Wharton FinTech Podcast

Tarang Gupta hosts Dee Choubey, CEO and Founder of MoneyLion. MoneyLion is an all-in-one finance app that gives consumers access to a comprehensive suite of products and personalized advice, making it more engaging to bank, borrow, save, invest, and grow. In this episode you will hear about: - Building a culture of innovation within an organization - How to be successful in B2C vs B2B fintech - Challenges of taking a fast growing private company public - Why starting up is easier than it was a decade ago - Where does crypto fit in consumer finance And much more! About Dee Choubey Dee Choubey is the Co-Founder and CEO of MoneyLion. Prior to starting MoneyLion, Dee was an investment banker and had worked at Barclays, Goldman Sachs, and Citigroup; he also served as a Vice President at Citadel Securities. Dee holds a BA in Economics with Honors from the University of Chicago. About MoneyLion Founded in 2013, MoneyLion is a public company on a mission to rewire the American banking system to make money more approachable and to give consumers a more accessible and sustainable path to their goals. Special Announcement The 3rd Annual Wharton Fintech Conference scheduled for March 30 and 31, 2023. This year's lineup includes speakers from Greycroft, QED Investors, Ribbit, Visa, PayPal, Chime, Ripple, and more. Go to www.whartonfintechconference.com to get tickets! For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100

Kailee Costello hosts Caesar Sengupta, CEO and Co-Founder of Arta Finance. Arta is a digital family office that offers proprietary AI-Managed Portfolios and gives customers access to alternative asset investments such as private equity and real estate. In this episode you will hear about: - Arta’s mission to give more people access to the ‘financial superpowers of the rich’ and how Arta’s technology differs from other robo-advice and AI/ML personal finance offers - Trust and transparency in financial investing - Caesar’stransition from being a leader at a large tech company to founding a startup, and his advice for anyone looking to start a FinTech company - Arta’s recent acquisition of Money Minx - Trends impacting the personal finance sector - Challenges and learnings from Ceasar’s experience leading Google Pay - And much more! About Caesar Sengupta Caesar Sengupta is the co-founder and CEO of Arta Finance. Prior to Arta, Caesar was at Google, where he was the VP & GM of Payments & the Next Billion Users initiative. He led Google Pay, which went from 0 to over 175 million users in 5 years. He earned an MBA from the Wharton School and an MS in Computer Science from Stanford University. About Arta Finance Arta Finance is a digital family office that offers proprietary AI-Managed Portfolios and gives customers access to alternative asset investments such as private equity and real estate. Arta raised $90M Series A at the end of 2022. Special Announcement The 3rd Annual Wharton Fintech Conference scheduled for March 30 and 31, 2023. This year's lineup includes speakers from Greycroft, QED Investors, Ribbit, Visa, PayPal, Chime, Ripple, and more. Go to www.whartonfintechconference.com to get tickets! For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Kailee’s Twitter: @KaileeCostello_ Kailee’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaileecostello/

Josh Benadiva and Kailee Costello sit down with David Jegen and Abdul Abdirahman from F-Prime Capital to discuss the State of Fintech 2023 Report. Josh and Kailee discuss how David’s lengthy experience in FinTech has informed his perspective on the most recent business cycle, and hear from Abdul about how the Fintech Index got its start and much more. F-Prime Capital is an independent venture capital group that grew from Fidelity Investments. They have been backing entrepreneurs building ground-breaking companies for over fifty years. F-Prime has more than $3B under management and has invested in companies from Alibaba and Prosper to Toast and Flywire.

Tarang Gupta hosts Neal Desai, CEO & Co-founder of Kafene, a fintech company helping consumers with affordable lease-to-own options for furniture, appliances, electronics, tires, and more. In this episode you will hear about - What is lease-to-own (LTO) and how it is different from the BNPL model - Challenges of disrupting and modernizing a legacy industry - Difference between financing companies holding risk on balance sheets vs those that operate as a marketplace - Not letting fear dictate one's decision making process - Value that an MBA added to Neal’s entrepreneurial journey And much more! About Neal Desai Neal Desai is the Co-Founder and CEO of Kafene. Before Kafene, Neal was the CFO at Octane Lending, a fintech unicorn. Neal also has almost 15 years of experience as a portfolio manager and a trader at companies like Alpine Partners, Summit Securities, and Merrill Lynch. Neal holds an MBA from the Wharton School and a B.A. from Princeton University. About Kafene Kafene is a Series B fintech startup that is a point-of-sale payment partner and underwriting technology platform helping retailers offer flexible lease-to-own (LTO) purchase options for prime and nonprime consumers. Special Announcement The 3rd Annual Wharton Fintech Conference scheduled for March 30 and 31, 2023. This year's lineup includes speakers from Greycroft, QED Investors, Ribbit, Visa, PayPal, Chime, Ripple, and more. Go to www.whartonfintechconference.com to get tickets! For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100

Tarang Gupta hosts Todd Schwartz, CEO, Executive Chairman, and Founder of OppFi, a fintech platform that helps everyday Americans gain access to credit with digital specialty finance products. In this episode you will hear about - How observing pawn shops inspired Todd to start OppFi - OppFi's partnerships with incumbent banks to provide services to underserved consumers - Alternate data analysis and how OppFi underwrites loans - OppFi's special 'Turn-up' program to help borrowers find lower cost debt options And much more! About Todd Schwatz Todd Schwartz is the CEO, Chairman, and Founder of OppFi. He is also a Principal at Schwartz Capital Group, a dynamic family investment business based in Chicago, IL, and a Partner at Strand Equity, a LA-based growth equity firm investing in consumer brands. Previously, Todd founded the multi-family real estate company Beach Coast Properties in California. He also holds a B.S. in finance from Tulane University. About OppFi Based in Chicago, OppFi provides a fintech platform to streamline the personal lending process and provide access for underserved borrowers and middle-income, credit-challenged consumers who do not qualify for traditional loan options. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100

