Fintech Impact

In this 158th episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira, award-winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host interviews Jennifer Couldrey, the Executive Director of The Upside Foundation of Canada, an organization that enables equity donations by Canadian business founders who wish to make a positive impact on the future of their communities!Episode Highlights:1:20 – Jennifer Couldrey introduces The Upside Foundation.2:14 – How did Jennifer get into this business and how did The Upside Foundation get its start?3:52 – Jennifer breaks down The Upside model.5:56 – Why are these Canadian founders interested in donating equity?8:05 – Jason and Jennifer talk about how The Upside Foundation thrives in the long-game.9:07 – What does a typical deal look like and what factors play into these parameters?10:59 – Where are the donations being directed?13:01 – Is this a one-time donation or a continuously-managed fund?14:59 – Jason and Jennifer discuss how people view different charities.21:12 – What is the feedback that The Upside Foundation is receiving both before and after their clients’ exit events?25:57 – If Jennifer could change one thing in her industry, what would it be?29:12 – What has been the biggest challenge of getting The Upside Foundation to where it is today?30:25 – What motivates Jennifer to get up every day and push forward with The Upside Foundation’s mission?3 Key PointsCanadian founders use The Upside Foundation as a way to make a palpable impact in their communities.Companies are presented with the option of donating via stock options or personal proceeds to the cause of their choice.90% of charitable donations are donated to elite donations such as universities, hospitals, and larger organizations that decide where the money should be allocated. Tweetable Quotes:“It’s a way of embedding this charitable impact into your business from day one.” – Jennifer Couldrey“Part of the reason we have the flexibility to give through stock options or to give through personal proceeds is just to make that decision really easy for people.” – Jennifer Couldrey“Having the ability to course correct is a valuable luxury that I think that is afforded through having these endowments paying out small amounts over large amounts.” – Jason Pereira“When people think about charity, they usually think about helping the poor...but if you actually look at where charitable dollars go, 90% of charitable dollars are going to help elite institutions.” – Jennifer Couldrey“When you have something, it’s hard to give it up. The bigger that number is, the harder it is to cut that check.” – Jason Pereira Resources Mentioned:Facebook – Jason Pereira’s FacebookLinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedInFintechImpact.co – Website for Fintech ImpactJasonPereira.ca – Sign up for Jason Pereira’s newsletterWoodgate.com – Website for Woodgate FinancialLinkedIn – Jennifer Couldrey’s LinkedInThe Upside Foundation – Website for The UpsideUncharitable – BookBillion Dollar Loser – BookThis Could Be Our Future – Book Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this 157th episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira, award-winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host interviews Lil Roberts, CEO of Xendoo, an online accounting firm that aims to serve small businesses by simplifying the bookkeeping process!Episode Highlights:0:32 – Lil Roberts introduces Xendoo and its mission.0:56 – What was the inspiration behind the creation of Xendoo?1:36 – Lil shares her journey that led to the creation of Xendoo.3:22 – Jason and Lil talk about the importance of knowing your numbers when it comes time to scale.5:56 – Lil and Jason discuss the competition in the accounting industry.8:28 – Jason and Lil dive into the low bar of understanding for what people should expect from their accountant.11:40 – Lil explains why the concept of dropping off your paperwork is one of the past.13:48 – What tools are in Xendoo’s tech stack and why were those chosen?17:00 – Jason and Lil talk about the importance of being organized with your tax paperwork.18:45 – How much fun is it to make these tools work together nicely?20:42 – Jason discusses the digital lessons that have been taught by COVID.22:03 – What kind of feedback is Lil hearing from Xendoo’s clients?23:47 – If Lil could change one thing about the accounting industry, what would it be?26:22 – What has been Xendoo’s biggest challenge during its growth?27:04 – Lil discusses what motivates her to get up every day.3 Key PointsAs a serial entrepreneur, Lil Roberts hated that bookkeeping and accounting services were slow, expensive, and provided little transparency.Online