Wharton FinTech Podcast

In today's episode, Ally McCloskey sits down with Ganesh Rao, Managing Director and Head of Financial Technology and Services at Thomas H. Lee Partners ("THL"), the $16B+ private equity firm. THL invests in middle market growth companies exclusively in three sectors: Financial Technology & Services, Healthcare, and Technology & Business Solutions. Since its founding in 1974, THL has raised more than $34 billion of equity capital, invested in over 160 companies, and completed more than 500 add-on acquisitions representing an aggregate enterprise value at acquisition of over $210 billion. Specifically within Financial Technology & Services, THL has invested $5.7 billion in 28 companies. Some notable exits you may know include: BlackKnight, FIS, FirstbanCorp, and MoneyGram, among others. Ganesh, has been with THL for over 20 years, coming from Morgan Stanley's FIG group and after completing his MBA at Harvard Business School. He is currently a director of AbacusNext, Black Knight, Dun & Bradstreet, ServiceLink Holdings, Ceridian HCM Holding Inc., AmeriLife Group, Auction.com, Hightower Advisors, and Insurance Technologies, and a board observer at Guaranteed Rate. Ally and Ganesh discuss: • The ways in which Private Equity has changed over the past 2+ decades • How THL is structured, where its latest $5.6 billion fund will be deployed, and the 5 Identified Sector Opportunities Ganesh focuses on within Financial Technology & Services • THL's sourcing and relationship building process with target partner companies • THL's role after a deal is inked • Ganesh's forward-looking theses on Vertical Software with Integrated Payments and Insurance Tech & Services • His most memorable deal and spending an atypical 13 years with that company before exiting • And a whole lot more -- About Ganesh Ganesh B. Rao is a managing director at Thomas H. Lee Partners. Prior to joining Thomas H. Lee Partners, Mr. Rao worked at Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated in the Financial Institutions Group. Mr. Rao is currently a director of AbacusNext, Black Knight, Dun & Bradstreet, Ceridian HCM Holding Inc., AmeriLife Group, Auction.com, Hightower Advisors, Insurance Technologies, Nextech, Odessa and a board observer at Guaranteed Rate. His prior directorships include Comdata, Nielsen, MoneyGram International, Optimal Blue, ServiceLink Holdings and Ten-X Commercial. Mr. Rao holds a B.A., summa cum laude, in Economics from Duke University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. About THL THL invests in middle market growth companies exclusively within selected Identified Sector Opportunities (ISOs) in three industry groups: Financial Technology & Services, Healthcare and Technology & Business Solutions. The firm couples deep domain expertise with dedicated internal operating resources to transform and build great companies of lasting value in partnership with management. Since 1974, THL has raised more than $34 billion of equity capital, invested in over 160 companies and completed more than 500 add-on acquisitions representing an aggregate enterprise value at acquisition of over $210 billion. Its global investor base includes some of the world's leading public and corporate pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, financial institutions, endowments and high net worth families, which THL considers to be a valuable asset, providing additional co-investment capital as well as insight and relationships useful to its portfolio companies. Since 2015, the firm has raised approximately $15 billion for its Flagship, Continuation and Automation Funds and over $5.5 billion of LP Co-investment vehicles. -- As always, for more Fintech insights and opportunities to collaborate, please find us below: Blog: medium.com/wharton-fintech Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ Suggest a Guest: airtable.com/shrdbokQPxAJzgVh7 Ally's Twitter: twitter.com/AllyMcCloskey Ally's Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/allyraemccloskey/

Anirudh 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, CoreLogic, Diligent, DistroKid, DriveWealth, Ellkay, Fanatics, iad, PDI, TetraScience, Vinted, WeWork, and Within3. Other companies within his portfolio include Chargebee, FTX, Thunes, Splitwise, 1stdibs, Slice, Saks.com and Saks OFF 5th, BharatPe, and Automattic (WordPress). In addition to his work at Insight, Deven currently serves as a Board Member for the Council on Foreign Relations, NYU Langone, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and the Tisch New York MS Research Center. He was also confirmed by the United States Senate to serve on the Board of Directors for the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation. Prior to joining Insight, Deven was a Principal at Berenson Minella & Company, a New York-based merchant banking firm, where he served on the M&A Committee. He also worked for Blackstone on M&A and other investment activities. Deven has a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: twitter.com/avsingh_24

Greg Schvey, CEO of Axoni, discusses his introduction to bitcoin, the benefits of blockchain technology, public vs. private blockchains, and challenges in capital markets infrastructure. He explores the advantages of blockchain, including automated accuracy and immutable audit trails, and the blurring line between public and private blockchains. The podcast also includes a rapid-fire Q&A session with the guest.

