Shows
Wharton FinTech PodcastReimagining Personal Finance with FruitfulIn this episode of the Wharton FinTech Podcast, Bobby Ma sits down with Sam Lewis, CEO of Fruitful.
Sam shares his experience building Fruitful and how the company is reimagining personal finance through a membership model that combines CFP® guidance with AI automation to transform every paycheck into progress. Fruitful has raised $37 million to date and serves thousands of members across all 50 states.
We discuss:
- Building Fruitful and scaling its membership model for personal finance
- Why income allocation matters more than asset allocation for most Americans
- Closing the execution gap between financial advice and real-world action
- T...
2026-01-2331 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastBuilding Payments at a Global ScaleIn this episode of the Wharton FinTech Podcast, Jackson Ellis sits down with Cindy Turner, Chief Product Officer at Worldpay, to explore what it takes to build and prioritize products at one of the world’s largest payment processors. Cindy shares her unconventional path into payments, lessons from leading product at companies like Visa, JP Morgan, PayPal, and Braintree, and how Worldpay operates across 185+ countries and trillions of dollars in annual volume. The conversation dives into AI’s growing role in payments, the rise of agentic commerce, shifting liability models, and how global processors compete and evolve in an increasingly comp...
2026-01-0929 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastReinventing Billing & Quote-to-cash with Sequence Cofounder & CEO, Riya GroverIn this episode of the Wharton FinTech Podcast, host Vaibhav speaks with Riya Grover, co-founder and CEO of Sequence, an AI native revenue platform that unifies quoting, billing automation, and receivables so finance can finally run at the speed of sales.
Riya shares her journey from investment banking and Harvard Business School to exiting her first startup and then launching Sequence to fix one of the most neglected parts of the CFO stack, quote to cash and accounts receivable. She goes deep on what it really takes to find product market fit in a saturated software world, why AI native...
2025-12-1839 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastDesigning the Future of Wealth with Betterment CEO Sarah LevyIn this episode of the Wharton FinTech Podcast, host Vaibhav sits down with Sarah Levy, CEO of Betterment and former executive at Disney, Viacom, and Nickelodeon. Sarah shares her insights on the evolution of financial services, why trust is the cornerstone of financial decision-making, how Betterment balances simplicity with expanding investor choice, and how AI is shaping the future of wealth management. Sarah emphasizes the significance of fiduciary responsibility and the role of simplicity in financial tools, while also providing advice for aspiring entrepreneurs in the wealth management space. She also shares key insights from Betterment’s latest Retirement Readiness Re...
2025-12-1627 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastThe Future of Mortgage TechIn this episode of the Wharton FinTech Podcast, host Meaghan McGowan sits down with Mike Yu, CEO and Co-founder of Vesta, to explore the modernization of the mortgage technology stack. Mike shares Vesta’s origin story and how he and his team are rebuilding the loan origination system to be flexible, automated, and API-first. The episode explores:
- How modern workflows, partner integrations, and recent developments, including Vesta’s partnership with Pennymac, are reshaping lender operations
- Macro trends, the growing role of AI, and how lenders are rethinking their technology stacks
- The future of “self-driving” origination, and
- Advice f...
2025-12-1140 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastLicensed to Tokenize: Where Blockchain Meets RegulationIn this episode of the Wharton FinTech Podcast, host Ruhi Jain sits down with Aaron Kaplan, Co-CEO of Prometheum, Inc., for a deep dive into the digitization of capital markets and the future of fully regulated digital assets. Aaron shares his journey from securities attorney to fintech founder, why he believes U.S. federal securities laws offer the most resilient pathway for blockchain innovation and how Prometheum’s end-to-end infrastructure aims to reshape how digital assets are issued, traded, custodied, and settled.
Together, Ruhi and Aaron explore:
- Why the regulatory lens is essential in building blockchain-based financial infrastructure
- Ef...
2025-12-0422 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastThe Past & Future of Fintech Regulation with Michele AltIn this episode, Wharton FinTech’s Abhi Chadha sits down with Michele Alt, Co-Founder of The Klaros Group and former OCC regulator, to unpack the evolving relationship between fintechs and the U.S. banking system. Michele shares her insights from two decades at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and her current work helping non-banks pursue bank charters. They discuss the shifting regulatory climate across administrations - from the OCC’s early fintech charter attempts, to the Biden-era freeze, and now a renewed openness under Trump 2.0. Michele explains the nuances of charter types like industrial loan companies (ILCs...
