt Streisfeld, General Partner at Oak HC/FT. Oak is a venture and growth equity firm investing in companies driving transformation in healthcare and fintech. Oak was one of the earliest venture investors in fintech, and now has over $5B in assets under management. In this episode you will hear about: - The M&A environment for fintechs - Opportunities in AI and Machine Learning, and how Matt thinks about identifying “winners” in what is increasingly becoming a crowded space - The outlook for digital assets - Matt’s personal philosophy on FinTech investing - And much more! About Oak HC/FT Oak HC/FT is a venture and growth equity firm investing in companies driving transformation in healthcare and fintech. Oak HC/FT partners with leading entrepreneurs at every stage, from seed to growth, to build businesses that make a measurable, lasting impact on these industries. Founded in 2014, the firm has $5.3 billion in assets under management. The partners at the firm have had 46 realizations and 35 companies achieving valuations in excess of $1 billion. About Matt Streisfeld Matt Streisfeld is a General Partner at Oak HC/FT. Matt joined the firm in 2015 and focuses on growth equity and early-stage venture opportunities in FinTech. Matt currently serves on the Boards of AU10TIX, CLARA Analytics, Highnote, Justt, Namogoo and ZenBusiness. He is also a Board Observer at Ocrolus and is actively involved with Blend (NYSE: BLND), Pagaya Technologies (NASDAQ: PGY) and Paxos. His prior investments include FastPay (acquired by AvidXchange), Groundspeed (acquired by Insurance Quantified), Kryon (acquired by Nintex) and Urjanet (acquired by Arcadia). Prior to joining Oak HC/FT, Matt was a Vice President with LLR Partners, a middle-market growth equity firm, where he focused on investments in financial services technology companies. Matt was previously a Senior Associate at Lightyear Capital, a private equity firm focused on middle-market financial services companies. Matt was also an Associate in the insurance investment banking group of Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Kailee’s Twitter: @KaileeCostello_ Kailee’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaileecostello/
"Every time we scale, I rethink the problem and how we are solving it…” Listen in as Josh Benadiva hosts Ariel Cohen, CEO and Co-Founder of Navan. This episode is a riveting exploration of Ariel's journey in tackling evolving challenges and driving continuous product innovation as his business scales. Ariel shares his unique approach to product development and organizational alignment. He discusses how he and his co-founder initially reimagined enterprise travel management software with a focus driving win-wins for companies and their employees. As the CEO and Co-Founder of Navan, Ariel is focused on the company’s growth. This is Ariel’s second company he founded with Co-founder and CTO Ilan Twig –– the most recent being StreamOnce, a business multimedia integration platform which was acquired by Jive Software. Prior to StreamOnce, Ariel led Product Management in a senior leadership role at Hewlett-Packard. Ariel earned an EMBA from Northwestern University –– Kellogg School of Management. Navan (formerly TripActions) was founded in 2015 and is the next generation of corporate travel and expense management software that allows users to easily book, view, and manage business travel and expenses. Navan has also recently launched a corporate credit card alongside its travel and expense management technology.
Kailee Costello hosts Harsh Sinha and Steve Naudé from Wise. Harsh is the Chief Technology Officer, and Steve is Head of Wise Platform. Wise has built a leading cross-border payments network and processes £9B in cross-border payments every month on behalf of over 16 million customers. Wise’s IPO on the London Stock Exchange took place in 2021. In this episode you will hear about: - Wise’s journey from money transfer service to leading cross-border payments network - How Wise have put an API around their cross-border payment infrastructure so that they can offer it to banks and non-banks via Wise Platform - How Wise is able to achieve such low transaction costs - Whether Wise will be able to push prices lower in the future - The friction that still exists in cross-border payments - The role that crypto solutions will play in the future. - How Wise deploys cross-functional teams that operate as a small startup within Wise and are fully equipped as a vertical unit to solve the problem for the customer - Challenges faced in building and growing Wise Platform - Growth opportunities for Wise Platform, and why Wise is expecting Platform to represent the majority of FX volume in the long-term About Wise Wise is a global technology company building the best way to move and manage money around the world. Wise processes £9bn in cross-border payments every month on behalf of over 16 million customers, saving them £1.5bn a year in bank fees. Wise’s IPO took place in July 2021. About Harsh Sinha and Steve Naudé Harsh Sinha is the Chief Technology Officer at Wise. Prior to Wise, Harsh was the director of product at PayPal. He led product strategy and development of PayPal's mobile apps and software. Previously, Harsh led various technology functions at eBay. Harsh is also an angel investor, an advisor to early stage start-ups and venture capital firms. Steve Naudé is Head of Wise Platform, Wise’s cross-border payments infrastructure offer for banks and non-banks alike. Wise Platform allows financial institutions and major enterprises to leverage the power of Wise’s technology and embed solutions that make sending, receiving, and managing money internationally easier than ever for their customers directly into their existing infrastructure. Today, Wise Platform is live with more than 60 banks and financial institutions across the world, including Monzo, Google Pay, Ramp and Bank Mandiri, one of Indonesia's largest banks. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Kailee’s Twitter: @KaileeCostello_ Kailee’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaileecostello/
Nihar Bobba hosts Khalid Meniri, Co-Founder and CEO of Selfbook, a fintech startup bringing modern payments innovation to the world of hospitality. Prior to Selfbook, Khalid built and ran a digital agency, Six, where he and his team combined data architecture, e-commerce infrastructure and digital design expertise to serve clients such as Net-a-Porter, Unilever and Hearst. Today, Selfbook partners with hospitality groups such as Dorchester Collection, Oetker Collection and Auberge Resorts Collection, and includes investors such as Amex Ventures, Tiger Global, Starwood’s Barry Sternlicht and Better Tomorrow Ventures. In this episode, you will hear about: - Khalid's journey to America - Why frictionless payments is so important for hospitality - What's next for Selfbook - What Khalid's excited about in Fintech
Joshua Benadiva hosts Chen Amit, the founder and CEO of Tipalti. We deep-dive into Chen's journey, from finding initial success in tech and product management, to his role today as the leader of a billion-dollar company. Chen offers fascinating insights on how to craft the initial solution for significant enterprise problems, and how being an outsider can bring a fresh, innovative perspective. He also speaks candidly about his learnings from starting Tipalti and the critical elements of structuring an early-stage company and hiring the right team. Chen is a veteran high tech executive and repeat entrepreneur. Prior to Tipalti, Chen was CEO of Atrica, a Carrier Ethernet company that Nokia-Siemens acquired. Before Atrica, Chen was co-founder and CEO of Verix, a provider of business intelligence software. At ECI Telecom, Chen founded their ADSL business unit and led it from inception to $100 million in annual sales. He earned a BSc from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology and an MBA from INSEAD.
Kailee Costello hosts Annie Delgado, the Chief Risk Officer of Upstart. Upstart is a leading AI lending marketplace, partnering with banks and credit unions to expand access to affordable credit In this episode you will hear about: - How Upstart’s use of ML has evolved from a binary decision model to what is now a fully-automated loan process for the majority of their borrowers - Why Upstart decided not to become a chartered bank - How Upstart works to prevent bias in ML algorithms - Competitive advantage in ML underwriting - Annie’s role as Chief Risk Officer - How lending processes and credit scores will evolve into the future - And much more! About Annie Delgado Annie is the Chief Risk Officer at Upstart. As part of her role, she has built a data-driven compliance program at Upstart, navigating the regulatory environment associated with the use of AI-powered credit modeling techniques. About Upstart Upstart is a leading artificial intelligence (AI) lending marketplace designed to improve access to affordable credit while reducing the risk and costs of lending for our bank partners. By leveraging Upstart's AI marketplace, Upstart-powered banks can offer higher approval rates and experience lower default rates, while simultaneously delivering the digital-first lending experience their customers demand. Upstart has originated more than $33B loans, and 84% of loans are fully automated. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Kailee’s Twitter: @KaileeCostello_ Kailee’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaileecostello/
Nate Gee hosts Boris Alergant, Ripple’s Head of DeFi. Ripple has operated in the crypto space for over a decade and offers a range of blockchain-based solutions for businesses. In this episode we cover: - Ripple’s original solution addressing cross-border payments inefficiencies - The XRP Ledger on which Ripple builds its products, and how it differs from other blockchains - How Boris views and defines decentralized finance and his role leading DeFi at Ripple - The development of automated market maker functionality on the XRP Ledger - Central bank digital currencies and other recent industry trends - Pursuing an MBA to transition into fintech/crypto - And much more! About Boris Alergant Boris joined Ripple full-time in 2019 and is now the company’s Head of DeFi. Before joining Ripple, Boris earned an MBA and MA at the Wharton School and Lauder Institute. Prior to business school, Boris spent the first seven years of his career in investment banking and sales and trading at JP Morgan and MUFG. About Ripple Ripple Labs, Inc. is a technology company founded in 2012 with a primary focus on digital cross-border payments via a decentralized blockchain, XRP Ledger. Ripple now offers additional solutions to meet enterprises’ needs with respect to digital assets. Ripple also works with central banks around the world to issue central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) on the XRP Ledger. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Nate’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathan-c-gee/
Josh Benadiva converses with David Mercer, CEO of LMAX Group, about the evolution of fintech, and his journey in leading a foreign and crypto exchange. A seasoned leader in the derivatives industry, Mercer shares his insights on the essence of continuous product improvement, agility in business structures, and the innovative approaches in Bitcoin and crypto exchanges. Discover how LMAX Group, Europe's leading Multilateral Trading Facility for FX and crypto, is driving transformation in the industry. Mercer provides a sneak peek into the future of crypto beyond the crypto winter and the role LMAX Group will play in this landscape. David Mercer is the chief executive of LMAX Group. He has more than 20 years’ experience in the derivatives industry and an extensive expertise in the leveraged FX business. Prior to joining LMAX Exchange, he held senior executive roles at IFX Markets and Saxo Bank (Synthesis Bank) in London, Geneva and Sydney. Mercer started his career at CSFP and Credit Suisse First Boston focusing on fixed income derivatives, primarily as the business manager in the emerging markets division.
Tarang Gupta hosts Samara Cohen, the Chief Investment Officer of ETFs and Index Investments at BlackRock. BlackRock is a global asset manager and technology provider and one of the world’s leading providers of investment, advisory and risk management solutions. In this episode you will hear about: - What Samara’s role as the CIO entails - How ETFs have evolved from their early days - Building high performance teams - Different types of investors that invest in BlackRock’s ETFs - Increasing participation of self-directed investors in public markets - Samara’s outlook on managing personal and professional commitments - And much more! About Samara Cohen Samara Cohen, Senior Managing Director, is the Chief Investment Officer of the ETF and Index Investments (EII) business for BlackRock and a member of the firm's Global Executive Committee. As the first ever CIO for EII, Samara manages the teams responsible for delivering the market quality and investment integrity of BlackRock’s 2,700+ index funds and ETFs. She also serves on the Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Steering Committee and on the board of the BlackRock Foundation. Samara was named to Barron’s 100 Most Influential Women in Finance last year. She earned a BS Econ in Finance from the Wharton School and a BA in Theatre Arts from the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Pennsylvania. She also holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. About ETFs and iShares An ETF is a technology that can wrap all kinds of investments. They are a simple way for people to access the world’s financial markets in a diversified way. ETFs are similar to mutual funds in that they invest in a basket of securities, such as stocks or bonds. Similar to a stock, ETFs can be traded whenever the markets are open, which makes them different from mutual funds. Ultimately, what ETFs are doing are democratizing investing – providing convenient and affordable access for millions to the capital markets. BlackRock’s ETF and index business is about $2.3 trillion in AUM across over 2,700+ funds globally. Worldwide, 120 million people have an average of $50,000 invested in iShares ETF and index funds. In the US alone, 25 million people own an iShares ETF. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
In a collaboration with GGV Capital's "Evolving for the Next Billion" podcast, Joshua Benadiva hosts a fascinating conversation with Hans Tung, widely recognized as one of the best venture investors in the world. Hans is the managing partner of GGV Capital, and has been named to the Forbes Midas List of the world's top venture capital investors for 11 consecutive years. Throughout our conversation, we explore the unique decision-making strategies that have fueled Hans' successful investments. We delve into his distinct perspective on human and technological transformation and discuss how he uses these as data points in his broader investment strategy. Hans Tung is a Managing Partner at GGV Capital, focusing on early-stage investments across the global digital economy ecosystem. He is consistently recognized among the top venture capital investors in the world, having been named to the Forbes Midas list 11 consecutive years from 2013-2023, and has been in the top 10 for the last 5 years. He has also been recognized among the Top 100 Asian Americans by Gold House in 2018-2020. In 2023, Hans and his team launched the Embedded Fintech 50, a list highlighting the rising stars in fintech innovation. Hans oversees the GGV’s DE&I initiatives, and he is also the co-host of the popular podcast, “Evolving for the Next Billion” on entrepreneurship around the globe.
Russell Matambo hosts Shivani Siroya, Founder and CEO of Tala, a global technology company expanding access to credit and financial services in underserved markets. They discuss how Shivani’s built Tala on the basis of her microlending activity from her own savings, the importance of trust when lending in Emerging Markets, the socioeconomic impact of credit in Emerging Markets, and much more! About Shivani: Shivani is the Founder and CEO of Tala, a global technology company expanding access to credit and financial services in underserved markets. Nearly 8 million people across Kenya, the Philippines, Mexico, and India have used Tala products to start and expand small businesses, manage day-to-day needs, and pursue their financial goals with confidence. Tala has been named to the Fortune Impact 20 list, CNBC’s Disruptor 50 four years in a row, and Forbes’ Fintech 50 list for seven years running. Shivani has been invited to speak on Financial Inclusion at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Prior to founding Tala, Shivani worked in Investment Banking, Microfinance and for the United Nations Population Fund. She holds a BA from Wesleyan University and an MPH from Columbia University. —--- As always, for more Fintech insights and opportunities to collaborate, please find us below: WFT LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club WFT Twitter: www.twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Blog: www.medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Home: www.whartonfintech.org Russell's LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/russell-matambo-cfa-a5900039/
Tarang Gupta hosts Mani Mahadevan, the Founder & CEO of Valur, a fintech startup helping democratize access to the tax optimization and asset protection tools of billionaires. In this episode you will hear about: - Increasing complications in the US tax code - Making tax mitigation strategies accessible through tech - Starting a company during the pandemic - Taking the plunge from corporate roles to entrepreneurship And much more! About Mani Mahadevan Mani is the Founder and CEO at Valur. Prior to founding Valur, Mani was Chief of Staff for Apple Card at Marcus by Goldman Sachs and before that he held product and operation roles at the Remote Year and Medallia. Mani started his career as a Business Analyst at McKinsey and holds a Bachelors from the University of Michigan. About Valur Founded in 2020, Valur takes the tax optimization and asset protection tools of the ultra-wealthy and makes them accessible to everyone. Valur democratizes the tax planning tools necessary to grow wealth more efficiently, through technology thereby simplifying them and making them affordable to all. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
In this episode, our host, Josh Benadiva, sits down with Tomer Barel, Chief Operating Officer of Melio. They discuss Tomer's takeaways in his early career from start-ups to PayPal, why he views simplicity and ease-of-use as the core of Melio's product, and the future of B2B payments. Tomer shares his insights on Melio's strategic partnerships, the state of B2B payments, and advice for future operators in the fintech space. Tomer Barel is the Chief Operating Officer of Melio. Before joining Melio, Tomer served as Vice President and COO of Novi, Meta’s payments unit and digital wallet. Tomer also spent nine years at PayPal. As PayPal’s global Chief Enterprise Services Officer and Chief Risk Officer, he was part of the executive team reporting to the CEO and led financial risk management and compliance as well as global operations including customer service and back-office functions. Barel also served on Melio’s advisory board since the company’s founding in 2018. Melio's mission is to keep small business in business, helping them to improve their cash flow and workflow, gain more control over their finances, and optimize their business's financial health. Melio was founded by CEO Matan Bar, CTO Ilan Atias, and Ziv Paz in 2018, with headquarters in New York, an R&D center in Tel Aviv, and western U.S. headquarters in Colorado. The company has raised $506 million to date. Melio's smart B2B online payment solution is tailor-made for small businesses' needs. It is a free, simple, and secure solution that allows small businesses and their suppliers to transfer and receive payments quickly and easily.
Tarang Gupta hosts Tanner Hackett, the Founder and CEO of Counterpart, an insurtech startup using AI to offer management and professional liability insurance products and services for small businesses. In this episode you will hear about: - How insuring SMEs can be tricky - Why Tanner chose to focus on specialty insurance - What makes Counterpart's offerings standout - Counterpart’s recent $30M Series B raise - The disruption brought about by insurtech And much more! About Tanner Hackett Tanner is the Founder and CEO of Counterpart. Before starting Counterpart, he co-founded two successful ventures including the Malaysian arm of Lazada, which quickly became the largest e-commerce company in Southeast Asia and Button, which has become the world’s largest mobile-first affiliate platform, partnering with global brands like Amazon, Walmart, Booking.com, and Uber. About Counterpart Founded in 2019, Counterpart is a Series B insurtech firm offering small business management and professional liability insurance by pairing insurance experts with artificial intelligence. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
Tarang Gupta hosts Junaid Wahedna, the Founder and CEO of Wahed, which is a values driven digital investment platform structured in accordance with established Islamic principles and standards. In this episode you will hear about: - What is riba and its role in halal investing - Structuring ETFs that are complaint with Islamic principles - Launch of Wahed’s physical bank branch and gold-backed debit card - Junaid’s decision to expand globally early-on And much more! About Junaid Wahedna Junaid, a native of India, was educated in Dubai during his formative years. He holds a Master of Science degree in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from Columbia University along with several certifications in accounting and finance including a CMA, CAIA and CDIF, London, United Kingdom. Prior to founding Wahed, Junaid spent several years working on Wall Street. About Wahed Founded in 2017, Wahed is an ethical and values driven digital investment platform that provides access to diversified portfolios to residents of the US, UK and Malaysia. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
Tarang Gupta hosts Giuseppe Stuto, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at 186 Ventures. 186 Ventures is a pre-seed & seed stage VC firm investing across fintech, consumer, enterprise, and disruptive tech. In this episode you will hear about: - 186’s investment philosophy and portfolio selection process - Opportunities unlocked by Web3 disruption - Strategically deploying capital in an uncertain market - Anticipated evolution of DApps and Layer 1 chains And much more! About Giuseppe Stuto Prior to co-founding 186 Ventures, Giuseppe was the Co-Founder and CEO of Fam, a group video software company that was acquired by Draftkings. He then served in product & strategy roles at DraftKings leading up to their IPO and was also the COO for Pison Technology. Giuseppe holds a B.S.B.A. from the Boston University Questrom School of Business. About 186 Ventures Founded in 2019, 186 Ventures are early stage technology investors focused on agile teams working on disruptive problems. 186 Ventures is based in Boston and its investors bring full operational & strategic support and an unparalleled network to founders. 186's portfolio currently spans 30+ high growth technology companies. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
Tarang Gupta hosts Michele Alt, Co-Founder & Partner, and Jonah Crane, Partner at Klaros Group. Klaros is an advisory and investment firm at the intersection of innovation, financial services, and regulation. In this episode you will hear about: - Sneak peak into the policy making process - Advising fintechs dealing with regulatory uncertainty - Potential M&A opportunities arising from economic downturn - What led to the failure of SVB and its impact on banking and fintech - Their opinion on the resilience of the US economy And much more! About Michele Alt Michele is a Co-Founder and Partner at the Klaros Group and she advises fintech clients on their banking and regulatory strategies by drawing on her prior experience at the Promontory Financial Group and as a senior legal official at the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. About Jonah Crane Jonah is a Partner at the Klaros Group and he advises on business and product strategy, regulatory and compliance risk, and regulatory engagement. He has helped neobanks, infrastructure providers, crypto companies, and banks navigate complex regulatory frameworks. Jonah served as a Senior Advisor and Deputy Assistant Secretary in the U.S. Treasury Department, and as advisor to U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer. About Klaros Group Klaros Group is an advisory and investment business focused on the future of financial services. They combine business know-how and deep regulatory expertise to help financial innovators and incumbents navigate financial services regulation while building business scale and momentum. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
Tarang Gupta hosts Kevin Greene, CEO and Chairman of Tassat. Tassat is a leading provider of private, permissioned blockchain-based solutions for commercial banks. In this episode you will hear about: - What are private permissioned vs public blockchains - Why focus on minimizing regret when making life decisions - How blockchain is changing the banking industry - Why a business' success depends 95% on testing + execution and only 5% on the idea - Kevin’s proudest basketball moment And much more! About Kevin Greene Kevin is the Chairman and CEO of Tassat Group. He joined Tassat in 2017 and was named Executive Chairman in 2019. Previously Kevin served as the Chairman & CEO of Capital Resource Holdings, LLC and founded Bryant Park Capital, a privately held investment bank. Before this he was a senior consultant with McKinsey & Company. Kevin earned a B.A. in Economics from Georgetown University, a Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard University and an MBA from New York University. About Tassat Founded in 2017, Tassat Group provides blockchain-based real-time solutions to banks, which enables them to provide their customers with instantaneous, secure, real-time payments 24/7/365. Tassat's flagship product TassatPay has processed over $500 billion in secure, real-time transactions to date. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
In this episode, our host, Josh Benadiva, engages in a meaningful conversation with Sankaet Pathak, Founder and CEO of Synapse. They discuss Sankaet's journey from establishing the foundation of embedded finance and banking-as-a-service to scaling the company since its inception in 2014. Sankaet shares his insights on creating a startup within the embedded finance sector, his perspectives on hiring and product development, and strategies for centering teams and company efforts around a cohesive vision. Sankaet Pathak wears the hat of the founder and CEO of Synapse, a leading banking-as-a-service provider. His journey with Synapse began in 2014 during his Master's degree at the University of Memphis and has since blossomed into a remarkable success story. Synapse, a comprehensive banking-as-a-service platform, offers a range of services such as payment, card issuance, deposit, lending, compliance, credit, and investment products in the form of APIs to over 15 million end users. Boasting an annualized transaction volume of $67 billion and $11 billion in assets under management across its platform, Synapse has garnered over $50 million in funding from renowned venture firms like Andreessen Horowitz, 500 Startups, and Trinity Ventures.
Tarang Gupta hosts Stephane Lintner, Co-Founder and CEO of Jiko. Jiko is a bank and broker-dealer with modern trading and ledgering technology that offers real-time programmatic access to Treasury bills, thereby combining the yield and security of T-bills with the flexibility of a bank account. In this episode you will hear about: - Unlocking the power of T-bills for businesses, startups, and consumers - Building a vertically integrated de-levered bank - Why T-bills provide a higher yield than bank accounts - Jiko’s $40M Series B raise last year - Stephane’s thoughts on disruption opportunity in payments And much more! About Stephane Lintner Stephane is the CEO and Co-founder of Jiko. He graduated from Caltech with a PhD in Applied and Computational Mathematics and holds degrees in Machine Learning and Computer Science from the Ecole Normale Superieure in France. Prior to founding the company, Lintner worked as a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs’ Securities Division for almost a decade. During his nearly decade-long tenure at Goldman Sachs, he witnessed firsthand the inequities of the banking system, including threats to the safety of consumer deposits during the 2008 financial crisis. This inspired his mission to modernize the banking system and build a safer, more efficient financial future for all. About Jiko Founded in 2016, Jiko is a revolutionary new financial network, enabling companies – from multinational corporations to startups – to both store and move money, starting with the power of treasury bills, made spendable. Securely stored at the biggest custody bank in the country, cash is put directly into T-bills with on-demand liquidity. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
Russell Matambo hosts Dare Okoudjou, Founder and CEO of MFS Africa, a leading Pan-African Fintech company, operating the largest digital payments hub on the continent. They discuss how Dare’s telecom networking experience influenced is journey into Fintech, the importance of mobile money in Africa, MFS Africa's role as a connector of mobile money networks, and much more! About Dare: Dare is the Founder and CEO of MFS Africa, a leading Pan-African Fintech company, operating the largest digital payments hub on the continent. The MFS Africa Hub connects over 400 million mobile wallets in Africa, offering unparalleled reach into the growing African digital consumers. MFS Africa was named by Fast Company as one of Africa’s Top 10 Most Innovative Companies. Prior to founding MFS Africa, Dare worked at MTN Group, where he developed its mobile payment strategy and led its implementation across 21 countries throughout Africa and the Middle East. He began his career as a management consultant with PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Paris. Dare holds an MSc in Telecom Engineering from ENST-Paris and an MBA from INSEAD. -- As always, for more Fintech insights and opportunities to collaborate, please find us below: WFT LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Blog: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Home: www.whartonfintech.org Russell's LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/russell-matambo-cfa-a5900039/
Tarang Gupta hosts David Frank, Founder and CEO at Stonehaven. Stonehaven is a private capital markets FinTech operating system for investment bankers and placement agents to support companies and investors. In this episode you will hear about: - Pivoting a traditional financial services company into a fintech player - Building a capital markets operating system to automate fundraising and deal execution processes - Running a successful bootstrapped business and the right time to seek venture funding - His opinion on what makes a great CTO And much more! About David Frank David founded Stonehaven in 2001 and pivoted it into a fintech business in 2018. Prior to Stonehaven, he worked at Robertson Stephens in San Francisco. David graduated with honors from University of Michigan with a BBA, he is a CFA Charterholder, and holds the Series 7, 24, 31, 66, 79 and 99 registrations with FINRA. He is also an active member of the Young Presidents’ Organization where he helps lead the Investment Banking Network. About Stonehaven Stonehaven's platform enables affiliate partners, companies, and investors to strategically connect across the globe, leveraging its operating system and collaborative community. Stonehaven, LLC is an SEC Registered Broker Dealer and FINRA Member Firm. Stonehaven is active across real estate, private equity, venture capital, private credit, hedge funds, long-only strategies, direct private placements, secondaries and M&A. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
Nihar Bobba hosts Angela Strange, General Partner at a16z. She focuses on Financial Services including fintech infrastructure, insurance, real estate, and increasing financial inclusivity. In the Fintech world, Angela is well known for coining the idea that "Every Company Will Be a Fintech Company"— and idea driven by the influx of new, transformative financial infrastructure tools that enable non-fintech companies to derive a significant portion of their revenue through financial products. Today, Angela serves on the boards of Addi, Casai, Jeeves, Moov, SeedFi, SynapseFi, Tally, and Valon. Prior to joining a16z, Angela was most recently a product manager at Google where she launched and grew Chrome for Android and iOS. And she started her career as a consultant at Mercer. In this episode you will hear about: - Angela's time at Google, and what operating principles she uses in her investing role - Why every company is a fintech company - The state of fintech today, and so much more
In today's episode, Josh Benadiva sits down with Omry Ben David from Viola Ventures to discuss how Omry identifies top entrepreneurs and how to think about investing in early-stage FinTech companies. Josh and Omry delve into the future of embedded FinTech, the next generation of InsurTech, and so much more. Omry is a General Partner at Viola Ventures. He joined the fund in 2017, bringing with him 15 years of technology-focused experience across investment banking, startup operations, and both institutional and private venture investments. Omry's areas of investment at Viola Ventures include FinTech, Enterprise/SMB Software, and Vertical AI. Omry was a Captain and Company Commander in an elite combat unit of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). He holds a B.Sc. in Computer Science and Management from Tel Aviv University and an MBA from Columbia Business School. Viola Ventures is one of the leading Israel-based funds focused on early-stage investments. With a portfolio of over 90 companies, Viola Ventures has backed a substantial share of Israel's exits to date, including Actimize, RedBend, ECI, Optimal+, Samanage, and more.
Tarang Gupta hosts Stephanie Choo, Partner at Portage. Portage is a global investment platform focused on fintech and financial services with over $2 billion in AUM. In this episode you will hear about: - Stephanie’s career pivots that led her to venture capital - Areas in fintech she focuses on and her contrarian views on consumer fintech - What is embedded infrastructure within fintech - How Portage defines innovation And much more! About Stephanie Choo Stephanie has served as a Partner at Portage since 2016, focusing on consumer fintech, crypto/DeFi, and fintech infra. She is passionate about funding the next generation of fintech entrepreneurs and currently serves on the boards of Albert, Atomic Financial and Conquest Planning. Prior to Portage, Stephanie led a team, which built and launched a leading digital advice platform in Canada. Before that she was an early employee at a payments startup – working on mobile banking solutions and a management consultant at BCG. Stephanie holds a Bachelor’s from Queen’s University. About Portage Founded in 2016, Portage is a global investment platform focused on fintech and financial services. Portage has raised three venture funds since 2016 and expanded to late-stage fintech and financial services through a SPAC in 2021 and Portage Capital Solutions in 2022. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
The Wharton Fintech Conference, held on March 30-31st, brought together some of the most prominent innovators and investors in the fintech ecosystem, including start-up founders, managing partners of VCs, and Bill McNabb, former chairman and CEO of Vanguard. Join Kailee Costello, Joshua Benadiva, and Tarang Gupta as they discuss the highlights and main takeaways from the conference, covering topics such as embedded finance, Chat-GPT, and more. With so much to learn from the top people in the fintech industry, this episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in fintech innovation. To stay up to date with the latest developments in fintech and to find out about next year's conference, follow us on social media or visit https://whartonfintechconference.com/
In today's episode, Andrew Janssens hosts Alex Johnson, the creator of the Fintech Takes newsletter. Alex has been bringing thoughtful takes and commentary on all topics Fintech for many years, and has most recently been working at FICO, the credit scoring company, and Cornerstone Advisors. Alex publishes Fintech Takes, one of the leading newsletters in Fintech, twice a week, and regularly teams up with Jason Mikula (and others) on the monthly "Fintech Recap" podcast. In this episode we cover a whole host of topics, including: • The growth of the Fintech Takes newsletter • Alex's creative process, and how he dives into new topics • A fintech 2023 rapid fire • How VCs can actually help to promote diversity And much, much more! For more FinTech insights, follow us below: WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Andrew’s Twitter: twitter.com/Adhjanssens Andrew’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/andrew-p-janssens/
Tarang Gupta hosts Nick Chandi, Co-Founder and CEO of ForwardAI. ForwardAI provides a full suite of accounting data solutions for banks, lenders, fintechs, accountants, and small businesses. In this episode you will hear about: - Why most SMEs struggle to get funding from traditional banks - How ForwardAI uses data aggregation to predict clients’ cashflow needs - State of the fintech ecosystem in Canada - Nick’s vision for the next 5 years And much more! About Nick Chandi Nick is the CEO and Co-founder of ForwardAI. Before starting FowardAI, Nick co-founded SlickPie, which provides online accounting software for over 40,000 small businesses. In 2019, Nick had a successful exit from a firm he co-founded called Welcome Networks. Nick has an MBA and a bachelor’s in engineering. He is also Co-chair of the British Columbia Tech CEO Scale C-Council and regularly contributes to the Forbes Finance Council. About ForwardAI FowardAI is a Canada-based fintech startup that provides aggregated accounting and business data to help businesses to gain insight and control over their financial information. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
Kailee Costello hosts Jesse Greif, the COO of OneChronos. OneChronos pioneered the technology to run a unique kind of optimization in electronic trading markets; their approach draws from Nobel prize-winning auction techniques and solves for execution quality outcomes rather than just speed. In this episode you will hear about: - How OneChronos ‘takes speed out of the equation’ and instead optimizes for what the majority of users define as great trading execution quality. - How the Nobel Prize-winning ‘smart market’ concept has been applied to enable traders to express indifference and substitutes in the context of equities trading - The SEC’s proposal to increase competition for retail order execution - The challenge of capturing both the supply and demand side of the market to launch a new trading venue - OneChronos’ partnership with the NYSE - And much more! About Jesse Greif Jesse Greif is the COO of OneChronos. Prior to joining OneChronos, Jesse spent 13 years at Goldman Sachs, where he most recently was a Vice President. He earned an MBA from The Wharton School and his Bachelor’s degree from Northeastern University. About OneChronos OneChronos is a technology company at the intersection of capital markets, machine learning and mechanism design, providing innovative execution venues to those in the electronic trading world. The company was founded by executives from Goldman Sachs, Accenture, and top quantitative asset managers with a common vision to leverage domain expertise and emergent technologies to make electronic trading simpler, more transparent and more efficient for institutional investors and traders. OneChronos is a Y Combinator alum backed by top venture investors in fintech, digital marketplaces and A.I. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Kailee’s Twitter: @KaileeCostello_ Kailee’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaileecostello/
Tarang Gupta hosts Sachin Kumar, Co-Founder and CTO of Clear Street. Clear Street uses a tech-first approach to provide financial institutions with clearing, custody, execution, and prime brokerage tools and services. In this episode you will hear about: - What is the prime brokerage market - How Sachin went about building Clear Street’s tech platform - Sachin's opinion on the rise in retail investing apps - Why he is bullish on embedded finance And much more! About Sachin Kumar Sachin Kumar is the Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Clear Street. Prior to Clear Street, Sachin was the co-founder and CTO at Tolo Technologies, an international derivatives high-frequency trading firm with global presence in China, Japan, and Australia. Before founding Tolo, Sachin co-founded his first company, QED Trading, where he led the development of a high frequency market making platform. Sachin has a B.S. in Computer Science from Michigan University. About Clear Street Founded in 2018, Clear Street is a Series-B fintech startup building technology infrastructure for institutions engaged in capital markets. Clear Street started by offering a cloud-native, prime brokerage platform that improved access, speed, and service for clients. But today, they offer institutions, professional traders, and brokers a plethora of services including clearing and custody, prime financing, active trading, execution, and capital introduction. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
In today's episode, Josh Benadiva sits down with Dovi Frances from Group 11 to discuss the future of Fintech and Venture Capital. Josh and Dovi discuss how Dovi sees Fintech hitting an inflection point in the near future, how venture capital is ripe for disruption and more. Dovi Frances is a financial services entrepreneur and the Founding Partner of Group 11, a venture capital firm based in Los Angeles, California. Over the course of his career, Frances has invested over $550 million in some of Silicon Valley’s most prominent and disruptive financial technology companies, including Tipalti, Navan (fka TripActions), Next Insurance, Papaya Global, HomeLight, Sunbit, Masterschool, EquityBee, Venn, and Lili to name a few. Group 11 invests in revolutionary software companies that are redrawing the landscape of the financial services industry. As FinTech continues to gain momentum and to disrupt the traditional industry value chain, Group 11 has positioned itself as a partner of choice to provide capital and guidance to entrepreneurs that are creating the world’s next generation of financial services industry leaders. Since its inception, the firm has deployed over $550 million in some of Silicon Valley’s most prominent and disruptive financial technology companies, including Tipalti, TripActions, Next Insurance, Papaya Global, HomeLight, Sunbit, Masterschool, EquityBee, Venn, and Lili to name a few.
Kailee Costello hosts Kurt Lin, CEO and Co-Founder of Pinwheel, a leading payroll connectivity API provider. Pinwheel’s mission is to create a fairer financial system, by enabling consumers to share their payroll and income data with financial institutions, which then use this data for direct deposit switching, income and employment verification, earned wage access, and more. In this episode you will hear about: - Pinwheel’s vision to help fintechs and financial institutions to build products that will lead to better financial outcomes for customers - How Pinwheel’s API is currently being used for direct deposit and earned wage access, and what the next generation of use cases will look like - Pinwheel’s survey insights on blindspots in the financial services industry - How the current macroeconomic environment has increased the need for real-time payroll data - Pinwheel’s “north star” metric, and key factors that have contributed to Pinwheel’s success - Why Pinwheel brought on the former first-ever deputy director of the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as an advisor - And much more! About Kurt Lin Kurt Lin is co-founder & CEO of Pinwheel, the leading payroll connectivity API. The son of two immigrant parents, Kurt saw how the lack of credit history created a greater struggle for them to access and secure financial products. This experience became a driving force for him and his co-founders to create Pinwheel. Prior to Pinwheel, Kurt has been involved in multiple startup acquisitions: first Idean and later with Luxe. About Pinwheel Pinwheel is the market-leading income and employment API. With Pinwheel, fintechs and financial institutions are empowered to build the next generation of financial products that will help create a fairer financial system. Pinwheel provides access to consumer-permissioned income & employment accounts and actionable insights that help them make sense of the data they need to tailor their tools and services for consumers. Fintechs and financial institutions leverage Pinwheel to power direct deposit switching, earned wage access, income & employment verification, and build innovative new products. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Kailee’s Twitter: @KaileeCostello_ Kailee’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaileecostello/
Andrew Janssens hosts Rex Salisbury, General Partner at Cambrian Ventures. Rex recently launched Cambrian, a solo-GP fund, after three years at Andreesen Horowitz establishing their Fintech team. In his last appearance on the podcast he talked about setting up the Cambrian fintech community (formerly Fintech Devs & PMs meetup). Cambrian is a U.S fintech fund investing $500K non-lead checks in Fintechs at the pre-seed and seed level. The Cambrian community allows Fintech founders and operators to connect via their slack channel and regular activities such as bi-annual founder matching. In today's episode we cover: -The evolution of Fintech Devs & PMs into the Cambrian community - Rex's investing philosophy - Rex's fintech predictions for 2023 - And much, much more For more FinTech insights, follow us below: WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Andrew’s Twitter: twitter.com/Adhjanssens Andrew’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/andrew-p-janssens/
Tarang Gupta hosts Pushkar Mukewar, CEO and Co-Founder of Drip Capital. Drip Capital is a California and India-based fintech company, focused on solving the working capital problem for SME exporters using tech. In this episode you will hear about: - Working capital challenges that SMEs face - Differences in how financial services operate across the globe - Starting up in emerging markets - Value that an MBA added to Pushkar’s startup ambitions And much more! About Pushkar Mukewar Pushkar is the Co-Founder and CEO of Drip Capital. In his 13-year career, Pushkar has worked across various geographies and has an in-depth understanding of the global financial services industry. Prior to starting Drip Capital, Pushkar was a venture capitalist at Saama Capital and was involved with several high-growth start-ups in India. He has also been a Consultant with Oliver Wyman and started his career at Capital One, developing credit risk analytics for the subprime consumer loans business. Pushkar holds an MBA degree from The Wharton School and an MS degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology. About Drip Capital Founded in 2015, Drip Capital is on a mission to make global trade easy and accessible for small businesses. Drip is using technology to re-build core parts of the international trade finance infrastructure and make the underwriting and financing of international B2B transactions seamless for small businesses. Special Announcement The 3rd Annual Wharton Fintech Conference scheduled for March 30 and 31, 2023. This year's lineup includes speakers from Greycroft, QED Investors, Ribbit, Visa, PayPal, Chime, Ripple, and more. Go to www.whartonfintechconference.com to get tickets! For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
Tarang Gupta hosts Dee Choubey, CEO and Founder of MoneyLion. MoneyLion is an all-in-one finance app that gives consumers access to a comprehensive suite of products and personalized advice, making it more engaging to bank, borrow, save, invest, and grow. In this episode you will hear about: - Building a culture of innovation within an organization - How to be successful in B2C vs B2B fintech - Challenges of taking a fast growing private company public - Why starting up is easier than it was a decade ago - Where does crypto fit in consumer finance And much more! About Dee Choubey Dee Choubey is the Co-Founder and CEO of MoneyLion. Prior to starting MoneyLion, Dee was an investment banker and had worked at Barclays, Goldman Sachs, and Citigroup; he also served as a Vice President at Citadel Securities. Dee holds a BA in Economics with Honors from the University of Chicago. About MoneyLion Founded in 2013, MoneyLion is a public company on a mission to rewire the American banking system to make money more approachable and to give consumers a more accessible and sustainable path to their goals. Special Announcement The 3rd Annual Wharton Fintech Conference scheduled for March 30 and 31, 2023. This year's lineup includes speakers from Greycroft, QED Investors, Ribbit, Visa, PayPal, Chime, Ripple, and more. Go to www.whartonfintechconference.com to get tickets! For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
Kailee Costello hosts Caesar Sengupta, CEO and Co-Founder of Arta Finance. Arta is a digital family office that offers proprietary AI-Managed Portfolios and gives customers access to alternative asset investments such as private equity and real estate. In this episode you will hear about: - Arta’s mission to give more people access to the ‘financial superpowers of the rich’ and how Arta’s technology differs from other robo-advice and AI/ML personal finance offers - Trust and transparency in financial investing - Caesar’stransition from being a leader at a large tech company to founding a startup, and his advice for anyone looking to start a FinTech company - Arta’s recent acquisition of Money Minx - Trends impacting the personal finance sector - Challenges and learnings from Ceasar’s experience leading Google Pay - And much more! About Caesar Sengupta Caesar Sengupta is the co-founder and CEO of Arta Finance. Prior to Arta, Caesar was at Google, where he was the VP & GM of Payments & the Next Billion Users initiative. He led Google Pay, which went from 0 to over 175 million users in 5 years. He earned an MBA from the Wharton School and an MS in Computer Science from Stanford University. About Arta Finance Arta Finance is a digital family office that offers proprietary AI-Managed Portfolios and gives customers access to alternative asset investments such as private equity and real estate. Arta raised $90M Series A at the end of 2022. Special Announcement The 3rd Annual Wharton Fintech Conference scheduled for March 30 and 31, 2023. This year's lineup includes speakers from Greycroft, QED Investors, Ribbit, Visa, PayPal, Chime, Ripple, and more. Go to www.whartonfintechconference.com to get tickets! For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Kailee’s Twitter: @KaileeCostello_ Kailee’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaileecostello/
Josh Benadiva and Kailee Costello sit down with David Jegen and Abdul Abdirahman from F-Prime Capital to discuss the State of Fintech 2023 Report. Josh and Kailee discuss how David’s lengthy experience in FinTech has informed his perspective on the most recent business cycle, and hear from Abdul about how the Fintech Index got its start and much more. F-Prime Capital is an independent venture capital group that grew from Fidelity Investments. They have been backing entrepreneurs building ground-breaking companies for over fifty years. F-Prime has more than $3B under management and has invested in companies from Alibaba and Prosper to Toast and Flywire.
Tarang Gupta hosts Neal Desai, CEO & Co-founder of Kafene, a fintech company helping consumers with affordable lease-to-own options for furniture, appliances, electronics, tires, and more. In this episode you will hear about - What is lease-to-own (LTO) and how it is different from the BNPL model - Challenges of disrupting and modernizing a legacy industry - Difference between financing companies holding risk on balance sheets vs those that operate as a marketplace - Not letting fear dictate one's decision making process - Value that an MBA added to Neal’s entrepreneurial journey And much more! About Neal Desai Neal Desai is the Co-Founder and CEO of Kafene. Before Kafene, Neal was the CFO at Octane Lending, a fintech unicorn. Neal also has almost 15 years of experience as a portfolio manager and a trader at companies like Alpine Partners, Summit Securities, and Merrill Lynch. Neal holds an MBA from the Wharton School and a B.A. from Princeton University. About Kafene Kafene is a Series B fintech startup that is a point-of-sale payment partner and underwriting technology platform helping retailers offer flexible lease-to-own (LTO) purchase options for prime and nonprime consumers. Special Announcement The 3rd Annual Wharton Fintech Conference scheduled for March 30 and 31, 2023. This year's lineup includes speakers from Greycroft, QED Investors, Ribbit, Visa, PayPal, Chime, Ripple, and more. Go to www.whartonfintechconference.com to get tickets! For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
Tarang Gupta hosts Todd Schwartz, CEO, Executive Chairman, and Founder of OppFi, a fintech platform that helps everyday Americans gain access to credit with digital specialty finance products. In this episode you will hear about - How observing pawn shops inspired Todd to start OppFi - OppFi's partnerships with incumbent banks to provide services to underserved consumers - Alternate data analysis and how OppFi underwrites loans - OppFi's special 'Turn-up' program to help borrowers find lower cost debt options And much more! About Todd Schwatz Todd Schwartz is the CEO, Chairman, and Founder of OppFi. He is also a Principal at Schwartz Capital Group, a dynamic family investment business based in Chicago, IL, and a Partner at Strand Equity, a LA-based growth equity firm investing in consumer brands. Previously, Todd founded the multi-family real estate company Beach Coast Properties in California. He also holds a B.S. in finance from Tulane University. About OppFi Based in Chicago, OppFi provides a fintech platform to streamline the personal lending process and provide access for underserved borrowers and middle-income, credit-challenged consumers who do not qualify for traditional loan options. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
Andrew Janssens hosts Michael Gilroy, Co-Head of Growth Investing and Head of Fintech at Coatue. Coatue is a multi-stage technology investor across both private and public markets. In this episode you will hear about: - Michael's investing philosophy - The State of Fintech in 2023 - Coatue's proposed "Rule of 200" for fintech investments - And much, much more! About Michael Gilroy Michael is a thought leader in the fintech space, and recently co-published "Fintech & the Pursuit of the Prize" a widely-cited assessment of the Fintech space that was presented at last year's Money 20/20. Prior to Coatue, Michael was a Partner at Canaan, an early-stage VC fund.
Tarang Gupta hosts David Yang, Partner at Activant Capital, a global investment firm that partners with high-growth companies that are transforming commerce. In this episode you will hear about - Escape velocity and hyper growth from an investor’s point of view - What David enjoys about his role as an investor - How Activant thinks about selecting companies to invest in - Segments within fintech are going to boom And much more! About David Yang David joined Activant in February 2021, and brings nearly fifteen years of tech investment experience across private and public markets. He helps lead the firm’s investment committee and focuses primarily on e-commerce, logistics, and B2C fintech. Prior to joining the firm, David built his investing career at TA Associates, Warburg Pincus, and Access Industries. He received his undergraduate degrees from Wharton and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business. About Activant Capital Founded in 2015, Activant Capital is a global investment firm with offices in Greenwich, New York, Berlin, and Cape Town and $1.5 billion in assets under management. Activant believes in supporting relentless entrepreneurs who are transforming industries. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
Tarang Gupta hosts John Paasonen, Co-Founder & CEO of Maxwell, a digital mortgage platform providing tech solutions to mortgage lending institutions across the US. In this episode you will hear about - Complexities creating inefficiencies in the mortgage industry - Why John chose to focus on small to midsize lenders - Maxwell's decision to enter the secondary market for mortgage loans - The rising startup ecosystem in Denver And much more! About John Paasonen John the Co-Founder and CEO of Maxwell. He is a fintech industry veteran with over 8 years of experience at PayPal and American Express. John founded Maxwell in 2015 after being frustrated with the mortgage process, and set about to modernize and inject transparency, equity, and efficiency into the mortgage process. John has a BA from Taylor University and an MBA from the Duke University. About Maxwell Founded in 2015, Maxwell was started to provide a better mortgage process for lenders and borrowers. Maxwell offers solutions that would help local mortgage lenders gain efficiency, streamline their processes, and focus on high-value work to grow their businesses and win against the industry’s largest players. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
Tarang Gupta hosts Rob Petrozzo, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of Rally, a digital platform for buying & selling equity shares in collectible assets. In this episode you will hear about - Rob’s journey from a designer to a fintech entrepreneur - Types of collectibles available on Rally - How Rally selects and price collectibles - Why collectibles must be a part of a 21st century portfolio - Rob’s opinion on NFTs vs physical collectibles And much more! About Rob Petrozzo Born and raised in Brooklyn, Rob was the first in his family to graduate from college. He studied Marketing Communication and Graphic Design at Philadelphia University. After college, he launched a boutique consulting firm and began a prolific career in design. Rob was quickly recognized and began designing for Kayne West, John Legend, Young Geezy, and DJ Drama. Rob regretted missed investment opportunities in fine art and collectibles because he didn’t have access to cash. For Rob, Rally’s mission is to provide access to collectibles by offering fractional ownership to the enthusiast-class. About Rally Rally is the pioneer alternative investing platform for blue-chip and digital collectibles, including classic cars, sports memorabilia, Birkin Bags, watches, and NFTs, totaling over 400 assets in 19+ different categories. The platform has over 400,000 users. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
Tarang Gupta hosts Archie Ravishankar, Founder and CEO of Cogni, a digital platform on a mission to provide easy, transparent and accessible banking and lifestyle services. In this episode you will hear about - What sets Cogni apart from other digital banks - Why Cogni decided to enter the Web3 space - How a non custodial crypto wallet works - Importance of sticking to one’s core values in business - One innovator that Archie admires And much more! About Archie Ravishankar Archie is the Founder and CEO of Cogni. Prior to Cogni, Archie was Investment Director at Manor Estate Family Office, Board Member at GP Pacific Engineering and Construction, and Director of Partnerships and Strategy at Hudooku Solutions. Archie is currently a Forbes Finance Council Member, a Board Member of Howard Brain Sciences Foundation, and a Board Member of Centre for Advanced Defense Studies. About Cogni Founded in 2018 with the idea that anyone, anywhere should be able to access personalized financial and lifestyle services, Cogni is a digital platform that provides easy access to Web2 and Web3 services (traditional finance, crypto, NFT’S, gaming and meta verse). For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
Tarang Gupta and Nidhi Singh host Alex Harris, Founding Partner at Fiat Growth and GP at Fiat Ventures. Fiat Growth is a growth shop focused on data backed decision making, innovation, iteration and execution. In this episode you will hear about - Alex’s experience of working at high-growth fintech startups - Fiat's belief in supporting founders from underrepresented communities - Interesting trends in the fintech industry - Why Alex prioritized happiness over money in his career And much more! About Alex Harris Alex is the Founding Partner of Fiat Growth and is a General Partner at Fiat Ventures. Alex possess deep experience as a growth operator, most recently he led Paid Growth and Partnerships at Chime, leading them from Series A to Unicorn status at Series D. At Fiat, Alex has helped many fintech brands grow including Bestow, Sundae, Root, Trellis, Simplist and Greenwood among others. Alex holds an undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley, as well as a Juris Doctorate and MBA from Seattle University. About Fiat Growth Fiat Growth is the market leading growth shop in the startup space built to optimize growth in a capital efficient way without sacrificing the need for top talent. The diverse team includes leaders from Chime, SoFi, Paypal, Credit Karma, Steady, Unison, Ripple, Amex and other market leaders. With headquarters in SF and NYC, the team offers holistic growth tailored to a company's individual needs and goals. Areas of expertise include: Go-To-Market Strategy, Lifecycle, Referral, Paid Growth, Design, Affiliate and Strategic Partnerships, Influencer Marketing and Investment Advisory. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
Tarang Gupta and Nidhi Singh host Miguel Fernandez, CEO and Co-founder at Capchase, a growth partner for SaaS companies providing flexible and non-dilutive funding. In this episode you will hear about - Miguel’s entrepreneurial journey from Europe to the US - Challenges that SaaS companies face with upfront costs - Why Miguel enjoyed his time at Harvard Business School but still chose to dropout - How Capchase is enabling capital access for small businesses And much more! About Miguel Fernandez Miguel is Co-founder and CEO of Capchase, he lives and breathes SaaS and is constantly thinking about how to solve founders’ needs around cash and revenue management. Miguel suffered most of the pains that Capchase is trying to solve while scaling sales, customer success and international at Geoblink, before pursuing an MBA at Harvard Business School and dropping out to start Capchase in early 2020. When not at work, Miguel loves helping founders that are just starting out to help them achieve product market fit as fast as possible. About Capchase Founded in 2020, Capchase's mission is to help SaaS companies grow their businesses faster through non-dilutive capital, market insights, and community support. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
Andrew Janssens hosts Peter Lord, CEO and Founder of Codat. Peter founded Codat, "the universal API for small business data" in 2017. Codat connects small businesses' consented data from banking, accounting and commerce platforms to fintechs and financial institutions. In June 2022, Codat raised a $100M Series C from investors including: JP Morgan, PayPal, Shopify and Plaid. In this episode you will hear about: - Pete's start in Computer Science and SMB lending, and how it led him to found Codat - What being "the Universal API for Small Business" means to Codat - Open Banking and Codat's proposal for Open Finance - Compare and contrast on the fintech scenes in the UK and USA - And much, much more! For more FinTech insights, follow us below: WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Andrew’s Twitter: twitter.com/Adhjanssens Andrew’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/andrew-p-janssens/
Tarang Gupta hosts TX Zhuo, General Partner, and Gabriella Brignardello, Vice President at Fika Ventures, a seed-fund investing in fintech, enterprise software, and marketplaces. In this episode you will hear about: - Fika Ventures' manifesto of "whole stories, not headlines" - How to be an effective investor - Interesting startups that Fika has invested in - Segments that TX and Gabriella believe will drive the growth of fintech And much more! About Gabriella Brignardello Gabriella began her career at EY-Parthenon. After three years in consulting, she transitioned to a venture role at WndrCo, a consumer technology holding company, before joining Fika Ventures in 2021. She is also involved in fundraising and operational initiatives for Mi Casa de Angeles, a nonprofit she founded in 2009. Gabriella holds a BS in Symbolic Systems from Stanford University. About TX Zhuo TX has been involved with startups since his college days where he started and sold an online college textbook marketplace. After a stint at McKinsey, he came back to his roots and served as the CFO for an electric vehicle startup. In 2012, he co-founded Karlin Ventures, based in Los Angeles, where he served as the managing partner for 4 years before co-founding Fika Ventures. TX holds an MBA from Stanford GSB. About Fika Ventures Fika Ventures is an LA-based seed fund that invests in founders solving meaningful, systemic problems through the use of data, related AI-enabled technologies, and automation, especially in the fintech, enterprise software, marketplaces, and digital health sectors. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
Tarang Gupta hosts Vishal Garg, Founder and CEO at Better, the #1 digital mortgage lender in the US. In this episode you will hear about: - Vishal's belief that credit is a great socio-economic equalizer - How trying to get a mortgage turned into the inspiration behind Better - The unique thing about Better that makes it a true marketplace - One professional decision that Vishal would like to change And much more! About Vishal Garg Vishal is the Founder and CEO of Better. At 21 years old, Vishal dropped out of the investment banking analyst program at Morgan Stanley to start MyRichUncle, which he grew to the second largest private student lender in the United States. Vishal is also an advocate for leveling the playing field through public education. In 2021, he launched a partnership with the Fund for Public Schools in NYC, donating nearly $2M to purchase Chromebooks, iPads, books, and uniforms for New York City public school students. About Better Since its founding in 2015, Better has originated over $100 billion in home loans, more than $38 billion in insurance, and over $3 billion in real estate transactions, all entirely online and commission-free. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
Nihar Bobba hosts Seema Amble, a partner focused on fintech investments at a16z. She primarily focuses on B2B fintech, such as payments, CFO tools, and vertical software, globally. She serves on the boards of Mvmnt and Stoik. Prior to joining Andreessen Horowitz, Seema had been investing in fintech for over a decade. She was a vice president at Goldman Sachs Investment Partners, a venture growth fund, where she focused on leading investments in fintech and Latin America. Previously, she worked at LeapFrog Investments, an emerging markets fund, and at Altamont Capital Partners. She began her career at Blackstone. Seema also worked at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau while in law school. Seema has a BA in Economics, magna cum laude, and a JD/MBA from Harvard University, where she was a Baker Scholar. In this episode you will hear about: - Seema's path into fintech - Her thoughts on fintech business models in emerging markets - Why she's excited about b2b payments, and a whole lot more
Tarang Gupta hosts Alfred Chuang, Founder and General Partner at Race Capital, a venture capital firm that invests, builds, and partners with exceptional founders building the future. In this episode you will hear about: - What Alfred loves about a venture's journey from zero to one - Web3 and its influence on the future of fintech - Achieving repeated success as an entrepreneur - Economic downturns and its hidden opportunities for VCs And much more! About Alfred Chuang Alfred is the Founder and General Partner at Race Capital. Recognized by Andreessen Horowitz as “Silicon Valley CEO’s CEO”, Alfred is an accomplished entrepreneur, having co-founded and taken BEA Systems public. Prior to BEA, Alfred spent eight years and a half years at Sun Microsystems where he led product development and network infrastructure. Alfred received a B.S. in computer science from the University of San Francisco and a Master’s degree in computer science from the University of California, Davis. About Race Capital Based in San Francisco, Race Capital invests in seed, pre-seed, and few idea stage companies and is generally focused on all things B2B/Enterprise on the infrastructure layers of the tech stack. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
Tarang Gupta hosts Patrick Gauthier, CEO at Convera, the largest non-bank B2B cross-border payments company in the world. In this episode you will hear about - What makes Convera the dominant player in cross-border payments - Countries that are going to drive the future of fintech - Operational differences in B2B vs B2C financial services organizations - What working with Jeff Bezos is like And much more About Patrick Gauthier Patrick joined as the CEO of Convera in 2021 after having held senior leadership roles at Amazon, PayPal, and Visa. He has deep expertise in developing high-performance teams and building high-growth businesses. Patrick holds several patents related to payment systems and is a recognized thought leader on the future of commerce and payments, with recurring appearances on CNBC and at industry conferences. Patrick holds a master's degree in Computer Science from Telecom SudParis in France. About Convera Convera is the largest non-bank B2B cross-border payments company in the world. Formerly Western Union Business Solutions, Convera leverages decades of industry expertise and technology-led payment solutions to deliver smarter money movements to customers. In 2020, Convera processed over $110 billion in transactions, with a customer base of more than 30,000 small and medium-sized businesses, educational institutions, financial institutions, law firms, and NGOs spanning over 40 countries and territories and 140 currencies. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
Tarang Gupta hosts Gayathri Rajan, Chief Product Officer at DriveWeath, a pioneer in fractional investing and brokerage infrastructure. In this episode you will hear about: - Fractional investing and its role in attracting retail investors - Identifying a great product-market fit - Future of embedded finance and its potential to spawn business opportunities - Why building B2B products is exciting And much more! About Gayathri Rajan Gayathri currently serves as DriveWealth’s Chief Product Officer, where she leads the firm’s strategy in developing and launching high-demand financial services products for investors worldwide. Gayathri joined DriveWealth following a 16-year stint as a product leader at Google, where she built the enterprise business for Google Maps and founded Google’s payments platform. Prior to Google, Gayathri held several positions at the Vanguard Group and Financial Engines. Gayathri holds a BA and M.Eng in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cambridge, an MSc in Computer Science from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Stanford University. About DriveWealth DriveWealth is the pioneer of fractional equities trading and embedded investing. It provides solutions that are transforming the investing landscape and powering 100+ fintechs, neobanks, & wallets worldwide. DriveWealth’s consultative support and cloud-based, industrial strength technology platform allow partners to seamlessly offer branded investing experiences to drive customer acquisition, loyalty, retention, and revenue growth. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
Tarang Gupta hosts Andy Bromberg, CEO of Eco, a consumer fintech company that lets you spend, send, save, and make money, all in one app. In this episode you will hear about - Building an open rewards system - Working towards maximizing wealth of the community - Navigating market cycles in crypto - Choosing the right investors and colleagues And much more! About Andy Bromberg Prior to joining Eco as the CEO, Andy was Co-founder and President of CoinList, a leading platform for token sales, trading, and other financial services for digital asset projects. Andy is also a founding board member at FreeWorld, a non-profit seeking to end institutionalized poverty in the United States by providing access to living-wage jobs for people with criminal histories. Andy studied Mathematics and Computer Science at Stanford University and co founded the Stanford Bitcoin Group. About Eco Eco is a digital wallet that is replacing checking accounts, credit cards, and more with a single balance that rewards you each time you make a transaction. The app uses Eco Points, a new rewards currency that helps align the interest of everyone in the Eco community. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
Andrew Janssens hosts Ashwin Kumar, Head of Startups for Banking-as-a-Service at Stripe. Ashwin is the former CEO and co-founder of Y Combinator-backed Sway Finance, and now helps Stripe's customers to use their BaaS APIs to embed financial products. Ashwin’s startup roots help him guide fintech founders as they work with Stripe to solve complex financial problems. He’s designed products from scratch, taught himself to code, won several hackathons to support his entrepreneurial endeavors, and was part of Y Combinator’s S16 cohort. Prior to joining Stripe in 2021, Ashwin was a data scientist for YC Startup School, a product manager/machine learning engineer at Mythic and a software engineer at Autopilot. In this episode you will hear about: -How Stripe is building the infrastructure for embedded finance -How Ashwin won 30 hackathons in a row by working backwards from the pitch -Why calling your company the Uber for X can backfire -And much, much more For more FinTech insights, follow us below: WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Andrew’s Twitter: twitter.com/Adhjanssens Andrew’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/andrew-p-janssens/
Tarang Gupta hosts Andrew Jamison, the CEO and Co-Founder of Extend, an innovative platform that is redefining how credit cards are issued. In this episode you will hear about: - Leaving leadership positions in corporate and start a venture - Navigating the tricky small and medium business segment - Why building relationships is so important in business - How to assess potential investors And much more! About Andrew Jamison A virtual card expert, Andrew was the head of B2B Corporate Payments Products at American Express with a mandate to drive digital payment innovation and adoption. Prior to American Express, he spent 10 years as an SAP consultant. About Extend Founded in 2016, Extend enables credit card sharing amongst non-cardholders via a simple and ubiquitous P2P platform. Extend helps banks, and their customers to capture more business spend on their existing card accounts by connecting account holders and their workforce. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
Andrew Janssens hosts Dimitri Dadiomov, Founder & CEO of Modern Treasury. In this episode we cover topics including: - Dimitri and Modern Treasury's Y combinator journey - Building a culture at a new company - Dimitri's outlook on Real-Time Payments - Modern Treasury's reverse interview of Acquired - And much, much more! About Dimitri Dadiomov: Dimitri founded Modern Treasury in 2018 alongside his co-founders, Matt Marcus and Sam Arons. Prior to Modern Treasury Dimitri was a Principal PM at LendingHome (formerly Kiavi) responsible for building payment operations. About Modern Treasury Modern Treasury is building payment operations solutions to automate the full cycle of money movement and help businesses to implement real-time payments and close their books with continuous accounting. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Andrew’s Twitter: twitter.com/Adhjanssens Andrew’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/andrew-p-janssens/
Tarang Gupta has a conversation with Danielle Cohen-Shohet, CEO and Founder at GlossGenius, one of the quickest growing solutions powering small business owners across the US in the beauty & wellness space with powerful SaaS and fintech functionalities. In this episode you will hear about - How GlossGenius is building fintech solutions for the beauty industry - Why optimizing ease of use for consumers is paramount - Danielle’s experience as a female entrepreneur - Why she recommends people to take more interest in history And much more! About Danielle Cohen-Shohet Danielle Cohen-Shohet is the CEO and Founder of GlossGenius. Prior to starting GlossGenius, Danielle was an analyst at Goldman Sachs and graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University. Danielle was selected as a member of the Fast Company Impact Council, the Inaugural Sephora Accelerate Program, and a member of Techstars NYC. About GlossGenius GlossGenius is one of the quickest growing solutions powering small business owners across the US in the beauty & wellness space. GlossGenius’s complete “business-in-a-box” platform spans powerful SaaS and fintech solutions, enabling business owners to run their business operations every day. GlossGenius is backed by a number of high-profile investors and has raised more than $40M. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
Tarang Gupta sits down with Latif Peracha, General Partner at M13, a venture capital firm investing in enabling technologies that will power the future of work, health, commerce, and money. In this episode you will hear about - The interesting world of Web3 investing - M13’s unique Propulsion Platform for startups - Exciting Web3 startups backed by M13 - What working with Sir Richard Branson was like And much more! About Latif Peracha Latif manages the overall investing strategy for M13 and has led numerous deals across money and health verticals with a large focus on Web3. He was previously the Managing Director at Virgin Group where he led investing in the Americas including investments in Ring, Slack, Virgin Galactic, and Virgin Orbit. Prior to Virgin, Latif worked at Bear Stearns and Ticketmaster and currently serves on the advisory board at the University of Michigan. About M13 M13 is a VC firm with a portfolio of $137 Billion+, including 15 unicorn startups, which focuses on investing in technologies that will power the future of work, health, commerce, and money. This includes Web3, which M13 defines as a horizontal technology that permeates across these four areas. M13 invests at Seed, Series A, and Series B stages. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
Andrew Janssens hosts Nik Milanović, Founder of This Week in Fintech, a digest of global FinTech news, and General Partner of The Fintech Fund. In this episode we cover topics including: - How This Week in Fintech evolved from Nik's weekly updates to his teammates and friends - Nik's early start in microfinance and how it has affected his philosophy on fintech - How we can build more diverse communities in fintech - Nik's love of music (specifically DJ-ing) About Nik Milanović Nik Milanovic, is the Founder of This Week in Fintech, and General Partner of the Fintech Fund. Prior to This Week in Fintech and the Fintech Fund, Nik was hire #1 at Funding Circle, led Strategy at Petal and subsequently led BD and Strategy for Google Pay and Google Finance. About This Week in Fintech This week in Fintech is a digest of all things in global Fintech. From a single weekly newsletter it has grown to coverage of fintech news around the world. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Andrew’s Twitter: twitter.com/Adhjanssens Andrew’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/andrew-p-janssens/
Tarang Gupta has a conversation with Philip Belamant, Co-Founder and CEO of Zilch, a UK-based payment and BNPL provider that is Europe’s fastest-ever company to go from launch to unicorn. In this episode you will hear about - Philip's entrepreneurial journey from Africa to the UK - How Zilch's ad-subsidized payments network is changing the way consumers access credit - Why Zilch decided to take a different approach than conventional “checkout” finance - What it takes to build a 'customer-first' company And much more! About Philip Belamant Philip is a serial entrepreneur who founded fintech companies in developing economies including a mobile payment service and a leading fintech company in Africa, before starting Zilch. Philip graduated Cum Laude from RAU University in South Africa, where he completed both Bsc IT and Bsc IT Honors degrees and he won UK’s Great British Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2021. About Zilch Founded in 2018, Zilch is a UK-based payments and BNPL provider that reached 2 million customers in 18 months, becoming the fastest fintech to achieve double unicorn status. Zilch is on a mission to provide people with the most empowering and value enhancing way to pay for anything while managing their cash flow responsibly. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
Tarang Gupta has a conversation with Alex Zinder, Global Head of Ledger Enterprise, the B2B division of Ledger, a leader in crypto-asset management. In this episode you will hear about: - Ledger’s pioneering offerings in Web3 hardware and software - Witnessing the dotcom bubble and the evolution of internet companies - What's it like working at NASDAQ vs at a high-growth startup - How to get involved in Web3 if you are not from a tech background And much more! About Alex Zinder Alex joined Ledger Enterprise in March 2021 after spending almost two decades in capital markets technology. Alex was previously at NASDAQ where he was the Director of Global Software Development and held the role of Assistant Vice President, Enterprise Architecture. Alex has more than 15 years of experience in driving the adoption of emerging technologies in financial services organizations and for the past seven years he has focused on distributed systems and digital assets. About Ledger Enterprise Ledger Enterprise, the B2B division of Ledger, provides a secure hardware-backed platform to protect organizations' digital assets at scale. Ledger also delivers Crypto Treasury Management, Decentralized Finance (DeFi) as a service, NFT, and Token creation capabilities with secure governance and self-custody. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
Andrew Janssens hosts Mark Higgins, Co-Founder and Chief Analytics Officer of Beacon, an end-to-end development platform for financial markets that allows traders and quants to build and share code and applications across the front and back office. In this episode you will hear about: - How Mark went from his PhD in physics to the world of finance - How Goldman's Sec DB contributed to their trading edge - Whether finance and FinTech are still appealing for today's PhDs - Some of the latest applications of AI and machine learning in modern trading About Mark Higgins Mark Higgins (PhD) is a veteran of the finance industry, and a true technologist with a PhD in astrophysics. Before co-founding Beacon with Kirat Singh in 2014, Mark spent eight years at JP Morgan, launching and delivering the Athena project, and co-heading the quantitative research group for the investment bank. Prior to JP Morgan he spent eight years at Goldman Sachs where he worked on Goldman's legendary SecDB. About Beacon Beacon is a development platform providing quants and programmers the ability to develop, customize and and roll out analytics and applications for public markets trading. Beacon serves a wide range of investors and has offices in New York, London and Tokyo. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Andrew’s Twitter: twitter.com/Adhjanssens Andrew’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/andrew-p-janssens/