bookkeeping and accounting services account for less than 1% of the industry as a whole.The days of dropping off your paperwork to your accountant are over. Everything is done online now and this helps business owners Tweetable Quotes:“No one gets in the business to do your bookkeeping unless you’re a bookkeeping business.” – Jason Pereira“I’m not concerned about the people that are doing the exact same thing that I’m doing; I’m concerned about the person doing something different that I’m not directly benefitting from.” – Jason Pereira“The magic does not happen after the year is over; the magic happens through the year.” – Jason Pereira“I can’t tell you how many times that we have seen somebody transpose numbers.” – Lil Roberts Resources Mentioned:Facebook – Jason Pereira’s FacebookLinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedInFintechImpact.co – Website for Fintech ImpactJasonPereira.ca – Sign up for Jason Pereira’s newsletterWoodgate.com – Website for Woodgate FinancialXendoo.com – Website for XendooXeroQuickBooksThe Coming of The Human Knowledge – Work Cloud – Article by Sam Lessin Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this 156th episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira, award-winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host interviews Zachary Dan, CoFounder and CTO of Act Analytics, a platform that helps financial advisors make better decisions around environmental, social, and governmental factors!Episode Highlights: 0:41 – Zachary Dan introduces Act Analytics.1:04 – What led Zachary to create Act Analytics.2:14 – Jason discusses the issues that exist in the ESG area.4:12 – How does Zachary score industries with ESG factors?8:09 – Zachary discusses the challenges presented by a high–level of customization in regard to customer experience.9:12 – What does the user experience look like from start to finish?11:14 – How often is the data updated?11:38 – Zachary dives into the sources of data that Act Analytics utilizes.14:01 – What has the feedback been like from Act Analytics’s earliest users?16:00 – Zachary shares his thoughts on future innovations for the platform.17:49 – If Zachary could change one thing about his industry, what would it be?19:17 – What has been the biggest challenge for Act Analytics during its growth?22:46 – Zachary explains what excites him about natural language processing.3 Key PointsZachary saw that neither the data nor the ratings were constructed in a way that served most people, so he created a tool that utilizes both in a way that translates to the end-user.At the moment, Act Analytics has about 20 paying clients with most logging on every day and utilizing the news–analytics feature of the platform.Zachary hopes to see the commoditization of ESG and financial data, making it widely available for everyone to choose how to use that information for themselves.Tweetable Quotes:“If companies in all sectors are being pressured to change over time and everyone’s doing this, that’s one way to change the world.” – Zachary Dan“I think one of the mistakes of what’s out there is this idea that you can become the standard scoring methodology for ESG because...it’s different for everybody.” – Zachary Dan“There’s lots of opportunities to include more built–out portfolio construction and AI that helps people build portfolios using both ESG and financial considerations.” – Zachary Dan“You can’t fully fit on a spreadsheet about just how ethical a company is but you have to figure out how to measure that in real-time.” – Jason Pereira“If someone doesn’t have a belief in something, why are you forcing it on them?” – Jason Pereira Resources Mentioned:Facebook – Jason Pereira’s FacebookLinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedInFintechImpact.co – Website for Fintech ImpactJasonPereira.ca – Sign up for Jason Pereira’s newsletterWoodgate.com – Website for Woodgate FinancialAct-analytics.com – Website for Act AnalyticsTruvaluelabs.com/ – Website for Truvalue Labs Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this 155th episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira, award-winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host interviews Christopher Doyle, the CEO of Billd, a vendor–financing company that allows contractors to purchase materials via credit so they can take on bigger projects!Episode Highlights:0:32 – Christopher Doyle introduces Billd and its role in the construction industry.1:17 – How did Billd get started and what motivated it?3:47 – What were the challenges of trying to make this platform work with being able to profile the clients accurately?6:27 – Why is commercial construction way worse than individual