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20VC: Plaid's Zach Perret on Why You Have To Hire For Spikes and What That Really Means, Fintech Predictions From Incumbent Entrants To The Rise of Europe & The 2 Big Questions That CEOs Should Ask Themselves

Jun 7, 2019

Zach Perret, Founder and CEO of Plaid, shares his journey from Bain consultant to fintech innovator, highlighting the mission to simplify consumer finance. He discusses vital leadership lessons and how to prioritize effectively as a CEO. Zach emphasizes the importance of hiring for unique skills, or 'spikes,' to build a strong team. He also offers insights on the evolving fintech landscape, especially the growth of consumer fintech in Europe and its implications for the U.S., alongside the critical nature of building investor relationships.

32:47

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Episode guests

Zach Perret

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Episode notes

Intro

4min

The Evolution of a Fintech Vision: From Consulting to Founding Plaid

2min

Navigating Growth: Lessons for Emerging Leaders

17min

The Evolution of Fintech: Insights from Europe to the US

2min

Lessons in Resilience and Productivity

4min

Innovative Solutions in Fintech and Team Productivity

3min

Zach Perret is the Founder & CEO @ Plaid, the startup providing the easiest way for users to connect their bank accounts to an app whether it be transactions, identity or authentication. To date, Zach has raised over $300m with Plaid from some of the best in the business including Mary Meeker, Index Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Felicis, Spark and Homebrew, just to name a few. As for Zach, as CEO he has scaled Plaid to today with over 300 employees, 3 international offices and over 10Bn transactions analysed. Prior to founding Plaid, Zach was a consultant @ Bain.

In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:

1.) How Zach made his way into the world of startups from consulting at Bain and what led to the founding of Plaid and the mission to unlock consumer finance? What advice would Zach give to emerging grads today, questioning whether to join or start a startup?

2.) What does great leadership and CEOship look like to Zach? How has Zach seen himself evolve and develop as a leader over the last few years? How does Zach think about prioritisation? How does Zach determine what to say yes vs what to say no to? What has Zach found the most challenging in scaling as a CEO? What has he done to mitigate this?

3.) How does Zach think about constructing the optimal recruitment process? What have been some of Zach's biggest lessons in what it takes to really recruit world-class talent? What does Zach mean when he says, "you have to hire for spikes"? How does Zach manage the tension of keeping the high-quality bar whilst also sustaining the very steep growth curve?

4.) Plaid recently raised $275m, how does Zach think about capital efficiency with Plaid today? How does Zach determine when is the right time to transition from the mindset of lean and iteration to raising a war chest and going for the home run? What is Zach's biggest advice to founders when it comes to investor selection? Is it possible for the investor and the founder to be "friends"?

5.) When assessing the fintech landscape today, what is Zach most excited to see develop over the next 12-18 months? How are we seeing much larger incumbents like Goldman innovate in the proliferated world of fintech startups? How does the US view the fintech innovation that has occurred in the UK? What does this mean for US fintechs?

Items Mentioned In Today’s Show:

Zach’s Fave Book: Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire

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