2025-11-1932 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastFinster AI and the Future of Financial WorkflowsIn this episode of the Wharton Fintech Podcast, Jackson Ellis sits down with Sid Jayakumar, founder and CEO of FinsterAI. Sid shares his journey from a background in engineering to founding FinsterAI, a company redefining how financial professionals interact with data. The conversation dives into:
- The vision behind Finster: an intelligent platform that leverages AI to streamline financial analysis, automate research, and improve decision-making
- What differentiates Finster in a crowded AI and fintech landscape
- How Finster enhances workflows for analysts and investors
- The strategic challenges of scaling an AI-driven financial product
- How Finster navigates the...
2025-11-1143 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastBridging the Gap Between FinTech Founders and the Credit Union IndustryIn this episode of the Wharton FinTech Podcast, Bobby Ma sits down with Brian Kaas, President and Managing Director of TruStage Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of TruStage.
Brian shares his experience founding TruStage Ventures and the work he and his team have done in the past decade bridging the gap between FinTech founders, credit unions, and the broader financial services industry culminating in $400 million in investments since 2016.
We discuss:
- The 140+ million member-strong credit union movement and services they provide to the community
- The partnership and value add TruStage Ventures brings in working with its FinTech investments
...
2025-10-3042 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastFlex & Maza's Robbie Figueroa - From Neobank to Solopreneur OS: Building Maza and Merging with FlexIn this episode of the Wharton Fintech podcast, Djavaneh sits down with Robbie Figueroa, co-founder and former COO of Maza, now Chief Business Officer at Flex following Maza and Flex’s merger in late 2024.
Robbie shares how growing up in Queens with immigrant parents from Brazil and Ecuador inspired him to tackle financial exclusion. What started as a Spanish-first neobank for underbanked consumers evolved into a platform tailored to solopreneurs operating in the informal economy. From onboarding thousands of users to building ITIN application tools and automating entity formation, Maza met customers where they were, and grew alongside them.
We di...
2025-07-3032 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastCredit Karma Chief of Staff & VP Growth Ops, Ashwin Murthy - Trust & Personalizing Finance with AIIn this episode of the Wharton Fintech Podcast, host Sabrina Fathi speaks with Ashwin Murthy, Chief of Staff and VP of Growth Operations and Strategy at Credit Karma, about how one of the most recognizable names in consumer fintech continues to evolve.
Ashwin shares his journey from investment banking and consulting to leading strategy at Credit Karma. He discusses the company’s expansion from free credit scores to taxes, savings, and more, and how data, trust, and personalization have been critical to that journey. The conversation also dives deep into GenAI’s role in financial decision-making, Credit Karma’s evolving partne...
2025-07-2540 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastICONIQ General Partner, Yoonkee Sull - Finding Edge in Fintech and Building Enduring CompaniesIn this episode of the Wharton Fintech Podcast, hosts Sabrina Fathi and Wesley Aster speak with Yoonkee Sull, General Partner at ICONIQ, about building category-defining fintech companies through every market cycle. Yoonkee reflects on his journey from early ICONIQ associate to GP, lessons from backing leaders like Chime, Groww, Adyen, Wealthsimple, and Ramp, and what it takes to earn trust with founders over the long term.
They unpack how startups can differentiate in a crowded space, how embedded finance is reshaping distribution, and why knowing your customer better than anyone else is the ultimate moat. With thoughtful takes on unit...
2025-06-2746 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastGreylock General Partner, Seth Rosenberg - Building Fintech for the AI EraIn this episode of the Wharton Fintech Podcast, host Sabrina Fathi chats with Seth Rosenberg, General Partner at Greylock, about what it takes to build and back enduring companies at the intersection of fintech and AI. Seth shares lessons from launching Facebook Messenger, insights on founder-market fit, and how great early-stage companies validate ideas, build defensibility, and navigate market shifts. With deep takes on AI, blockchain, and the future of financial services, this episode is packed with practical wisdom for builders and investors alike.
2025-06-1953 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastCatherine Porter, CBO at Prove - The Identity Layer of FintechIn this episode of the Wharton Fintech Podcast, host Sabrina Fathi speaks with Catherine Porter, Chief Business Officer at Prove, a leading platform in digital identity verification and authentication. Catherine shares her journey from Silicon Valley to spearheading innovation in identity security. They explore how AI is reshaping fraud prevention, the future of portable identity, and how Prove is helping companies build trust in an increasingly digital world.
2025-05-151h 02
Wharton FinTech PodcastMarc Andusko, Partner at Andreessen Horowitz- Investing in Fintech & B2B SoftwareIn today’s episode, Zoey Tang speaks with Marc Andrusko, Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), where he focuses on fintech and B2B software investments. Marc’s current investment interests span capital markets, AI applications, payments infrastructure, and companies operating at the intersection of fintech and other sectors.
