Wharton FinTech Podcast

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 today’s episode, Ryan and Dave discuss: 3:30 – What exactly is Upstart? 6:44 – The current state of credit scores and how Upstart is upending the traditional credit score 10:57 – What needed to be true for banks to trust Upstart? 13:19 - How he navigated the regulatory environment, who he hired, and what a no-action letter is 15:39 – How COVID affected his business 18:40 – Why it was time to IPO, why he questions SPACs, and why raising private money was really, really hard 21:50 – How the IPO was different from private rounds and the importance of momentum 23:00 – The toughest challenges he faced as a founder 25:15 – His decision-making framework for leaving an amazing role at Google and founding Upstart...including the long conversations he had with his wife that made him take the plunge 26:24 – A rapid-fire round including his thoughts on bitcoin, where he was when the IPO bell rang, his favorite dinner meal before a long work night, first covid vacation and more! For more Fintech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/

Miguel Armaza is joined by the talented Rob Petrozzo, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at Rally, a groundbreaking platform for buying & selling equity shares in collectible assets, that aims to give every investor a 21st Century Portfolio. The company has raised close to $30 million, from top industry investors like Upfront Ventures, Anthemis, Porsche Ventures, Alexis Ohanian, and many more. We discussed: - Rob’s winding road from artist to entrepreneur - Working with his co-founders and why they bring the perfect balance of personalities - Challenges and stories from building Rally and their vision of a 21st century portfolio - Operating with collectible luxury items like cars and art pieces, and the important question of whether they get to test-drive all those incredible cars - The importance of building a community and why most people confuse community and monetization - His vision for the future of Rally - And a lot more! About Rally Rally is a platform for buying & selling equity shares in collectible assets. Together, we rally to make investing behind ideas, emotions, and communities safe, easy, and accessible. The result… A 21st Century Portfolio, for everyone.

Miguel Armaza sits down with Elle Bruno, Managing Director of the Techstars & Western Union Accelerator. Armed with 19 years of experience as a founder, startup operator, and angel investor, Elle now leads the Techstars/Western Union accelerator focused on identifying innovative and disruptive startups working on cross border and cross-currency money movement for consumers and commercial businesses. In fact, if you are an entrepreneur in this category or know someone who’d be a good candidate, be it in the US or an emerging market around the world, make sure to apply by April 7, 2021. Apply Here -> https://bit.ly/2QE16FM Company Stage -> MVP+ Categories within fintech: - Alternative Financial Services Offerings (lending, emerging market asset management, P2P lending) - Payments and Remittance - KYC, AML, Compliance - Digital ID, Fraud Detection - Settlement and Transaction Processing - Digital Banking and Neo Banks - SMB emerging market POS Elle Bruno Elle Bruno is the Managing Director of the Techstars & Western Union Accelerator. Elle has been a founder and startup operator for 19 years. In 2004 she started her first company, an eBay ancillary marketplace, and since then she has been involved in building three venture-backed startups, most notably Trunk Club. Her expertise is in consumer tech, specifically revenue and growth. Elle has been an angel investor and advisor since 2015, with a focus on investing in female-founded companies, and was an EIR in the 2020 Techstars & Western Union program. About Techstars Techstars is the worldwide network that helps entrepreneurs succeed. Techstars founders connect with other entrepreneurs, experts, mentors, alumni, investors, community leaders, and corporations to grow their companies. Techstars operates three divisions: Techstars Startup Programs, Techstars Mentorship-Driven Accelerator Programs, and Techstars Corporate Innovation Partnerships. Techstars accelerator portfolio includes more than 1,700 companies with a market cap of $20 Billion. www.techstars.com About Western Union The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) is a global leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement. Our omnichannel platform connects the digital and physical worlds and makes it possible for consumers and businesses to send and receive money and make payments with speed, ease, and reliability. As of March 31, 2019, our network included over 550,000 retail agent locations offering Western Union, Vigo or Orlandi Valuta branded services in more than 200 countries and territories, with the capability to send money to billions of accounts and mobile wallets. Additionally, westernunion.com, our fastest growing channel in 2018, is available in approximately 70 countries, plus additional territories, to move money around the world. With our global reach, Western Union moves money for better, connecting family, friends and businesses to enable financial inclusion and support economic growth. For more information, visit www.westernunion.com.

