Wharton Fintech Podcast

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 ex

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 methodo

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.

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

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:

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

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

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

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 mil

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

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/Ry

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

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

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

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 c

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 f

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

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 dec

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

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 - A