contractors?9:00 – Jason and Christopher discuss the risks involved in this business.10:55 – What does the process look like for contractors looking to work with Billd?13:06 – Where is the money coming from when it’s time to get paid back?14:23 – What kind of feedback is Billd getting from its clients?15:44 – Christopher discusses what has surprised him the most.18:15 – Jason and Christopher discuss the innovative tech that is being deployed in the construction industry.19:48 – What change would Christopher make in his business right now?22:00 – Christopher dives into the biggest growth problems that Billd has faced.24:11 – What excites Christopher the most about what he is working on?3 Key PointsBy providing a system of material credits, Billd allows contractors to pay for their materials upfront, allowing them to take on projects that would otherwise be too large to bid on.Most of the time, when Billd has to get involved for payment, it’s because they haven’t been paid for the work. In this case, Billd gets to act as the bad guy for the contractor.Even with a slow adoption curve, more and more innovative technology is being used in the construction industry, such as robot learning and 360-degree job site digital views. Tweetable Quotes:“In construction, contractors rely so much on those upfront payments and often times it’s a limiter to growth and starting the business altogether.” – Christopher Doyle“What we’re really talking about here is the reduction of burden for working capital within a business.” – Jason Pereira“If we’re going to burden someone in that process, it’s the supplier...We try to keep our contractor doing what they do best.” – Christopher Doyle“When you have a small group of people working tightly to build something from scratch, those little things actually will annoy the heck out of you.” – Jason PereiraResources Mentioned:Facebook – Jason Pereira’s FacebookLinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedInFintechImpact.co – Website for Fintech ImpactJasonPereira.ca – Sign up for Jason Pereira’s newsletterWoodgate.com – Website for Woodgate FinancialBilld.com/ – Website for Billd Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this 154th episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira, award-winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host is interviewed by Guy Anderson about what has been going on for the last 12 months!Episode Highlights:0:57 – Guy and Jason touch on Jason’s podcast rankings and success in 2020.2:40 – There are many subcategories in the Fintech industry.3:24 – What episodes did people like the most this year?5:48 – Are there any past guests that have made changes that Jason wants to have back on?7:12 – What are some exciting new technologies in the Fintech space?9:20 – Jason breaks down Cinchy’s strategies for connecting data with bilateral communication.10:37 – What is Jason looking forward to in 2021?11:40 – Jason dives into no-code platforms that are changing tech.14:28 – Would you spend $120/year for software that would save you 1 minute every day?17:25 – Jason discusses how automated software is benefiting businesses everywhere.19:48 – Guy and Jason talk about the painful process that used to be required to sign up for financial software.20:42 – What does the future relationship look like between the stock exchange and blockchain technology?21:57 – Is there anything coming down the pipe for the podcast that excites Jason? 3 Key PointsIn 2020, Fintech Impact has become #2 on Apple and #1 on Spotify for podcasts in the Fintech category.Crypto and blockchain technologies have gone from speculation and hype to large applications that have begun to deliver.Automated software provides the opportunity for exponential gains by saving users time.Tweetable Quotes:“Each day is the same...This is the year of groundhog days.” – Guy Anderson“Now we’re starting to see real applications of blockchain, and it’s exciting to actually start to see this stuff that had so much promise actually start to deliver.” – Jason Pereira“Once you wrap around what you can do, the number of problems in your life you can start to solve with these platforms is just nuts.” – Jason Pereira“The stuff that used to take a team of 5 can now probably be done by 2 in the same amount of time.” – Jason PereiraResources Mentioned:Facebook – Jason Pereira’s FacebookLinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedInFintechImpact.co – Website for Fintech ImpactJasonPereira.ca – Sign up for Jason Pereira’s newsletterWoodgate.com – Website for Woodgate FinancialFpalpha.com/ – Website for FP AlphaCinchy.com/ – Website for Cinchy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this 153rd episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira, award-winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host interviews Sara Green Broderson from Canaree, an online projection tool that holds the hands of startups by building their financial model and providing financial advice!Episode Highlights:0:36 – Sara Green Broderson introduces Canaree.1:38 – What is Sara’s history before and with Canaree?4:31 – How does the Canaree end-user experience look from start to finish?6:06 – Has Canaree involved API connections to accounting software or data aggregation?6:50 – Jason vents about his frustration with Canada’s lack of an open–banking policy.7:46 – What drives fundraising? Choice or demand?10:02 – What are the plans for further development of Canaree?11:17 – Where does Canaree get its current benchmark data?12:03 – What is the early feedback from Canaree’s clients?14:09 – Jason and Sara discuss what it’s like being a female founder in the Fintech industry.22:01 – How would Sara change the financial industry as a whole?23:10 – What has been the biggest challenge for Canaree during its growth?24:40 – Why does Sara get out of bed every morning?3 Key PointsLess than 10% of Excel’s functionalities are commonly utilized, making it an ineffective tool to make financial projections and giving way to companies like Canaree.One of the biggest pain points for startups is not having their finances planned out, thus driving the need for fundraising and projections.Though there is a lack of gender diversity amongst female founders in the Fintech industry, Sara has found that being one of the few has been a positive experience and the industry is moving in the right direction. Tweetable Quotes:“The time to model out your business is now because you’re probably facing unprecedented financial stress.” – Jason Pereira“Anyone would think that when you start a company the first thing you would do is sit down and make a budget or a plan for your cost, but people don’t.” – Sara Green Broderson“When we started out we thought it would be founders and non–finance people coming on board, but we’re actually seeing quite a lot of finance individuals signing up.” – Sara Green Broderson“Never discount simplicity and the value of it even to the most complex users.” – Jason Pereira“A worthy cause, entrepreneurship is the lifeblood of any economy.” – Jason Pereira Resources Mentioned:Facebook – Jason Pereira’s FacebookLinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedInFintechImpact.co – Website for Fintech ImpactJasonPereira.ca – Sign up for Jason Pereira’s newsletterWoodgate.com – Website for Woodgate FinancialCanaree.co – Canaree’s WebsiteLinkedIn – Sara Green Broderson’s LinkedIn Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this 152nd episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira, award-winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host interviews Richard Owen, VP of Sales for Retail Wealth Management in North America for Ortec, a company that projects out returns for a variety of asset classes through the use of sophisticated econometric models! Episode Highlights: ● 0:39 – Richard Owen introduces Ortec and the services it provides. ● 3:02 – How did Richard come to be involved with Ortec? ● 4:32 – Jason and Richard compare Monte Carlo analysis and Ortec’s analytical strategy. ● 7:28 – Richard and Jason break down the differences between financial projection companies in Canada and Ortec. ● 11:17 – Jason and Richard discuss Ortec’s core capability of providing a realistic view of the future. ● 16:06 – How often do Ortec’s algorithms shift and adjust with the market? ● 18:18 – Richard breaks down just how specific of information their models bring to advisors. ● 20:11 – How do Ortec’s clients feel about its methods and projections? ● 22:02 – What are the real-life deployment cases for Ortec’s software on a retail level? ● 24:53 – What kind of feedback does Ortec get from institutions and advisors? ● 28:30 – Jason and Richard discuss the tendency for businesses and individuals to have the wrong goals. ● 30:06 – What would Richard change in the financial planning industry? ● 31:08 – Richard explains the biggest challenge for Ortec in North America. ● 32:07 – What excites Richard the most about what he is doing? 3 Key Points 1. Ortec creates large economic models, up to 40 years out, for both companies and individuals throughout the European and North American markets. 2. Most large financial institutions make the mistake of solely looking backward to historical data to project for the future, while Ortec uses historical data and current trends to make its projections. 