Tarang Gupta has a conversation with Robert (Bob) Pitti, Partner at Liquid Stock, an investment firm providing liquidity to employees and stockholders of privately held companies. In this episode you will hear about: - How Liquid Stock is enabling liquidity for shareholders of pre-IPO companies - How companies can leverage tax arbitrage to retain talent - Robert's outlook on the recent economic uncertainty - Liquid Stock’s growth and expansion plans About Robert (Bob) Pitti Robert is a founder of Liquid Stock and possesses more than 25 years of wealth management and advisory experience. Prior to Liquid Stock, Robert was a founder and Managing Partner at VSL Partners and before that he worked at Thomas Weisel Partners. Robert pursued an undergraduate degree in business from George Washington University and an MBA from the University of Chicago. About Liquid Stock Founded in 2019, Liquid Stock is a pioneer in private company liquidity solutions that provides employees with financing to help option exercise, tax plan, and achieve liquidity. Liquid Stock’s mission is to democratize and transform share ownership at privately held companies. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
Andrew Janssens hosts Joe Robinson, Co-Founder and CEO of Hummingbird, a regtech helping banks and fintechs fight financial crimes with better communications and platforms to investigate Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) incidents. In this episode you will hear about: - How Joe came to found Hummingbird after experiences at Square and Circle - How fintechs can stay ahead of the newest forms of financial crime - How banks and fintechs are navigating the crypto universe and financial crime - Building a distributed team and what's next for Hummingbird About Joe Robinson Joe Robinson is the co-Founder and CEO of Hummingbird. He started his career in product management within FinTech and has held roles including VP of Risk and Data Science at Circle, and Senior Product Lead at Square. About Hummingbird Hummingbird is a platform that enables fintechs and financial institutions to conduct their investigations into potential financial crime. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Andrew’s Twitter: twitter.com/Adhjanssens Andrew’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/andrew-p-janssens/
Tarang Gupta has a conversation with Ben Verschuere, Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Treasure Financial, a cash management platform designed to help businesses transform idle cash into revenue. In this episode you will hear about: - What motivated Ben to launch a fintech startup - How good treasury management can help companies become more profitable - Why banks are disincentivized to offer attractive yields on deposits - His opinion on the next revolution in banking About Ben Verschuere Ben has more than 15 years of experience in the financial services industry, starting his career with Morgan Stanley followed by 10 years at Peter Thiel’s hedge fund and family office, after which he co-founded Treasure. Ben earned a BS in Economics and a MS in Finance from UCL(Belgium), a MS in Statistics from the University of Chicago and was a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto. About Treasure Financial Founded in 2018, Treasure is a platform offering treasury as a service. With the Treasure Reserve account businesses can allocate funds between Treasure Cash and Treasure High Yield based on the cashflow needs, earning up to 100x more revenue on idle cash and turning their finance department into a revenue generator. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
Tarang Gupta has a conversation with Lizzie Chapman, Co-Founder & CEO of ZestMoney, India’s largest EMI financing and Buy Now, Pay Later Network. In this episode you will hear about: - What fascinates Lizzie about the Indian fintech industry - Her experiences as a female entrepreneur - Her outlook on the future of the global buy now, pay later industry - Why Lizzie is excited about the Global Fintech Fest 2022 And much more! About Lizzie Chapman Lizzie started her career as an equity research analyst with Goldman Sachs in London. After a 5-year stint at Goldman Sachs, she moved to the buy-side as an investor at Wellcome Trust. In 2011, she moved from UK to India to spearhead operations for digital lender Wonga and in 2014, she led the launch of ‘Digibank’, India’s first mobile-app-only bank. She was recognized as among the Top 100 women in fintech globally by the Fintech magazine. About ZestMoney Founded in 2015, ZestMoney is India’s largest and fastest-growing Digital EMI/Checkout Finance platform. ZestMoney is deeply integrated with large merchants in India including Amazon and Flipkart, and brands like Apple and Reliance Digital; increasing the affordability of their products and helping them facilitate frictionless sales. The company has built a platform that integrates mobile technology, digital banking, and AI, enabling people to get a digital credit line within seconds. ZestMoney’s technology and work to make affordable finance accessible led to their selection as a 2020 Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum. This episode is brought to you in collaboration with the Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2022. To attend the festival please visit https://globalfintechfest.com/ For more FinTech insights, follow us on: WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
Tarang Gupta has a conversation with Nelson Chu, Founder and CEO of Percent, a disruptor unlocking exclusive access to private credit investments for accredited investors. In this episode you will hear about: - What inspired Nelson to launch Percent - How Percent manages risk-return for investors - Credit default swaps for the private market - Importance of culture in building a thriving organization And much more! About Nelson Chu Nelson is a serial entrepreneur with years of experience at Bank of America and BlackRock. Prior to Percent, Nelson founded a strategy consulting firm helping companies build products and raise capital for growth, creating over $1B in equity value. He also serves as an advisor to an ultra-high-net-worth family office and is an angel investor with investments in BlockFi, Cadre, Clover Health, and Tala. About Percent Founded in 2018, Percent leverages proprietary technologies, integrations, and data to bring first-of-its-kind transparency and efficiency to lenders and credit transactions. Percent's innovative ecosystem enables lenders to raise the debt capital at a low cost through dynamic market pricing and standardized terms. To date, its platforms have powered more than $600 million in transaction volume. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
Tarang Gupta sits down with Steffen Pauls, Founder and CEO of Moonfare. Moonfare is a platform that is democratizing Private Equity, an asset class traditionally accessible to a select few individuals and organizations, by lowering investment minimums, conducting due diligence on funds, and eliminating barriers to entry for retail investors. In this episode you will hear about: - The inspiration behind starting Moonfare - Evolution of the global private equity market - Strategically approaching international expansion And much more! About Dr. Steffen Pauls Dr. Pauls began his career at the Boston Consulting Group, where he led project teams covering strategic and operational projects at publicly listed European companies. He brought his experience as a consultant to KKR, where as a managing director he was responsible for the German market. Dr. Pauls also holds advanced degrees from the University of Trier, Harvard University, and the University of Mannheim. About Moonfare Moonfare is a platform that is revolutionizing private markets investing. Moonfare recently ranked as one of LinkedIn’s top 10 startups in Germany. For more information please visit www.moonfare.com For more FinTech insights, follow us below: WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
Gabriela Ariana Campoverde sits down with Victor Fimbres, Co-Founder and CTO of Forage, a third-party payments processor which helps grocers accept Electronic Benefit Transfers, or EBT, online. Forage is on a mission to create a world where all families with any budget can afford a meal. Today over 42 million people receive EBT benefits or food stamps. This is government support to pay for groceries. 14% of all grocery spend is paid with EBT, but only 5% of this was online. When Forage first started there were less than 20 merchants who could process EBT online. Today there are close to 100 merchants — and Forage is just getting started. In this episode you will learn all about how Forage was started during the COVID-19 pandemic when going to a grocery store was impractical, specifically in food deserts across the country. You will also learn about the obstacles Forage overcame to build its current API, how they successfully completed the Y-Combinator accelerator last summer, and all about Victor’s and his Co-Founder Justin’s passion for making technology accessible to those who need it the most. About Victor Fimbres Victor Fimbres is the Co-Founder and CTO of Forage. Prior to founding Forage, he was a Software Lead at TreeStack and ROBO 3D. He is a graduate of Northwestern University where he studied Psychology and Environmental Policy & Culture. About Forage Forage is a third-party payment processor (TPP) and a pin provider that authenticates and processes EBT recipients and transactions. For additional information on Forage, please visit joinforage.com. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Gabriela’s Twitter: twitter.com/byGabyC Gabriela’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gcampoverde
Tarang Gupta has a conversation with Anat Guetta, Chairwoman of the Israel Securities Authority. The Israel Securities Authority (ISA) is the national securities regulator of Israel. Established by law in 1968, which defines the ISA's role "to protect the interests of the public investing in securities." ISA is active in two main areas: protecting investors; developing the regulatory infrastructure, tools and products for an advanced, diverse, competitive and innovative public capital market. In this episode you will hear about: -What makes Israel such an innovative country -Use and adoption of blockchain in capital markets -Open banking regulations in Europe and Israel And much more! About Anat Guetta Anat Guetta is the Chairwoman of the Israel Securities Authority. Anat is a serial entrepreneur who started her career in the banking industry, managing credit risk products and project finance. She then founded and led Arko Holdings; a public company listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Anat is also the co-founder of Entropy Financial Research Services where she served as the CEO and led the development of a corporate governance index, and a debt management policy before joining the ISA. About Israel Securities Authority The Israel Securities Authority (ISA) is the national securities regulator of Israel. ISA currently oversees a broad array of activities in the capital market, including the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. For additional information on ISA, please visit www.isa.gov.il/ For more FinTech insights, follow us below: WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100
Gabriela Ariana Campoverde sits down with Steve Fredette, President, Co-founder and a Director of Toast. Toast is an all-in-one point-of-sale and restaurant management platform for businesses in the food service and hospitality space. Since its inception in 2011 it has helped clients delight their guests, do what they love and thrive. In this episode you will hear about: - Toast’s humble beginnings - What new features better served Toast clients during the pandemic - What innovation Steve is excited about for the restaurant industry - All about Toast’s culture - And much more! About Steve Fredette Steve Fredette is President, Co-founder and a Director of Toast, where he leads product and innovation initiatives. Prior to Toast, he worked on mobile app development before the iPhone came out, creating the first Flickr and Shoebuy.com apps. At Endeca, now Oracle, he co-founded their mobile commerce business, building the product team and driving sales, marketing, and services to over $10 million in revenue in two years. He is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he studied Chemistry. His favorite toast is Marble Rye. About Toast Toast is an all-in-one point-of-sale and restaurant management platform for businesses in the food service and hospitality space. For additional information on Toast, please visit pos.toasttab.com. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Gabriela’s Twitter: twitter.com/byGabyC Gabriela’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gcampoverde
In today's special episode, Anirudh Singh sits down with classmates and fintech founders Gaby Campoverde, John Garner, and Nate Soffio. They discuss their rising startups, Miren, Card Curator, and Portabl, as well as the impact the Wharton MBA has had on their respective companies. Gaby Campoverde: Gabriela Ariana Campoverde is CEO and Founder of Miren. She is currently an MBA candidate at The Wharton School and Masters in Computer and Information Technology at Penn Engineering. Prior to her graduate studies she worked at a WPP agency, American Express and Goldman Sachs. She is passionate about building products for working-class, immigrant communities across the US and is a proud New Yorker. She studied Art History and Linguistics at Swarthmore College. Website: https://www.getmiren.com/ John Garner: John Garner is the CEO and co-founder of Card Curator, a credit card rewards optimization app. Prior to starting Card Curator, John spent 5+ years as a volatility trader for Merrill Lynch, and left his Wall Street job to follow his real passion: credit card rewards and travel. John went on to invent the Card Curator algorithm called CardArb, which nets its users 5–10% or more in rewards on their daily card spending. He's an expert in all things related to credit cards and free travel, and loves helping others crack the code in the points and miles game with the Card Curator app. John holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Psychology from Dartmouth College, and a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Website: https://www.cardcurator.com/ Nate Soffio: Nate is in the home stretch of his MBA at Wharton, where he serves as Co-President of Wharton Fintech. He spent 10 years building and launching identity-focused products at startups in the US and in the UK/ EU, specializing in the know-your-customer (KYC) landscape and privacy-preserving adtech. Right before Wharton, he lead KYC at Arachnys, a QED portfolio company, through its acquisition in 2020. In his spare time, he's a long-distance cyclist and budding rock climber. Website: https://getportabl.com/ For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: twitter.com/avsingh_24
Anirudh Singh sits down with Brad Bernstein, Managing Partner at FTV Capital. Brad has been a growth equity investor at FTV Capital for over 18 years, leading investments in enterprise technology & services and financial services. In today's episode, they discuss what drives FTV Capital's success, investments in Enfusion, Plate IQ, Paddle, LoanPro and EBANX, and much more! Brad Bernstein: Brad is managing partner and has been a growth equity investor at FTV Capital for over 18 years, leading investments in enterprise technology & services and financial services. Brad has over 25 years of private equity experience. Prior to FTV, Brad was a partner at Oak Hill Capital Management and its predecessors where he managed the business and financial services group. He began his private equity career with Patricof & Company Ventures and started his professional career in the investment banking division of Merrill Lynch in New York. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: twitter.com/avsingh_24
Anirudh Singh sits down with Gaurav Sharma, CEO and Co-Founder of Capitalize a venture-backed fintech company in New York focused on the retirement savings market. In today’s episode, they discuss the size of the 401K rollover issue in the United States, Capitalize being listed as one of TIME's best inventions of 2021, the fundraising process, and much more! Gaurav Sharma: Gaurav leads Capitalize's mission to help people save for retirement. Before founding Capitalize, he worked for some of the best-known financial institutions, including JP Morgan, UBS, Morgan Stanley, and as an investor at well-known hedge fund Greenlight Capital. After seeing how hard it is for most people to understand their retirement accounts, he decided to build a company that makes it easier. An Australian by birth, Gaurav lives in New York with his wife and their adopted puppy, Lorenzo. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: twitter.com/avsingh_24
Gabriela Ariana Campoverde sits down with Christina Keitt Chaney, Head of Sales and Relationship Management of MoCaFi. MoCaFi is short for Mobility Capital Finance, and today the company helps over 70MM clients across the United States open a bank account, build credit, and support local businesses. The company was founded in 2015 with a mission to address social inequities by closing the racial wealth gap. In this episode, you will learn all about: - The MoCaFi products which help its clients reach financial empowerment - How MoCaFi works with local governments to distribute benefits - MoCaFi’s mission-oriented company culture - Christina’s twenty year career in financial services - And much more! About Christina Keitt Chaney Christina Keitt Chaney is the Head of Sales and Relationship Management of MoCaFi. She has over twenty years of experience in financial services and prior to MoCaFi, she worked at American Express, BNY Mellon, JP Morgan-Chase, Bank of America Merill Lynch, and US Bank across Sales and Corporate Strategy roles. She is a graduate of Delaware State University, where she studied Political Science. About MoCaFi Launched in 2015, MoCaFi is a fintech, committed to closing the wealth gap for Black, Latinx, and all communities disconnected from the mainstream economy. To learn more about MoCaFi, visit mocafi.com. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Gabriela’s Twitter: twitter.com/byGabyC Gabriela’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gcampoverde
Anirudh Singh sits down with Shimon Kogan, Associate Professor of Finance, with positions at Arison School of Business, Reichman University and The Wharton School. The two discuss the shifting perspective around fintech companies after the financial crisis, why fintech is an excellent industry for new graduates to get into, exciting global trends in the industry, and much more! Shimon Kogan: Prof. Kogan is an Associate Professor of Finance, with positions at Arison School of Business, Reichman University and The Wharton School. He was on the faculty at MIT Sloan, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Texas at Austin, and Duke. He held several investment-management positions and board advisory roles. He earned his MBA and PhD from the University of California at Berkeley and his BA from Tel Aviv University. Dr. Kogan’s research focuses on behavioral finance with application to capital markets. He is interested in understanding how information is processed in markets and his approach is interdisciplinary, integrating tools and insights from machine learning and AI. His research appeared in some of the profession's top journals such as the Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Finance, and the American Economic Review, and he was invited to present his work in leading conferences and universities, such as MIT, Wharton, Harvard, and Yale. His teaching is focused on machine learning, data science, and blockchain, and their implications for finance. He has been teaching Fintech, Data Science for Finance, Investment, Portfolio Management, Derivatives, and Behavioral Finance. He is involved with several startups in the fintech space and is often invited to speak about these issues in both academic and practitioners’ conferences. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: twitter.com/avsingh_24
Anirudh Singh sits down with Sigal Mandelker, General Partner at Ribbit Capital. The two discuss her career in both the public and private sectors, Ribbit’s investment in Chainalysis, cryptocurrencies and anti-money laundering, and much more! Sigal Mandelker: Sigal Mandelker joined Ribbit Capital as a General Partner in April 2020. Ribbit is an investment firm focused on financial services and technology. Prior to Ribbit, she served as Under Secretary of Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. As Under Secretary, Sigal supervised four main components of Treasury (OFAC, FinCEN, the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, and the Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes). Before serving as Under Secretary of Treasury, Sigal was a partner at Proskauer in New York. Sigal also previously served in a number of senior positions in the U.S. government, including as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Division of the Justice Department, an AUSA in the Southern District of New York, Counselor to Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, and Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General. Sigal is also an Advisor to Chainalysis, is on the Board of the Financial Technology Association, serves on the advisory group to the Digital Dollar Project, and is Member of the US Holocaust Memorial Council. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: twitter.com/avsingh_24
Anirudh Singh sits down with Katherine Salisbury, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Qapital. The two discuss Katherine’s early career, co-founding not one but two companies with her partner, Katherine’s views on the fintech industry overall, and much more. Hope you enjoy the show! Katherine Salisbury: Ten years ago, Katherine set out to find a solution to her family’s money management headaches - one that actually aligned with their motivations, goals and lifestyle. A few years later, Qapital was born. Today, Katherine serves as co-founder and co-CEO of Qapital – an app that empowers users by putting their personal goals at the core of the product, and then supercharging their savings, investing, and budgeting efforts with clever tips and tools rooted in behavioral psychology. Katherine brings 20 years of finance, legal, and business experience to Qapital. She graduated from the University of Chicago with honors, studied international business law at Bucerius Law School in Hamburg, and graduated from Cornell Law School. She began her career as a bank finance attorney at the top-tier international law firms White & Case and Simpson Thacher. From there, she was tapped to serve as VP and Counsel at Jefferies Finance, steering Jefferies Finance through the early days of the joint venture between Jefferies and MassMutual. She then founded an international full-service sports management agency based in Stockholm & New York City, where she specialized in brokering international transfers. In her current role at Qapital, Katherine focuses on product, growth, and business strategy. Under her leadership, Qapital has helped users save almost $3 billion collectively for their goals. Currently, Katherine lives in Stockholm with her partner, co-founder, and co-CEO, George Friedman, and their four daughters. Qapital: https://www.qapital.com/?campaign=wharton_fintech_podcast&tt=j8e3x13_g6rptk3 For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: twitter.com/avsingh_24
Gabriela Ariana Campoverde sits down with Howard Katzenberg, CEO and Founder of Glean, an accounts payable solution that combines smart automation with spend intelligence to drive material savings. Glean supercharges vendor decision making. This platform automatically detects duplicate invoices and overcharges; receives alerts on billing errors, anomalous spend activity, and available vendor savings; and leverages vendor benchmarking to see what other companies are paying. In this episode, you will learn about how: - Howard’s CFO experience inspired Glean - Glean impacts on client’s profit lines - Fintechs can disrupt the enterprise software industry - Howard took his own company from 0 to 1 - And so much more! About Howard Katzenberg Howard Katzenberg is CEO and Founder of Glean. Formerly, Howard served as CFO of OnDeck and Better Mortgage. He earned his MBA degree from The Wharton School, and studied Business while earning his Bachelor’s degree from Cornell University. About Glean Glean unlocks the powerful data detailed in vendor invoices/receipts to surface relevant spend insights and drive spend accountability. To learn more about Glean, visit glean.ai. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Gabriela’s Twitter: twitter.com/byGabyC Gabriela’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gcampoverde
Anirudh Singh sits down with Amias Gerety, Partner at QED Investors. The two discuss the recent cryptocurrency executive order, QED's success over the past two years, investments into Tint, Atomic, and Ntropy, and much more. Amias Gerety: Amias joined QED as a Partner in 2017 focusing on supporting the portfolio and finding new investment opportunities with a focus on back office technologies and infrastructure companies. Amias brings a deep background in financial markets, compliance, and RegTech to the QED team. Most recently, Amias served as the President’s nominee and as Acting Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In that role, he was the lead advisor to the Secretary on policies affecting financial institutions. He also oversaw a number of programs focused on supporting small business lending and community development. He previously served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Financial Stability Oversight Council, an interagency group of financial regulators charged with monitoring and mitigating potential threats to financial stability. Prior to Treasury, Amias was a management consultant at Oliver Wyman. He also served in a number of policy roles and worked in East Africa for Save the Children. Amias is a recipient of the Alexander Hamilton award, the Treasury’s highest honor. Amias graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard with a BA in Social Studies. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: twitter.com/avsingh_24
Anirudh Singh sits down with Adam Nash, CEO of Daffy. The two discuss Adam's career at Wealthfront, being a successful product manager, his motivations behind founding Daffy, the importance of choosing the right revenue model for your business, and much more. If you're interested in signing up for Daffy, you can use the below promo code to claim $25 for a charity of your choice. Promo Code: https://daffy.org/adamnash/invite For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: twitter.com/avsingh_24
Gabriela Ariana Campoverde sits down with Blair Silverberg, Founder and CEO of Hum Capital, a funding platform connecting great companies with the right capital for their growth. Hum believes that every qualified company should be able to raise the capital they need to flourish without bias or friction. On Hum’s Intelligent Capital Market, companies are evaluated on fundamentals and performance, not on who they know. In this episode, you will learn all about: - The platform that Blair and his team are building - How Hum builds an efficient two-sided marketplace - The current issues companies face when attempting to access capital - Blair’s journey from investor to founder - And much more! About Blair Silverberg Blair Silverberg is the Founder and CEO of Hum Capital. Prior to launching Hum, he was an investor at Draper Fisher Jurvetson. He is passionate about using data to identify great businesses. He studied Product Design at Stanford University. About Hum Capital Launched in 2019, Hum is turning the tables on the traditional fundraising process. The platform strives to make fundraising more efficient, transparent and data-driven. To learn more about Hum, visit humcapital.com. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Gabriela’s Twitter: twitter.com/byGabyC Gabriela’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gcampoverde
Anirudh Singh sits down with Rishi Khanna, CEO of Stocktwits. The two discuss Rishi's lessons learned as a serial entrepreneur, the benefits of social trading, international expansion at Stocktwits, meme stocks, NFTs, and much more. Rishi Khanna: Rishi Khanna is the CEO of Stocktwits, the original social platform for individual investors and traders with 6M registered members. Before Stocktwits, Rishi was Managing Director at SS&C GlobeOp at SS&C Technologies Holdings Inc, where he had overall responsibility for sales, product, operations and strategic direction of a number of businesses serving the alternative assets industry. In 2007, Rishi co-founded and served as President of Novus, a global portfolio intelligence platform company that invented the art of portfolio intelligence, solving unique data and analytics challenges facing capital allocators and fund managers across liquid and illiquid investments. Prior to co-founding Novus, Rishi was responsible for the development of the technology and product platforms for Gerson Lehrman Group. Rishi holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Cornell University. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: twitter.com/avsingh_24
In today's episode, Ally McCloskey sits down with Ganesh Rao, Managing Director and Head of Financial Technology and Services at Thomas H. Lee Partners ("THL"), the $16B+ private equity firm. THL invests in middle market growth companies exclusively in three sectors: Financial Technology & Services, Healthcare, and Technology & Business Solutions. Since its founding in 1974, THL has raised more than $34 billion of equity capital, invested in over 160 companies, and completed more than 500 add-on acquisitions representing an aggregate enterprise value at acquisition of over $210 billion. Specifically within Financial Technology & Services, THL has invested $5.7 billion in 28 companies. Some notable exits you may know include: BlackKnight, FIS, FirstbanCorp, and MoneyGram, among others. Ganesh, has been with THL for over 20 years, coming from Morgan Stanley's FIG group and after completing his MBA at Harvard Business School. He is currently a director of AbacusNext, Black Knight, Dun & Bradstreet, ServiceLink Holdings, Ceridian HCM Holding Inc., AmeriLife Group, Auction.com, Hightower Advisors, and Insurance Technologies, and a board observer at Guaranteed Rate. Ally and Ganesh discuss: • The ways in which Private Equity has changed over the past 2+ decades • How THL is structured, where its latest $5.6 billion fund will be deployed, and the 5 Identified Sector Opportunities Ganesh focuses on within Financial Technology & Services • THL's sourcing and relationship building process with target partner companies • THL's role after a deal is inked • Ganesh's forward-looking theses on Vertical Software with Integrated Payments and Insurance Tech & Services • His most memorable deal and spending an atypical 13 years with that company before exiting • And a whole lot more -- About Ganesh Ganesh B. Rao is a managing director at Thomas H. Lee Partners. Prior to joining Thomas H. Lee Partners, Mr. Rao worked at Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated in the Financial Institutions Group. Mr. Rao is currently a director of AbacusNext, Black Knight, Dun & Bradstreet, Ceridian HCM Holding Inc., AmeriLife Group, Auction.com, Hightower Advisors, Insurance Technologies, Nextech, Odessa and a board observer at Guaranteed Rate. His prior directorships include Comdata, Nielsen, MoneyGram International, Optimal Blue, ServiceLink Holdings and Ten-X Commercial. Mr. Rao holds a B.A., summa cum laude, in Economics from Duke University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. About THL THL invests in middle market growth companies exclusively within selected Identified Sector Opportunities (ISOs) in three industry groups: Financial Technology & Services, Healthcare and Technology & Business Solutions. The firm couples deep domain expertise with dedicated internal operating resources to transform and build great companies of lasting value in partnership with management. Since 1974, THL has raised more than $34 billion of equity capital, invested in over 160 companies and completed more than 500 add-on acquisitions representing an aggregate enterprise value at acquisition of over $210 billion. Its global investor base includes some of the world's leading public and corporate pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, financial institutions, endowments and high net worth families, which THL considers to be a valuable asset, providing additional co-investment capital as well as insight and relationships useful to its portfolio companies. Since 2015, the firm has raised approximately $15 billion for its Flagship, Continuation and Automation Funds and over $5.5 billion of LP Co-investment vehicles. -- As always, for more Fintech insights and opportunities to collaborate, please find us below: Blog: medium.com/wharton-fintech Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ Suggest a Guest: airtable.com/shrdbokQPxAJzgVh7 Ally's Twitter: twitter.com/AllyMcCloskey Ally's Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/allyraemccloskey/
Anirudh Singh sits down with Deven Parekh, Managing Director at Insight Partners. The two discuss what makes Insight such a successful investment firm, the evolution of fintech investing over the past 10 years, investments in Slice, GCash, Pomelo, and much more. Deven Parekh: Deven Parekh is a Managing Director at Insight Partners. Since joining Insight in 2000, he has made more than 130 investments in enterprise software, data, and consumer internet businesses globally, including in North America, Europe, India, Israel, China, Africa, Latin America, and Australia. Currently, Deven serves on the Boards of Directors for Appriss, Calm, Candy, Checkout.com, Chrono24, Community Brands, CoreLogic, Diligent, DistroKid, DriveWealth, Ellkay, Fanatics, iad, PDI, TetraScience, Vinted, WeWork, and Within3. Other companies within his portfolio include Chargebee, FTX, Thunes, Splitwise, 1stdibs, Slice, Saks.com and Saks OFF 5th, BharatPe, and Automattic (WordPress). In addition to his work at Insight, Deven currently serves as a Board Member for the Council on Foreign Relations, NYU Langone, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and the Tisch New York MS Research Center. He was also confirmed by the United States Senate to serve on the Board of Directors for the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation. Prior to joining Insight, Deven was a Principal at Berenson Minella & Company, a New York-based merchant banking firm, where he served on the M&A Committee. He also worked for Blackstone on M&A and other investment activities. Deven has a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: twitter.com/avsingh_24
Anirudh Singh sits down with Greg Schvey, CEO of Axoni. The two discuss Greg’s introduction to bitcoin, the benefits of blockchain technology, public vs. private blockchains, and much more. Greg Schvey: Greg is a repeat entrepreneur and drives Axoni’s strategic execution. He previously co-founded TradeBlock and worked as a fixed income analyst at Citigroup. Greg holds a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University where he studied finance. Axoni: Axoni was founded in 2013 with the goal of overhauling global capital markets infrastructure. That vision has become a reality through intensive technology development and deep collaboration with the world’s leading financial institutions. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: twitter.com/avsingh_24
In today's episode, Ally McCloskey sits down with two-time guest Dan Westgarth, COO at Deel. Deel makes growing remote and international teams effortless by simplifying international hiring, compliance, and payments all on one platform. This means businesses can hire anyone, anywhere as independent contractors or full time employees compliantly, in minutes, and with the ability to pay them in over 120 currencies and cryptos starting with USDC. The company has raised over $631mm from the likes of a16z, Spark Capital, Y Combinator, Coatue, Elad Gil, Nat Friedman, Alexis Ohanian, Daniel Gross, and others, most recently closing their $425mm Series D this past October. Dan joined Deel in 2020, after spending what he calls his "postgraduate education" at Revolut. For more on that chapter of his life, check out the link below to his 2019 WFT Podcast debut. In this conversation, Ally and Dan discuss: • Dan's time at Revolut and his lessons learned leading the early U.S. expansion • Meeting the founders of Deel and building conviction that they'd be the team to tackle global hiring and payroll • How Deel replaces long email chains, generic contracts, individual wire transfers, and foreign subsidiaries and instead enables quick and compliant hiring of employees living anywhere in the world • The effects of the pandemic on demand for foreign talent • How Deel thinks about company culture when it has 450 employees working in more than 50 countries • Why Dan values investor diligence as it relates to his own technical operations • And a lot more About Dan (twitter.com/Dan_Westgarth) Fintech enthusiast Dan Westgarth currently serves as Chief Operating Officer at Deel, where he manages Deel's Business, Operations, Legal, and Compliance teams. Before joining Deel, Dan was one of challenger bank Revolut's earliest employees, most recently in the role of General Manager for North America. Outside of his day to day at Deel, Westgarth spends his time making early-stage angel investments into interesting technology companies and helping them scale. Dan's 2019 WFT Podcast debut: https://soundcloud.com/wft/dan-westgarth-north-america-general-manager-for-revolut About Deel Deel is a global payroll solution that helps businesses hire anyone, anywhere. Using a tech-enabled self-serve process, companies can now hire independent contractors or full-time employees in over 150 countries, compliantly and in minutes. Today, Deel serves 6,000+ customers from SMBs to publicly traded companies, including Coinbase, Shopify and Dropbox, among others, and just recently announced that customers can now fund their payroll in crypto. For more on its journey, check out What's the deal with Deel? -- As always, for more Fintech insights and opportunities to collaborate, please find us below: WFT Blog: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Home: www.whartonfintech.org WFT LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ Suggest a Podcast Guest: airtable.com/shrdbokQPxAJzgVh7 Ally's Twitter: twitter.com/AllyMcCloskey Ally's Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/allyraemccloskey/
Gabriela Ariana Campoverde sits down with Ram Palaniappan, Founder and CEO of Earnin, which gives people access to their pay directly from their smartphones. No hidden fees, no penalties, no waiting—just access to your hard-earned cash right when you need it. With each transaction users are given the opportunity to pay what they believe is fair. In this episode, you will learn all about how: - Ram started Earnin by lending his own money to his colleagues - Earnin addresses the Earned Wage Access gap - 66% of users see an increase in their ability to pay bills with Earnin’ - The lending landscape is changing - And so much more! About Ram Palaniappan Ram Palaniappan, is the Founder and CEO of Earnin. He is passionate about building a financial system for the people, by the people. He is a graduate of the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, where he earned his MMS, and Purdue University Krannert School of Management, where he earned his MBA. About Earnin Earnin gives people access to their pay directly from their smartphones, whenever they need it. Launched in 2014, Earnin is driving consumer-empowered finance through mobile technology by breaking open more than $1 trillion held up in America's pay cycle. Current funding partners include Andreessen Horowitz, Matrix Partners, Ribbit Capital, Felicis Ventures, March Capital Partners, Trinity Ventures, Thrive Capital, and Camp One Ventures. To learn more about Earnin, visit earnin.com. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Gabriela’s Twitter: twitter.com/byGabyC Gabriela’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gcampoverde
In today's episode, Olamide Williams catches up with Professor Chris Brummer of Georgetown Law to discuss fintech regulation, balancing that with innovation, the unique connection between fintech and rap, as well as his top five rap artists of all time. Professor Brummer is the host of the Fintech Beat Podcast, which features the latest trends, movers and shakers, ideas, and policies in fintech. He sits on the boards of Fannie Mae, K2 Integrity, public.com and is the Scholar in Residence at Paradigm, the $2 billion crypto fund. He is also the host and organizer of DC Fintech Week. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech
Anirudh Singh sits down with Arvind Purushotham, Global Head of Venture Investing at Citi Ventures. The two discuss Arvind's early career at Menlo Ventures, developing partnerships between portfolio companies and Citibank, investments in Doconomy, DriveWealth, and TRM labs, Citi impact fund, and much more. Arvind Purushotham: As Global Head of Venture Investing, Arvind leads Citi’s efforts to identify, invest in, and partner with leading startups as a way to bring cutting-edge technologies and capabilities to Citi’s businesses and functions. Additionally, he serves as a partner to Citi’s business leaders and helps identify market trends based on the 1000+ startups the Venture Investing team meets every year. Under his leadership the group has partnered with category-defining startups such as Square, Plaid, DocuSign, Honey, Betterment, Braze, Netskope, and Tanium. In his capacity as head of venture investing for the company, he also co-leads the Citi Impact Fund. Prior to Citi, Arvind spent nearly a decade as a Managing Director at Menlo Ventures, where he was an investor and Board member at companies including Kazeon Systems, Cavium Networks, Solidcore, nCircle Network Security, Intelligent Results, and Vhayu Technologies. Previously, Arvind was a design engineer and a Program Manager at Intel Corporation. Arvind obtained his BSEE from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, an MSEE from Case Western Reserve University, and an MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School. He enjoys running, photography, and reading in his spare time. Arvind is passionate about golf—a passion, sadly, that his skill level does not match. He lives in Palo Alto, CA with his wife, two sons, and their black lab Rocky. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: twitter.com/avsingh_24
Gabriela Ariana Campoverde sits down with Mike de Vere, CEO of Zest AI. Zest helps lenders make better credit decisions -- increasing revenue, reducing risk, and automating compliance. The company serves its customers by providing them with custom credit models leveraging more data, better math, and smarter software. Today Mike is leading Zest to fulfill a mission of making fair credit available to everyone. In this episode, you will learn all about: - How it builds more inclusive underwriting models for its clients - The loan decision and funding journey - Zest’s company culture - Insights on how the lending landscape is changing - And so much more! About Mike de Vere Mike is passionate about expanding access to fair credit. He has a rich career in leveraging customer insights given his time at Nielsen, Harris Interactive and JD Power & Associates. He earned his MBA from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California and studied Business Administration at the California State University, Northridge. About Zest AI Zest AI makes the power of machine learning safe to use in credit underwriting. The Zest Model Management System enables lenders to analyze vast amounts of credit data to help increase approval rates and reduce the risk of faulty credit decisions. The platform also provides the ability to explain data modeling results to measure business impact and help comply with regulatory requirements. To learn more about Zest, visit zest.ai. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Gabriela’s Twitter: twitter.com/byGabyC Gabriela’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gcampoverde
Anirudh Singh sits down with Nathan McCauley, Co-Founder and CEO of Anchorage Digital, a leading digital asset platform for institutions. Previously, Nathan worked as an early employee at Square and at Docker. They discuss the lessons Nathan learned from helping scale Square, getting a banking charter at Anchorage Digital, Nathan’s thoughts on key crypto trends moving forward, and much more. Nathan McCauley: Nathan McCauley is the Co-Founder and CEO of Anchorage, the leading digital asset platform for institutions. He started his career at Arxan Technologies, where he worked on anti-reverse engineering and key management for commercial and military applications. As an early employee at Square, he worked on the infrastructure security platform now used to move over $80B in annualized GPV. Later, at Docker, together with Anchorage Co-Founder Diogo Mónica, he built and led the security team, developing code that helps secure containers, one of the core underpinnings of modern infrastructure. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: twitter.com/avsingh_24
In today's episode, Anirudh Singh sits down with Christina Melas-Kyriazi, Partner at Bain Capital Ventures. Previously, Christina served as Head of Product for Consumer Foundations at Affirm and Senior Product Manager at GoFundMe. They discuss being at Affirm as the company IPOed, launching her whirlwind career at Bain Capital Ventures, and helping founders go from 0 to 1. Christina Melas-Kyriazi: Christina joined Bain Capital Ventures in 2021, where she focuses on early-stage investments in fintech and commerce. Christina was previously Head of Product for Consumer Foundations at Affirm, where she led a team of product managers to enable a delightful, frictionless customer experience from account creation to loan servicing. Before Affirm, Christina was a Senior Product Manager at GoFundMe, where she worked on growth and new product areas. Earlier in her career, Christina also spent time in business operations at LinkedIn and as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs. Christina is an active angel investor and an advisor to early-stage companies. She has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in Economics from Stanford University. Christina grew up in Los Angeles, CA and now lives in San Francisco with her husband John and son Theo. She loves running in the Presidio and skiing. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: twitter.com/avsingh_24
In today's episode, Anirudh Singh sits down with Liran Zelkha, Co-Founder and CTO of Lili, an all-in-one banking app designed for freelance workers. In this episode, they discuss the thriving startup ecosystem in Israel, why it's so hard to manage your money as a freelance worker, and how Lili hopes to make freelancers' lives easier. Liran Zelkha: Liran Zelkha is Co-Founder and CTO of Lili, the all-in-one banking app designed for over 500K freelance workers. He has over 20 years of tech industry experience, including as a freelancer, which inspired him to create a solution for independent workers’ unique pain points. From strategic management to hands-on coding, Liran specializes in turning lofty ideas into functioning businesses. Prior to founding Lili, Liran served as CTO and VP, Research and Development for Pepper, the first and only challenger bank in Israel. Liran was also CEO and CTO at tech consulting firm Tona and owner / co-CEO of Aluna, Israel’s leading Java and service-oriented architecture (SOA) consulting firm. Liran received bachelor's degrees in computer science from Universitat Ben Gurion Ba-Negav and The Academic College of Tel-Aviv. He is based in Israel.
In today's episode, Ally McCloskey sits down with Jason Wenk, Founder & CEO of Altruist. Altruist is an all-in-one digital platform for Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) and their clients that helps make financial advice more efficient, more affordable, and accessible to more people. Using Altruist, advisors have cutting edge tools on an investment platform that significantly streamlines and reduces their costs, enabling them to serve more people, better. The upstart most recently raised its $50mm Series B led by Insight Partners, with follow-on participation from Series A investors Venrock and Vanguard. Ally and Jason discuss: - How the space has evolved over the decades he's been a founder in financial advice and wealth management, and how he was able to get "more efficient" with each new company - Where he stands on the human advice vs. roboadvisory trade-off and why Altruist only works with RIA firms - How he cold solicited the Top 10 Financial Advisors To Watch on Linkedin as part of customer discovery - Launching the Human Advisor Podcast (https://apple.co/3KMghnX) to elevate the stories of a new breed of modern advisors - Building a "dreamy" group of board members, including Wharton Alumni and Former Chairman and CEO of Vanguard, Bill McNabb, Jonathan Rosenbaum (Insight Partners), Nick Beim (Venrock), and Ryan Barrows (Vanguard) as an observer. - Attracting folks to the challenge of taking on 2 major incumbents controlling 80%+ market share and each with $100 billion dollar valuations - Why Altruist's people quotient centers on kindness, brilliance, and grit - And a WHOLE lot more About Jason Wenk Jason has excelled as a leader in the financial services industry over the past 20 years, working as an advisor, investment systems developer, analyst, and founder of multiple companies. He is dedicated to making finance a collaborative space between advisors and consumers, emphasizing the importance of human connection and interaction to improve financial wellness with affordable and accessible resources for more people. After a number of successful and innovative business concepts including FormulaFolios and Retirement Wealth Advisors, Jason chose to focus on creating meaningful experiences for advisors and their clients with fintech firm, Altruist. Jason was awarded GRBJ Newsmaker of the Year in 2016 and 2017 (finance category) and was named an EY Entrepreneur of the Year in 2018. About Altruist Altruist is a Los Angeles-based company on a mission to make financial advisors more efficient, more affordable, and accessible to more people. The team builds products to provide advisors cutting edge tools, and offers an investment platform that substantially lowers costs. As a completely digital brokerage, Altruist helps advisors provide their clients with a delightful experience with their money. Learn more at altruist.com, follow on Twitter @altruist, and check out the Human Advisor Podcast here: https://grow.altruist.com/introducing-the-human-advisor-podcast. Honorable mentions: - WFT podcast episode with Bill McNabb, Former Vanguard CEO & Chairman: https://medium.com/wharton-fintech/former-vanguard-ceo-chairman-bill-mcnabb-the-future-of-finance-leading-in-crisis-esg-436f1c031907 - WFT podcast episode with Henrique Dubugras, Co-Founder/Co-CEO of Brex: https://medium.com/wharton-fintech/reinventing-financial-systems-henrique-dubugras-co-founder-co-ceo-of-brex-8dc7ab820765 -- As always, for more Fintech insights and opportunities to collaborate, please find us below: WFT Blog: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ally's Twitter: twitter.com/AllyMcCloskey Wharton FinTech Home: https://www.whartonfintech.org LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ Suggest a Podcast Guest: https://airtable.com/shrdbokQPxAJzgVh7
In today’s episode, Anirudh Singh sits down with Eddie Serrill, Business Lead for Stripe Capital and the site lead for Stripe’s New York office. In the episode, they discuss what makes Stripe so good at offering products to online businesses, how Stripe leverages banking relationships to bring the best products to the table, the impact that Stripe Capital has had on the small businesses it partners with, and much more. Eddie Serrill: Eddie is the Business Lead for Stripe Capital and the site lead for Stripe’s New York office. Stripe is a technology company that's building economic infrastructure for the internet. Businesses of every size—from new startups to public companies—use Stripe's software to accept payments and manage their businesses online. Stripe Capital provides Stripe users with access to financing, and enables platform partners to offer financing to their customers with an end-to-end lending API. Prior to Stripe, Eddie served as the COO of Bond Street and the VP of Revenue & Operations at TrialPay. He holds a degree in Economics and Philosophy from Duke University and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Gabriela Ariana Campoverde sits down with Ronen Assia, Managing Partner at Team8 Fintech Foundry, a venture fund within Team8 that partners with entrepreneurs to build companies in the fintech space. For over twenty years, Ronen has successfully merged technology and design together into useful and accessible products, and defined user experience across various devices and platforms. Most recently Ronen served as eToro’s Chief Product Officer, managing product and engineering, and helped grow the company into a Fintech unicorn serving 13 million users in over 140 countries. eToro pioneered Social Investing, enabling every investor to see, follow and automatically copy the portfolios of other investors in the network. In this episode you will learn all about: - How Team8 works with fintech talent - Ronen’s insights into the Isreali fintech ecosystem and global investment outlook - Blockchain innovation, NFTs and art curation - How start-up’s can marry the old and new worlds of fintech - And so much more! About Ronen Assia Ronen Assia is a Managing Partner at Team8 Fintech Foundry and a Co-Founder and Executive Director at eToro, a social investing platform. Ronen currently resides in Israel and studied Product Design at the Royal College of Art and Bezalel Academy of Art and Design. About Team8 Fintech Team8 Fintech partners with entrepreneurs to co-found transformative fintech companies. For additional information on Team8 Fintech, please visit team8.vc/team8-fintech. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Gabriela’s Twitter: twitter.com/byGabyC Gabriela’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gcampoverde
In today’s episode, Anirudh Singh sits down with Basil Darwish, Managing Director and Fintech & Enterprise Tech lead at Wells Fargo Strategic Capital. Basil joined as the team’s first hire in March 2016, coming over from Citi Ventures. In this episode, they discuss a range of topics, including Basil’s winding path towards venture investing, the pros and cons of different corporate venture capital models, a deep dive into three of Wells Fargo’s investments: Trovata, H20.ai, and Arkose Labs, and much more! Basil Darwish: Basil Darwish is a Managing Director at Wells Fargo Strategic Capital and leads the group’s focus on Fintech and Enterprise Software. His investments range from early-stage to growth capital investments in companies that are strategically aligned with Wells Fargo. One of his goals is to bring technology-based innovation into the Bank. Basil’s investment focus areas include B2B/B2C Fintech, RegTech, AI & Machine Learning, Big Data Analytics, and Cyber Security. Basil has been in the domain of venture investing for the past 12 years, across Silicon Valley, New York, and Southeast Asia. Prior to joining Wells Fargo in 2016, Basil was with Citi for 8 years most recently as Senior Vice President at Citi’s growth ventures and innovation group (Citi Ventures), where he focused on venture investments and innovation initiatives across the US and Asia, in the domains of Payments, Big Data Analytics, and Information Security. Prior to moving into financial services, Basil spent several years in the technology industry in various roles across the value chain, from semiconductor product engineering and system-level product development at Analog Devices Inc, as well as digital design engineering at Chinook Communications, a technology startup that emerged out of MIT in 1999 developing spectrum enhancement technologies. Basil currently serves as a board director of Trovata, H2O.ai, OpenFin, and Droit. He also serves as a board observer of Arkose Labs, Socure, Volante Technologies, Elliptic and Atscale. Basil holds an MBA from the Wharton School of Business with a double major in finance and entrepreneurial management, a Master of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from Tufts University with a focus on semiconductor design, and a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Jordan. Basil lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and two daughters.
Gabriela Ariana Campoverde sits down with Raghu Yarlagadda, CEO and Co-Founder of FalconX. The company is a digital assets brokerage that provides a single account connected to global crypto liquidity pools. Asset managers can execute trades at prices routed across liquidity sources, and settle with a single counterparty. Raghu and Prabhakar Reddy launched the company just four years ago, and today it is valued at $3.75 Billion dollars. In this episode you will hear about: - How FalconX works with institutional clients - What it’s like to run a start-up which is live 24/7 - Innovation for cryptocurrency retail investors - Raghu’s career and his commitment to education - And much more! About Raghu Yarlagadda Raghu Yarlagadda co-founded FalconX in 2018. Prior to FalconX, Raghu worked at Google and Motorola Mobility and in 2014 launched Sarada Educational Institution which leverages edtech to improve education for its students across India. He is also a graduate of Harvard Business School and the University of Texas at Dallas, where he studied Electrical Engineering. About FalconX FalconX is a blockchain, cryptocurrency, and fintech-focused cryptocurrency brokerage and digital asset trading platform. For additional information on FalconX, please visit FalconX.io. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Gabriela’s Twitter: twitter.com/byGabyC Gabriela’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gcampoverde
Anirudh Singh sits down with the one and only Daniel Vogel, Co-Founder and CEO of Bitso, the leading crypto-services provider in Latin America. Bitso is committed to the development of efficient, competitive, accessible and inclusive financial services in Latin America, and Daniel is among the youngest entrepreneurs and leaders in the region. In this episode, they discuss Dan’s introduction to Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, how an unsuccessful remittance startup helped with the genesis of Bitso, Bitso’s growth and international expansion, and much more! Daniel Vogel: Daniel is co-founder and CEO of Bitso, the leading crypto-services provider in Latin America. Bitso is committed to the development of efficient, competitive, accessible and inclusive financial services in Latin America, and Daniel is among the youngest entrepreneurs and leaders in the region. Daniel holds two degrees from Stanford University (BA in Economics, BS in Computer Systems Engineering) and a Master's degree in Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard Business School. During his academic career, he presided various student societies such as the Society for Entrepreneurship in Latin America, the Bitcoin Club, the LatAm Club, the Aviation and Aerospace Club, among others. At Stanford he was elected by his colleagues to be a member of the Class Cabinet. Prior to co-founding Bitso, Daniel worked for Silicon Valley’s Quantcast, where he developed a real-time bidding system, a product that would later go on to become the company's main source of income. In 2016, he was included in the MIT Technology Review’s "Innovators under 35 Mexico 2016" award. His work at Bitso has been recognized by Endeavor (Global Endeavor Entrepreneur), MassChallenge (2016 Gold Winner), and the President of Mexico (Digital Leader Mexico), among others. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: twitter.com/avsingh_24
In his final episode, Ryan Zauk sits down with none other than Justin Overdorff, former Stripe exec and now Lightspeed's newest Fintech partner, based in New York City. Justin joined Lightspeed after an incredible career spanning Wall Street, growth equity, Techstars, Yelp!, Stripe, a whole lot of angel investing (Lithic, Alloy, Orum, Moov, Stir, Puzzle), and of course…a 2-year stop at Wharton for his MBA. At Lightspeed, Justin is helping lead the team's Fintech practice and build on its portfolio investments in iconic companies like Affirm and Carta. As a Fintech junkie with a product-focused passion for tech, Justin understands the true value of innovation and how it can serve as a major impetus for change. Justin's previous experience at Stripe (which they cover in-depth) stoked his passion for Fintech and the constraints of creative problem-solving in a regulated industry. In today's episode, they discuss: - His long, winding journey from mortgage trading at Bank of America to building world-changing products at Stripe - How he got into fintech and a big, early missed investment opportunity - The secret sauce of Stripe - His new role at Lightspeed and why he left arguably the greatest startup in the world to join the Lightspeed team - The cruciality of narrowing your focus in venture - What fintech sectors he's most excited about investing in - How he's thinking about valuation in this raging bull market and credit cycle - The underestimated TAMs in fintech - Facebook Libras "Leroy Jenkins!" moment - A fun rapid-fire round And so much more! For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
Anirudh Singh sits down with Douglas Landy, Partner at White & Case, a leading law firm serving companies, governments, and financial institutions worldwide. They discuss the neobank decision making process when applying for a banking charter, regulations surrounding bank engagement in crypto activities, the evolution of central bank digital currencies, and much more. Douglas Landy: Douglas Landy serves as co-head of White & Case's Financial Institutions Industry Group and head of the US Financial Services Regulatory practice. He is one of the most preeminent US lawyers advising financial institutions on blockchain and crypto matters. He represents global banks on the creation of blockchain and crypto trading platforms, custody, payment systems, stablecoins, and related financial products. Doug has also been advising non-bank Fintech companies on potential bank charters, including the OCC's Payment Charter, and similar charters and licenses.
Anirudh Singh sits down with Nitin Gupta, Co-Founder and CEO of Uni, one of the fastest growing pay-later card providers in India. They discuss Nitin's past work at PayU and Ola Financial Services, the overall credit card landscape in India, and launching the Pay 1/3rd product with Uni. Shortly after this episode was recorded, Uni went on to raise a $70M series A round at a $350M valuation. Nitin Gupta: Uni's Founder and CEO, Nitin Gupta is an alumni of IIT Delhi and IIM Ahmedabad. He started his career as a Founder and CEO of Khojguru and then led the PayU India team as Co-Founder and CEO. He built Pay U into one of the largest payment gateways in India under his able leadership. At Ola, during his stint of 2.5 years, he headed the Ola Financial Services as CEO and launched Ola Money Postpaid which was valued at $250 million last year. It's now one of the largest financial services businesses in the country. Currently, at Uni, he has raised $18.5M, while in stealth mode and launched the BNPL product Pay 1/3rd card. Apart from building cutting-edge financial products he also invests in new and upcoming companies in the capacity of an Angel investor.
Anirudh Singh sits down with Matan Bar, Co-Founder and CEO of Melio. They discuss the thriving startup ecosystem in Israel, building a streamlined B2B payments product for SMBs, Matan's personal guiding principles when building a company, and much more! Matan Bar: Matan is the Co-founder and CEO of Melio. Before founding Melio in 2018, he was the GM of the PayPal Consumer R&D center in Tel Aviv and led PayPal's Consumer Peer to Peer Payments Group globally, responsible for over $50B in payment volume annually. Matan joined PayPal through the acquisition of his first company (The Gifts Project) by eBay Inc in 2012.
On today’s episode, ’21 host Ryan Zauk comes back to the show to host Andrei Cherny, Co-Founder & CEO of Aspiration, a budding financial services platform for people who want to save the planet by trying to neutralize their carbon footprint. Their mission is massive, with around 5 million members trying to help make a difference in the fight against climate change. Aspiration provides numerous products, including deposit balances completely divested from fossil fuels, a round-up feature like Acorns to plant trees with your purchases, 2-day early access to wages, carbon offsets for car mileage of its users, cashback on mission-focused retailers, and more. They also are a burgeoning b2b platform for carbon offsets, helping people like Drake calculate the planetary impact of their businesses and offset it. Andre and Ryan cover a great deal in today’s episode, and special shoutout to Ami Naik of Radicle Impact for setting up this episode! They cover: - How Andrei’s op-eds in Harvard’s student newspaper landed him a job with Bill Clinton - How Aspiration works and what inspired him to start the company - Why identity banking is the future of financial services - How they divested completely from fossil fuels - Raising his company’s minimum wage to $25 during a pandemic - And so much more. Also at the end, Andrei mentions it being Ryan’s last show…it will actually not be his last, but it’s getting very, very close! Stay tuned for his finale. Disclaimer: This episode is not securities advice in any way, and this is recorded solely for the educational purposes of Wharton Fintech. --- For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
Anirudh Singh sits down with Rohit Mittal, co-founder and CEO of Stilt. They discuss the difficulties Rohit faced when looking to rent an apartment in New York City, why United States immigrants are an underserved but creditworthy population, and how Stilt has approached solving this problem. Rohit Mittal: Rohit Mittal is the co-founder and CEO of Stilt. Rohit has extensive experience in credit risk analytics and data science. He spent years building credit risk and fraud models for top U.S. banks. In his current role, he defines the overall business strategy, leads debt and capital fundraising efforts, leads product development, and leads other customer-related aspects for the company. Stilt is backed by Y Combinator and has raised a total of $275M in debt and equity funding to date. Prior to founding Stilt, Rohit started his career at Verisk Analytics using big data to optimize credit risk. He went on to become the founding member of the data science team at Popsugar, helping the company build its analytics framework for data science efforts. Rohit has a Bachelor's degree from Delhi College of Engineering and Master's degree from Columbia University.
Gabriela Ariana Campoverde sits down with Harshul Sanghi, Founder and Global Head of Amex Ventures. Harshul has over thirty years of operating experience, and for the past 10 years has led the venture arm of American Express and oversees global investment activity across the company. To date, Amex Ventures has invested in 80+ companies and has offices in New York, San Francisco, and Boston. He has led investments in Abra, Better.com, Bill.com, Boom Supersonic, Boxed, Instacart, Learnvest, FalconX, Finix, Next Insurance, Philanthropi, Plaid, RetailNext, Stripe, Toast, and Turo, among others. Amex Ventures now has a portfolio valued at over $1 billion dollars. In this episode you will hear about: - The birth of Amex Ventures - 10 years of investing - What differentiates Amex Ventures from other corporate VCs - Investment-worthy trends in the payments space - Harshul Sanghi’s career - And much more! About Harshul Sanghi Harshul Sanghi founded Amex Ventures in 2011 to accelerate the digital transformation of American Express by investing in and partnering with innovative start-up companies. Prior to joining Amex, Harshul was Managing Director of Motorola Mobility Ventures and has over 30 years of operating experience. About Amex Ventures Amex Ventures invests in and partners with start-ups to accelerate innovation for consumers and businesses. For additional information on Amex Ventures, please visit www.americanexpress.com/us/business/american-express-ventures For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Gabriela’s Twitter: twitter.com/byGabyC Gabriela’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gcampoverde
Anirudh Singh sits down with Xochitl Cazador, Head of Ecosystem Growth at Celo. In this episode, they discuss: - Social impact through blockchain technology - Disrupting blockchain through diversity at She(256) - Creating an open financial system through Celo - The $100M Defi for the People initiative And much more! Xochitl Cazador: Xochitl Cazador leads Platform and Builder growth at Celo Foundation. She has extensive experience shaping strategy into execution to drive growth and scale operations. Prior to cLabs, Xochitl spent 15 years driving growth at Cisco, where she managed a $1 billion investment portfolio and led the expansion into 26 emerging markets resulting in 30% year over year growth. She previously served in leadership positions in the Americas, Europe, and Asia where she held roles in product and portfolio management. Xochitl is the granddaughter of Mexican migrant farmworkers and one of the first in her family to graduate from college. She understands firsthand how access to basic financial tools can change lives. Xochitl holds a master’s degree from Stanford Graduate School of Business. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: twitter.com/avsingh_24
Gabriela Ariana Campoverde sits down with Jimmy Chen, CEO of Propel, a software company dedicated to helping low-income Americans improve their financial health. Propel’s mobile app provides Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP, benefits users with the ability to check their benefit balance -- which was only previously available over a 1-800 number, and more recently offers users a checking account and debit card. In this episode we discuss: - Propel’s app which today has 5 million active users - Propel’s vision to become a one-stop-shop to manage government benefits and other income, side-by-side - The ways in which the company stood by their users during the pandemic - All about the company’s culture - And so much more! Jimmy Chen Jimmy is the Founder and CEO of Propel. Previously, Jimmy was a Product Manager at Facebook, where he led product for Facebook Groups and prior to Facebook worked at LinkedIn. He is passionate about making America's safety net more user-friendly. He is a graduate of Stanford University, where he studied Symbolic Systems. Propel Propel builds software dedicated to helping low-income Americans improve their financial health. For additional information on Propel, please visit joinpropel.com and www.joinproviders.com | Twitter: twitter.com/joinproviders For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Gabriela’s Twitter: twitter.com/byGabyC Gabriela’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gcampoverde
Anirudh Singh sits down with Aaron Schumm, Founder and CEO of Vestwell. In this episode they discuss: - Aaron's first company, FolioDynamix - Launching Vestwell 6 days after selling FolioDynamix - The small business retirement landscape in the U.S. And much more! Aaron Schumm: Aaron is the founder & CEO of Vestwell, the engine powering modern-day workplace savings and investing programs, such as 401(k) and 403(b) plans. Our cloud-based digital recordkeeping platform provides the underlying architecture to support financial services and payroll partners, who are rapidly working to serve the 30M small businesses in the country. Prior to founding Vestwell, Aaron co-founded FolioDynamix, a wealth management fintech platform. At FolioDynamix, Aaron oversaw the strategy, revenue, marketing, customers and product development. FolioDynamix was acquired by Envestnet (NYSE: ENV). Outside of Vestwell, Aaron has served on the board of directors and the advisory board for several fintech companies, including Quovo (acquired by Plaid), Vestorly, OfColor, and Chalice Financial Network. Aaron holds a B.S. degree in finance from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and an M.B.A. degree from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. He was included in InvestmentNews' 40 Under 40 and WealthManagement.com's "10 to Watch." For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: twitter.com/avsingh_24
Gabriela Ariana Campoverde sits down with Ryan George, Chief Marketing Officer of Docupace. Founded in 2002, Docupace is a solutions provider focused on digitizing and automating operations in the financial advice and investment industry. For close to two decades, this company has served wealth managers and helped them to work faster, more securely, and with fewer errors. The platform is composed of client onboarding, document management, advisor transition, and regulation business intelligence features. In this episode you will learn about how Docupace empowers its users to do more in less time, the types of users the company works with, the importance of back office innovation and Ryan’s fifteen-year career in Financial Services. Ryan George Ryan George is the Chief Marketing Officer of Docupace. Prior to joining Docupace, Ryan was in various marketing positions at GuideStone Financial Resources, 1st Global, and U.S. Global Investors. He has spent over fifteen years of his career in Financial Services and is a proud Texan. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied Public Relations. To follow him on Twitter visit twitter.com/RealRyanGeorge1. About Docupace Docupace is a technology company built for the wealth management industry. They’ve been on a mission to eliminate paperwork since 2002. For additional information on Docupace, please visit docupace.com | Twitter: twitter.com/docupace For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Gabriela’s Twitter: twitter.com/byGabyC Gabriela’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gcampoverde
Anirudh Singh sits down with Sherwin Gandhi, co-founder and President of Jeeves. In this episode, they discuss: - Sherwin's early career in financial services - Launching Jeeves to provide borderless business banking for startups and SMEs - Expanding Jeeves internationally and the search for global talent And much more! Sherwin Gandhi: In 2019 Sherwin Gandhi founded Jeeves, which offers a suite of cross-border B2B financial services including payments, loans, and expense management software. In the past 14 months, Sherwin has raised $88mm of equity and $100mm of debt from Y Combinator, Andreessen Horowitz, CRV, Tencent, Silicon Valley Bank, and other investors, while launching in over 20 countries and reaching a valuation of $500mm. Jeeves has thousands of customers globally and is nearing $10mm of revenue - and was recently named one of The Information's 50 Most Promising Startups to watch. At Jeeves, Sherwin is unlocking globalization by architecting the future of global business banking so that entrepreneurs can focus on growing their businesses by having access to non-dilutive capital and true cross-border banking solutions. Prior to Jeeves, Sherwin founded two companies and led go-to-market, finance, engineering, regulatory, and product at two unicorns - AppNexus and Viagogo. Before becoming a Silicon Valley founder, he was a trader and investment banker on Wall Street, where he issued $17bn of multicurrency fixed income and equity derivatives at JPMorgan and was a hedge fund manager of a $200mm global fund. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: twitter.com/avsingh_24
Anirudh Singh sits down with Mike McFadgen, Partner and Co-Founder of Element Ventures. In this episode, they discuss: - Mike's early career at Barclays - Launching Element Ventures to focus on B2B fintech investing - Cultural differences that drive European fintech - Element's portfolio companies And much more! Mike McFadgen: Mike is a Partner and co-founder of London-based B2B fintech venture capital firm Element Ventures. Mike made his first fintech investment in 2009 and since has had 12 years investing experience working with Barclays and Euclid Opportunities (the CVC fund of NEX Group). He currently represents Element on the boards of Hepster, Billhop, Minna Technologies and Coincover. He holds a Masters in Finance from London Business School and lives in London with his wife and two small children. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: twitter.com/avsingh_24
Gabriela Ariana Campoverde sits with Michael Bourque, CEO of LendingHome. Since 2013, LendingHome has offered thousands of real estate investors fix-and-flip bridge loans and rental loans. Today, it is the only company focused on serving real estate investors across the entire lifecycle of a transaction. LendingHome leverages a purpose-built software platform that creates structured data that it uses to help its customers be successful. The company has aggregated over 900 million data points across more than 25,000 completed transactions to date. In this episode we discuss: - LendingHome’s award-winning loan origination platform - Products real estate investors are seeking - How LendingHome meets the needs of its users - LendingHome’s culture - Michael’s career and transition into fintech and proptech - And much more! Michael Bourque Michael Bourque is the CEO of LendingHome. Before his position as CEO, Michael was COO and CFO of LendingHome. He was also CFO of Ocwen Financial Corporation and GE Distributed Power. He is a graduate of The Wharton School, where he earned his MBA and the College of Holy Cross, where he studied Mathematics. About LendingHome LendingHome allows you to close more deals and open more doors with its bridge loans and rental loan products as well as its property marketplace. LendingHome is becoming Kiavi. For additional information on LendingHome, please visit lendinghome.com | Twitter: twitter.com/lendinghome For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Gabriela’s Twitter: twitter.com/byGabyC Gabriela’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gcampoverde
Anirudh Singh sits down with Brett Crosby, CCO of PeerStreet. In this episode they discuss: - Brett's entrepreneurial past - Joining PeerStreet after a decade at Google - The challenges in building a two-sided marketplace - The future for PeerStreet And much more! Brett Crosby > Co-founder and CCO of PeerStreet.com, an Andreessen Horowitz-backed platform for investing in real estate debt with the goal of transforming mortgage finance. > Formerly Director of Product Marketing at Google for Chrome, Gmail, Docs and Drive. Founder and head of strategic growth on Google Analytics. Launched and ran product marketing for Google+, Mobile Ads, Local Ads and more. > Founder, Board member and Vice President of Urchin Software Corporation, acquired by Google in 2005. > Specialties: Business strategy, company culture, product market fit, user growth, product marketing, product development, public speaking, press/media, social, mobile, web analytics, surfing and mountain biking. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: twitter.com/avsingh_24
Anirudh Singh sits down with Prashant Fuloria, CEO of Fundbox. In this episode they discuss: - Prashant's early career with big tech companies - Navigating SMB lending during the covid-19 pandemic - The SMB recovery by sector - Fundbox's new products, including Flex Pay And much more! Prashant Fuloria: Prashant Fuloria is Chief Executive Officer of Fundbox. With decades of experience in payments and monetization, he has served in a wide variety of leadership, operational, and product roles at prominent technology companies. Prashant's previous leadership roles at Fundbox include Chief Operations Officer and Chief Product Officer, where he led various parts of the business, including core tech functions, product marketing, collections, support, and HR. Prior to joining Fundbox, Prashant served as SVP of Advertising Products at Yahoo, having joined through the acquisition of Flurry, where he was the Chief Product Officer. He also served as Senior Director of Product Management at Facebook, where he led the company's advertising and payment product efforts. Prashant also held the role of Product Director at Google, where he built their global payment platform and managed all of Google’s products for the APAC region. Prashant received a B.Tech. in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. He also holds an MA in Business research; an MS in Statistics; a Ph.D. minor in Engineering-Economic Systems & Operations Research; and a Ph.D. in Business, all from Stanford University. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: twitter.com/avsingh_24
Anirudh Singh sits down with Sarah Hammer and Sameer Gupta to discuss launching the Cypher Accelerator. Topics include: - Sameer's work at Point72 - Why Sarah is well-positioned to lead Cypher - Cypher's incredible board of advisors - What excites the two most about Crypto / Blockchain And much more! Sarah Hammer: Sarah Hammer is Managing Director of the Stevens Center for Innovation in Finance and Senior Director of the Harris Alternative Investments Program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. In these roles, she focuses her efforts on private capital investments and financial technology. Sarah is also Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, teaching an upper-level juris doctor course on financial regulation. Previously, Sarah was Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions and Director of the Office of Financial Institutions Policy at the United States Department of the Treasury. In this role, she led and directed the Department's policy responsibilities involving financial institutions, as well as oversaw the Federal Insurance Office and the Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection and Compliance Policy (cybersecurity). Sarah earned a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and a Master of Studies from Oxford University. She is a Harry S. Truman Scholar and a Member of the American Law Institute. Sameer Gupta: Sameer Gupta is the Head of Data Solutions at Point72 and for the New York Mets. He is responsible for creating end-to-end solutions in data and analytics for all Point72 businesses as well as the Mets. Before joining Point72, Gupta was the chief operating officer at iSentium, an artificial intelligence startup where he led key business functions including sales, business development, fundraising, engineering, and operations. Before iSentium, he was the COO for the Global Electronic Trading and Americas Cash Equities business at JPMorgan. Gupta also served in business development and product management roles at New York Stock Exchange Technologies, and in software development and technology strategy positions at Goldman Sachs. He is also actively involved in the New York City startup community through TechStars and New York University's Endless Frontier Labs. Sameer earned his MBA from Harvard Business School, M.S. in Information Systems Management from Carnegie Mellon, and B.S. in Computer Science from the National Institute of Technology in India.