In today's episode, Ally McCloskey sits down with two-time guest Dan Westgarth, COO at Deel. Deel makes growing remote and international teams effortless by simplifying international hiring, compliance, and payments all on one platform. This means businesses can hire anyone, anywhere as independent contractors or full time employees compliantly, in minutes, and with the ability to pay them in over 120 currencies and cryptos starting with USDC. The company has raised over $631mm from the likes of a16z, Spark Capital, Y Combinator, Coatue, Elad Gil, Nat Friedman, Alexis Ohanian, Daniel Gross, and others, most recently closing their $425mm Series D this past October. Dan joined Deel in 2020, after spending what he calls his "postgraduate education" at Revolut. For more on that chapter of his life, check out the link below to his 2019 WFT Podcast debut. In this conversation, Ally and Dan discuss: • Dan's time at Revolut and his lessons learned leading the early U.S. expansion • Meeting the founders of Deel and building conviction that they'd be the team to tackle global hiring and payroll • How Deel replaces long email chains, generic contracts, individual wire transfers, and foreign subsidiaries and instead enables quick and compliant hiring of employees living anywhere in the world • The effects of the pandemic on demand for foreign talent • How Deel thinks about company culture when it has 450 employees working in more than 50 countries • Why Dan values investor diligence as it relates to his own technical operations • And a lot more About Dan (twitter.com/Dan_Westgarth) Fintech enthusiast Dan Westgarth currently serves as Chief Operating Officer at Deel, where he manages Deel's Business, Operations, Legal, and Compliance teams. Before joining Deel, Dan was one of challenger bank Revolut's earliest employees, most recently in the role of General Manager for North America. Outside of his day to day at Deel, Westgarth spends his time making early-stage angel investments into interesting technology companies and helping them scale. Dan's 2019 WFT Podcast debut: https://soundcloud.com/wft/dan-westgarth-north-america-general-manager-for-revolut About Deel Deel is a global payroll solution that helps businesses hire anyone, anywhere. Using a tech-enabled self-serve process, companies can now hire independent contractors or full-time employees in over 150 countries, compliantly and in minutes. Today, Deel serves 6,000+ customers from SMBs to publicly traded companies, including Coinbase, Shopify and Dropbox, among others, and just recently announced that customers can now fund their payroll in crypto. For more on its journey, check out What's the deal with Deel? -- As always, for more Fintech insights and opportunities to collaborate, please find us below: WFT Blog: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech WFT Home: www.whartonfintech.org WFT LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ Suggest a Podcast Guest: airtable.com/shrdbokQPxAJzgVh7 Ally's Twitter: twitter.com/AllyMcCloskey Ally's Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/allyraemccloskey/

Gabriela Ariana Campoverde sits down with Ram Palaniappan, Founder and CEO of Earnin, which gives people access to their pay directly from their smartphones. No hidden fees, no penalties, no waiting—just access to your hard-earned cash right when you need it. With each transaction users are given the opportunity to pay what they believe is fair. In this episode, you will learn all about how: - Ram started Earnin by lending his own money to his colleagues - Earnin addresses the Earned Wage Access gap - 66% of users see an increase in their ability to pay bills with Earnin’ - The lending landscape is changing - And so much more! About Ram Palaniappan Ram Palaniappan, is the Founder and CEO of Earnin. He is passionate about building a financial system for the people, by the people. He is a graduate of the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, where he earned his MMS, and Purdue University Krannert School of Management, where he earned his MBA. About Earnin Earnin gives people access to their pay directly from their smartphones, whenever they need it. Launched in 2014, Earnin is driving consumer-empowered finance through mobile technology by breaking open more than $1 trillion held up in America's pay cycle. Current funding partners include Andreessen Horowitz, Matrix Partners, Ribbit Capital, Felicis Ventures, March Capital Partners, Trinity Ventures, Thrive Capital, and Camp One Ventures. To learn more about Earnin, visit earnin.com. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Gabriela’s Twitter: twitter.com/byGabyC Gabriela’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gcampoverde

