Wharton FinTech Podcast

In our latest podcast, Keane Ehsani (WG ’20) is joined by Thomas Sponholtz, CEO and Chairman at Unison Home Ownership Investors (https://www.unison.com). In this extensive interview, Thomas explains how Unison helps first time homebuyers by co-investing in their down payment. Thomas also discusses homeowner’s equity as an asset class, how Unison uses data analytics to forecast the value of its portfolio, and how Unison is revolutionizing the industry by unlocking homeowner’s equity. Unison is pioneering a smarter and better way to buy and own homes by helping homebuyers with their down payment in exchange for a portion of their home’s appreciation when they sell. At Unison, Thomas has built a team of financial and real estate professionals who are committed to helping homebuyers get the home they want, and homeowners finance their life needs without adding debt. Unison believes in a world where buying and owning a home is not a zero-sum game, and that with the right partners, everyone can win. Thomas founded Unison and leads the company’s overall strategic direction. He has more than twenty years of experience building large-scale consumer finance and investment management businesses at companies such as Barclay’s Global Investors, where he managed the $28 billion residential mortgage portfolio, built the first Fixed Income ETF (iShares) and developed Barclay’s Global Multi-Strategy and Credit Long/Short fund.

In this broadcast from LendIt Fintech USA in April 2019, recent alumna Dipika Sen (WG'19) speaks with Ryan Rugg, R3's Global Head of Industry Verticals. In this role, Ryan oversees the global team that is responsible for helping industry leaders understand and navigate the forces reshaping their businesses, including blockchain technology. Previously, she led the Global Insurance businesses for R3, which has become one of the largest ecosystems building and deploying on R3’s Blockchain Platform, Corda. Prior to R3, Ryan worked for Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan where she gained extensive experience in financial services covering a broad range of institutions including insurance, hedge funds, banks, and asset managers.

In our latest podcast, Keane Ehsani (WG ’20) attends the FinTech Innovation Lab 2019 Demo Day in New York, where 11 enterprise tech companies got to showcase innovative products and services. In this podcast, Keane is joined by Maria Gotsch of the Partnership Fund for New York, Hans Morris of Nyca Partners, George Hessler of Magma Trading, and Nir Perry of Cyberwrite. The FinTech Innovation Lab (https://www.fintechinnovationlab.com) was founded in 2010 by Accenture and the Partnership Fund for New York City. The Lab provides early- and growth-stage FinTech companies with access to the world’s leading financial institutions. The Lab was established to help make New York a leader in FinTech and to grow technology jobs by leveraging the concentration of large financial institutions and deep domain expertise that exist in New York. Maria Gotsch, President and CEO of the Partnership Fund for New York City The Partnership Fund (https://partnershipfundnyc.org) has invested $173mm to preserve New York City’s competitive edge and to mobilize the city’s financial and business leaders to help build a stronger and more diversified local economy. In addition to leading the Fund’s investment operations, Maria has spearheaded the creation and operation of a number of the Fund’s strategic initiatives, including the FinTech Innovation Lab for New York. Hans Morris, Managing Partner of Nyca Partners Nyca (https://www.nyca.com) is a leading venture capital firm focused on connecting innovative companies to the global financial system. In addition to being the Managing Partner of Nyca, Hans also serves as chairman of the board of Lending Club and as a board member of AvidXchange, Boomtown, Payoneer, and SigFig.  Prior to Nyca, Hans held several senior management positions at General Atlantic, Visa, and Citigroup. George Hessler, CEO and Founder of Magma Trading Magma Trading (https://www.magmatrading.com) has created a new kind of stock market that allows broker-dealers to trade large blocks of equities. This structure allows market-making firms to post large potential trades without fear of getting run over by high-speed electronic sweeps. Nir Perry, CEO and Founder of Cyberwrite Cyberwrite (https://cyberwrite.com) enables insurers, brokers, and agents to cyberprofile and benchmark the cyber insurance risk of small-medium businesses worldwide and to estimate the financial impact of potential cyber incidents on their businesses using their unique Cyber Profiling technology. Fintech Innovation Lab Demo Day Press Release: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190627005121/en/11-Enterprise-Tech-Companies-Showcase-Inventive-Products Fintech Innovation Lab Demo Day Archived Video Presentations: https://www.fintechinnovationlab.com/new-york/live/