Gabriela Ariana Campoverde sits down with James Garvey, the CEO and Founder of Self Financial. Since 2015, Self has helped hundreds of thousands of people build a strong financial future. It provides tools necessary for building on-time payment history and responsible use of credit, in collaboration with issuing bank services for those who are new to credit or who might not have access to traditional financial products. Self understands that building a financial foundation is a daunting task for most people, so they’re dedicated to building a product that will help their customers move two steps in the right direction. Last month, Self raised $50MM in a Series E round which included investors like Altos Ventures, Conductive Ventures, and Meritech Capital Partners. In 2020, Self raised a Series C and a Series D round. In this episode we discuss: - Self’s Credit Builder Account - Why a credit history matters - James’s career as a serial entrepreneur - Self’s work culture - And much more! About James Garvey James Garvey is the CEO and Founder of Self Financial. Self is the third start-up company which James launched. He started Self after his own experience building his credit score. He is a graduate of the University of California, Davis where he studied Mathematics. James currently resides in Austin, Texas. To follow him on Twitter visit twitter.com/jkgarvey. About Self Financial Self Financial is a venture-backed fintech startup that helps customers build credit and save money. For additional information on Self Financial, please visit self.inc | Twitter: twitter.com/SelfCreditApp For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Gabriela’s Twitter: twitter.com/byGabyC Gabriela’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gcampoverde
Anirudh Singh sits down with Meka Asonye, Partner at First Round Capital. In this episode they discuss: - Meka’s early career, including spending time with the Cleveland Indians - Heading Stripe’s Startup/SMB business - How Meka became an angel investor and later decided to join First Round Capital - Being fluent in Pig Latin And much more! Meka Asonye is a Partner at First Round Capital based in San Francisco. Before moving into venture, Meka was an active angel investor backing companies such as Coda, Common Room, Rimeto (acq. by Slack), Snackpass and Stytch. Previously, he served as the VP of Sales & Services at Mixpanel, where he ran the more than 100-person global revenue team and owned the customer lifecycle from first website visit to renewal. Before Mixpanel, Meka spent four years at Stripe as it scaled from 250 to 2000 people and matured its sales org. When he first joined in 2016, Meka served as one of the payments company’s early account executives, leading their first attempts to go upmarket and land enterprise logos. For the next three years, he headed up Stripe’s Startup/SMB business, which involved launching outbound sales, optimizing self-serve, building a customer success function, opening new offices, and finding creative ways to holistically support startup customers. Prior to joining Stripe, Meka served as Case Team Leader at Bain in San Francisco, partnering with the C-Suites of Fortune 50 companies across different verticals. Meka started his career working in Player Development & Baseball Operations for the Cleveland Indians, where managed operations of the Minor League system and advised the General Manager on Major League roster and payroll allocation through advanced statistical analysis. Meka earned a Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude in Economics and Finance from Princeton and his MBA from Harvard Business School. He's an instrument rated private pilot and diehard Chicago Bears fan. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: twitter.com/avsingh_24
Anirudh Singh sits down with Renaud Laplanche, CEO and Co-founder of Upgrade. In this episode they discuss: - Launching Upgrade after the success of Lending Club - Upgrade's unique product offering, including bitcoin rewards and debit card rewards - What Renaud looks for when partnering with Venture Capital firms - Milestones to reach before taking a company public And much more! Renaud Laplanche Renaud is the co-founder and CEO of Upgrade, Inc. a neobank that offers affordable and responsible credit to mainstream consumers. Under his leadership, Upgrade has reached profitability and a $3Bn+ valuation within 4 years of launch. Prior to Upgrade, Renaud founded and ran Lending Club for 10 years. He took the company public, reaching a market capitalization of $10 billion in December 2014. At Lending Club, Renaud pioneered consumer fintech and grew the company to become the largest provider of personal loans in America. Renaud was ranked #23 in Bloomberg Markets’ 2015 Most Influential List, an annual ranking of the World’s top 50 most influential leaders across technology, finance, and politics. He was also recognized at the Clinton Global Initiative by President Clinton for expanding access to affordable and responsible credit. In 2014, he won the Economist Innovation Award in the consumer products category and was named the "best start-up CEO to work for" by Business Insider. Renaud was named “Fintech Executive of the Year” by Finovate in 2020. He also holds the Newport-Bermuda world speed sailing record. About Upgrade Upgrade is a neobank that offers affordable and responsible credit to mainstream consumers through personal loans and cards, together with credit monitoring and education tools that help consumers better understand and manage their money. Over $7 billion in loans and cards have been originated by the Upgrade platform since its inception in 2017. Upgrade is headquartered in San Francisco, California. More information is available at: www.upgrade.com. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: twitter.com/avsingh_24
Gabriela Ariana Campoverde sits down with Michelle Tran and Sasha Pilch, co-founders of NYC Fintech Women, an organization which promotes gender equality through diversity in the fintech community. Founded in 2017, NYC Fintech Women connects, promotes and empowers women in their professional advancement in the fintech industry. Today, they have over 7,000 members across startups, traditional finance and VCs. They host monthly events in collaboration with fintechs such as Adyen, Stash, and Plaid as well as institutional enterprises such as Deutsche Bank, Google, Shearman & Sterling, and Silicon Valley Bank. Over the past year, NYC Fintech Women expanded its reach by building an online platform to reach out to members nationwide with educational and networking opportunities. Most recently, they also launched Talk of Her Town, a podcast which features inspiring women in fintech. In this episode we discuss: - What motivated Michelle and Sasha to grow this network - NYC Fintech Women’s humble beginnings - Michelle and Sasha’s careers in fintech - Opinions on what’s hot and exciting in fintech today - What’s next for NYC Fintech Women - And much more! Michelle Tran Michelle Tran is a Co-Founder of NYC Fintech Women. When she is not managing NYC Fintech Women, Michelle is an advisor for Harness Wealth, a wealth tech platform for individuals with complex financial situations to gain access to a curated network of industry-leading financial advisors, CPA, and trust & estate attorneys. She is also a founding member of Dreamers // Doers, a highly curated, female-focused collaboration and co-mentorship community, consisting of an ever-growing powerful network of entrepreneurs, investors, and advisors. She is a graduate of the University of California, Santa Cruz where she studied Politics and Economics. She also holds a Certificate of International Business from the University of Cambridge. Michelle currently resides in San Francisco. To follow her on Twitter visit twitter.com/fintechmichelle. Sasha Pilch Sasha Pilch is a Co-Founder of NYC Fintech Women. Aside from managing NYC Fintech Women, Sasha is the Sales Lead at Pinwheel, a NYC VC-backed startup company, building the infrastructure that will power the future of finance. She has worked in Sales in multiple start-up companies, including Ramp, Plaid, and Quovo. Sasha also has international work experience, having worked in the United Kingdom and Australia in banks including Citi, Commonwealth Bank, and the Royal Bank of Scotland. She is a graduate of the University of Technology, Sydney where she studied Management and Marketing. Sasha currently resides in New York. To follow her on Twitter visit twitter.com/sashafintech. About NYC Fintech Women NYC Fintech Women connects, promotes and empowers women in their professional advancement in the fintech industry. For additional information on NYC Fintech Women, please visit nycfintechwomen.com | Twitter: twitter.com/nycfintechwomen For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Gabriela’s Twitter: twitter.com/byGabyC Gabriela’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gcampoverde
Anirudh Singh sits down with Phillip Klein, CEO and co-founder of FinLync. In this episode they discuss: - Phillips background in consulting and financial services - The transition towards becoming a founder - The corporate treasury renaissance - Fostering a strong culture and strong values in an international company - The flight of talent towards fintech companies And much more! Phillip Ashley Klein: Phillip Ashley Klein is the co-founder and CEO driving FinLync’s mission of bringing the ease, modernity, and elegance of consumer banking to corporate treasuries with ERP-native Apps and bank APIs that create a data-rich, real-time global infrastructure that empowers finance and treasury professionals. As the architect of the business, Phillip takes great care in ensuring that the talent and diversity within the company, extensive expertise in technology and finance, a laser focus on customer satisfaction, and a constant drive for innovation are the cornerstones of FinLync’s vision of creating solutions that empower today’s corporate treasurer. Prior to co-founding FinLync, Phillip led the digital banking practice at Deloitte Consulting where he was one of youngest practice leaders in recent history. He has deep expertise in advising Fortune 500 CEOs and C-Suite in aspects of digital and growth strategy, innovation and complex transformation For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: twitter.com/avsingh_24
Gabriela Ariana Campoverde sits down with Sameer Gulati, Chief Operating Officer of Plastiq, a fintech company that makes it easier for cardholders to earn credit card rewards, tap early-payment discounts, and use cash in the ways that make the most sense for their lives. For small businesses, Plastiq solves day-to-day payments problems for them and helps them get better access to cash flow. Today this fintech is advancing innovative payment solutions to more than 150 countries around the world. Founded in 2012, Plastiq has processed billions of dollars. It is backed by Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, and Alumni Ventures Group, among others. Sameer has an impressive career working with fintech companies through his time as COO at Plastiq and formerly at Lending Club and McKinsey & Company. In this episode we discuss: - How Plastiq addresses the working capital gap businesses often face - The importance of credit for Plastiq users - Insights which led to the company’s focus on small businesses - Sameer’s career from software engineering to consultant to COO - The company’s culture and GOAT values - And much more! Sameer Gulati Sameer Gulati is the Chief Operating Officer of Plastiq. Prior to joining Plastiq, Sameer served as Chief Operating Officer of Lending Club, a fintech company that provides a range of financial products and services through a technology-driven platform in the United States. It was the first peer-to-peer lender to register its offerings as securities with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the first to offer loan trading on a secondary market. Before joining the fintech world, Sameer was a partner at McKinsey & Company, where he became a leader in banking, payments and lending. Sameer started his career as a software engineer. He is a graduate of the Booth School of Business at The University of Chicago, where he earned his Masters in Business Administration and Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, where he studied Chemical Engineering and Computer Science. Sameer has global experience in fintech companies. To follow him on Twitter visit twitter.com/thesameergulati. About Plastiq Plastiq allows business owners and savvy consumers to use their credit cards to pay for virtually anything, even their rent which would normally require a check. For additional information on Plastiq, please visit plastiq.com | Twitter: twitter.com/payplastiq For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Gabriela’s Twitter: twitter.com/byGabyC Gabriela’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gcampoverde
Anirudh Singh sits down with Ben Miller, CEO and co-founder of Fundrise. In this episode they discuss: - His career in real estate investing - Growing Fundrise into the 20th largest real estate investor in the world - Democratizing real estate investing and the overall growth of fractional investing - His outlook on the real estate market - The impact of cryptocurrency on the fintech industry And much more! Ben Miller: Ben Miller is CEO and co-founder of Fundrise, America's largest real estate investment platform. Now with over 150,000 active individual investors and more than $1.5 billion worth of equity under management, Fundrise has made high-tech, low-cost real estate investing available to everyone. Founded in 2012, Fundrise is on a mission to use technology to build a better financial system for the individual. With over 20 years of experience in real estate investment and development, Ben Miller’s responsibilities cover day-to-day management, real estate investment oversight, and corporate finance, as well as setting the long-term strategy and goals for the company. Prior to Fundrise, Ben was managing partner of WestMill Capital Partners and President of Western Development Corp., one of the largest mixed-use real estate development companies in the Washington, DC metro area. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, he sits on the board of National Center for Children and Families. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: twitter.com/avsingh_24
Anirudh Singh sits down with Carey O’Connor Kolaja, CEO of AU10TIX. In this episode they discuss: - Her background at PayPal and Citi - Key leadership lessons she has picked up over the past 20 years - Working towards identity literacy - Transitioning into CEO of AU10TIX And much more! Carey O’Connor Kolaja: Carey O'Connor Kolaja is an entrepreneur, investor and global leader focused on redefining how “trusted access" is granted to individuals and entities. Throughout her career, Carey has been known as an innovator, disrupter and operator who can drive from start-up to scale-up. A thought leader in the financial services and payments industry, Carey has been exploring the intersection of payments, identity and adaptive technologies for more than 25 years and is on a mission to create a more inclusive and secure world. Carey is chief executive officer of AU10TIX, the global leader in automated identity intelligence and cyber fraud prevention. In this capacity, Carey is responsible for establishing and driving the overall business strategy and day-to-day operations, leading a team charged with enabling companies to onboard faster, prevent fraud, meet compliance mandates, and establish trust with their customers. Prior to AU10TIX, Carey was the global chief product officer at Citi Fintech and vice president of global consumer products at PayPal. In these roles she was responsible for the global product vision in service to hundreds of millions of consumers around the world. She led international teams charged with designing, deploying and operating global product and commercial strategies for consumer products to effectively serve the local needs and interests of customers in the 200+ markets they serve. Carey has a B.S. from the University of Indiana Business School and is an executive program graduate from Stanford University. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: twitter.com/avsingh_24
Miguel Armaza sits down with Alex Taussig, Partner at Lightspeed Ventures, a global multi-stage VC with over $10B in AUM, focused on accelerating disruptive innovations and trends in the Enterprise and Consumer sectors. They’ve backed some amazing companies, including Snap, Affirm, and GrubHub. Alex focuses on online marketplaces and co-leads Lightspeed’s investment efforts in Latin America. He is also the author of the popular weekly newsletter, DRINKING FROM THE FIREHOSE, in which he writes about recent trends in commerce, media, tech, climate, science, and popular culture. In this episode, we discuss - Alex’s story and why he decided to stop pursuing a Phd and left academia to join the tech investing world - The intersection of marketplaces and fintech and why the payment technology is the motor oil that makes transactions flow smoothly for marketplaces - Why in Venture Capital it’s very important to ask the best possible questions and pay close attention to the answers that reveal an underlying truth - Early investing mistakes and the importance of focus - Lessons from several years of writing a successful newsletter… and a lot more! Alex Taussig Alex joined Lightspeed in 2016 as a partner on the consumer investment team and has spent 12+ years in venture capital. He is passionate about partnering with founders who are reimagining major categories of commerce using technology. At Lightspeed, Alex has led investments in startups disrupting massive industries like food (Daily Harvest, Frubana), retail (Faire), education (Outschool), and weddings (Zola). He also co-leads Lightspeed’s investment efforts in Latin America. Prior to joining Lightspeed, Alex was a partner at Highland Capital Partners, where he led investments in and supported over a dozen companies, including thredUP (IPO TDUP, 2021), Carbon Black (IPO CBLK, 2018), 2U (IPO 2014, TWOU), and RentJuice (acquired by Zillow, 2012). Alex is a trained research scientist and breaks down business problems with deductive logic and analytical rigor. He originally studied physics at Harvard College, where he graduated summa cum laude, and then went on to receive a Master’s degree in materials engineering from MIT, where he was part of a research group building the first fully optical computer chip. Alex also received an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar, an honor given to the top 5% of the graduating class. Alex publishes a popular weekly(ish) newsletter called DRINKING FROM THE FIREHOSE, in which he writes about recent trends in commerce, media, tech, climate, science, and popular culture. He lives in San Francisco with his wife and two children and enjoys baking, anime, and heavy metal music. About Lightspeed Venture Partners Lightspeed Venture Partners is a multi-stage venture capital firm focused on accelerating disruptive innovations and trends in the Enterprise and Consumer sectors. Over the past two decades, the Lightspeed team has backed hundreds of entrepreneurs and helped build more than 400 companies globally, including Snap, Nest, Nutanix, AppDynamics, MuleSoft, OYO, Guardant, Affirm, and GrubHub. Lightspeed and its affiliates currently manage $10.5B across the global Lightspeed platform, with investment professionals and advisors in Silicon Valley, Israel, India, China, Southeast Asia, and Europe. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Miguel's Twitter: twitter.com/MiguelArmaza Miguel's Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp
Miguel Armaza sits down with Sean Salas, Co-Founder and CEO of Camino Financial, a Fintech company pioneering access to affordable credit to underbanked Latino businesses. Since inception, the company has raised over $125 in debt and equity from top industry investors. Sean grew up in between Mexico and the US and holds and got his MBA at Harvard Business School. In this episode, we discuss: - Sean’s journey between the US and Mexico - Launching Camino Financial while at Harvard Business School and the incredible benefits of using your MBA time to start a company - The importance of serving SMBs and how the company is leveraging technology to provide a more inclusive solution and improve underwriting decisions - How Camino Financial continues to innovative and why cultural nuances are important for clients - Lessons and reflections for aspiring entrepreneurs… and a lot more! Sean Salas Sean Salas is the CEO and Co-Founder of Camino Financial, a fintech platform pioneering access to affordable credit to underbanked Latinx businesses. He is often featured as a commentator discussing FinTech and Latino entrepreneurship, including appearances on Univision, CNN, and Discovery Channel. Sean also sits on the board of two non-profit organizations, the US-Mexico Foundation and the Harvard Business School Latino Alumni Association (HBSLAA). Sean co-founded Camino Financial with his twin brother, Kenny Salas. The twin brothers were raised by an entrepreneurial mother, who built and lost her business. While completing their MBAs at Harvard Business School, the Twins co-founded Camino Financial under the notion of never leaving a small business owner behind. As CEO of Camino Financial, Sean has built a team of over 50 employees distributed globally and raised over $125 million in debt and equity. Previously, Sean worked in private equity and investment banking. Throughout his experience, Sean oversaw four portfolio companies with combined revenue of over $250 million, invested close to $50 million in direct equity investments, and structured $1.2 billion in debt financings. Sean has a BA from UC Berkeley and an MBA from Harvard Business School. About Camino Financial Camino Financial is the first AI-powered Community Development Financial Institution (“neo-CDFI”) expanding access to credit for underserved Latinx entrepreneurs in the U.S. Camino is uniquely positioned to offer affordable loans as it combines its proprietary AI technology with access to CDFI designated low-cost capital and resources. Camino Financial has also produced the largest bilingual content hub to empower Latinx entrepreneurs to thrive and graduate into lower-cost, longer-term credit products. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Miguel's Twitter: twitter.com/MiguelArmaza Miguel's Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp
I sit down with Patrick Burns, CEO and Co-founder of Spruce, a proptech powering online real estate transactions that’s on a mission to build a one-click checkout experience for real estate transactions. Spruce has raised more than $50M from investors including Bessemer Venture Partners, Scale Venture Partners, and Third Prime. Mr. Burns is based in NYC and holds an MA in Statistics from Yale and a BA in Physics from Oxford. We discuss - Patrick’s journey from Scotland to the heart of fintech in NYC - Digitization of the real estate market and why shifting consumer expectations are driving innovation and a better customer experience - Importance of thinking of company culture from day one and how they’ve built a culture of decentralized and autonomy - Reflections and lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs… And just a lot more including the ideal itinerary for your next visit to Scotland! Patrick Burns Patrick is the CEO and co-founder of Spruce, the proptech company powering online real estate transactions. Spruce has raised more than $50M from investors including Bessemer Venture Partners, Scale Venture Partners, and Third Prime. Prior to founding Spruce in 2016, Patrick was a product manager at Betterment, the largest automated investment service with $20B under management. He holds an MA in Statistics from Yale, and a BA in Physics from Oxford. About Spruce Spruce is the proptech company on a mission to build the one-click checkout experience for real estate transactions. The company is digitizing real estate transactions for forward-thinking real estate companies and mortgage lenders. By leveraging proprietary technology and best-in-class operations, Spruce provides a seamless, affordable solution. Spruce was founded by Andrew Weisgall and Patrick Burns in 2016, and is headquartered in New York with hubs across the U.S. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Miguel's Twitter: twitter.com/MiguelArmaza Miguel's Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp
Anirudh Singh sits down with Peter Sanborn, Head of Corporate Development at PayPal and Managing Partner of PayPal Ventures. In this episode they discuss: - Peter’s early career at HSBC - Transitioning to PayPal and launching PayPal Ventures - Developing a thematic investing approach - Leveraging PayPal’s broader network to invest globally And much more! Peter Sanborn: Peter Sanborn serves as Vice President, Head of Corporate Development at PayPal and Managing Partner of PayPal Ventures, responsible for identifying, evaluating and executing global M&A and corporate venture capital investments. At PayPal since 2014, Peter is focused on the intersection of financial services, commerce and technology and on providing strategic thought leadership and business insights within PayPal and to PayPal's venture portfolio companies as an investor & board observer. He has led or helped manage the acquisitions of Honey, Xoom, Hyperwallet, Swift Capital, Happy Returns and Paydiant as well as investments in Acorns, Toss, Pine Labs, Tala, Paidy, Paxos, Neon, Divvy, Flutterwave and MercadoLibre. Prior to PayPal, Peter worked in financial services at HSBC for over nine years in Asia (Hong Kong) and Latin America (Mexico City) in M&A/investment, strategy, finance and investor relations roles. Peter enjoys working with passionate entrepreneurs and serves as an advisory board member for Village Capital’s US Fintech program and as a mentor in the Endeavor network. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: twitter.com/avsingh_24
Miguel Armaza sits down with the amazing Sebastian Kreis, Co-Founder/Co-CEO of Xepelin, a Latin American fintech company that aims to be the leading SME digital bank in the region. Founded in 2019 by Sebastian and Nicolas de Camino, they are one of the fastest growing fintechs in the history of Latam, having loaned more than $400 million in the last couple of years, onboarded over 4,000 clients, and have been doubling in size every three months throughout the last year. They are also backed by some of the best fintech investors, including Kaszek, DST Global, Picus Capital, FJ Labs, Gilgamesh Ventures, Jackie Reses, and many more. In this episode, we discuss - Sebastian’s journey and what inspired him to pursue an entrepreneurial career in fintech - The importance of a strong co-founder relationship and how Sebastian and Nico work together - Company culture and why honesty and transparency are at the very center of Xepelin - The dramatic reality that almost 95% of Latin American companies are unbanked or underbanked and how Xepelin is fixing this - Lessons for entrepreneurs, fundraising reflections… And just a lot more! Sebastian Kreis Sebastian is Co-Founder & Co-CEO at Xepelin, a Latin American fintech company that aims to be the leading SME digital bank in Latam. Prior to Xepelin, he was a Consultant at BCG where he led a multidisciplinary team to develop and execute several successful fintech products serving Fintech and Financial Services firms with a focus on digitization and technology. He has dedicated his efforts in leading teams and helping organizations to bring new digital experiences. Sebastian's experience goes across digital functions: digital strategy, at scale digital transformations, product development, omnichannel user experience strategy and advanced analytics. Prior to BCG, Sebastian co-founded and scaled Safecard from an idea to $2.0M in recurring revenue. Before Safecard, he was an Investment Banking VP at IM Trust (acquired by Credicorp) where he led over 30 M&A, capital market and private transactions totaling +$10Bn and the company’s international expansion into Peru. Sebastian holds a Master in Business Administration from UC Berkeley Haas School of Business where he was co-president of the Latin American and Hispanic Business Association and co-founded the Haas Fintech Club. He is an Industrial Civil Engineer from Catholic University. He is certified Scrum Master for software development. Sebastian has also been involved in academia, serving in 2010-2013 as part time professor of Managerial Accounting & Corporate Finance in the school of engineering in Catholic University. About Xepelin “We’re reimagining financial services in Latam so every company can focus on operating their business and realize their potential.” Xepelin is a Latin American fintech company that aims to be the leading SME digital bank in Latam. The company was founded in 2019 by Nicolas de Camino and Sebastian Kreis. Thousands of businesses use Xepelin to manage their finances. We’re proud to serve SMBs from all regions and industries in Mexico and Chile, helping founders, managers and their teams stay focused on what they care about most: operating their business. Xepelin is backed by Kaszek, DST Global, Picus Capital, Kayyak Ventures, FJ Labs, Kavak founder Carlos Garcia and ex-head of Square Capital Jackie Reses. Xepelin has raised over $36 million in equity and $250 million in asset-backed facilities to date. For more information, visit https://www.xepelin.com For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Miguel's Twitter: twitter.com/MiguelArmaza Miguel's Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp
Franz Rassman sits down with fintech venture capitalist Howard Mergelkamp. In 2011, Howard Mergelkamp and Miles Kilburn co-founded Mosaik Partners, an expansion-stage venture capital firm investing in commerce-enabling technology companies. Since its founding, Mosaik has invested roughly $150 million in early-stage enterprise fintech companies solving major pain points in large, B2B markets, such as payments, banking, and insurance. We discuss: - Howard’s path to becoming a venture capitalist, which included stops in law, banking, private equity, and operations - Mosaik Partners’ origin story and its investment process - How fintech has changed over the past decade and the changes the next decade will bring - Automatic deal breakers in the due diligence process - And a whole lot more! Howard Mergelkamp Howard Mergelkamp III has over two decades of investment banking, private equity, operating and corporate law experience in financial technology, transaction processing/electronic payments and financial services. Howard has been principal or advisor on over $157 billion of strategic transactions across over 100 completed deals of all types and structures, working with executive management teams and boards at companies with market capitalizations from $1 million to $43 billion. As a founding member of Corporate Ventures and Advisory Services at BlackRock, Inc., Howard managed proprietary investments and third-party mergers and acquisitions in financial technology. As a senior vice president at Regulus Group LLC, he led strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate restructuring. Howard’s advisory experience includes investment banking at Merrill Lynch & Co. – focusing on mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance in electronic payments and financial technology. He practiced corporate law at both Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Cravath, Swaine & Moore — focusing on mergers and acquisitions in banking, asset management, insurance and consumer finance. Howard has a BA, cum laude, in political science and economics from Columbia University, and a JD, magna cum laude, from University of Pennsylvania Law School. About Mosaik Partners Mosaik Partners is an expansion-stage venture capital firm investing in commerce-enabling technology companies. Founded in 2011 by industry veterans Howard Mergelkamp and Miles Kilburn, Mosaik has since deployed $145+ million across roughly 30 investments. To learn more, check out Mosaik Partners. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: https://medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: https://twitter.com/whartonfintech
Miguel Armaza sits down with the very genuine Raul Vazquez, CEO of Oportun, a Nasdaq-listed company that provides responsible consumer credit. Founded 15 years ago, Oportun has extended more than 4 million loans and over $10 billion in affordable credit. Raul has been Oportun’s CEO since 2012 and previously served as CEO of Walmart.com. Currently, he also serves on the board of Intuit and the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders. He is also a proud MBA graduate of our very own Wharton School. In this episode, we discuss - Raul’s fascinating story and how the oldest son of Mexican immigrants became the CEO of a publicly traded company - Oportun’s digital and retail hybrid approach and the importance of being a mission-driven company - The reasons why about 100 million people are not fully served by the US mainstream financial system and what Oportun is doing about it - Reflections of taking Oportun public and a deep dive into their IPO process - The power of compassionate leadership, management lessons, and the hardest business decisions he’s had to make. - And a lot more! Raul Vazquez Raul has served as Oportun’s chief executive officer and board member since 2012. His past experience includes leadership roles at Walmart, including three years as CEO of Walmart.com, and at high-growth startups. Raul currently serves on the boards of Intuit and the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders, and he formerly sat on the board at Staples. He has been a member of the Community Advisory Board at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and chaired the Federal Reserve’s Community Advisory Council. He holds a BS and MS in industrial engineering from Stanford University and an MBA from the Wharton School. In 2018, he was named EY’s Entrepreneur of the Year in financial services. Raul celebrates the good and bad, the small and big, with ice cream from Dairy Queen. About Oportun Oportun (Nasdaq: OPRT) is a financial services company that leverages its digital platform to provide responsible consumer credit to hardworking people. Using A.I.-driven models that are built on 15 years of proprietary customer insights and billions of unique data points, Oportun has extended more than 4 million loans and over $10 billion in affordable credit, providing its customers with alternatives to payday and auto title loans. In recognition of its responsibly designed products which help consumers build their credit history, Oportun has been certified as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) since 2009. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Miguel's Twitter: twitter.com/MiguelArmaza Miguel's Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp
Miguel Armaza sits down with the fascinating David Nangle is CEO of Vostok Emerging Finance, an investment company listed on Nasdaq First North Growth Market in Sweden that invests in growth stage private fintech companies across the emerging world. Born and raised in Ireland, Dave has spent his career focused on emerging markets having worked in places like Moscow and London, and has backed some of the top fintech names across Brazil, Mexico, Turkey, India, Kenya, and beyond. Some of VEF’s current and past portfolio companies include Creditas, Konfio, JUMO, and Tinkoff. In this fun episode, we discuss: - David’s story and why he quit his London job and moved to Moscow in the early 2000s without speaking a word of Russian - Advantages of being a publicly listed firm with a permanent capital structure - The incredible investment opportunities within fintech in emerging markets - Why VEF actually invests harder and doubles down during volatile periods and how he even closed a deal in Turkey in the middle of an attempted coup with tanks on the streets - Investment lessons and why you should always invest along with local VCs - The exciting future of fintech in frontier markets like Pakistan, Egypt, and Nigeria… and a lot more! David Nangle David Nangle has spent his career focusing on emerging markets and within that the financial services sector. He was part of ING Baring’s Emerging Markets Research team between 2000 and 2006, after which he spent nearly 10 years with Renaissance Capital in both Moscow and London, as head of financials and research overall. He helped the firm develop and grow their financials and broader research footprint from a strong Russia base to a leading EM and frontiers franchise. Having had a front row seat in the evolution of the financial sector across emerging markets since the late 90’s, in 2015, he left the world of investment banking and co-founded VEF to back founders building the next generation of financial services firms across the emerging world. About VEF VEF is an investment company listed on Nasdaq First North Growth Market in Sweden under the ticker VEFAB. We invest in growth stage private fintech companies across the emerging world. We take minority stakes and are active investors with board representation in each of our portfolio holdings. We respect the macro, but are firm believers that the secular growth trend of EM fintech, outweighs all the macro uncertainty and volatility that we and our portfolio companies will invariably live through. A digital financial world is the end game and the best companies always come out of pockets of macro and market turbulence in a stronger relative position. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Miguel's Twitter: twitter.com/MiguelArmaza Miguel's Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp
Miguel Armaza sits down with Tosin Osibodu, Co-Founder and CEO of Chaka, a Nigerian digital investment platform that is bringing access to trade over 4000 Nigerian and US stocks. Tosin is a fintech veteran, serial entrepreneur and also a proud alum of our very own Wharton School. In this episode, we discuss: - Chaka’s journey and what it means to be the first Nigerian Fintech to receive a license by the Securities & Exchange Commission of Nigeria (SEC). - Challenges and opportunities of building startups in emerging markets - The amazing state of fintech in Africa and why these are the early days of a tech revolution - Entrepreneurial lessons … and a lot more! Chaka Chaka is a technology solutions company on a mission to enable every business and person in Africa to access borderless digital investment and wealth management opportunities. The Chaka team combines investment expertise and best-in-class technology to provide reliable digital Investing, trading and wealth management solutions that are easy-to-use and easy-to-integrate. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Miguel's Twitter: twitter.com/MiguelArmaza Miguel's Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp
Miguel Armaza sits down with the legendary tech entrepreneur and venture capitalist, Fabrice Grinda, Founding Partner at FJ Labs, a stage-agnostic Venture Capital fund that focuses on marketplaces and consumer-facing startups. Born and raised in France, Fabrice is amongst the world’s leading tech leaders. As an investor, he has over 250 exits on almost 700 investments. With impressive investments such as Alibaba, Lending Club, Delivery Hero, Betterment, Klarna, Stripe, Palantir and Rappi. As an entrepreneur, Fabrice co-founded OLX, one of the largest websites in the world with over 300 million unique visitors per month. Having previously founded Zingy and Aucland, two highly successful sites. In this fun episode, we discuss: - Fabrice’s fascinating background - Investing during COVID - why FJ labs never stopped writing checks during the pandemic and why early-stage investing is actually better during crises - FJ Labs’ investing strategy and the kind of team and company they look for - Why he loves building and backing marketplaces - Fintech trends and verticals Fabrice is excited about and some of the common traits he’s observed in successful fintech founders - Investing mistakes and why he knew he was gonna regret passing on Uber… but did it anyway - The exciting democratization and explosion of tech Latin America - And a lot more! Fabrice Grinda Fabrice Grinda is among the world’s leading Internet entrepreneurs and investors. He has over 250 exits on 700 angel investments. Fabrice has served as CEO for three multinational companies and has an impressive track record as an early investor in Alibaba, Flexport, Delivery Hero, Betterment and Brightroll. Fabrice is currently running the startup studio and venture fund FJ Labs, which he cofounded with business partner Jose Marin. Fabrice was named the #1 Angel Investor in the world by Forbes Prior to FJ Labs, Fabrice was co-founder and co-CEO of OLX, one of the largest websites in the world with over 300 million unique visitors per month. The company operates in 30 countries and has over 10,000 employees. OLX is the largest classifieds site in India, Brazil, Pakistan, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Portugal and many other emerging markets. Prior to OLX, Fabrice was the CEO and founder of Zingy, a mobile content company, which he grew to over $200 million in annual revenues and profitability in 4 years. Fabrice started his entrepreneurial journey in 1998, at 23, when he co-founded and was CEO of Aucland. Soon after, Aucland grew into one of the largest auction sites in Europe. Before his entrepreneurial endeavors, Fabrice worked as a management consultant for McKinsey & Company. Fabrice holds a BA in Economics from Princeton University. He graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1996, and was awarded the Halbert White prize, given to the most distinguished economics student, as well as The Wolfe Balleisen memorial prize, awarded for best thesis. In his free time, Fabrice likes to travel the world, kitesurf, play tennis, and blog about his personal and professional life at www.fabricegrinda.com. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Miguel's Twitter: twitter.com/MiguelArmaza Miguel's Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp
Anirudh Singh sits down with Adam Green, co-Founder and CEO of YieldX. In this episode they discuss: - Adam's experience at MoneyLion - Founding something new at YieldX - Lessons learned from growing during the pandemic - Arbitraging Spice Girls concert tickets And more! Adam Green: Adam Green is a technology innovator, founder and capital markets veteran. He is currently the CEO and co-Founder of YieldX, a breakthrough technology infrastructure that is reimagining fixed income. The company launched in October, 2020 and is helping institutional clients democratize fixed income access, analytics portfolio construction and optimization capabilities via an API-driven, modular technology platform. Prior to that, Adam was a co-Founder at MoneyLion. Founded in 2013, MoneyLion provides a mobile and financial membership platform that empowers users to take control of their personal finances. In his work as a founder, Adam has collected deep experience in conceptualizing, funding, scaling and monetizing businesses, and providing executive leadership, strategic thinking and proven execution skills. Prior to his time at MoneyLion, Adam spent the early part of his career in the investment banking space, with notable tenures at Bear Stearns, Credit Agricole and Citadel. He is a graduate of the Martin J Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University. Adam lives and works in Miami, Florida. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: twitter.com/avsingh_24
Miguel Armaza sits down with the talented Mary Ann Azevedo, Senior Reporter at TechCrunch covering all things Fintech and Latin America Tech. Mary Ann is a seasoned reporter, who’s been covering tech for 25 years! She’s seen and heard it all and this was a great conversation where we cover a ton of ground, including: - Mary Ann’s writing and creative process - Some of the biggest trends she’s seeing in the fintech space - Managing the insane volume of industry news on a daily basis - The main differences between US-based entrepreneurs and Latin American founders - Have you ever wondered what goes behind the screen at Techcrunch HQ? We cover that too! - Plus, tips and best practices to pitch a story to a reporter and some things you should absolutely avoid doing - ... and a lot more! Mary Ann Azevedo Mary Ann Azevedo has more than 20 years of business reporting and editing experience for publications such as FinLedger, Crunchbase News, Crain, Forbes and Silicon Valley Business Journal. Prior to joining TechCrunch in 2021, she earned numerous awards including the New York Times Chairman’s Award and others for breaking news coverage. She holds a Master’s degree in journalism from the University of Texas in Austin, where she currently lives. TechCrunch TechCrunch, founded on June 11, 2005, is a global news website dedicated to the tech scene. The company provides breaking technology news, opinions, and analysis on tech companies from around the world. From publicly traded tech companies to emerging startups and venture capital funding rounds, TechCrunch is the number one guide for all things technology. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Miguel's Twitter: twitter.com/MiguelArmaza Miguel's Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp
Ryan Zauk sits down with Leore Avidar, CEO & Founder of Alt. Alt has created a marketplace for sports cards that authenticates its transactions & provides buyers with the peace of mind that the card they’re dropping thousands on is no fake! Leore himself is a card collector and trader fanatic, having been deep in this asset class for years. Leore is also the CEO of Lob, a direct mail marketing & address verification API company on the path to going public. (Pretty good track record) They cover: - His journey from Wall Street, to tech, to entrepreneurship, & the Kobe card that sparked his journey - How Alt works, how they verify cards, & the 3 key pillars of fraud they watch - The crazy IRR Leore has reaped in this asset class - His vision for the future of alt assets as stores of value & mediums of exchange - The $31M round he raised from folks like Alexis Ohanian, Larry Fitzgerald, Founders of Coinbase & Blackrock, Darren Rovell, & Kevin Durant - And much more! Link: onlyalt.com For more Fintech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
Anirudh Singh sits down with Kimwood Mott, project manager at the Central Bank of the Bahamas. In this episode they discuss: - Kimwood's transition to the central bank - The primary goals of the project including: 1. Increasing the efficiency of the Bahamian payments systems through more secure transactions and faster settlement speed. 2. Providing non-discriminatory access to payment systems without regard for age, immigration or residency status. 3. Achieving greater financial inclusion, cost-effectiveness, and access to financial services across all of The Bahamas. 4. Strengthening national defence against money laundering, counterfeiting, and other illicit ends by reducing the ill effects of cash usage. - The impact that Hurrican Dorian and Covid-19 had on the project's rollout And more! Kimwood Mott: Kimwood Mott has spent over 20 years in the banking and finance industries in both the retail and private banking sectors. He has an extensive background and experience in banking, information technology, and project management. As the project manager for digital currency implementation, Kimwood is tasked with improving the domestic digital payments space and driving the national adoption of the Sand Dollar digital currency. In addition to a wealth of knowledge and skills, Kimwood brings a unique perspective to the Sand Dollar project. As a small business owner, he recognizes the difficulties of our financial landscape and sees the potential and benefits of the Sand Dollar digital currency. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: twitter.com/avsingh_24
Miguel Armaza sits down with the inspiring Mahmoud Abdelkader, serial entrepreneur and CEO/Co-Founder of Very Good Security, a company that’s on a mission to protect the world’s information by providing essential security and compliance infrastructure for other businesses. In this episode, we talk about: - Mahmoud’s journey – moving from Egypt to New York City and how he found his love for entrepreneurship - Launching Balanced Payments, his first startup over a decade ago, getting into Y Combinator and why every first time founder should try to go to YC - Understanding Very Good Security’s mission to secure the world's information, and why they want to make data useful in the same way as money - Challenges of unintended side effects of financial and privacy regulation and what Very Good Security is doing about it - Getting comfortable with rejection and why you should never underestimate the hunger of immigrant entrepreneurs… And a lot more! Mahmoud Abdelkader Mahmoud Abdelkader is the CEO and co-founder of Very Good Security (VGS). He was previously CTO and co-founder of Balanced Payments (exited to Stripe). Prior to that, Mahmoud designed automated product matching systems at Milo.com (acquired by eBay) and built high-frequency trading systems for Wachovia Securities, now a part of Wells Fargo. With experience ranging from Wall Street to early-stage startups, Mahmoud is passionate about democratizing data security. He started Very Good Security to make best-in-class security and compliance attainable for businesses of all sizes. Very Good Security Very Good Security (VGS) is on a mission to secure the world’s information. Providing essential security and compliance infrastructure, VGS enables startups and enterprises to focus on their core business instead of compliance and regulatory overhead. VGS customers enjoy a Zero Data™ approach to information security, retaining the value of sensitive data without the cost and liability of securing it themselves. VGS Control accelerates compliances such as SOC 2, PCI, ISO 27001, GDPR, and more. For more information, visit verygoodsecurity.com.
Ryan Zauk brings you a great episode today with Chad Byers, Partner & Co-Founder of Susa Ventures. Susa is a sector-agnostic early-stage VC investing in areas like Enterprise Software, Fintech, Logistics, Healthcare, Consumer & Frontier Tech. Notable investments include Robinhood, Fast, Flexport, PolicyGenius, Okra, LendUp, Nova Credit, Railz, Treasury Prime, and Expanse. Chad was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 for VC in 2015. Prior to Susa Ventures, Chad was the senior director of platform at Integrate.com and held various marketing and product roles at Silver Spring Networks, Bloom Energy, and Electronic Arts. They discuss: - His unusual path to venture and the critical tools he used to become an incredible cold-emailer, meeting a16z’s Chris Dixon and BoxGroup’s David Tisch - The wild story of turning a Jon Stewart taping into an internet phenomenon! - Susa Ventures and the exciting, Wharton Fintech exclusive release of their upcoming opportunities fund (15:30) - Critical advice for starting your first fund (or angel investments) - His seed Robinhood investment, including the moment the lightbulb went off - Fintech trends he's most excited ]for - And much more! Mentioned in the Episode: Jon Stewart Tweet Thread: https://twitter.com/chadbyers/status/1273726486973804545?lang=en Robinhood COO: https://bit.ly/3AGEHdi Atom Finance CEO on PFOF: https://bit.ly/3hK0EzI For more Fintech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
Ryan Zauk sits down with none other than Anthony “Pomp” Pompliano. Anthony Pompliano is an entrepreneur and investor who has built and sold numerous companies, managing a portfolio valued at more than $500 million in early-stage companies. His investments include Coinbase, eToro, BlockFi, Airbnb, and many more. He has a fantastic newsletter, podcast, and social platform anchored by his 1M+ followers on Twitter. He is known for his extreme passion for bitcoin, having been a major part of the rallying cry of the last year. He has pushed his chips all in, allocating a huge portion of his portfolio to the asset! (or property…) They cover: - His bitcoin thesis, the "super cycle," and the events that got him so bullish - Why Buffet and Munger disagreeing with him gives him more conviction - How he thinks about generating outsized returns & his barbell capital allocation strategy - His investments in startups like Strike and nearly kidnapping a founder - The simple ways he’s grown such a massive following & influence - And much more Enjoy the show! Discussed in the Episode: Website (with most info): https://www.anthonypompliano.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/APompliano?s=20 Newsletter (180k+ subs): https://pomp.substack.com/ Mike Dudas: https://tinyurl.com/4c229whn Simon Taylor: https://tinyurl.com/t994esjk Wharton DeFi Paper: https://wifpr.wharton.upenn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/DeFi-Beyond-the-Hype.pdf -- For more Fintech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
Miguel Armaza sits down with the fascinating Amy Nauiokas, Founder and CEO of Anthemis, a Venture Capital firm founded in 2008 that aims to cultivate change in the financial system by investing in, growing, and sustaining businesses committed to resiliency, transparency, access and equity. Some of their most notable investments include Carta, Betterment, Pipe, Rally Rd, Simple, and Backstage Capital. Amy is also Founder/CEO of Archer Gray, a media production and content company. In this great conversation, we talk about: - Amy’s journey and how she found herself making her first Venture Capital investments in Cameroon in the early 90s. - Navigating Wall Street and why she eventually decided to leave big banks to launch Anthemis - Fundraising from LPs in 2008 – a year when the financial industry collapsed but also a time with major technological innovations. - Bridging the conversation between incumbents and startups. - Backing models that transform and create resiliency inside of the financial system - Their commitment to build the most diverse and inclusive team in Tech and Wall Street - Anthemis’ Venture Studio strategy - Fundraising reflections, leadership lessons as a VC founder… And a lot more! Amy Nauiokas Amy Nauiokas is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Anthemis, the leading digital financial services investment firm, and Founder and CEO of Archer Gray, a media production and content company. She is a visionary executive, investor, producer and a recognized leader in innovation, strategy, and management across a variety of markets and industries. As a venture capitalist, Amy identifies and invests in early stage technology companies focused on the disruption of media, financial services and marketplaces. She has built a strong investment portfolio of best-in-class, high growth companies. Current investments include Betterment, Trov, Happy Money and Currencycloud. Her exits include Flo Technologies, Zoopla, the UK’s leading property research website; Fidor Bank, acquired by BPCE in 2016; Simple, acquired by BBVA in 2014; and The Climate Corporation, acquired by Monsanto in 2013. Amy received a master’s in international business from Columbia University, where she has also served as an Adjunct Professor in the business school, and received her BA in International Studies from Dickinson College. About Anthemis Anthemis cultivates change in our financial system by investing in, growing, and sustaining businesses committed to resiliency, transparency, access and equity. Founded on three guiding principles - authentic collaboration, virtuous cycle outcomes and diversity and inclusivity - our deep understanding of markets and models, passion for emerging technology and values inspire everything we do. By creating fertile ground for a diverse group of startups, investors, entrepreneurs, institutions, academics, and visionaries to converge, we believe we can solve the financial systems most pressing challenges faster, better and for the benefit of all. Visit www.anthemis.com for more information. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Miguel's Twitter: twitter.com/MiguelArmaza Miguel's Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp
Ryan Zauk sits down with Kai Cunningham, the youngest founding General Partner at Limited Ventures. Limited Ventures is a fund created alongside titans of industry like the Forbes & Rockefeller families, and counts numerous athletes and entertainers as LPs. Kai serves two critical roles: 1. Helping family foundations + institutions satisfy their Diversity and Inclusion Mandates without sacrificing returns 2. Bridging the gap between athletes/entertainers and the billionaire families of the world. He has helped over 100 athletes and entertainers participate in deals like Airbnb, SpaceX, Lime, Coinbase, Pinterest, Lyft, DapperLabs, Zilch, Kraken, and many more. They cover: - His wild journey from the DMV area to the trading floor of Goldman Sachs and Limited Ventures - Helping the "99%" of pro athletes invest like the 1% - The future of the athlete investor and why that’s a positive for culture - What fintech marketers need to know when working with celebs - The problem companies will face when deploying their DEI&I funds - His investment in UK BNPL Zilch - and much more Mentioned: Brandon Copeland: https://medium.com/wharton-fintech/nfl-star-penn-professor-brandon-copeland-tackling-financial-education-through-life-101-9482e4d461b8 Harlem Capital: https://medium.com/wharton-fintech/jarrid-tingle-managing-partner-of-harlem-capital-transforming-the-face-of-entrepreneurship-b8d97db9a94a -- For more Fintech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
Gabriela Ariana Campoverde sits down with Nathaniel Harley, CEO and Co-Founder of MANTL, a software platform specializing in online account opening and deposit growth strategies for community banks and credit unions. Founded in 2016, MANTL has helped banks raise more than $1 billion in core deposits -- with the highest performing account opening solution on the market. This past spring, this fintech raised $40MM in a Series B round. MANTL is on a mission to expand access to financial services by challenging the cost structures of traditional banks with its robust APIs, conversion best practices, and seamless user experience. In this episode we discuss: - How MANTL’s platform serves thousands of Americans today - The negative impact legacy infrastructure has on the user experience for account holders, banks and credit unions - Why community banks and credit unions matter - Lessons learned from Nathaniel’s career at Spoon University - What’s next in the pipeline for MANTL - And much more! About Nathaniel Harley: Nathaniel Harley is the CEO and Co-Founder of MANTL. Prior to founding MANTL, Nathaniel served as COO of Spoon University, a food publication by and for college students. This was the first start-up which he joined and was backed by Techstars. MANTL is his second company with the accelerator. Before joining the start-up world, Nathaniel was an investment banker at Goldman Sachs. He is a graduate of Northwestern University, where he studied Mathematical Methods in the Social Sciences. Nathaniel is passionate about building products that will help people. To follow him on Twitter visit twitter.com/nathanielharley. About MANTL: MANTL helps banks and credit unions grow deposits and streamline back-office tasks with an omni-channel account opening platform that integrates with their cores. For additional information on MANTL, please visit www.mantl.com | Twitter: twitter.com/mantl_tech For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Gabriela’s Twitter: twitter.com/byGabyC Gabriela’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gcampoverde
In this content-rich episode, Ally McCloskey sits down with Stephany Kirkpatrick, Founder & CEO of Orum. Orum is building new and frictionless financial infrastructure to power smart, real-time, and fully-automated money movement across accounts, products, and financial institutions. Backed by Bain Capital Ventures, Inspired Capital, Homebrew, Acrew, Primary, Clocktower, Box Group, SVB Capital, AmEx Ventures, and an impressive angel network. Orum has 2 signature products in market: 1) Orum’s Foresight product is an ACH risk intelligence tool, which identifies and reduces ACH return risk and fraud before it occurs by pulling in extra data through partnerships with financial institutions. And 2) Orum’s Momentum product, which intelligently routes which payment rails a transaction should travel on given the financial institution’s preferences for speed and cost. Ally and Stephany discuss: - How Stephany’s background as a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and years of working at LearnVest and Northwestern Mutual exposed to her a ubiquitous market challenge - Stephany’s earliest steps when taking the plunge into starting a company - Why Orum started in stealth - The history of payment rails and infrastructure and why there is so much friction in the system - How the burden of ACH risk ultimately lands on the end user via nonsufficient funds and overdraft fees - Stephany’s advice on looking for stage-specific and sector-specific investors, but most importantly screening for good humans - The great recommendation she got from Satya Patel at Homebrew on hiring a Head of People early - Her impressive Whoop record - And a WHOLE lot more Stephany Kirkpatrick Stephany Kirkpatrick is a digital executive and seasoned entrepreneur with over 15 years experience in companies across a variety of industries, from startups to Fortune 100 corporations. Stephany founded Orum in 2019 on the belief that consumers should have immediate access to their money. Stephany is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ who’s spent the last decade building technology to optimize financial outcomes for Americans – first at LearnVest where she helped design its financial planning software and now at Orum. Orum is building new financial infrastructure that allows money to move immediately and automatically across accounts, products, and financial institutions. Stephany leads with strong core values and believes in diversity of thought and people. She is a mother of two young girls and actively participates in building a future that empowers women through her mentorship work. About Orum Orum is building the infrastructure for a frictionless financial system, powering smart, real-time money movement with proprietary intelligence. Enterprises partnered with Orum can stop spending time thinking about how to move money and focus on the simple question: how fast. Learn more at https://orum.io, and check out Orum's inclusion in the 2021 Forbes FinTech 50 list here: https://www.forbes.com/companies/orum/?sh=49118a29712a. -- As always, for more Fintech insights, please follow us below: WFT Blog: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ally's Twitter: twitter.com/AllyMcCloskey LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
In today's episode, Ryan Zauk sits down with Silicon Valley investor, entrepreneur, angel, community builder, and super-connector Brianne Kimmel. Brianne is the Founder of Worklife Ventures, a future of work-focused fund investing in the tools and services powering the next wave of work. Worklife is backed by a who's who of tech including a16z partners Marc Andreesen and Chris Dixon, Stewart Butterfield of Slack, the CEOs of Zoom and Cameo, the Co-Founder of Twitch, Alexis Ohanian, and many more! Her fund includes 6 unicorns - Webflow, Tonal, Hopin, Clubhouse, and former Wharton Fintech guests Pipe and Public. Business Insider also recently named Brianne a top angel investor that every startup should know. In today's episode, they discuss: - The rise of the 'solo capitalist' model - The transition from angel to VC - The booming creator economy, creator tools, and the future of work - Building "Stay at Home Valley" on Figma, and surprising Figma's CEO with it on a walk - Her investment and sourcing methodology through the lens of Pipe Webflow, and Hopin and much more! Brianne: briannekimmel.com Worklife: worklife.vc Building "Stay at Home Valley: https://wfh.substack.com/p/why-i-built-silicon-valley-in-figma For more Fintech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
Miguel Armaza sits down with Salim Ramji, BlackRock Senior Managing Director and Global Head of iShares and Index Investments and a member of the firm’s Global Executive Committee. Founded in 1988, BlackRock is a global investment management firm and the world's largest asset manager, with almost $9 trillion dollars in AUM – and iShares is one of the largest ETF providers with almost $3 trillion dollars in AUM. In this episode, we discuss: - Salim’s exciting career. From microfinance in the mountains of Pakistan to the top of Wall Street in New York City. - Joining BlackRock and why he actually rejected Larry Fink’s first offer to join the firm. - The power of ETFs and Index Investing and why he considers Indexing to be one of the original Fintech innovations. - iShares and its incredible reach helping over 100 million investors from around the world. - The rise of robo-advisors and why asset managers should implement guardrails to offer investment products and capabilities that are good for the long term. - The rapid acceleration of ESG, Environmental, Social, and Governance ETFs and why Blackrock considers climate risks are investment risks that should be taken very seriously. - Leadership lessons and the power of leading through influence, collaboration, and forging alliances. - And a lot more! Salim Ramji Salim Ramji, Senior Managing Director, is Global Head of iShares and Index Investments for BlackRock and a member of the firm’s Global Executive Committee. Prior to his appointment to lead the ETF and Index Investments business in 2019, Mr. Ramji was Head of BlackRock's U.S. Wealth Advisory business where he was responsible for leading BlackRock's relationships with wealth management firms and platforms, for distributing BlackRock's alpha-seeking and iShares investment capabilities and for the adoption of BlackRock's portfolio construction and digital wealth technologies to financial advisors. Mr. Ramji joined BlackRock in 2014, serving initially as the Global Head of Corporate Strategy. Before joining BlackRock, he was a Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company where he led the Asset & Wealth Management practice areas. He started his career as a corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions lawyer in London and Hong Kong. Mr. Ramji earned a bachelor's degree in economics and politics from University of Toronto, a law degree from Cambridge University and is a CFA charter holder. He is a trustee of Graham Windham, a New York-based child care agency. About iShares iShares unlocks opportunity across markets to meet the evolving needs of investors. With more than twenty years of experience, a global line-up of 900+ exchange traded funds (ETFs) and $2.81 trillion in assets under management as of March 31, 2021, iShares continues to drive progress for the financial industry. iShares funds are powered by the expert portfolio and risk management of BlackRock. About BlackRock BlackRock’s purpose is to help more and more people experience financial well-being. As a fiduciary to investors and a leading provider of financial technology, we help millions of people build savings that serve them throughout their lives by making investing easier and more affordable. For additional information on BlackRock, please visit www.blackrock.com/corporate | Twitter: @blackrock For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Miguel's Twitter: twitter.com/MiguelArmaza Miguel's Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp
Miguel Armaza sits down with Jarrid Tingle, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Harlem Capital, an early-stage, diversity-focused venture capital firm that was founded in 2015 with the specific mission to fundamentally change the face of entrepreneurship. Jarrid and team now manage a $174 million portfolio comprised of 61% Black or Latino led companies and 43% female-only led companies. Harlem Capital aims to invest in 1,000 diverse founders over the next 30 years. Jarrid is also a proud alum of our amazing Wharton School! In this episode, we discuss: - Jarrid’s background and how he and his co-founders raised Harlem Capital’s initial capital while in business school - The story behind Harlem Capital’s very own Harvard Business School case - Importance of backing founders that fundamentally can sell and are analytical - Their fintech outlook and why Jarrid is excited about the power of fintech to help supercharge eCommerce - Debunking the myth of the pipeline problem and why it’s really just about giving people access and opportunities - Why he’s hopeful but not satisfied with the progress of the VC and Tech industry as it relates to diversity - Biggest lesson he’s learned as an investor - And a lot more! Jarrid Tingle Jarrid Tingle is Managing Partner of Harlem Capital where he focuses on deal sourcing, organizational strategy, and due diligence efforts. Jarrid was featured on the 2019 Forbes 30 under 30 list, 2019 Inc. 30 under 30 list, and the 2018 Ebony Power 100 list. He received his MBA from Harvard Business School (HBS) in 2019 where he was a Baker Scholar (top 5% of class). During HBS, Jarrid was a fellow in the Robert Toigo Foundation and Management Leadership for Tomorrow MBA Programs. Previously, Jarrid was a Private Equity Investment Professional at ICV Partners. Prior to ICV, Jarrid was an Investment Banker in the Global Technology, Media & Telecommunications Group at Barclays. Jarrid graduated cum laude from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Science in Economics and a Concentration in Finance. Jarrid was an active member of Friars Senior Society, Onyx Senior Honor Society, and The Lantern Senior Society. Upon graduation, Jarrid received the Wharton Undergraduate Dean’s Award for Excellence (Wharton’s highest honor). Jarrid’s favorite activities include reading, weight training, traveling, and attending concerts. About Harlem Capital: Harlem Capital (HCP) is an early-stage, diversity-focused venture capital firm. HCP makes initial investments of $750k to $1.5mm in U.S. Seed rounds for 10%+ ownership. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Miguel's Twitter: twitter.com/MiguelArmaza Miguel's Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp
Ryan Zauk sits down with Jeff Seltzer, Managing Partner of Pierce Yates Ventures and former board member of the New York Angels. Pierce Yates provides early-stage funding and advice to emerging companies with a focus on fintech and sports tech. The NY Angels is an incredible collection of some of New York's titans across various industries, who get together to invest and advise companies. Jeff is a proud Wharton alum and in 2019 received the Alumni Award of Merit in recognition of his lifelong commitment and service to Penn. In today’s episode, they cover: - His long road to investing and why it can be advantageous to do a stint in DC politics - New York Angels 101 including how they’re structured, the companies they back, and how you can get involved - The ups, downs, and many misunderstandings of angel investing Jeff wants to clear up - What founders and investors need to think about at the start of around - His must-read angel resources And much more. NY Angels: https://www.newyorkangels.com/ Book Recs: https://gust.com/guide Jeff Seltzer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-seltzer-b4603744 -- For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
Ryan Zauk hosts legendary venture capitalist, billionaire, bitcoin investor, activist, and educator, Tim Draper. Tim Draper helps entrepreneurs drive their visions through funding, education, media, and government reform. His investments over the last few decades include companies like Baidu, Hotmail, Skype, Tesla, SpaceX, Robinhood, Twitter, Carta, Coinbase, and many more. He also is a large holder of bitcoin, having bought 50,000+ bitcoin when it was priced below $1,000. Draper Associates: draper.vc DFJ: https://www.dfj.com/ Website: timothydraper.com Book: https://www.amazon.com/How-Startup-Hero-Textbook-Entrepreneurs-ebook/dp/B078HWH29T They discuss: - His bullish views on bitcoin and the 1 reason he will never sell - His investment in Robinhood, Carta, and others - His very strong libertarian views and why he believes in minimal government, which ties into his bitcoin thesis - Why the Mt Gox hack improved his belief in bitcoin - His thoughts on the current state of China and where it’s headed - And a fun rapid-fire round including the first bank branch in space and his updated bitcoin price target About Tim: Tim Draper is a prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalist and founder of Draper Associates, DFJ, and the Draper Venture Network, a global network of venture capital funds. The firms’ investments include Baidu, Focus Media, YeePay, KongZhong, Skype, Hotmail, Tesla, SolarCity, Coinbase, Ledger, Robinhood, Athenahealth, Box, TwitchTV, SpaceX, Cruise Automation, Carta, Planet, PTC, and many others. Tim is a leading spokesperson for Bitcoin, Blockchain, ICOs, and cryptocurrencies. He won the US Marshall’s auction in 2014 (where he bid on 50,000 bitcoins) and invests in over 50 crypto companies as well as leads investments in Coinbase, Ledger, Tezos, and Bancor, among others. He created viral marketing, a marketing method for exponentially spreading an electronic service from customer to customer. Tim is regularly featured on major networks, in publications, and in social media as a proponent for entrepreneurship, innovative governance, free markets, and Bitcoin. He has received various awards and honors including the World Entrepreneurship Forum's "Entrepreneur of the World." He has also been highly ranked on several notable lists including one of the top 100 most powerful people in finance by Worth Magazine, the top 20 most influential people in Crypto by Crypto Weekly, #1 most networked venture capitalist by AlwaysOn, #7 on the Forbes Midas List, and #48 most influential Harvard Alum. In his mission to promote entrepreneurship, Tim created Draper University of Heroes, a residential and online school based in San Mateo, California, to help extraordinary people accomplish their life missions. School alumni have gone on to build 350 companies including crypto leaders, QTUM, Spacecash, DataWallet, and Credo. He also started Innovate Your State, a non-profit dedicated to crowdsource innovation in government; and BizWorld, a non-profit that teaches young children how business and entrepreneurship work. Tim is involved in California politics and education/organizations, having served on the California State Board of Education and starting a movement for local choice in schools that led to him becoming a proponent for a statewide initiative for school vouchers. He also led a statewide initiative to create competitive governance with Six Californias, followed by an initiative for Three Californias. Tim received a Bachelor of Science from Stanford University with a major in electrical engineering and a Master of Business Administration from the Harvard Business School. He also has two honorary doctorates from The International University and Trinity College of Dublin. -- For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
Miguel Armaza sits down with Eric Dunn, CEO of Quicken, one of the largest personal finance software companies in the US with over 17 million clients and also one of the original fintech brands, launched over 30 years ago. In this episode, they discuss: - Eric’s career and why he decided to join Intuit in 1986 as employee #4! - Becoming an investor and reflections from the years he spent in Venture Capital + how it made him a better operator - Quicken’s journey and some of their challenges and reflections from 35+ years - Thought process behind Intuit’s decision to spin off Quicken - His management approach and frameworks to make strategic company decisions - Analysis of a fast-growing fintech space - And a lot more! Eric Dunn Eric has served as the CEO of Quicken Inc since 2016. He has been part of the Quicken business since its early days – he joined Intuit, Quicken’s previous owner, as employee #4 in 1986, when Quicken was the only Intuit software product. Over the course of his 20 years at Intuit Eric served as the CFO through the 1993 IPO and merger with ChipSoft (TurboTax); while he was CFO, he was also a software developer who worked on almost all of the early versions of Quicken; he was the first VP/general manager of the Quicken business; he was Intuit’s first CTO; and then led Intuit’s payments business during an additional tour of duty at Intuit in 2010-2015. Eric retired from Intuit in 2000 to pursue a second career in technology investing, first as an angel investor and then as a General Partner at Cardinal Venture Capital. Eric has served on the boards of directors of dozens of companies and organizations, including six public companies. Eric is married and has two children, both recently graduated from college and employed. In his free time, Eric plays tennis and squash and is a piano student. He is also a helicopter pilot and flies a Robinson R66. About Quicken Quicken is the #1 personal finance software in the US. For over 30 years, customers have relied on Quicken to manage all their finances, so they can lead healthy financial lives. In 2016, Quicken, formerly part of Intuit, became an independent company. Its desktop and cloud product suite includes a family of products that cater to different financial needs and device preferences — Quicken Starter Edition, Quicken Deluxe, Quicken Premier, and Quicken Home & Business, all of which can sync with Quicken's website and mobile apps — as well as Simplifi for mobile and web. Simplifi, named the "best budgeting app" by The New York Times' Wirecutter, is designed to help a new generation of mobile-first customers easily stay on top of their finances. Over 17 million people have used a Quicken product to manage their finances. Learn more at www.quicken.com.