Marc shares how his journey—from working in interest rate sales and trading at Goldman Sachs to leading personal financial management at Plaid—influenced his perspective on fintech and broader B2B applications. In addition to his work at a16z, Marc is known for hosting what some may call "the Met Ball...
2025-04-2347 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastSchonfeld CTO, Tom DeBow - Technology and AI's Impact on Modern Hedge FundsIn this episode of the Wharton Fintech Podcast, Sabrina Fathi sits down with Tom DeBow, CTO of Schonfeld Strategic Advisors, to explore how AI and advanced technology are reshaping modern hedge funds. Tom shares insights from his journey through top-tier firms like SAC Capital and Alphadyne, and dives into Schonfeld’s pragmatic yet forward-thinking approach to AI adoption. From developing the firm’s in-house AI tool to enhancing talent workflows and unifying data systems, Tom discusses how AI is driving smarter, faster decision-making across the organization without replacing the human edge.
2025-04-1542 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastMetallicus Co-Founder & CEO, Marshall Hayner - Transforming Blockchain from Experiment to InfrastructureIn this episode of the Wharton Fintech Podcast, host Sabrina Fathi sits down with Marshall Hayner, Co-Founder and CEO of Metallicus. A true pioneer in the blockchain space, Marshall shares his journey from the early days of Bitcoin, Dogecoin, and Stellar to building a compliance-first digital asset infrastructure that bridges blockchain and traditional finance.
Marshall reflects on how his background in cryptography, early product innovation, and respect for the banking system led him to reimagine how blockchain can serve as secure, regulated infrastructure. He also unpacks why compliance isn’t a roadblock to innovation — but rather the unlock that will shap...
2025-04-011h 27
Wharton FinTech PodcastMatera's Next Chapter: Warburg Pincus, U.S. Expansion, and Brazil's Fintech FutureIn 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...
2024-10-2943 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastQuona Co-Founder & Managing Partner Jonathan Whittle - Fintech Regulation, Innovation, & Financial Inclusion in Latin AmericaIn 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...
2024-06-1843 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastPlaid COO Eric Sager – On Fintech Innovations at Plaid and BeyondNate 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 2...
2024-04-2231 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastJon Zanoff Founder of Empire Startups - Building the NY Fintech CommunityZoey 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...
2024-03-2634 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastNik Milanovic & Rex Salisbury - From Fintech Builder to Solo GPZoey 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...
2024-02-1656 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastDan Kimerling - Founder & Managing Partner of Deciens - Insights From The Most Honest Man In FintechIn 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 Da...
2024-02-0627 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastSarah Hinkfuss and Saanya Ojha, Partners of Bain Capital Ventures - Fintech RevolutionizedZoey 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...
2024-02-0141 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastAsaf Horesh - Value Across the Fintech Landscape in Europe & IsraelIn 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 fi...
2024-01-2537 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastMatt Watson, Origin Co-Founder and CEO - Financial Advice for EveryoneMatt Watson, Origin Co-Founder and CEO - Financial Advice for Everyone by Wharton Fintech Podcast
2024-01-0548 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastSunil Sachdev, Head of Embedded Finance @ Fiserv - How the Fintech Giant Approaches Embedded FinanceIn 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 market...
2023-12-1920 min
Wharton FinTech Podcast11:FS CEO David M. Brear — the banking battlefield, fintech for SMEs & financial ecosystems globallyIn 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 ca...
2023-12-0645 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastSerigne Dioum, Group CEO of MoMo from MTN - Delivering Fintech services at scale across AfricaRussell 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 Gr...
2023-11-3042 minWharton FinTech PodcastDavid Haber, a16z General Partner - Fintech through the lens of an operator, entrepreneur & investorIn 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...
2023-11-1345 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastMark Fiorentino, Partner at Index Ventures - Turning Real Life Financial Hurdles into Fintech VisionZoey 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 bu...
2023-11-0751 minWharton FinTech PodcastOak HC/FT’s Matt Streisfeld (General Partner) - on M&A in FinTech, AI/ML & Digital AssetsKailee 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...
2023-08-0732 minWharton FinTech Podcast2023 Wharton Fintech Conference RecapThe 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...
2023-04-2419 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastAlex Johnson - Creator, Fintech Takes - The creative process and a 2023 Fintech rapid fireIn 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...
2023-04-2157 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastCambrian - Rex Salisbury on investing in the Fintech commmunityAndrew 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...
2023-03-3051 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastNik Milanović, Founder of This Week in Fintech, GP of The Fintech Fund - A leading voice in fintechAndrew 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...