In our latest podcast, Keane Ehsani (WG ’20) is joined by Dov Marmor, GM & Head of Banking as a Service at Green Dot (https://www.greendot.com). In this extensive interview, Dov dives into the proliferation of prepaid cards and Banking as a Service in the U.S.  Dov also discusses Green Dot’s unique and vertically integrated value proposition for companies looking to provide banking services, how to land a job in fintech, and the evolution of the fintech industry. Dov Marmor leads Green Dot’s Banking as a Service (BaaS) division, which is the platform used by companies like Uber, Intuit, Apple, and Stash to create custom financial products for their customers.  He is also a fintech lecturer at Cornell University’s Johnson Business School where he earned his MBA and serves on the alumni board. Prior to joining Green Dot, Dov led the US launch of Currencycloud, a Google Ventures funded fintech platform that processes billions of dollars in payments globally for major tech companies.  Earlier in his career, Dov held leadership roles at Super Derivatives (Sold to Intercontinental Exchange) and Standard & Poor’s. He has extensive experience across fintech, Cloud Platforms, Payments, and digital innovation.    Linked in article link about how to land a job in FinTech: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-land-job-fintech-dov-marmor/ For more information on Banking as a Service: https://greendot.com/business

Ray Martinez, Co-founder and President of EVERFI, is a financial literacy trailblazer with over 20 years in education. He discusses the unique founding journey of EVERFI and the launch of the new Achieve platform for adult financial literacy. Ray emphasizes the importance of personalized, engaging education, revealing how insights from K-12 programs shaped Achieve. He also tackles the pressing issue of student debt and explores EVERFI's ambitious plans to expand financial education into healthcare and emotional wellness, all while sharing his entrepreneurial experiences.

In our latest podcast, Peter Jankovsky (WG'20) is joined by Colin Walsh, the CEO and Co-Founder of Varo Money. Varo Money is on track to become the first mobile-centric national bank in US history after gaining approval for a national bank charter. We previously spoke with Colin in the early days of Varo's launch and are excited to welcome him back to the podcast to share his experience in the market. In this extensive interview, Colin shares: * His unique founding story and the value proposition behind Varo * The rationale for Varo's decision to pursue a national bank charter * His vision for what's next for Varo - including both product and geographic expansion * Challenges that Varo has overcome since launching in the market * Advice for entrepreneurs seeking funding * His views on the competitive landscape for consumer banking in the US Prior to starting Varo, Colin spent over 25 years working in consumer banking at global financial institutions. He was previously an EVP at American Express, leading Europe's largest credit and charge card business, and an MD at Lloyd's, leading the UK's largest mortgage and savings businesses. Feedback? Questions? Send us a note at whartonfintech@gmail.com

In our latest podcast, Keane Ehsani (WG ’20) is joined by Gerry Tsai, Director of Applications and Fintech in the Financial Institution Supervision and Credit Group at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (FRBSF) (https://www.frbsf.org). In this extensive interview, Gerry dives into the evolution of the Fintech industry and the U.S. regulatory response. Gerry also discusses the FRBSF’s Fintech Navigate program, regulatory sandboxes, and the various regulatory regimes that apply to the use of consumer financial data. In his Fintech role at the FRBSF, Mr. Tsai leads a team of analysts that focus on better understanding the opportunities and regulatory questions posed by the Fintech industry, as well as related impacts on the banking sector.  In his applications capacity, he oversees a team that reviews and acts on regulatory applications by banking institutions to engage in mergers, acquisitions, and other expansionary activities. Mr. Tsai previously served both as Corporate Secretary and as Associate General Counsel for the Reserve Bank’s Legal Division where he focused on payment systems and bank regulatory matters. Before joining the Reserve Bank, Mr. Tsai was vice president and counsel at a large financial institution in Los Angeles, and was an attorney with the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C. Mr. Tsai graduated from Johns Hopkins University and Boston University School of Law; he is admitted to the bar in California and Massachusetts. Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco:  Fintech Navigate https://www.frbsf.org/banking/fintech/navigate/ U.S. Department of the Treasury:  A Financial System That Creates Economic Opportunities: Nonbank Financials, Fintech, and Innovation https://home.treasury.gov/sites/default/files/2018-08/A-Financial-System-that-Creates-Economic-Opportunities---Nonbank-Financials-Fintech-and-Innovation_0.pdf