Ryan Zauk sits down with world-renowned former GE CEO Jeff Immelt. Fresh off the release of his book, "Hot Seat: What I Learned Leading a Great American Company," Jeff comes on to discuss his career and legacy, as well as numerous topics ranging from China/US Relations to new fintech trends. Jeff joined GE after graduating from Harvard Business School and worked there for the next 35 (with 16 as CEO). Following the iconic tenure of Jack Welch, Jeff had a rocky road as CEO, losing billions in market cap and weathering numerous crises. Jeff has received merciless criticism from academics, execs, pundits, and more over the last decade, and has finally decided to share his side of the story. Ryan & Jeff touch on it in today's episode, but we highly recommend picking up Hot Seat as your summer read: Book Links: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Hot-Seat/Jeff-Immelt/9781982114718 https://www.amazon.com/Hot-Seat-Learned-Leading-American/dp/1982114711 Episode Breakdown: 4:25 His journey to the top of GE 7:50 The one thing Jack Welch did better than anyone 10:04 Why now was the right time to publish "Hot Seat" and what he learned 13:57 His thoughts on his legacy 20:24 His first day of work...September 10, 2001 24:46 His thoughts on globalization 27:40 China / US Relations and his advice for President Biden 33:23 GE Capital 101 and Fintech Trends He's Watching 41:56 His new role as a Venture Partner at NEA 44:37 A great rapid-fire round covering his exec dream team, his thoughts on 30 Rock, best business books, and more! 50:01 Why he has a tattoo of the GE logo Jeff Immelt is a Venture Partner at New Enterprise Associates (NEA), a global venture capital and private equity firm. He is the author of HOT SEAT, a memoir of leadership in times of crisis. Prior to joining NEA in 2018, Jeff was the 9th Chairman of GE and served as CEO for 16 years. He has been named one of the “World’s Best CEOs” three times by Barron’s. During his tenure as CEO, GE was named “America’s Most Admired Company” by Fortune magazine and one of “The World’s Most Respected Companies” in polls by Barron’s and the Financial Times. He has received fifteen honorary degrees and numerous awards for business leadership and chaired the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness under the Obama administration. Jeff has a B.A. degree in applied mathematics from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. from Harvard University. He is a member of The American Academy of Arts & Sciences. -- For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
Miguel Armaza sits down with Scott Sobel, Co-founder & Managing Partner of Valor Capital Group, a cross-border venture fund focused on Brazil and United States opportunities, with offices in New York, Silicon Valley, and São Paulo. In this episode, we discuss: - Scott’s journey and why he and his father, Ambassador Clifford Sobel, decided to launch Valor focusing on the Brazilian market - Investing strategy and case studies from some of their most exciting portfolio companies - The incredible fintech opportunity in Brazil and Latin America - What’s driving their big bets in the crypto space - Lessons learned from over a decade of investing and the importance of staying with your winners - And a lot more! Scott Sobel Scott Sobel, Co-founder & Managing Partner of Valor Capital Group, was part of the founding team of the pioneer Internet Telephony company Net2Phone; Scott helped take the company from a piece of software that was first to bridge the PC and the Public Switch Telephony Network to acquiring millions of users, generating over $200M in revenue, an IPO (1999) and the strategic sale of the company to AT&T for $1.4 Billion (2000). Scott went on to hold executives positions in Symbol Technologies working with the Mobile Computing and Wireless Divisions and NCR Corporation based in Singapore responsible for Corporate Development and later the P&L for the Financial Line of Business in the Emerging Markets. Scott was fortunate to be in a position to bring his skill sets, passions, and experiences to support other entrepreneurs in the U.S. and Brazil reach their visions. Scott holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Syracuse University. Scott has primarily lived and worked in the emerging markets (China, India, and Brazil) for the past decade, who is a passionate surfer and practices Jiu Jitsu. Valor Capital Group Founded in 2011, Valor Capital Group is the pioneer cross-border venture fund focused on Brazil and United States opportunities, with offices in New York, Silicon Valley, and São Paulo. The firm partners with visionary entrepreneurs building transformative businesses from startup to scale-up. Valor is committed to the success of their portfolio companies by providing capital, operational support and connectivity to global markets. The firm operates in two investment strategies: Growth Equity and Venture Capital. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Miguel's Twitter: twitter.com/MiguelArmaza Miguel's Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp
Miguel Armaza sits down with Charlie Javice, Founder and CEO of Frank, a company that aims to make the application process for student loans faster and easier. Charlie founded the company in 2016 and has since reached almost 10 million households and raised over $25 million dollars in equity from top industry investors like Apollo, Slow Ventures, Reach Capital, and Tusk Venture Partners. She’s also a proud alum of our very own Wharton School. In this episode, we discuss: - Charlie’s background and how her family history inspired to pursue an entrepreneurial path - Her experience dealing with financial aid at the University of Pennsylvania and how it led Charlie to launch Frank - Their approach to help fix the underserved student loan market - Frank’s journey to reach almost 10 million households - Building company culture and why empathy is the most important trait she looks for in new hires - Valuable advice for entrepreneurs - What she considers her greatest achievement to date - A lot more! Charlie Javice Ms. Charlie Javice is CEO and Founder of Frank, the leading and fastest growing financial wellness platform for college students and frontline workers in the US. Frank helps students apply for FAFSA® in under 7 minutes, match students with scholarships and get exclusive discounts on college courses. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Miguel's Twitter: twitter.com/MiguelArmaza Miguel's Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp
Ryan Zauk sits down with Kendrick Nguyen, Co-Founder & CEO of Republic. In 2016, Ken co-founded Republic, a platform empowering everyday people, both accredited and not accredited, to invest in the future they believe in. Republic provides access to high-growth startups, real estate, mission-driven enterprises, crypto, video games, and more. Republic has facilitated over $300 million in investments from over one million global community members! Ryan & Kendrick Discuss: - His long journey from immigrant, to lawyer, to startup founder - How Republic works from both the investor and business side - The coming disruption of venture capital - Their onboarding of GumRoad and Backstage Capital - Value aligned investing - And a fun rapid-fire round including a hilarious first job, his thoughts on Naval, the best Vietnamese in the Bay, and more! Link: Republic.Co For more Fintech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
Miguel Armaza sits down with Kelly Fryer, Executive Director of FinTech Sandbox, a nonprofit that promotes innovation in the financial sector worldwide by providing FinTech entrepreneurs and startups with access to critical data and resources at no cost. The Fintech Sandbox accepts new startup applications on a rolling basis, so if you or someone you know is part of a fintech startup that could benefit from this critical program, make sure to apply! We discuss: - Kelly’s background and why she’s so passionate about new technologies and their applications in the financial industry - The importance of access to data and resources for early-stage startups and how the Fintech Sandbox helps democratize access to information - Their application process, program structure, and the kind of startup they typically look for - Driving Inclusive Fintech and why this is one of Kelly’s most important goals - And just a lot more! Kelly Fryer Kelly Fryer is the Executive Director of FinTech Sandbox, where she leads the organization’s strategy, operations, and community. Given her experience both partnering with major financial services companies and cultivating FinTech startups, Kelly is excited to continue to build out FinTech Sandbox’s vision. Prior to the Sandbox, Kelly was the Director of Techstars’ FinTech accelerator program - the Barclays Accelerator, powered by Techstars New York. She managed the accelerator operations and fostered the community for three years, as well as sourced, selected, and advised early-stage FinTech startups. Kelly also spent several years on Bloomberg LP’s Global Data team - managing relationships with financial data providers and banks, running the custom index business, and leading technical projects for the department. Kelly received her MBA from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, focusing on Corporate Innovation and Venture Development. About FinTech Sandbox FinTech Sandbox is a nonprofit that promotes innovation in financial technology and financial services globally by providing FinTech entrepreneurs and startups with access to critical data and resources at no cost. The company accepts new startup applications for its Data Access Program on a rolling basis, and has accepted over 230 startups into the program since launching six years ago. FinTech Sandbox also hosts Boston FinTech Week, next taking place from September 28 - October 1, 2021. For more information, please visit https://fintechsandbox.org & https://www.twitter.com/FinTechSandbox For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Miguel's Twitter: twitter.com/MiguelArmaza Miguel's Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp
In today's episode, Ally McCloskey sits down with Hussein Ahmed, Founder & CEO, and Ryan Conway, Head of Business Development & Strategic Partnerships, at Oxygen. Oxygen is a modern financial platform designed for the 21st century economy - providing digital natives, creators and entrepreneurs pushing everyday boundaries a banking partner that understands how they live and work. Oxygen offers a seamless user experience for both personal and business accounts and is available on both iOS and Android. Its users enjoy no monthly fees, early direct deposit, simple transfers, and cashback rewards on everyday purchases. Businesses can easily control their finances with integrated solutions that are elegant, simple and secure. Their motto? Reject ordinary. Banking for the Extraordinary. In this lively conversation, Ally, Hussein, and Ryan cover a wide range of topics including: -Redefining the Gig Economy beyond Uber drivers and DoorDash deliverers to include the full on-demand workforce of creators -The material difference that aesthetics and design can make in customer engagement and NPS scores -Lessons learned from their many marketing 'experiments' - from partnering with influencers to running ad campaigns on the back of muni buses -Why many neobanking startups are 'doomed to succeed' given the segment's funding and press buzz -Reflections on fundraising, particularly after their $17mm Series A -Why building a capital-intensive and reliable fintech startup that handles something as personal and critical as money doesn’t afford you the typical startup luxury of hiring hustlers to move fast and break things And so much more! Hussein Ahmed Hussein, Oxygen's Founder & CEO, is a multi-time founder originally from Egypt. After selling his first company to a PE firm, Hussein completed his PhD in Computer Science at Virginia Tech, earned his MBA at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, built and exited another SMB-focused company called Transpose, and faced the unique challenges of banking with variable income while consulting in the Bay Area. Ryan Conway As Head of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships, Ryan leads growth and partner efforts focusing on product, distribution, and revenue. He previously held roles at Mastercard in Digital Partnerships, Worldpay in Payments through the company’s IPO, BlueSnap, and completed his MBA at the Thunderbird School of Global Management. As mentioned in the episode, be sure to check out Oxygen's open roles here: https://jobs.lever.co/oxygen . -- Referenced in this episode: Dribbble: https://dribbble.com Twine: https://www.twine.net Freelancing Females: https://www.freelancingfemales.com -- As always, for more Fintech insights, please follow us below: WFT Blog: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ally's Twitter: twitter.com/AllyMcCloskey LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
Miguel Armaza sits down with the amazing Kevin Busque, Founder and CEO of Guideline, a modern 401(k) provider for small businesses. Under Kevin’s leadership, Guideline has grown to be the retirement plan of choice for more than 20,000 small businesses, amassing more than $4 billion in assets under management and raising over $140 million in equity from top industry investors like Generation Investment, Tiger Global, Greyhound, Lerer Hippeau, Amex, Propel, Felicis, NEA, and many more. Kevin founded Guideline after seven years as a Co-Founder at TaskRabbit, another massively successful business that was acquired by IKEA in 2017. We also want to extend a special thank you to professor Adam Grant for his help in making this episode a reality, where we discuss: - Kevin’s background and how his upbringing led him down the entrepreneurial journey - Launching Guideline from a house garage and some of their early-day challenges - Navigating the pandemic and why they had no idea how it would affect their business (hint, they actually doubled in size) - The surprising effect of the pandemic on US retirement savings rates, increasing from 8% to 12% - Kevin’s philosophy around culture and why he does not like to take an active role in dictating a company culture - Valuable reflections for entrepreneurs and the importance of always doing the hard things first Kevin Busque Kevin is the founder and CEO of Guideline, a modern and affordable modern and affordable 401(k) for small businesses. Under Kevin’s leadership, Guideline has grown to be the retirement plan of choice for more than 20,000 small businesses, amassing more than $4 billion in assets under management. A World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer, Fast Company named Guideline one of the World's Most Innovative Companies and Forbes named it to its Fintech 50—a ranking of the companies shaping the future of money—twice. Kevin founded Guideline after seven years at TaskRabbit, the online and mobile labor marketplace that he co-founded, which was acquired by IKEA in 2017. Kevin has been featured in Inc., the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal, and is a contributor for Entrepreneur Magazine. The son of an Army intelligence Sergeant, he grew up in several cities across North America and Europe, but considers himself a New Englander. He now lives in San Mateo, California. About Guideline Guideline launched in 2016 with a mission to create an honest, easy retirement platform that gives people confidence they'll have a retirement they can look forward to. Since its launch, Guideline has grown to support more than 20,000 small business clients, managing more than $4 billion in assets. Guideline handles the heavy lifting—from plan administration and employee onboarding, to compliance testing, government filing, and recordkeeping—to make small business owners’ jobs easier. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Miguel's Twitter: twitter.com/MiguelArmaza Miguel's Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp
Ryan Zauk sits down with fintech investor & frequent Wharton Fintech collaborator, Michael Sidgmore! Michael is a Partner at Broadhaven Ventures, part of Broadhaven Capital Partners, a leading merchant bank focused on financial services. In addition to Broadhaven, Michael runs a media platform called Alt Goes Mainstream, as well as Community x Capital with Reddit Founder Alexis Ohanian. These platforms focus on the emergence of alternative assets, 'culture assets,' investing, and the convergence of community & capital. Michael is ultra-deep in fintech, with years of experience as an investor, operator, advisor, angel, and more in this space. In today’s episode, they discuss: - The evolution of the Alts landscape over the last decade and the major trends that will drive it forward - His investment in and admiration for Republic and its CEO Ken Nguyen - The huge opportunity for wealth managers and alternative assets - The rise of the passion economy with products like sneakers, sports cards, and wine - His collaboration project with Mario Gabriele of the Generalist with Coinbase’s Direct Listing - and much more! Community X Capital: https://comxcap.transistor.fm/ Alt Goes Mainstream: https://altgoesmainstream.substack.com/ -- For more Fintech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
Miguel Armaza sits down with Anna Irrera, Chief Correspondent at Reuters in London where she covers fintech and tech-related developments at some of the world’s largest financial institutions. In her role she works on stories at the intersection of Wall Street and Silicon Valley, including crypto, blockchain, peer-to-peer lending and online investing. In this episode, we discuss: - Anna’s journey and why she began covering Fintech before it was cool and mainstream - The exponential evolution of fintech over the last 10 years and why it’s increasingly more challenging to cover the space - Her editorial process and the steps she takes when deciding to write a story - The rise of crypto and why the audience loves reading about it - Noticeable differences of shifting bank cultures - Rise of global fintech - And a lot more! Anna Irrera Anna Irrera is a Chief Correspondent at Reuters in London where she covers the financial technology sector and technology related developments at some of the world’s largest financial institutions. In her role she works on stories on topics at the intersection of Wall Street and Silicon Valley, including cryptocurrencies and their underlying technology blockchain, peer-to-peer lending and online investing. Anna was previously team leader for financial companies coverage and fintech correspondent for Reuters based in in New York. She joined Reuters in 2016 having previously covered fintech for more than three years at Financial News, a Dow Jones newspaper in London, where she played a key role in the publication’s expanded fintech coverage. She joined Dow Jones in 2012 as an online reporter for Financial News, having moved to the UK from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where she worked at Reuters’, English language international service. She holds M.S. degree (with honors) from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York and a graduate degree in law from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Miguel's Twitter: twitter.com/MiguelArmaza Miguel's Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp
Miguel Armaza sits down with Ali Tamaseb, Partner at DCVC, a VC fund that backs teams applying deep tech to transform giant industries. Ali is also a published author, having recently authored Super Founders: What Data Reveals About Billion-Dollar Startups, a book that uses a data-driven approach to understand what really differentiates billion-dollar startups from the rest—revealing that nearly everything we thought was true about them is actually false. Ali Tamaseb began this project four years ago, trying to answer a single question: what was different, if anything, between startups that go on to become billion-dollar successes and those that raise VC funding but don’t succeed in that scale? Thousands of hours later, having manually collected 30,000+ data points, he was shocked with the result. The data rejected so many popular narratives that he decided to write a book based on the findings. In the process, Ali interviewed founders of many billion-dollar companies like Zoom, Instacart, GitHub, and Nest, as well as investors like Alfred Lin, Elad Gil, and Keith Rabois. Ali learned a great deal of lessons through this interviews and their stories were full of inspiration and a reminder that there are years of unnoticed ups and downs before every “overnight success”. Small successes are great preparations for much bigger outcomes in startup land. The book is full of profound lessons and inside stories from founders of some of the most successful companies in the industry and highly recommended for those interested in the ingredients of successful startups. Ali Tamaseb Ali brings the perspective of an entrepreneur and previous startup founder, as well as a highly technical academic researcher to DCVC. Ali has walked in the shoes of many of the scientist-turned-entrepreneurs that we back and has first-hand experience with the challenges they face. At DCVC, he works on a broad spectrum of areas ranging from computational health/bio to cybersecurity. More specifically, Ali likes to identify early-stage highly technical and defensible startups in diagnostics tools, neuro-technology, precision medicine, synthetic bio and bio-logic, disruptive healthcare models, financial technologies, alternative data, next-generation computing, cryptography and blockchain. Ali received a B.Eng. in Biomedical Engineering from Imperial College London and graduated from the SIGM program at Stanford Graduate School of Business. He did research in the fields of neuroscience and human-computer interaction. Ali has 6 publications, including one book, holds a number of patents, and has won medals in national and international olympiads and innovation fairs. Ali was an honoree of the British Alumni Award, and Imperial College President’s Medal for Outstanding Achievement. Ali and his work has been featured in BBC, Guardian, Forbes, The Telegraph, and others. Ali has given talks and been on panels at major events and conferences including two TEDx talks. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Miguel's Twitter: twitter.com/MiguelArmaza Miguel's Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp
Anirudh Singh sits down with Devie Mohan, CEO and Co-Founder of Burnmark. In this episode they discuss: - Founding Burnmark - The changing relationship between fintechs, incumbents, and regulators - Devie's time teach fintech courses - Devie's first book "The Financial Services Guide to Fintech" and plans for future publications - The future of fintech and why it may disappear And more! Devie Mohan: Devie Mohan is an influential writer, speaker, and commentator on fintech, and is the co-founder and CEO of Burnmark, a fintech research company, that supplies research and data to all players of the fintech ecosystem. Devie has helped several banks, fintech startups, innovation groups, and investors understand the trends in the fintech industry, helping them set their corporate, marketing, and investment strategies. She is also a proponent of a fintech ecosystem where banks and startups collaborate to drive innovation. She is a panel member on the ING Group Think Forward initiative on better financial decision-making. She is the author of “The Financial Services Guide to Fintech” and a columnist with several publications. She is actively involved in the fintech community and has been listed in the top 10 of several global fintech influencer lists. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: twitter.com/avsingh_24
Ryan Zauk sits down with none other than Harry Hurst, Co-Founder & CEO of Pipe. Harry Hurst is a serial entrepreneur who developed a passion for technology early in life, graduating high school age 12 studying Computer Science. Harry and Pipe Co-Founder Josh Mangel built their first company Skurt, a financial technology company in the mobility space. After four years, Skurt was successfully acquired by Fair in 2018. Pipe was founded in 2019, to unlock the largest untapped asset class in the world — revenue — to empower entrepreneurs and companies to grow their business on their terms without debt or dilution. Harry has raised over $150 million for his companies and is considered an industry expert on financial technology and emerging asset classes. He is also an angel investor and mentor to a number of companies. Pipe is unlocking revenue as an asset class, allowing founders to fund their businesses without the need to raise dilutive equity capital or restrictive debt, by trading their revenue streams on a 2-sided marketplace. Pipe has been an amazing success story of the pandemic, and just raised strategic equity from an all-star cast of investors including Siemens, The Raptor Group, Marc Benioff, Michael Dell, Shopify, HubSpot, 776, Slack, Republic, Chamath Palihapitya, and more. In today’s episode, they cover: - His journey to America and the allure of the American Dream - Raising $6M from David Sacks in just 13 minutes! - How Pipe really works and his vision for becoming the NASDAQ of revenue - A Wharton Fintech-exclusive product roadmap teaser - How Pipe’s incredible round came together - Hiring during COVID and his concept of MicroHubs And much more! Harry’s Guest Article on Wharton Fintech: https://medium.com/wharton-fintech/how-pipe-is-creating-revenue-as-an-asset-class-66d273001198 Secret Leaders: https://www.secretleaders.com/episodes/from-living-on-benefits-to-the-american-dream-with-pipe-co-founder-harry-hurst -- For more Fintech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
Miguel Armaza sits down with Coen Jonker, Executive Chairman and Co-founder of Tyme, a digital banking business operating in Africa and Southeast Asia. Tyme’s flagship project is TymeBank in South Africa, which was launched in February 2019 and has since grown to over three million customers just over two years. An incredible growth! In this episode, we discuss: - Coen’s background and why he’s always been interested in the transformative potential of business for economic inclusion - Idea behind TymeBank and why Coen and his co-founders decided to launch banking solutions for the unbanked in South Africa - Decision behind launching a hybrid banking model, integrating the digital bank into retail environments - Scaling to 3 million clients in 2+ years - Stories from a tough fundraising journey and how their largest shareholder come to be a group of ordinary citizens and community groups in South Africa - International expansion to Southeast Asia - Entrepreneurial lessons for founders in emerging markets - And a lot more! Coen Jonker Coen Jonker is the Executive Chairman and Co-founder of Tyme, a digital banking business operating in Africa and Asia. Tyme’s flagship project is TymeBank in South Africa. It was launched in February 2019 and has since grown to over three million customers making TymeBank one of the fastest growing neobanks worldwide. Coen began his career with Edward Nathan Corporate Law Advisers (now ENS) in 1996 and became its CEO in 2000. In that year, he also joined the Nedcor Investment Bank executive committee. In 2005, he left legal practice to join Standard Bank as Director of Community Banking. There he led a strategy to extend banking to underserved consumers, adding digital channels and more than a million additional customers to the bank. In 2011, he moved to Deloitte as a Partner in the strategy and innovation practice. In June 2012, Tyme was spun out of Deloitte as a new venture. The business was acquired by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) in January 2015, after which Coen moved to Hong Kong to lead CBA’s digital initiatives across Asia. In 2017 he was appointed Group Executive at CBA, responsible for its international retail banking and insurance business. At the end of 2018 Coen partnered with African Rainbow Capital (ARC) to buy the Tyme business from CBA. He holds an MBA from GIBS and two law degrees with honours. He has held multiple Board positions, including eBank Namibia, Vietnam International Bank and PT Bank Commonwealth in Indonesia, which he chaired until December 2018. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Miguel's Twitter: twitter.com/MiguelArmaza Miguel's Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp
Miguel Armaza sits down with the legendary Sallie Krawcheck, Co-founder and CEO of Ellevest, an innovative digital investment platform built by women, for women, providing solutions for all stages of women's financial lives to help them invest more, save more, and earn more. Founded in 2015, Ellevest recently crossed over $1B in Assets Under Management, backed by some of the most impressive names in the industry, including PSP Partners, Khosla Ventures, Mastercard, Paypal, Allianz, Eric Schmidt, Max Levchin, and Mohamed El-Erian. Sallie is one of the highest-ranked women to have ever worked on Wall Street, is an influential writer and thinker, and without a doubt one of the most impressive people to join us on this podcast. We also want to extend a special thank you to professor Adam Grant for his help in making this episode a reality. We discuss: - Sallie’s storied career on wall street and how it felt to be publicly fired not one but two times, and the lessons she learned from these experiences - Inspiration behind Ellevest, and what she wished she knew before venturing into entrepreneurship - Overcoming cultural beliefs and other particular challenges of building an investment firm for women - The most meaningful moment from her time at Ellevest, and why it still gives her chills to think about it. - Why Sallie is concerned about the progress of gender diversity in the corporate world - Lessons for leaders and entrepreneurs and the importance of seeing problems where others don’t - And a whole lot more! Sallie Krawcheck Sallie Krawcheck is the Co-founder and CEO of Ellevest, an innovative digital investment platform designed to help women reach their financial goals. She is also Chair of Ellevate Network, a professional networking community whose mission is to advance women in business. She is one of the highest ranked women ever to have worked on Wall Street, having held posts such as CEO of Smith Barney, CEO of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, and CFO of Citigroup. She is one of the most-read “Influencers” on LinkedIn, and has been profiled as one of Fast Company’s “Most Creative People” in business, as well as in The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Forbes, and more. Krawcheck attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and holds an MBA from Columbia University. About Ellevest Ellevest is a financial company built by women, for women, providing solutions for all stages of women's financial lives to help them invest more, save more, and earn more. Ellevest's offerings include digital investing tools, banking services, discounted access to professional coaching, and learning resources, as well private wealth management for high net worth clients who want a customized financial strategy that may include investing for impact. Ellevest has built a community of 3+ million Elle Raisers working toward financial equality. To learn more, check out ellevest.com. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Miguel's Twitter: twitter.com/MiguelArmaza Miguel's Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp
SPACs, SPACs, and more SPACs. It has been a SPAC mania over the last year, catapulting a fringe financial transaction to the front page of the Journal as hundreds of SPACs went public. Ryan Zauk sits down with Lee Einbinder, CEO of FinServ Acquisition Corp 1 and 2, and former Vice Chairman at Barclays. A long-time FIG and Fintech banker at Lehman and Barclays, Lee comes on the show to help demystify SPACs, what they do, and the advantages and concerns of them. They also dig into: - FinServ Acquisition Corp 1’s announced merger with Katapult - What Fintech was like in the late 90s (including a "baby" Elon Musk & Peter Thiel) - His retort to the Upstart CEO's critique of SPACs in our episode with him - The industry trends he’s most excited about in the coming year - And a rapid-fire round with a surprising answer about what students should do after graduating school in 2021. Katapult: https://katapult.com/ D&O Insurance: https://www.thehartford.com/management-liability-insurance/d-o-liability-insurance/explained For more Fintech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
Ryan Zauk sits down with Rana Yared, Partner at Balderton Capital, one of Europe’s most storied venture capital firms. Rana is a former partner at Goldman Sachs, and helped lead the firm's principal strategic investments in the US and UK. She represented Goldman Sachs on the Boards of Tradeweb, NAV, Vestwell, New York Shipping Exchange, and Swapclear @ LCH. Rana joined Balderton as a General Partner in 2020, focusing on fintech investments. In today’s episode, they discuss: - Her long journey from Wharton to Goldman to Balderton, and a surprise stop for a masters in securities analysis (nukes and bombs, not stocks and bonds) - The secret sauce of Balderton, the Balderton Collective, and their fantastic track record - The two fintech verticals she’s most excited about - The 3 key things on her investor checklist and what is an immediate dealbreaker - Her investment in Unqork while at Goldman and Flywire while at Balderton - Why she’s so excited about Europe, Balderton’s new liquidity fund, and the massive “bridge” opportunity she sees - And a rapid-fire round including her best pastry, favorite restaurant in London, and her advice to founders. For more Fintech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
In a long-anticipated episode for her, Ally McCloskey sits down with Titan Co-CEO & Co-Founder and fellow Wharton alum, Clayton Gardner. Clay and team set out to democratize active money management by offering the proverbial 'back of the restaurant' investment menu to the masses. Said differently, Titan is an active investment management platform that unlocks world-class investment products and experiences for everyone. Since its founding in 2018, the company has graduated from Y Combinator and grown from zero to over $500M in assets under management and over 25,000 clients with essentially zero marketing budget, making them one of the fastest growing advisors on record. Titan also just raised its $12.5M Series A led by General Catalyst with participation from Ashton Kutcher’s Sound Ventures, Lee Fixel, Instagram founder Mike Krieger, Eventbrite founder Kevin Hartz, and many others. In this episode, Ally and Clay discuss: -How Clay and his co-founder Joe reunited 6 years after meeting in Wharton undergrad to democratize active investing -the investor persona Titan was built for and why active management in public equities hasn’t gone out of style -Clay’s most memorable week in markets rejecting a portfolio company’s initial acquisition tender offer -his advice to entrepreneurs on product-market fit, when to raise capital, and how to measure true customer loyalty -what he’s most excited about in the future of investing -the investor he admires most And MUCH more Clay Gardner Clay (@virtualclay) is the Co-founder and Co-CEO of Titan, an active investment management platform democratizing elite investment products and experiences for everyone. Prior to Titan, Clay was an investor at several hedge funds and investment firms including Farallon Capital Management and Cerberus Capital Management. He graduated summa cum laude from the Jerome Fisher Program in Management & Technology at the Wharton School and the School of Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania where he earned dual degrees in Economics and Computer Science. As mentioned in the episode, you can download Titan's mobile app at www.titanvest.com and get invested in just minutes. For more Fintech insights, please follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ally's Twitter: twitter.com/AllyMcCloskey LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
In today's special episode, Ryan Zauk sits down with Bill McNabb, former Chairman & CEO of Vanguard, one of the world's largest and most important financial institutions with over 7 Trillion AUM. A Wharton MBA alum, Bill joined Vanguard in 1986 and became CEO in 2008 and Chairman of the Board of Directors / Board of Trustees in 2010. He stepped down as CEO at the end of 2017 and as Chairman at the end of 2018. In "retirement," Bill serves on the boards of IBM, United Healthcare, and Axiom, as well as a new fintech company called Altruist (linked below). He also serves as chairman of EY's Independent Audit Committee. In this powerful conversation, Ryan and Bill cover a wide range of topics including: - His long journey from teaching Latin, to Wharton, to becoming Vanguard's CEO (2:50) - His most critical leadership lessons from Jack Bogle & Jack Brennan, and what crisis leaders can learn from American prisoners of war (13:20) - How Vanguard positioned itself during the great rise of Fintech and wealth management tech (18:20) - Gamestop, Robinhood, and his frustrations with his day-trading mother (23:20) - How Vanguard is positioning itself for the long term and his interest in the tokenization + ESG (30:35) - The Fintech company Altruist that he is on the board of (40:06) And so much more! Enjoy the show. -- Referenced in this episode: Altruist https://altruist.com/ Public https://Public.com -- For more Fintech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
This one-of-a-kind episode brings you inside the recent Wharton FinTech Conference for evergreen access to a raw and informative conversation between Asya Bradley, COO & Co-Founder at First Boulevard, and Amy Nauiokas, Founder and CEO of Anthemis Group and Archer Gray. Of the Conference's 30 panels and 6 fireside chats featuring 150+ speakers, this conversation was one of the standouts, so we're thrilled to share it with you here. In this special episode, Asya and Amy discuss: -how being an immigrant from South Asia and, more specifically, what the UN calls a “girl-child” ignited Asya's ambition and entrepreneurial spirit -why even now, Asya still fails KYC in the US -the explosion of niche and community-based neobanks and their tough path to profitability -how George Floyd’s murder inspired Asya and co-founder Donald Hawkins to create a legacy to break the cycle -bank deserts, zip code discrimination, and the ethics of AI -why the term “underserved” is NOT synonymous with impoverished and MUCH more! Asya Bradley is the Co-Founder & COO of First Boulevard as well as the Founder of #HowSheWorks, an inclusive grassroots community of underrepresented founders and allies that highlights the diverse paths to professional and personal success. Asya previously served as SVP of Revenue at SilaMoney, the Banking as a Service provider, and as VP of Partnerships at Socure, which uses AI and machine learning to provide a frictionless solution to ID verification in financial services. Prior to Socure, she was on the Founding Team at Synapse as the Chief Revenue Officer which develops banking APIs to help bank the unbanked of America by connecting innovative Fintech platforms to banking institutions. Asya is a champion of diversity and gender balance in the workplace and works tirelessly to promote women, minorities, LGBTQ+ and other underrepresented communities. Asya is also an angel investor, advisor and board member of numerous startups. First Boulevard is the unapologetically black, digitally native neobank building generational wealth for black America. Asya and her co-founder, Donald Hawkins, formed First Boulevard in August of 2020 under the premise that Black Americans are “massively underserved consumers” of financial products and services despite having a collective spending power of $1.4 trillion annually. The startup’s mission is to empower Black Americans “to take control of their finances, build wealth and reinvest in the Black economy” via a digitally native platform. In February of 2021, First Boulevard raised $5 million in seed funding from Barclays, Anthemis and a group of angel investors such as actress Gabrielle Union, Union Square Ventures’ John Buttrick and AutoZone CFO Jamere Jackson. Amy Nauiokas is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Anthemis, the leading digital financial services investment firm, and Founder and CEO of Archer Gray, a media production and content company. She is a visionary executive, investor, producer and a recognized leader in innovation, strategy, and management across a variety of markets and industries. As a venture capitalist, Amy identifies and invests in early stage technology companies focused on the disruption of media, financial services and marketplaces. She has built a strong investment portfolio of best-in-class, high growth companies. Current investments include Betterment, Trov, Happy Money and Currencycloud. Amy previously held senior positions at Barclays and Cantor Fitzgerald after receiving a master’s in international business from Columbia University, where she has also served as an Adjunct Professor in the business school, and her BA in International Studies from Dickinson College. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech
Anirudh Singh sits down with Ty Harris, CEO and Co-Founder of Openly. In this episode, they discuss: - Openly's origin story - Inefficiencies in the insurance market - Openly's talent acquisitions/expansion strategy and much more! Ty Harris: Ty Harris is CEO and co-founder of Openly. Openly uses technology to provide re-imagined and beautifully simple home insurance. Backed by leading VC firms and insurance industry veterans alike, Openly is growing rapidly towards its goal of being a leading national provider of personal insurance. Before founding Openly in 2017, Ty spent 12 years at Liberty Mutual, a top 5 global insurer, where he was most recently EVP and Chief Product and Underwriting Officer. Before joining Liberty Mutual, Ty worked at the Brookings Institution and taught economics and statistics at MIT and Northeastern. Ty received his AB from Duke University, studied graduate economics at MIT, and is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society. Ty lives in Charleston, SC, with his wife and two children. He’s an enthusiastic runner, snowboarder, and windsurfer. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: twitter.com/avsingh_24
Ryan Zauk sits down with TaxBit Co-Founders, Austin and Justin Woodward, in the wake of their $100M Series A! If you did a double-take at the last name - yes, these cofounders are brothers! Austin and Justin, a CPA and Lawyer respectively, are solving the massive problem of taxes and cryptocurrency. They offer a suite of products for consumers, enterprises, and governments to easily aggregate and analyze crypto balances, generate and review tax forms, recommend tax-loss harvesting strategies, and more through their API suite and software. Whether you're a platform that needs to issue 1099s, or a user that needs to report their taxes, TaxBit’s cryptocurrency tax software unifies the process. REFERRAL CODE: https://taxbit.com/invite/whartonfintech/ (discount code: whartonfintech) This $100M round included a who’s who of investing: Tiger Global, Paradigm, Coinbase Ventures, PayPal ventures, Winklevoss Capital, Bill Ackman, Qualtrics Co-Founder Ryan Smith, and more. Ryan & The Woodward Brothers Cover: - Their great founding story and the interesting ways they each got involved in crypto - Their deep bullishness on crypto, blockchain, and a tokenized economy - How TaxBit works and benefits each customer type - The difficulties of hiring and how it acts as the litmus test for success in the early stages - The good and bad of building a company with your brother - The crypto regulatory environment - New products and launches to look forward to And more! For more Fintech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
Miguel Armaza sits down with Jason Gross, Co-Founder and CEO of Petal, a new kind of credit card company that has pioneered the Cash Score – an alternative measure of creditworthiness based on income, savings and spending history – to make credit more accessible. Founded in 2016, the company has raised over 100 million equity and close to 500 million in debt from industry leaders including Valar ventures, Third Prime, Afore Capital, Story Ventures, and Jefferies. We discussed: - Jason’s non-traditional startup founder background - The story and inspiration behind Petal - Taking the company from 0 to 1 - The state of consumer credit and open banking and what has changed over the last five years since launching Petal - Why Petal has actively collaborated with the US regulator and why Jason considers this extremely important - Founder advice - And a lot more! Jason Gross Jason Gross (@jasonbgross) is the CEO and co-founder of Petal, a New York-based fintech company on a mission to make credit honest, simple, and accessible. Jason has served as a member of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Consumer Advisory Board, and as a guest lecturer on topics ranging from financial inclusion to A.I. and machine learning in financial services. Previously, Jason practiced law, representing leading technology firms and financial services companies. He holds a JD from Harvard Law School. About Petal Petal is a new kind of credit card company founded to help people financially succeed (http://www.petalcard.com). Petal utilizes the CashScore to make credit more accessible, especially for people just starting out with credit. Petal offers a simple, modern digital experience that encourages members to build credit, avoid debt, and spend responsibly. Petal is located in New York, NY, and Richmond, VA. Petal credit cards are issued by WebBank, Member FDIC. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Miguel's Twitter: twitter.com/MiguelArmaza Miguel's Substack: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp
Anirudh Singh sits down with Yan Wu, Co Founder of Bond Financial Technologies. In this episode, they discuss: - Yan's career journey - Why all brands will become fintechs - How bond rapidly adjusted to a remote environment - Bond's goal to be the premier BaaS platform and much more! Bond helps brands embed financial services products into their existing offerings, helping brands increase activation, improve retention, and therefore increase customer lifetime value. Their investors include Coatue Management, Canaan Partners, Goldman Sachs, MasterCard, as well as prominent angel investors such as Sarah Friar, Jackie Reses, Steve Freiberg, and Eric Yuan to name a few. Yan Wu Yan Wu is a Co Founder at Bond Financial Technologies, Inc., banking as a service platform that has raised over $42 million from Goldman Sachs, Mastercard, Coatue, and Canaan Partners. Bond seeks to allow any brand to embed financial products to improve their customers' experience. Previously, Yan was Head of Data at SoFi, an $8 billion consumer fintech focused on digital lending. His team of over 60 data scientists and engineers used analytics, data science, and machine learning to improve marketing, underwriting, product, and operations. Prior to fintech, Yan spent 15 years in the investment industry, most notably at BlackRock, where he was Head of Analytics and Portfolio Construction in BlackRock's $400 billion quantitative investment group. Yan earned an MBA from Wharton and a BS in Engineering from UC Berkeley. Yan is a perennial mentor at Data Science 4 All's Women's Summit. Yan was a former board member at WOMAN Inc. and a mentor at Upwardly Global. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: https://medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: https://twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsingh_24
Ryan Zauk sits down with Max Friedrich, Fintech Analyst at ARK Invest! Ryan & Max cover a great deal in today's episode, including: - ARK's 5 "Big Ideas" that they believe future historians will name as big of a disruptor as the computer or electricity (4:45) - Why Tesla was missed by many great analysts (7:25) - The power of Twitter and ARK's open-source research approach (8:30) - The boom in Digital Wallets (18:23) - His Square thesis (23:50) - Current private valuations (33:45) and much more! ARK Invest focuses solely on disruptive innovation and offers investment solutions to investors seeking long-term growth in the public markets. They offer numerous products including ARKF, their Fintech Innovation ETF that Max spends his time on. You can read more about ARK here, including some topics we weren't able to cover: ARK's website: https://ark-invest.com/ ARKF: https://ark-funds.com/fintech-etf?__hstc=84851910.be9763230a0db87d6116b034315ac1e4.1612294925805.1615993803285.1619283124294.5&__hssc=84851910.6.1619283124294&__hsfp=1895777627 ARK Liquidity Commentary: https://www.etftrends.com/ark-coo-tom-staudt-deep-dive-on-liquidity/ ARK Liquidity Commentary II: https://www.etf.com/sections/etf-industry-perspective/investing-innovation-capacity-liquidity-analysis-ark-invest ARK's Big Ideas Report: https://ark-invest.com/big-ideas-2021/ Max's Twitter: https://twitter.com/mfriedrichARK ARK's Twitter: https://twitter.com/ARKInvest -- For more Fintech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
In today's special episode, Miguel Armaza and Ryan Zauk are joined by new hosts, Ally McCloskey and Anirudh Singh, to discuss their incredible journey as hosts of the Wharton Fintech Podcast. Over the next few months, you will start to see more episodes from Ally and Anirudh, as they take the reigns of the show. During this episode, they all discuss: - Intro to our new hosts Ally and Anirudh - Lessons learned from the past year of podcasting - Miguel and Ryan's favorite episodes to date - Miguel and Ryan's plans for the future - What Ally and Anirudh are looking forward to most in the year to come - And a lot more! For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: https://medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: https://twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: https://twitter.com/RyanZauk Miguel's Twitter: https://twitter.com/MiguelArmaza Ally's Twitter: https://twitter.com/fintechery203 Anirudh's Twitter: https://twitter.com/avsingh_24
Miguel Armaza sits down with Alison Lange Engel, Venture Partner at Greycroft, a leading venture capital firm focused on investments in the Internet and mobile markets, with offices in New York City and LA. Greycroft manages over $2 billion and has made over 200 investments, including some leading fintech companies like Acorns, Venmo, Flutterwave, and Public. Alison works across the Greycroft portfolio, advising companies on go-to-market strategy, execution, and sourcing new investments. She’s also a proud MBA alum from our very own Wharton School. We discuss - Her operator background at companies like LinkedIn, Microsoft and Stripe - A deep dive into her experience as Head of Marketing at Stripe - Transitioning to the investing side - Greycroft’s story, investment thesis, and what defines their portfolio companies - Why Alison and Greycroft are bullish on the future of consumer fintech - Inside stories on fast-growing portfolio companies - And a lot more! Alison Lange Engel Alison Lange Engel is a Venture Partner at Greycroft. She works across the Greycroft portfolio, advising companies on go-to-market strategy and execution and sourcing new investments. Alison has 20+ years of experience leading, structuring, and scaling high growth businesses. She’s managed teams throughout North America, Europe, Brazil, and Asia. Prior to Greycroft, Alison was the first CMO at Stripe and worked to establish the marketing function, scaling the team 5x in one year and driving quantified growth. Prior to Stripe, Alison was a Vice President of Marketing at LinkedIn. In her 6 years at LinkedIn, she had a broad impact on LinkedIn’s advertising business strategy and execution, with overall company revenue growing from $200MM at IPO in 2011 to $5Bn+ today. Alison’s early career in technology started with the sale of Massive Incorporated, a venture-backed video game advertising business, to Microsoft in 2006. She held marketing leadership roles at Microsoft Advertising for 3 years. Prior to her career in technology, Alison was an investment banker at Goldman Sachs, focused on Media, Entertainment and Consumer sectors. Her media background includes HBO and the CBS Television Network, where she held sales and programming roles. Alison has a BA from UCLA and an MBA from The Wharton School. About Greycroft Greycroft is a seed-to-growth venture capital firm that partners with exceptional entrepreneurs to build transformative companies. The firm has deep experience in both consumer and enterprise technology, with a portfolio that spans the globe. Greycroft values building enduring relationships with founders and understands that they want more from investors than just capital. Greycroft has raised $2 billion in commitments and has over 200 active investments. The portfolio includes Acorns, Anine Bing, App Annie, Axios, Bird, BetterCloud, Braintree, Bright Health, Buddy Media, Bumble, Flutterwave, Goop, Happiest Baby, Huffington Post, Icertis, Lightricks, Maker Studios, Medly, Openpath, Scopely, SEMrush, Shipt, TheRealReal, Thrive Market, Trunk Club, Venmo, and Yeahka. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Miguel's Twitter: twitter.com/MiguelArmaza Miguel's Substack: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp
"We're in the YOLO era of fintech...it will lower CAC, but also LTV" The always entertaining and insightful Jon Zanoff joins Ryan Zauk on today's fun episode. Jon Zanoff is the Former Mayor of Fintech, founding Empire Startups, an 18,000+ person strong fintech community. Jon now runs Stella Ventures, an early-stage Fintech VC focused on the US & Canada. Jon will join the Wharton Fintech Conference on April 22-23, leading a panel called “Building a Fintech, Lessons Learned” featuring Finch, Pando, Intrinio, Public.com, and MassChallenge Fintech. The conference will include numerous industry CEOs, VCs, founders, and more. Check out the star-studded panel here! whartonfintechconference.com For more Fintech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
On today's episode, Ryan Zauk sits down with Jane Tran, Head of Solutions at Unqork, one of New York’s newest tech unicorns. Unqork is a completely visual, no-code application platform that helps enterprises build complex + custom software faster, with higher quality, and lower costs, all without a single line of code. Backed by companies like Blackrock, Goldman Sachs, and Google, Unqork is serving some of the world’s top financial institutions as well as numerous healthcare firms, governments, and more. As Head of Solutions, Jane is the youngest member of Unqork’s executive team and has helped supercharge Unqork from nascent platform to billion-dollar company. In today’s episode, they discuss: - The amazing problems Unqork solves for large enterprises - Unqork's most powerful use cases - Their amazing projects during the pandemic with NYC and Washington DC - How she thrives as a young, female exec (and beats imposter syndrome) - And much more. For more fintech insights, check us out below! WFT Conf: whartonfintechconference.com/ For more Fintech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
Miguel Armaza sits down with Tosin Eniolorunda, Founder and CEO of TeamApt, a financial software company focused on building solutions and running infrastructure for African banks, businesses and people to manage their money. In this episode, we discuss: - Tosin’s background, his journey as an entrepreneur, and why he decided to bootstrap the company for several years before raising any venture dollars. - TeamApt’s impressive growth - Building the company and how they develop the biggest non-bank, mobile money platform in the market. - The amazing Nigerian opportunity and the state of FinTech and the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Africa - And a whole lot more! About TeamApt TeamApt is a financial technology company focused on developing Digital Banking, Digital Business solutions and Payments Infrastructure by rethinking the needs of consumers, businesses and the financial industry. Beginning operations in 2015, TeamApt was borne from a desire to create financial happiness, building solutions and tools for businesses and individuals to happily manage money. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Miguel's Twitter: twitter.com/MiguelArmaza Miguel's Substack: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp
Miguel Armaza sits down with none other than Anthony Scaramucci, Managing Partner & Founder of SkyBridge, a $10 billion global alternative investments firm specializing in a wide array of investment strategies, including fund of hedge funds products, hedge fund advisory solutions, and a bitcoin-dedicated fund. Prior to SkyBridge, Mr. Scaramucci co-founded Oscar Capital Management, which he later sold to Neuberger Berman in 2001. In this entertaining episode, we discuss - Anthony’s trajectory and entrepreneurial spirit - why he decided to leave big finance to launch his own firm Founder Lessons: 1. The importance of showing up and putting all your time and energy into your business as a founder 2. Resourcefulness and flexibility, why these are some of the most important traits necessary for an entrepreneurial career - All things Bitcoin and why he’s so bullish on it and decided to launch a dedicated Bitcoin fund and strategy at SkyBridge - Reflections on his short stint at the White House as Communications Director under President Trump, and what he learned from this experience - Advice for the younger generation - And a lot more! Anthony Scaramucci Anthony Scaramucci is the Founder and Managing Partner of SkyBridge Capital. He is the author of four books: The Little Book of Hedge Funds, Goodbye Gordon Gekko, Hopping Over the Rabbit Hole (a 2016 Wall Street Journal best seller), and Trump: The Blue-Collar President. Prior to founding SkyBridge in 2005, Scaramucci co-founded investment partnership Oscar Capital Management, which was sold to Neuberger Berman, LLC in 2001. Earlier, he was a vice president in Private Wealth Management at Goldman Sachs & Co. In 2016, Scaramucci was ranked #85 in Worth Magazine’s Power 100: The 100 Most Powerful People in Global Finance. In 2011, he received Ernst & Young’s “Entrepreneur of the Year – New York” Award in the Financial Services category. Anthony is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), vice chair of the Kennedy Center Corporate Fund Board, a board member of both The Brain Tumor Foundation and Business Executives for National Security (BENS), and a Trustee of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Foundation. He was a member of the New York City Financial Services Advisory Committee from 2007 to 2012. In November 2016, he was named to President-Elect Trump’s 16-person Presidential Transition Team Executive Committee. In June 2017, he was named the Chief Strategy Officer of the EXIM Bank. He served as the White House Communications Director for a period in July 2017. Scaramucci, a native of Long Island, New York, holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Tufts University and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. About SkyBridge SkyBridge is a global alternative investment manager that provides a range of investment solutions to individuals and institutions. Addressing every type of market participant, SkyBridge's investment offerings include commingled funds of hedge funds products, customized separate account portfolios, hedge fund advisory services, and an Opportunity Zone focused non-traded REIT. The firm is headquartered in New York. For more information, visit: www.skybridge.com. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Miguel's Twitter: twitter.com/MiguelArmaza Miguel's Substack: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp
In today's episode, the ever-snarky Ron Shevlin, Director of Research at Cornerstone Advisors and frequent columnist at Forbes, sits down with Ryan Zauk. Cornerstone is a leading research platform focused on financial services, where Ron spends his days advising community banks, mid-size institutions, and credit unions on strategy, market research, technology, fintech, and more. He also writes the "Forbes Fintech Snark Tank." With community banks, credit unions, and small to medium financial institutions facing major crossroads over the coming years, advice is more crucial than ever. Thankfully, Ron comes on to talk about how they can fight back, what they can learn from The Grateful Dead (it's actually quite compelling), the current state of neobanks, and more. In today’s episode, they discuss: - How these institutions can “fight back,” especially through the lens of community and affinity - Why community banks need to "find their bullseye" - The tech problems facing these institutions - How Ron is thinking about the neobank space and how the top leaders will play out - and of course a rapid fire round. For more fintech insights, check us out below! WFT Conf: whartonfintechconference.com/ For more Fintech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
Miguel Armaza sits down with Shamir Karkal, Co-Founder and CEO of Sila, a banking and payments platform that aims to break open the Financial System and make it easy for any company to offer out-of-the-box financial services. Shamir is also a true FinTech pioneer and legend, having played a crucial part in building the infrastructure that would pave the way for online banking. In 2009, he co-founded Simple, the first digital bank of its kind in the US, and later headed the Open Platform group at BBVA. In this episode, we discuss - Shamir’s fascinating background and how in fact he comes from a long line of Indian bankers - The story behind Simple and the ups and downs they faced launching the first independent digital bank in the US and what led them to an eventual acquisition by BBVA - Launching Sila and his approach as a second time fintech founder - Why’s so excited about the future and is convinced these are the early days for the industry - Founder lessons - And a lot more! Shamir Karkal A true FinTech pioneer, Shamir Karkal played a crucial part in building the infrastructure that would pave the way for online banking. In 2009, he co-founded Simple, the first bank of its kind in the United States, and later headed the Open Platform at BBVA. Shamir was drawn to serve smaller companies, co-founding Sila in 2018 with the goal of empowering financial innovations. Shamir studied physics and computer science at Bangalore University and is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business. He lives with his family in Portland, Oregon, and enjoys jiu-jitsu, long-range target shooting, and studying history whenever possible. About Sila Sila is a banking and payment platform for software teams building the next generation of financial products & services in regulated and unregulated industries. The Sila API enables white-label ACH payment processing, money transfer, digital wallets, bank account linking, and identity verification of business and individuals. We power any web, desktop, or mobile application with built-in compliance. Sila was co-founded in 2018 in Portland, Oregon by a diverse team of fintech, legal, and financial experts. For more information visit silamoney.com. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Miguel's Twitter: twitter.com/MiguelArmaza Miguel's Substack: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp
In today's episode, Ryan Zauk sits down with Wade Arnold, Founder & CEO of moov. moov raised a $27M Series A from a16z in December 2020, following a $5M seed round led by Bain Capital Ventures. Moov provides developers with an elegant, simple platform that takes the complexity out of embedded payments and more. They take a developer-first approach of being built on open source, portable to cloud providers or on-premises, modular for customization, and decoupled from any single bank program. Wade is a self-described “engineers engineer,” a true nerd at heart who has built a number of technical products in fintech and beyond. Wade will be at the Wharton Fintech Conference on April 22 and 23, on a panel titled “Unpacking APIs and SaaS: how best-in-class fintechs are building from the ground up” alongside execs from Treasury Prime, Finix, OpenPayd, Railsbank, and QED. WFT Conf: https://whartonfintechconference.com/ Fintech Devcon: https://fintechdevcon.io/ For more Fintech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
Miguel Armaza sits down with Logan Allin, Founder and Managing General Partner at Fin VC, a Venture Capital firm focused on Enterprise SaaS FinTech companies in the US, UK and Europe, with a portfolio that includes 6 unicorns. In this episode, we discuss: - Logan’s background and the journey to becoming a Venture Capital entrepreneur - Transition from corporate VC under SoFi to a becoming a stand-alone firm - Why Fin VC focuses specifically on backing the fintech enablers that are building disruptive B2B-oriented businesses - Investing theses and portfolio company examples - Venturing internationally - His passion for chess - And a lot more! Logan Allin Founded in 2018, Fin VC is focused on Enterprise SaaS FinTech companies in the US, UK and Europe. Their portfolio currently has 21 companies globally, including 6 unicorns. Fin VC doesn’t just deliver with capital- it adds value through engaging with their portfolio companies at every stage. The team believes the acquisition of fintech stacks is the future of banks and big tech, and that through the integration of innovative fintech the US can outpace other geographies. An entrepreneur turned VC, prior to founding Fin VC, Logan was VP of SoFi Ventures and also worked at Light Street Capital, TMT investments and Formation Group, focused on early-expansion stage cross-border. Previously, Logan was a Senior VP in City National Bank’s wealth management division (now part of RBC). He also spent much of his career in leadership positions at Capgemini, EMC, and PwC. Logan earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in public policy and political science from Duke University and a M.S. in Management from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business where he was a Sloan Fellow.
Miguel Armaza sits down with Charles Moldow, General Partner at Foundation Capital, a legendary Venture Capital firm founded in 1995 that has raised nine funds, received over $3B in committed capital, has seen 28 IPOs, and over 80 acquisitions from their portfolio companies. Charles has been at Foundation since 2005, having led impressive investments like Uber, LendingClub, OnDeck and Rappi. Before Foundation, he lived the startup journey and was part of the founding team of two high-profile startups with successful exits in 97 and 2006. He is also a proud alum of our amazing Wharton School! We discuss: - Charles experience as an operator and entrepreneur through the dotcom bubble and why he eventually transitioned to the investing side - Thought process behind his investment strategy and reflections on some early mistakes as a venture capitalist - All things Fintech, including trends he’s most excited about - Foundation’s impressive track record and their secret behind this success - Why he’s particularly excited about the entrepreneurial scene in Latin America - And a lot more Charles Moldow Charles current portfolio contains fintech breakouts and emerging direct to consumer businesses. Fintech investments include StatesTitle, HealthIQ, LendingHome, Auxomoney, OneFinance, Hatch, Branch, Canopy, Agentero, Deepfraud and Decent. Direct to consumer businesses include Rappi, Rover, NextRoll and Clubhouse. Charles has seen four portfolio companies go public with Uber, LendingClub, OnDeck and Everyday Health. He has also managed nine companies through acquisition: Powerset by Microsoft, Motif by Schwab, Coverwallet by Aon, Finxera by Stonepoint Capital, Xoopit by Yahoo!, CloudOn by Dropbox, Zoomer by GrubHub, Refresh by LinkedIn and Bureau of Trade by Ebay. In 2016, CB Insights listed Charles among The Top 100 Venture Capitalists, and Forbes named Charles to the Midas List for the second time—citing among other factors his deep experience in all things marketplace lending. Charles attended the 2016 White House FinTech Summit, one year after publishing “A Trillion Dollar Market by the People, For the People,” which became the authoritative must-read on the potential of and challenges facing the marketplace lending industry. The paper has been downloaded more than 30,000 times and has frequently been cited by leading thinkers in finance and the media. Charles is an alumnus of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and the Harvard Business School. Charles moonlights as a AAA little league coach and family vacation planner. Foundation Capital Foundation Capital was founded in 1995. As an early-stage venture capital firm, Foundation has lived through the emergence of the World Wide Web, the IT war of the 90s, the dot-com bubble, Web 2.0, the mobile revolution, the Great Recession, the rise of Big Data, software’s ascension to the cloud, and the birth of blockchain. The wisdom of those experiences remains with the company, transmitted to each successive generation of partners. Two-thirds of VC firms never make it past their first fund; only 10 percent survive beyond their fourth. Foundation is 25 years and nine funds strong, with over $3B in committed capital, 28 IPOs, and 80+ acquisitions to their name. Their fintech, enterprise, and consumer investments have reinvented industries and defined new markets, with companies that include Lending Club, Sunrun, TubeMogul, Chegg, and Netflix. For a quarter of a century—through boom and bust, prosperity or calamity—Foundation Capital has endured, evolved, and thrived. Building companies is in their bones. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Miguel's Twitter: twitter.com/MiguelArmaza Miguel's Substack: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp
Miguel Armaza sits down with Carl Wazen, Co-Founder & Chief Business Officer at Yoco, South Africa’s leading payments platform for small businesses offering a convenient way to accept card payments in-person or online. Founded in 2012, the company serves over 100,000 small businesses and has received multiple rounds of investment from industry leaders like Quona, Partech, Greyhound Capital, FMO, and many more. We covered a wide range of topics, including: - Carl’s background and his entrepreneurial journey in Cape Town, South Africa as an immigrant outsider - Stories about the early days of Yoco and how they took the company from 0 to 1 - The importance of company culture in the fast moving fintech space - Navigating COVID and Yoco’s meaningful role in helping small businesses during the pandemic - The State of the fintech industry in South Africa and the rest of the continent - Entrepreneurial advice - And a lot more! About Yoco Yoco is an African technology company that builds tools and services to help small businesses get paid, run their business better, and grow. The company believes that by opening up more possibilities for entrepreneurs to be successful, they can help create more jobs, enable people to thrive and help to drive our economy forward.
On today’s episode, Ryan Zauk sits down with Lex Sokolin, CMO, Chief Economist, and Global Fintech Co-Head at ConsenSys, the world’s leading Ethereum software company. Lex also runs the Fintech Blueprint, an amazing fintech subscription newsletter. Before ConsenSys, Lex worked in strategy at Lehman Brothers before getting a JD MBA from Columbia. At Columbia he founded NestEgg, a private label robo, later selling it to AdvisorEngine, then worked in research at Autonomous Research. Lex is a fintech and technology futurist in every sense of the word, always writing at the intersection of finance, tech, law, philosophy, economics, and sociology. We are a huge fan of his work here at Wharton Fintech! Fintech Blueprint: https://lex.substack.com/ In today’s episode, Ryan & Lex discuss: - The deep meanings behind his career decision making, breaking from gold-star chasing to startups and now frontier technology - How Duchamp's "Fountain" can help people understand NFTs - How a conversation with a Deloitte exec turned him into a budding futurist - What ConsenSys is and how it works with the crypto ecosystem - His predictions for Defi and the road to mass adoption - His boredom with fintech super apps, robo advisors, and neobanks - Why Google Pay is going to kill many fintechs For more Fintech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
Miguel Armaza is joined by Doug Peterson, President and CEO of S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI), one of the largest companies in the US that specializes in providing ratings, benchmarks, analytics and data to the capital and commodity markets worldwide. Prior to S&P, Doug held multiple leadership positions at Citigroup, including roles around the world as CEO of Citi Japan, Uruguay, and Costa Rica. He is also a proud alumni of our very own, Wharton School! In this episode, we talk about: - Doug’s journey, from childhood in New Mexico, to international student in South America, to global corporate leader. - The important role that Wharton had on his career and how it sparked his love for Finance - Why S&P Global is focusing on data analytics and artificial intelligence and how it has built a fintech portfolio around these topics - The rise of Environmental, Social, and Governance factors in capital markets around the world, particularly over the last year - Leadership advice and Doug’s approach to managing an organization with tens of thousands of professionals - The important difference between visiting and actually living in a new place and why he actively pursued an international career from early on - And a whole lot more... Douglas L. Peterson Doug Peterson has served as President, Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of S&P Global since 2013. He joined the Company in 2011 as President of Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services. Mr. Peterson has repositioned S&P Global to power the global capital and commodity markets of the future with transparent, innovative and independent credit ratings, benchmarks, analytics and data. His long-term business strategy for S&P Global focuses on six key priorities essential to the Company’s ongoing growth and success: global expansion, customer orientation, technology, innovation, operational excellence and people. Previously, Mr. Peterson was the Chief Operating Officer of Citibank, N.A., Citigroup’s principal banking entity that operates in more than 100 countries. Mr. Peterson was with Citigroup for 26 years. His prior roles include CEO of Citigroup Japan, Chief Auditor of Citigroup, Country Manager for Uruguay, and earlier he served as Country Manager for Costa Rica. Mr. Peterson is a member of the Boards of Directors of Business Roundtable, the Japan Society, the National Bureau of Economic Research, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the New York Stock Exchange Board Advisory Council and the U.S.-India CEO Forum. He is co-chair of the World Economic Forum’s Stewardship Board of the Platform for Shaping the Future of Cities, Infrastructure and Urban Services. In addition, he serves on the Advisory Boards of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Systemic Resolution Advisory Committee, the US-China Business Council and the Kravis Leadership Institute, and the Boards of Trustees of Claremont McKenna College and the Paul Taylor Dance Company. Mr. Peterson received an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an undergraduate degree from Claremont McKenna College. About S&P Global S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI) is the world's foremost provider of credit ratings, benchmarks and analytics in the global capital and commodity markets, offering ESG solutions, deep data and insights on critical economic, market and business factors. We've been providing essential intelligence that unlocks opportunity, fosters growth and accelerates progress for more than 160 years. Our divisions include S&P Global Ratings, S&P Global Market Intelligence, S&P Dow Jones Indices and S&P Global Platts. For more information, visit www.spglobal.com. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Miguel's Twitter: twitter.com/MiguelArmaza Miguel's Substack: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp
In today's episode, Ryan Zauk sits down with Dave Girouard, Founder & CEO of the recently IPO’d Fintech, Upstart. Upstart is an online lending marketplace that provides personal loans using 1,600+ non-traditional variables, such as education and employment, to predict creditworthiness. If you listened to our episode the other week with Chi Chi Wu of the National Consumer Law Center, you know credit and lending is a huge issue in America (https://soundcloud.com/wft/credit-reporting-and-consumer-protection-chi-chi-wu-national-consumer-law-center) Upstart is using artificial intelligence and rigorous machine learning to attack this issue, making it not only a great company, but a wonderful mission. In today’s episode, Ryan and Dave discuss: 3:30 – What exactly is Upstart? 6:44 – The current state of credit scores and how Upstart is upending the traditional credit score 10:57 – What needed to be true for banks to trust Upstart? 13:19 - How he navigated the regulatory environment, who he hired, and what a no-action letter is 15:39 – How COVID affected his business 18:40 – Why it was time to IPO, why he questions SPACs, and why raising private money was really, really hard 21:50 – How the IPO was different from private rounds and the importance of momentum 23:00 – The toughest challenges he faced as a founder 25:15 – His decision-making framework for leaving an amazing role at Google and founding Upstart...including the long conversations he had with his wife that made him take the plunge 26:24 – A rapid-fire round including his thoughts on bitcoin, where he was when the IPO bell rang, his favorite dinner meal before a long work night, first covid vacation and more! For more Fintech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
Miguel Armaza is joined by the talented Rob Petrozzo, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at Rally, a groundbreaking platform for buying & selling equity shares in collectible assets, that aims to give every investor a 21st Century Portfolio. The company has raised close to $30 million, from top industry investors like Upfront Ventures, Anthemis, Porsche Ventures, Alexis Ohanian, and many more. We discussed: - Rob’s winding road from artist to entrepreneur - Working with his co-founders and why they bring the perfect balance of personalities - Challenges and stories from building Rally and their vision of a 21st century portfolio - Operating with collectible luxury items like cars and art pieces, and the important question of whether they get to test-drive all those incredible cars - The importance of building a community and why most people confuse community and monetization - His vision for the future of Rally - And a lot more! About Rally Rally is a platform for buying & selling equity shares in collectible assets. Together, we rally to make investing behind ideas, emotions, and communities safe, easy, and accessible. The result… A 21st Century Portfolio, for everyone.
Miguel Armaza sits down with Elle Bruno, Managing Director of the Techstars & Western Union Accelerator. Armed with 19 years of experience as a founder, startup operator, and angel investor, Elle now leads the Techstars/Western Union accelerator focused on identifying innovative and disruptive startups working on cross border and cross-currency money movement for consumers and commercial businesses. In fact, if you are an entrepreneur in this category or know someone who’d be a good candidate, be it in the US or an emerging market around the world, make sure to apply by April 7, 2021. Apply Here -> https://bit.ly/2QE16FM Company Stage -> MVP+ Categories within fintech: - Alternative Financial Services Offerings (lending, emerging market asset management, P2P lending) - Payments and Remittance - KYC, AML, Compliance - Digital ID, Fraud Detection - Settlement and Transaction Processing - Digital Banking and Neo Banks - SMB emerging market POS Elle Bruno Elle Bruno is the Managing Director of the Techstars & Western Union Accelerator. Elle has been a founder and startup operator for 19 years. In 2004 she started her first company, an eBay ancillary marketplace, and since then she has been involved in building three venture-backed startups, most notably Trunk Club. Her expertise is in consumer tech, specifically revenue and growth. Elle has been an angel investor and advisor since 2015, with a focus on investing in female-founded companies, and was an EIR in the 2020 Techstars & Western Union program. About Techstars Techstars is the worldwide network that helps entrepreneurs succeed. Techstars founders connect with other entrepreneurs, experts, mentors, alumni, investors, community leaders, and corporations to grow their companies. Techstars operates three divisions: Techstars Startup Programs, Techstars Mentorship-Driven Accelerator Programs, and Techstars Corporate Innovation Partnerships. Techstars accelerator portfolio includes more than 1,700 companies with a market cap of $20 Billion. www.techstars.com About Western Union The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) is a global leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement. Our omnichannel platform connects the digital and physical worlds and makes it possible for consumers and businesses to send and receive money and make payments with speed, ease, and reliability. As of March 31, 2019, our network included over 550,000 retail agent locations offering Western Union, Vigo or Orlandi Valuta branded services in more than 200 countries and territories, with the capability to send money to billions of accounts and mobile wallets. Additionally, westernunion.com, our fastest growing channel in 2018, is available in approximately 70 countries, plus additional territories, to move money around the world. With our global reach, Western Union moves money for better, connecting family, friends and businesses to enable financial inclusion and support economic growth. For more information, visit www.westernunion.com.
In today's episode, Ryan Zauk sits down with Charles Birnbaum, Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, one of the world’s oldest & most successful venture capital firms. Charles joins the show fresh off of Bessemer’s $3.3B raise in February across two funds. Charles is a proud Wharton alum, joining the MBA program after a long stint on Wall Street. He then was employee #10 at Foursquare before joining Bessemer. In today’s episode, they cover: - His transitions from sell-side to MBA to startups to VC, and doing “tech” way before it was a normal part of the Wharton path (2:50) - Bessemer's structure & emphasis on thesis-driven investing (8:05) - His focus on fintech infrastructure and embedded finance, how it was shaped by BVP's existing portfolio, and his underestimation of Shopify (10:48) - His missed investment in Plaid’s Series A and why it made him a better investor (13:58) - His investment in Alloy and why it's critical to find companies with 'Pull' in financial services. (15:55) - The current state of wealth management, how he thinks about segmenting the market, and the sale of United Capital (BVP portco) to Goldman Sachs (19:51) - The fundraising process, portco management, and where you can get creative in hiring (24:40) - And a Rapid fire round including his fintech hero and Wharton classmates in fintech he most admires (31:43) Referenced in the episode: - PFOF Debate with Atom Finance CEO Eric Shoykhet https://medium.com/wharton-fintech/atom-finance-founder-eric-shoykhet-building-for-the-retail-investor-and-debating-pfof-a3156bd79bc - Robinhood COO Gretchen Howard https://medium.com/wharton-fintech/robinhoods-coo-gretchen-howard-democratizing-finance-navigating-a-crisis-embracing-change-d6b293c39e8e For more Fintech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
Today, Ryan Zauk sits down with NFL Player and UPenn Professor Brandon Copeland. Formerly on the Patriots, Jets, and Titans Brandon just signed with the Atlanta Falcons this past Friday! But this episode isn't about football - Brandon is MUCH more than a football player. See below: - Penn Professor where he teaches “Life 101” every spring to educate students about the financial basics of becoming an adult. Think stocks & bonds, buying a home, credit 101, networking/brand-building, taxes, car payments, and more. - He has since made this course available to the public, where he hosts lectures and guest speakers every Tuesday, and fosters an amazing Telegram community. You can learn more and sign up for the course here: life101.io - Forbes 30 under 30 winner, motivational speaker, and noted brand consultant - Columnist at Kiplinger + CNBC and is member of CNBC’s Invest in You Wellness Council with Acorns - Serial private and public investor as well as real estate developer, having worked on 50+ homes Brandon has always been focused on what he calls “the business of me” and has made it a life mission to share his lessons with others. Ryan & Brandon discuss: - Interning at hedge funds and bulge bracket banks since high school (7:30) - What he teaches in ‘Life 101,’ how he got UPenn on board, and his unique final exam (11:50) - How you can get involved with Life 101 and what he needs you to promise before you join (22:30) - His favorite Fintech apps (25:50) - The NFL approach to financial education (29:25) - A rapid-fire round including his personal finance stack, best investments, and the best QB he ever faced (32:40) ...And so much more! For more Fintech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
Miguel Armaza sits down with Everett Cook, Co-Founder & CEO of Rho Business Banking, a NYC-based company offering banking services to SMBs, including corporate cards, payments and expenses. The company has raised close to $20 million from leading investors, including M13 Ventures, Torch Capital, Inspired Capital, Interplay Ventures, and Mike Vaughan. We talked about - Everett’s journey from hedge fund portfolio manager to startup founder - What inspired him and his co-founders to launch Rho - Why SMB banking in the US needs a refresh - Lessons learned from clients and investors over the past couple of years - And a lot more! Everett Cook - Co-Founder and CEO of Rho Everett Cook is the CEO and co-founder of Rho Business Banking. With over 10 years of experience in finance and investment management, Everett is an expert in financial structuring, macroeconomics and fintech regulations. Everett led research at two $1 billion macro funds, and has worked under leaders like Steve Cohen and Michael Bloomberg. About Rho Business Banking Rho Technologies is the NYC-based fintech behind Rho Business Banking, the only finance platform built from the ground-up to help business teams work better together. The company was founded by former Point72 and Deutsche Bank alum Everett Cook and British-Canadian serial entrepreneur Alex Wheldon. With backgrounds in both finance and operations, they understood how badly fragmented and outdated current commercial finance solutions and tools were relative to the rest of today’s enterprise software. The Rho Business Banking platform approach consists of a single solution that encompasses both collaborative finance software and commercial-grade banking, which together help businesses save time, money, and effort as they grow. Clients are all supported by its team of business bankers and capital markets professionals. Rho Business Banking offers banking, corporate cards, payments and expenses — all in one place. Rho provides finance technology on top of core banking to help businesses move, manage, and leverage money within their whole organization. Rho’s all-in-one platform consolidates banking and cash management with powerful financial tools like global payments, built-in expense management, and A/P, alongside its leading corporate card program. Rho clients are served by dedicated business bankers and introduced to growth options by our capital markets team.
In today's episode, Ryan Zauk sits down with Jodan Ledford, CEO of Smart USA. Smart is a retirement tech provider and one of the largest global recordkeepers with strategic investors J.P. Morgan, Legal & General, Barclays, the Link Group, and Natixis, today launched in the US. Smart’s enters the US with over 70,000 retirement plans already on its platform -- on par with the US’ second-largest recordkeeper. It is entering the US market in response to the SECURE act. Smart’s recordkeeping and retirement income solutions are purpose-built for the Pooled Employer Plans and the facilitation of lifetime income in retirement plans the SECURE Act Allows. Smart has established its US headquarters in Nashville, a growing Fintech hub, and is primed to help US plan advisors, employers, and participants further close our retirement coverage gap In this episode, Jodan and Ryan cover a number of topics, including: - Why he chose Nashville to locate Smart - The history of US retirement, including pensions, ERISA, The Secure Act, and 401ks - How people can utilize Smart to standup plans in <1 hour! - PEPs and the Secure Act 101 - The good and bad of current retirement regulations, what needs to change, and some interesting incentive alignments - And a rapid-fire round including the best places to eat in Miami! (23:40) For more Fintech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
Miguel Armaza is joined by the one and only, Marcelo Claure, CEO of SoftBank Group International, and all-around fascinating business leader and entrepreneur. Born and raised in La Paz, Bolivia, Marcelo immigrated to the US for college and later founded Brightstar, a company he built into a global category leader and also became the largest Hispanic-owned business in US history. Most recently, Marcelo, alongside Softbank Chairman & CEO Masayoshi Son, oversees the strategic direction of Softbank along with a vast portfolio of operating companies and investments, including SoftBank’s $5B dollar Latin America Fund. As a fellow Bolivian, Miguel Armaza has been a longtime admirer of Marcelo so this was a particularly exciting interview where they discussed: - Marcelo’s background from entrepreneur to global business and fintech leader - Challenges of building a company without much access to funding - The story behind building the Softbank Latin America fund and why there’s no doubt this is the golden era of entrepreneurship in the region - His take on the state of the fintech industry and why several of their portfolio companies have a strong fintech component - The importance of backing diverse and minority entrepreneurs and what Marcelo and the Softbank team are doing about it - Valuable entrepreneurial advice for founders - And a lot more valuable information! About SoftBank Group The SoftBank Group invests in breakthrough technology to improve the quality of life for people around the world. The SoftBank Group is comprised of SoftBank Group Corp. (TOKYO: 9984), an investment holding company that includes stakes in telecommunications, internet services, AI, smart robotics, IoT and clean energy technology providers; the SoftBank Vision Funds, which are investing up to US$100 billion to help extraordinary entrepreneurs transform industries and shape new ones; the SoftBank Latin America Fund, the largest venture fund in that region, and the SB Opportunity Fund, a US$100 million fund dedicated to investing in enterprises founded by entrepreneurs of color in the U.S. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Miguel's Twitter: twitter.com/MiguelArmaza Miguel's Substack: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp
Miguel Armaza is joined by the very interesting Gretchen Howard, Chief Operating Officer at Robinhood, one of the most defining fintech companies of 2021, best known for aiming to democratize investing for everyone and popularizing commission-free trades. Founded in 2013 by Vlad Tenev and Baiju Bhat, Robinhood has grown to one of my most recognizable household fintech brands over the last few months with more than 13 million clients. However, the company’s journey has not always been easy and without criticism. In this great episode, Gretchen and I explore: - Career trajectory, and what drove her to leave a senior role at CapitalG (Google) and join Robinhood in 2019 - What inspires her about the company and some of their exciting plans for the future - Gretchen’s first-hand account navigating the GameStop debacle in late January 2021 and, more importantly, some of the lessons learned from this experience and why Gretchen, Vlad, and the Robinhood team are now advocating for real-time trade settlement to improve the market. - As well as a number of other interesting topics Gretchen Howard Gretchen Howard is the Chief Operating Officer of Robinhood, a fast-growing brokerage giving millions of people access to our financial system. Before joining Robinhood, Gretchen was a Partner with CapitalG, Alphabet’s Growth Equity fund. While at Google, Gretchen was the co-site lead of the Google San Francisco office and a Managing Director in Sales & Business Operations, where she helped incubate, launch and scale Google's advertising offerings for SMB and large advertisers. Prior to joining Google in 2006, Gretchen was VP of Market Development and Field Sales for Fidelity Investments. She started her career working in consulting, helping companies implement new technology strategies. Gretchen holds a B.A. from Williams College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. She spends her free time serving as a Trustee of Williams College, serving on the board of the YMCA of Northern California, and spending time outside with her family. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Miguel's Twitter: twitter.com/MiguelArmaza Miguel's Substack: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp
Miguel Armaza is joined by Richard Sarkis, serial entrepreneur, Executive Chair, and Co-Founder of Reonomy, a commercial real estate data and analytics platform. Since inception in 2013, the company has raised over $130 million in equity from leading industry investors like Georgian Partners, Softbank, Citi Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, Fintech Collective, and many more... Rich is also a proud graduate of our very own Wharton School In this episode, we discuss: - His journey as a repeat entrepreneur - Exciting stories and challenges of building Reonomy from the ground up - His views on company culture why it is extremely important - Transitioning from CEO to Executive Chairman and what this entails - State of the US commercial real estate market and the impact of COVID - Valuable founder advice and takeaways after almost two decades of entrepreneurship - And a whole lot more! Soundcloud: Spotify: Apple: Full interview --> Spotify | Soundcloud | Apple Richard Sarkis Richard Sarkis is Executive Chair and co-founder of Reonomy, a commercial real estate data and analytics platform. Since the company’s founding in 2013, Sarkis has been instrumental in raising $128 million in venture capital and led Reonomy through a successful web-platform launch in New York City, as well as the launch of a second nationwide platform in 2017. About Reonomy Reonomy leverages big data, partnerships and machine learning to connect the fragmented, disparate world of commercial real estate. By providing unparalleled access to property intelligence, Reonomy products empower individuals, teams, and companies to unlock insights and discover new opportunities.
Former podcast host, Daniel McAuley, is joined by former podcast guest, Andy Rachleff — Co-Founder & CEO of Wealthfront, the only company that integrates banking and investing to automate your savings. We discuss: - Andy’s storied and career as both an investor and entrepreneur - His experience coming out of retirement to found Wealthfront - The ride of day trading app such as Robinhood - Whether payment for order flow is good for retail investors - The current crypto bull run - Market bubbles and what investors can do in today’s environment - Self-Driving Money™ and Wealthfront’s future Andy Rachleff Andy is Wealthfront’s co-founder and CEO. He serves as a member of the board of trustees and chairman of the endowment investment committee for University of Pennsylvania and as a member of the faculty at Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he teaches courses on technology entrepreneurship. Prior to Wealthfront, Andy co-founded and was general partner of Benchmark Capital, where he was responsible for investing in a number of successful companies including Equinix, Juniper Networks, and Opsware. He also spent ten years as a general partner with Merrill, Pickard, Anderson & Eyre (MPAE). Andy earned his BS from University of Pennsylvania and his MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business. About Wealthfront Wealthfront is the only company that integrates banking and investing to automate your savings. They provide all of the financial services you need like high-interest checking that offers an ATM/debit card, low-cost investment portfolios managed for you, one-click loans and free advice and planning tools all through a five-star rated mobile app. The company recently began implementing the first of its Self-Driving Money™ services to automate your savings plan so you don’t need to worry about monitoring accounts and moving money around. To learn more please visit wealthfront.com or download the app on the App Store or Google Play.
In today's episode, Ryan Zauk sits down with Eric Shoykhet, Founder & CEO of Atom Finance. Atom Finance is the fastest-growing investment research & portfolio management platform, backed by the likes of Greycroft, General Catalyst, and FlatIron’s Zach Weinberg. Think of it as the "Bloomberg Terminal" for the retail investor and prosumer. Their DAU has grown over 300% since the pandemic. While working on Wall Street, Eric identified the massive information gap between enterprise platforms like CapIQ, and what was available to retail investors. Atom Finance was founded in 2018 to close this gap, empowering any investor with the tools typically reserved for Wall Street professionals. Eric and Ryan discuss: 3:13 - His journey from Wharton to one of the top groups on Wall Street, to investing, to starting his own venture 6:55 - Atom Finance and its key features to equip retail investors with better information 10:40 - How Eric thinks about building products for the many different types of investors 12:50 - Their "freemium" model 14:30 - The start of a 10-minute discussion on Robinhood, the dark side of PFOF, retail trader psychology, and its implications for his users 25:08 - His thoughts on Public.com's tipping model 27:00 - A rapid, rapid-fire question round For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
Happy International Women's Day! In today's episode, Ryan Zauk sits down with Chi Chi Wu, Attorney at The National Consumer Law Center. Since 1969, the nonprofit National Consumer Law Center has used its expertise in consumer law and energy policy to work for consumer justice and economic security for low-income and other disadvantaged people in the U.S. Chi Chi is a Harvard Law Grad who fights for consumer protections in Massachusetts, Washington DC, and around the country, with a focus on credit reporting, credit bureaus, and medical debt. In today’s episode, Chi Chi and Ryan discuss: - The Fair Credit Reporting Act's strengths and weaknesses - The Big 3 Credit Bureaus...what’s broken, and how we can fix it - Pros and cons of the new alternative data boom - COVID's devastating effects on individual credit - Her hopes for the new CFPB and administration and much more! For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
In today's episode of the Wharton Fintech Podcast, Anchit Gupta (WG'21) is joined by Lindsay Holden, Co-Founder & CEO of Long Game. Long Game is a gamified personal finance app for Millenials that encourages saving through fun rewards and cash prizes. Before starting Long Game, Lindsay Holden co-founded the Applicant Auction, the primary auction for Top Level domain names, which held over $500M in auctions before being acquired. Before that, she helped launch Formation 8, a venture capital firm with over $1B under management. Ms. Holden holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and an MBA from the University of Colorado, Boulder. In this interview, Lindsay shares: - Her motivation behind launching Long Game - The many financial planning problems faced by Americans & how Long Game is working to solve these issues - Their typical customers and how Long Game can help them - The toughest parts of being a founder and launching Long Game - The future product pipeline for the company and much more! For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
Miguel Armaza is joined by two great guests, Brooks Gibbins and Gareth Jones - Managing Partners and Co-Founders of Fintech Collective, a global early-stage venture capital firm focused on technology startups with the potential to reimagine financial services. We discuss: - Their entrepreneurial background and why they eventually decided to switch from operators to investors - Challenges of launching a Fintech focused fund in 2012 - Their decision to invest beyond the US and why they are excited about fintech in Latin America and other emerging markets - Why they are particularly proud of their weekly newsletter - Their investment strategy and what gets them excited to invest in a startup - And a nice story of how they helped our very own Wharton Fintech Club just as we were getting started almost seven years ago Brooks Gibbins Brooks is a co-founder and Managing Partner of FinTech Collective. Prior to becoming a venture capitalist, Brooks had a successful career as an entrepreneur and global operating executive in capital markets, payments, and enterprise tech. He was a key executive and officer at New York-based Multex, which successfully IPO’d and exited to Reuters; London-based Serverside, which successfully exited to Gemalto; and Oslo-based FAST, which successfully exited to Microsoft for over $1b. Brooks began his career as an enterprise software developer. Brooks completed Harvard Business School’s program for Management Development and graduated from Williams College with distinction. Gareth Jones Gareth is co-founder and Managing Partner of FinTech Collective. Prior to becoming a venture capitalist, Gareth was a successful entrepreneur and business leader, who helped build and sell three category-leading fintech companies. These included Multex, which IPO’d and then successfully sold to Reuters; Serverside, which successfully sold to Gemalto, a European digital security company; and CardLab, which was successfully acquired by Blackhawk Networks, a global leader in prepaid gift, reward and incentive technologies and solutions. Prior to starting his career in fintech, Gareth spent three years ‘double handing’ a 36ft sailing boat 33,000 nautical miles from the UK to the Antarctic circle. Gareth has completed Columbia Business School’s Senior Executive Program and graduated from the University of the West of England with a BSc. Honours Degree. About Fintech Collective FinTech Collective is a global early-stage venture capital firm focused on technology startups with the potential to reimagine financial services. The firm, founded in 2012, has deep experience investing across capital markets, wealth management, banking, lending, payments, insurance, and crypto/blockchain. The managing partners of FinTech Collective met in their mid 20’s and then helped build, scale and sell four fintech businesses generating over $1.5 billion of shareholder value. Backed primarily by institutional investors and a small handful of tier-one financial institutions from around the world, FinTech Collective has invested in 43 portfolio companies and is currently investing out of its third fund, a $150m+ early-stage fund. Some notable investments include Anyfin (Stockholm), Axoni (NYC), Flutterwave (Africa), IMMO Capital (London), Minka (Latin America), MoneyLion (NYC), NYDIG (NYC), Ocrolus (NYC), Quovo (NYC, acquired by Plaid) and Vestwell (NYC).
“If Robinhood exists to democratize markets, Commonstock exists to democratize information.” Ryan Zauk sits down with Commonstock Founder & CEO David Mcdonough to learn how Commonstock is creating a community that amplifies insights from top investors, backed by the performance and portfolio of their linked brokerage accounts. Community members can link their existing brokerage accounts and share their real-time portfolio, performance, and trades (by percent only - $ amount is never shared), while sharing detailed investment theses, industry takedowns, and more. The idea has attracted investors such as Social Capital, Floodgate, and WFT favorite Frank Rotman of QED. The community has exploded over the past year, with professional investors writing highly detailed memos and users heavily engaged. They discuss: - His authentic journey to founding Commonstock and why he was the 'Rudy of Private Equity' - The amazing Commonstock community, its network effects, and growth - The Robinhood and Gamestop fiasco and how learning Robinhood’s business was like seeing the green binary codes in the matrix - Plus a rapid-fire round with some of his amazing stock successes (and some misses caused by paper hands) Check out Commonstock here: https://beta.commonstock.com/login For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
Miguel Armaza is joined by the fascinating Milind Mehere, serial entrepreneur, and Founder/CEO of YieldStreet, a digital wealth management platform that aims to transform the investing landscape by enabling individual investors to invest in classes such as Real Estate, Marine Finance, Art Finance, Legal Finance, and Commercial loans. The company has raised over $180M in equity and debt from top VCs including Edison Partners, Greycroft, and Raine Ventures. They discuss: - His successful entrepreneurial journey and the path to Yieldstreet as a second-time founder - Company Culture - Challenges of building an investing platform and disrupting an industry traditionally reserved for the wealthy - Leveraging regulatory opportunities for a new asset class - The incredible impact of COVID on the business - And a lot more! Milind Mehere Milind Mehere is an award-winning entrepreneur with a track record of building large scalable businesses and creating new product categories. He is the founder and CEO of YieldStreet, a digital wealth management platform changing the way financial products are delivered and how wealth is created. Previously, Milind co-founded and scaled Yodlee (an ad-tech platform for SMBs) to $200M+ in revenue and 1,400 employees - the company was acquired by Web.com for $342M in 2016. About Yieldstreet YieldStreet is striving to become the world’s largest digital wealth management platform to change the way wealth is created. YieldStreet is accomplishing this by transforming the investing landscape, opening up access to investments for individual investors across a range of asset classes such as Real Estate, Marine Finance, Art Finance, Legal Finance and Commercial loans. Headquartered in New York City with offices in Brazil, Argentina and Greece, the company is backed with $178M in equity and debt funding from firms including Edison Partners, Greycroft and Raine Ventures. Join the movement at www.yieldstreet.com.
Aquiline’s Vincenzo La Ruffa - Driving Value Creation in Financial Services Miguel Armaza sits down with Vincenzo La Ruffa, President of Aquiline Capital Partners and head of their financial technology group. Aquiline was founded in 2005 and is a private investment firm based focused on businesses across the financial services sector with almost $6B in assets under management. Vincenzo is also a proud alum of our amazing Wharton and Penn school. We talked about - Vincenzo’s career path - Fintech trends and exciting opportunities - Their approach to partnering with entrepreneurs - Stories and case studies from some of their exciting portfolio companies - Challenges as an investor during COVID - Identifying Fintech opportunities in a fast moving and fast changing market - Private Equity as a career - And why he still loves reading physical books! Vincenzo La Ruffa Vincenzo is president of Aquiline. Vincenzo also heads the financial technology and services group and serves on the investment committees for the AFS, ATG and ACO fund families. Prior to joining Aquiline in 2014, Vincenzo was managing director of Susquehanna Growth Equity, a group he co-founded, where he invested in financial technology, healthcare IT and software companies across the US, Europe and Israel. Vincenzo currently serves on the boards of portfolio companies Ascensus and HedgeServ. He previously was on the boards of Simply Business (sold to Travelers), Togetherwork (sold to GI Partners), Fenergo (realized in 2018 recapitalization) and BISAM (sold to FactSet); his prior investments include The Logic Group (sold to Barclays), 29West (sold to Informatica) and Managed Markets Insight and Technology (sold to Welsh Carson). Vincenzo serves as a trustee of the Collegium Institute on Catholic Thought and Culture at the University of Pennsylvania, Delbarton School, the Montfort Academy, the National Catholic Bioethics Center, and the Regina Angelorum Academy. About Aquiline Capital Partners LLC Aquiline Capital Partners, founded in 2005, is a private investment firm based in New York and London investing in businesses across the financial services sector in financial technology, insurance, investment management, business services, credit and healthcare. The firm has $5.6 billion in assets under management as of September 30, 2020. For more information about Aquiline, its investment professionals, and its portfolio companies, please visit aquiline.com.
In our latest episode of the Wharton Fintech podcast, Anchit Gupta (WG'21) is joined by Phil Edmundson, CEO & Founder of Corvus Insurance. Founded in 2017, Corvus is a leading provider of smart commercial insurance products powered by AI-driven risk data. Corvus finished 2020 at a $100M annual premium run rate, capping off a year that was marked by meteoric growth for the company. In addition to Corvus, Phil is also the Managing Partner of Edmus Ventures where he invests in InsurTech companies including Verifly/Thimble, Wellthie, Agentero, Cover Wallet, Openly, and CoPatient. In this interview, Phil shares: - The state of the cyber-insurance industry - Corvus's core products and services - Using AI/ML to improve risk management tools - The biggest challenges facing cybersecurity - COVIDs impact on cybersecurity and insurance - Emerging trends in the insurtech industry For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
Worlds collide today as the two gold-standards of fintech content come together on the Wharton Fintech Podcast. Ryan Zauk sits down with Simon Taylor, Co-Founder and Head of Ventures at 11:FS, a challenger consultancy and emerging fintech empire. They help the world’s top founders build financial services products, conduct highly customized market research, bring PMs behind the scenes of various fintech applications, and of course have their own media arm. In today’s episode, Simon and Ryan dive into: 7:00 - His journey through fintech and how 11:FS is building the industry's top challenger consultancy 12:00 - The current state of the crypto market and if it has finally 'crossed the chasm’ 17:00 - The power of stablecoins and interest-bearing accounts (BlockFi, Celsius, etc) 22:54 - NFTs, sports memorabilia, and NBA top shot 28:10 - Their thoughts on Clubhouse 31:40 - And a very fun rapid-fire round including his favorite follows on Twitter For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
Miguel Armaza is joined by Michael Seibel and Dalton Caldwell, Managing Directors and Group Partners at Y Combinator (YC). YC is one of the most successful startup accelerators and venture capital funds, and since March 2005 has helped over 5,000 startup founders build and launch companies like Stripe, AirBnB, DoorDash, Dropbox, Reddit, and the list goes on and on… This was a fascinating conversation and Michael and Dalton talked about lessons learned from their years of experience with YC, what they look for in a founding team, and why they are so passionate about helping entrepreneurs. We also touched on their decision to expand beyond the US to back entrepreneurs from all over the world, and the fascinating network effects this has created. Dalton and Michael also shared lessons learned from working with over 200 Fintech companies, including Brex, Stripe, and Coinbase. And some of the Fintech trends they are excited about. Finally, we could not end this conversation without talking about the state of diversity in the industry and hearing what Michael has to say about it Plus a lot more golden nuggets of information! Michael Seibel Michael Seibel is the Managing Director, Early Stage and Group Partner at YC. He was the cofounder and CEO Justin.tv and Socialcam. Socialcam sold to Autodesk in 2012 and under the leadership of Emmett Shear, Justin.tv became Twitch.tv and sold to Amazon in 2014. Before getting into startups, he spent a year as the finance director for a US Senate campaign and in 2005, Michael graduated from Yale University with a BA in political science. Dalton Caldwell Dalton Caldwell is the Managing Director, Architect and Group Partner at YC. He was the cofounder and CEO of imeem (acquired by MySpace in 2009), and the cofounder and CEO of App.net. He has a BS in Symbolic Systems and a BA in Psychology from Stanford University. About Y Combinator Y Combinator is a startup fund based in Mountain View, CA. In 2005, Y Combinator developed a new model of startup funding. Twice a year they invest a small amount of money in a large number of startups. The startups move to Silicon Valley for 3 months, and the YC partners work closely with each company to get them into the best possible shape and refine their pitch to investors. Each batch culminates in Demo Day, when the startups present their companies to a carefully selected audience of investors. Y Combinator has invested in over 3,000 companies including Airbnb, Dropbox, Stripe, Reddit, Instacart, Docker and Gusto. The combined valuation of YC companies is over $300B. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Miguel's Twitter: twitter.com/MiguelArmaza Miguel's Substack: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp
Miguel Armaza sits down with Manuel Silva, General Partner at Mouro Capital, a venture capital fund with $400m assets under management, looking to back the most innovative fintech innovators and startups across North America, Latin America, and Europe. We talked about: - Manuel’s career path and what led him to venture capital - History of Mouro Capital and why they recently decided to spin out of Santander Bank - Mouro’s investment strategy - Investing in global fintech – regions and markets where they see the biggest opportunities (hint: Latin America) - Navigating COVID - and a lot more! About Mouro Capital Mouro Capital is a venture capital firm with $400M assets under management that targets early to growth fintech investment opportunities across Europe, North America and Latin America.