In 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 FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech

Anirudh Singh sits down with Arvind Purushotham, Global Head of Venture Investing at Citi Ventures. The two discuss Arvind's early career at Menlo Ventures, developing partnerships between portfolio companies and Citibank, investments in Doconomy, DriveWealth, and TRM labs, Citi impact fund, and much more. Arvind Purushotham: As Global Head of Venture Investing, Arvind leads Citi’s efforts to identify, invest in, and partner with leading startups as a way to bring cutting-edge technologies and capabilities to Citi’s businesses and functions. Additionally, he serves as a partner to Citi’s business leaders and helps identify market trends based on the 1000+ startups the Venture Investing team meets every year. Under his leadership the group has partnered with category-defining startups such as Square, Plaid, DocuSign, Honey, Betterment, Braze, Netskope, and Tanium. In his capacity as head of venture investing for the company, he also co-leads the Citi Impact Fund. Prior to Citi, Arvind spent nearly a decade as a Managing Director at Menlo Ventures, where he was an investor and Board member at companies including Kazeon Systems, Cavium Networks, Solidcore, nCircle Network Security, Intelligent Results, and Vhayu Technologies. Previously, Arvind was a design engineer and a Program Manager at Intel Corporation. Arvind obtained his BSEE from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, an MSEE from Case Western Reserve University, and an MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School. He enjoys running, photography, and reading in his spare time. Arvind is passionate about golf—a passion, sadly, that his skill level does not match. He lives in Palo Alto, CA with his wife, two sons, and their black lab Rocky. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: twitter.com/avsingh_24

Gabriela Ariana Campoverde sits down with Mike de Vere, CEO of Zest AI. Zest helps lenders make better credit decisions -- increasing revenue, reducing risk, and automating compliance. The company serves its customers by providing them with custom credit models leveraging more data, better math, and smarter software. Today Mike is leading Zest to fulfill a mission of making fair credit available to everyone. In this episode, you will learn all about: - How it builds more inclusive underwriting models for its clients - The loan decision and funding journey - Zest’s company culture - Insights on how the lending landscape is changing - And so much more! About Mike de Vere Mike is passionate about expanding access to fair credit. He has a rich career in leveraging customer insights given his time at Nielsen, Harris Interactive and JD Power & Associates. He earned his MBA from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California and studied Business Administration at the California State University, Northridge. About Zest AI Zest AI makes the power of machine learning safe to use in credit underwriting. The Zest Model Management System enables lenders to analyze vast amounts of credit data to help increase approval rates and reduce the risk of faulty credit decisions. The platform also provides the ability to explain data modeling results to measure business impact and help comply with regulatory requirements. To learn more about Zest, visit zest.ai. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Gabriela’s Twitter: twitter.com/byGabyC Gabriela’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gcampoverde

Anirudh Singh sits down with Nathan McCauley, Co-Founder and CEO of Anchorage Digital, a leading digital asset platform for institutions. Previously, Nathan worked as an early employee at Square and at Docker. They discuss the lessons Nathan learned from helping scale Square, getting a banking charter at Anchorage Digital, Nathan’s thoughts on key crypto trends moving forward, and much more. Nathan McCauley: Nathan McCauley is the Co-Founder and CEO of Anchorage, the leading digital asset platform for institutions. He started his career at Arxan Technologies, where he worked on anti-reverse engineering and key management for commercial and military applications. As an early employee at Square, he worked on the infrastructure security platform now used to move over $80B in annualized GPV. Later, at Docker, together with Anchorage Co-Founder Diogo Mónica, he built and led the security team, developing code that helps secure containers, one of the core underpinnings of modern infrastructure. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: twitter.com/avsingh_24

In 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 from account creation to loan servicing. Before Affirm, Christina was a Senior Product Manager at GoFundMe, where she worked on growth and new product areas. Earlier in her career, Christina also spent time in business operations at LinkedIn and as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs. Christina is an active angel investor and an advisor to early-stage companies. She has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in Economics from Stanford University. Christina grew up in Los Angeles, CA and now lives in San Francisco with her husband John and son Theo. She loves running in the Presidio and skiing. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/ WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Anirudh's Twitter: twitter.com/avsingh_24