Andrew Janssens hosts Michael Gilroy, Co-Head of Growth Investing and Head of Fintech at Coatue. Coatue is a multi-stage technology investor across both private and public markets. In this episode you will hear about: - Michael's investing philosophy - The State of Fintech in 2023 - Coatue's proposed "Rule of 200" for fintech investments - And much, much more! About Michael Gilroy Michael is a thought leader in the fintech space, and recently co-published "Fintech & the Pursuit of the Prize" a widely-cited assessment of the Fintech space that was presented at last year's Money 20/20. Prior to Coatue, Michael was a Partner at Canaan, an early-stage VC fund.

Tarang Gupta hosts David Yang, Partner at Activant Capital, a global investment firm that partners with high-growth companies that are transforming commerce. In this episode you will hear about - Escape velocity and hyper growth from an investor’s point of view - What David enjoys about his role as an investor - How Activant thinks about selecting companies to invest in - Segments within fintech are going to boom And much more! About David Yang David joined Activant in February 2021, and brings nearly fifteen years of tech investment experience across private and public markets. He helps lead the firm’s investment committee and focuses primarily on e-commerce, logistics, and B2C fintech. Prior to joining the firm, David built his investing career at TA Associates, Warburg Pincus, and Access Industries. He received his undergraduate degrees from Wharton and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business. About Activant Capital Founded in 2015, Activant Capital is a global investment firm with offices in Greenwich, New York, Berlin, and Cape Town and $1.5 billion in assets under management. Activant believes in supporting relentless entrepreneurs who are transforming industries. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100

Tarang Gupta hosts John Paasonen, Co-Founder & CEO of Maxwell, a digital mortgage platform providing tech solutions to mortgage lending institutions across the US. In this episode you will hear about - Complexities creating inefficiencies in the mortgage industry - Why John chose to focus on small to midsize lenders - Maxwell's decision to enter the secondary market for mortgage loans - The rising startup ecosystem in Denver And much more! About John Paasonen John the Co-Founder and CEO of Maxwell. He is a fintech industry veteran with over 8 years of experience at PayPal and American Express. John founded Maxwell in 2015 after being frustrated with the mortgage process, and set about to modernize and inject transparency, equity, and efficiency into the mortgage process. John has a BA from Taylor University and an MBA from the Duke University. About Maxwell Founded in 2015, Maxwell was started to provide a better mortgage process for lenders and borrowers. Maxwell offers solutions that would help local mortgage lenders gain efficiency, streamline their processes, and focus on high-value work to grow their businesses and win against the industry’s largest players. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100

Tarang Gupta hosts Rob Petrozzo, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of Rally, a digital platform for buying & selling equity shares in collectible assets. In this episode you will hear about - Rob’s journey from a designer to a fintech entrepreneur - Types of collectibles available on Rally - How Rally selects and price collectibles - Why collectibles must be a part of a 21st century portfolio - Rob’s opinion on NFTs vs physical collectibles And much more! About Rob Petrozzo Born and raised in Brooklyn, Rob was the first in his family to graduate from college. He studied Marketing Communication and Graphic Design at Philadelphia University. After college, he launched a boutique consulting firm and began a prolific career in design. Rob was quickly recognized and began designing for Kayne West, John Legend, Young Geezy, and DJ Drama. Rob regretted missed investment opportunities in fine art and collectibles because he didn’t have access to cash. For Rob, Rally’s mission is to provide access to collectibles by offering fractional ownership to the enthusiast-class. About Rally Rally is the pioneer alternative investing platform for blue-chip and digital collectibles, including classic cars, sports memorabilia, Birkin Bags, watches, and NFTs, totaling over 400 assets in 19+ different categories. The platform has over 400,000 users. For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100

Tarang Gupta hosts Archie Ravishankar, Founder and CEO of Cogni, a digital platform on a mission to provide easy, transparent and accessible banking and lifestyle services. In this episode you will hear about - What sets Cogni apart from other digital banks - Why Cogni decided to enter the Web3 space - How a non custodial crypto wallet works - Importance of sticking to one’s core values in business - One innovator that Archie admires And much more! About Archie Ravishankar Archie is the Founder and CEO of Cogni. Prior to Cogni, Archie was Investment Director at Manor Estate Family Office, Board Member at GP Pacific Engineering and Construction, and Director of Partnerships and Strategy at Hudooku Solutions. Archie is currently a Forbes Finance Council Member, a Board Member of Howard Brain Sciences Foundation, and a Board Member of Centre for Advanced Defense Studies. About Cogni Founded in 2018 with the idea that anyone, anywhere should be able to access personalized financial and lifestyle services, Cogni is a digital platform that provides easy access to Web2 and Web3 services (traditional finance, crypto, NFT’S, gaming and meta verse). For more FinTech insights, follow us on WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech Tarang’s Twitter: twitter.com/tg_tarang Tarang’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/taranggupta100