Miguel Armaza sits down with Dan Rosen, Partner and Founder of Commerce Ventures, a sector-focused VC fund, investing in infrastructure and enablers for the Commerce Continuum Dan is also an alum of our very own, Wharton School. We talked about - Dan’s background and why he decided to build Commerce Ventures - The evolution of the fintech industry over the last 20 years - Commerce Ventures investment process - Their approach to building sector theses - The importance of talent, diversity, and mentoring future generations - And a lot more! About Dan Rosen Dan Rosen Partner Dan has been investing in tech startups for 20 years. He founded Commerce Ventures with the vision of creating a sector-focused firm that demonstrably helps its portfolio companies. At Commerce, Dan focuses on technology innovations in the payments, financial services and insurance fields. He serves on the boards of Blooom, ClickSWITCH, Kin and Socure, and participates as an observer on several other portfolio boards, such as BillGO and MX Technologies. Prior to starting Commerce Ventures, Dan was a Principal at Highland Capital Partners, where he focused on mobile and payments-related startups. He has also worked as an Associate at HarbourVest Partners, in Corporate Development at RSA Security, and as a financial services software consultant for American Management Systems (now CGI Group). Dan studied Finance and Information Systems at the University of Pennsylvania and earned an MBA with Distinction from Harvard.
Ryan Zauk sits down with one of the crypto world's most popular figures, Mike Dudas. Mike navigated a long career spanning Disney, Google, Venmo, and Circle before founding The Block, one of the world's premier research and news sources for all things crypto and blockchain. Mike recently stepped back into a Chairman role at The Block, moving to Paxos as their VP of Stable Coin Business Development. The Block: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/ On today's episode, Mike and Ryan discuss: - The Venmo / CashApp battle of the last few years (6:45) - When Mike first learned about Bitcoin and realized its massive potential (10:50) - The new wave of DeFi and how this technology will disrupt incumbents (14:04) - The Block and why its model will be the business model of the future (17:00) - How he went about deciding to build The Block with no journalism experience (22:05) - His passionate, outspoken support for Andrew Yang for Mayor of NYC (24:30) - And a great rapid-fire round (28:30) For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
Miguel Armaza sits down with the talented and energetic Alexa von Tobel, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Inspired Capital, a $200M early-stage venture capital firm based in New York City, focused on backing founders with transformative ideas, brilliant teams, and relentless determination. The firm was founded by Alexa and Penny Pritzker, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce. Prior to Inspired Capital, Alexa founded LearnVest with the goal of helping people make progress on their money and later sold the company to Northwestern Mutual for $375M. We talked about - Alexa’s background & entrepreneurial journey - Why she dropped out of Harvard Business school to build LearnVest - What it really means to be the CEO of a large company and why she decided to sell her business - The reason why she loves hosting her own podcast, The Founders Project, and what led her to write two books - Working with President Obama - The importance of having a supportive spouse - And a whole lot more! Alexa von Tobel Alexa is the co-founder and managing partner of Inspired Capital. Prior to Inspired Capital, she founded LearnVest in 2008 with the goal of helping people make progress on their money. After raising nearly $75 million in venture capital, LearnVest was acquired by Northwestern Mutual in May 2015 in one of the biggest fintech acquisitions of the decade. Following the acquisition, von Tobel joined the management team of Northwestern Mutual as the company’s first-ever Chief Digital Officer. She later assumed the role of Chief Innovation Officer through which she oversaw Northwestern Mutual’s venture arm. Alexa, who holds a Certified Financial Planner™ designation, is the New York Times-Bestselling Author of Financially Fearless and Financially Forward. She is also the host of The Founders Project with Alexa von Tobel, a weekly podcast with Inc. that highlights top entrepreneurs. Alexa is a member of the 2016 Class of Henry Crown Fellows and an inaugural member of President Obama’s Ambassadors for Global Entrepreneurship. She has been honored with numerous recognitions including: a Forbes Magazine cover story, Fortune’s 40 Under 40, Fortune's Most Powerful Women, Inc. Magazine's 30 Under 30, and World Economic Forum's Young Global Leader. Originally from Florida, Alexa attended Harvard College and Harvard Business School before settling in New York City where she currently resides with her husband, Cliff, and three children, Toby, Cashel, and Rosey. About Inspired Capital Inspired Capital is a $200M early-stage venture capital firm based in New York City. Inspired backs founders with transformative ideas, brilliant teams, and relentless determination. The firm was founded by Alexa von Tobel, who previously founded LearnVest, and Penny Pritzker, founder and chairman of PSP Partners who served as U.S. Secretary of Commerce. By leveraging deep experience across consumer and enterprise technology, the firm invests in tech-advantaged, capital efficient businesses, striving to help them become category-defining companies. For more information, visit www.inspiredcapital.com.
This episode comes from the LendIt Fintech Latam 2020 conference. It features Miguel Armaza’s conversation with Pierpaolo Barbieri, Founder & CEO of Ualá, one of the fastest-growing fintechs in Latin America. We discuss: - Digitization of cash and the incredible progress of mobile wallets in Latin America. - The role of the regulator and why some governments are starting to embrace the fintech industry. - Fueling e-Commerce – how fintech companies are bringing millions of new users to transact online. - Open Banking and the future of fintech in Latam. - And a lot more... About Ualá Ualá is a fintech company whose mission is to bring Latin American financial services into the 21st century. Through an app and an international Mastercard, it offers an innovative and integrated experience. It also brings the unbanked into the financial system by offering cheaper and more convenient services than any other alternative. It was founded by the Argentine entrepreneur Pierpaolo Barbieri and launched in October 2017 in Argentina and in September 2020 in Mexico. With more than 2 million cards issued, it is available throughout Argentina for anyone above 13 and Mexico for anyone above 18, both for Android and iOS.
Welcome to a very special Valentine’s Day episode of the Wharton FinTech Podcast! Today, Ryan Zauk sits down with the always-entertaining NYT Bestseller and Oprah collaborator, Neale Godfrey, to discuss Love and Money. Neale and Ryan dive into: 3:20 - The disasters that can arise from delaying that money conversation until marriage 7:30 - Strategies and tips for having the conversation 9:30 - How to split your finances in single and dual-income couples without building resentment 18:00 - A lot about prenups 27:40 - How to file taxes if one person is an entrepreneur At the end, Ryan shares a few fintech apps tackling this problem as well as the Top 10 Couples Money Tips from Fintech Today's Julie Verhage-Greenberg, who crowdsourced her best nuggets of advice from the FTT community. Links: Deeper breakdown in Ryan's Medium Article: medium.com/wharton-fintech Neale's Previous Episode on Fighting For Financial Literacy: https://tinyurl.com/2uvr47je Mentioned Prenup WSJ Article: https://tinyurl.com/y49nv9zc -- WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/whartonfintech/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/whartonfintech/
Miguel Armaza sits down with the fascinating Ben Narasin, Venture Partner at New Enterprise Associates (NEA), a global venture capital firm focused on helping entrepreneurs build transformational businesses across multiple stages, sectors, and geographies. Founded in 1977, NEA has received nearly $24 billion in cumulative committed capital since day one. Ben is not only a prolific investor but also a celebrated founder who launched fashionmall.com in 1993 and took the company public six years later. We talked about - Ben’s journey and entrepreneurial ambitions - A deep dive into his experience taking FashionMall public via IPO and the challenges it entails - The transition from entrepreneur to investor - The elements he looks for in every founder and how COVID has influenced his investment process - And plenty of stories and anecdotes from his exciting journey! Ben Narasin Ben Narasin is a Venture Partner at NEA. A prolific entrepreneur and highly regarded early-stage investor with three decades of company-building expertise, Narasin has focused on emerging technologies and new markets throughout his investment career. With a portfolio comprising key early successes in some of today’s fastest-growing sectors, such as fintech, digital marketplaces, mobile and connected devices. His overarching focus in seeking new investments is, in his words, “to find founders who make me say wow.” Narasin is a 25-year entrepreneur and 10-year early-stage investor. His knack for spotting emerging trends led him to make seed investments in companies like Dropcam, Lending Club, TellApart, Kabbage and Zenefits. Before NEA, Narasin most recently served as a General Partner at Canvas Ventures, and was previously with TriplePoint Capital, where he oversaw the firm’s seed funding investment activities. Like many of NEA’s partners, Narasin’s path to investing is rooted in entrepreneurship. He founded several consumer companies before launching his investing career, including Fashionmall.com, one of the first e-commerce companies, which he founded in 1993 and led to a successful IPO in 1999. Narasin frequently writes and speaks about technology and investing, as well as food and wine, a lifelong passion. He holds a B.A. in Entrepreneurial Studies from Babson College. About NEA New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA) is a global venture capital firm focused on helping entrepreneurs build transformational businesses across multiple stages, sectors and geographies. With nearly $24 billion in cumulative committed capital since the firm's founding in 1977, NEA invests in technology and healthcare companies at all stages in a company's lifecycle, from seed stage through IPO. The firm's long track record of successful investing includes more than 230 portfolio company IPOs and more than 390 mergers and acquisitions. www.nea.com.
On today’s episode, WFT covers one of the two certainties of life…and no, we’re not talking about taxes. Ryan Zauk is joined by Dan Garrett, Founder & CEO of Farewill, the UK fintech radically changing the way we deal with death (from the financial side, of course). You might be asking, what does death have to do with fintech? Well, 1 Trillion Pounds of assets will be transferred intergenerationally in the next decade in the UK alone. And wills are the primary method of transfer. Farewill is the first company offering a friendly, simple, D2C website to set up wills, probates, funerals measures, and more for a fraction of the cost of your local lawyer. Farewill has become the largest will-writer in the UK while maintaining an astounding NPS of 85. Last year, Farewill raised 20 million pounds from a top list of investors including Highland Europe, the CEOs of Transferwise and Headspace, and former Wharton FinTech guests Tim Levene of Augmentum Fintech and Michael Sidgmore of Broadhaven. In this fun episode, Dan and Ryan discuss: - Dan’s inspiring mission to change the way we handle death - The funniest things he’s seen in a will...it involves a Karen (Starts at about 13:30) - Farewill’s core products and why they have been so successful - Marketing a product nobody wants to think about (with the help of rugby legend Gareth Thomas) - Why ‘death tech’ was so ripe for disruption thanks to private equity and a lack of innovation - And the absolutely stunning canary in a coalmine he saw at the start of COVID. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
In today's episode, Ryan Zauk sits down with Erin (Welter) Lyons, W'01, Head of US Investment Grade Credit at CreditSights. Creditsights is one of the top credit research firms in the world serving the world’s top institutions, family offices, and more while producing over 300 research reports a month. Erin and Ryan discuss: - Her journey from Wharton, to Wall Street's top institutions, to landing at CreditSights - What she saw during the COVID crisis, especially March 15 - April 15, how her team tackled the problem, and how the outcomes really surprised her - The incredible power (and transparency) of the Fed's "Bazooka" COVID response, and how it saved the markets - The massive search for yield occurring in the fixed income market - Her approach to analyzing credit products - Her outlook on the coming year for markets, including potential implications of a Biden administration - The reasons they were just bought by Fitch and their own investment in Singapore Fintech "Alphastream" - "Throwing Toast" at Penn and more! For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
In today’s episode, co-hosts Ryan Zauk and Miguel Armaza sit down with tech’s most beloved politician, Mayor Francis Suarez of Miami. For those not familiar, in 2020 numerous prominent VCs and founders began a great migration to Miami. On Twitter, Founders Fund's Delian Asparouhov tweeted "What if we moved Silicon Valley to Miami?" Mayor Suarez then tweeted 4 now famous words - "How Can I Help?" And the rest is history. Ryan, Miguel, and Mayor Suarez discuss the past, present, and future of Miami, his big ideas for crypto, Softbank's $100M commitment to Miami, how he's been investing in tech long before 2020, and much more. Ryan and Miguel left the episode convinced - Miami is not having a moment, it’s starting a movement. Vamos! For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
Miguel Armaza sits down with Brian Requarth, a seasoned entrepreneur who in 2009 launched the Brazilian real estate marketplace, Viva Real, successfully grew the business over the following decade, and sold it in 2020 for over half a billion dollars. His recently-published book Viva the Entrepreneur is a fascinating modern guide designed to inspire and inform current and aspiring Latin American entrepreneurs. However, the book is just as applicable to founders from Silicon Valley to rest of the globe. Humble and often funny, Brian’s reflections of his own journey help humanize the perception and mystique behind successful tech entrepreneurs. The book is unequivocally straightforward and Brian is not afraid to celebrate his successes. But perhaps more importantly, he is also willing to reflect on his mistakes. In fact, one of the biggest takeaways from Viva the Entrepreneur is that successful founders use mistakes as learning opportunities and grow from these experiences. Perhaps my favorite aspect of the book is that Brian lays out incredibly important lessons for entrepreneurs, but he doesn’t just teach you the theory, he also illustrates every lesson with countless examples from his own experience. From balancing your personal life, managing your relationship with your co-founders, recruiting a team, building and scaling a product, fundraising and dealing with investors and board members, and even the importance of taking care of your mental and physical health. Finally, Mr. Requarth is putting his money where his mouth is. Because he sees tremendous opportunity in Latin America, Brian recently co-founded Latitud, an accelerator to help Latin America's top thinkers and doers build the next generation of world-class tech companies. If you are even remotely interested in entrepreneurship, I encourage you to take a look at Brian’s book - Viva the Entrepreneur. You can also catch Brian on his own show, Latitud Podcast, where he sits down with the biggest innovators and tech founders in Latin America.
Miguel Armaza sits down with James Paris, CEO of Avant, one of the pioneer in online lending dedicated to providing banking solutions for the US middle. Since 2012, Avant has served over 1.5 million customers with over $6.5 billion in loans and 400,000 credit cards. The company has also raised over $600 million of equity capital from General Atlantic, JP Morgan, Peter Thiel, Ribbit Capital, DFJ, Tiger Global, QED, August Capital, and many more! We talked about: - James’ background as a traditional investment banker - The story behind Avant - Their decision to spin out Amount, a SaaS business - His thoughts on the evolution of the fintech lending and underwriting space - Talent and company culture - Why you should always be nice to your interns and junior employees - And a whole lot more! About Avant Avant is dedicated to building premier digital banking solutions for the middle class through a combination of technology, analytics and superior customer service. Since 2012, Avant has connected over 1.5 million customers to $6.5 billion in loans and to 400,000 credit cards. A high growth financial technology company, Avant has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, TechCrunch, Fortune, Bloomberg, and has raised over $600 million of equity capital. Visit www.avant.com for more information.
Miguel Armaza sits down with Ben Savage and Adriana Saman, from Clocktower Technology Ventures, a fintech-focused venture capital fund that’s also the technology investing affiliate of Clocktower Group, a global macro investment firm. Ben is a fintech entrepreneur turned investor with an MBA from Stanford University and Adriana got her Bachelors from our very own University of Pennsylvania. We discussed: - Their backgrounds and what led them to Venture Capital - Clocktower’s investment strategy and approach - Their decision to focus on fintech and why they are excited about the reinvention of financial services - Why they have invested beyond the United States, with a particular emphasis on Latin America - Navigating COVID - Their outlook for the road ahead of the industry - And a lot more! Ben Savage Ben manages Clocktower Technology Ventures and is responsible for all of Clocktower Group’s private market activities. Ben was previously Director, Investment Associate Program for Bridgewater Associates, where he worked with the firm’s CIOs on strategic priorities, talent development and research. Ben began his career as a VC and private equity investor with Wasserstein Perella. Ben also co-founded Artivest fka Resonance Funds, an online issuer of actively-managed exchange traded vehicles, as well as Waterfall Mobile. Ben holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BA in philosophy from Yale University. Ben lives in Bel Air with his wife and two young children. Adriana Saman Adriana focuses on deal sourcing, diligence, and execution. Prior to Clocktower, Adriana was a Strategy Associate in Chase’s Digital Payments team where she worked closely with all consumer-related payment products to develop consolidated roadmaps, business cases, and strategic initiatives. Before joining Digital Payments, she worked at J.P. Morgan as an Investment Banking Analyst focusing on M&A transactions across Latin America. Adriana is originally from Ecuador and holds a BA in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania. About Clocktower We partner with phenomenal entrepreneurs who have the vision and drive to reinvent financial services, investing from the earliest seeds of startup life to businesses scaling for growth. We support leading companies across all sectors of financial services, including lending, credit & banking, payments, insurance, capital markets & investments, personal finance, enterprise financial stack and real estate finance. Our distinctive approach to fintech venture capital is crafted around a curated network of global macroeconomic thinkers and investors. Launched in 2015, Clocktower Technology Ventures is the technology investing affiliate of Clocktower Group, a global macro investment firm. CTV is based in Santa Monica, CA and invests worldwide.
Ryan Zauk sits down with NYU Stern's Dr. Sabrina Howell to discuss her most recent paper titled 'Which lenders had the highest minority share among their PPP loans?' Though the answer may not surprise you, the data, methodology, reasoning, and implications might. In the wake of the PPP, there was a lot of scrutiny into who was getting (and not getting) access to crucial government aid. Gatekept by financial institutions, from Wells Fargo to fintechs, small businesses were at the mercy of institutions. So it begged the question, who did these institutions choose to allocate their money to? And did the data differ across institution types and loan applicants? If so, why? Professor Howell, her colleagues, and a consortium of partners set out to dig into the data, with a focus on who was lending to minority-owned businesses. In today’s episode, Ryan and Dr. Howell discuss: 4:40 Her previous research in ICOs and the ‘joke’ ICO she saw that hit $15M in market cap (it's even stranger than Doge Coin) 8:07 The basics of the PPP and the abstract of her paper 11:21 Why Fintechs were able to more effectively lend to minority-owned businesses, and why this giant lending gap existed 15:50 What data they used to triangulate the race of business owners 17:48 How the PPP can be a turning point for Fintechs to build relationships with small businesses 21:10 What the government, fintech, and small business should take away from the PPP 25:00 Her two key recommendations for the ‘next PPP’ 28:07 What’s taught in her NYU fintech class The Paper: http://nebula.wsimg.com/c26ae478f12bf4a15666ac250c259240?AccessKeyId=1EB5B81197329425B7C4&disposition=0&alloworigin=1 For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
Miguel Armaza sits down with Jackie Reses, former Head of Square Capital, current Chairman of the Economic Development Council of the Federal Reserve of San Francisco, board member of Affirm and Wish (Context Logic), and all-around business and fintech leader. Some of her past roles also include Chief Development Officer at Yahoo and Board member of Alibaba. She’s also a proud alum of our very own Wharton School. We talked about - Jackie’s upbringing and professional background - Why she describes Wharton and the University of Pennsylvania as a place that saved her life - The meaningful lessons she learned while working at Goldman Sachs, Apex Partners, and Yahoo - Key reflections from her experience as an Alibaba board-member and what we can all learn from Chinese entrepreneurs - What drove her decision to join Square and why she fell in love with its culture - The incredibly impactful experience of the Square Capital team navigating COVID and the complex dynamics of launching a PPP product in record-time - Her outlook of the road ahead and what’s next for Jackie - And a whole lot more! Jackie Reses Ms. Reses is the CEO of Post House Capital and Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. She previously led Square Capital, part of Square Inc., where she built the business and transformed the ability of small businesses in the US to access credit. She was also the Executive Chairman of Square Financial Services, an approved FDIC-insured bank owned by Square Inc. and the first industrial bank in the US started by a technology company. Prior to Square, Jackie was the Chief Development Officer for Yahoo and the head of the US media group at Apax Partners, one of the largest global private equity firms. Jackie also spent seven years at Goldman Sachs in mergers and acquisitions and the principal investment area. Jackie is a member of the Board of Advisors of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and serves on the Advisory Board of Wharton's Stevens Center for Innovation in Finance, its fintech center, which is chaired by Mr. Stevens. Jackie also serves on the boards of Affirm and Wish (Context Logic). Jackie received a bachelor's degree in economics with honors from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Miguel Armaza sits down with Sam Bobley, Co-Founder and CEO of Ocrolus, an infrastructure company that transforms documents into data analytics with incredible accuracy designed to help financial services companies make high quality decisions at unprecedented speed. Sam started building Ocrolus in his parent’s kitchen when he was only 22 and seven years later, the company employs nearly 1,000 people globally and has raised close to $50 million in equity from top VC funds, including Stage 2 Capital, QED, Fintech Collective, Oak HC/FT, and Bullpen Capital. We talked about: - Company origins - Sam’s entrepreneurial journey - Strategies on building and hiring the initial team - Finding product-market fit and how he decided to shift and expand his client base - The fast-changing and fast-moving fintech ecosystem - Entrepreneurial advice - And a whole lot more Sam Bobley Sam started building Ocrolus in his parent’s kitchen when he was 22-years-old. Six years later, the company employs nearly 1,000 people globally, spread across four offices. As Ocrolus matured, Sam authored a patent application and helped raise more than $30 million in venture capital. He was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 in Finance, Class of 2020. About Ocrolus Ocrolus is a human-in-the-loop infrastructure company that transforms documents into data analytics with over 99% accuracy. Ocrolus technology is designed to help financial services companies make high quality decisions with trusted data and unprecedented speed. Inc. Magazine recognized Ocrolus as the #1 fastest-growing fintech nationwide, and the #1 fastest-growing software company in NY. Visit ocrolus.com to learn more.
Miguel Armaza sits down with Samir Chaibi, investor at Insignia Ventures Partners, a Southeast Asian growth and venture investing fund with over $350 million in assets under management, where he specifically focuses in backing fintech startups. Prior to Insignia, Samir spent many years working around the world and got his MBA at our Wharton School. We discussed: - Samir’s background and his path to venture capital - Company history for Insignia Ventures Partners, their investment thesis, and a bit about the portfolio companies - The evolution and current state of the fintech ecosystem in Southeast Asia - The surprising parallels between fintech in Latin America and Southeast Asia - His outlook of the regional future of the industry - And a lot more! Samir Chaibi Samir Chaibi is a Principal at Insignia Venture Partners (IVP), a Southeast Asia-focused growth and venture investing fund with US $350M+ in AuM. Prior to IVP, Samir was a venture investor at STRIVE, a Tokyo headquartered VC fund deploying capital into seed rounds across Japan, Southeast Asia, and India. Samir started his career in investment banking with Lazard (France) and Citigroup (UK) before transitioning to private equity and joining the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), a US $400bn+ sovereign wealth fund. Samir also co-founded DocEx Legal, a legal technology startup, leveraging an experienced team of lawyers based in South Asia to solve the legal talent gap across the Middle East. Samir graduated from a three-year dual-degree MBA/MPA program at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government with a focus on entrepreneurship, finance, and technology policy. About Insignia Ventures Partners Insignia Ventures Partners is an early-stage technology venture capital firm focusing on Southeast Asia since 2017, managing capital from premier institutional investors including sovereign wealth funds, foundations, university endowments and renowned family offices from Asia, Europe and North America.
Miguel Armaza sits down with Eyal Shinar, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Fundbox, a company focused on disrupting the $21 trillion B2B commerce market by launching the world’s first B2B payments and credit network. Since its inception in 2013, Fundbox has raised more than $300 million dollars from leading investors like Khosla Ventures, General Catalyst, Spark Growth Capital, and Jeff Bezos. We talked about - Company origins - Customer acquisition and distribution strategies - Entrepreneurial challenges - Reflections around the PPP loan program in the US and the company’s incredibly meaningful role at the height of COVID to disburse and fund these loans to small businesses. - His thoughts on the key and strategic roles of fintech and tech during the pandemic - Lessons for entrepreneurs - And a whole lot more! Eyal Shinar Eyal Shinar is the Executive Chairman & Co-Founder of Fundbox. Prior to his current role he served as a vice president at Battery Ventures where he led many projects and investments in the areas of finance, machine learning and software as a service. Additionally, Shinar was one of the first employees of Old Lane, a $5.5 billion New York-based global hedge fund (later acquired by Citigroup), and also worked for Castle Harlan, a leading $6 billion NYC-based buyout firm. Shinar earned his MBA from The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. About Fundbox Fundbox is a leading financial technology company focused on disrupting the $21 trillion B2B commerce market by launching the world’s first B2B payments and credit network. With heavy investments in machine learning and the ability to innovatively analyze transactional data, Fundbox is reimagining B2B payments and credit products in new category-defining ways. Fundbox has received numerous accolades for innovation including the prestigious Forbes A.I. 50, Red Herring North American 100, Forbes Fintech 50, CB Insights Fintech 250, Benzinga 2019 Fintech Listmakers, Forbes Billion Dollar Startup To Watch among others. Since the company’s founding in 2013, Fundbox has raised more than $300 million from a blue-chip group of investors led by Khosla Ventures, General Catalyst, Spark Growth Capital, and Jeff Bezos.
What happens after you hit “buy” on that $300 order of Shopify stock (worth over $1,100 as of the day of the episode)? Fractional trading has become one of the hottest product features in Fintech, democratizing access to expensive shares (AMZN, BRK-A, CMG, etc.) to everyday investors. In addition, they allow more precise and comfortable investing and budgeting, as people can designate a notional dollar amount toward a purchase. But how exactly do you buy .3 of a share? Enter Apex Clearing, a PEAK6 company, one of the most innovative and digital-first clearing and custody platforms in the world. Apex powers the fractional capabilities of many companies you may use today, including Stash, M1 Finance, broker-dealers, major banks, and RIAs. They also powered Robinhood up until recently. In today’s episode, Ryan Zauk sits down with Apex’s Chief Product Officer, Dustin Kirkland, to learn about: - Dustin’s unusual path to FinTech (2:00) - What Apex does (8:00) - What is clearing & custody (9:00) - Clearing & Market Making (11:00) - The nuts & bolts of Fractional Trading (15:00) - Crypto trading and how it will disrupt equities (20:18) - And a rapid-fire round including the best Austin BBQ and some shared love for the Grateful Dead For more insights and analysis from FinTech leaders, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/whartonfintech/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/whartonfintech/ Apex Clearing is a custody and clearing engine that’s powering the future of digital wealth management. Our proprietary enterprise-grade technology delivers speed, efficiency and flexibility to firms ranging from innovative start-ups to blue-chip brands focused on transformation to capture a new generation of investors. We help our clients provide the seamless digital experiences today’s consumers expect with the throughput and scalability needed by fast-growing, high-volume financial services businesses. Founded in 2012, Apex Clearing is registered with the SEC, a member of FINRA and a Participant in SIPC.
Miguel Armaza interviews Kathleen Utecht, Managing Partner at Core Innovation Capital, a venture capital firm, with offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco, investing in high-growth financial technology companies that can unlock upward mobility for everyday Americans. Kat holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Babson College and an MBA from The Wharton School. We talked about: - Kat’s journey, from family upbringing, schooling, all the way to how she ended up in VC - Why she continues to be excited about Fintech, even after investing in the sector for over a decade - What’s changed in the industry over the past few years - Core’s investment and valuation approach and how they work with portfolio companies to prepare them from seed, to series A, and beyond - Her vision for Core’s future - And a lot more! Kat Utecht Kat Utecht is co-managing partner of Core Innovation Capital, an early stage venture capital fund making mercenary returns through missionary investments in financial services and insurance technology. Portfolio companies include HealthSherpa, Bestow, Ripple and Synapse. Prior to investing with Core and at Comcast Ventures, Kat was CEO of Green Rock Entertainment, a commerce company acquired by private equity in 2009. Kat began her career in financial services, both as an investment banker and a graduate of General Electric Capital's Financial Management Program. Kat has an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a BS from Babson College. About Core Innovation Capital Core Innovation Capital is an an early stage venture capital fund making mercenary returns through missionary investments in financial services and insurance technology. Core invests across three themes: 1. Modernizing financial and insurance infrastructure, 2. Expanding access to better financial services and insurance, and 3. Creating wealth through fintech adjacencies that help increase a household or SMB GDP. We optimize our portfolio by focusing on high conviction, early-stage investments with the flexibility to participate in unique opportunities across the venture lifecycle. Our main value add is our contacts - regulatory (e.g. state insurance regulators, CFPB), people flow (internal database for hiring), commercial contracts (e.g. insurers / reinsurers; lenders / debt capital, SaaS customers) - and to bounce ideas off of since we are so focused. Investments include Ripple, NerdWallet, and Oportun, among many others. For more information, visit www.corevc.com.
Miguel Armaza sits down with Laura González-Estéfani, Founder and CEO of The Venture City, a global accelerator and venture capital fund of emerging ecosystems specialized in growth with the mission to help entrepreneurs from all over the world. Prior to Venture City, Laura spent many years at Facebook, eBay, Siemens, and Ogilvy Group. We talked about - Laura’s career in big tech - Her decision to leave Facebook and launch the Venture City - The challenges of building a fund and why she believes she leads the most diverse VC in the industry - Her decision to base the company in Miami (before the Miami twitter crazy of 2020, I should add) - Her investing and portfolio management approach - What excites her about investing in fintech around the world - And much much more! Laura González-Estéfani Laura spent nearly nine years with Facebook in various roles supporting overall growth strategies. Laura led the Growth, Mobile & Partnerships team for Latin America, spearheading the Internet.org and connectivity initiatives from Silicon Valley and later Miami. Before Facebook, Laura held management roles at eBay, Siemens and Ogilvy Group.
Miguel Armaza sits down with Dan Henry, CEO of Green Dot (NYSE: GDOT), a 20-year-old company focused on making modern banking and money movement accessible for everyone. Green Dot also recently launched Go2Bank a digital bank for Americans living paycheck to paycheck. Green Dot is far from being Dan’s first rodeo. In fact, this is the third publicly listed company he’s led in the last three decades. He previously served as CEO of Netspend, a leading provider of prepaid debit cards, and led the company through its IPO and eventual sale to TSYS Corporation. Prior to Netspend, he co-founded Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ: EEFT), a leader in secure electronic financial transaction processing, where he served as President and COO from 1994 through 2006. We talked about: - Dan’s entrepreneurial and international fintech journey since the early 90s - What motivates him and why entrepreneurs are his favorite type of folks - Two fundamental things he believes make a business successful - The evolution of fintech - Why he came out of retirement to lead GreenDot - What led him to launch Go2Bank in January 2021 and a bit about their Go2Market strategy - Reflections for aspiring founders - And a whole lot more! Dan Henry Dan Henry joined Green Dot as CEO in early 2020 with a vision to maximize the potential of the 20-year-old digital bank and make modern, affordable banking and payments accessible to everyone. He previously served as CEO of Netspend, a leading provider of prepaid debit cards for personal and commercial use, from 2008 to 2014. In 2010, Mr. Henry led Netspend through its initial public offering, and in July 2013 completed an all-cash sale of the company to TSYS Corporation, valued at $1.4 billion USD. Prior to Netspend, Mr. Henry co-founded Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ: EEFT), a leader in secure electronic financial transaction processing, where he served as President and Chief Operations Officer from 1994 through 2006, and remained on the company’s Board until 2008. Mr. Henry has been Chairman of Paysign Inc (NASDAQ: PAYS), a vertically integrated provider of innovative prepaid card programs, digital banking and processing services for corporate, consumer and government application, since 2018. He also served as a director of The Brink’s Company (NYSE:BCO) from 2017 through early 2020. About Green Dot Green Dot (NYSE: GDOT) is a financial technology and registered bank holding company focused on making modern banking and money movement accessible for all. Our proprietary technology enables faster, more efficient electronic payments and money management, powering intuitive and seamless ways for people to spend, send, control and save their money. Through our retail and direct bank, we offer a suite of financial products to consumers and businesses including debit, prepaid, checking, credit and payroll cards, as well as robust money processing services, tax refunds, cash deposits and disbursements. GO2bank is FDIC-insured, so your money is protected up to the maximum allowable limit. And GO2bank is a brand of Green Dot Corporation, founded in 1999 and headquartered in Pasadena, CA. Green Dot has served more than 33 million consumers directly over the last 20 years and many more through our banking partners.
What do you think of when you hear “stock trading”? For most of us in 2020, we thought of YOLO Calls, Tesla Bulls, Robinhood, Wall Street Bets, and Day Trading. Going back to earlier days, you might think of men in suits on the phone, scrambling to buy & sell stocks. The culture of the market needs to change. Enter Public.Com, the stock investing app with a social, community-based focus making stock trading approachable (and free) for everyday people. On today’s episode, Ryan Zauk sits down with Co-Founder Leif Abraham to learn how Public is changing the culture of the market through approachability, community, in-app features, and celebrities like Tony Hawk and Adrian Grenier (netting 40% female users, an industry-high). Public has taken social media and FinTech by storm, and just raised $65M in a Series C backed by A list celebrities (Chainsmokers, Tony Hawk) and VCs (Accel, Greycroft) who are also prominent users of the platform. Lief and Ryan cover a ton in this episode, including - What FinTech marketers get wrong (and how they can fix it) - How Public has focused on building its app to reach 40% female users in a male-dominated market - A flurry of marketing tips and frameworks around K-Factor, Retention, Content Marketing, and more - Tangible advice on how to build a culture that democratizes and scales decision making ...And much more This is one of our most information-dense episodes to date – Leif does not disappoint. For more insights and analysis from FinTech leaders, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/whartonfintech/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/whartonfintech/
Miguel Armaza sits down with Andrew Lerner, Managing Partner of IA Capital Group, a New York-based private investment firm and manager of the Inter-Atlantic funds, that’s dedicated to partnering with innovative entrepreneurs in venture and growth capital across InsurTech and FinTech. Andy has been at the company since 1995 and is responsible for the day-to-day activities of IA Capital, and is a member of its investment committee. He holds a Bachelors in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Princeton University and an MBA from our amazing Wharton School We talked about - Andy’s background - What drove him to fintech VC in the mid-1990s - His take on the evolution of the fintech industry - The advantages of being in an industry with meaningful tail winds - Why he’s excited about InsurTech for the foreseeable future - Importance of Financial Empowerment, along with diversity and inclusion - Why he prefers backing young entrepreneurs and thinks experience is overrated - The effects of COVID on their portfolio - And much, much more! Andrew Lerner Andrew Lerner is Managing Partner of IA Capital Group, where he has been employed since 1995. Mr. Lerner is responsible for the day-to-day activities of IA Capital, and is a member of its investment committee. In 2000, he launched IA Capital's venture capital business which is now the firm’s core activity. Mr. Lerner was also President and Managing Director of Guggenheim Securities, LLC, IA Capital's former broker-dealer business, until 2003. Mr. Lerner is a Director of Homeowners of America, SMArtX, Crown Global Insurance Group, Credit Sesame, Wellthie, Boost, SmartAsset, Gainfully, and Matic. Mr. Lerner has over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to joining IA Capital, he served as an investment banker in the Financial Institutions Group of Smith Barney Inc. for four years and in its Mortgage and Asset Finance Group for two years. Mr. Lerner holds a B.S.E. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Princeton University and an M.B.A. in Finance from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He serves as a director of Transportation Alternatives. About IA Capital Group IA Capital is the longest-tenured independent venture capital firm focusing on insurtech. Based in New York City, IA Capital has a two-decade track record of successfully partnering with innovative early and growth stage companies in insurance and—more broadly—financial services. IA is currently investing in its sixth, seventh, and eighth venture capital funds and manages strategic venture capital programs for 15 insurers. Learn more at iacapgroup.com.
Miguel Armaza sits down with Dave Unsworth and Kerri Golden from Information Venture Partners, a Canadian Venture Capital firm that primarily invests in early-stage North American B2B FinTech and enterprise software. We talk about: - Dave and Kerri’s transition from operators to investors - IVP’s relationship with the Royal Bank of Canada - Fundraising from institutional LPs - The duo’s strategy to invest in the next generation of leaders - The importance of engineering a culture early on - Interesting fintech trends - The role of a CFO at a Venture Capital firm - And a lot more! Dave Unsworth Dave Unsworth co-founded Information Venture Partners in 2014. Dave has led investments in eSentire (exited, 2017), Verafin, Sensibill, Igloo Software (exited, 2017), Viigo (acquired by BlackBerry), Coconut Software, BigID, Knowtions and LendingFront. Dave is focused on FinTech and Enterprise software and is particularly interested in cybersecurity, mobile, enterprise 2.0 and ventures that create highly valuable data assets by being at the center of large-scale financial transactions. Prior to founding Information Venture Partners Dave worked as an investor with RBC Venture Partners from 2001. Prior to his career in venture capital, Dave had a successful career in operating roles focused on e-commerce strategy development, technology-enabled financial services product development, technology project management and retail/commercial financial services. Dave is an active member in the start-up community in Toronto and Waterloo as a mentor to early-stage CEOs and founding teams. Dave also serves as a mentor in the Kaufmann Fellows program and more recently with the Holt FinTech Accelerator and as an investment committee member for the Investment Accelerator Fund. Dave has been a frequent contributor to Private Capital Magazine. Dave is an original member and past Chair of the Financial Services Venture Capital Alliance. Dave was granted an MBA from Queen’s University, a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics from Wilfrid Laurier University. He is also a graduate of the NVCA’s Venture Capital Institute and the Rotman SME Board Effectiveness Program. Kerri Golden Kerri Golden joined Information Venture Partners at inception in 2014 and works with the investment team to help select and support the fund’s investee companies and manage the financial operations of the fund. She has over 30 years of general management and finance experience in a variety of technology industries and she’s been active in securing financings of over $1 billion in equity and debt and in negotiations of a number of merger and acquisition transactions. Kerri was a General Partner of Primaxis Technology Ventures for eight years where she led and managed several investments in early-stage companies in the IT, software and communications sectors and also served as CFO of the fund. Kerri had a successful corporate career with high growth technology companies. She was a mobile pioneer at Rogers Wireless, joining prior to service launch and experiencing start-up challenges and opportunities as company grew from zero to $200M in revenue during her 2.5 year tenure. She was a public company CFO at Alliance Atlantis Communications and Lorus Therapeutics and ended her successful 7-year career at Bell Mobility as CEO, Paging Division after progressive leadership positions in Finance and IT. Kerri is an experienced start-up executive. She co-owns a small business Urban Flats Toronto and served as COO at SeaWell Networks and CFO at Infobright. She serves the start-up community as an active mentor at MaRS, where she co-founded the JOLT Fund and continues to serve as a volunteer general partner. Kerri obtained an HBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario and earned her CA designation while working with KPMG in Toronto.
Miguel Armaza sits down with Noah Kerner, CEO of Acorns, a mobile savings and investment platform that has raised hundreds of millions of dollars from PayPal, Bain Capital Ventures, DST Global, NBC, Comcast, Greycroft as well as a long list of Hollywood celebrities including The Rock and Jennifer Lopez. Originally from New York City’s East Village, Noah is a 4-time entrepreneur who at one point DJ'ed for Jennifer Lopez, built a creative agency in his 20s, and is also a Co-Founder of the shareholder rights fintech startup Say. We discuss: - Noah’s eclectic background - Why he only pursues projects that make him come alive - His journey at Acorns and the evolution and challenges over the years - Their approach to building company culture, defining corporate values, and recruiting talent - The surprising effects of COVID on their business - Entrepreneurial advice - And a whole lot more! Noah Kerner Born in New York City’s east village, Noah Kerner is the CEO of the micro-investing app Acorns and co-founder of the shareholder rights startup Say. His background is colorful: 4X entrepreneur, Co-author of "Chasing Cool” with the former CEO of Barneys, and former DJ for Jennifer Lopez. In his 20s, Noah built the leading creative agency for the young adult market, Noise. Before being acquired by Engine, Noise developed hundreds of products and marketing campaigns for this generation including Facebook’s first application, the first credit card to reward responsibility rather than spending for Chase, Vice's music site Noisey, and the top branded game in the App Store. Noah has been recognized as one of Billboard Magazine’s “Top 30 Under 30,” AdWeek’s “Top 20 Under 40,” Fast Company’s “Innovation Agents” and “Impact Council” members, and as a judge for the Webby Awards. He has also advised and invested in a variety of fast-growing startups, including WeWork, where he served as the first Chief Strategy & Marketing Officer from 2013-2014. Passionate about educating today’s youth, Noah has lectured on entrepreneurialism, fintech, and media at NYU, UCLA, Stanford, and Columbia and currently serves on the Board of VH1's Save The Music Foundation. Noah is a graduate of Cornell University where he studied Psychology and Economics. About Acorns Acorns is the country's fastest-growing saving and investing app helping more than 8.2 million save and invest for the future. Its easy-to-use, mobile-first technology makes it simple for anyone to set aside and invest life's spare money. Acorns allows customers to automatically invest in a low-cost, diversified portfolio of exchange-traded funds offered by some of the world's top asset managers (including Vanguard and BlackRock). Customers grow their wealth in one of five portfolios constructed with help from world-renowned Nobel laureate economist Dr. Harry Markowitz. Acorns' smart portfolio algorithms automatically work in the background of life, helping users build wealth naturally, pennies at a time. From Acorns mighty oaks do grow. Acorns is accessed simply and easily via the app for iPhone, Android, or desktop. Visit Acorns.com for more.
As 2020 comes to a close, we bring you a special episode featuring our hosts, Miguel Armaza and Ryan Zauk. You will finally get to hear from the hosts themselves as they share: - Some of the major trends they've seen after interviewing over 100 FinTech leaders. - Some funny anecdotes & growing pains. - The hyper-growth of Wharton FinTech. - Tips on turning a podcast into a rocketship. - And provide a sneak preview at what's ahead for 2021... Thank you to all of our listeners for your incredible support during this memorable year. We have great plans for 2021 to keep bringing you insights on the companies, founders, investors, and trends shaping financial services.
"The most contrarian take I have is that there is value in working with consumers in debt." Here are a few stats for you: - The average US household as of November pays almost 9% of its income to debt - Total household debt reached $14.35 trillion this fall per the New York Fed - The average person in debt owes money to 4 different lenders The current process for debt collections -- a highly sensitive, case-by-case, and often life-defining financial situation -- has not evolved much in the last 50 years. The process is still how most would imagine…a collections team is assigned a low-base salary and high-commission, and is tasked with harassing debtors multiple times a day with a one size fits all approach. This process is inflexible, stressful, and borderline inhumane as each person has unique financial needs. Enter Ohad Samet and TrueAccord. After honing his time at companies like Fraud Sciences (acquired by PayPal), Signifyd, and Klarna (as their CRO), Ohad recognized this enormous problem and the need for a better solution. Fast forward to 2020, TrueAccord has built a digital-first, ML-powered, humane debt collection agency that leads with empathy. TrueAccord's successes have been incredible, with collection rates 30–50% higher than industry averages and an NPS of 40 (astoundingly high for a debt collections agency, and higher than a lot of financial institutions). TA's impact on daily lives cannot be understated. One stat I loved - "85% of customers wouldn't have been able to repay their debt without the highly flexible payment plans we offer." In today's episode, Ohad comes on the show to discuss: - The different ways TrueAccord engages with the customer, and how that approach has shifted overtime thanks to Machine Learning - 3 questions about debt that he bets none of our listeners can answer - Why his HQ2 city, Kansas City, is a hidden talent and cost of living gem - The cruciality of mission-alignment in business and at TrueAccord (P.S. they're hiring!) - Navigating FinTech partnerships - A special "rapid-fire" question set …and much more. For more insights and analysis from FinTech leaders, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/whartonfintech/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/whartonfintech/
Miguel Armaza sits down with Rohit Arora, CEO and Co-Founder of Biz2Credit, a New York based company that offers financing, research, and educational resources to small businesses. Rohit and his brother founded Biz2Credit in 2008 and in the last 13 yrs the firm has arranged $2B in funding and registered over 200,000 clients. They have also raised over $60M in equity and $300M in debt from investors including Westbridge Capital and Nexus Venture Partners. We discussed - Rohit’s journey scaling Biz2Credit - Fundraising challenges as a contrarian entrepreneur - Lessons on resilience and leadership - The perils of a “growth at any cost” business mindset - Biz2Credit’s experience navigating the COVID crisis and what he believes will be the long term effects of the pandemic - And a whole lot more Rohit Arora Rohit Arora, CEO and Co-founder of Biz2Credit is one of America’s top experts in small business finance. He is responsible for driving Biz2Credit to its leadership position in the alternative lending industry among Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500. He holds a Masters in International Business from Columbia University and an Engineering degree from Delhi University. Rohit is often quoted about small business lending by major news media outlets, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Entrepreneur, American Banker, CNNMoney, MSNBC, Inc., and the Washington Post. In 2011, he and his brother Ramit were named New York City's “Top Entrepreneurs” by Crain’s New York Business, which also named Biz2Credit among NYC’s “Fast 50” of 2014. Since its inception in 2007, Biz2Credit has arranged $2 billion in funding and now has over 200,000 registered small and mid-sized company clients. About Biz2Credit Biz2Credit was founded in 2007 with one goal: make the business financing process work better for lenders and their customers. The company is focused on funding what’s next for small businesses and leverages data, cash flow insights, and the latest technology to give business owners an automated small business funding platform. Biz2Credit has provided over $3 billion in small business loans and financing. With over 350 employees globally, the team – made up of engineers, marketers and data scientists – is building the next generation in business lending solutions. Biz2Credit is also the company behind the Biz2X Platform. Biz2X is the natural outgrowth of Biz2Credit’s established platform software that brands like HSBC, Oriental Bank, and TATA Capital have chosen to launch new online lending initiatives. Biz2Credit raised $52M Series B in 2019 and is headquartered in New York City. Learn more at www.Biz2Credit.com.
On today’s episode, Ryan Zauk sits down with Kathryn Van Nuys, Head of Business Development for AWS FinTech. Kathryn was just named one of the Top 50 Women in FinTech by NYC FinTech Women, highlighted as one of the top network builders in the industry. Most of us know AWS as the cloud storage and computing behemoth, generating over $35B in revenue and the lion’s share of Amazon’s profits. However, AWS is much more than just cloud. It’s a tailored, industry-by-industry solution that is becoming closer and closer to a one-stop-shop for all things technical startups. Kathryn talks about the huge variety of services AWS provides for a who’s who of FinTech, including Chime, Coinbase, Betterment, Nubank, Affirm, and more. AWS served all 50 of Forbes FinTech 50 last year. In today’s episode, Kathryn delves into - The huge range of services AWS offers startups at each stage of their development - Some of their strongest case studies helping clients - What sub-verticals she’s paying special attention to - The explosion in FinTech partnerships ...And much more For more insights and analysis from FinTech leaders, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/whartonfintech/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/whartonfintech/
In this episode, my guest is Santiago Suarez, Co-Founder & CEO of Addi, the leading POS financing platform in Latin America, backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Foundation, Monashees, Quona, and Village Global. Prior to returning to his native Colombia to launch Addi, Santiago started his career in finance in New York City at JP Morgan, and later moved to Silicon valley for a leadership role at Lending Club. We talk about: - Santiago’s entrepreneurial fintech journey and fundraising experience - Regional market dynamics - The virtues of applying an American credit-scoring approach in Latin America - Navigating an evolving regulatory landscape - The importance of company culture - And a lot more! Listen to the full interview --> Spotify | Soundcloud | Apple About ADDI ADDI was founded in 2018 by co-founders Santiago Suarez, Daniel Vallejo, and Elmer Ortega, to power commerce and make point-of-sale financing accessible to every Latin American merchant and consumer. For more information, visit https://addi.com/.
Miguel Armaza sits down with Jan Bellens, Global Head of EY’s Banking & Capital Markets Group. In his role, Jan counsels banks in defining their strategies and supports their implementation with investments, acquisitions, and ambitious organic growth initiatives around the world. He has been supporting banks for the last two decades and has worked with clients in over 20 countries. We talk about: - Jan’s professional journey and what led him to his current role where he oversees 45k people - A few of the trends he’s seeing from banks across different regions - What the impact of COVID really means for banks - The challenges of managing an organization with 45k+ professionals - And much, much more! Jan Bellens As the EY Global Banking & Capital Markets Sector Leader, Jan counsels banks in defining their strategies and supports their implementation with investments, acquisitions and ambitious organic growth initiatives. He has been supporting leading banks’ executive teams with their growth opportunities and multi-year business transformations for the last two decades. He has worked with clients in over 20 countries. Before joining EY, Jan was in management consulting for 17 years. He has an MBA from INSEAD. About EY Banking and Capital Markets EY’s worldwide team of industry-focused assurance, tax, transaction and advisory professionals integrates sector knowledge and technical experience. They work with clients to navigate digital innovation, new business models and ecosystem partnerships, helping banks become the nimble, responsive organizations that customers demand. About EY EY exists to build a better working world, helping create long-term value for clients, people and society and build trust in the capital markets. Enabled by data and technology, diverse EY teams in over 150 countries provide trust through assurance and help clients grow, transform and operate. Working across assurance, consulting, law, strategy, tax and transactions, EY teams ask better questions to find new answers for the complex issues facing our world today. EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy. EY member firms do not practice law where prohibited by local laws. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.
In today’s episode, Ryan Zauk sits down with Griffith Norville, Managing Director at Hamilton Lane. Over the last decade, the scope of private investments has exploded across products, asset classes, and geographies. LPs, often equipped with just a small investment team, are facing greater difficulty sorting through droves of funds, managers, trends, and data. Hamilton Lane and its cutting-edge product, Cobalt LP, are tackling this problem head-on. Griff is the Head of Cobalt LP, a software solution that helps LPs with portfolio construction, benchmarking, and investment selection focused on the private markets. Cobalt also offers front-office analytics and back-office managed services solutions, all backed by Hamilton Lane’s first-class historical data and insights. In addition to this role, Griff helps run strategic technology investments for the firm. They talk about the state of Private Markets investing and how the explosive growth of private markets has created such a need for Cobalt LP. They close with his role in strategic tech investing, including how he sourced a deal from a fishbowl (don’t you miss in-person conferences?). Hamilton Lane is an alternative investment management firm that provides private markets solutions to investors around the world with over $500B total assets under management and supervision as of September 30, 2020 - Inclusive of $73.1B in assets under management and $474.1B in assets under supervision as of September 30, 2020. For more insights and analysis from FinTech leaders, follow us below: Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/whartonfintech/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/whartonfintech/
In today’s episode, Anchit Gupta (WG’21) is joined by Neeraj Khandelwal, Co-Founder of CoinDCX. Started in 2018, CoinDCX is India’s largest and safest cryptocurrency exchange and liquidity aggregator. CoinDCX offers users single-point access to a diverse suite of crypto-based financial products and services. Neeraj spearheads the technical development of all CoinDCX products. Prior to his role at CoinDCX, he served as Vice President of Engineering at Holachef and Chief Technology Officer at Doormint, leading a team of over 20 talented developers. Neeraj holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. In this interview, Neeraj shares: - CoinDCX’s customer base and their investment preferences - Awareness of crypto in India and CoinDCX’s efforts to increase it - Their competitive landscape and ecosystem in India - His business strategy in response to Crypto’s high volatility and risk - The future of Cryptocurrency in India For more insights and analysis from FinTech leaders, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/whartonfintech/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/whartonfintech/
In this episode, my guest is Henrique Dubugras, Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Brex, a financial operating system for startups and growing companies, with services including a charge card, cash management, and controls in a single account. Originally from Brazil, Henrique built a payments company when he was only sixteen and in just three years grew it to process over $1.5 billion in processed transactions. Shortly thereafter, he co-founded Brex along with Pedro Franceschi. In this interview, we talk about: - Henrique’s story from entrepreneur, to Stanford student, to Stanford dropout and Brex co-founder - How he met his co-founder, Pedro, and their inspiration to launch Brex - Their significant decision to move Brex into a remote-first company and what that means for them - The importance of company culture and some key lessons for fintech founders - And a whole lot more! Henrique Dubugras Henrique Dubugras is Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Brex — the smartest corporate card in the room. A Brazilian entrepreneur, Henrique built payments company Pagar.me — the Stripe of Brazil — when he was sixteen years old. In just three years, Pagar.me grew to US$1.5 billion in volume of transactions processed. In the fall of 2016, Henrique sold Pagar.me and enrolled at Stanford University. After eight months, he left school and founded Brex. About Brex Brex is reimagining financial systems so every growing company can realize its full potential. By rebuilding from scratch the entire technology stack for credit card issuing, storing and transferring money, Brex has designed financial software that avoids previously painful banking problems. Traditional banking systems are broken; previously neither founders nor their businesses had access to great financial perks and benefits that their corporate counterparts enjoyed. Brex created products for fast moving companies that are intuitive, well designed, and have more powerful functionality than anything on the market. At its core, Brex exists to empower every growing company to dream bigger. In June 2018 Brex launched the first corporate card and rewards program designed for Startups. Brex reimagined every aspect of corporate cards, including 10-20x higher limits than traditional cards, tailored rewards with points on every purchase, and no personal guarantee for founders. This is a radically better experience for customers. In Fall 2019, Brex introduced its second product, Brex Cash. A first-of-its-kind cash management account that enables companies to simplify financial operations, pay for expenses and grow their business, all with zero fees. As a unified platform, Brex brings together the ability to store money and pay bills in a single, elegant dashboard replete with integrations to other financial software -- a new vision for the autonomous finance function. Having started as part of the Y Combinator accelerator program in 2017, the team has grown to over 400 people. Based in San Francisco, Brex has raised over US$465 million in venture capital, with support from Kleiner Perkins Growth, YC Continuity Fund, Greenoaks Capital, Ribbit Capital, IVP, DST, as well as fintech insiders like Peter Thiel and Max Levchin. Brex has also raised over $510 million in debt funding from Barclays. As of writing it is worth $3 billion.
Miguel Armaza sits down with Allison Barr Allen, Co-founder and COO of Fast, an online login and checkout platform on a mission to make buying online faster, safer and easier. The company is backed by Stripe, Index Ventures, Susa Ventures, Global Founders Capital, and Brian Sugar. Prior to Fast, Allison held senior product roles at Uber, where her team launched and scaled Uber’s payments, risk, and compliance products globally. Before that she was a strategy consultant at PwC. Allison is also a passionate private and public investor, both as an LP at Operator Collective and as an advocate for value investing in the public stock market. We talked about: - Allison’s fascinating experiences at Uber - The power of investing in public and private markets - Her journey at Fast over the last 12 months, - The value of listening and acting on client feedback - The importance of company culture, partnerships, and having a really clear vision of the future of your company - and much, much more! Allison Barr Allen, Co-founder and COO Allison Barr Allen is the co-founder and COO of Fast, the world’s fastest online login and checkout platform. Previously, Allison was the head of global product operations for the Money Team at Uber, where she helped scale Uber from 2,000 employees to more than 26,000 worldwide. Allison’s team launched and scaled Uber’s payments, risk, and compliance products globally, including on-demand payments, cash products, debit cards and credit cards. Prior to Uber, Allison served as a healthcare strategy consultant at PwC. In addition to her role at Fast, Allison is a limited partner at Operator Collective, a venture capital firm that brings together leaders from diverse backgrounds to invest in the next generation of enterprise technology. Allison is also deeply committed to supporting entrepreneurs through Trail Run Capital, her angel investment fund. Allison graduated from Northwestern University with a Bachelors of Science degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders. About Fast Fast's mission is to make buying online faster, safer and easier for everyone. Its Fast Login and Fast Checkout products enable a one-click sign-in and purchasing experience that makes it easier for people to buy and merchants to sell. The company's products work on any browser, device or platform to deliver a consistent, stress-free purchasing experience. Fast is entirely consumer focused and invests heavily in its users' privacy and data security. Headquartered in San Francisco, Fast is a privately held company funded by Stripe, Index Ventures, Susa Ventures, Global Founders Capital and Brian Sugar – who also serves on the board.
Miguel Armaza interviews Frank Rotman, Founding Partner of QED Investors, a Venture Capital fund that invests in early-stage, disruptive financial services companies around the world. Frank focuses on financial services and financial technology companies that are credit-oriented or have data analytics foundations at their core and his portfolio includes some of the fintech rockstars of our generation, including LendUp, Credit Karma, Avant, SoFi, and many more. We talk about: - Frank’s experience at Capital One, starting as one of the first employees to senior executive and chief credit officer - The evolution of QED - The state fintech in the US, Latin America, and around the world - His approach to evaluating early-stage fintech startups - His outlook on the road ahead for the industry. - And much, much more! Finally, we also talk about Frank’s Twitter presence. It’s not an exaggeration to say he is probably the most respected fintech voice on Twitter and has become famous for sharing some of the most thoughtful and in-depth twitter threads. In case you’re not following him, I recommend you check him out. His username is @FintechJunkie. Frank Rotman Frank Rotman is a founding partner of QED Investors. His investments are focused on financial services and financial technology companies that are credit oriented or have data analytics foundations at their core. His portfolio of 20+ investments includes many of the emerging next-generation companies in the financial services eco-system such as Credit Karma, Prosper, Avant Credit, SoFi, GreenSky, LendUp and ApplePie Capital. Frank was one of the earliest analysts hired into Capital One and spent almost 13 years there helping build many of the company’s business units and operational areas. With two decades in consumer & small business finance, Frank is widely known in the industry as a Credit Risk and Portfolio Management Expert. His responsibilities have included turning around underperforming business units, building new businesses from concept to market leadership positions, overseeing the credit performance of Capital One as a whole, and creating a Student Lending company after leaving Capital One in December 2005. Frank graduated from the University of Virginia with degrees that included Applied Mathematics (B.S.) and Systems Engineering (M.S.). About QED Investors QED is a leading boutique venture capital firm based in Alexandria, VA, co-founded by Nigel Morris and Frank Rotman. It invests in early-stage, disruptive financial services companies in North America, South America, and the United Kingdom. QED is dedicated to building great businesses and uses a unique, hands-on approach that leverages its partners’ decades of entrepreneurial and operational experience, helping companies achieve breakthrough growth. Notable investments include Nubank, SoFi, Credit Karma, Klarna, GreenSky, Avant, Flywire, Remitly, QuintoAndar, Creditas, ClearScore, and Konfio.
On today’s episode, Ryan Zauk is joined by Jess Liberi, Head of Product for eMoney, a Fidelity-owned company. eMoney is a company most people aren’t familiar with, but many have been affected by. eMoney is a software company that empowers financial advisors with the tools to create robust financial plans, set savings, investing, and spending goals, conduct cash flow analysis, and much more. eMoney is used by over 70,000 financial professionals across a wide variety of practices in the US, reaching the financial future of ~5 million US households. It’s been trendy over the last decade to claim that financial advisors are becoming obsolete, have archaic fee models, etc. But Jess and Ryan dive into how advisors have adapted to new consumer demands both from the product and fee side, and the importance of a planning-centric advisor. During the COVID crisis, advisors were as important as ever, helping people stay the course during rough times. They also cover eMoney's product, the advisor trends Jess spotted during COVID, their new "Project Incentive," how advisors have been (and will continue to) adapt, and much more. Highlights below: 7:50 - A brief look at the evolution of the financial advisor 9:01 - eMoney's "competitive advantage" and what differentiates them 10:05 - Some incredible initiatives eMoney has taken on to help 2,000+ students get externships and push advising toward planning-centricity 12:41 - What behavior changes, or lack thereof, they saw during COVID 18:45 - What's keeping advisors up at night, how they need to adapt products and fee structure, and surprising statistics about the engagement of people over the age of 60 22:50 - eMoney's "Project Incentive" For more insights and analysis from FinTech leaders, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whartonfintech/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whartonfintech/
Building Unicorns and Redefining Online Banking - Renaud Laplanche, Upgrade CEO/Co-Founder I sat down with Renaud Laplanche, co-founder and CEO of Upgrade, a neobank that offers affordable and responsible credit to mainstream consumers. Since inception in 2017, Upgrade has surpassed $100 million in revenue run rate and a billion-dollar valuation. The company is backed by some of the best VCs in the industry and has raised over $200M dollars in debt and equity, including Mouro Capital, Ribbit Capital, Union Square Ventures, FirstMark Capital, CreditEase, and many more. Prior to Upgrade, Renaud founded and ran Lending Club, a company that pioneered consumer fintech and that he took public in December 2014 at a 10B dollar valuation. There’s no doubt Renaud and Lending Club inspired a generation of fintech founders around the world and countless of fintech founders repeatedly cite Lending Club as an inspiration for their companies. Renaud is also in a select and exclusive club of founders that have started not one, but two unicorns. Listen to the full interview --> Spotify | Soundcloud | Apple Podcasts Renaud Laplanche Renaud is the co-founder and CEO of Upgrade, Inc. a neobank that offers affordable and responsible credit to mainstream consumers. Under his leadership, Upgrade reached $100 million in revenue run rate, profitability and a billion-dollar valuation within 3 years of launch. Upgrade is the only neobank backed by one of the world’s top 10 largest banks. Prior to Upgrade, Renaud founded and ran Lending Club for 10 years. He took the company public, reaching a market capitalization of $10 billion in December 2014. At Lending Club, Renaud pioneered consumer fintech and grew the company to become the largest provider of personal loans in America. Renaud was ranked #23 in Bloomberg Markets’ 2015 Most Influential List, an annual ranking of the World’s top 50 most influential leaders across technology, finance, and politics. He was also recognized at the Clinton Global Initiative by President Clinton for expanding access to affordable and responsible credit. In 2014, he won the Economist Innovation Award in the consumer products category and was named the "best start-up CEO to work for" by Business Insider. Renaud was named “Fintech Executive of the Year” by Finovate in 2020. He also holds the Newport-Bermuda world speed sailing record. About Upgrade Upgrade is a neobank that offers affordable and responsible credit to mainstream consumers through personal loans and cards, together with credit monitoring and education tools that help consumers better understand and manage their money. Over $3.5 billion in loans and cards have been originated by the Upgrade platform since inception in 2017. Upgrade is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with an operations center in Phoenix, Arizona, and a technology center in Montreal, Canada. Personal Credit Lines are issued by Cross River Bank, a New Jersey State Chartered Commercial Bank, Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender. Upgrade Card is issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. Rewards associated with the Upgrade Card, when applicable, are provided by Upgrade, Inc. More information is available at: https://www.upgrade.com. Wharton Fintech https://www.whartonfintech.org/ | https://twitter.com/whartonfintech | https://www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club Miguel Armaza https://www.linkedin.com/in/armaza/ | https://twitter.com/MiguelArmaza
Miguel Armaza sits down with Anish Acharya, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (A16Z), where he invests primarily in financial services and adjacent technologies. Prior to joining A16Z, Anish held multiple leadership roles at Credit Karma and before that he founded two different startups – SocialDeck (acquired by Google) and Snowball (acquired by Credit Karma). In this episode, we talk about his transition from operator investor; The evolution of his investing approach; Why all of his best career decisions have mostly been focused on people; and, why he believes there’s a huge opportunity in fintech for the GenZ generation. Anish is also a passionate DJ and loves to spin records, so as bonus for our listeners, we have included a few minutes of his latest mix at the end of the show! Anish Acharya Anish Acharya is a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz where he invests primarily in financial services and adjacent technologies. He currently serves on the boards of remote payroll and compliance platform Deel and construction technology company Mosaic. Anish joined Andreessen Horowitz in 2019. Prior to joining a16z, Anish held multiple roles at Credit Karma including the General Manager of Core Product and General Manager of U.S. Card, which he helped scale to over 100MM members and nearly $1B in 2019 revenue. Anish joined Credit Karma in 2015 via the acquisition of Snowball, a notifications startup he founded a year earlier. Prior to creating Snowball, Anish founded SocialDeck, a social-gaming company that was acquired by Google in 2010. He went on to lead various mobile product efforts as well as invest at Google Ventures. Anish graduated from the University of Waterloo and lives in the Bay Area with his family. About A16Z Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm that backs bold entrepreneurs building the future through technology. The firm is stage agnostic, investing in seed to late-stage technology companies, across the consumer, enterprise, bio/healthcare, crypto, and fintech spaces. a16z has nearly $16.5B in assets under management across multiple funds. See portfolio companies here: https://a16z.com/portfolio/. Wharton Fintech https://www.whartonfintech.org/ | https://twitter.com/whartonfintech | https://www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club Miguel Armaza https://www.linkedin.com/in/armaza/ | https://twitter.com/MiguelArmaza
Miguel Armaza sits down with Hernan Fernandez, Founder and Co-Managing Partner at Angel Ventures, one of the oldest and most active Venture Capital funds in Latin America investing in early-stage to early-growth companies with business models tailored for the Latin American market. We talked about Hernan’s career, what drove him to leave the corporate world and launch one of the first VC’s in the region, his take on the entrepreneurial market in Latin America, and some of the trends and opportunities that get him going these days. Hernan is also the founder of the largest angel investment network in Latin America and serves as a Board Member at the Mexican Association of PE & VC Funds. Prior to AV, Hernan got his MBA degree at MIT’s Sloan School of Management Hernán Fernández Lamadrid Hernan is the Founder and Co-Managing Partner at Angel Ventures, where he manages deal-flow, investor relations and shares duties in creating value for the investment portfolio. He is also the founder of the largest angel investment network in Latin America. He currently serves as a Board Member at the Mexican Association of PE & VC Funds (AMEXCAP). Prior to Angel Ventures, Hernan started his professional career as a corporate lawyer in PwC’s Mexico City and Paris branch offices, as a consultant for the Sustainable Business Initiative of the United Nations Development Program in the U.S. and Paraguay and later as a management consultant for Strategy& (formerly Booz & Company) in Mexico City. He has been named one of CNN/Expansion 30 Mexico’s Promises and the Most Influential Angel Investor in Mexico according to TechCrunch. Hernán holds a master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a law degree from ITAM in Mexico. AV has put together a strong and flexible team, bestinclass, in-house developed processes and attracted a multidisciplinary group of advisors, mentors and allies that not only provide capital, but most importantly, talent, relationships, and brain power. The managing team has extensive experience in company development and growth, private equity transactions, management and operation of venture capital funds, mergers, and acquisitions, launching startups and new business units, as well as strategic consulting and operational administration of multinational conglomerates. About Angel Ventures Founded in 2008, AV is one of the most active and influential Mexican VC firms in Latin America. The Firm invests in early-stage to early-growth companies by becoming a leading Series Seed and Series A investor in startups that drive innovative business models tailored for the Latin American market. We manage two investment funds (one in fundraising), and we strive to perform the best possible investments by attracting best-in-class entrepreneurs, applying exhaustive and progressive methodologies to assess opportunities and leveraging our intangible assets to boost our portfolio returns, all while being compliant with major global standards for VC practices. AV is the official VC firm recognized by the four governments of the pacific alliance region (México, Colombia, Perú and Chile). The Company was awarded such recognition through a call of proposals organized by the Inter-American Development Bank in June 2016. Wharton Fintech - https://www.whartonfintech.org/ - https://twitter.com/whartonfintech - https://www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club Host https://www.linkedin.com/in/armaza/ https://twitter.com/MiguelArmaza
Miguel Armaza sits down with Eric Satz, Founder and CEO of AltoIRA, a company on a mission to help individuals in the US access and execute investments in alternative assets using their retirement savings. We cover: - Eric’s journey from investment banker, to coffee shop owner, to venture capitalist, to AltoIRA founder. - What influenced him to pursue entrepreneurship throughout most of his life. - Why he thinks this is now a great time to invest in private companies. - The advantages of launching a fintech startup in Nashville, Tennessee. - Why he thinks the only thing harder than fundraising for startup money is making somebody laugh and why he has so much respect for stand-up comedians. - And much, much more! Eric is also the host of his own podcast, The Altogether Show, which features unfiltered interviews with untraditional entrepreneurs who ignored boundaries and followed their instincts. https://altogether.show/ Eric Satz An entrepreneur and former investment banker, Eric worked for DLJ/Credit Suisse First Boston before co-founding Currenex, Plumgood Food, and Tennessee Community Ventures, a VC firm. Eric served on the Board of the TVA from 2015-January 2019, and he teaches an entrepreneurship class to high school students. A Miami native and diehard 'Canes and Dolphins fan, Eric went to Amherst College. After years in NYC and then San Francisco, he and his wife moved to Nashville, her hometown, to raise their kids. When he's not breathing life into startup companies, Eric loves to ski, play soccer, and practice yoga. About AltoIRA AltoIRA is a financial technology company on a mission to help individuals access and execute investments in alternative assets using their retirement savings. The firm's cost-effective and hassle-free platform streamlines the process for investors, funding portals and issuers alike. Alto currently works with leading platform partners including AngelList, Wefunder and Masterworks, as well as financial advisors, funds and other direct issuers. Launched in 2018, the Nashville-based fintech firm is backed by leading investors including the family office of Tony James, Moment Ventures, Foundation Capital and the Sequoia Scout Fund. For more information, please visit www.AltoIRA.com - https://www.whartonfintech.org/ - https://twitter.com/whartonfintech - https://www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club - Host: https://www.linkedin.com/in/armaza/
In this episode, Miguel Armaza sits down with Jo Ann Barefoot, CEO & Founder of the Alliance for Innovative Regulation and host of the podcast Barefoot Innovation. Jo Ann is a famous advocate of “regulation innovation,” and is one of the most active and visible fintech leaders working to improve and modernize financial regulation around the world. She is also a Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School Center for Business & Government and in the past was Deputy Comptroller of the Currency of the United States and a staff member at the U.S. Senate Banking Committee. Jo Ann Barefoot Jo Ann Barefoot is CEO & Founder of AIR - the Alliance for Innovative Regulation and host of the global podcast show Barefoot Innovation. A noted advocate of “regulation innovation,” Jo Ann is Senior Fellow Emerita at the Harvard Kennedy School Center for Business & Government. She has been Deputy Comptroller of the Currency, partner at KPMG, Co-Chairman of Treliant Risk Advisors, and staff member at the U.S. Senate Banking Committee. She’s an angel investor, serves on the board of Oportun, serves on the fintech advisory committee for FINRA, is a member of the Milken Institute U.S. FinTech Advisory Committee, and is a member of the California Blockchain Working Group Advisory Board. Jo Ann chairs the board of directors of FinRegLab, previously chaired the board of the Financial Health Network, and previously served on the CFPB’s Consumer Advisory Board. She was a Cofounder of Hummingbird Regtech. About Alliance for Innovative Regulation AIR is a nonprofit dedicated to modernizing the financial regulatory system. We believe that the regulatory framework needs to migrate from a largely manual to a Digitally-Native Design. This will ensure financial stability, protect consumers from harm, promote financial inclusion, curtail financial crime, and enable continuous innovation. AIR works at the intersection of technology, innovation, and regulation to help regulators better understand emerging technologies that can help improve financial health. Examples like cash-flow underwriting can expand safe and affordable credit to people with no credit history, increasing credit access and a creating a more fair financial system. AIR’s Regtech Manifesto Financial regulation needs to convert from analog to digital design. This seminal thought piece calls for gradual, but urgent, conversion of the financial regulatory system to a “digitally-native” framework. The Manifesto is a Request for Comments (RFC). It calls for discussion about a system that will be rebuilt over time to leverage the power of digitization and make regulatory outcomes better, faster, and cheaper, all at once. Join the conversation.