In 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 structure & emphasis on thesis-driven investing (8:05) - His focus on fintech infrastructure and embedded finance, how it was shaped by BVP's existing portfolio, and his underestimation of Shopify (10:48) - His missed investment in Plaid’s Series A and why it made him a better investor (13:58) - His investment in Alloy and why it's critical to find companies with 'Pull' in financial services. (15:55) - The current state of wealth management, how he thinks about segmenting the market, and the sale of United Capital (BVP portco) to Goldman Sachs (19:51) - The fundraising process, portco management, and where you can get creative in hiring (24:40) - And a Rapid fire round including his fintech hero and Wharton classmates in fintech he most admires (31:43) Referenced in the episode: - PFOF Debate with Atom Finance CEO Eric Shoykhet https://medium.com/wharton-fintech/atom-finance-founder-eric-shoykhet-building-for-the-retail-investor-and-debating-pfof-a3156bd79bc - Robinhood COO Gretchen Howard https://medium.com/wharton-fintech/robinhoods-coo-gretchen-howard-democratizing-finance-navigating-a-crisis-embracing-change-d6b293c39e8e For more Fintech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/

Today, Ryan Zauk sits down with NFL Player and UPenn Professor Brandon Copeland. Formerly on the Patriots, Jets, and Titans Brandon just signed with the Atlanta Falcons this past Friday! But this episode isn't about football - Brandon is MUCH more than a football player. See below: - Penn Professor where he teaches “Life 101” every spring to educate students about the financial basics of becoming an adult. Think stocks & bonds, buying a home, credit 101, networking/brand-building, taxes, car payments, and more. - He has since made this course available to the public, where he hosts lectures and guest speakers every Tuesday, and fosters an amazing Telegram community. You can learn more and sign up for the course here: life101.io - Forbes 30 under 30 winner, motivational speaker, and noted brand consultant - Columnist at Kiplinger + CNBC and is member of CNBC’s Invest in You Wellness Council with Acorns - Serial private and public investor as well as real estate developer, having worked on 50+ homes Brandon has always been focused on what he calls “the business of me” and has made it a life mission to share his lessons with others. Ryan & Brandon discuss: - Interning at hedge funds and bulge bracket banks since high school (7:30) - What he teaches in ‘Life 101,’ how he got UPenn on board, and his unique final exam (11:50) - How you can get involved with Life 101 and what he needs you to promise before you join (22:30) - His favorite Fintech apps (25:50) - The NFL approach to financial education (29:25) - A rapid-fire round including his personal finance stack, best investments, and the best QB he ever faced (32:40) ...And so much more! For more Fintech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/

Miguel Armaza sits down with Everett Cook, Co-Founder & CEO of Rho Business Banking, a NYC-based company offering banking services to SMBs, including corporate cards, payments and expenses. The company has raised close to $20 million from leading investors, including M13 Ventures, Torch Capital, Inspired Capital, Interplay Ventures, and Mike Vaughan. We talked about - Everett’s journey from hedge fund portfolio manager to startup founder - What inspired him and his co-founders to launch Rho - Why SMB banking in the US needs a refresh - Lessons learned from clients and investors over the past couple of years - And a lot more! Everett Cook - Co-Founder and CEO of Rho Everett Cook is the CEO and co-founder of Rho Business Banking. With over 10 years of experience in finance and investment management, Everett is an expert in financial structuring, macroeconomics and fintech regulations. Everett led research at two $1 billion macro funds, and has worked under leaders like Steve Cohen and Michael Bloomberg. About Rho Business Banking Rho Technologies is the NYC-based fintech behind Rho Business Banking, the only finance platform built from the ground-up to help business teams work better together. The company was founded by former Point72 and Deutsche Bank alum Everett Cook and British-Canadian serial entrepreneur Alex Wheldon. With backgrounds in both finance and operations, they understood how badly fragmented and outdated current commercial finance solutions and tools were relative to the rest of today’s enterprise software. The Rho Business Banking platform approach consists of a single solution that encompasses both collaborative finance software and commercial-grade banking, which together help businesses save time, money, and effort as they grow. Clients are all supported by its team of business bankers and capital markets professionals. Rho Business Banking offers banking, corporate cards, payments and expenses — all in one place. Rho provides finance technology on top of core banking to help businesses move, manage, and leverage money within their whole organization. Rho’s all-in-one platform consolidates banking and cash management with powerful financial tools like global payments, built-in expense management, and A/P, alongside its leading corporate card program. Rho clients are served by dedicated business bankers and introduced to growth options by our capital markets team.