2022-10-2741 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastAnat Guetta, Chairwoman, Israel Securities Authority (ISA) - Fintech Regulations in IsraelTarang 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...
2022-07-0523 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastStartup Special! Wharton's Top Fintech Startups with Gaby Campoverde, John Garner, and Nate SoffioIn 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...
2022-05-1842 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastBrad Bernstein, Managing Partner at FTV Capital - Private Equity in FintechAnirudh 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...
2022-05-0934 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastShimon Kogan, Associate Professor of Finance - Fintech 101Anirudh 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...
2022-04-1825 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastSigal Mandelker, General Partner at Ribbit Capital - Promoting Public & Private Fintech PartnershipsAnirudh 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 Fi...
2022-04-1133 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastKatherine Salisbury, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Qapital - Automating Healthy Saving HabitsAnirudh 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 c...
2022-04-0420 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastDeven Parekh, Managing Director at Insight Partners - The Evolution of Global Fintech InvestingAnirudh 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...
2022-03-0740 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastChris Brummer, Professor at Georgetown Law - Money, Power, and Respect in FintechIn 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...
2022-02-2246 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastChristina Melas-Kyriazi, Partner at Bain Capital Ventures - Finding the Next Great FinTech FoundersIn 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...
2022-02-0727 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastLightspeed's Justin Overdorff: Empowering The Next Generation of Fintech Unicorns!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 un...
2022-01-0542 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastAndrei Cherny, Co-Founder and CEO of Aspiration - Fighting Climate Change Through Fintech!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...
2021-12-1335 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastNYC FinTech Women Co-Founders, Michelle Tran & Sasha Pilch -- Promoting gender equality in FinTechGabriela 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...
2021-09-2729 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastLightspeed Ventures Partner, Alex Taussig – At the Intersection of Fintech and Online MarketplacesMiguel 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 decide...
2021-08-1838 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastDavid Nangle, CEO of VEF – Unlocking Fintech Investment Opportunities in Emerging MarketsMiguel 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:
- Da...
2021-07-2631 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastTechCrunch's Mary Ann Azevedo - Covering the Pulse of Fintech & Latin America's Tech SceneMiguel 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 y...
2021-07-1621 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastKelly Fryer, Head of FinTech Sandbox – Driving Inclusive Fintech & Democratizing Data AccessMiguel 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 d...
2021-05-3031 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastAnna Irrera, Reuters Fintech Chief Correspondent – At The Intersection of Wall St & Silicon ValleyMiguel 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 st...
2021-05-2126 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastBurnmark Co-Founder and CEO Devie Mohan - Promoting Global Fintech CollaborationAnirudh 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...
2021-05-1731 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastCoen Jonker, Co-Founder of Africa’s Tyme – Fintech for Inclusion & Importance of PersistenceMiguel 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
- Decisi...
2021-05-1436 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastBalderton Capital GP & Former GS Partner Rana Yared - Fintech Investing in Europe!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...
2021-05-0932 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastARK Invest’s Fintech Analyst Max Friedrich — His Square Thesis, US SuperApps, and Big Ideas!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...
2021-04-2542 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastTransition Special! Lessons Learned With Miguel Armaza, Ryan Zauk, Ally McCloskey, and Anirudh SinghIn 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...
2021-04-2330 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastGreycroft Partner, Alison Lange Engel – Backing Unicorns, Building Trust, & Fintech VC!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 in...
2021-04-2136 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastJon Zanoff, Founder of Empire Startups & Stella Ventures - YOLO Fintech and the Get Sh*t Done KPI"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...
2021-04-1942 min
Wharton FinTech Podcastmoov Founder Wade Arnold - Building for Developers at the Core of Fintech!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 fint...
2021-04-0932 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastCharles Moldow, General Partner at Foundation Capital – Investing in Fintech GemsMiguel 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...
2021-04-0531 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastLex Sokolin, ConsenSys CMO & Fintech Futurist - Fintech Trends, Defi, & Digital CollectiblesOn 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 soci...
2021-04-0242 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastUpstart CEO Dave Girouard - Revolutionizing Lending and Taking a Fintech Public on the Nasdaq!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 to...
2021-03-2931 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastBessemer Venture Partners' Charles Birnbaum - Fintech Infra, Wealth Management, and Thesis InvestingIn 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...
2021-03-2437 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastGamifying Millenial Personal Finance - Lindsay Holden, Co-Founder & CEO of Long GameIn 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.
...
2021-03-0718 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastFintech Collective's Brooks Gibbins & Gareth Jones - Partnering with Persistent VisionariesMiguel 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...