In our latest podcast, Keane Ehsani (WG ’20) is joined by Zor Gorelov, the CEO and Co-Founder of Kasisto. In this extensive interview, Zor dives into Kasisto’s sophisticated conversational AI platform that powers virtual assistants for financial institutions. Zor also discusses his fascinating background as a four-time entrepreneur and how Kasisto’s KAI is revolutionizing the way customers interact with their banks. Kasisto (https://kasisto.com) is the developer of KAI, a conversational AI platform that powers virtual assistants and bots on mobile, web, messaging platforms, and voice-enabled devices. The world’s most innovative financial institutions license KAI to create intelligent conversations that fulfill requests, solve problems, and predict needs for their customers. Zor has over 20 years of experience in the software industry. He was the CEO and co-Founder of SpeechCycle, a market leader in cloud-based contact center optimization solutions for the telco market. SpeechCycle was acquired by Synchronoss Technologies (SNCR). Prior to that, Zor founded and ran BuzzCompany.com, a provider of enterprise collaboration and messaging software, which was acquired by Multex.com (MLTX).

In our latest podcast, Keane Ehsani (WG ’20) is joined by Karn Saroya, the CEO and co-founder of Cover. In this extensive interview, Karn dives into Cover’s sophisticated customer-centric and elegant apps built to better serve customers. Karn also discusses his pivot from fashion to insurance, how Cover is utilizing native mobile and its Magicam technology to disintermediate the insurance industry, and valuations and consolidation in insurtech. Cover (https://cover.com) is a technology company and nationally licensed insurance brokerage that works with more than 30 insurance companies across the United States. Their apps ensure that customers get the most out of their insurance, the best possible customer experience, and the best rates & coverage. Karn Saroya is the CEO and co-founder of Cover. He is responsible for operations, business development, growth and investor relations primarily. To date, Karn has raised $27M (USD) throughout seed, Series A and Series B rounds. Karn’s first company, Stylekick, was acqui-hired by Shopify in 2015 and, before entrepreneurship, he was a management consultant at Oliver Wyman. Karn holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Queen’s University and a Master of Finance from MIT, where he attended as a Fulbright Scholar. He is also a Y Combinator fellow and alumnus.

In our latest podcast, Keane Ehsani (WG ’20) is joined by Clay Wilkes, the CEO and founder of Galileo Processing. In this extensive interview, Clay dives into Galileo’s sophisticated payments platform and how Galileo inspires and connects the most exciting fintechs and financial institutions via its open APIs and simulator sandbox. We also cover Galileo’s growth since its founding, emerging payment adoption trends, and valuations and consolidation in fintech. Galileo Processing (www.galileoprocessing.com) was founded in 2000 and has grown to become one of the largest payments processors and program managers in North America. Galileo applies technology and engineering capabilities to empower fintechs and financial institutions to unleash their full creativity to achieve their most innovative goals. Galileo leads the industry with superior fraud detection, security, decision-making analytics, and regulatory compliance functionality combined with customized, responsive and flexible programs to accelerate the success of all payments companies and solve tomorrow’s payments challenges today. Under Clay’s leadership, Galileo developed the technology that powers the most successful fintechs, financial institutions and investment firms in North America. His love of technology began early, while hunkered down in high school and university computer labs in his native Oregon. He launched his career developing communications and operating systems for Sperry, IBM, and Novell. In 1994 Clay founded I-Link, which developed Voice Over IP. As CEO, he took I-Link public and authored patents for VOIP. A dedicated humanitarian and environmentalist, Clay says Galileo’s Core Values are the embodiment of what he believes as a business leader.