Description

On this episode, Sabine VdL interviews Spiros Margaris, who discusses the pros and cons of working for a young venture, setting up a startup, as well as the best way to succeed in business. He shares insights on the future of FinTech and much more.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• You build trust with founders by telling them what you think, honestly, but not always expecting them to do what you say. Trust is the basis of working together, and with trust, anyone can go far, even in difficult times.
• You have to play to your strengths. If somebody asks you questions – and startups will – and you don’t know the answer, you need to say you don’t know. But then call someone in your network who has expertise and can answer.
• A startup engagement is like any "relationship": you will have great times, mediocre times, and bad times. It won’t always be this exciting thing people think of. Even if the job you do is extremely boring and repetitive, whichever job that is, that’s what will make you good at that job long term.
• The future of FinTech is embedded finance. Even non-financial companies will enter this space with trusted partners or develop their own FinTech solutions, which will complement their existing offerings even better. They don’t need to make money through finance, unlike banks. The finance ‘cake’ will be split into more categories in the future, including financial and non-financial offers.

BEST MOMENTS

‘It’s a privilege to be recognised by your community, but at the end of the day, you’re only as good as your community. We grow together.’

‘Winning is about teamwork: Together we win, like a football team.’

‘Great young people want to work in great companies that give them responsibilities and let their voice be heard. They’re not so bothered about money yet. They want purpose.’

‘The nice thing about my job is that I talk to so many smart people. This means that I keep learning. Think about our world as a fantastic international digital school!’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Spiros Margaris is a venture capitalist, futurist, keynote speaker and senior advisor. He is the first international influencer to achieve ‘The Triple Crown’ FinTech ranking. He was ranked the international № 1 FinTech, Blockchain, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) influencer (05/2018) by Onalytica. Spiros once again was ranked the global № 1 Fintech influencer (02/2020) by Onalytica. He regularly ranks among the top three in established global industry influencer rankings. 

He is a keynote speaker at international FinTech and InsurTech conferences. He also gave a TEDxAcademy Talk. He published an AI white paper, “Machine learning in financial services: Changing the rules of the game,” for the enterprise software vendor SAP. First non-IBM Keynote Speaker at the biggest IBM event in Europe, “2019 IBM Systems Technical University”, among others.

Linkedin link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/spirosmargaris/
Twitter Link: https://twitter.com/SpirosMargaris 
Website Link: https://www.margarisventures.com/ 
Keynote Speaking Agent: www.gspeakers.com

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine VanderLinden is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur and the CEO of Alchemy Crew Ventures. She leads venture-client labs that help Fortune 500 companies adopt and scale cutting-edge technologies from global tech ventures. A builder of accelerators, investor, and co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, Sabine is known for asking the uncomfortable questions—about AI governance, risk, and trust. On Scouting for Growth, she decodes how real growth happens—where capital, collaboration, and courage meet.

If this episode sparked your thinking, follow Sabine VanderLinden on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram for more insights.

And if you’re interested in sponsoring the podcast, reach out to the team at hello@alchemycrew.ventures