2021-03-0536 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastCorvus Insurance CEO Phil Edmundson - Making Commercial Insurance Smarter through AIIn 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...
2021-02-2633 min
Wharton FinTech Podcast11:FS Co-Founder Simon Taylor - The State of Crypto, CBDCs, NFTs, and Clubhouse!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...
2021-02-2436 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastValentine's Special: Couples Finance 101 - Strategies, Wisdom, Prenups, and More with Neale GodfreyWelcome 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 th...
2021-02-1233 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastDid Fintech Save Minority-Owned Businesses in the PPP? With NYU's Dr. Sabrina HowellRyan 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...
2021-01-2935 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastPublic's Leif Abraham on FinTech Marketing, Choosing Values, and Changing the Culture of The MarketWhat 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...
2021-01-1135 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastAWS FinTech's Kathryn Van Nuys on Empowering The World's Top StartupsOn 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 ab...
2020-12-2125 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastAnish Acharya, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz - Doubling Down on FintechMiguel 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.
Anis...
2020-11-3029 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastEmpowering India's Next Generation with Rajan Bajaj, Founder & CEO of SliceIn 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 sh...
2020-10-3027 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastPlaid's John Pitts on the Current Regulatory Landscape, COVID FinTech Adoption, and MoreIt'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...
2020-10-2339 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastFinTech Goes Open Source with Rob Underwood, Chief Development Officer of FINOSIn 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 Scho...
2020-10-1238 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastHelping Banks Build Flexible + Scalable Solutions - Elliott Limb, Chief Customer Officer of MambuIn 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 memb...
2020-10-0528 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastThe Future of Fintech with Bo Brustkern, Co-Founder & CEO of LendIt FintechMiguel 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 don...
2020-09-2238 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastLeading Innovation in the Mortgage Industry - Kenon Chen, Corporate Strategy at Clear CapitalIn 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 mo...
2020-09-1827 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastAvoiding Career Inertia & Pursuing a 3rd Act - Caribou Honig, Investor ExtraordinaireIn 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 virt...
2020-09-1041 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastSimplifying India's Payments with Nitya Sharma, CEO & Co-Founder of SimplIn 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...
2020-09-0236 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastSimplifying Small Business Payments with Veem's Co-Founder & CEO, Marwan ForzleyIn 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 back...
2020-08-2413 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastMaking Fintech Possible with Iñigo Rumayor, Co-Founder and CRO of ArcusIn 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...
2020-08-2321 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastLeading a Public VC with Tim Levene, CEO of Augmentum FinTechOn 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...
2020-08-2143 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastHelping SMBs stay afloat during COVID - Jared Hecht, Co-founder & CEO of FunderaIn 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 ye...
2020-07-2427 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastSolving Payments in Emerging Markets with Sebastian Kanovich, CEO & Founder of dLocalIn 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 E...
2020-07-2220 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastRoger.ai's Cathrine Andersen on Optimizing Accounting & FinanceIn 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...
2020-07-1330 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastStreamlining Client Experience and Fighting Fraud — Laura Spiekerman, Co-Founder and CRO at AlloyIn 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 an...
2020-07-0132 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastBuilding a Financial Communications Unicorn - David Gurle, Founder and CEO of SymphonyIn 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...
2020-06-2943 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastEmpowering Black Millennials with Ras Asan, Co-Founder of BREAUX CapitalOn 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 Pres...
2020-06-2448 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastUS Open Banking with Susan French, Head of Product at BBVA Open PlatformIn 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...
2020-06-1924 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastInvesting in Latin American Unicorns. Hernan Kazah, Managing Partner & Co-Founder of Kaszek VenturesIn 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...
2020-06-1549 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastTackling Big Hairy Problems with Marc Weiser, Founder & Managing Director of RPM VenturesIn 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, mult...
2020-06-1134 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastInvesting in Fintech Opportunities with Ryan Falvey, Managing Partner of Financial Venture StudioIn 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 Fina...
2020-06-0535 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastDigitizing Financial Services with David Brear, CEO of 11:FSIn 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 bigg...
2020-06-0134 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastInclusive Banking with Pierpaolo Barbieri, Founder & CEO of UaláIn 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 m...
2020-05-2618 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastEmpowering Underserved Markets with Monica Brand Engel, Co-Founder & Partner at QuonaIn 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 incl...
2020-05-2126 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastSolving Credit Access for Immigrants with Nicky Goulimis, COO & Co-Founder of Nova CreditIn 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...
2020-05-1428 min
Wharton FinTech PodcastPedro Conrade, CEO & Founder of Neon and Marcelo Haddad Silva, Group Product Manager at NeonIn 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...
2020-04-1529 min