3. Ortec deploys its software in 3 different ways: client-facing API, integration with existing systems, and integration with Salesforce. Tweetable Quotes: ● “Historical data has biases...it doesn’t necessarily give you a good view of what the future looks like.” – Richard Owen● “It’s very very hard to operationalize those capital market models...The assumptions that you’ve built into the plan then need to change because the portfolio has changed.” – Richard Owen ● “Really, a lot of this is about driving what is the next best action for the advisor.” – Jason Pereira ● “You tell us the asset allocation and portfolio value, we’ll project out that future returns. What you do with that really depends on the use case.” – Richard Owen Resources Mentioned: ● Facebook – Jason Pereira’s Facebook ● LinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedIn ● FintechImpact.co – Website for Fintech Impact ● JasonPereira.ca – Sign up for Jason Pereira’s newsletter ● Woodgate.com – Website for Woodgate Financial ● Ortecfinance.com – Website for Ortec Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this 151st episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira, award-winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host interviews Matthew Unger, the CEO of iComply, a company that deploys intelligent compliance management services! Episode Highlights: ● 0:35 – Matthew Unger introduces iComply. ● 1:18 – What was the origin of iComply and why did Matthew create it? ● 5:21 – How is iComply different from its competition? ● 8:49 – Jason translates iComply’s platform into layman’s terms. ● 10:15 – Matthew discusses the growing possibilities of client-side processing. ● 15:10 – How does iComply protect the user experience? ● 17:00 – Matthew breaks down the validation problems of current API–based KYC data services. ● 20:57 – What would Matthew change about his industry as a whole? ● 23:08 – Matthew discusses the biggest challenge in getting iComply to where it is today. ● 25:02 – What excites Matthew the most about what he does? 3 Key Points 1. COVID has forced people and businesses out of brick–and–mortar services and into the future of financial tech. 2. iComply sends verification programming to the devices of the end-users rather than having them come into a store to do facial verification. 3. API–based KYC workflows have taken the human element out of the data input process, allowing users to make it to the end of the process before informing them that there is a problem. Tweetable Quotes: ● “Things like KYC, things like compliance need to have a fresh look at how we handle user data and user privacy, and that’s really what led us down this path.” – Matthew Unger ● “What we actually do is we send the verification program into the browser of the client, so all of their data stays on their device.” – Matthew Unger ● “At the end of the day, you’re still pushing some form of data into the cloud to feedback something to verify.” – Jason Pereira ● “We can perform initial validation on the date the user’s inputting, and when the user inputs data that doesn’t seem to check out, we can immediately ask the user to correct it while they’re sitting at that form field.” – Matthew UngerResources Mentioned: ● Facebook – Jason Pereira’s Facebook ● LinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedIn ● FintechImpact.co – Website for Fintech Impact ● JasonPereira.ca – Sign up for Jason Pereira’s newsletter ● Woodgate.com – Website for Woodgate Financial ● iComplyis.com – Website for iComply Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this 150th episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira, award-winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host interviews Bill Winterberg, Founder of FP Pad, a source of educational content on tech for financial advising and forecasting. Bill is here to have a friendly chat about the current state of affairs as well as the future of tech in the world of financial advising!Episode Highlights:0:38 – Bill Winterberg introduces his website, FP Pad.3:04 – What did Bill do before he founded FP Pad?5:14 – Ted shares his dream before he went to college.9:35 – How painful was the state of affairs of technology when Bill got into financial advising?11:52 – Jason and Bill dive into the effects that AWS played on the cloud technology boom.15:42 – What are Bill’s best practices when he takes on a new client?20:53 – How much of an obstacle does changing the behavior of people in the firm represent?24:30 – Jason and Bill break down how to scale without integrating more than a firm can handle.28:08 – Where does Bill see the biggest changes in the future for the day–to–day life of financial advisors?32:50 – Jason and Bill discuss the tendency of financial advisors to believe bad