Ryan Zauk sits down with Evgenia Plotnikova, Partner and Investor at Dawn Capital in the wake of Dawn's $400M raise in September. Dawn Capital is one of the premier venture firms in Europe and is focused on B2B Software and FinTech, investing mostly in Series A and B rounds for high-growth companies across Europe. Evgenia is a seasoned investor in both venture and private equity. Prior to Dawn, she was a VC at Atomico, where she spearheaded the firm's entry into France and worked with a number of businesses, including Ontruck and Memphis Meats. Before VC, Evgenia was an investor at TPG Capital focused on telecommunications, retail, transportation, and mining. She started her career at J.P. Morgan in the London and Dubai offices, where she advised businesses on potential M&A transactions as well as equity and debt financings. Evgenia is fluent in French and Russian, has lived in 5 countries, and has traveled to 55 (though COVID may be slowing her march to 60). In 2017, Evgenia was named to Forbes’ “30 Under 30” and became the judge for its prestigious Finance category in 2018. Ryan & Evgenia cover a great deal in today’s episode, with highlights broken out below: - How she describes Dawn and her general investing style (4:20) - Raising a $400M fund in COVID, a huge fund for venture capital (7:40) - How Dawn positions themselves to entrepreneurs and founders, and the incredible value they have offered founders (10:29) - Her general sourcing and diligence processes (12:30) - Her investment in Soldo and the bright future ahead for the company (18:35) - A special rapid-fire question round (27:08) …And much more. Enjoy the show! For more insights and analysis from FinTech leaders, follow us below: Medium: https://medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: https://twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: https://twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
In this episode, Miguel Armaza sits down with Matt Oppenheimer, Co-Founder and CEO of Remitly, a Seattle-based mobile payments platform enabling consumers to send and receive payments around the world that aims to provide the full suite of financial services to immigrants and migrants. The inspiration behind Remitly came when Matt was working in Kenya in 2010 and saw how difficult it was to send and receive money overseas. He began working on the problem immediately and has since grown the business to a rumored 1.5 Billion dollar-valuation in 2020. The company has raised almost $500 million in debt and equity from top industry VCs, including Generation Investment Management, Nasper’s PayU, Stripes Group, Threshold, QED, the World Bank’s IFC, Jeff Bezos, and many more! Matthew Oppenheimer Matthew Oppenheimer is Co-Founder and CEO at Remitly. The inspiration behind Remitly came when Matt was working for Barclays in Kenya and saw how difficult it was to send and receive money overseas. Matt was drawn to the global impact his business could have: remittances eclipse foreign aid in improving global wealth equality and give people who receive them upward mobility. He began working on the problem immediately as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Highway 12 Ventures in Idaho and launched the company from Techstars in Seattle. Matt was named EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2016 in the Pacific Northwest and has been recognized as a Puget Sound Business Journal 40 Under 40 honoree for his work with Remitly. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Dartmouth College. About Remitly Founded initially to disrupt the nearly $600 billion global remittance industry, Remitly is now transforming the lives of millions of immigrants and their families with the most trusted financial services products in the world. Remitly makes international money transfers faster, easier, more transparent and more affordable through its global network. Remitly’s reliable and easy-to-use mobile app eliminates the long wait times, complexities and fees typical of traditional remittance processes, returning millions of dollars in savings and spending power to immigrants every year. Remitly is also expanding its portfolio to include additional critical financial services for immigrants. The company’s Passbook offering is a modern banking solution that eliminates fees and other common barriers to creating a bank account, and introduces new cross-border money transfer benefits. Established in 2011 and headquartered in Seattle, Remitly is backed by more than a dozen industry-leading investors, including Prosus’s PayU, Generation Investment Management and Bezos Expeditions. The company operates globally, with offices in London, Kraków, Manila and Managua. For more information, visit Remitly.com.
Miguel Armaza sits down with Claire McDonnell, Co-founder and COO of True Link Financial, a company that aims to make life better for people with disabilities, vulnerable elders, individuals in recovery, and their families and professional support networks. At True Link, she focuses on growth, product, operations, and customer experience. There’s no doubt True Link is a transformative firm that is making the world a better place by serving and meaningfully helping some of the most vulnerable members of society. The company has raised over $50 million from a list of impressive Investors, including Centana Growth Partners, Khosla Ventures, Initialized Capital, QED, Radicle Impact, Y-Combinator, Alexis Ohanian, and many more! Claire McDonnell Claire is co-founder and COO of True Link Financial, a venture-backed fintech company that makes life better for people with disabilities, vulnerable elders, individuals in recovery, and their families and professional support networks. At True Link, she focuses on growth, product, operations, and customer experience. Before True Link, Claire helped build and lead organizations in the private and social sectors -- she worked at Bain & Company’s social sector affiliate The Bridgespan Group and Teach for America, founded Awardly, a wellness app, and served as a Runway Entrepreneur at the venture capital firm Innovation Endeavors. Claire was a Fulbright Scholar in Argentina and holds a BA from Columbia University. About True Link Vulnerable older adults, people with disabilities, and those recovering from addiction – fifty million Americans in total – need more from their financial institutions. Whether it’s protecting seniors from fraud, helping people with special needs preserve lifesaving medical benefits, or preventing an impulsive cash withdrawal or purchase that could lead to relapse, families turn to True Link when they need a financial partner who can help them navigate life’s challenges. Serving people in all fifty states, True Link has offices in San Francisco, Denver, and New York, in addition to distributed team members throughout the United States. For more information, visit www.truelinkfinancial.com.
In this Wharton Fintech exclusive, Ryan Zauk went behind the scenes with CB Insights’ Anand Sanwal and Blockdata’s Jonathan Knegtel to discuss their recent transaction. The three of them walk through the details of the acquisition, the current state of global blockchain, and the cold email Jonathan sent that kicked off this entire deal. What was the email that caught Anand’s eye amongst a sea of inbounds? You can view it on our LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Medium - just search Wharton FinTech or Ryan Zauk. Anand & Jonathan strike a perfect balance with Anand's macro view of corporate blockchain strategies/appetite and Jonathan's in-depth knowledge of the space. Episode details below: - How Anand and Jonathan first got into blockchain technology (4:19 - 6:53) - The cold email that got Blockdata on Anand's radar and what made it so effective (6:54 - 9:25) - Challenges & benefits of doing this deal in COVID (9:26 - 11:37) - A deeper look at Blockdata and why Anand bought them (11:38 - 15:27) - The roadblocks still facing global blockchain adoption and "Internet 2.0" (15:28 - 19:18) - The Perez Technology Surge Cycle and how it applies to Blockchain (19:19 - 21:14) - Our favorite part...Jonathan comparing the blockchain reg ecosystem of the US, EU, and China (21:15 - 23:47) - Where they see the most growth in blockchain tech ahead (24:31 - 27:01) ---- Anand Sanwal is the CEO & Co-founder of CB Insights, a technology market intelligence platform that provides predictive intelligence into emerging technology trends, startups and corporate strategy. Prior to founding CB Insights, Anand managed the $50 million Chairman's Innovation Fund at American Express and worked in VC and corporate M&A. Before AmEx, Anand worked at Kozmo.com, one of NYC's most infamous dot com flameouts, where he learned that if you buy something for $2 and sell it for $1, you will not make it up in volume. He has degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and in finance and accounting from the Wharton School of Business. Jonathan Knegtel is a passionate community builder and connector of people and technology. Before he started wearing his wooden bow tie at blockchain meetups, he studied electrical engineering and has worked in startups as diverse as 3D food printing, private jets, bitcoin exchanges, and a data company tracking VC funding for tech companies. He co-founded Blockdata to help people track the growth and application of this revolutionary technology. For more insights and analysis from FinTech leaders, follow us below: Medium: https://medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: https://twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: https://twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
In this episode, I sit down with Kamran Zaki, COO of Adyen (AMS:ADYEN), a Dutch payments company that allows businesses to accept and receive payments across multiple channels and platforms. Publicly listed in the Amsterdam Internet Exchange, the company has grown over 120% since the beginning of the year and has a current market cap of $50 billion. Prior to Adyen, Kamran worked in several tech and payments companies, including PayPal, Netflix, and Citigroup, where he headed global payments teams across Europe, North America and Emerging Markets.
Miguel Armaza interviews Christine Kenna, Partner at IGNIA, a Venture Capital firm that invests in innovative solutions for the emerging middle class in Latin America. Christine joined IGNIA in 2011 and has been investing and working with entrepreneurs in strategic planning, critical problem solving, and operational issues. We discussed her background, investing approach, the evolution of the fintech ecosystem in the region, and the important efforts she leads to continue improving diversity and inclusion within the private capital industry in Latin America. About IGNIA IGNIA is a leading Mexico-based venture capital firm that partners with entrepreneurs who are reinventing the way to do business with the emerging middle class. IGNIA invests in sectors where innovation has a high impact on people’s lives such as healthcare, housing, financial services and basic services (water, energy and communications). By providing effective market responses to the enormously underserved needs of low income populations, IGNIA empowers entrepreneurship and builds a more equitable. Christine Kenna Christine Kenna joined IGNIA in 2011 and focuses on managing portfolio companies and evaluating new investment opportunities. She works closely with entrepreneurs in strategic planning, critical problem solving, and operational issues. Christine leverages her operating experience gained from running the marketing and sales operations of EF Education First, the world´s largest private international education company, where she was a key figure in managing the company´s turnaround in Mexico. Previously, while working at Google during the company´s IPO, she developed international growth strategies and helped resolve human capital management challenges. As Managing Director of The Guggenheim Foundation in Mexico, Christine became familiar with challenges faced in Mexico as she helped street children reintegrate into society, and worked with Mexican public schools and teachers to implement innovative learning methods. As a Senior Associate at The Parthenon Group, a Boston-based strategy consulting firm, she learned rigorous financial analysis and applied herself to resolving international marketing issues for Fortune 500 companies and entrepreneurial start-ups. Christine graduated from Duke University with a BA in Economics and International Relations, and has an MBA from Harvard Business School.
“To someone who’s not involved in this business you might think what's the big deal? But if you're in this business you think oh my god this is a big deal...but it really shouldn't be...and that's why we exist.” In today’s episode, Ryan Zauk sits down with Philip Brittan, Founder & CEO of Crux. You know that frustration when someone routinely sends you great data but they’ve added rows, changed date formats on you, or re-ordered tabs? Then all of your pulls, lookups, and macros need to be redone? Enter Crux, which Philip has built into the “humble, neutral utility” of data connections, or what he calls the “FedEx of financial data.” Crux ingests data sets from over 100 suppliers, then routinely cleans and standardizes them for delivery to end-users like hedge funds in the format they need. Building off partnerships with Snowflake, AWS, and a who’s who of strategic investors, Crux is transforming financial data. If you’ve spent time in this space, you know the scale of this problem. Philip has been in the FinTech space for over 30 years, first as a serial entrepreneur, then as an executive with Google Finance, Bloomberg, and Thomson Reuters. Philip has a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science from Harvard. In this episode, we go deep into Crux’s product, how they work with AWS and are taking advantage of the cloud explosion, the birth of their partnership with Two Sigma, why he only uses strategic funding, and much more. For more insights and analysis from FinTech leaders, follow us below: Medium: https://medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: https://twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: https://twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
“I always get most nervous when things are going really well, I think that's when you need to be the most vigilant.” In this episode, Miguel Armaza interviews Steve Sarracino, Founder of Activant Capital, a growth equity fund with over $500 million in assets under management that partners with high-growth companies transforming the industrial complex. Steve has a great track record of investing in disruptive tech and places particular emphasis on data-heavy businesses that can act as the source of truth for large industries. He is also an MBA graduate from our very own Wharton School and was a great guest! Steve Sarracino - Founder and Partner of Activant Steve founded Activant Capital in 2012, and is a partner on the investment team. He has a long track record of investing in disruptive technology companies, and has extensive experience as a board director in high-growth B2B platform businesses. Steve places a particular emphasis on data-heavy businesses that can act as the source of truth for large industries. As Activant’s founder, he sees the importance of investing in outstanding people, both founders and the Activant team. Prior to founding Activant, Steve was a founding member at Serent Capital, a leading lower-middle market private equity firm focused on investing in high growth service and technology businesses. Previously he helped open the technology investing office at American Capital Ltd. in Palo Alto. Steve also worked at McKinsey & Co. in their Hong Kong office. He began his career in mergers and acquisitions at Robertson Stephens in San Francisco, CA. Steve has an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He attended Southern Methodist University for his undergraduate degree, where he received a BBA in Finance with a minor in History.
On today's episode, Ryan Zauk sits down with legendary entrepreneur, author, and financial literacy advocate Neale S Godfrey. How do you summarize the background of someone like Neale? Let’s give it a try: - First female VP at Chase Manhattan Bank where she worked on some of the largest M&A deals in history - New York Times bestseller, but only after buying a publishing company because she couldn’t get a deal! - Founder of both the First Women’s Bank and the First Children’s Bank, the latter of which was famously used by Princess Diana in NYC’s FAO Schwartz - Founder of “Children’s Financial Network” where she has become one of the nation’s top crusaders, advocates, and thought leaders on financial literacy - Collaborator with Oprah, Executive in Residence at Columbia Business School, served on a number of boards including UNICEF Quite a life, right? Well, Neale is only getting started. In this episode, Neale discusses: - Her life as a woman on wall street in the 70's and 80's and the discrimination women faced (summing up to $2M in lost wages) - How she pivoted from banker to entrepreneur and author - Key issues with financial education in the US - Her financial advice for kids and parents - Tons of great anecdotes along the way including a 12 hour stop in Brazil, mocking Oprah to her face (accidentally), and more. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: https://medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: https://twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: https://twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
In this episode, Miguel Armaza sits down with Olugbenga “GB” Agboola, Co-Founder and CEO of Flutterwave, a revolutionary company building the digital payments infrastructure for Africa that’s enabling businesses to receive or make payments across the continent and the entire globe. Launched in 2016, Flutterwave has grown at an astonishing rate and in 2019 processed 107 million transactions worth $5.4 billion. The company has also raised over $55 million in equity from a long list of top VCs, including Y-Combinator, Visa Ventures, Fintech Collective, Endeavor, Mastercard, Golden Palm Investments, and many more! Olugbenga Agboola Olugbenga Agboola is the co-founder and CEO of Flutterwave. Prior to co-founding Flutterwave, Olugbenga contributed to the development of fintech solutions at several tech companies and financial institutions such as PayPal, Standard Bank, among others. He is a serial entrepreneur with two successful exits under his belt. He is a software engineer with a master's degree in information technology security and behavioral engineering and an MBA. About Flutterwave Flutterwave is a technology company headquartered in San Francisco with operations and offices across Africa and Europe. The company was launched in 2016 with the goal of building digital payments infrastructure for Africa and enable businesses to receive or make any payments across Africa and globally. Since inception, Flutterwave has processed billions of dollars across all product platforms and has been the recipient of several awards including the "Top 100 Fintech Firms" around the world.
Miguel Armaza sits down with Sebastian Ceria, CEO of Qontigo, a NY-based global company that combines the most sophisticated risk analytics and portfolio-construction tools in the market, while also offering indexing services. Qontigo has over 550 employees, but it’s one of those revolutionary and successful companies most people haven’t heard of. Prior to launching his own venture, Sebastian was an Associate Professor of Decision, Risk and Operations at Columbia Business School. But after seeing the incredible entrepreneurial success from some of his former students, he decided to leave academia and launch his own ventures in 1998. About Qontigo Qontigo is a financial intelligence innovator and a leader in the modernization of investment management, from risk to return. The combination of the group’s world-class indices and best-of-breed analytics, underpinned by technological expertise and customer-driven innovation, enables its clients to achieve competitive advantage in a rapidly changing marketplace. Qontigo’s global client base includes the world’s largest financial products issuers, capital owners and asset managers. Created in 2019 through the combination of Axioma, DAX and STOXX, Qontigo is part of Deutsche Börse Group, headquartered in Eschborn with key locations in New York, Zug and London.
In this episode, Miguel Armaza interviews Steve Pretre, Partner at World Innovation Labs, a US and Japan-based venture capital fund with investors from governments and corporations in Japan and throughout Asia. Steve is also a fintech veteran with particular expertise in the insurance space, having spent several years at RMS and Asurion as an operator and then co-founding Metromile, one of the very first insurtech innovators that leveraged technology to build a better and cheaper consumer product. Steve is an MBA graduate from the Wharton School and holds two bachelor degrees from Stanford University. Steve Pretre Steve Pretre is a veteran of multiple successful startups with deep operating experience across product development, marketing, and strategic planning. In his current role as Partner at World Innovation Lab, Steve works with leading startups in the fintech and insurtech space, including Ladder, PeerStreet, and Unqork. Prior to joining World Innovation Lab, Steve was the co-founder and CEO of Metromile, an early innovator that paved the path for the current wave of insurance startups. He held executive roles at Asurion, leading their mobile applications business unit as the company grew to a multi-billion dollar provider of mobile device insurance sold through the wireless carriers. He was the first marketing and product lead at RMS, which developed predictive risk modeling software that became the defacto standard for pricing and transfer of catastrophe risk for the global insurance industry. Steve holds an MBA from the Wharton School, where he graduated as a Palmer Scholar, and holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering and a BA in Economics from Stanford University. About World Innovation Lab World Innovation Lab (WiL) is a US & Japan-based VC firm with capital from governments and leading global corporations in Japan and throughout Asia - including Sony, Suzuki, NTT, KDDI, 7-Eleven & others. WiL invests in companies that are ready to scale and enter new markets. The firm helps US startups expand to Japan and Asia, and Japanese startups expand worldwide. Recent direct company investments include Algolia, Asana, Automation Anywhere, Auth0, DataRobot, Kong, Mercari, MURAL, TransferWise, and Unqork. In addition to direct investment, WiL invests in exceptional venture funds - both established and emerging. WiL also works with its corporate investors on evolving their own innovation capabilities through new business creation, partnerships with leading startups, and organizational culture change. WiL acts as the bridge between startups and corporates across key innovation hubs around the globe in driving growth - starting with Japan and the US.
In our latest episode of the Wharton Fintech Podcast, Anchit Gupta (WG’21) is joined by Rajan Bajaj, Co-Founder and CEO of Slice. Slice is a fintech startup that offers payment and credit solutions for people between the ages of 18 and 29. Slice is one of India's top card issuers and generated net profits within four years of its inception. Rajan graduated from IIT Kharagpur in India and built products for Flipkart Marketplace in its hatching phase. Rajan's unit was the fastest-growing business unit at the company during his tenure. Afterward, Rajan founded Mesh, a furniture rental startup. In this interview, Rajan shares: - His journey as an entrepreneur and motivations for launching Slice - The financial habits of India’s Gen-Z - How Slice compares to other card issuers and financial institutions - The future of digital payments in India and COVID's impact - Slice’s business model and the challenges of fraud, underwriting risk, etc. in India
Miguel Armaza interviews Edith Yeung and Chris McCann, General partners of Race Capital, a Venture Capital fund looking for market-transforming companies. Edith is also an author and creator of the China Internet Report, an annual report on China technology trends as well as the writer of Silicon.news – a weekly briefing on Silicon Valley news. Chris is an entrepreneur turned investor who previously founded and led the community program at Greylock Partners. In this interview, we talked about their background, investing strategy, and we even explore the Chinese fintech ecosystem.
In this podcast, Miguel Armaza sits down with Sandy Kemper, Founder & CEO of C2FO, the world’s largest platform for working capital financing. C2FO serves over a million businesses representing over 10 trillion dollars in annual sales across more than 180 countries and their platform connects over 100 billion dollars of daily volume. Truly a global financial powerhouse! C2FO is a Series G company and has raised hundreds of millions of dollars from elite investors like Temasek, Union Square Ventures, Softbank, Allianz, Citi Ventures, Tiger Global and many more. Sandy has had a long and successful career in banking, technology, fintech, and asset management and he even told us how he turned his art collecting passion into a profitable business. Alexander “Sandy” C. Kemper Sandy is the founder of C2FO and serves as Chairman of the Board and CEO. In addition, he is Chairman of the Board of The Collectors Fund, a private equity fund focused on alternative asset classes. Prior to founding The Collectors Fund and C2FO, Sandy founded Perfect Commerce (fka eScout) and served as the company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from 2000-06. Prior to founding Perfect Commerce, he served as Chairman of the Board and CEO of UMB Bank and CEO of UMB Financial, a NASDAQ traded financial services company more than $20 billion in assets. Sandy began his career with UMB after graduating from Northwestern University in 1987. He majored in American History. Sandy is an active angel and venture investor and serves on the corporate boards of UMB Financial (NASDAQ: UMBF), UMB Bank, NIC (NASDAQ: EGOV), and AXA Art USA (NYSE: AXA). He previously served on the board of Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe) and BATS Exchange, two of the largest stock exchanges in the world. Sandy and his family are active in academic, civic and philanthropic endeavors. He serves on the board of the Agriculture Future of America (AFA), a non-profit scholarship and leadership development organization that he co-founded. Sandy and his family live on a farm in Kansas City, Mo., where they raise and care for their horses, sheep and any and all wild animals (not including their four children). About C2FO C2FO is the world’s largest platform for working capital. We serve over one million businesses representing $10.5 trillion in annual sales across more than 180 countries. Our online platform connects more than $100 billion of daily accounts payable and accounts receivable. Whether you need working capital or have excess working capital, Name Your Rate™, and the C2FO platform will match your request in seconds. You can accelerate or extend AP or AR on demand, providing you, your customers and your suppliers greater control over cash flow. You can also utilize AR financing and other data-driven funding options. C2FO is working capital, working for everyone. Our mission is to deliver a future where every company in the world has the capital needed to grow. To learn more, visit C2FO.com.
In this episode, Miguel Armaza sits down with Sheel Mohnot, Co-Founder of Better Tomorrow, a $70 million venture capital fund that invests in seed-stage Fintech companies around the world. His own startup experience includes 2 successful FinTech exits – a payments company and a high-stakes auction firm, and he is also a General Partner of the 500 Fintech fund. He formerly worked as a financial services consultant at BCG and started his FinTech career at Kiva, a non-profit p2p lender. In this interview, we explore Sheel’s background, his journey as a fintech operator and entrepreneur, the transition from Angel Investor to Venture Capitalist, and his approach to evaluating seed-stage fintech investing opportunities.
It's no secret that FinTech has boomed during COVID as workers, companies, and everyday people were forced to digitize their lives. But by how much is FinTech changing people's lives, and are they happy with this transition? In today's episode, Ryan Zauk sits down with Plaid's John Pitts to discuss the company's inaugural report with the Harris Poll analyzing FinTech in the wake of COVID (and plenty of other topics). Plaid and the Harris Poll surveyed the nation to understand consumer behavior changes and preferences, and whether they will last through this COVID crisis. Report Link: https://plaid.com/the-fintech-effect-2020-consumer-report/ Though Plaid needs no introduction, it is a data transfer network that powers Fintech and digital finance products by enabling applications to connect with users' bank accounts. Prior to Plaid, John was one of the first hires at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Before the CFPB, he was an associate at Orrick, Herrington, and Sutcliffe. John is a graduate of UPenn's Carey School of Law and Kenyon College. In today's episode, John covers a lot of ground including: - His time at the CFPB and their initial assessment of Bitcoin - Comparing and contrasting the US, UK, Canadian, and EU fintech regulatory landscape - Why he's so excited about Canada's fintech prospects - Their landmark study with the Harris Poll on FinTech adoption during COVID - Where the government went right and wrong during its stimulus efforts And much more For more insights and analysis from FinTech leaders, follow us below: Medium: https://medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: https://twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: https://twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
In this episode, Miguel Armaza interviews Stefan Möller, Co-Founder and CEO of Klar, a Mexican challenger bank working to democratize debit and credit in Mexico. Klar is making credit accessible to all Mexicans, including those with no credit history. It helps people build credit by looking at how and where they spend their money, without having to rely on obsolete and traditional credit scores. Klar’s business has experienced rapid growth having issued over 25,000 credit lines amongst its 200,000 customers in less than 12 months and their growth has tripled during the pandemic. Klar has raised almost $73 million in debt and equity from some of the most prestigious funds in the industry, including Prosus Ventures, the World Bank’s IFC, Quona, Mouro Capital, aCrew, FJ Labs, and Gilgamesh Ventures*. Stefan Möller Stefan Möller is the Co-Founder and CEO of Klar, a Mexican challenger bank working to democratize debit and credit in Mexico. Before starting Klar, Stefan was a Venture Director at Nova Founders Capital, a global fintech investment company where he learned first hand the challenges faced by consumers seeking access to decent financial services. Before Nova Founders, Stefan worked as a consultant at Bain and Company where he developed a deep understanding of the limitations faced by financial institutions in their path to digital transformation. Prior to that, Stefan developed several entrepreneurial ventures in Mexico and Germany. Stefan has an MBA from IESE Business School in Barcelona, and a BA in Economics from the Goethe Institut in Frankfurt and studies in Yale university. About Klar Klar has been working to democratize financial services in Mexico since 2019 by offering a 100% digital, transparent, free and secure alternative to traditional credit and debit services. Unlike traditional financial institutions, Klar provides consumers with a unique set of features and benefits. For more information visit: www.klar.mx * Miguel Armaza is a Co-Founder of Gilgamesh Ventures and a proud supporter of Klar.
Miguel Armaza sits down with Irene Arias Hofman, CEO of IDB Lab, the innovation laboratory of the Inter-American Development Bank Group, the leading source of development finance for Latin America and the Caribbean. The purpose of IDB Lab is to drive innovation for inclusion by supporting early-stage entrepreneurial solutions capable of transforming the lives of vulnerable populations. Previously, Irene worked for 20 years at the IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, where she managed the Financial Institutions Group and also the LAC region with its 16-billion- dollar portfolio. Her focus has been on innovation and technology, venture capital, and organizational development.
In our latest episode, Hinal Shah (WG’20) is joined by Michael Sidgmore, a Partner at Broadhaven Ventures. Broadhaven is a venture capital firm focused on early-stage investment opportunities at the intersection of financial services and technology. Broadhaven Ventures is a VC fund affiliated with Broadhaven Capital Partners, an independent fintech investment bank that has done over $50 billion in transaction volume. Broadhaven Ventures has investments in companies like Liveoak (acquired by DocuSign), Credijusto, Kyash, MoneyLion, Starship, BioCatch, Harvest Wealth, Kovi, and Nowports. Michael Sidgmore is also a Venture Partner at Goodwater Capital, a consumer tech VC that has invested in fintech companies including Toss, Monzo, Stash, Kyash, and Tide, amongst others. Prior to Broadhaven, Michael was an operator at two different fintech startups, where he helped build their sales teams. He was employee #8 at iCapital Network and was the first sales hire at Mosaic. Michael started his career on Goldman Sachs' Principal Strategic Investments Group in London. Michael holds a BSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics. In this interview, Michael shares: - Broadhaven’s approach to fintech investing globally - The types of business they seek out - Fintech opportunities in emerging markets and future trends to watch - The impact of COVID-19 and the opportunities it may bring for fintech and non-fintech players - Advice for those looking to enter venture capital or start/join fintech companies And much more…
In this episode, Miguel Armaza sits down with Anu Shultes, CEO of LendUp, a mission-driven fintech company focused on expanding access to credit and creating pathways to better financial health. A 25-year veteran of the financial services industry, Anu has a personal mission to lift people out of poverty and infuses her work with her passion for financial inclusion. Anu’s career spans a broad spectrum of roles across subprime credit cards, subprime loans, and prepaid cards. Her significant experience building efficient operational processes and teams to support them has led her to become one of the few female CEOs in fintech. LendUp is backed by a long list of top VCs, including QED, PayPal Ventures, Google Ventures, Y-Combinator, Thomvest, Radicle, Data Collective, Susa Ventures, and many more!
In today’s episode of the Wharton FinTech Podcast, Ryan Zauk sits down with Rob Underwood, Chief Development Officer of FINOS. FINOS, short for the FinTech Open Source Foundation, is a global community creating open-source solutions for financial services. As a community of people, companies, and events, FINOS’s purpose is to accelerate collaboration and innovation in financial services through the adoption of open-source software, standards, and best practices. Their 30+ member organizations include Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Github, Citi, Symphony, and many more. They have over 300 contributors developing over 40 open-source projects. Before FINOS, Rob served as CTO at Relay Graduate School of Education; was Executive Director of TeachCS; founded CodeBrooklyn; and later, after starting his own consulting firm, TTM Advisors, advised and consulted for edtech startups such as Codesters. Before these roles, Rob was a senior manager at Deloitte Consulting, LLP and KPMG Consulting/BearingPoint. Earlier in life, Rob spent time both teaching and working in Japan after graduating from Colby College. In this episode, Rob covers: - The genesis of FINOS and its purpose - How the world’s leading financial services and tech companies get involved with FINOS - How these brutally competitive firms work together - Some of the most exciting projects they’re taking on - His love for the Grateful Dead and Phish …And much more To learn more about FINOS, you can click the links below as well as find Rob on Twitter at @BrooklynRob. perspective.finos.org fdc3.finos.org landscape.finos.org www.twitter.com/brooklynrob For more insights and analysis from FinTech leaders, follow us below: Medium: https://medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: https://twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: https://twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
In this episode, Miguel Armaza sits down with Greg Krasnov , Founder & CEO of tonik, a digital bank in the Philippines with a mission to revolutionize the way money works in Southeast Asia. Tonik is backed by major industry investors, including Sequoia Capital, Point72 Ventures, Insignia Ventures, and Credence Partners. Greg is a serial entrepreneur at heart and launched his first business at the age of 18. Prior to starting tonik, he invested in, co-founded and chaired four other successful fintech startups through his Singapore-based fintech venture builder called FORUM. Greg is also a talented musician and, as a bonus for our listeners, we have included some of his work at the end of the interview. Greg Krasnov Greg is the Founder & CEO of tonik (www.tonikbank.com), the first digital neobank in the Philippines, and one of the few neobanks globally that is operating on the basis of its own bank license. tonik is backed by major international Venture Capital investors, including Sequoia Capital, Point72 Ventures, Insignia Ventures, and Credence Partners. Prior to starting tonik, Greg co-founded and chaired four other successful fintech startups in Asia: Credolab (www.credolab.com), FLOW (www.flow-tech.ai), Solarhome (www.solar-home.asia), and AsiaKredit (www.asiakredit.com). Greg invested into and supported these ventures through his Singapore-based fintech venture builder FORUM (www.forum-cap.com), in partnership with some of the leading Venture Capital funds in Southeast Asia. Prior to moving to Asia, Greg was the Founder/CEO of one of the top private equity-backed success stories in Consumer Lending in Eastern Europe, Platinum Bank (Ukraine), which was exited in 2013 generating over $150 million for the investors. Before that, Greg spent 10 years in Private Equity in Europe at Bank of America (London) and Innova Capital (Warsaw). A serial entrepreneur at heart, Greg’s launched his first business at the age of 18, earning his way through college in the USA through coding and PC repair. Global citizen, having lived in 8 countries across 3 continents, and done business in 40+ countries, currently residing in Singapore. Married, with one son. Lifelong hobbies include sailing and music. Considering balance to be key to a successful life, Greg had lived and cruised Southeast Asia aboard a sailboat for 2 years with his family, as well as recorded two albums, one of which is published on Spotify. Greg is a long-standing member of the global Young President’s Organization (www.ypo.org), and the Founder of its Kyiv Chapter. Fluent in English, Polish, and Russian. Graduate of Cambridge University (UK) and Arizona State University (USA).
In this episode, Miguel Armaza sits down with Sean Collins and Bill McNichols, Co-Founders of Goldfinch Partners, a Private Equity firm focused on enterprise technology companies that power digital transformation, with a focus on marketing, Commerce, Payments, FinTech, Supply Chain, and Human Capital. Prior to Goldfinch, Sean was Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer of BCG Digital Ventures, where he oversaw investments globally into 75+ ventures and Bill was the Senior Vice President of Corporate and Business Development at Starbucks where he led over 40 transactions including more than $11 billion of acquisitions, divestitures and investments. Sean Collins Sean has over 20 years of experience investing, advising, operating, and building companies focused on digital transformation. Prior to Goldfinch, Sean was Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer of BCG Digital Ventures, where he oversaw investments globally into 75+ ventures. Prior to BCG DV, he was SVP of E-commerce, Marketing, and Strategy at the Sports Authority where he helped engineer a turnaround that leveraged digital marketing and e-commerce to drive revenue growth. Previously, he was an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company where he advised Retail, TMT, and Private Equity clients. Sean holds a BA from Whitman College in Economics & Music. Bill McNichols Bill has more than 20 years experience as an investor and operator. Prior to co-founding Goldfinch, Bill was SVP of Corporate and Business Development at Starbucks where he led over 40 transactions including more than $11 billion of acquisitions, divestitures and investments along with numerous commercial partnerships. Prior to Starbucks, Bill was a senior investment professional at Vulcan Capital, where his portfolio included DreamWorks, Oxygen Media, and TowerCo. Bill began his career at Gleacher & Co where he focused on advisory and investment work in the CPG, quick service restaurant and TMT sectors. Bill holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA with high honors from Colgate University. Goldfinch Partners Founded in 2018, Goldfinch Partners invests in the enterprise technology companies that power digital transformation. Goldfinch thematically invests in the sectors and spaces they know deeply, including Marketing, Commerce, Payments, FinTech, Supply Chain, and Human Capital.
In this episode, Miguel Armaza sits down with Raj Ganguly, Co-founder and Managing Partner at B Capital Group, a global growth equity firm with $1.5 billion in assets under management, focused on investing in B2B startups across four technology-enabled verticals, including Fintech and Insuretech. In this interview, we talked about the story behind B Capital, their investing approach, his outlook on fintech around the world, the road ahead, and the challenges and opportunities of fundraising and investing over zoom. Raj Ganguly Raj Ganguly is a co-founder and Managing Partner at B Capital Group. He currently serves on the boards of Winmore, Journera, Atomwise, and Evidation Health. In addition, Raj is a Senior Advisor to the Boston Consulting Group. Previously, Raj was a Managing Partner of Velos Partners, a global venture growth firm with offices in Los Angeles, Singapore, and London. Before his career in venture capital, Raj spent six years at Bain Capital, conducting operational due diligence and driving growth and operational improvements in portfolio companies across the United States and Asia. Raj earned an MBA from Harvard Business School, and summa cum laude honors as a BSE and BAS from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and School of Engineering and Applied Science, where he graduated from the Management & Technology Program as a Benjamin Franklin Scholar and Joseph Wharton Scholar. B Capital Group B Capital Group is a growth equity firm focused on investing in B2B startups across four technology-enabled verticals: Enterprise technology and Consumer enablement, Fintech and Insurtech, Transportation and Industrial and HealthcareTech and Bio IT.
In our latest episode of the Wharton Fintech Podcast, Anchit Gupta (WG’21) is joined by Elliott Limb, Chief Customer Officer of Mambu. Founded in 2011, Mambu is a cloud-native software-as-a-service provider powering banking through open API-enabled architectures. Mambu helps financial institutions of all sizes to rapidly design, launch, service, and scale their banking and lending portfolios. Mambu has been featured in the CBInsights list of 250 world’s most promising fintech companies. Prior to Mambu, Elliott held several senior positions in the banking and Fintech industry. He has been named one of the most influential people in fintech as an entrepreneur, board member, and investor across multiple sectors. At Mambu, Elliott is focused on a customer-centric approach to doing business, growing revenue, and helping banks build flexible and scalable solutions. In this interview, Elliott shares: - His background and journey to Mambu - The history of Mambu and its service offerings - How Mambu helps financial institutions develop an edge over their competitors and launch rapidly in new markets - The shift in mindset and rapid adoption of cloud-based architecture in the banking industry - The challenges of building a common and flexible service for different types of FIs - Elliott’s opinion on the future of large incumbent banks with the rise of digital-first neobanks
In this episode, Miguel Armaza sits down with Erika Lucas, Co-Founder of StitchCrew and VEST. StitchCrew, in partnership with the NBA team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, runs an accelerator program to connect entrepreneurs with the capital, resources and networks they need to launch and scale businesses. VEST is a curated network of highly influential women across business and civic sectors working together to dismantle the barriers precluding more women from reaching positions of power and influence. Prior to launching her own venture, Erika was a Private Equity Partner and led the Global Division at the Oklahoma Department of Commerce. She serves on multiple private and public boards, including the board of directors of ARVEST Bank.
In this podcast, Miguel Armaza is joined by David Green, Chief Product Officer at Earnest, where he oversees Product Management, Product Design, User Research, Data, and Analytics. Earnest is a company tackling the $1.6 trillion student debt balance in the US by helping graduates take control of their financial wellness and empower them with the capital they need to live better lives. Earnest has raised over $120 million from investors including Maveron, Accomplice, New York Life Insurance, and many more. Prior to his current role, David founded Poplar Finance, which sought to eliminate the need for large security deposits in residential rentals. He received his MBA from The Wharton School and a B.A. from George Washington University. David Green David Green is an accomplished operator and Chief Product Officer at Earnest where he oversees Product Management, Product Design, User Research, Data, and Analytics. Known for constantly seeking out new challenges and driving better outcomes by continuously improving his skill set, David loves to build companies and products he believes in. Prior to his role with Earnest today, he founded a fintech startup, Poplar Finance, which sought to eliminate the need for large security deposits in residential rentals. During his first stint at Earnest he helped scale the company from 20 to 200+ employees and as the Vice President of Business Operations at the American Mortgage Consultants, Inc. he managed large operations teams of 300+ remote employees. He received his MBA from The Wharton School and a B.A. from George Washington University. When he’s not founding startups or training teams, David can be found playing outside, either mountaineering, hiking, trail running, or camping. He is an avid fitness fiend, also looking for new songs and albums he can play while he takes in the sights and sounds of Mother Nature. About Earnest Earnest is a fintech company that’s tackling the $1.6 trillion student debt balance in the US. One in five adults is affected by student loan debt – Earnest is on a mission to help graduates take control of their financial wellness and empower them with the capital they need to live better lives. Earnest uses technology, data and design to build better loan products that help customers. The company currently has over 124k clients and has refinanced over $10.2 billion in student loans. In addition to student loan refinancing, Earnest introduced its own private student loan product in 2019.
Miguel Armaza is sits down with Nima Ghamsari, CEO and Co-Founder of Blend, a company transforming the $40+ trillion consumer lending industry, by delivering speed and efficiency to mortgage lenders to navigate a complex industry. Blend is a newly minted unicorn that has raised almost $400 million in equity from some of the top VCs in the industry, including Canapi Ventures. Temasek, General Atlantic, 8VC, Greylock, Peter Thiel, and many more! Prior to Blend, Nima was an early employee at Palantir Technologies, where he co-founded its commercial group focused on major data challenges for the financial sector. Nima is also a former semi-professional Poker player and talked to us about some of the parallels between entrepreneurship and the game of Poker. Nima Ghamsari Nima Ghamsari is the CEO and co-founder of Blend, a Silicon Valley technology company transforming the $40+ trillion consumer lending industry. Blend’s cloud-based technology, for mortgages and consumer banking, delivers speed and efficiency to lenders so they can serve the modern borrower and safely navigate the industry’s changing rules and regulations. Prior to Blend, Nima was an early employee at Palantir Technologies, where he co-founded its commercial group solving major data challenges for the financial sector. After the 2008 financial crisis, Nima worked directly with major banks and agencies to develop and implement software enabling underwater borrowers to avoid foreclosures while saving financial institutions billions of dollars. About Blend Blend helps lenders streamline the customer journey for any banking product from application to close. Its Digital Lending Platform is used by Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, and over 250 other leading financial institutions to acquire more customers, increase productivity, and deepen customer relationships. The company enables customers to process more than $3.5 billion in mortgages and consumer loans per day, helping millions of consumers get into homes and gain access to the capital they need to lead better lives. To learn more, visit blend.com.
Miguel Armaza interviews Brian Barnes, Founder and CEO of M1 Finance, a money management platform that combines investing, borrowing, and banking into a single app. Brian launched M1 in 2015 after he felt frustrated with the tools available to manage his own money and has since grown the company into a platform that manages more than $2 billion dollars on behalf of 200k users with 75 employees. M1 has also raised over $55 million dollars in equity from backers including Clocktower Technology Ventures, Left Lane Capital, Chicago Ventures, and many more. Brian Barnes Brian Barnes is the Founder and CEO of M1 Finance. He started M1 in mid-2015 after frustrations with the tools available to manage his own money and has grown the company from an idea to a platform that manages more than $2B. Prior to M1, Brian worked as an equity researcher at a hedge fund and as a management consultant. He has a BA in Economics from Stanford University. M1 Finance M1 Finance is a money management platform the combines the best of investing, borrowing, and banking into one easy to use app. With M1, users can automatically invest in a customizable portfolio for free, borrow against your portfolio for rates as low as 2%, and use M1 as your primary bank with an industry leading 1% APY and 1% cash back on debit card purchases. M1 manages more than $2B on behalf of 200,000 users. The company is headquartered in Chicago and has 75 employees.
Tomi Davies. A systems Analyst turned Tech Strategy Advisor, Public Speaker and Angel Investor, Tomi Davies is Collaborator-in-Chief at TechnoVision, co-founder of the Lagos Angel Network and President of the African Business Angel Network. He has been described by Techcrunch as Africa’s Top Angel investor. As a thought leader with increasing knowledge gained from nurturing entrepreneurs in a growing portfolio of tech-enabled early-stage business ventures originating from Africa, Tomi’s personal mission is “to help drive Africa’s development by supporting young entrepreneurs using innovation and technology to create social impact and economic value.”
We hear a lot about ESG investing, Catholicism-based investing, and more in the wealth & asset management world. But what about Earth’s 2 billion Muslims? In a religion that disallows interest and has plenty of restrictions (alcohol, etc.), finding shariah-compliant investments is not easy. Enter Wahed, a halal investment platform for everyday Muslims. We sat down with Kareem Tabbaa, Chief Product Officer of Wahed to learn more about this product and their $25M fundraise from Saudi Aramco. Wahed allows everyday Muslims to build wealth by investing in companies in compliance with their faith. Wahed’s portfolios include a combination of Wahed-made ETFs, Gold, Cash, and Sukuks, which are a shariah-compliant instrument similar to debt that pays revenue share instead of interest. In today’s episode, Kareem discusses: - His background - The unexpected role Apple played in starting Wahed - What their investment portfolios look like - Their first customers and initial growth strategy - The massive, underserved Muslim market - And much more Kareem joined Wahed in 2017 as Chief Growth Officer and moved to Chief Product Officer in 2018. Before Wahed, Kareem worked in London and his home country of Jordan at companies such as HeadStart Advisers, Diversified Retail Trading, and Goldman Sachs. Kareem graduated from London’s Cass Business School with 1st-Class Honors where he wrote his dissertation on the effect of sovereign credit rating changes on the local stock markets in the MENA region. For more insights and analysis from FinTech leaders, follow us below: Medium: https://medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: https://twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: https://twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
Miguel Armaza sits down with Bo Brustkern, Co-Founder & CEO of LendIt Fintech, one of the world’s leading fintech events and media companies. In this episode, we talk about Bo’s career, LendIt’s journey, and his take on some of the most interesting fintech trends out there. Bo also talked about LendIt USA 2020, their upcoming online conference scheduled for September 29 - October 1. This year’s agenda will be their best on yet, featuring 4,000+ attendees, 1,500+ companies, and 230+ speakers from 50+ countries. For Wharton Fintech listeners interested in attending, LendIt has offered a 15% discount using the promo code WHARTON15%. Wharton Fintech will then donate the proceeds of our commission to First Generation Investors, a non-profit that teaches high school students in underserved communities the power of investing. Bo Brustkern For over 20 years, Bo Brustkern has set himself apart as a leader in understanding, funding and leading cutting-edge developments in fintech and financial services. In addition to co-founding and leading LendIt Fintech, Mr. Brustkern co-founded Arcstone Valuation (2006), Arcstone Equity Research (2010) and NSR Invest (2013). Previously, he was a venture capitalist at Rustic Canyon Partners in Silicon Valley; and a private equity investor at BACE Industries in Denver, Colorado. Mr. Brustkern earned his MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA, with distinction as a Deutschman Venture Fellow, in 2001; and his BA from Dartmouth College in 1995.
Miguel Armaza sits down with David Poritz, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Credijusto, a company focused on lending to the underserved and rapidly growing small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) market in Mexico. The company aims to provide products that are superior in price, speed of delivery, and quality of customer experience. Credijusto uses a combination of cutting-edge software design, innovative applications of data science, and advanced internal processes for decision making and product structuring. Credijusto is backed by a world-class group of institutional investors, including Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, Victory Park Capital, QED Investors, Point72 Ventures, Kaszek Ventures, Thomvest Ventures, Broadhaven Ventures, Ignia, Elevar Equity, and John J. Mack. David Poritz David Poritz, Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Credijusto, is responsible for leading the finance and legal departments as well as all investor outreach and engagement, including relationships with banks, credit funds and equity investors. Prior to Credijusto, he was the Co-Founder & President of Equitable Origin, an organization focused on standards development and certification of responsible energy development. David was a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford and holds an undergraduate degree from Brown University where he was a Harry S. Truman Scholar. About Credijusto Founded in 2015, Credijusto is a financial technology company focused on lending to the underserved and rapidly growing small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) market in Mexico — via products that are superior in price, speed of delivery and quality of customer experience. The company uses a combination of cutting-edge software design, innovative applications of data science and advanced internal processes for decision making and product structuring.
In our latest episode of the Wharton Fintech podcast, Anchit Gupta (WG’21) is joined by Kenon Chen, Head of Corporate Strategy at Clear Capital, a leading real estate valuation, analytics and platform technology solutions company. Clear Capital is the largest independently-held real estate analytics firm in the US, having 47 of the top 50 US lenders (banks) as customers. As the Head of Corporate Strategy, Kenon Chen sits at the intersection of the executive, product, marketing, and sales teams, guiding growth and ensuring the delivery of consistent and long-term value to customers and partners. Kenon has developed and launched some of their most forward-looking solutions, including ClearProp and ClearCollateral. After honing his engineering and tech leadership skills in San Francisco as a director of technology for Roundpeg, Kenon was introduced to the mortgage industry in the early 2000s leading tech projects for a large lender. In this interview, Kenon shares: - His educational background and journey before joining Clear Capital - The history of Clear Capital and its launch - Clear Capital’s customer base and competitive landscape - The challenges of working in the dynamic real estate industry - Their new remote inspection tool for property valuation during COVID-19 - The impact of technology in revolutionizing the real estate industry - The firm’s expansion plans beyond the US and the change in the firm’s strategy due to the pandemic - Kenon’s opinion on the future of real estate industry Enjoy the show.
In this episode, Miguel Armaza sits down with Daniel M. Green, Partner and Co-head of Gunderson Dettmer’s Latin America practice group, an international elite law firm focused on startups and venture capital. Dan’s focus is Latin America and Europe, where he represents companies as well as U.S. and international investors pursuing business opportunities in those regions. His practice encompasses all areas of corporate and securities law, including company formation and financing, public offerings, debt transactions, corporate governance and investor-side financings. Recent transactions handled by Dan include Uber’s Cornershop acquisition, recent financings by Clip, Konfio, Credijusto, and Valar Ventures’ investments in TransferWise, N26, and many more. Dan holds a JD from Harvard Law School and a Bachelor from Stanford University.
Miguel Armaza sits down with Alexis Pantazis and Emilios Markou, Co-Founders of Hellas Direct, a digital-first, full-stack insurance company located in Greece. Modeling itself on Amazon, Hellas Direct aims to disrupt the insurance value chain by adopting an extreme focus on operational excellence and data analytics. Hellas Direct was recently listed by the Financial Times as one of Europe’s 1,000 Fastest Growing Companies. The company is backed by a roster of leading investors, including Portag3, the IFC from the World Bank, Endeavor Catalyst, and a number of world-renowned angel investors. Alexis Pantazis Alexis Pantazis is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Hellas Direct. Prior to Hellas Direct, he was an Executive Director at Goldman Sachs where he led principal investing and new strategic initiatives for the firm in the European investment management field. A former strategy consultant with the Boston Consulting Group, he also worked for Miramax Films in New York and the Competition Directorate General of the European Commission in Brussels. Alexis is a Fulbright and British Chevening Scholar, a Robert & Diane Levy Fellow and an Endeavor Global Entrepreneur. Emilios Markou Emilios Markou is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Hellas Direct. Prior to Hellas Direct, he was a Director in the European Financial Institutions Structuring team at Barclays Capital. Before that, he was an Executive Director at the Goldman Sachs Investment Banking Division where he led a number of projects within the firm's European insurance practice. A former strategy consultant with McKinsey & Company, Emilios advised a number of European, US and Asian clients on numerous strategic issues in insurance, banking, energy and transportation. Emilios is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries (FIA) in the United Kingdom and an Endeavor Global Entrepreneur. Hellas Direct profile Hellas Direct is a digital-first, full-stack insurance company, empowered by cutting-edge technology and the use of advanced analytics. The company is backed by a roster of leading investors, including Portag3, IFC (a member of the World Bank), Endeavor Catalyst, former Goldman Sachs economist Lord O’Neill and private equity veteran Jon Moulton. Modelling itself on Amazon, Hellas Direct aims to disrupt the insurance value chain by adopting an extreme focus on operational excellence. Hellas Direct was recently listed by the Financial Times as one of Europe’s 1,000 Fastest Growing Companies.
Miguel Armaza sits down with Crystal Williams, Chief Human Resources Officer for FLEETCOR (NYSE: FLT), a leading payments company that aims to simplify the way businesses manage and pay their expenses by allowing them to automate, secure, digitize, and control payments on behalf of their employees and suppliers. FLEETCOR operates around the world and is listed on the NYSE with a current market cap of $20 billion. Crystal leads human capital across multiple business units and geographies and serves as strategic advisor to the Chairman and CEO. She is also an MBA graduate from the Wharton School. Crystal Williams Crystal Williams is the Chief Human Resources Officer for FLEETCOR, a leading global payments company. Williams leads human capital across multiple business units and geographies and serves as strategic advisor to the Chairman and CEO. She applies deep-rooted experience to establish widespread success in her key roles in mergers and acquisitions, talent management, and organizational development. During her 17-year tenure, Williams navigated the cultural transition around FLEETCOR’s IPO, grew the workforce from a few hundred to more than 8,000 employees, instituted numerous successful leadership development programs and leads a 129-person HR department with team members spanning 9 countries. Her strategic and dynamic approach to HR and leadership has earned recognition from the Atlanta Business Chronicle, Women Worth Watching and the Stevie Awards for Women in Business. Williams received an MBA in strategic management from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. About FLEETCOR: FLEETCOR Technologies (NYSE: FLT) is a leading global business payments company that simplifies the way businesses manage and pay their expenses. The FLEETCOR portfolio of brands helps companies automate, secure, digitize, and control payments on behalf of their employees and suppliers. FLEETCOR serves businesses, partners, and merchants in North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. For more information, please visit www.FLEETCOR.com.
In this Wharton Fintech Podcast, Miguel Armaza is joined by Caribou Honig, Chairman & Co-founder of InsurTech Connect, as well as Co-founder of the HR Transform Conference, focused on the impact of technology on the workplace. Caribou is also a legendary investor that sits on the board of several startups. He previously co-founded QED Investors, a VC firm focused on data-driven companies, was a top executive at Capital One, and is currently a partner at SemperVirens, a VC focused on the Future of Work. Caribou’s Insurtech Connect, the leading InsurTech conference, will be taking place September 21 – 23, bringing 200+ leaders to the virtual stage. Register and find more information at https://insuretechconnect.com/ Caribou Honig Caribou Honig enjoys pursuing harebrained ideas and supporting the creation of new businesses. He is Chairman & Cofounder of InsureTech Connect as well as cofounder of the HR Transform conference focused on the impact of technology on the workplace. Caribou is an independent board director with several startups and is a partner at SemperVirens, a VC firm focused on the Future of Work. He previously cofounded QED Investors, a boutique venture capital firm focused on data-driven companies. Caribou and his wife live in Richmond, Virginia with their two occasionally annoying dogs.
Miguel Armaza is joined by Donna Parisi, Global Head of the Finance Business Unit for Shearman & Sterling, a global law firm with over 850 lawyers in 24 offices worldwide. Donna is one of the firm’s Financial Services Industry leaders and also leads Shearman & Sterling’s FinTech Foundry and Shearman Women, the firm’s women’s initiative. About Shearman & Sterling With more than 850 lawyers in 24 offices, Shearman & Sterling is a global law firm that partners with corporations, major financial institutions, emerging growth companies, governments and state-owned enterprises to provide the legal and industry insight needed to navigate the challenges of today and achieve their ambitions of tomorrow.
Miguel Armaza sits down with Craig J. Lewis, Founder and CEO of Gig Wage, a company building modern payment tools for the future of work. Gigwage’s innovative vision aims to modernize an antiquated industry by designing a service that meets the needs of on-demand workforces. Craig graduated from Morehead State University and upon graduation became a Professional Basketball player across Europe, until returning back state side and becoming an expert in payroll technology. Prior to building Gig Wage, Craig became the Chief Strategy Officer of Kairos, a facial recognition/emotion detection startup. Craig was an excellent guest and is an ambitious dreamer who believes is technology’s capacity for wealth creation and its ability to improve lives. He is committed to building this legacy for his family, wife, and 4 children, while elevating the community around him through mentorship and growth.
In our latest episode of the Wharton Fintech podcast, Anchit Gupta (WG '21) sits down with Nitya Sharma, CEO and Co-Founder of Simpl. Simpl is a technology company that offers Pay-later solutions in India. Simpl has revolutionized online checkout in India by creating a market-leading Pay-Later platform, empowering e-commerce merchants to offer their consumers 1-click checkout, a line of credit at POS, and full buyer protection. Before starting Simpl, Nitya worked on Wall Street for more than 10 years, where he structured, traded and risk-managed structured credit portfolios at Bear Stearns and Goldman Sachs. Before that, he was a co-founding portfolio manager at JNF Financial, a distressed credit hedge fund from 2010–2014. Nitya initially moved back to India with the objective of starting an emerging-markets focused hedge-fund. However, he experienced the shortcomings of the Indian payments and credit stack first-hand when his credit card application was declined. This experience prompted him to dig deeper into the Indian payments landscape and subsequently led to the founding of Simpl. In this interview, Nitya shares: - His educational background and journey as an entrepreneur - His motivations for launching Simpl - Simpl's business model and the challenges of underwriting risk in a cash-first economy like India - Differences between banking infrastructure in India and the US - Simpl's plans to compete with financial incumbents as well as big tech firms such as Amazon and Google - The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on Simpl - Nitya's future plans for the organization Nitya has his B.E. in Mechanical Engineering from Punjab Engineering College and his Masters in Financial Engineering from the University of Michigan.
Miguel Armaza sits down with Sarah Hammer, Managing Director of the Stevens Center for Innovation in Finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. The Stevens Center is the premier research, education, and thought leadership institution in the world for financial technology and blockchain. Amongst Sarah’s many interesting initiatives, she is now leading and helping organize the upcoming Wharton Hackathon, COVID and the Economy, taking place September 21-27, 2020! Visit the website at https://whartonhackathon.com/ for full details, rules and to register yourself or a full team. Hackathon Prompt: How has COVID-19 affected different aspects of the global economy and financial markets? The Wharton Hackathon is open to anyone around the world and we are seeking a diverse group of participants from all levels of experience and academic and professional backgrounds. Teams can consist of 1-4 members and no technical expertise is necessary. Registration closes Friday, September 18th at 12:00 PM. There is no cost to register. Submissions are due Friday, September 25th @ 5:00 PM. Participants will compete for prizes totaling $4,000. We are also excited to announce that throughout the hackathon, academics and accomplished industry professionals will hold virtual discussions on the effects of COVID-19 on a variety of topics related to the economy and financial markets.
Miguel Armaza sits down with Lupina Iturriaga, Founder and Co-CEO of Fintonic, the leading financial platform in Spain, solving the main financial needs more than 1 million users, by enabling them to make payments worldwide with the Fintonic account and to control their finances in the same app. Launched in 2012 at the height of the financial crisis in Spain, Fintonic has raised over $50 million in funding from backers including Atresmedia, Blackbox, ING Ventures, Premier Specialty Network, All Iron Ventures, Ideon Media. Lupina graduated in Business Administration and Management from CUNEF, where she was awarded a scholarship based on academic merit, which proved her worth within the business and financial sector. For some time she was fully dedicated to the world of banking, first in New York and then in Madrid, where she spent some years in the world of treasury and commercial banking, to finally join the company IDEON as a partner, leader in the area of financial consulting. Lupina Iturriaga's professional career positioned her as an expert in financial planning from a very young age and this, together with her entrepreneurial profile, led her to found Fintonic in Spain. FINTONIC was born at the end of 2012, proving a success among those interested in taking advantage of new technologies applied to simplify and control personal finances, saving, getting the best financing and a very exclusive card and account available to its users. Today, more than one million users are already taking advantage of this application, which offers information in a neutral and objective way, so that any citizen can make the best decisions regarding their money, save and also contract the best products from more than 50 entities directly from their mobile phones. Fintonic's usefulness and efficiency in managing personal finances has earned it the first Mobile Innovation Award in the Finance sector from Google, and it was named by IOS as the best Finance app, included in the select ranking of the best 20 apps, with Fintonic being the only one in Finance.
Miguel Armaza is joined by Shinichi (Shin) Takatori, Founder and CEO of Kyash the largest digital bank in Japan offering digital wallet, mobile payments, and credit card services. Launched in 2015, Kyash has raised more than $70 million in funding from backers including all three major Japanese megabank groups and venture capital investors including Greenspring Associates and Broadhaven Capital Partners. Prior to Kyash, Shin worked at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking and Kurt Salomon Consulting. He is a graduate of Waseda University.
Vanessa Colella is Citi’s Chief Innovation Officer (CIO), Head of Citi Ventures, and Head of Citi Productivity. She is focused on harnessing the power of Citi to help people, businesses, and communities thrive in a world of technological, behavioral, and societal change. Before assuming the role of CIO, Vanessa led venture investing and D10X for Citi Ventures, and previously ran marketing for Citi’s North American Consumer Bank. She joined Citi in 2010 from U.S. Venture Partners (USVP) after having held senior roles at Yahoo and McKinsey & Company. Vanessa received her masters’ degrees from Columbia University and M.I.T. as well as a Ph.D. from M.I.T.’s Media Lab. She holds an S.B. degree in molecular biology from M.I.T. and currently serves as a member of the Corporation’s Visiting Committee for the Media Lab.
In our latest episode of the Wharton Fintech podcast, Anchit Gupta (WG’21) is joined by Marwan Forzely, co-founder and CEO of Veem, a global payments company helping small businesses transfer money internationally. Veem is revolutionizing global business payments and wire transfer systems to help small businesses grow at home and abroad. Marwan is also the author of “Small Business in a Big World: A Comprehensive Guide to Doing International Business." Formerly of Western Union and eBillMe, Forzley is a thought leader in global finance, innovating in the space through disruptive technology like blockchain. In this interview, Marwan shares: - His background and journey as an entrepreneur - The difference between SWIFT and bitcoin-based transfers - The various ways in which Veem is helping businesses transfer money across borders - The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on Veem as well as their response to the pandemic and SBA Paycheck Protection Program - His opinion on the future of contactless payments - Advice to young entrepreneurs hustling through this crisis
In this Wharton Fintech Podcast episode, Miguel Armaza is joined by Iñigo Rumayor, Co-Founder and CRO of Arcus, the leading platform making fintech possible for everyone in the Americas. Arcus’ fintech-as-a-service platform helps any business launch a fintech business across the Americas including BBVA, Santander, Walmart, 7-Eleven and Rappi. Based in New York City, Arcus has raised $16M from Y-Combinator, Ignia, Maverick, Winklevoss, Initialized, HOF and Kapor. Inigo Rumayor Inigo is the co-founder and CRO of Arcus, the leading platform making fintech possible for everyone. Arcus’ fintech-as-a-service platform helps any business launch a fintech business across the Americas including BBVA, Santander, Walmart, 7-Eleven and Rappi. In his current role, Inigo is responsible for generating, managing and ensuring the growth of Arcus' business. As a founding member of Arcus, Inigo has served in several roles at the company, including a Vice President and CFO. Prior to Arcus, Inigo worked at Morgan Stanley and as the Managing Director of Rumayor Genetics, his family business, managing all aspects of the operations and expansion of the company. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. About Arcus Arcus is the leading platform making fintech possible for everyone. Arcus’ fintech-as-a-service platform helps any business launch a fintech business. The world’s largest and most innovative companies choose Arcus to launch fintech products across the Americas including BBVA, Santander, Walmart, 7-Eleven and Rappi. The company is based in New York City and has raised $16M from Y-Combinator, Ignia, Maverick, Winklevoss, Initialized, HOF and Kapor. For more information, please visit https://www.arcusfi.com/
On today's episode, Ryan Zauk sits down with Tim Levene, Co-Founder & CEO of Augmentum Fintech. Augmentum invests in fast-growing fintechs disrupting financial services and is the UK's only publicly listed investment company focusing fintech in Europe. Launched on the London Stock Exchange in 2018, Augmentum gives businesses access to patient capital and support unrestricted by conventional fund timelines. This structure also gives public market investors access to a largely privately held investment sector during its main period of growth. Their portfolio of 19 fintech companies includes Tide, interactive investor, iwoca, Zopa, Monese, BullionVault and Farewill. In this episode, we discuss: - Getting started in a fledgling EU VC & Entrepreneurship Scene - The Decision to go Public as a VC - Why fintechs stay private and how it hurts the public investor - His portcos and some he's kept his eye on including "death services" …and more Tim Levene is Co-Founder and CEO of Augmentum Fintech plc. As well as being an active fintech investor, Tim is an experienced entrepreneur, having also co-founded juice bar business Crussh and betting exchange Flutter.com, the latter of which became one of the highest-profile internet businesses in the UK after it merged with Betfair.com. Tim subsequently served as Commercial Director of Betfair. For more insights and analysis from FinTech leaders, follow us below: Medium: https://medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: https://twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: https://twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
In our latest podcast, Peter Jankovsky (WG'20) is joined by Emmalyn Shaw, Managing Partner at Flourish, a $500 M global venture fund whose investments leverage technology to advance financial health and economic resilience. Emmalyn co-manages the fund and leads its US investment efforts. She has 20 years of technology investing experience, working closely with entrepreneurs to build large-scale businesses. In this extensive interview, Emmalyn shares: • Flourish's goal of advancing financial health and how it grew out of Omidyar Network's impact mission • How Flourish identifies investment themes as well as specific companies to invest in • Portfolio companies that Emmalyn is especially excited about, and how they are helping consumers during COVID-19 • FinTech’s role in helping consumers overcome the financial challenges they are facing • Advice that Emmalyn has for those building careers as venture capitalists and/or entrepreneurs Prior to Flourish, Emmalyn was a Managing Partner at Omidyar Network where she co-managed the financial inclusion team. She joined Omidyar from Oak Investment Partners, where she was a venture partner. Prior to that, Emmalyn held roles at VantagePoint Partners and Barksdale Group. She began her career at Morgan Stanley and MSCI Barra. Emmalyn holds an MBA from Wharton and a BA from University of California at Berkeley, where she graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. When not with entrepreneurs, Emmalyn enjoys time with her husband and six kids.
In today's episode, Ryan Zauk sits down with Hanif Joshaghani, Co-Founder & CEO of Symend. Symend is a Calgary-based FinTech helping transform the impersonal, outdated, and inefficient problem of debt collections across the world. Symend's digital engagement platform combines behavioral science, AI and machine learning to provide a simple, personalized experience that empowers customers to take desired actions while improving outcomes and collector KPIs. Demand has only increased during COVID, where Symend has helped numerous companies personally engage each customer depending on his or her unique situation. Hanif shares how his own experiences as a child inspired him to create Symend, how the product works, how he spotted COVID back in January, and how he raised $52 million virtually. Hanif is serieal entrepreneur who is passionate about building high performing teams that deliver results for clients. Hanif's background includes 15 years of senior roles in capital markets, energy finance, business development and entrepreneurship in a broad range of industries including investment banking, energy and technology. He has raised about $100MM across the four companies he has founded with several exits to date. Hanif is also passionate about helping other entrepreneurs and is an active angel investor in several technologies companies. Hanif received his BA in Economics from UChicago and an MBA from the University of Toronto - Rotman School of Management. For more insights and analysis from FinTech leaders, follow us below: Medium: https://medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: https://twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: https://twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
In this episode, Miguel Armaza is joined by Prajit Nanu, CEO and Co-Founder of NIUM, a global fintech platform that aims to break currency borders by allowing businesses and consumers to send, spend and receive funds anywhere in the world. Founded in 2014, Nium now has hundreds of employees around the world and has attracted investment from industry leaders, including Beacon Venture Capital, MDI Ventures, Vertex Growth, Visa Ventures, and Rocket Internet. Prajit Nanu, Co-Founder and CEO of NIUM Prajit Nanu is the Co-Founder and CEO of NIUM, a global financial technology platform that aims to break currency borders by empowering businesses and consumers to send, spend and receive funds anywhere in the world in a more convenient and transparent way. Based in the company’s headquarters in Singapore, Prajit is responsible for expanding the company’s geographic reach and establishing NIUM as a leading financial technology platform all over the world. He oversees not just NIUM’s B2B arm of the business, but also its B2C platform InstaReM, powered by NIUM’s technology. Prajit is also responsible for driving innovation in key markets that NIUM has offices in, including Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, United Kingdom and the United States of America. Prior to co-founding InstaReM and eventually, NIUM, Prajit held leadership positions in various global organizations. He was the Global Sales Director at TMF Group, a multinational professional services firm headquartered in Amsterdam, and was the Vice President of Sales and Account Management at WNS Global Services, a business process management company. Prajit holds a Bachelor’s in Commerce & Economics from the University of Mumbai.
In this podcast, Miguel Armaza is joined by Adolfo Babatz, Founder and CEO of Clip, the leading solution in Mexico for small and medium businesses to accept digital payments. Founded in 2012, Clip now has more than 400 employees across Mexico and the US and has raised close to $150 million in equity from leading investors, including SoftBank, General Atlantic, Google for Startups Accelerator, and Angel Ventures. Adolfo Babatz Adolfo is the founder and CEO of Clip, the leading solution in Mexico for SMBs to accept digital payments. The company currently has more than 400 employees in different offices located in Salt Lake City, California, Utah, Guadalajara and Mexico City. Before Clip, Adolfo was responsible for Customer Engagement and New Product Development for PayPal Latin America. Before moving into the Engagement team, Adolfo led the team that opened PayPal in Mexico. Right before PayPal, Adolfo studied an MBA at MIT where he specialized in Entrepreneurship & Economics of Information. Previously, Adolfo worked as an advisor to the Executive Vice President of Grupo Desc, one of the largest industrial conglomerates in Mexico and shortly thereafter, was part of the founding team of The Carlyle Group Mexico, where he worked as an analyst. Adolfo Babatz Adolfo is the founder and CEO of Clip, the leading solution in Mexico for SMBs to accept digital payments. The company currently has more than 400 employees in different offices located in Salt Lake City, California, Utah, Guadalajara and Mexico City. Before Clip, Adolfo was responsible for Customer Engagement and New Product Development for PayPal Latin America. Before moving into the Engagement team, Adolfo led the team that opened PayPal in Mexico. Right before PayPal, Adolfo studied an MBA at MIT where he specialized in Entrepreneurship & Economics of Information. Previously, Adolfo worked as an advisor to the Executive Vice President of Grupo Desc, one of the largest industrial conglomerates in Mexico and shortly thereafter, was part of the founding team of The Carlyle Group Mexico, where he worked as an analyst. Clip Clip is Mexico’s leading solutions for SMBs to accept digital payments. Clip transformed card acceptance in Mexico by offering different models of portable card-reading hardware to accept all credit and debit cards as well as other payment options. The company is focused on empowering Mexican businesses via a set of tools designed to increase merchant’s sales and help them manage their business. The company currently offers hardware products and other solutions to help merchants thrive. For more information visit www.clip.mx Clip is a financial technology startup based in Mexico City (MEX) and Silicon Valley (USA).
In this podcast, Miguel Armaza sits down with Oliver Hughes, CEO of Tinkoff Bank- the leading Neobank in Russia and one of the largest fintechs in the world. The Tinkoff ecosystem offers a full range of financial services for individuals and businesses and has evolved into one of the largest super-apps of the region. Listed on the London Stock Exchange as well as the Moscow Stock Exchange, Tinkoff has a Market Cap of nearly $5 Billion with an ROE of 59%. Oliver Hughes, Tinkoff CEO At Tinkoff, Oliver Hughes is heading the team that is building Russia's leading financial ecosystem. He joined Tinkoff as CEO in 2007 right at the start of the project and has been at the helm every step of the way, helping Tinkoff grow into the world's largest independent digital bank with 11 m customers. Before joining Tinkoff, Oliver worked for Visa International for a decade, including as Head of Visa in Russia from 2005 until 2007. Prior to Visa, he held various positions including at Reebok, Shell UK and the British Library. Oliver holds a Master of Arts degree in International Politics from Leeds University and a Master of Science degree in Information Management and Technology from City University in London. He also has a Bachelor of Arts (First Class) degree in Russian and French from the University of Sussex. Tinkoff Ecosystem Tinkoff is an online financial ecosystem centred around the needs of its customers. The Tinkoff ecosystem offers a full range of financial services for individuals and businesses. With a focus on lifestyle banking, the Tinkoff ecosystem enables customers to assess and plan personal spending, invest their savings, earn loyalty programme bonuses, book trips, buy movie tickets, make restaurant reservations and much more. All Tinkoff services are accessible via our mobile applications and on the Tinkoff.ru website. The Tinkoff ecosystem is branchless: its proprietary network of smart couriers can deliver the Company’s products anywhere in Russia in the shortest time span possible, and customer service is handled online and by call centres (both office and cloud-based). Tinkoff makes active use of AI and machine learning technologies to streamline communications: over 30% of customers' chat queries are resolved with no employee involvement. All Tinkoff products and most of its IT systems have been developed in-house. Some 70% of the bank’s HQ staff are IT specialists. At the core of the ecosystem is Tinkoff Bank, which was founded in 2006 and has since become one of the world’s biggest independent direct banks with over 10 million customers. In 2018, Global Finance named Tinkoff Bank the world’s Best Consumer Digital Bank, in 2019, 2018, 2016 and 2015, the Best Consumer Digital Bank in Russia, and in 2019, the Best Consumer Digital Bank in Central and Eastern Europe. In 2017 and 2013, the Banker recognised Tinkoff Bank as the Bank of the Year in Russia. The bank’s parent company — TCS Group Holding PLC — has been listed on the London Stock Exchange and on the Moscow Exchange. The 9M 2019 IFRS net income of TCS Group Holding PLC amounted to RUB 25.1 bn. The ROE was 59%.
Miguel Armaza sits down with Lex Greensill, founder and CEO of Greensill Capital, a leading provider of working capital and supply chain finance solutions for businesses and individuals around the world. Founded in 2011, Greensill employs over 1,000 people worldwide and has raised close to $1.3 billion in equity from some of the largest funds in the industry, including SoftBank and General Atlantic. Lex Greensill Lex Greensill, Co-founder and CEO of Greensill Capital, saw first-hand the impact that an inefficient financial supply chain can have on a family’s finances, growing up on his parents’ sugar cane farm in Australia. Farming sugar cane is highly inefficient when it comes to working capital and getting paid. It takes up to 18 months to grow the crop and then another 12 months to get paid for it. Lex’s parents couldn’t afford to send him to university. He clerked at a country law firm, studied law at by correspondence at night and worked pro-bono for the Queensland Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association with a brief to make sure farmers got paid promptly. That principle, and the payment code Lex devised for farmers in Australia, became the foundation of Greensill that still guides the company today. Lex’s vision was always to make finance fairer for everybody. As a business, Greensill is harnessing its technology and financial expertise to accelerate the movement of cash into the real economy. Lex previously established the global SCF business at Morgan Stanley and led the EMEA SCF business at Citi. Lex holds an MBA from Manchester Business School and is a Solicitor of the Supreme Courts of England and Wales, and Queensland. In 2018, Lex was awarded the CBE for services to the UK economy. About Greensill Greensill makes access to finance faster, cheaper and fairer. Powered by financial technology but with deep expertise in credit management, we accelerate the movement of capital to where it is needed most, in the real economy. And through our vision of equal access to finance, we want to revolutionise the world of work, so no-one should have to wait to be paid. Greensill is the market-leading provider of working capital finance for businesses and people globally. Our more than 800 specialists worldwide have provided $143bn of financing in 2019 to more than 8m customers and suppliers in over 175 countries.
In this podcast, Miguel Armaza sits down with Jay Bregman, Founder and CEO of Thimble, an on-demand insurance startup for small businesses and independent workers. Thimble is the first company to offer on-demand insurance by the hour, day, or month to cover the 57 million people who work independently in the US. Jay is an accomplished entrepreneur who previously founded two successful startups, including Hailo, a London-based ridesharing company backed acquired by Daimler Mercedes-Benz in 2016. Jay Bregman Jay Bregman is the Cofounder and CEO of Thimble, an on-demand insurance partner for small businesses and independent workers. An innovator in the $100 billion small business insurance market, Thimble is the first and only company to offer on-demand insurance by the hour, day or month to cover the 57 million people who work independently. Thimble has raised over $29 million from top investors including IAC. Bregman is an accomplished entrepreneur who previously founded Hailo, a London-based ridesharing company backed acquired by Daimler Mercedes-Benz in 2016. Earlier, he founded and sold a technology-enabled services company to Royal Mail, the U.K. equivalent of USPS. Bregman holds a Master’s Degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a Bachelor’s Degree from Dartmouth College. About Thimble Thimble's mission is to make insurance simple, to help businesses succeed on their own terms. Its flexible insurance policies are designed with small businesses in mind, who face great uncertainty in normal times, and are now on the road to economic recovery. Available by-the-month or for as little as one hour, Thimble coverage takes less than one minute to obtain and can be scaled up, adjusted or paused at any time. Thimble has sold over 100,000 policies representing over $125B in coverage since launching in 2016. Founded by Jay Bregman and Eugene Hertz, Thimble is based in New York City and has raised over $29 million in funding from IAC and other top firms. All General Liability and Professional Liability policies are underwritten by Markel Insurance Company. For more information, visit www.thimble.com.