In today's episode, Ryan Zauk sits down with Jodan Ledford, CEO of Smart USA. Smart is a retirement tech provider and one of the largest global recordkeepers with strategic investors J.P. Morgan, Legal & General, Barclays, the Link Group, and Natixis, today launched in the US. Smart’s enters the US with over 70,000 retirement plans already on its platform -- on par with the US’ second-largest recordkeeper. It is entering the US market in response to the SECURE act. Smart’s recordkeeping and retirement income solutions are purpose-built for the Pooled Employer Plans and the facilitation of lifetime income in retirement plans the SECURE Act Allows. Smart has established its US headquarters in Nashville, a growing Fintech hub, and is primed to help US plan advisors, employers, and participants further close our retirement coverage gap In this episode, Jodan and Ryan cover a number of topics, including: - Why he chose Nashville to locate Smart - The history of US retirement, including pensions, ERISA, The Secure Act, and 401ks - How people can utilize Smart to standup plans in <1 hour! - PEPs and the Secure Act 101 - The good and bad of current retirement regulations, what needs to change, and some interesting incentive alignments - And a rapid-fire round including the best places to eat in Miami! (23:40) For more Fintech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/

Miguel Armaza is joined by the one and only, Marcelo Claure, CEO of SoftBank Group International, and all-around fascinating business leader and entrepreneur. Born and raised in La Paz, Bolivia, Marcelo immigrated to the US for college and later founded Brightstar, a company he built into a global category leader and also became the largest Hispanic-owned business in US history. Most recently, Marcelo, alongside Softbank Chairman & CEO Masayoshi Son, oversees the strategic direction of Softbank along with a vast portfolio of operating companies and investments, including SoftBank’s $5B dollar Latin America Fund. As a fellow Bolivian, Miguel Armaza has been a longtime admirer of Marcelo so this was a particularly exciting interview where they discussed: - Marcelo’s background from entrepreneur to global business and fintech leader - Challenges of building a company without much access to funding - The story behind building the Softbank Latin America fund and why there’s no doubt this is the golden era of entrepreneurship in the region - His take on the state of the fintech industry and why several of their portfolio companies have a strong fintech component - The importance of backing diverse and minority entrepreneurs and what Marcelo and the Softbank team are doing about it - Valuable entrepreneurial advice for founders - And a lot more valuable information! About SoftBank Group The SoftBank Group invests in breakthrough technology to improve the quality of life for people around the world. The SoftBank Group is comprised of SoftBank Group Corp. (TOKYO: 9984), an investment holding company that includes stakes in telecommunications, internet services, AI, smart robotics, IoT and clean energy technology providers; the SoftBank Vision Funds, which are investing up to US$100 billion to help extraordinary entrepreneurs transform industries and shape new ones; the SoftBank Latin America Fund, the largest venture fund in that region, and the SB Opportunity Fund, a US$100 million fund dedicated to investing in enterprises founded by entrepreneurs of color in the U.S. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Miguel's Twitter: twitter.com/MiguelArmaza Miguel's Substack: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp

Gretchen Howard, COO at Robinhood, shares her inspiring journey from CapitalG at Google to revolutionizing finance. She discusses the lessons learned during the GameStop trading frenzy and advocates for real-time trade settlement to enhance market stability. Gretchen highlights Robinhood's mission to democratize finance, emphasizing innovative tools like commission-free trading that empower young investors. She also reflects on her personal evolution during the pandemic, showcasing how life's challenges have sparked new passions.

Miguel Armaza is joined by Richard Sarkis, serial entrepreneur, Executive Chair, and Co-Founder of Reonomy, a commercial real estate data and analytics platform. Since inception in 2013, the company has raised over $130 million in equity from leading industry investors like Georgian Partners, Softbank, Citi Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, Fintech Collective, and many more... Rich is also a proud graduate of our very own Wharton School In this episode, we discuss: - His journey as a repeat entrepreneur - Exciting stories and challenges of building Reonomy from the ground up - His views on company culture why it is extremely important - Transitioning from CEO to Executive Chairman and what this entails - State of the US commercial real estate market and the impact of COVID - Valuable founder advice and takeaways after almost two decades of entrepreneurship - And a whole lot more! Soundcloud: Spotify: Apple: Full interview --> Spotify | Soundcloud | Apple Richard Sarkis Richard Sarkis is Executive Chair and co-founder of Reonomy, a commercial real estate data and analytics platform. Since the company’s founding in 2013, Sarkis has been instrumental in raising $128 million in venture capital and led Reonomy through a successful web-platform launch in New York City, as well as the launch of a second nationwide platform in 2017. About Reonomy Reonomy leverages big data, partnerships and machine learning to connect the fragmented, disparate world of commercial real estate. By providing unparalleled access to property intelligence, Reonomy products empower individuals, teams, and companies to unlock insights and discover new opportunities.