advice.35:41 – How should advisors be spending their time these days?40:04 – What would Bill change about his industry as a whole?42:05 – What has been the biggest challenge for Bill to get to where he is today?45:10 – Bill talks about what excites him for the future.3 Key PointsFP Pad has evolved from a website and blog to a YouTube channel, podcast, activity highlights, and a plethora of other content and resources to improve Fintech practices.When taking on a new client, Bill hopes that the person or small group of people in charge of transition are focused on adding value to the company while helping everyone grow.Bill hopes that in 5 years, financial advisors will go from storing financial plans in silos to utilizing financial software that allows them to communicate with each other. Tweetable Quotes:“The movers and shakers have origins in Electric Avenue.” – Bill Winterberg“If you’re paying on a monthly basis, now you’re not worried about large–scale deployments, you’re worried about constant improvement. And now we all benefit from multiple upgrades per year.” – Jason Pereira“I am very receptive to legacy solutions and what exists in the business.” – Bill Winterberg“Focus on scaling the business with a couple of tools to leverage before you go building this massive platform.” – Jason Pereira“I think advisors should be spending their time figuring out how they’re going to grow their business or engage clients and engage prospects very effectively.” – Bill Winterberg Resources Mentioned:Facebook – Jason Pereira’s FacebookLinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedInFintechImpact.co – Website for Fintech ImpactJasonPereira.ca – Sign up for Jason Pereira’s newsletterWoodgate.com – Website for Woodgate FinancialXY Planning NetworkGarrett Planning NetworkFPPad.com – Website for FP PAdLinkedIn – Bill Winterberg’s LinkedIn Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this 149th episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira, award-winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host interviews Mahima Poddar, the Senior Vice President of Digital Banking Strategy at Equitable Bank and head of EQ Bank!Episode Highlights:0:40 – Mahima Poddar introduces Equitable Bank and EQ Bank.1:15 – How did Mahima get to her current career?2:10 – What was the genesis of the decision to move to a Challenger bank?5:05 – Jason breaks down the banking system in Canada.6:55 – Mahima discusses the problems with lending/depositing with big banks.10:15 – Jason and Mahima vent about the dark patterns that big banks have with their accounts.15:30 – Challenger banks could have made the COVID-loan processes much simpler.17:02 – How does EQ collaborate with other players in the Challenger space?21:07 – Jason and Mahima dive into the willingness of the Canadian people to make a banking change.24:08 – What are the biggest concerns with open banking in different countries?29:37 – Mahima talks about EQ Bank’s efforts to cause changes within the big banks.33:12 – What are all the ways that EQ Bank provides great value to its customers?33:43 – If Mahima could change one thing in banking, what would it be?35:25 – What has been the biggest challenge in EQ Bank’s growth?38:30 – What motivates Mahima to battle the glaring issues of big banking?3 Key PointsEquitable Bank chose to never be a brick-and-mortar organization and to go the route of a digitized Challenger bank.EQ Bank offers zero monthly fees, free check deposits, bill-pay, interest-earning checking accounts, and more as ways to differentiate itself from the big banks.For the benefit of the Canadian people, EQ Bank aims to go beyond bringing people to its doors and cause real change in the banking system. Tweetable Quotes:“We are trying to develop lending products that are serving needs that are underserved by the big banks.” – Mahima Poddar“They don’t make it easy. They don’t understand it, but Equitable does.” – Mahima Poddar“There’s no business account that doesn’t have a larger-than-life fee attached to it.” – Jason Pereira“Friction is not a way to keep your clients. Friction is a way to piss them off and guarantee that when they see a better way, they’re going to leave.” – Jason Pereira“Canadians are starting to become more value-conscious and realize that there are better options available.” – Mahima PoddarResources Mentioned:Facebook – Jason Pereira’s FacebookLinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedInFintechImpact.co – Website for Fintech ImpactJasonPereira.ca – Sign up for Jason Pereira’s newsletterWoodgate.com – Website for Woodgate FinancialEqbank.ca – Website for EQ BankLinkedIn – Mahima Poddar’s LinkedIn Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.