In our latest podcast, Peter Jankovsky (WG'20) is joined by Chris Sugden, Managing Partner of Edison Partners. Edison Partners is a 32-year old tech investment firm specializing in fintech, healthcare, IT, and enterprise solutions with $1.6 B in AUM. Chris leads the firm's FinTech practice and has led 32 financings including 20 new investments and has served as a Director of 21 companies. In this extensive interview, Chris shares: • Edison's storied history investing in growth equity and the unique value it brings to entrepreneurs through Edison Edge • What he looks for when investing in entrepreneurs • Edison portfolio companies that are innovating across consumer banking, asset management, regtech, and payments • His views on the key themes shaping FinTech, including the impact of COVID-19 Prior to Edison, Chris held several roles at start-ups and began his career at PwC.
In this episode, Miguel Armaza is joined by Daniel Yu, Founder and CEO of Sokowatch, a B2B e-commerce platform with integrated financial services and logistics transforming access to essential goods for communities across Africa. With operations across Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Uganda, Sokowatch provides free same-day delivery of essential goods to over 16,000 informal retail shops as well as additional services to help them grow. Daniel Yu is the founder and Global CEO of Sokowatch. Prior to founding Sokowatch, Daniel worked as a software developer for several early-stage startups in the US and attended the University of Chicago where he focused on International Studies and Linguistics before dropping out. Through his work with Sokowatch, Daniel has received international recognition as the winner of the Prince of Wales Young Entrepreneur Prize, designation by the White House as an Emerging Global Entrepreneur, and as one of Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneurs. Daniel has worked in or traveled to 60+ countries and speaks Mandarin, Swahili, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Cantonese, and French.
On this episode, Miguel Armaza moderates the Wealth Management and Investment panel as part of the Future of Banking Week, joined by three excellent guests: • Ed Robinson, President and co-founder of STASH, one of the fastest-growing consumer investing and banking platforms in the U.S., pioneering the future of personal finance. • Joe Percoco, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Titan, a digitally-native investment manager based in New York City backed by Y-Combinator, Box Group, Maverick, and others. • Ryan Finneran, Director of Investment Operations at Moneylion, a leading mobile finance platform offering consumer products for borrowing, saving, and investing. Ed, Joe, and Ryan are leading some of the most revolutionary Wealth Management platforms in the world. Although each company has its own distinct focus, we can find plenty of commonalities amongst them as they attempt to democratize asset management services. All three are reimagining financial services and using modern tools to create a delightful user experience. Every single one of them is laser-focused on providing the right educational tools for their clients to foster investing literacy and helping its customers make the best decisions. And, most importantly, they understand that the only way to compete and win against large incumbent asset management houses is to build trust and loyalty at the beginning of their client’s investing life while recognizing their products will also have to evolve and mature with their users.
Miguel Armaza is joined by Kelvin Teo, Co-founder of Funding Societies (Modalku in Indonesia), the largest SME digital financing platform in Southeast Asia, licensed in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia, and backed by Sequoia, Softbank, and many more. In four years, Funding Societies has helped finance over 2 million business loans with over $1 billion in funding. About Kelvin Kelvin Teo is the co-founder of Funding Societies. Selected as one of the Top 200 FinTech Influencers in Asia and appointed Co-Chairperson for the Marketplace Lending Committee of Singapore FinTech Association, Kelvin has spoken at major conferences such as LendIt Shanghai, Boao Hainan and Money20/20. He has also been featured on Bloomberg, BBC and Business Times. Prior to this, Kelvin served as a consulting professional at KKR, McKinsey and Accenture. Kelvin graduated from Harvard Business School and National University of Singapore, and is a certified Chartered Accountant. About Funding Societies Funding Societies | Modalku is the largest SME digital financing platform in Southeast Asia. It is licensed in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia, and backed by Sequoia India and Softbank Ventures Asia Corp amongst many others. It provides business financing to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which is crowdfunded by individual and institutional investors. In 4 years, it has helped finance over 2 million business loans with over $1 billion in funding. It was given the MAS FinTech Award in 2016, the Global SME Excellence Award at the United Nations’ ITU Telecom World in 2017, Brands for Good in 2019, and recognized by IDC as amongst the 5 fastest growing FinTechs in Singapore in 2020.
In today's episode, Ines Gonzales Del Mazo sits down with Vinny Lingham, CEO of Civic. Civic is a personal identity protection and management service that allows banks, financial institutions, and other merchants to confirm the usage of social security numbers with the true owner of that number before creating new accounts. Vinny is a South African Internet entrepreneur who is the co-founder & CEO of Civic. He was previously the founder and CEO of Gyft (acquired by First Data Corporation in 2014 for over $50m) & Yola, Inc. He is also the co-founder of SiliconCape, an NGO based in South Africa that aims to turn Cape Town into a technology hub. Vinny was named one of the Top 500 CEOs in the world by Richtopia in 2015.
Miguel Armaza is joined by Tarek El Sheriff, Founder and CEO of Zinobe, a Colombian fintech specialized in online lending. Founded in 2012, Zinobe has made almost 1.3 million loans and uses technology to develop online credit products for consumers and small businesses. Zinobe has developed a data-centric credit model to help target underserved markets in Colombia. In 2020, Zinobe was the highest-ranked Colombian company on the FT's fast-growing companies ranking with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 100%.
In our latest episode of the Wharton Fintech podcast, Anchit Gupta (WG’21) is joined by Jared Hecht, Co-founder & CEO of Fundera, an online marketplace that matches SMB to lenders. Fundera is a financial-services marketplace for small businesses, helping connect business owners with the right lenders. Fundera is helping thousands of SMBs right now to help them navigate the chaotic Paycheck Protection Program application process. Since inception, Fundera has facilitated close to 3Bn USD financing for thousands of customers. Back in 2010, Jared also founded GroupMe, a popular group messaging app. GroupMe was a massive success with over 1 Mn users within a year and was eventually acquired by Microsoft and Skype. Prior to GroupMe, Jared worked as an early employee at Tumblr. He currently serves on the Advisory Board of the Columbia University Entrepreneurship Organization and is an investor and advisor to startups such as Codecademy, SmartThings and TransferWise. In this interview, Jared shares: - His background and journey across 2 very different entrepreneurial ventures - The challenges faced by Small and Medium Businesses to access financing in the United States - The various ways in which Fundera is helping solve these issues and creating a suite of financial service solutions for SMBs - The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on Fundera as well his opinion on the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) - His experience launching a viral messaging product (GroupMe) during the early days of smart phones - Advice to young entrepreneurs hustling through this crisis
In our latest episode of the Wharton Fintech podcast, Miguel Armaza is joined by Sebastian Kanovich, CEO of dLocal, a 360 payments technology company which handles payins and payouts in emerging markets for some of the largest global e-commerce and marketplace companies, including Amazon, Facebook, Netflix, and Google. As the CEO of AstroPay, prior to dLocal, he grew the company into a premier cross-border payment-card provider that processed millions of transactions daily. Sebastián holds a Bachelor degree in Economics from Universidad ORT Uruguay. He also studied Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Management of Technology at Tel Aviv University, and completed a prestigious Endeavor Innovation and Growth Program at Stanford Graduate School of Business. He continues to be fascinated with how payments work around the world.
Miguel Armaza is joined by Alex Lazarow, Investment Director at Cathay Innovation, Kauffman Fellow, Professor, and recent author of Out-Innovate: How Global Entrepreneurs - from Delhi to Detroit - Are Rewriting the Rules of Silicon Valley (HBR Press). Out-Innovate: How Global Entrepreneurs - from Delhi to Detroit - Are Rewriting the Rules of Silicon Valley In recent memory, the concept of entrepreneurship has been popularized by the explosive success of Silicon Valley startups. While the Valley's framework of building lean startups that "move fast and break things" has done wonders in their ecosystem, this model hasn't necessarily translated to outside the Valley. In his book, Alex Lazarow explores the framework of dozens of successful entrepreneurs and investors from around the world, acknowledging that entrepreneurship is never a one size fits all approach. Out-Innovate comes out at an especially relevant time as the COVID-19 crisis threatens VC investing volumes in emerging markets. Armed with data and real-life examples, Alex presents a compelling case to invest in emerging market ecosystems with startups that look a lot more like Camels rather than Unicorns -built for sustainability and resilience to navigate frequent shocks and survive droughts. Mr. Lazarow also reminds us that some of the best technology innovations increasingly come from outside of Silicon Valley. In fact, average returns for emerging-market VCs have outperformed their peers in traditional entrepreneurial hubs over the last fifteen years. By the same token, some of the most relevant fintech startups were born outside of the US. Nubank, a Brazilian company, is the largest independent digital bank in the world, and Ant Financial, a Chinese company, is considered the largest private fintech company worldwide. Out-Innovate is a must-read for any investor, entrepreneur, and aspiring builder interested in learning about some of the most resourceful founders around the world who are building lasting companies and improving their communities in the process. Alex Lazarow Alex Lazarow has worked at the intersection of investing, innovation, and economic development across the public, private, and social sectors for more than a decade. He is a venture capitalist with Cathay Innovation and was previously with Omidyar Network. He is a Kauffman Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations term member, and an adjunct professor specializing in social impact investment and entrepreneurship at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. He is a graduate of Harvard Business School and the University of Manitoba.
In our latest podcast, Peter Jankovsky (WG'20) sits down with Charlie Delingpole, the CEO and Founder of ComplyAdvantage. ComplyAdvantage is a FinTech start-up disrupting the compliance space using AI and machine learning to detect money laundering. In 5 years, Charlie has grown the company from 5 people in a garage to 250 employees with 500 customers in over 50 countries. Charlie is a successful serial entrepreneur, with this being his third venture. In this interview, Charlie shares: - The genesis of ComplyAdvantage and the opportunity that Charlie saw for a streamlined compliance experience - How ComplyAdvantage uses AI and ML to monitor bad actors and financial crime more effectively than traditional solutions - How bad actors are engaged in an "arms race" to change behavior in response to new innovations to stop them - The future vision for ComplyAdvantage - Lessons learned from Charlie's experience successfully scaling 2 previous ventures Prior to founding ComplyAdvantage, Charlie successfully founded two companies, MarketFinance and The Student Room. He also spent several years in investment banking at JP Morgan. He holds degrees from the University of Cambridge and London School of Economics and Political Science.
Miguel Armaza is joined by Maelis Carraro, Director of Catalyst Fund and the Impact Ventures Practice at BFA Global. The Catalyst Fund is an inclusive fintech accelerator supporting early-stage inclusive startups with flexible capital, bespoke venture building support, and connections to investors and corporate innovators. Maelis Carraro is the Director of Catalyst Fund and the Impact Ventures Practice at BFA Global. She spent her career working alongside fintech startups, investors, banks and donors to pioneer tech and data-enabled solutions for underserved communities in emerging markets. She runs global accelerator-Catalyst Fund, supported by JP Morgan Chase & Co and the UK Department for International Development, and helped over 30 early-stage fintech startups create innovative and affordable solutions for underserved populations in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Previously, Maelis worked at the International Finance Corporation (World Bank Group), advising financial institutions on digital innovation and responsible financial inclusion strategies across fragile and emerging markets, as well as the OECD and the Grameen Bank, where she researched micro financing schemes for climate adaptation in South Asia, and impact fund- Global Partnerships, where she designed impact investing strategies to support tech-enabled businesses across Africa. Maelis also co-founded RemitMas, an inclusive fintech startup focused on remittances for savings for Latino immigrants in the US. Maelis is a Fulbright Scholar and holds a dual MBA and Master in International Affairs from Columbia Business School and the School of International and Public Affairs. She received her B.A Cum Laude from University College London in Political Science and Development Economics. About BFA Global BFA is a global consulting firm striving to build inclusive economies for a sustainable and equitable world. Together with partners and clients, BFA works at the frontier of applied research and innovation using finance, data, technology and behavioral science to build solutions for underserved populations. About Catalyst Fund Catalyst Fund is BFA’s flagship inclusive fintech accelerator, supported by The UK Department for International Development (DFID), JPMorgan Chase & Co and previously the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Catalyst Fund accelerates early-stage inclusive fintech startups with flexible capital, bespoke venture building support and connections to investors and corporate innovators. It also accelerates the ecosystem by fostering networks of fintech investors, corporates and talent organizations, to spur more fintech innovation for the world’s 3 billion underserved.
In today's episode of the Wharton FinTech Podcast, Anchit Gupta sits down with Cathrine Andersen, Co-Founder and CEO of Roger.ai. Founded in 2017, Roger's accounting and finance automation technology help organizations automate time-consuming and expensive manual tasks like bookkeeping and expense management. Before Roger, Cathrine also founded Assemblage, which offered developers a solution to add real-time collaboration apps such as shared whiteboarding to their products. Assemblage was acquired by Cisco in 2014, where Cathrine then worked for 3 years in Innovation and Emerging Product Development. Cathrine holds a bachelor's degree from Copenhagen Business School and a Masters from University of Copenhagen. Cathrine was named to inc. magazine's Top 100 Female Founders in 2019.
In our latest podcast, Peter Jankovsky (WG'20) is joined by Mike Vaughan. Mike is currently an Executive in Residence at Oak HC/FT, a leading venture capital firm investing in early to growth-stage companies in healthcare and fintech with ~$2 B in AUM. Prior to this role, Mike was the COO of Venmo, scaling the business from the ground floor to 40 M active users, a $300 M revenue run rate, and $100 B in payments in 2019. In this episode, Mike shares: - His background and why he jumped into entrepreneurship after graduating from Wharton - Lessons learned from the early days of Venmo - The key decisions that enabled Venmo to scale over time - Mike's focus at Oak HC/FT and his view on where the next wave of innovation will be in FinTech - Advice for those starting their careers in FinTech Over more than two decades, Mike has developed successful businesses across multiple industries, including three exits totaling >$1 B in market value. He currently serves as an independent board member and active advisor to several early and growth-stage enterprise and consumer tech companies. Mike graduated with an economics degree from Wharton.
Miguel Armaza is joined by David Vélez, Founder and CEO of Nubank, the largest independent digital bank in the world. Nubank has over 25 million clients and has raised $1.2 billion from some of the most prestigious venture capital funds in the globe, including Sequoia, Ribbit Capital, DST, Kaszek Ventures, and QED. David grew up in a family of Colombian entrepreneurs. The concept of being your own boss was engrained in him daily and he always thought he would launch a company at an early age. However, after graduating from Stanford University, he found himself lost at the thought of starting a venture. He didn't know where to even begin. So, he took a more traditional route and joined Morgan Stanley, which later led him to General Atlantic, to focus on growth equity. Armed with 5 years of investing experience, he went back to Stanford in 2010 to pursue an MBA. His goal was to leverage the MBA experience to find a business idea. However, shortly after starting school, he was approached by non-other than Sequoia Capital to lead their Latin American group. He took the chance, but after almost 3 years with Sequoia, it became evident that the startup ecosystem of the region was not robust enough for them, and the Latin American strategy was scrapped. David saw this as an opportunity and decided it was time to start something. Inspiration His painful experience of opening a bank account in Brazil, which he describes as “almost going to jail”, convinced him there was a better way of doing banking in the country. Not only was customer service terrible, but banks were charging astronomically high interest rates to creditworthy customers. This is where Nubank was born. During his years at GA, David had the chance to work alongside Nigel Morris, Co-Founder of Capital One. David credits Capital One as a big inspiration for Nubank, as a data-driven company with a culture focused on recruiting the best analytical talent. Another source of inspiration was Tinkoff, a Russian neobank with a similar focus and excellent customer experience. Additionally, learning from technology companies like Amazon and Netflix convinced David that Nubank should be a technology company that happens to operate in financial services, and not a bank that uses technology. In his own words, “This makes all the difference”. Culture If there’s something that stands out when talking to David, it’s his dogged determination on building a customer-centric company culture that also takes care of its employees. In fact, back in 2013 when launching Nubank, he created two company presentations. One for investors and another one about company culture that he used to recruit his co-founders and first employees. He is clearly proud that the latter hasn't changed much in the last seven years and he continues to deliver this presentation to every single new employee at the company. Interestingly, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Nubank culture has overperformed and employee engagement has never been better. Be it through the creation of a 20 million reais (≈US$3.8 million) fund for customer assistance or by providing over 1,000 remote service stations for their employees to work from home, the pandemic has allowed them to prove to clients and employees that they live and breathe these company values. Post-COVID World David argues that the current crisis doesn’t necessarily create any new trends, but instead accelerates several tendencies and behaviors that were already taking place. From digitalization to more flexible remote working policies, these trends are only accelerating. However, more importantly, David is convinced the pandemic is forcing companies to rethink their values and embrace a much broader view of capitalism, through a model that requires companies to show integrity and take care of their customers, their people, their communities, and the environment. As evidenced by their recent actions, Nubank is certainly adopting this philosophy.
Miguel Armaza is joined by Melbourne O’Banion, CEO and Co-Founder of Bestow, a digital life insurance company leveraging technology to make protection accessible and affordable. Bestow has received over $68 million in equity financing from Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures, NEA, Morpheus Ventures, Core Innovation Capital, Abstract Ventures, Sammons Financial, 8VC. Melbourne O’Banion is the CEO and Co-Founder of Bestow, a digital life insurance company leveraging technology to make protection accessible and affordable. Through data-driven technology applications and innovative products, Bestow is changing the way life insurance is perceived and purchased. He is an entrepreneur and investor with expertise in fintech and direct-to-consumer businesses. Among his startups, he was a founding member of Presidio Title, a leading title insurance agency in Texas. He is also co-founder of Beauty Bioscience, a skincare line sold via TV shopping channels and luxury retailers. Melbourne is a member of the National Advisory Council for the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University and is on the board of the SMU Tate Lecture Series. He is a graduate of BYU and studied Finance and Ancient Near Eastern Studies. Bestow is an insurance technology company that builds products and software that make life insurance accessible to millions of families. In addition to its direct-to-consumer arm, Bestow provides industry-first APIs enabling partners to offer bespoke life insurance coverage to their customers with ease. Bestow is reshaping the life industry as the insurance company of the future. The company is headquartered in Texas with offices in Dallas and Austin. Learn more at www.bestow.com In this episode, Melbourne shares: - His background as a serial entrepreneur and what drove him to life insurance. - Why he and his co-founder decided to avoid third party software solutions and, instead, built an insurance product along with its integrated software from scratch. And why this decision has made a huge positive difference. - Reasoning behind Bestow’s entry market strategy. - Finding product-market fit and how they decided what customer segment to focus on - Bestow’s key partnerships, ranging from traditional life insurance companies to Fintechs like Acorns, Chime, Stash, Moneylion, and more. - The importance of hiring a great team, establishing company principles early on, and leading and hiring by those principles. - Famous Texas Hospitality. The advantages of launching a startup in Texas and why he thinks there isn’t a better place in the US to start a company. - How the COVID-19 crisis has awakened a lot of people to a sense of their own mortality and what this has meant for the life insurance business. - The state of InsurTech and why he thinks new entrants in the insurance space will have to do something radically new and different to differentiate themselves. - Valuable advice for entrepreneurs and aspiring founders.
Miguel Armaza is joined by Brad Paterson, CEO of SplitIt (ASX: SPT), a global payment platform that enables shoppers to pay installments via their credit cards, by splitting credit card purchases into interest and fee-free monthly payments. Splitit is a global payment platform that enables shoppers to pay installments via their credit cards, by splitting credit card purchases into interest and fee-free monthly payments. Splitit’s consumer solutions enable merchants to offer their customers an easy way to pay for purchases in monthly installments with instant approval, decreasing cart abandonment rates and increasing revenue. Splitit Business Payments allows manufacturers and suppliers to provide buyers with an interest-free, installment credit solution for purchasing goods and services utilizing their existing credit cards. Serving many of Internet Retailer’s top 500 merchants, Splitit’s global footprint extends to 27 countries around the world. Headquartered in New York, Splitit has an R&D center in Israel and offices in London and Australia. Brad Paterson has accumulated a wealth of knowledge over nearly two decades working with some of the world’s most successful payment companies, including Intuit, PayPal, and Visa. As Intuit’s VP of Marketing, Brad led the go-to-market team responsible for the US QuickBooks Online revenue and customer outcomes. His responsibilities included the strategy, sales, marketing, and general business operations for the QuickBooks Online portfolio. Prior to this role, Brad served as Intuit’s VP of Asia-Pacific and Global Operations, driving business growth in critical international markets. He also served as PayPal’s Head of Merchant Services, Asia-Pacific and Visa’s Director of Consumer and Emerging Products for Australia and New Zealand, among other roles at the two companies. In this interview, Brad shares: - His background and experiences from his days as an executive at PayPal, Intuit, and Visa. - What drove him to Splitit and why he sees a lot of parallels between them and the early days of Paypal. - The benefits of Splitit’s, business model and why they are experiencing incredibly fast growth during the COVID-19 crisis. - Going public on the Australian Securities Exchange. The benefits and challenges of running a publicly listed company. - Insightful advice for fintech professionals.
In our latest episode of the Wharton Fintech podcast, Miguel Armaza is joined by Laura Spiekerman, She’s the Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer at Alloy, an operating system for identity in financial services, including KYC, AML and fraud. Laura Spiekerman is a cofounder and CRO at Alloy. Alloy's API enables financial services companies to better manage their digital onboarding and identity requirements, increasing conversion and reducing fraud for banks and fintechs alike. Alloy works with both fintech companies and banks, including Marqeta, Petal, Brex, Radius Bank and others. Alloy was recognized on the recent Forbes' Cloud 100 Rising Stars list and as one to the global Venture Radar Top 10 RegTech Startups. Prior to Alloy, Laura led Business Development & Partnerships at an ACH payments startup and was on the Research & Investment team at Imprint Capital Advisors (acquired by Goldman Sachs). Laura is a proud Barnard College alumna and lives in Oakland, California. Alloy is an operating system for identity in financial services, including KYC, AML and fraud. The Alloy API allows its clients to customize which data sources they access and the rules applied, to validate an identity in real time so that 98% of users will be automatically decisioned upon onboarding, increasing conversion, lowering fraud, and reducing manual reviews. Alloy has been working with both fintech companies and banks since it launched in 2016, and has a client base of ~80, including institutions like Radius Bank, KeyBank, Brex, Marqeta and others. In this interview, Laura shares: - Her background and how she got started in the industry as employee #1 at Kopo Kopo, a Kenyan fintech company. - What inspired Laura and her co-founders to build Alloy and how they crafted a successful strategy to secure their first customers. - The strategic reasons why Alloy's products are attractive for fintech startups, community banks, and large banks alike. - Company Culture. Why it's important to hire people that are different from each other and why Alloy emphasizes celebrating differences and being bold. - Her experience as a female fintech leader and why men should take on more responsibility to recruit and cultivate women in the industry. - COVID-19's impact on Alloy and its clients- as fraud and cybersecurity attacks have increased in the last few months, Alloy has taken steps to help their customers combat these attacks. - Lessons for founders! Why learning how to sell is the most important skill to learn for entrepreneurs.
In today's episode of the Wharton FinTech podcast, Miguel Armaza is joined by David Gurle, Founder and CEO of Symphony, a financial services communications company that's helping individuals, teams and organizations of all sizes improve productivity, while meeting security and compliance needs. David Gurle is an author, inventor and visionary. David's ideas have influenced the major trends in consumer and enterprise communications and most recently secure collaboration technologies over the past two decades. He founded and ran Microsoft's unified communications products (Skype for Business) and as Global head of collaboration services at Thomson Reuters, introduced the first consumer-to-business federated communications to the financial services industry. After the sale of Skype to Microsoft where he was the GM of Skype's Enterprise Business, David founded and sold Perzo before founding Symphony. David sits on the Monetary Authority of Singapore's International Technology Advisory Panel, is regularly featured on global broadcast (CNBC, BFM, Fox News) and print media (TechCrunch, Le Monde, Wall Street Journal) and is a sought-after keynote speaker on the future of the digital workplace, collaboration technologies, workplace diversity and all matters related to privacy and information security. In January 2020, he received the Légion d'Honneur, the highest French order of merit for military and civil service. Symphony transforms the way users communicate effectively and securely with a single workflow application. Forging a new path in the financial services industry, Symphony is designed to help individuals, teams and organizations of all sizes improve productivity, while meeting complex data security and regulatory compliance needs. Symphony was founded in October 2014 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, CA, with offices in New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, Stockholm, Sophia-Antipolis and London. In this episode, David shares: -The powerful influence of his international upbringing and how it influenced him to pursue a career in telecom at ETSI, France Telecom, Microsoft, and Skype. -How being an intrapreneur earned him the title of "great, but unmanageable" by his first supervisor. -The key role he played in Microsoft's surprising acquisition of Skype. -The thought process that helped him identify a problem in secure persistent communications and how he devised a winning strategy for Symphony. -Challenges and anecdotes of Symphony's early days. -The importance of building a no-trust, end-to-end encrypted system, and why that has made a big difference between Symphony and other similar solutions. -Why it's critical to give users control of their data and the reason he thinks Apple has taken the wrong approach. -Symphony's recent explosive growth of 300%-400% in light of COVID-19 and how they have quickly become one of the top mission critical applications for their customers. -His vision of a post-COVID world and the steps Symphony is taking to implement a flexible work policy. -Valuable entrepreneurial advice and achieving childhood dreams.
In this episode, Ryan Zauk sits down with Stuart Sopp, Founder and CEO of Current. Current is a leading U.S. based challenger bank enabling access to affordable and premium financial services to people traditionally overlooked by the banking industry. After explosive growth serving essential workers during COVID-19, Current raised additional funding from Foundation Capital and is expected to reach 2 million customers by the end of 2020. From 1999 - 2014, Stuart spent his career as a senior trader developing financial systems and trading at Morgan Stanley, Citi, and Deutsche Bank. He started Current after recognizing that the growing inequality gap could be addressed through innovation in technology to improve financial outcomes for everyone. In this episode, Stuart discusses: - Current’s crucial contribution to the pandemic's frontline workers - Why banks have historically overlooked Current’s customers - What’s wrong with the phrase ‘choosing your investors’ - His view on the extremely competitive FinTech space and Current’s key competitive advantage - How he switched an NYC team to fully remote in a pandemic - And much more...including a surprising quarantine hobby For more insights and analysis from FinTech leaders, follow us below: Medium: https://medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: https://twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: https://twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
On today’s episode of the Wharton FinTech Podcast, Ryan Zauk sits down with Ras Asan, Co-Founder of BREAUX Capital. BREAUX Capital is the first fintech built by and for Black Male Millennials. It is a cooperatively owned and operated financial technology company that provides a software platform and membership community to increase the financial wellness of Black millennials. They accomplish this through savings goals, dividends & revenue sharing, co-investing opportunities, education, community building, and much more. Ras and his team have been: - Named to INC Magazine’s 30 under 30 - Featured in The New York Times, Black Enterprise, The Associated Press, Time Magazine, BET, The Chicago Tribune, American Banker, CNN, Huffington Post, and more - Successfully pitched and secured investment from FUBU Founder and Shark Daymond John - And just announced a partnership with Lenovo In this episode, Ras discusses: - His background and motivations for starting BREAUX Capital - The obstacles his team faced along the way as young, black, first-time founders - How BREAUX Capital's financial and social sides work - Aspects of systemic inequality in the US that have destroyed black wealth creation including over-policing, redlining, and the GI Bill - And much, much more For more content from BREAUX Capital and their team, we encourage viewing Ras's Co-Founder, Derrius Quarles in his Ted Talk on YouTube, "Derrius Quarles: How banks are failing African-Americans," or their website, BREAUXCapital.com. For more insights and analysis from FinTech leaders, follow us below: Medium: https://medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: https://twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: https://twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
In our latest podcast, Peter Jankovsky (WG'20) is joined by Frank Young, President of Vertical Market Software Solutions at Global Payments, a leading worldwide provider of payment technology services. In this role, Frank is responsible for guiding and directing the firm’s efforts to leverage software and services to deliver the next generation of digital commerce solutions on a global basis. He leads the company’s efforts in achieving business results through software-led solutions in all of our markets around the world. In this extensive interview, Frank shares: - Major themes in the payments industry observed over his ~30 year career, including the evolution of e-commerce and the staying power of the major networks - His view of how COVID-19 is impacting the payments industry - The opportunity that he sees for embedded fintech, and how this represents a natural evolution from "knuckle-busters," electronic terminals, and integrated payments - His views on Big Tech's ambitions in financial services and how those will evolve going forward - Career advice for those beginning their career in FinTech Prior to joining Global Payments, Frank served as the Global Lead of Payments Partnerships at Google, managing a team of professionals developing and delivering innovations to support Google’s in-store and online commerce goals. Previously, Mr. Young served as Senior Director of Business Development for Qualcomm, a worldwide leader in telecommunications products and services, where his responsibilities were to manage the development of mobile payments and commerce initiatives. Prior to that, Frank held senior roles at Mastercard and Accenture. He began his career with Chase Manhattan Bank. Franks holds an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, where he was honored with the Dean's Award for Excellence, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Rutgers University.
In our latest episode of the Wharton Fintech podcast, Miguel Armaza (WG’21/G’21) is joined by Susan French, Head of Product at BBVA Open Platform where she leads the design and development of Open Platform’s suite of white-label, banking-as-a-service APIs in the US. About BBVA Open Platform BBVA Open Platform offers API-driven, white-label banking and payments solutions for the enterprise. Open Platform enables companies to embed end-to-end banking and payments services into their brand to create engaging and intuitive customer experiences . Founded in 2016, BBVA Open Platform works with industry leading companies, at the forefront of digital innovation, to optimize their user experience through API-powered banking and payments solutions provided by leading U.S. bank BBVA USA, Member FDIC. For more information, visit Open Platform at https://bbvaopenplatform.com/ Susan French Susan is Head of Product at BBVA Open Platform. She lead the design and development of Open Platform’s groundbreaking suite of white-label, banking-as-a-service APIs in the US. Susan is a payment, digital commerce and financial services expert, with an unparalleled understanding of what fintech companies navigating this landscape want from an API platform – and how to deliver it. Susan has been working in the financial services sector for more than 25 years, most recently leading the team that created and launched Visa’s Developer Program, a suite of APIs that opened up Visa’s network to all developers, from startups to large financial institutions. A former CTO, Head of Enterprise Architecture and Technology Strategist at Visa, Susan also worked as Chief Operating Officer at Euphorion, a website design and development startup in Silicon Valley, and started her own independent consulting business. In this interview, Susan shares: - Her journey through the financial sector and what led her to BBVA - How BBVA positioned itself as one of the leading proponents of fintech innovation - Some of the reasons why the US has been slower than Europe to adopt Open Banking solutions and why the COVID-19 is forcing the US to catch up - Some of the startups benefiting from BBVA Open Platform’s services such as Azlo, Wise, Catch, and Jet. - The importance of a unified regulatory environment and some of the opportunities currently being developed in the US
In our latest podcast, Peter Jankovsky (WG’20) is joined by Charlie Olson, CEO and co-founder of Pando. Pando is an innovative new income pooling solution that allows people in high volatility careers to pool their career risk. Since inception, Pando has signed hundreds of professional athletes into income pools and has raised a Series A from top fintech investors. In this extensive interview, Charlie covers a number of topics, including Pando’s value proposition for different customer segments and how it has grown; the challenges Charlie has overcome as an entrepreneur; and his views on how careers will change, especially as a result of the current pandemic. Pando was founded after Charlie and his co-founder, Eric Lax, graduated from Stanford GSB in 2017. Prior to his time at the GSB, Charlie worked for Cheyenne Capital, a private equity firm based out of Jackson, WY. Concurrently, Charlie worked in search fund investing for Professor David Dodson and was a speechwriter and policy analyst for two governors. Charlie also holds two other degrees from Stanford, including a B.A. in International Relations and an M.A. in US History. Charlie was named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in 2019.
In our latest episode of the Wharton Fintech podcast, Miguel Armaza is joined by Hernan Kazah, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Kaszek Ventures, the largest venture capital firm in Latin America, with over $1 Billion dollars of raised capital. Kaszek was launched in 2011 and has invested in more than 75 startups, including at least 5 unicorns. Prior to Kaszek, Hernan co-founded MercadoLibre, the largest technology company in Latin America which is also listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market with a current market cap of over $43 Billion. Here, he worked for 12 years, nine as COO and three as CFO. Hernan received an MBA from Stanford University, and graduated magna cum laude in Economics from the University of Buenos Aires. In this fascinating interview, Hernan shares: - His entrepreneurial journey from zero to a Nasdaq IPO. What led him to Co-Found MercadoLibre with Marcos Galperin and some of the major challenges they faced along the way. - Almost 40% of Kaszek's portfolio is concentrated in Fintech companies and they continue to be extremely bullish on the industry. Technology has opened new opportunities for the financial sector, which has allowed fintechs to vastly expand in a sector with historically-low customer penetration. Tech has also allowed some of their portfolio companies, like Nubank, to build widely scalable platforms. - Kaszek's investing approach. Why the founding team is the most fundamental piece of a startup and why a third of the teams from Kaszek's first fund would not make the cut today. - COVID-19's impact on their portfolio. Why most Fintechs haven't been too affected nor have greatly benefited by this crisis. - Fintech sector focus. The main reasons why Kaszek is interested in backing Financial infrastructure companies and why this sector presents one of the biggest opportunities in Latin America. - Peculiarities and challenges of VC investing in Latin America and Emerging Markets. - And much, much more…
In this episode, Ines Gonzales Del Mazo sits down with Jalak Jobanputra, Founding Partner of Future Perfect Ventures to discuss her investing career across FinTech, software, and the blockchain. Jalak Jobanputra is Founding Partner of Future\Perfect Ventures, an early stage venture capital fund in NYC focused on next generation technology such as blockchain and machine learning. FPV’s portfolio includes Abra, Blockstream, Bitpesa, Fusemachines, Everledger and Blockchain. Jalak was awarded Institutional Investor’s Most Powerful Fintech Dealmakers from 2016-2018. In May 2018, Jobanputra was awarded Microsoft’s VC Trailblazer Award for “her early and bold” investments in the sector. She has been listed as a 100 Most Influential Fintech Leader of 2016 and 2017 based on her investment strategy at FPV. In 2017, she was cited as a “Top 5 Investor Powering the Blockchain Boom” and Crunchbase noted FPV as one of the top VC funds in blockchain “before it was cool.” Since founding the firm, she has spoken on blockchain technology, IoT, and artificial intelligence at many global conferences, including the Milken Global Institute, Dutch Development Bank/FMO Annual Meeting, and The Economist Buttonwood Gathering. She also founded Collective Future, an organization to foster diversity and inclusion in the nascent blockchain sector. FPV’s incubator FPV Labs was selected by the NYC Economic Development Corporation in January 2019 to operate the NYC Blockchain Center, a unique private-public partnership formed to serve as an access point to the growing blockchain ecosystem and collaborate with elected officials on policy initiatives. Prior to FPV, Jobanputra was the Director of Emerging Market Mobile Investments at Omidyar Network, a philanthrocapitalist fund started by Pierre Omidyar, co-founder of eBay. Previously, she worked at Intel Capital investing in enterprise software in Silicon Valley from 1999-2003, as well as New Venture Partners and the NYC Investment Fund where she formed one of NYC’s first seed funds and helped establish the Fintech Innovation Lab in 2010. She started her career as a media/tech/telecom investment banker in NYC and London. Jobanputra is also active in supporting education reform and social entrepreneurship. She served as a Trustee of Achievement First Bushwick Charter Schools (Brooklyn). She is on the Board of Directors for the Center for an Urban Future, Advisory Board of L’Oreal’s Women in Digital Initiative, member of Mayor DeBlasio’s Broadband Taskforce, and former Access to Capital Committee member of the US Secretary of State Clinton Women’s Leadership Council. She is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, with a B.S. in Economics (concentration in Finance) from The Wharton School and a B.A. in Communications from the Annenberg School. She received her MBA from Kellogg in 1999. Her full bio can be found here, and she has been active on twitter since 2007 at @jalak.
In our latest episode of the Wharton Fintech podcast, Miguel Armaza (WG’21/G’21) is joined by Marc Weiser, Founder & Managing Director of RPM Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm. Marc is also a board member of NASA and the James Beard Foundation. Marc Weiser is the Founder and Managing Director of RPM Ventures, a seed and early stage venture firm where he focuses on investing in mobility and autonomous vehicle companies. Over the last 15 years he has served on over 20 boards of directors and currently sits on the boards of: BountyJobs, the leading contingency recruiting marketplace; Mobi, a machine learning, multi-modal, dynamic route planning system; and Polysync, a platform for delivering safe and reliable autonomous vehicles. Prior to forming RPM, Mr. Weiser was an internet and software entrepreneur. He co-founded and led technology development at QuantumShift, a provider of web-based business-to-business technology and services focused on corporate telecommunications needs. He was also an early employee at MessageMedia (acquired by DoubleClick) where he pioneered some of the original methods for e-commerce and helped lead the company’s IPO. In addition to his board roles for RPM, Marc serves as Vice-Chair of McKinley, Inc., and the Board of Trustees of the James Beard Foundation. Previously he was the founding member of the Board for the Center for Entrepreneurship (CFE) and Wolverine Venture Fund at the University of Michigan, where he was adjunct professor. He is the recipient of the University of Michigan College of Engineering Alumni Distinguished Service Award for his efforts in founding the CFE, the TechArb (student accelerator), and the Masters in Entrepreneurship (a joint program between the College of Engineering and Ross School of Business). Additionally, he and his wife led the creation of the Mary H. Weiser Food Allergy Center at the University of Michigan. This Center provides national leadership in food allergy research and a path to a cure for those that suffer from food allergies. Marc graduated cum laude from the University of Michigan with a BSE in aerospace engineering and an MBA with highest honors. In this interview, Marc shares: - His background and how he landed the role of employee #1 at MessageMedia (acquired by DoubleClick), the first online payments system company in the early 1990s. - Why he decided to Co-Found QuantumShift, a SAS company, in 1996 and the reason why he calls this experience a "successful failure". - Launching RPM and the challenges of starting a Venture Capital fund in the year 2000. - The reason why after several years of operations, RPM narrowed its scope to invest only in Mobility and Fintech. - His conviction that most startups that win are the ones that generally fall over in the right direction and then pick themselves back up and then fall over again in the right direction again. The ones that do this process faster are the ones that win. - His fascinating journey as an early stage investor and advisor of SoFi. - What an RPM entrepreneur looks like. Hint: “We look for entrepreneurs that can run up the beat at the machine gun nest while simultaneously biting the heads off of chickens.” - The importance of investing in companies that have no rational chance of success. - His journey to becoming a board member at NASA and why this is his proudest personal achievement. - Going from restaurant investor to board member of the James Beard foundation. The devastating effects of the COVID-19 crisis on the industry and how the James Beard foundation is helping save the restaurant industry.
In a Wharton Fintech exclusive podcast interview, Miguel Armaza and Guillermo Gonzalez went behind the scenes of one of the most transformational acquisitions in the fintech space to date. We sat down with Anthony Noto, CEO of SoFi, and Clay Wilkes, CEO of Galileo, to discuss their most recent transaction in which SoFi acquired Galileo for the total sum of $1.2 Billion. What prompted SoFi to consider Galileo as a crucial strategic alternative? What were the challenges of executing a landmark transaction amidst a global pandemic? Similarly, we had an opportunity to explore what the future holds for both companies. What products will both companies build by leveraging their unique strengths and capabilities? Wondering about international expansion? Notably, both Anthony and Clay believe in the mission of advancing financial independence and inclusion for millions of historically disadvantaged consumers. This conviction has guided their decision to keep both companies independent, opening the door for far-reaching, industry-wide collaborations. Thrilled enough? Join us for this exciting conversation with Anthony and Clay.
In our latest episode of the Wharton Fintech podcast, Miguel Armaza (WG’21/G’21) is joined by Ryan Falvey, Managing Partner of Financial Venture Studio, a venture capital firm that invests in early stage teams who are seeking to improve how Americans conduct their financial lives. Ryan Falvey is the Managing Partner of Financial Venture Studio. He has spent the last 15 years identifying, supporting and leading market-changing innovations in technology. Since 2015, he's invested in 40 early stage fintech firms, which have grown to represent approximately $3 billion in aggregate equity value. Prior to founding the Venture Studio, Ryan led the development of the Financial Solutions Lab, a partnership between JPMorgan Chase and the Financial Health Network. Prior to managing the Lab, Ryan worked with leading tech firms to develop payment solutions at Silicon Valley Bank. He also served as Strategy Group Lead at Enclude Solutions, overseeing global strategy consulting work around mobile-enabled financial products. Financial Venture Studio invests in great early stage teams who are seeking to improve how Americans conduct their financial lives. From more efficient savings to superior investments to faster payments and better information, the promise of today’s financial products has never been greater. Learn more at www.finventurestudio.com. FVS has selected three cohorts of startups for its unique model of support since its founding in 2018. Of the first 13 startups to participate in the firm’s previous two cohorts, 12 have raised subsequent funding—with over $37 million in follow-on capital raised by firms since participating in the FVS program. In this interview, Ryan shares: - Their investment thesis and the type of company FVS invests in. - Details about their accelerator program and its strong partnerships with investors, regulators, operators, and media companies. - Highlights of some their portfolio companies and what drew FVS to invest in them. - His analysis on how technology is breaking down the centuries-old nature of financial services. - His take on the opportunities being exposed by the COVID-19 crisis and why this event will have broader implications on the financial sector for many years to come. - The reasons why you don’t want to be a founder with a pre-COVID mentality in a post-COVID world. - And much, much more…
Eric Rosenthal is a Vice President and Managing Director of Rapyd, managing their North American Business Unit. Rapyd is the world's largest global payment network, accepting and disbursing more than 900 payment types in over 100 countries. It connects 2 million global ATM and over-the-counter (OTC) cash access points across the globe. Before Rapyd, Eric worked in startups and major enterprises including Abra, American Express, First Data, Citigroup and McKinsey.
In our latest episode of the Wharton Fintech podcast, Miguel Armaza (WG’21/G’21) is joined by David Brear, CEO of 11:FS, a challenger consultancy building out new propositions and ventures in the UK, US, Europe and Asia. David Brear is the CEO of 11:FS and since his dream of being a sportsperson was crushed (along with the ligaments in his knee!) and he had to get a proper job, he has worked in pretty much every angle of the financial services industry never losing that competitive desire to win. Having pitched, established and run billion-pound transformations for some of the biggest FS companies on the planet the realization that digital banking is only 1% finished has spurred his desire to establish an organization that can actually make it happen. 11:FS is a challenger consultancy building out new propositions and ventures in the UK, US, Europe and Asia for some of the biggest brands on the planet. Alongside this 11:FS build in-house products from competitor benchmarking tools like 11:FS Pulse, to core banking systems like 11:FS Foundry. Most recently David has led the creation and market establishment of the challenger business bank Mettle for Natwest in the UK as it’s CEO, proving that the big banks can fight back against the fintech threat. He is also a host of the global business podcast, Fintech Insider. In this interview, David shares: - Why he strongly believes digital banking is only 1% finished and what the 11:FS team is doing to change the fabric of financial services. - Culture at 11:FS. The importance of finding people that revere each other’s talents and not just their own. - The reasons why culture and talent are the only two things that really matter in any organization. - His plea to large institutions acquiring fintech companies: Don’t break what you buy! Plenty of examples of fintechs being acquired and eventually being left to die. - The biggest challenges of incumbent banks and why legacy mentality and culture are more impactful than legacy technology systems. - Fintech in the UK. Why the UK regulators took an innovator-friendly approach and how it benefited the local scene by spurring competition and attracting some of the best global talent. - The horrific impact of COVID-19 and why this crisis is unlocking the realization of senior bankers that digitization is not optional, but mandatory. - Why he thinks this is the best time to be working in financial services and what 11:FS is doing to help financial institutions unleash their full potential.
In our latest podcast, we're excited to speak with Nicolas Kopp, the US CEO of N26. In Europe, N26 is a fully licensed mobile bank offering an effortless, sleek user experience with no hidden fees. It has grown to serve over 3.5 M customers across 24 markets and recently launched in the US with a mobile banking app and Visa debit card together with Axos Bank. In this extensive interview, Nic speaks to: ● N26's founding and how it was built to offer a completely different approach to banking ● The rationale for N26's launch in the US and the opportunity it sees in the market ● N26's plans for expanding in the US to better meet consumers' needs, particularly with its Perks and Spaces offerings ● How N26's culture enables it to innovate and challenge the status quo ● Nic's thoughts on how consumer banking will evolve in the US Nic originally joined N26 in 2015 as one of its first employees heading up Business Development and Operations, which he built from the ground up. Prior to N26, Nic spent several years at Morgan Stanley.
In our latest episode of the Wharton Fintech podcast, Miguel Armaza (WG’21/G’21) is joined by Pierpaolo Barbieri, Founder & CEO of Ualá, one of the fastest growing fintechs in Latin America. Ualá is an Argentine mobile banking app and lending platform that's also one of the fastest growing fintechs in Latin America. Since launching in October 2017, the company has issued over two million cards, raised almost 200 million in funding, and has grown to over 300 employees. Pierpaolo Barbieri grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He moved to the US to study at Harvard University, where he graduated magna cum laude. He then moved to the UK to pursue a Master degree in Cambridge and obtained his postgraduate in history and economics. In 2016, he returned to Argentina to launch Ualá. He is fluent in Italian, Spanish and French. In this extensive interview, Pierpaolo shares: - What motivated him to move back to Argentina and launch Uala in 2017 with the vision of building an inclusive financial company - The challenges of building a banking institution from scratch - Why simplicity can be transformational and why this philosophy drives Uala’s mission to build a beautiful and simple product that is easy to understand - The importance of providing “skin in the game” to your team and why over 15% of the company is owned by Ualá employees - His advice for aspiring entrepreneurs and why he is convinced this is the best environment to test the feasibility of a business idea - And why it’s hard for him to stop answering to clients directly on his own personal Twitter feed!
In our latest episode of the Wharton FinTech Podcast, Miguel Armaza (WG'21/G'21) is joined by Monica Brand Engel, Co-Founder and Partner at Quona, a venture capital firm that invests in growth-stage financial technology companies in emerging markets. Quona Capital is a venture capital firm that invests in growth-stage financial technology companies in emerging markets. The firm was formed with a simple idea - technology has the power to radically improve the quality, access, and affordability of financial services for underserved consumers and businesses in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Quona invests in disruptive innovations to create a more financially inclusive world. Monica Brand Engel is a Co-Founder and Partner at Quona, where she focuses on global investments. Monica is an investor and entrepreneur, having launched a number of investment vehicles and products aimed at broadening financial inclusion. Before co-founding Quona, Monica was the founder and Managing Director of Accion Frontier Investments Group, a growth stage fintech portfolio. She also launched and managed Accion's Marketing and Product Development Unit, where she oversaw the creation of new financial services to move the industry beyond microcredit, and worked in Mexico with Compartamos Bank, the largest microfinance institution in Latin America which IPO'd in 2007. Monica started and co-taught a graduate level course on financial inclusion and impact investing for over a decade at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, with the goal of disseminating lessons learned and promoting investment approaches that will help mainstream the industry. She has also co-authored a chapter on equity in impact investing in a book, New Frontiers of Philanthropy, and was a founding member of the Impact Investment Advisory Council established by the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association. Monica has served on the boards of Sokowatch, Yoco, Azimo, Zoona, GloboKasNet, Shubham Housing, Paralife, Compartamos Bank, and Pay Rent Builds Credit. Monica chairs the Investor Representative Committee of LeapFrog Financial Inclusion Fund I, the world’s first microinsurance fund. Monica holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, a Master of Arts from Stanford University, and a Bachelor of Arts from Williams College. In this extensive interview, Monica shares: -Her personal background. How growing up in a multicultural and multi-religious family, shaped her belief that what connects us is much more powerful than what differentiates us -Why she is convinced Venture Capital can be a powerful tool for good How she became a big believer in the power of financial services to affect change in underserved markets -The notable challenges of launching a VC firm aimed at financial inclusion in 2014 -The most important lessons she learned from her mentor and former boss, Michael Chu -How to succeed in VC. The importance of building a good team with strong track record and relevant operational expertise, while having a clear and specific thesis -Why "panicking" early is an important philosophy in business and the value of always preparing for the worst -Monica's take on the lessons COVID-19 has brought to light and why Quona could not have existed 15 years ago -Why Quona remains super bullish about the future of financial services and financial inclusion and why she's excited about the Alternative Lending and Neobanking spaces
Ron is the Chairman and CEO of the Wall Street Blockchain Alliance, the world’s leading non-profit trade association promoting the comprehensive adoption of blockchain technology and crypto-assets across global financial markets. Prior to this, Ron served as CEO of DerivaTrust Technologies, a pioneering software and technology firm for financial market participants. Ron also wrote “Blockchain in Financial Markets and Beyond: Challenges and Applications. He is a well-known speaker in the fields of financial technology and innovation, serving as an advisor to multiple startups and corporations focused on fintech innovation & blockchain technology. For more information on WSBA please contact: info@wsba.co Twitter handle: @WallStreetBTC @ronqman
In our latest episode of the Wharton Fintech podcast, Miguel Armaza (WG'21/G'21) is joined by Nicky Goulimis, COO & Co-Founder of Nova Credit, a mission-driven company solving the problem of credit access for immigrants. Join us as Nicky shares her inspiring story. Nicky Goulimis is the co-founder and COO of Nova Credit. Prior to Nova, she was a consultant at Bain & Company where she worked with a number of European Retail Banks. Nicky began her career in the international development space working for Ethiopia's Ministry of Agriculture on its smallholder farmer financial access initiatives. Nicky is originally from Greece and grew up in the U.K. She holds a BA from Cambridge and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where she was awarded the Miller Social Change Leadership Award. Nova Credit is a mission-driven company solving the problem of credit access for immigrants. The company's platform offers cross-border consumer credit services that passes reports onto lenders, property managers and other domestic businesses so that they can make more informed determination on whether to accept or reject a credit application, enabling immigrants to seek financial services, housing and more when moving abroad through a digital credit passport software that helps lenders to view creditor's history. In this extensive interview, Nicky shares: (i)How the challenges Nicky faced as an international student at Stanford drove her and her co-founder, Misha, to build and launch Nova Credit (ii)Why she considers herself an accidental founder, what led her to fall in love with the entrepreneurial process, and how she decided to take Nova Credit from a class project to a full-fledged company (iii)Some of the nuances of launching a startup as an MBA student, including submitting Nova Credit's Y-Combinator application from the Mongolian mountains (iv)The initial steps they took to build Nova Credit and the importance of validating and iterating an idea with potential partners and customers (v)The process and reasons behind their rapid client transition from servicing small credit unions to quickly landing some of the biggest financial institutions in the world (vi)Their value proposition to international credit bureaus and the nature of their strong relationships with multiple regulators around the world (vii)The company's multifaceted recruiting approach to building a world-class team and their conscious effort to attract diverse talent and create a scalable culture of radical ownership (viii)Nicky's advice and words of wisdom for current and aspiring founders
Andrée is the President and Chief Executive Officer of FINCA Impact Finance, or FIF, a global network of microfinance banks and institutions. FIF’s network of 20 community-based banks provides responsible financial services such as affordable loans and saving products that empower more than two million low-income women and men to take control of their financial futures in countries such as Tanzania, Uganda, Afghanistan and more. Previously, she served as Co-CEO of FINCA Microfinance Holding Company as well as VP and COO of FINCA International, returning to the organization after serving for several years as the President and COO of Women for Women International - a humanitarian organization dedicated to financial, educational, and interpersonal support of women survivors of war, poverty, and injustice. Prior to Women to Women, Andrée served as Deputy to the President & CEO of FINCA, where she was critical in redesigning the organization’s business model from a donor-based non-profit to a for-profit operating structure still doing good. She earned her undergraduate degree in international relations from the University of Virginia, an M.A. from The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, and her M.B.A. in Finance right here at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School as part of the Class of 1999.
Omri serves as Marqeta’s chief revenue officer and is accountable for the company’s growth and financial performance. After joining Marqeta’s early team, he helped pioneer the organization’s customer acquisition and growth strategies which, along with Marqeta’s award- winning technology, catapulted Marqeta’s modern card issuing platform into a global, industry-defining business. Omri began his career within the White House, eventually transitioning to the private sector, where he established a reputation for building world-class teams who develop transformational ideas into high-growth businesses. As a partner at The Trium Group, he advised CEOs and executive teams of multinational organizations including AXA, Barclays, and Virgin Atlantic, helping the firm to grow into a leading global strategy consultancy. Omri is a frequent speaker at international and domestic conferences and is a featured guest lecturer at the Columbia Business School’s Institute for Personal Leadership. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California at Berkeley and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Rachna Ahlawat is co-founder and executive vice president of Ondot systems, a leading mobile payment service provider. Ondot Systems is the creator of Mobile Card Services, a white-label solution that gives consumers control over payment cards. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Ondot brings together an experienced management team from mobile, security, and payment card industries who share a vision of transforming how consumers interact with their financial institutions. Rachna shares her experience founding a company, Ondot's mission, key features such as data enrichment and the increasing role of smartphones in the banking system.
In our latest podcast, recorded late last summer, Shompa Choudhury (WG ’20) is joined by Arpit Ratan, Co-Founder and Head of Business Development of Signzy (https://signzy.com/). Signzy is a FinTech startup offering digital onboarding solutions to enable secure digital compliance via artificial intelligence and blockchain. In this interview, Arpit explains how he chose to embark on a career in FinTech after studying and practicing the law. India’s ever-growing FinTech landscape features a plethora of players – from incumbents to digital players to the government. With Signzy’s role as a data and technology-based enabler for financial services, Arpit provides valuable insights into the dynamics between various players as well as the role of data and regulations in the future of Indian FinTech. Amidst the economic and social challenges that have arisen from the current crisis, it has become even more important to evaluate how data and technology can enable various FinTech players without sacrificing the security of customers. Established in 2015, Signzy aims to build a global digital trust system with three components: (1) the ability to uniquely identify and authenticate entities, (2) the ability to access background information on these entities, and (3) the establishment of a system of rewards and punishments to reinforce trust. Today, Signzy offers a digital on-boarding solution for banks, NBFCs and other financial institutions. While most banking services in India are transitioning to digital, regulatory compliance remains largely offline and hampers consumer experience. Changing consumer preferences demand a shift to digital regulatory processes (including KYC or Know-Your-Customer), however moving to digital can expose higher risks. Signzy believes that through a combination of artificial intelligence and blockchain, they can ensure that digital compliance is convenient yet secure. Arpit studied and practiced law before founding this startup with his brother – and has ever since embarked on the journey to make digital financial services more secure and accessible through what he calls a global digital trust system. He co-founded Signzy in 2015 with his brother Ankit, who is currently the Head of Product. Along with the various accolades that Signzy has received for its innovative approach to solving regulation with data, Arpit himself has been recognized as Forbes 30 Under 30.
In this podcast, recorded late last summer, Shompa Choudhury (WG ’20) is joined by Alok Mittal, Co-Founder and CEO of Indifi (https://www.indifi.com/). Indifi is a leading online lending platform for businesses in India. In this extensive interview, Alok explains how Indifi is leading the way in India’s competitive but growing small-business lending space. Alok also lays out the landscape for lending in India including the competitive dynamics between incumbents and new players, as well as new opportunities and challenges as technologies, regulations and consumer behavior evolve. Amidst the economic and social challenges that have arisen from the current crisis, it has become even more important to evaluate the role of FinTech innovation in sustaining growth.
In our latest podcast, Keane Ehsani (WG ’20) is joined by Terry Angelos, SVP and Global Head of FinTech at Visa (NYSE: V) (https://usa.visa.com). In this interview, Terry explains how Visa uses its global network to help the world’s most innovative FinTechs by collaborating to develop new modes of commerce and new ways to pay. Terry also discusses the Visa Fast Track program (https://usa.visa.com/partner-with-us/info-for-partners/info-for-fintechs.html) for FinTech partners, exciting trends in the payments space, and how Visa is building a network of networks to facilitate more payment flows. Visa is the world’s leader in digital payments. Visa’s mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, reliable and secure payment network - enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. Their advanced global processing network, VisaNet, provides secure and reliable payments around the world, and is capable of handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second. Visa’s relentless focus on innovation is a catalyst for the rapid growth of connected commerce on any device, and a driving force behind the dream of a cashless future for everyone, everywhere. Terry Angelos is SVP and Global Head of FinTech at Visa. At Visa, Terry is responsible for leading global strategy and programs focusing on how Visa engages with, invests in, and partners with innovative FinTechs that are creating new payment solutions and capabilities that drive the payments ecosystem. Previously, Terry was Global Head of Commerce & Merchant Data Products at Visa, helping merchants grow their businesses and build customer loyalty through a suite of data-driven products and services built on the world’s largest electronic payment network. Prior to his role in Commerce & Merchant Data Products, Terry led Visa Commerce Network. In 2006, Terry co-founded and served as CEO of TrialPay, which was acquired by Visa in 2015. Terry has over 15 years of experience in product strategy, development, and management. He holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from WITS University, an SM in Engineering Science from Harvard University, and an MBA from MIT Sloan.
In this podcast, Ines Gonzalez del Mazo speaks with Nitai Bran, CEO of Tradeblock and John Todaro, Director of Research. Tradeblock is a company leader in the provision of institutional trading tools and research for digital currencies. It was founded in 2013 and has its headquarters in NYC. More specifically Tradeblock: - Provides a professional platform for institutional bitcoin traders, featuring market analytics, blockchain insights, order management, trade execution, team communication, and compliance automation. - Creates and publishes a robust bitcoin index, uniquely designed to prevent manipulation, serving as the reference rate for tens of millions of dollars of registered derivative products. - Provides data services: analyses on market data relating to cryptocurrencies, trading, regulations, mining, protocol updates, blockchain analysis, and economic developments. Nitai Bran Bio: Nitai Bran is the CEO of TradeBlock. Prior to joining TradeBlock, Nitai worked for a technology consultant leading ERP implementations for Fortune 500 companies operating across Latin America. Soon after, he designed a platform to visualize SAP data on mobile devices. Based on initial success, the product was spun-off into a dedicated Business Intelligence company that was established in NYC and operated for four years. John Todaro Bio: John Todaro is the head of digital currency research at TradeBlock. TradeBlock reports have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Reuters, CNBC, Coindesk, Cointelegraph, and other media outlets. Prior to joining TradeBlock, John founded and managed a digital currency fund and began his career in the sales & trading division of Citigroup. John is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania
In our latest episode of the Wharton Fintech podcast, Miguel Armaza (WG’21/G’21) is joined by Pedro Conrade and Marcelo Haddad Silva from Neon Bank, one of the fastest growing Neobanks in Brazil and around the world. Join us as they share some great anecdotes and advice on a variety of topics. Pedro Conrade Pedro Conrade is the CEO and founder of Neon, one of Brazil’s top challenger banks. After a frustrating episode with his bank, he decided to drop out of university and launch Neon in 2016 with the goal of liberating its customers from the bureaucracy of traditional banks. Today, the company has grown to over 3 million clients and hundreds of employees across Brazil, offering a wide range of banking products. Marcelo Haddad Silva Marcelo is a Group Product Manager at Neon. In this role, he oversees the digital account for individual consumers, including payment methods, investments, and core banking transactions. Prior to joining Neon, Marcelo worked almost 10 years in strategic planning in firms such as BRK Ambiental, Whirlpool Latin America, and Booz & Company. Marcelo holds an MBA/MA from the Wharton School and the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the Instituto Tecnologico de Aeronautica, and a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Virginia. In this extensive interview, Pedro and Marcelo share: - Pedro's serial entrepreneurship, how he went from launching a bikini shop at only sixteen years old to dropping out of college to found Neon Bank - How high fees and poor customer service from his old relationship bank, motivated Pedro to start Neon in 2016 without any prior professional banking experience - The multifaceted challenges of building a financial institution from scratch and the steps Neon took to develop their initial products - How Neon's focus on understanding customer needs helps them analyze and decide their expansion efforts - The duo's management approach to ongoing monthly double-digit growth and why finding the right talent and technology are Neon's biggest challenges - Neon's relationship with the Brazilian banking regulator - A look forward to Pedro's vision of the Brazilian banking industry in the next decade - The factors that drove their September 2019 acquisition of MEI Facil, a fintech startup servicing Brazilian micro-entrepreneurs - The duo's advice for aspiring entrepreneurs, including the importance of finding the right investors and why attractive unit economics matter greatly Interview recorded February, 2020.
In our latest podcast, Miguel Armaza (WG’21/G’21) is joined by Steve McLaughlin. He is the founder, CEO and managing partner of FT Partners. Steve started his investment banking career at Goldman Sachs covering financial technology companies in 1995. Seven years later, he left Goldman to launch FT Partners at the age of 32. He has been successfully running and growing the firm for almost 20 years and is one of the undisputable leaders in Fintech capital raising and M&A advising. McLaughlin has been recognized with multiple industry awards, including Investment Banker of the Year by The Information, and is consistently ranked as one of the most influential people in Fintech around the world. Steve holds an MBA from the Wharton School and a BSBA from Villanova University. FT Partners FT Partners is the only investment banking firm focused exclusively on providing strategic and financial advisory services to clients and CEOs in the dynamic global FinTech sector. The firm offers strategic advisory services in mission-critical transactions including mergers, acquisitions, IPOs, LBOs, refinancings, recapitalizations and private capital raises. San Francisco-based FT Partners has the largest and most senior group of dedicated bankers focused on FinTech. For additional information, please visit www.ftpartners.com. In this extensive interview, Steve shares: - How he launched FT Partners in 2002, some of the challenges they encountered early on, and how the firm has grown to 160 employees in 2020 - The company’s data and analytical driven coverage model, led by a dedicated 30 person internal research team - FT Partners’ close relationship with the Fintech ecosystem, including Venture Capital funds and entrepreneurs - Why Steve believes we are only at the early innings of the Fintech revolution and some of the verticals and companies he is excited about - The road ahead for FT Partners and their role in the industry Interview recorded on March 6, 2020.
In this podcast, Sam Werther (WG ’20) is joined by Alexander Lebow, co-founder of Say. Alex talks about how he and his co-founders came up with the idea for Say. As a lawyer specializing in M&A transactions, Alex had first hand experience working with incumbents in the shareholder communications industry. He and his co-founders realized how the incumbents were operating without any incentive to improve the process for stakeholders or shareholders. Alex talks about what differentiates Say, the partnerships they’ve built in fintech, challenges they’ve faced since founding the company, trends and regulations impacting Say’s business, and what’s coming next for the company. To learn more about the company visit saytechnologies.com. Say is a New York City-based technology company disrupting the $4B investor communications industry. Say serves millions of investors as a full-service proxy processing and shareholder communications provider in partnership with leading brokerages and investment platforms. Say is also pioneering new modes of shareholder engagement for investors, funds, and companies, including a high-profile engagement with Elon Musk and Tesla for their earnings calls, annual shareholder meetings, and product launches. The company has raised $18 million to date. This podcast was originally recorded in 2019.
In our latest podcast, Shayaan Khanna (WG '20) is joined by Anoushka Vaswani, Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners. Anoushka is an investor in growth-stage companies in the enterprise software and infrastructure ecosystems. Companies she covers (or has covered) include Earnin, PayRange, Side and Open Listings. Anoushka has worked across finance, consulting & investing, largely focused on the tech sector. She also has a global childhood, growing up in the UAE, Turkey, Belgium and the United States. During our interview, we learn some insights on how Anoushka got a role in VC and what she is most excited about in the FinTech space. We also discuss gender diversity and how best to foster an inclusive environment in typically male-dominated industries. Anoushka runs a monthly newsletter called Monthly M(AI)L (http://anoushkavaswani.com/newsletter) focused on enterprise applications of AI & ML, showing us how to scale enterprise startups. She also shared with us the inside scoop on some of the opportunities and challenges startups have partnering with larger financial institutions.
In our latest podcast, Shayaan Khanna (WG ’20) is joined by Husayn Kassai, CEO and Co-Founder of Onfido (onfido.com). Husayn talks about the inspiration behind founding Onfido: his own experience when his parents moved to the UK which made him realize how broken the process of identity verification was. He discusses how Onfido, through identity verification, is enabling financial services players across the world to provide access to formal finance to the unbanked. He also shares his thoughts on the latest trends in FinTech and advice for students considering entrepreneurship in colleges / schools. Onfido is a software company that helps businesses verify people's identities using a photo-based identity document, a selfie and AI algorithms. Founded in 2012 by Husayn and his two co-founders while studying at Oxford, Onfido is taking on today’s sophisticated fraud landscape. It counts Square, Revolut and Zipcar among its 1,500 clients. Today it has over 250 employees across the world, with offices in London, San Francisco, New York, Lisbon, Paris, New Delhi and Singapore.
In our latest live interview from Money2020, Peter Jankovsky (WG'20) is joined by Adam Hughes, the President and COO of Amount. Amount is a leading-edge technology company dedicated to creating and enhancing the digital credit offerings of financial institutions. Built by lending industry veterans, Amount’s multi-purpose lending products help partners go digital with a suite of proven product modules for credit decisioning, fraud prevention, account verifications, servicing engines and CRM solutions. In this extensive interview, Adam shares: * How Amount grew out of Avant and the opportunity that Adam sees for the company today * Plans for Amount's growth, including a recently-announced POS lending solution * Adam's views on how partnerships will become key to success in consumer banking going forward * Adam's advice for entrepreneurs and those entering the FinTech space Prior to his role at Amount, Adam was President & COO for Avant, where he was the first employee hired.
In our latest podcast, Keane Ehsani (WG ’20) is joined by Jeffery Kendall, Executive Vice President of North America Sales and Distribution at Temenos (https://www.temenos.com/us/). In this extensive interview, Jeffery explains how Temenos Infinity helps banks and credit unions become digital through their foundational low code platform. Jeffery also discusses how digital service has evolved to drive growth in deposits and how digital transformation and evolving consumer preferences are changing the way in which banks interact with their customers to provide a better user experience. Founded in 1993 and listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange (SIX: TEMN), Temenos AG is the world’s leader in banking software, partnering with banks and other financial institutions to transform their businesses and stay ahead of a changing marketplace. Over 3,000 firms across the globe, including 41 of the top 50 banks, rely on Temenos to process the daily transactions of more than 500 million banking customers. Temenos Infinity (https://www.temenos.com/us/products/infinity/) is a digital banking front office product focused on customer experience. Temenos Infinity delivers a cloud-native, cloud-agnostic, independent digital banking solution. This customer-focused experience operates on any core banking system. It incorporates an omnichannel experience and real-time engagement, a best-in-class onboarding, and origination capability, along with rich functionality to support personal financial management and customer servicing. As the Executive Vice President of North America Sales and Distribution for Temenos, Jeffery is responsible for driving solutions for growth for Temenos' North American customer base of 1,400. Jeffery also manages partnerships with the rest of Temenos to ensure the global success of Temenos Infinity, their market leading digital front office product. Jeffery was previously the Executive Vice President and General Manager of Banking at Kony (acquired by Temenos in 2019 for $580mm), where he led sales, marketing, professional services, and product management functions for Kony's digital banking portfolio. We would like to thank the team at Money 20/20 USA (https://www.money2020.com) for hosting Wharton FinTech in Las Vegas during their annual conference to meet with and interview thought leaders in the FinTech Industry. Money20/20 is the premier global event on Payments, FinTech, and Financial Services where C-Level Executives, renowned speakers, innovators and disruptors from across the world unite to drive change in the future of money. We would also like to thank Wharton FinTech's platinum sponsor, the Stevens Center for Innovation in Finance at Wharton (https://stevenscenter.wharton.upenn.edu). The Stevens Center is the premier research, education, and thought leadership institution in the world for financial technology.
In our latest interview from Money20/20, Peter Jankovsky (WG'20) is joined by Jay Dearborn, the President of WEX Corporate Payments. Jay joined WEX in 2016, bringing to the company more than 15 years of experience driving strategic growth, marketing, and operational performance improvement. As president of corporate payments, Jay is responsible for WEX’s commercial card and other payments solutions. In this extensive interview, Jay shares: 1. The opportunity that WEX sees in the multi-trillion-dollar B2B payments space 2. WEX's history as an innovator in B2B payments and how WEX is partnering with both FinTechs and incumbent financial institutions to simplify payments for businesses 3. How WEX has maintained a nimble, non-hierarchical culture despite seeing rapid growth 4. Advice that Jay has for those just entering the FinTech/payments space. Jay previously served as WEX’s VP of strategy. Prior to joining WEX in January 2016, Jay was a partner at McKinsey & Company and held a variety of roles at American Express. Jay and his wife Nisha are both double Wharton alum, having both graduated with undergraduate and MBA degrees. Jay also holds a Masters degree in Foreign Policy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University.
In our latest podcast, Meghna Sreenivasan (WG ’20) is joined by Richie Serna, CEO and Co-Founder of Finix (https://finixpayments.com). Richie discusses the inspiration behind Finix: seeing the difficulties companies faced when creating payments infrastructure in-house, and the opportunity this presented. He also shares his thoughts on other innovative payments companies, the future of the industry, and lessons learned from his journey as an entrepreneur. Richie co-founded Finix with Sean Donovan in 2015 to redefine the economics of payments. Finix allows growing businesses to own and make money from their payments systems (vs. paying “rent” fees to third-party processors). Finix’s software allows companies to bring payments in-house, a process that previously took 2-3 years and cost millions of dollars. With Finix, they can do the same in as little as one month, and at a fraction of the cost. Finix is trusted by companies that process $50 million or more in payments like Lightspeed POS Inc. and Clubessential to build and scale their payments infrastructure. Finix is headquartered in San Francisco, with an additional office in Cincinnati, Ohio. Finix has raised funds from Bain Capital Ventures, Homebrew, Insight Venture Partners, Visa and several others.
In our latest podcast, Keane Ehsani (WG ’20) is joined by Robert Krugman, Chief Digital Officer at Broadridge (https://www.broadridge.com). In this extensive interview, Robert explains how Broadridge helps its customers enrich client and shareholder engagement. Robert also discusses how digital transformation, changing consumer preferences, and an evolving regulatory landscape are changing the way in which Broadridge’s clients communicate with their customers to provide a better user experience. Broadridge began as the brokerage services division of ADP in 1962. Since becoming independent in 2007, Broadridge has grown into a global Fintech company with over $4 billion in revenues and is recognized as an invaluable partner for the world’s leading companies and financial institutions. Broadridge helps drive business transformation for their clients with solutions for enriching client engagement, navigating risk, optimizing efficiency and generating revenue growth. Broadridge handles millions of trades a day involving trillions of dollars, support communications that reach 75% of North American households, and manage shareholder voting in 90 countries. As Chief Digital Officer for Broadridge, Robert leads the digital strategy and innovation for the customer communications group. His team ensures banking, telecom, utility, insurance and healthcare brands are engaging with their customers where consumers already frequent online. By supplementing traditional channels with new and emerging digital ways of engaging, the customer communications team helps businesses reduce costs, improve customer relationships, and make every touchpoint a meaningful interaction. We would like to thank the team at Money 20/20 USA (https://www.money2020.com) for hosting Wharton FinTech in Las Vegas during their annual conference to meet with and interview thought leaders in the FinTech Industry. Money20/20 is the premier global event on Payments, FinTech, and Financial Services where C-Level Executives, renowned speakers, innovators and disruptors from across the world unite to drive change in the future of money. We would also like to thank Wharton FinTech's platinum sponsor, the Stevens Center for Innovation in Finance at Wharton (https://stevenscenter.wharton.upenn.edu). The Stevens Center is the premier research, education, and thought leadership institution in the world for financial technology.
In our latest podcast, live from Money20/20, Peter Jankovsky (WG'20) speaks with Tim Chen, the CEO and co-founder of NerdWallet. NerdWallet is a leading personal finance content platform with over 100 million users that provides users clarity around all of life's financial decisions. In addition to leading NerdWallet, Tim sat on the most recent Consumer Advisory Board of the CFPB, and was appointed to the board of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC). In this extensive interview, Tim shares: • NerdWallet's founding story and how he's grown the company from an $800 investment into a $500 M company serving 100 M+ customers • The future vision for NerdWallet and how Tim is using machine learning to better understand and serve customer needs • Lessons learned from his experience as an entrepreneur, particularly on how he finds and evaluates talented executives • Advice for investors or young executives choosing FinTechs that will be successful in the long-run Prior to NerdWallet, Tim was a hedge fund analyst and also worked in equity research at Credit Suisse First Boston. We would like to thank the team at Money20/20 USA for hosting Wharton FinTech in Las Vegas during their annual conference to meet with and interview thought leaders in the FinTech industry. Money20/20 is the premier global event on Payments, FinTech, and Financial Services where C-level executives, renowned speakers, innovators, and disruptors from across the world unite to drive change in the future of money. We would also like to thank Wharton FinTech's Platinum Sponsor, the Stevens Center for Innovation in Finance. The Stevens Center is the premier research, education, and thought leadership institution in the world for financial technology.
In our latest podcast, Shompa Choudhury (WG ’20) is joined by Luvleen Sidhu, Co-Founder and CEO (formerly Chief Strategy Officer) at BankMobile (https://www.bankmobile.com/index). In this extensive interview, Luvleen explains how BankMobile is leading the way in mobile-first banking by making banking more accessible and affordable. Luvleen also lays out the landscape for digital banking in the U.S. and explains how BankMobile’s B2B2C white label model allows them to create high volume customer acquisition at a low cost through partnerships with large consumer aggregators. Established in 2015, BankMobile is a division of Customers Bank and among the largest and fastest-growing mobile-first banking platforms in the U.S., offering checking and savings accounts, personal loans and credit cards. BankMobile employs a “Bank-as-a-Service” (BaaS) model, which enables BankMobile to acquire customers at higher volumes and substantially lower expense than traditional banks. Its low-cost operating model enables it to provide low-cost banking services to low/middle-income Americans who have been left behind by the high-fee model of “traditional” banks. Today, BankMobile provides its BaaS platform to universities and large consumer aggregators, such as T-Mobile, and currently serves over 60 million members as a top 15 bank in number of consumer checking accounts. Luvleen Sidhu is the Co-Founder and CEO (formerly Chief Strategy Officer) at BankMobile. She is also a member of the BankMobile Board of Directors and Director & Founder of the BankMobile Foundation, where she identifies and funds budding entrepreneurs and organizations that promote financial literacy. Prior to becoming a well-recognized name in the industry, she earned her MBA here as part of The Wharton School at The University of Pennsylvania as part of the Class of 2013.
In our latest podcast, Ronak Mehta (WG ’20) is joined by Sergio Furio, Founder and CEO of Creditas (www.creditas.com.br). In this extensive interview, Sergio explains how Creditas improves the lives of Brazilians by providing access to affordable credit. Sergio also provides context on the Brazilian retail banking and lending industry, shares his vision for Creditas’ future, and reflects on key learnings from his journey as an entrepreneur. Creditas is the leading secured lending platform in Brazil. With 1,000 employees and $315 million USD in VC funding, Creditas is one of the top fintech companies in Latin America. Creditas’ backers include Softbank, Kaszek, Redpoint eVentures, Vostok Emerging Finance, QED Investors, the IFC, Quona Capital, Santander Innoventures, among others. Creditas reduces the high interest rates paid by the Brazilian population by using borrowers’ assets, such as home and automobile, as collateral for loans. Before founding Creditas in 2012, Sergio was an executive at The Boston Consulting Group and in Deutsche Bank’s investment banking division.
In our latest podcast, Keane Ehsani (WG ’20) is joined by Amias Gerety, Partner at QED Investors (https://qedinvestors.com). In this extensive interview, Amias describes QED’s investment philosophy and how they selectively provide capital and add value to emerging financial services companies. Amias also dives into his experiences at Treasury, the current US regulatory landscape for emerging FinTechs, and how QED’s portfolio companies are disrupting financial services. Amias joined QED as a Partner in 2017 focusing on supporting the portfolio and finding new investment opportunities with a focus on back office technologies and infrastructure companies. Amias brings a deep background in financial markets, compliance, and RegTech to the QED team. Prior to joining QED, Amias served as the President’s nominee and as Acting Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In that role, he was the lead advisor to the Secretary on policies affecting financial institutions. He also oversaw a number of programs focused on supporting small business lending and community development. Prior to Treasury, Amias was a management consultant at Oliver Wyman. Amias is a recipient of the Alexander Hamilton award, the Treasury’s highest honor. Amias graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard with a BA in Social Studies. QED Investors is a leading boutique venture capital firm based in Alexandria, VA. QED focuses on investing in early stage, disruptive financial services companies in the U.S., U.K. and Latin America. QED is dedicated to building great businesses and uses a unique, hands-on approach that leverages their partners’ decades of entrepreneurial and operational experience, helping their companies achieve breakthrough growth. Notable investments include Credit Karma, ClearScore, SoFi, Avant, Nubank, Remitly, GreenSky and LendUp. We want thank Wharton FinTech's platinum sponsor, the Stevens Center for Innovation in Finance at Wharton (stevenscenter.wharton.upenn.edu). The Stevens Center is the premier research, education, and thought leadership institution in the world for financial technology.
In our latest podcast, Anna Li (WG’20) is joined by Dr. Jing Wang, the Assistant Professor of Interactive Media & Business at NYU Shanghai. As China has been in the forefront of financial innovation and received a lot of venture funding in the FinTech space, the Wharton FinTech Club invited Dr. Wang to discuss the FinTech landscape in China as well as the evolving regulatory environment in the region. Dr. Wang focuses on studying how information technologies reshape the financial domain in the global context. At NYU Shanghai, Professor Wang teaches the course "Understanding Financial Technologies" and mentors students in the Program on Creativity and Innovation. Prior to joining NYU, she taught at Tulane University in Louisiana. Her writings are published on peer-reviewed journals and business and financial news. In this interview, Dr. Wang covers the following: 1. Overview of the rapid financial innovation that has taken place in China over the last couple of years and how the regulatory environment has supported and then contained the rapid development of FinTech companies 2. Overview of the main regulatory bodies in China for FinTech (see details in Dr. Wang's forthcoming article in The China Quarterly) 3. Comparison of the FinTech companies in the US versus China and how the regulatory framework differs in the two countries 4. The difference in regulatory controls between China and Hong Kong 5. How social scoring is implemented in China and how the government collaborates with FinTech/Tech firms to set those standards 6. Chinese government oversight on different sub-sectors within FinTech (i.e. P2P, payments, wealth management, etc.) 7. Regulation of virtual currencies in China 8. Types of companies that will experience headwinds and tailwinds from Chinese government policies
In our latest podcast, Meghna Sreenivasan (WG ’20) is joined by Sankaet Pathak, CEO of Synapse (https://synapsefi.com). In this extensive interview, Sankaet explains how Synapse offers developer-facing APIs for companies building innovative financial products and bank-facing APIs so banks can automate their back-end operations. Sankaet also does a deep dive in how customers interact with Synapse, the trend from enablement to high fidelity user experience in financial services, and his journey as an international entrepreneur. Synapse provides payment, deposit, lending and investment products as APIs to FinTech companies who build and launch their financial innovations on top of their banking infrastructure. Synapse enables everyone around the world to access best-in-class financial products, regardless of their net worth. Sankaet Pathak came to the US from India to study computer engineering at the University of Memphis. His experience of not being able to open a bank account due to his immigrant status, prompted him to launch a financial services company that could reduce barriers of entry for underbanked or unbanked folks. Through his efforts, Sankaet found that the true barrier to entry was an outdated infrastructure that kept everyday people from accessing best-in-class financial products. Today, Synapse services over 1.8 million end-users and processes over $10 billion in deposits. Many of Synapse’s clients are small FinTech companies offering innovative financial solutions that are both accessible and affordable for end users.
In our latest podcast, Shompa Choudhury (WG ’20) is joined by Pranav Barthwal, Co-Founder of Save Abhi. In this extensive interview, Pranav discusses the evolution of payments in India and how Save Abhi has re-envisioned savings and wealth management for millennials in India. Save Abhi enables easy building of savings by rounding transactions to the nearest rupee and saving the change for investment. Previously, Pranav was in the payments space, heading a joint venture between ICICI Bank & First Data - a leading FinTech payments player providing POS terminals to over 400,000 merchants across India. Pranav studied engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi and completed his MBA from INSEAD. Overall, Pranav has over 17 years of experience across payments, consumer goods and online learning organizations like First Data, Amex, and Reebok.
In our latest podcast, Peter Jankovsky (WG'20) is joined by Omer Ismail, the head of Goldman Sachs' US consumer business. In this role, Omer oversees the Marcus by Goldman Sachs and Clarity Money businesses as well as the Goldman Sachs/Apple credit card partnership. Omer was originally the consumer business' first employee, and under his leadership, Goldman Sachs' US business has grown to over 4 million customers, $5 B in loan balances, $50 B in deposits, and 1,300 employees.* In this extensive interview, Omer dives into: • The story behind Goldman's decision to enter consumer banking and how it went about understanding consumer pain points to deliver a unique value proposition • How the consumer business operates as a distinct business within the broader Goldman umbrella, and how its focus on constant iteration of design and UX delivers a differentiated customer experience • Surprises and challenges that Goldman tackled as it scaled its consumer business • Thoughts on what's next for Goldman in the consumer banking space, as well as Omer's view on opportunities/challenges in the market Prior to launching Goldman's consumer business, Omer spent a decade in the private equity division at Goldman Sachs, focused on investing in technology-enabled businesses in the financial services, media and healthcare sectors. Omer grew up in Karachi, Pakistan and earned a BA from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Forbes, Fast Company and American Banker. He has been recognized as one of Business Insider’s 100 People Transforming Business, Crain’s 40 under 40 and Bank Innovation’s Innovators to Watch. Omer lives in New York with his wife and two kids. * Stats mentioned in audio may slightly differ; podcast was recorded at start of summer 2019.
In our latest podcast, Peter Jankovsky (WG'20) is joined by Andrew Endicott, the CFO, President, and Co-Founder of Petal. Petal is a new kind of credit card company on a mission to make credit honest, simple, and accessible. Petal is one of the fastest growing fintech companies in the United States and is pioneering the next generation of consumer lending through its proprietary cash flow underwriting strategy, which promises to serve tens of millions of creditworthy borrowers that are currently ignored by traditional underwriting approaches. In this extensive interview, Andrew shares the founding story of Petal and how it expands access to safe and affordable credit by using underwriting cash flows instead of just credit scores; how Andrew tested the concept before launching, the unique challenges that lending companies face in establishing product-market fit, and Andrew's advice for entrepreneurs; and Andrew's thoughts on the industry's broader evolution, among other topics. Prior to co-founding Petal, Andrew was an investment banker at Lazard and focused on buy-side and sell-side acquisitions involving consumer-facing companies and non-bank lenders. Prior to that, Andrew practiced corporate law at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, where he focused on public and private M&A, along with securities offerings, including IPOs, equity and debt offerings, and other transactions. Andrew holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School as well as a B.S.B.A. from the University of Arkansas and is a periodic lecturer on strategic transactions at the Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, where he is also a member of the Dean’s Alumni Advisory Council.
In our latest podcast, Keane Ehsani (WG ’20) is joined by David Lessing, Chief Revenue Officer at Addepar (https://addepar.com). In this extensive interview, David explains how Addepar empowers financial advisors and investors to navigate the increasingly complex world of investment management. David also discusses how the wealth management industry has evolved with the proliferation of breakaway advisors, the regulatory hurdles that financial advisors and wealth tech platforms face, and how Addepar’s data aggregation, financial operating system, and real-time analysis help investors monitor their portfolios. Addepar works with hundreds of family offices, wealth advisors, and private banks representing more than $1 trillion of assets on their platform. Addepar gives investors and advisors a clearer financial picture at every level of their portfolios. With real-time analysis and customizable reporting, financial advisors can visualize and communicate relevant information to their clients. David Lessing recently joined Addepar after serving as a Board member, advisor, and CEO of several financial services startups over the past four years. He has spent most of his career in senior leadership roles in the wealth management industry, serving as Chief Operating Officer for Morgan Stanley’s U.S. Field Management Group and Head of Merrill Lynch’s Global Private Client Direct Division.
In our latest podcast, Peter Jankovsky (WG'20) is joined by Chris Britt, the Co-Founder and CEO of Chime. Chime is a challenger bank that was founded with the mission of helping its members achieve financial peace of mind. Since launching in 2013, it has become one of the fastest-growing challenger banks with over 4 M accounts and recently raised $200 M in funding at a $1.5 B valuation. In this extensive interview, Chris dives into: * His motivation for founding Chime and the distinct value prop it offers in the market today * How Chime's customer-centric approach is fueling its rapid growth with a revenue model that is aligned with the happiness of its members * What's next for Chime, including how Chris thinks about partnerships and his thinking on whether or not to pursue a bank charter * The future of the US retail banking market and how it will evolve to the benefit of consumers * Advice for entrepreneurs in the FinTech space Chris Britt is the co-founder & CEO of Chime. Before founding Chime, Chris was the Chief Product Officer and SVP, Corporate Development at Green Dot. Prior to that, Chris held roles as a senior product leader at Visa and as one of the first executives at ComScore. In addition, Chris is a Board Member of coachart.org, a non-profit that connects chronically ill kids with free lessons in the arts and athletics.
In our latest podcast, Keane Ehsani (WG ’20) is joined by Thomas Sponholtz, CEO and Chairman at Unison Home Ownership Investors (https://www.unison.com). In this extensive interview, Thomas explains how Unison helps first time homebuyers by co-investing in their down payment. Thomas also discusses homeowner’s equity as an asset class, how Unison uses data analytics to forecast the value of its portfolio, and how Unison is revolutionizing the industry by unlocking homeowner’s equity. Unison is pioneering a smarter and better way to buy and own homes by helping homebuyers with their down payment in exchange for a portion of their home’s appreciation when they sell. At Unison, Thomas has built a team of financial and real estate professionals who are committed to helping homebuyers get the home they want, and homeowners finance their life needs without adding debt. Unison believes in a world where buying and owning a home is not a zero-sum game, and that with the right partners, everyone can win. Thomas founded Unison and leads the company’s overall strategic direction. He has more than twenty years of experience building large-scale consumer finance and investment management businesses at companies such as Barclay’s Global Investors, where he managed the $28 billion residential mortgage portfolio, built the first Fixed Income ETF (iShares) and developed Barclay’s Global Multi-Strategy and Credit Long/Short fund.
In this broadcast from LendIt Fintech USA in April 2019, recent alumna Dipika Sen (WG'19) speaks with Ryan Rugg, R3's Global Head of Industry Verticals. In this role, Ryan oversees the global team that is responsible for helping industry leaders understand and navigate the forces reshaping their businesses, including blockchain technology. Previously, she led the Global Insurance businesses for R3, which has become one of the largest ecosystems building and deploying on R3’s Blockchain Platform, Corda. Prior to R3, Ryan worked for Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan where she gained extensive experience in financial services covering a broad range of institutions including insurance, hedge funds, banks, and asset managers.
In our latest podcast, Keane Ehsani (WG ’20) attends the FinTech Innovation Lab 2019 Demo Day in New York, where 11 enterprise tech companies got to showcase innovative products and services. In this podcast, Keane is joined by Maria Gotsch of the Partnership Fund for New York, Hans Morris of Nyca Partners, George Hessler of Magma Trading, and Nir Perry of Cyberwrite. The FinTech Innovation Lab (https://www.fintechinnovationlab.com) was founded in 2010 by Accenture and the Partnership Fund for New York City. The Lab provides early- and growth-stage FinTech companies with access to the world’s leading financial institutions. The Lab was established to help make New York a leader in FinTech and to grow technology jobs by leveraging the concentration of large financial institutions and deep domain expertise that exist in New York. Maria Gotsch, President and CEO of the Partnership Fund for New York City The Partnership Fund (https://partnershipfundnyc.org) has invested $173mm to preserve New York City’s competitive edge and to mobilize the city’s financial and business leaders to help build a stronger and more diversified local economy. In addition to leading the Fund’s investment operations, Maria has spearheaded the creation and operation of a number of the Fund’s strategic initiatives, including the FinTech Innovation Lab for New York. Hans Morris, Managing Partner of Nyca Partners Nyca (https://www.nyca.com) is a leading venture capital firm focused on connecting innovative companies to the global financial system. In addition to being the Managing Partner of Nyca, Hans also serves as chairman of the board of Lending Club and as a board member of AvidXchange, Boomtown, Payoneer, and SigFig. Prior to Nyca, Hans held several senior management positions at General Atlantic, Visa, and Citigroup. George Hessler, CEO and Founder of Magma Trading Magma Trading (https://www.magmatrading.com) has created a new kind of stock market that allows broker-dealers to trade large blocks of equities. This structure allows market-making firms to post large potential trades without fear of getting run over by high-speed electronic sweeps. Nir Perry, CEO and Founder of Cyberwrite Cyberwrite (https://cyberwrite.com) enables insurers, brokers, and agents to cyberprofile and benchmark the cyber insurance risk of small-medium businesses worldwide and to estimate the financial impact of potential cyber incidents on their businesses using their unique Cyber Profiling technology. Fintech Innovation Lab Demo Day Press Release: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190627005121/en/11-Enterprise-Tech-Companies-Showcase-Inventive-Products Fintech Innovation Lab Demo Day Archived Video Presentations: https://www.fintechinnovationlab.com/new-york/live/
In our latest podcast, Keane Ehsani (WG ’20) is joined by Dov Marmor, GM & Head of Banking as a Service at Green Dot (https://www.greendot.com). In this extensive interview, Dov dives into the proliferation of prepaid cards and Banking as a Service in the U.S. Dov also discusses Green Dot’s unique and vertically integrated value proposition for companies looking to provide banking services, how to land a job in fintech, and the evolution of the fintech industry. Dov Marmor leads Green Dot’s Banking as a Service (BaaS) division, which is the platform used by companies like Uber, Intuit, Apple, and Stash to create custom financial products for their customers. He is also a fintech lecturer at Cornell University’s Johnson Business School where he earned his MBA and serves on the alumni board. Prior to joining Green Dot, Dov led the US launch of Currencycloud, a Google Ventures funded fintech platform that processes billions of dollars in payments globally for major tech companies. Earlier in his career, Dov held leadership roles at Super Derivatives (Sold to Intercontinental Exchange) and Standard & Poor’s. He has extensive experience across fintech, Cloud Platforms, Payments, and digital innovation. Linked in article link about how to land a job in FinTech: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-land-job-fintech-dov-marmor/ For more information on Banking as a Service: https://greendot.com/business
In our latest podcast, Peter Jankovsky (WG'20) speaks with Ray Martinez, the Co-Founder and President of EVERFI. EVERFI is a recognized leader in financial literacy education that uses digital learning platforms to power financial wellness products for many of the country's leading institutions. Founded in 2008, EVERFI is backed by some of America's leading CEOs and VC firms, including Amazon founder/CEO Jeff Bezos, former Alphabet Chairman Eric Schmidt, Twitter founder Evan Williams, Advance Publications, Rethink Education, and Rethink Impact. In this extensive podcast, Ray dives into: * The founding of EVERFI and how it developed a unique revenue model in its early days * How EVERFI's new Achieve platform delivers engaging, personalized financial education to consumers * How financial institutions can use Achieve to better understand and engage with their customer base * Learnings from EVERFI's K-12 educational offerings that informed the design of Achieve * EVERFI's ambitions to build out additional educational offerings for healthcare finance, savings/retirement, emotional learning, and mental wellness, among other areas Ray's learnings from his experience as an entrepreneur boot-strapping EVERFI in its early days As President of Financial Education, Ray is responsible for leading the Company's financial education business, which powers financial capability programs for hundreds of financial institutions across the country. He also oversees EVERFI's Financial Capability Network which has grown to include over 850 financial institutions, thousands of teachers, government officials, Advisory Board members, and non-profit partners. The Financial Capability Network is committed to delivering critical financial education to K-12 students and adults in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Canada, while also leveraging best practices and technology solutions to yield maximum impact within their communities. Ray has spent over 20 years in the education industry, having served in leadership roles at Kaplan prior to co-founding EVERFI. Questions? Comments? Want to get in touch? Send us a note at whartonfintech@gmail.com
In our latest podcast, Peter Jankovsky (WG'20) is joined by Colin Walsh, the CEO and Co-Founder of Varo Money. Varo Money is on track to become the first mobile-centric national bank in US history after gaining approval for a national bank charter. We previously spoke with Colin in the early days of Varo's launch and are excited to welcome him back to the podcast to share his experience in the market. In this extensive interview, Colin shares: * His unique founding story and the value proposition behind Varo * The rationale for Varo's decision to pursue a national bank charter * His vision for what's next for Varo - including both product and geographic expansion * Challenges that Varo has overcome since launching in the market * Advice for entrepreneurs seeking funding * His views on the competitive landscape for consumer banking in the US Prior to starting Varo, Colin spent over 25 years working in consumer banking at global financial institutions. He was previously an EVP at American Express, leading Europe's largest credit and charge card business, and an MD at Lloyd's, leading the UK's largest mortgage and savings businesses. Feedback? Questions? Send us a note at whartonfintech@gmail.com
In our latest podcast, Keane Ehsani (WG ’20) is joined by Gerry Tsai, Director of Applications and Fintech in the Financial Institution Supervision and Credit Group at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (FRBSF) (https://www.frbsf.org). In this extensive interview, Gerry dives into the evolution of the Fintech industry and the U.S. regulatory response. Gerry also discusses the FRBSF’s Fintech Navigate program, regulatory sandboxes, and the various regulatory regimes that apply to the use of consumer financial data. In his Fintech role at the FRBSF, Mr. Tsai leads a team of analysts that focus on better understanding the opportunities and regulatory questions posed by the Fintech industry, as well as related impacts on the banking sector. In his applications capacity, he oversees a team that reviews and acts on regulatory applications by banking institutions to engage in mergers, acquisitions, and other expansionary activities. Mr. Tsai previously served both as Corporate Secretary and as Associate General Counsel for the Reserve Bank’s Legal Division where he focused on payment systems and bank regulatory matters. Before joining the Reserve Bank, Mr. Tsai was vice president and counsel at a large financial institution in Los Angeles, and was an attorney with the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C. Mr. Tsai graduated from Johns Hopkins University and Boston University School of Law; he is admitted to the bar in California and Massachusetts. Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco: Fintech Navigate https://www.frbsf.org/banking/fintech/navigate/ U.S. Department of the Treasury: A Financial System That Creates Economic Opportunities: Nonbank Financials, Fintech, and Innovation https://home.treasury.gov/sites/default/files/2018-08/A-Financial-System-that-Creates-Economic-Opportunities---Nonbank-Financials-Fintech-and-Innovation_0.pdf
In our latest podcast, Keane Ehsani (WG ’20) is joined by Zor Gorelov, the CEO and Co-Founder of Kasisto. In this extensive interview, Zor dives into Kasisto’s sophisticated conversational AI platform that powers virtual assistants for financial institutions. Zor also discusses his fascinating background as a four-time entrepreneur and how Kasisto’s KAI is revolutionizing the way customers interact with their banks. Kasisto (https://kasisto.com) is the developer of KAI, a conversational AI platform that powers virtual assistants and bots on mobile, web, messaging platforms, and voice-enabled devices. The world’s most innovative financial institutions license KAI to create intelligent conversations that fulfill requests, solve problems, and predict needs for their customers. Zor has over 20 years of experience in the software industry. He was the CEO and co-Founder of SpeechCycle, a market leader in cloud-based contact center optimization solutions for the telco market. SpeechCycle was acquired by Synchronoss Technologies (SNCR). Prior to that, Zor founded and ran BuzzCompany.com, a provider of enterprise collaboration and messaging software, which was acquired by Multex.com (MLTX).
In our latest podcast, Keane Ehsani (WG ’20) is joined by Karn Saroya, the CEO and co-founder of Cover. In this extensive interview, Karn dives into Cover’s sophisticated customer-centric and elegant apps built to better serve customers. Karn also discusses his pivot from fashion to insurance, how Cover is utilizing native mobile and its Magicam technology to disintermediate the insurance industry, and valuations and consolidation in insurtech. Cover (https://cover.com) is a technology company and nationally licensed insurance brokerage that works with more than 30 insurance companies across the United States. Their apps ensure that customers get the most out of their insurance, the best possible customer experience, and the best rates & coverage. Karn Saroya is the CEO and co-founder of Cover. He is responsible for operations, business development, growth and investor relations primarily. To date, Karn has raised $27M (USD) throughout seed, Series A and Series B rounds. Karn’s first company, Stylekick, was acqui-hired by Shopify in 2015 and, before entrepreneurship, he was a management consultant at Oliver Wyman. Karn holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Queen’s University and a Master of Finance from MIT, where he attended as a Fulbright Scholar. He is also a Y Combinator fellow and alumnus.
In our latest podcast, Keane Ehsani (WG ’20) is joined by Clay Wilkes, the CEO and founder of Galileo Processing. In this extensive interview, Clay dives into Galileo’s sophisticated payments platform and how Galileo inspires and connects the most exciting fintechs and financial institutions via its open APIs and simulator sandbox. We also cover Galileo’s growth since its founding, emerging payment adoption trends, and valuations and consolidation in fintech. Galileo Processing (www.galileoprocessing.com) was founded in 2000 and has grown to become one of the largest payments processors and program managers in North America. Galileo applies technology and engineering capabilities to empower fintechs and financial institutions to unleash their full creativity to achieve their most innovative goals. Galileo leads the industry with superior fraud detection, security, decision-making analytics, and regulatory compliance functionality combined with customized, responsive and flexible programs to accelerate the success of all payments companies and solve tomorrow’s payments challenges today. Under Clay’s leadership, Galileo developed the technology that powers the most successful fintechs, financial institutions and investment firms in North America. His love of technology began early, while hunkered down in high school and university computer labs in his native Oregon. He launched his career developing communications and operating systems for Sperry, IBM, and Novell. In 1994 Clay founded I-Link, which developed Voice Over IP. As CEO, he took I-Link public and authored patents for VOIP. A dedicated humanitarian and environmentalist, Clay says Galileo’s Core Values are the embodiment of what he believes as a business leader.
In our latest podcast, Keane Ehsani (WG ’20) is joined by Braden More, Executive Vice President and Head of Partnerships and Industry Relations at Wells Fargo. In this extensive interview, Braden dives into Wells Fargo’s tech enabled payment offerings and discusses Wells Fargo’s strategy for partnering with and investing in emerging fintech start-ups. We also cover U.S. payment adoption trends, how Wells Fargo is helping consumers manage their digital financial footprint, and Braden’s experience as co-founder of the Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator. Braden More leads business development, partnerships, and industry relations for Wells Fargo’s payments business. He and his team work across the consumer and commercial bank to grow Wells Fargo’s deposit and payment franchise by focusing on customers, partners, and regulators. Before assuming his current role in 2017, Braden was the head of payment strategy at Wells Fargo. He and his team worked across the enterprise to coordinate strategy, incubate new initiatives like Apple Pay, and represent Wells Fargo in the payments industry. He also cofounded the Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator, a venture capital program that mentors and invests in innovative companies. Braden graduated magna cum laude from Bowdoin College with a degree in government and legal studies. He earned his M.B.A. with distinction from NYU’s Stern School of Business and obtained a CPA license in New York. Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator (https://accelerator.wf.com/) Control Tower (https://www.wellsfargo.com/online-banking/manage-accounts/control-tower/) Greenhouse by Wells Fargo (https://www.wellsfargo.com/greenhouse/)
In our latest podcast, Peter Jankovsky (WG'20) is joined by Dan Westgarth, head of Revolut's North America expansion. Revolut is a UK challenger bank that launched in 2015 with the mission to build the world's first truly bank. Today, it supports customers in over 30 countries and has over 4M users. Podcast overview: * How Revolut thinks of a "stack of niches" in building its customer base and creating a ripple effect to grow to 4M+ users * Revolut's planned product expansion, including its new Perks program and wealth/trading product, and how it goes about launching new products * Revolut's plans for international expansion to create the world's first truly global bank * A comparison of the regulatory environment in North America and the UK/EU, and how this affects Revolut's business model * Plans for Revolut's launch in the US, challenges it has had to work through, and how it's adapting to the US consumer * Revolut's culture and what Revolut looks for in potential hires Dan Westgarth is the General Manager for North America at Revolut, currently responsible for local operations across North America. Before taking on his current role, Dan was part of the Revolut international launcher team, which collectively set up local businesses in 8+ international markets. Prior to that, as one of Revolut's early employees, Dan established several early partnerships and business critical deals within the partnerships and business development team which was based in Canary Wharf's Level39 FinTech hub and accelerator.
In our latest podcast, Christian Rolon (WG '19) is joined by Frank Rotman, one of the founding partners of QED Investors. QED Investors invests in early-stage Fintech companies based in the US, UK, and Latin America. Based in Virginia, QED was founded in 2008 by Rotman, Caribou Honig, and Nigel Morris (co-founder of Capital One). QED Investors has invested in Avant, AvidXchange, ClearScore, Credit Karma, Nubank, Remitly, and SoFi. Their exits include Braintree, Klarna, and Orchard. Frank Rotman is a founding partner of QED Investors. Frank's portfolio companies include Avant, Credit Karma, GreenSky, LendUp, Prosper and SoFi. Frank publishes his thoughts on Fintech on his personal blog Confessions of a Fintech Junkie. Frank began his career at Capital One as one of its earliest analysts. At Capital One, Frank spanned a number of roles across subprime and upmarket cards, focusing on managing Capital One's credit exposure and expanding new business lines. After leaving Capital One, Frank created a Student Lending company. Frank received his BS in Applied Mathematics and his MS in Systems Engineering, both from the University of Virginia.
In our latest podcast, Vivek Chauhan (Wharton MBA '19) chats with Michael Tae, Head of Strategy and M&A at Broadridge. Broadridge Financial Solutions, a $4 billion global fintech leader, provides investor communications and technology-driven solutions for broker-dealers, banks, mutual funds and corporate issuers globally. With over 50 years of experience, Broadridge's infrastructure underpins proxy voting services for over 90 percent of public companies and mutual funds in North America and processes more than $5 trillion in fixed income and equity trades per day. Broadridge is part of hyperledger project, a minority investor in the blockchain startup Digital Asset Holding, and has received an award for its blockchain initiatives. Michael is the head of strategy and M&A at Broadridge and leads strategy, acquisitions, partnerships, and other growth-related activities. He began his career at McKinsey where he provided consulting services to the financial services industry before moving to Merrill Lynch where he was the Vice President of their Financial Institutions Group. In 2009, at the height of the financial crisis, he moved to Washington, D.C., where he worked in the U.S. Department of Treasury's Office of Financial Stability as Director of Investments and Senior Policy Advisor. Most recently, he was the Senior Executive Vice President of Worldwide Services for Microstrategy. In this engaging podcast, Michael shares more about Broadridge's industry-leading initiatives using the blockchain technology for proxy voting and talks about opportunities and challenges in the adoption of blockchain technology in capital markets.
In our latest podcast, Keane Ehsani (WG ’20) and Peter Jankovsky (WG ’20) are joined by Brandon Krieg, the CEO and Co-Founder of StashInvest. In this extensive interview, Brandon dives into StashInvest’s offering as an enabler for consumer investing. We also cover Brandon’s experience at EdgeTrade, Knight Capital, and Macquarie, the process of founding Stash, and how Brandon sees disruptive innovation affecting financial services. StashInvest (https://www.stashinvest.com), one of the fastest growing consumer investing apps in the U.S., simplifies the financial services experience, offering education and opportunities that help improve the financial well-being of millions of people across the U.S. By breaking down barriers and building transparent, technology-driven products, Stash helps the 99% build smarter financial habits so they can confidently save more, grow savings, and enjoy life. Stash currently has over 3 million customers. As Co-founder and CEO, Brandon’s core focus is finding new ways to harness technology to simplify the financial services industry and create opportunities for people of all demographics and financial backgrounds. He has over 20 years of experience in the FinTech industry, most notably as Co-founder of EdgeTrade, one of the first and largest electronic trade execution and software firms (later acquired by Knight Capital Group), and as Head of Electronic Execution at Macquarie Securities Group.
In our latest podcast, Christian Rolon (WG ’19) is joined by Mary-Catherine Lader, the Chief Operating Officer of Digital Wealth at BlackRock. In this expansive interview, Mary-Catherine dives into BlackRock’s digital strategy, technology as an enabler for asset management businesses, and how FinTech startups are partnering with incumbents and expanding their product lines to become the center of consumers’ financial lives. The BlackRock Digital Wealth Group provides software solutions to help retail advisors and institutional investors build better investment portfolios by leveraging the Aladdin operating system. BlackRock has made a number of investments in WealthTech startups and incumbents, including Acorns, Personal Capital, Scalable Capital, Envestnet, and iCapital Network. BlackRock also acquired the robo-advisor FutureAdvisor in 2015. BlackRock has nearly $6 trillion in assets under management, serving retail and institutional investors across the world. Mary-Catherine Lader is the Chief Operating Officer of Digital Wealth at BlackRock where she focuses on improving BlackRock’s product offerings for retail advisors and investors through partnerships, acquisitions, and internal projects. Prior to BlackRock, Mary-Catherine was the co-founder of hiWatson, a Fintech startup managing online benefits for independent contractors. Mary-Catherine also worked in Goldman Sachs’s Special Situations Group as an investment analyst focusing on clean energy. She was also on the Media team for the World Economic Forum. During business school, Mary-Catherine interned at Comcast Ventures. Mary-Catherine Lader received her JD/MBA from Harvard University, and her A.B. from Brown University.
Caroline Kremer (WG '19) speaks with Tom Fortin, the Chief Operating Officer and Managing Partner of iCapital Network. iCapital is an alternative investments technology platform that serves investors, fund managers, and financial advisors. iCapital's platform digitizes the subscription, reporting, and administrative aspects of alternative investments. Additionally, iCapital's platform provides private investment fund due diligence for high-net worth investors and financial advisors. iCapital was named to the 2019 Forbes Fintech 50 list. iCapital recently raised a round of funding from strategic investors including BlackRock, Blackstone, Carlyle Group, BNY Mellon, Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, and UBS. Tom Fortin is the Chief Operating Officer at iCapital, responsible for the Administration, Investor Services and Technology departments. Prior to joining iCapital, Tom was a Managing Director at BlackRock from 2001–2017. He was most recently the Global Head of Retail Technology where he was responsible for the strategy, design, and development of BlackRock's retail sales enablement and digital distribution solutions. In addition he was a member of BlackRock's Global Operating Committee, Human Capital Committee and Enterprise Risk Management Committee. Prior to joining BlackRock in 2001, Tom spent ten years with Wall Street Systems in the design, development and implementation of a front-to-back integrated fixed income and FX trading system for global financial institutions. From 1988 to 1991, he traded FX and interest rate derivatives at Chemical Bank (now JP Morgan Chase) in New York. Through a joint engineering program, Tom earned a BS degree in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University and a BS degree in engineering from Providence College, and an MBA degree in Finance from New York University.
Jeff Leathers (WG ’19) interviews Lowell Putnam, the co-founder and CEO of Quovo, a financial data platform that provides companies with connectivity and insights for millions of consumer financial accounts across more than 14,000 different institutions. In January 2019, Quovo was acquired by Plaid. In this podcast, Lowell covers the recent acquisition, the current and future use cases for account connectivity, the regulatory environment, and his takeaways from his journey as a technology entrepreneur. Prior to founding Quovo, Lowell worked in the Investment Banking Division of Lehman Brothers/Barclays. At Lehman Brothers, Lowell worked in the Financial Institutions Group, specializing in consumer credit companies and structured finance transactions. Lowell has been named to the InvestmentNews 40 under 40 and WealthManagement.com Top Ten to Watch in 2016 lists. He serves on several advisory boards for technology companies and non-profits. Lowell attended Harvard College and lives in New York City with his wife, Brynn, and son, George.
Christian Rolon (WG '19) is joined by Jamie Finn, the co-founder and President of Securitize. Securitize is a platform for digitizing securities, facilitating the issuance of securities for assets including companies, funds, and other equity holdings. Founded in January 2018, Securitize has already helped a number of customers digitize their portfolios and assets on their platform. Securitize raised a Series A from investors including Coinbase Ventures, Ripple, and Blockchain Capital in November 2018. Jamie Finn is the co-founder and President of Securitize. Prior to Securitize, Jamie held leadership roles at helloNetwork, Zingy, Ericsson, Thumbplay, RingRing Media, Telefonica, Kontera, Sansa Security, AT&T, and Aki Technologies. Jamie has his Bachelor's degree from Babson College.
Christian Rolon (WG '19) is joined by Rex Salisbury, the founder of the Fintech Devs and PMs Meetup based in San Francisco. The Fintech Devs and PMs community has roughly 2,000 members, hosting monthly events highlighting many exciting Fintech firms in the Bay Area. Past Meetups have featured speakers from: a16z, Affirm, Branch, EarnIn, Plaid, SoFi, Wealthfront, and many others. Learn more at: https://www.fintechdevsandpms.com/. Rex Salisbury is the founder of the Fintech Devs and PMs Meetup in San Francisco. Rex is a product engineer at Checkr. Prior to Checkr, Rex worked at Sindeo as an engineer, and Merrill Lynch in investment banking on the real estate team. Rex has his BA in Economics and History from Davidson College.
Christian Rolon (WG '19) is joined by Jason Brown, the co-founder and CEO of Tally Technologies. Tally is the first automated debt manager, helping consumers pay down high interest rate credit card debt. Tally was founded in 2015, and was launched on iOS in October 2017. Tally now manages hundreds of millions of dollars in credit card debt and has saved people millions of dollars in interest and late fees since its launch. Tally has raised $42m in total from investors including Kleiner Perkins, Shasta Ventures, and Cowboy Ventures. Jason is the co-founder and CEO of Tally Technologies. Tally is Jason's third startup. His second startup Gen110 was also co-founded with his Tally co-founder Jasper Platz and was invested in by Kleiner Perkins. Gen110 was acquired by Solar Universe in 2013. Jason also worked at Voyager Capital, a VC firm focusing on early-stage software firms. Jason has his MBA from Chicago Booth, where he ran the Venture Capital and Private Equity Club and concentrated in Finance and Entrepreneurship. Jason received his BA from Boston University, graduating summa cum laude.
In our latest podcast, Christian Rolon (WG ‘19) is joined by Nick Shalek, a general partner at Ribbit Capital. Ribbit Capital is a leading venture capital firm focused on early stage firms across fintech verticals such as lending, insurance, wealth management, and blockchain. Ribbit Capital has made a number of investments across the fintech space, including: Affirm, Brex, Coalition, Coinbase, Credit Karma, Funding Circle, Gusto, Nubank, Revolut, Robinhood, Upgrade, and Wealthfront. In this podcast, Nick speaks about his path to venture capital, Ribbit's investment approach, regulation affecting fintech, and his view on the current investing and valuation landscape. Nick is a General Partner at Ribbit Capital, investing and serving on the board of a number of Fintech firms. As a firm, Ribbit Capital has made investments in many of the Fintech space’s leading startups - such as Coinbase, Revolut, and Robinhood. Nick has been at Ribbit Capital since 2012. Prior to Ribbit, Nick worked in Yale’s Investments Office, which manages the Yale University endowment. Nick also has experience as an operator, across Verne Global, Facebook, and Aspire Public Schools. Nick has a BA from Yale University, as well as an MBA and an MA in Education from Stanford University.
In this podcast, Christian Rolon (MBA '19) interviews Garry Reeder, Vice President at the Center for Financial Services Innovation. This episode was recorded live at the Financial Inclusion Summit. Garry leads the Financial Solutions Lab at CFSI. In this podcast, Garry discusses CFSI's mission and investing activities, regulatory developments in fintech, and fintech and blockchain applications for the underbanked. Garry Reeder is the Vice President of Innovation and Policy at the Center for Financial Services Innovation. Garry also leads the Financial Solutions Lab at CFSI. The Financial Solutions Lab is a partnership between CFSI and J.P. Morgan Chase. The Financial Solutions Lab invests in entrepreneurs and startups that are working on improving the financial health of consumers around the world. Past startups that have gone through the program include: Dave, Digit, EarnUp, LendStreet, Nova, Scratch, and WiseBanyan. Prior to his current role at CFSI, Garry had an extensive background in the public and private sector. Within the private sector, Garry has a decade of asset management experience, spanning across Ziff Brothers Investments and Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Garry later went on to co-found Fenway Summer Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm investing in Fintech firms. Garry has also advised a number of financial service institutions around the regulatory landscape, first at BlackRock, where Garry led the Consumer Financial Services Advisory Practice, and then at Chain Bridge Partners, where Garry was a Managing Director. Garry also spent time in the public sector, specifically at the U.S. Treasury. At Treasury, Garry worked on the Auto Team, overseeing TARP's investments in the auto sector, and the General Motors IPO. Garry went on to serve as the Chief of Staff for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, helping to develop Project Catalyst. Garry has his BA from Yale, and his MBA from Columbia Business School. The Financial Inclusion Summit was organized by Rex Salisbury, the founder of Fintech Devs and PMs Meetup. The community has roughly 2,000 members, hosting monthly events highlighting many exciting Fintech firms in the Bay Area. Past Meetups have featured speakers from: a16z, Affirm, Branch, EarnIn, Plaid, SoFi, Wealthfront, and many others. Learn more at: https://www.fintechdevsandpms.com/.
In this podcast, Jacob Decter (Wharton MBA ’19) speaks with Jennifer Fitzgerald, CEO and Co-founder of Policygenius. Policygenius is an online insurance marketplace that aims to streamline and simplify insurance buying for consumers, offering a wide array of insurance products including life insurance, disability insurance, renters insurance, and pet insurance. Beyond its product offering, Policygenius also offers practical financial and insurance advice and information in a digestible way for the average consumer. Policygenius is backed by investors including Norwest Venture Partners, Revolution Ventures, Susa Ventures, and AXA Venture Partners. In this podcast, Jacob and Jennifer explore the founding of Policygenius, the evolving insurance customer, some of the operations and operational challenges of running a start up in the insurance industry and the future of Policygenius and insurance distribution. Jennifer was named one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business for 2018 and is one of only four women founders in Fintech to raise over $50 million in funding. Before starting Policygenius in 2014, she and her co-founder, Francois de Lame, were management consultants at McKinsey & Company. Jennifer has shared insights in major publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and more. Early in her career, she was a Peace Corps volunteer and used to do standup comedy. Jennifer is a graduate of Columbia Law School and Florida State University.
In this podcast, Justin Karfo (WG ’19) chats with Tayo Oviosu, Founder and CEO of Paga. Founded in 2009, Paga is a Nigerian mobile payments company that allows users to send money, pay bills and receive payments easily from any mobile phone. Today Paga is the largest fintech company in Nigeria, with over 8.5 million users, 15,000 agents across Nigeria and 200+ employees. During this podcast, Justin and Tayo discuss the African and Nigerian fintech ecosystems and highlight the challenges associated with building an organization such as Paga. Tayo also shares his entrepreneurial wisdom and journey so far. This podcast was recorded at the Africa Fintech Summit in Washington DC. Tayo has over sixteen years of experience in a variety of technical and business roles in high−tech and Private Equity. Most recently, he was Vice President at Travant Capital Partners where he was responsible for executing the firm's investment strategy in West Africa. Prior to joining Travant, Tayo was a Manager, Corporate Development, at Cisco Systems in San Jose California. In that role, he was responsible for strategy, acquisitions, and private equity investments in four technology sectors − Virtual Computing, Application Networking, Security, and Network Management. Tayo also helped lead Cisco's investment expansion in Africa. At Cisco, Tayo led numerous acquisition and private equity investment opportunities, including the $130m acquisition of Reactivity, and investments in Aquantia (10G Base−T, Series A), and Guardium (Database Security, recently sold to IBM). Tayo was also responsible for the private sale of 22% of Cisco's South African operations to a consortium of investors in 2007. Prior to Cisco, Tayo was a Senior Consultant at Deloitte Consulting in the CRM and Technology practice. At Deloitte he worked on cases in five industries − high tech, telecom, pharmacy retail, government, and healthcare. He was primarily responsible for leading technical implementation teams. Tayo also had stints at start-ups Biomorphic VLSI as a Semiconductor Chip Design Engineer, and Event411 as a Software Engineer. Outside of work, Tayo is passionate about encouraging entrepreneurship across various sectors. He believes entrepreneurship is a major driver of sustainable change and growth across the continent. This passion has led Tayo to work with entrepreneurs to develop their ideas as an Angel investor and adviser. He is currently an investor and adviser in Yswara, Africa's home-grown luxury brand; ReelFruit, a Nigerian fruit processing agribusiness; and ChopUp, a mobile gaming start−up. Tayo also takes time to volunteer at the Bake for Change charity organization, working with young kids who have been displaced from their homes. Alongside Paga's numerous achievements, Tayo has been nominated for the West African Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2013 All African Business Leaders Awards. He is also an Ambassador for Junior Achievement − working with one of the largest non-profit youth groups, to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy. Tayo earned his Bachelors of Science degree in Electrical Engineering, cum laude, from the University of Southern California. He also has a Masters in Business Administration from the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University.
Justin Karfo (WG ’19) chats with Eghosa Omoigui, the founder and Managing General Partner of EchoVC Partners, a seed and early-stage venture capital firm. Based in Silicon Valley, EchoVC has invested millions of dollars in promising innovative African ventures. In this podcast, Eghosa discusses his firm's investment philosophy, the key themes in the African startup ecosystem and his firm’s key strategic partnership with TPG Growth. This podcast was recorded at the Africa Fintech Summit in Washington D.C. Eghosa Omoigui is the founder and Managing General Partner of EchoVC Partners. Before this, Eghosa was with Intel for nearly 10 years and his last role was as Intel Capital Director, Strategic Investments, Consumer Internet & Semantic Technologies, where he acted as a senior investment professional focused on platform-agnostic consumer web services and digital media-based investment opportunities. Omoigui also drove ICap's investment focus on next generation semantic technologies, smart data and the realtime web. Eghosa was personally responsible for (developing supporting theses for and) sourcing investment opportunities in various companies including AdMob, Jaiku, Powerset, Facebook, LinkedIn, Teracent and Pandora. Prior to this role, Omoigui was Chief of Staff to the President of Intel Capital (the largest global tech corporate VC), and, before that, Chief of Staff for Intel’s Treasury organization, helping oversee an $18B cash platform. Omoigui attended UPenn Law School and Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College.
Fei Ye (WG ’19) chats with Abby Chao, Co-Founder and COO of CollegeBacker. CollegeBacker helps parents open a tax-advantaged 529 College Savings Plan in minutes, and then invite family and friends to contribute. With CollegeBacker Gifts, anyone can kickstart a child’s college fund. During this podcast, Fei and Abby deep dive into the college savings sector and highlight the current challenges associated with saving for college. They also discuss the transition to entrepreneurship from professional services.
Wharton Alternative Investments Initiative and the Penn Blockchain Club hosted a fireside chat with Michael Sonnenshein, Managing Director at Grayscale Investments. With $3bn AUM, Grayscale Investments is the sponsor of the Bitcoin Investment Trust, the Ethereum Classic Investment Trust, and the Zcash Investment Trust. Sarah Hammer, Senior Director of the Wharton Alternative Investments Initiative, speaks with Michael about the basics of blockchain, the growth of cryptocurrencies, and the dynamics of and changing regulatory environment for digital investing. Michael Sonnenshein joined Grayscale Investments in January 2014. As Managing Director, he is responsible for overseeing the daily operations and growth of the Grayscale business, spanning sales, operations, product development, and investor relations. With $2+ Billion in assets under management, Michael is responsible for maintaining many of the firms’ key client relationships including family offices, hedge funds, and other institutions as well as forming strategic partnerships and evaluating service providers. Prior to joining Grayscale, Michael was a financial advisor at JP Morgan Securities, covering HNW individuals and institutions. He also worked in a similar capacity at Barclays Wealth, providing coverage to middle‐market hedge funds and institutions. Mr. Sonnenshein earned his Bachelors of Business Administration from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University and an MBA from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University. He holds his Series 7 and 66 licenses.
Vivek Chauhan (Wharton MBA ’19) chats with Joel Frisch, Head of Americas at Prodigy Finance. Prodigy Finance is a peer-to-peer platform offering loans to international post graduate students using an innovative credit model. In this engaging podcast, Joel talks about his own trajectory from banking into fintech, Prodigy’s unique approach to credit modeling, impact investing, and opportunities and challenges in the P2P space. Educated in Philadelphia and London, Joel had a successful career on Wall Street and co-founded a software startup in the employee management industry prior to joining Prodigy Finance. As the first US-based employee at Prodigy Finance, Joel has helped build both the team and the market while balancing the complexities of a fast scaling company in a highly regulated space across the UK & US.
Caroline Kremer (WG '19) speaks with Colleen Briggs, Executive Director of Community Innovation at JP Morgan Chase & Co, about JP Morgan's approach to incubating and growing new financial technology companies. In this podcast, Colleen discusses the business opportunities for fintech companies focused on serving the underbanked, as well as her work with the Financial Solutions Lab and the Catalyst Fund. Colleen is responsible for helping establish and execute JP Morgan Chase & Co's global philanthropic strategies on financial health and community development, including two signature initiatives – the Financial Solutions Lab and PRO Neighborhoods competition. The Lab is a $30 million, five-year initiative that convenes leading experts in technology and design to improve consumer financial health for underserved populations. PRO Neighborhoods is a five-year, $125 million program that works to increase the availability and accessibility of vital economic opportunities in distressed neighborhoods. Colleen also manages numerous programs across both topics designed to surface new approaches to community challenges, as well as explore global cross-cutting themes across the Foundation’s work, such as women’s empowerment, peer learning, evaluation, and attracting additional investment in JP Morgan's projects. Colleen is a member of the Asset Funders Network Steering Committee and the Innovations for Poverty Action Policy Advisory Group. She earned an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Dipika Sen (Wharton MBA '19) chats with Jungwon Byun, Head of the Growth Team at Upstart, the first lending platform to leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning to price credit and automate the borrowing process. In this engaging podcast, Jungwon talks about her own trajectory from consulting into FinTech, discusses her initiative to foster the professional development of women at Upstart, and shares her insights on the importance of diversity in the industry. Jungwon oversees all of Upstart’s user acquisition strategies across digital, offline, and lifecycle channels. She was previously a management consultant at Oliver Wyman, where she assessed the risk exposure of international banks’ capital markets businesses for regulatory stress testing. She brings experience from her time as the CEO and co-Executive Director of a domestic microfinance non-profit. Jungwon graduated cum laude from Yale University, with a B.A. in Economics.
Justina Gallegos (WG '19) speaks with Marc Andrews, Vice President of IBM Watson Financial Services Solutions. Marc has led the creation of a new organization within IBM to build industry specific solutions for the financial services industry. He is driving the design, development and delivery of offerings that apply analytic and cognitive technologies to streamline regulatory compliance, combat fraud and financial crime, and generate increased customer insights. Marc meets with business and technology leaders from financial services organizations across the globe to share best practices and help them identify how they can apply cognitive capabilities to drive new business value. Marc is a fellow Wharton alum - we are always happy to host Wharton alums in fintech on our podcast.
Kylie Francis(Wharton MBA'18) chats with Andrew Robinson, Executive in Residence at Oak HC/FT, a premier venture growth equity firm investing in healthcare and financial service technology, where his focus is on Insurtech. In this insightful podcast, Andrew talks about his foray into the insurance industry and shares his perspectives on the most interesting activity in the insurance space today, and where this is scope for further disruption.
Fei Ye (WG '19) speaks with Julien Courbe, Partner and Head of PwC's U.S. Financial Services Advisory practice. Fei and Julien discuss PwC's top 8 digital predictions in financial services for 2018. PwC's trends cover a range of topics including digital banking, insurtech and blockchain. Check out the Wharton FinTech Medium for more details on PwC's report. Julien leads PwC’s US Financial Services Advisory practice, covering banking, capital markets, insurance and asset & wealth management companies. He advises C-suite executives at major financial services institutions on how to address issues related to growth and performance improvement, digital transformation, FinTech, financial crime and regulatory compliance, as well as technology and operations effectiveness.
Brian Shah (WG '18) speaks with Dan Aisen, Co-Founder and Head of Quantitative Strategy at IEX. Dan discusses the founding of IEX and the future of high frequency trading. IEX is the subject of Michael Lewis' bestselling book Flash Boys. As part of the founding team, Dan was responsible for building out the core functionality of IEX as a trading venue. As the company grows and evolves, he continues to develop new products and tactics that IEX can use to protect investors from predatory strategies and build a more sustainable and equitable market. Prior to IEX, Dan worked at RBC Capital Markets.
John Pennington (WG '19) speaks with Jani Valjavec, co-founder and CTO (Trading) of ICONOMI, the world’s first blockchain-based digital asset management platform for the decentralized economy. A well-known member of the blockchain community, Jani is a crypto and app token expert and was an early blockchain enthusiast. In 2013, he co-founded Cashila, the first registered Bitcoin company in Europe to acquire a license for the execution of banking transactions via bitcoin. In 2016 Jani co-founded ICONOMI, the world’s first digital assets management platform, in order to provide access to a variety of digital assets and the ability to combine and trade them. Jani also serves as Chairman of Columbus Capital, ICONOMI’s first partner to serve as a dedicated Digital Asset Array manager.
Elena Gerasimova (Wharton 2018) and Nipun Jasuja (Wharton 2018) chat with Catherine Flax, CEO of Pefin, the world’s AI financial advisor. Established in 2011, Pefin is a fintech company based in New York City. Pefin, which stands for PErsonal Financial INtelligence, uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to provide fiduciary financial advice at the fraction of a cost of a traditional financial advisor. On the day this podcast was recorded (November 30, 2011), Pefin went live to end consumers! And we couldn’t be more thrilled about that. Tune in to learn how Pefin is different from traditional roboadvisors that we’ve come to know, what really is the “AI” behind Pefin and why it took six years until product launch, and some invaluable nuggets of professional wisdom from Catherine.
David Gogel (WG'18) speaks with Charles Birnbaum (WG'11), Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners. BVP is a multi-stage venture capital firm that invests across enterprise, consumer and healthcare. Charles focuses on financial services, consumer and education investments. David and Charles speak about building investment and industry theses, opportunities in the cryptocurrency market, trends in insurtech, and the evolution of the tech-enabled specialty industry. Charles is a partner in Bessemer's New York office. He focuses on financial services, consumer and education investments. Charles is actively involved with many BVP portfolio companies, including Main Street Hub, BrightBytes, Bread Finance, and August Home. He currently serves on the board of Zopa, United Capital, Fabric, Spruce and Eave and was involved in the exits of Yodle, 2U, and Kroll Bond Ratings. Charles’ startup experience has been important to BVP’s early stage financial services portfolio, which includes high-potential companies such as Betterment and Quantopian. Prior to joining BVP in 2013, Charles spent more than three years at Foursquare, the location-based mobile application company based in New York, helping create and bring to market some of Foursquare’s first merchant-facing tools. As the company grew, Charles became the director of mobile and international business development, where he focused on building strategic partnerships with carriers and OEMs while leading the company’s business development efforts in key growth markets such as Brazil, Russia and Turkey. Prior to Foursquare, Charles spent six years in investment banking and equity capital markets focusing on the technology, media and telecom sectors, and executed more than 50 equity and equity-linked public offerings. Charles holds a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School, a Master of Arts in international studies from the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, and a Bachelor of Arts in history from Northwestern University.
Brian Shah (WG '18) chats with Amy Nauiokas, Founder and President of Anthemis Group, a leading financial technology investment and advisory firm. In this podcast, Amy discusses why she started Anthemis and the rationale behind providing both investment and strategy capabilities under one roof. She explains her guiding investing philosophy and how the team sources and evaluates new opportunities. At the end, Amy shares her perspective on U.S. vs. European startups and key trends in the financial technology space.
Jess Douglass, Wharton MBA 2018, chats with Sarina Siddhanti, Head of Direct Business, Funding Circle US. Funding Circle is a peer-to-peer lending marketplace that allows investors to lend money directly to small and medium-sized businesses. Funding Circle was the first website to use the process of peer-to-peer lending for business funding in the UK, and now operates in the UK, US, Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands. In this exciting podcast, Sarina shares her thoughts on how financial services can be used as a catalyst for small business growth, explains Funding Circle's business models and her journey at this exciting company, and shares some valuable insights on how to think about working in the Fintech space and finding companies whose "heart is in the right place".
Antonio Munoz chats with Bastiaan de Goei, Director of New Ventures at AXA Next. In this informative podcast, Bastiaan demystifies the insurance industry, talking about emerging trends, and the need for using data better and creating simpler risk products. He also discusses strategies for disrupting insurance based on the level of control a firm wishes to have across the value chain. Bastiaan started his career working in strategy consulting and private equity. He then moved to AXA where he has been for the last 6 years. At AXA, Bastiaan has transitioned from a strategy and M&A role into his current position as director new ventures for AXA in San Francisco. Bastiaan received his Masters in Management from the London School of Economics and PhD in Business Economics from the University of Cambridge. He contributes to AXA’s endeavors in developing new business models that provide unique customer experiences that give AXA sustainable competitive advantage. These new business models can leverage new partnerships, strategic acquisitions & investments, and AXA's own IP.
Nipun Jasuja (Wharton 2018) chats with Tobin McDaniel, president of Schwab Wealth Investment Advisory, a registered investment advisor and the sponsor of Schwab Intelligent Portfolios, Charles Schwab’s new automated investment advisory service. In this insightful podcast, Tobin shares his views on the evolution of the wealth management landscape in the US, the importance of incorporating the human element when you are responsible for the hard-earned money of your customers, and the thrills of running a venture within one of the most trusted brands in financial services. To top it all, Tobin also gives tangible advice for budding entrepreneurs and MBA students, reflecting on his own experiences and career trajectory.
Antonio Munoz (Wharton MBA’17) chats with Matt Miller, founder and CEO of Embroker, which is a leading tech-enabled commercial insurance broker. Embroker’s new, all-digital approach to business insurance combines the ease of technology with expert advisors to take the pain out of getting the right coverage for your business. In this engaging podcast, Matt talks about what made him change career trajectories and start Embroker, about challenges in insurance and disrupting the insurance industry, how Embroker is creating a new way of buying business insurance, and more broadly about why and how to go behind solving hard problems.
David Gogel chats with Arthur Hayes, CEO and Co-Founder of BitMEX, aka the Bitcoin Mercantile Exchange, a cryptocurrency-based derivatives exchange based in Hong Kong. They discuss Arthur’s background, the launch of BitMEX, Bitcoin, Ethereum, derivatives trading, exchange business models, regulation, security, initial coin offerings, and the future state of cryptocurrencies. BitMEX handles on average $100 million dollars per day in the total value of products traded.
Ruhi Dang (Wharton MBA '18) chats with William Hockey, co-founder and CTO of Plaid. Plaid is the tool that empowers a large number of applications you use today. In very simple terms, Plaid allows a variety of financial-technology startups to access their customers’ bank account information. Tune into this podcast to hear William discuss the story of Plaid, the emerging industry trends and talk about how some out-of-the-box startups are using Plaid today. What’s more you ask? Some xkcd humor and a dive into Plaid’s APIs for the tech geek in you! William hopes to see some of you use Plaid to build groundbreaking applications and transform the industry in the coming years. Check out https://plaid.com today!
Happy Summer! Volunteering, internships, and general travel has taken Wharton students to all corners of the world this summer. Wharton FinTech has also made its first foray into Southeast Asia. Check out this latest podcast, where Kevin Vichyastit (Wharton MBA 2018) chats with Iwan Kurniawan, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Modalku, a P2P lending platform in Indonesia for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Modalku is funded by Sequoia Capital, and founded by locals, hoping to make an impact in Indonesia. In this informative and heartwarming podcast, Iwan talks about the exciting MSME market in Indonesia, describes his startup journey, gives some candid advice on coming down from our ivory towers and watching our blind spots, and makes a passionate plea for MBA students and budding entrepreneurs to look South East! Iwan has been featured in CNN, Jakarta Post, Bisnis Indonesia, Tech in Asia, Metro TV and other major media for the platform’s early successes. Prior to Modalku, Iwan was a management consultant with global consulting firm Oliver Wyman, specializing in strategy development and risk management within the Financial Services industry, with experience across Southeast Asia and China. Iwan is a proud graduate of Cornell University. He has lived and worked in 5 countries (Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, China, United States), and is conversant in 5 languages (English, Bahasa Indonesia, Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, Thai).
David Gogel (MBA '18) chats with David Klein, co-founder and CEO of CommonBond. David discusses a wide range of topics in FinTech, student lending, and entrepreneurship. He goes deep on CommonBond’s student loans products, business model, and future prospects. He discusses how the Wharton MBA experience helped him launch CommonBond. We also cover David’s views on the FinTech industry more broadly, blockchain, and advice for student entrepreneurs. David Klein is CommonBond’s co-founder and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to pursuing his Wharton MBA, David worked in consumer finance at American Express, as Director of Strategic Planning and Business Development, where he led a team that managed a $250M annual portfolio. Prior to American Express, he worked at McKinsey & Company, where he advised clients in the financial services industry. David graduated from Brandeis University with a BA in Politics, Economics, and International Business. He is an alumnus of Wharton Business School and served on the Board of the Bronx Charter School for the Arts in New York. Get a free MBA student loan rate quote in minutes at www.commonbond.co, and see how YOU can save an average of EIGHTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS. Check out a smarter MBA student loan today at www.commonbond.co. Savings calculation is based on the difference in the CommonBond and Federal Grad PLUS interest rate. NMLS Number: 1175900.
Nipun Jasuja (Wharton MBA 2018) chats with Kaz Nejatian, Co-founder and CEO of Kash, a Y Combinator Summer 2014 payments startup. Kash's mission is to make payments simple by getting rid of interchange, chargebacks, and everything merchants hate. In this fun podcast, Kaz fondly speaks about his memories as an immigrant kid that incepted the seeds of entrepreneurship, his obsession with consumer behavior, the story of Kash, and his insightful perspectives on digital payments, both in the US and internationally. Do not miss this one! #wharton #fintech #kash #payments
Matt Applegate chats with Will Janensch, Co-Founder and COO of Concur Reference Data, about blockchain solutions for capital markets. Will has over 15 years of experience in market and reference data at Thomson Reuters as VP of Strategy and senior roles in Marketing and Operations at Thomson Reuters and First Data. Will led the strategy on multiple $100M+ M&A transactions, including the $625M acquisition of FXAll. He holds a BA from Yale University and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. http://concurreferencedata.com http://twitter.com/WJanensch
Christophe Williams (MBA '18) chats with Andy Rachleff, co-founder and CEO of Wealthfront. Andy discusses a wide range of topics in FinTech, investing, and how to grow tech companies. He goes in-depth on Wealthfront's competitive advantages in automated investing and how he approaches product/marketing strategy to grow sustainably. Also covered are Andy's background in venture capital, the process of founding Wealthfront, and how he sees disruptive innovation affecting financial service incumbents. As a bonus, we have a special Wealthfront sign-up link for our listeners. To get your first 15,000 dollars managed for free, sign up using: http://www.wealthfront.com/whartonfintech Andy Rachleff is Wealthfront's co-founder, President and Chief Executive Officer. He serves as a member of the board of trustees and vice chairman of the endowment investment committee for University of Pennsylvania and as a member of the faculty at Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he teaches courses on technology entrepreneurship. Prior to Wealthfront, Andy co-founded and was general partner of Benchmark Capital, where he was responsible for investing in a number of successful companies including Equinix, Juniper Networks, and Opsware. He also spent ten years as a general partner with Merrill, Pickard, Anderson & Eyre (MPAE). Andy earned his BS from University of Pennsylvania and his MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Brian Shah (MBA '18) chats with Michael Tannenbaum, Chief Revenue Officer of SoFi. As CRO, Michael is responsible for driving successful execution and growth across SoFi’s core lending products. In this podcast, Michael discusses the company's foray into new financial products, its unique membership perks, and its recent acquisition of Zenbanx. He also shares his perspective on the current fundraising environment and the future of financial technology.
Aditya Goel chats with Ram Ahluwalia, Co-founder and CEO, PeerIQ. This New York-based financial information services company is creating tools to analyze, access, and manage risk in the peer-to-peer lending sector. In this podcast, Ram discusses the trends, evolution and future of alternative lending markets and the role of analytics and platforms in this asset space, sharing both his own perspectives and insights from recent industry conferences. Ram also provides precious nuggets of wisdom for future entrepreneurs and MBA students looking to enter FinTech.
Nipun Jasuja chats with Brandon Yahn, Founder of Student Loans Guy - a brand new FinTech startup. Brandon started Student Loans Guy to help people better understand their student loans and more easily navigate the lending and refinancing marketplace. In this podcast, Brandon shares his perspectives on the student loan market in the US, describes the mission and vision behind Student Loans Guy, and walks us through his exciting professional journey, sharing candid advice for budding entrepreneurs.
Ruhi Dang chats with Virraj Jatania, Co-founder & CEO of Pockit. Pockit is a digital banking alternative for the unbanked, underserved and low income consumers in the UK. Virraj talks about his journey from a family business in Nigeria to building Pockit – a new front door that’s open to all, especially those shut out or short-changed by traditional high street banks. Listen to him talk about Pockit’s plans to expand into Europe and into newer product lines for their existing market as he discusses industry trends and contrasts Pockit with traditional solutions in the FinTech space.
Uday Seth chats with Howard Lindzon, a Canadian author, financial analyst, technical analyst and super angel investor. Lindzon manages a hedge fund, serves as managing partner of the holding company Social Leverage, limited partner at Knight's Bridge Capital Partners, and is the co-founder of StockTwits. In this podcast, Lindson shares his perspective on FinTech, and the opportunities and challenges ahead.
Bobby Rosenbleeth chats with Ed O’Brien, CEO of eMoney Advisor, a financial technology company serving more than 40,000 financial professionals nationwide. Featuring an industry leading client portal, collaborative financial planning capabilities, powerful data aggregation services, deep integrations with top third-party applications, and robust business analytics, eMoney’s product suite helps financial advisors build trust, strengthen their relationships, and succeed. Fidelity Investments acquired eMoney in 2015.
Adam Chadroff chats about insurtech trends with Drew Aldrich, Associate at AXA Strategic Ventures (ASV). ASV is a $250 venture fund that makes seed and growth equity investments in enterprise software, financial technology, insurtech, and related sectors. In this podcast, Drew shares his thoughts about trends in insurtech and insurance innovation.
David Gogel chats with Daniel Schreiber, CEO and Co-Founder of Lemonade, an insurtech startup based in New York. The property and casualty insurance company offers fast and low cost homeowners and renters insurance powered by technology, honest culture, and a commitment to social good. The company just raised $34 million in series B financing and is backed by top Venture Capital firms including Sequoia, General Catalyst, and Google Ventures.
Uday Seth chats with Maex Ament, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Taulia. Taulia works with the world's largest and most innovative companies to transform the way they partner with their supply chains. Through a mix of supplier self-services, e-invoicing, and flexible supplier financing, Taulia enables organizations to turn every invoice into a revenue opportunity while drastically strengthening supplier relationships. A few of Taulia’s clients include Coca-Cola Bottling, eBay, John Deere, Hallmark, and Dominion Energy. https://twitter.com/maex242 https://twitter.com/taulia https://taulia.com/en/
Christophe Williams chats with Colin Walsh, Co-Founder and CEO of Varo. Varo is redesigning mobile banking and the personal financial management experience. Before founding Varo, Colin held a number of senior executive posts at American Express, Lloyds, and Wells Fargo. https://twitter.com/colindwalshsf https://twitter.com/VaroMoney www.varomoney.com/
Katie Koh chats with Atish Davda, CEO and Co-Founder of EquityZen. Atish received an undergraduate degree in Economics from Wharton. EquityZen is an online marketplace for trading pre-IPO employee shares from privately held companies. The platform often links employees from private companies with investors who would not otherwise be able to invest in the company prior to an IPO. https://twitter.com/adavda https://twitter.com/EquityZen https://equityzen.com/
Abhi Agrawal spoke with the co-founders of Final: Aaron Frank, CEO, and Ben Apel, VP of Marketing. Final's mission is to eliminate the hassle associated with credit card cancellations, fraud, and theft. Final allows its customers to generate a unique credit card number for every merchant, or a disposable one-time use number for one-off purchases. Final allows consumers to control their credit card experience by removing the hassle of re-establishing payment relationships, missing important bills, or checking statements for suspicious charges. https://getfinal.com/ twitter.com/arfrank twitter.com/final
Gabriele Pigoli chats with Gary Lieberman, Chairman of the Board of Darien Rowayton Bank (“DRB”). With over three decades of experience building and restructuring businesses in the financial industry, Gary has helped transform DRB from a local retail bank into a national, technology-driven financial company. Under his leadership, DRB is the fastest lender in industry history to reach $1 billion in student loan refinancing originations. In addition to his role at DRB, Gary is also the founding member and President of West Side Advisors, LLC, an SEC registered investment advisor established in 1997. Gary received a B.A. from Emory University and an M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. https://twitter.com/drbstudentloan https://student.drbank.com/
Matt Applegate chats with Dan Burkhart, Co-Founder and CEO of Recurly. Recurly was born in 2009 from the changing needs of businesses. With the industry’s movement to subscription-based models, the need for a sophisticated recurring payment management platform has exploded. By automating the complexities of subscription billing management, Recurly helps businesses eliminate the pain of scaling recurring billing operations with an easy, self-serve, pay-as-you-go platform. https://twitter.com/danburkhart https://twitter.com/recurly https://recurly.com/
Neha Goel chats with Patricia Kemp, General Partner at Oak HC/FT. Patricia focuses on growth equity and early-stage venture opportunities exclusively in financial services technology. Since Oak HC/FT’s launch in September 2014, Patricia has led the fund’s investments in Fastpay, Feedzai, Insureon and Trov among others, and sits on the boards of each. She is also a Board Observer on Poynt. https://twitter.com/_patriciakemp https://twitter.com/oakhcft http://oakhcft.com/
Uday Seth interviews Jeff Stewart, Founder and Chairman of Lenddo. Founded in 2011, Lenddo leverages non-traditional data for credit scoring and social verification. Lenddo partners with financial institutions and other firms so its customers can use data from social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, Google, Yahoo, and Twitter to prove their identity and creditworthiness. Before founding Lenddo, Jeff served in advisory, investing, and operating capacities. He also served as an Entrepreneur-In-Residence at Draper Fisher Jurvetson and founded two companies: Urgent Group and Mimeo. https://twitter.com/UrgentSpeed https://twitter.com/lenddofriend https://lenddo.com/
Wharton FinTech President Uday Seth interviews Phin Upham, Wharton MBA and PhD alumnus and principal at Thiel Capital. Phin has spent the last 8 years at Thiel Capital working on investments in the specialty finance and financial technology space. He has extensively researched disruption in the banking sector. The main theme of this interview is the “unbundling” of banks and the disaggregation they face. The views expressed in this podcast are Phin's; they do not represent the views of Thiel Capital. https://twitter.com/phinupham http://thielcapital.com/
Matt Applegate chats with Hardeep Walia, Founder and CEO of Motif and Wharton MBA ’01. Motif offers baskets of up to 30 stocks or ETFs intelligently weighted to reflect an investment theme, market insight, or innovative trend. Hardeep shares his view on customers, competitors, growth opportunities, market trends, innovation, and lessons he’s learned during his career. https://twitter.com/hardeepw https://twitter.com/MotifInvesting https://www.motifinvesting.com/
Matt Applegate chats with Alex Sion, President and Co-Founder of Moven - a company that's reinventing retail banking for the mobile age. Moven provides a digital bank account, paired with an innovative app, to help consumers track finances in real time and make informed decisions about spending and saving smarter. https://twitter.com/asion1 https://twitter.com/getMoven https://moven.com/
Matt Applegate chats with Asad Ramzanali, Manager of the Financial Solutions Lab at the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI). CFSI's Financial Solutions Lab, in partnership with JPMorgan Chase, sponsors a series of competitions for social entrepreneurs to identify and enhance tech-enabled innovations that address consumer financial health needs. https://twitter.com/asad09 https://twitter.com/CFSInnovation http://www.cfsinnovation.com/
David Klein, CEO and Co-Founder of CommonBond by Wharton Fintech Podcast
Daniel sits down to chat with Leigh Drogen, Founder and CEO of Estimize, to hear what it's like launching a venture in the FinTech space and what Estimize is doing to help fix a broken financial system. Estimize crowdsources earnings and economic estimates from more than 7,000 hedge fund, brokerage, independent and amateur analysts. https://twitter.com/LDrogen https://www.estimize.com/
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