Bank On It

About this nugget: This nugget was pulled from episode 219 from an interview with Matt Burton,  One of the partners at QED. This nugget is on how to actually get your foot into a VCs door.   Subscribe to Bank On It podcast on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio and you'll get these nuggets delivered every Wednesday morning. Matt Burton has had successful exits to Google, Facebook and Kabbage.  His last exit was with Orchard to Kabbage and post exit he joined QED as a partner.  As a successful operator turned VC he has a unique perspective on the decision making process in which VCs use to invest.  Most founders spin their wheels pitching investors incorrectly. Matt said the essence of a pitch deck is a poor way to get your foot in the door and there's actually a much better way.  In this clip he shares some potent ways to do so. Coming from a partner at QED, a powerful nugget to soak in and act on.  What is a nugget of the week?:  The host John Siracusa has recorded over 280 episodes as the host of the Bank On It & Before the A fintech podcasts where he interviews founders building the future of fintech and the VCS/Angels who fund them.  With each interview there's this wow moment when the person interviewed has shared something really special, unique or a reminder on how founders or investors should think. So, here we are delivering those moments to you in the form of a bite sized nugget. About Matt Burton: Matt is a partner at QED and has spent his career creating technologies and businesses that have transformed industries. In digital advertising he helped build, scale and optimize the Internet's top advertising exchanges at Google, Admeld and LiveRail, which collectively handled trillions of transactions. As employee number seven at AdMeld (which was acquired by Google for $400M in 2011), Matt played a central role in all aspects of the company, from product development to sales to operations. After Google, Burton joined LiveRail (which was acquired by Facebook for $500M in 2014) where he continued to focus on programmatic exchanges. After transforming online advertising.  In 2013 he founded Orchard Platform where he and his co-founders combined their expertise in auction dynamics and bidding behaviors, extensive knowledge in credit risk and underwriting analytics to reimagine the future of credit. Orchard was sold to Kabbage in April 2018.   About the host:    John, is the host of the 'Bank On It' podcast recorded onsite in Wall Street at OpenFin, and 'Before the A' podcast recorded onsite in Flat Iron at Barclays/Techstars Rise NYC.   He's a highly sought after fintech, VC and financial services industry enthusiast and connector. He's in the center of the fintech ecosystem, keeping current with the ever-innovating industry.  Stay in the fintech know by subscribing to 'Bank On It', 'Before the A' 

Every week the show host John Siracusa talks with impressive fintech leaders and entrepreneurs, through conversation uncovers the remarkable stories behind them, their creations and the most important topics in fintech.   You can subscribe to this podcast and stay up to date on all the stories here on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio.   In this episode the host John Siracusa chats with Monica Brand Engel, co-founder and managing partner of Quona Capital.  Quona Capital is a venture capital firm that invests in growth-stage financial technology companies in global emerging markets.       Tune in and Listen.   Subscribe now on iTunes, Google , Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio to hear Thursday's all new episode with Shannon Austin  from Financial Venture Studio.     About the host:   John, is the host of the 'Bank On It' podcast recorded onsite in Wall Street at OpenFin, and 'Before the A' podcast recorded onsite in Flat Iron at Barclays/Techstars Rise NYC.   He's a highly sought after fintech, VC and financial services industry enthusiast and connector. He's in the center of the fintech ecosystem, keeping current with the ever-innovating industry.  Stay in the fintech know by subscribing to 'Bank On It', 'Before the A'  Follow John on LinkedIn, Twitter, Medium

Every week the show host John Siracusa talks with impressive fintech leaders and entrepreneurs, through conversation uncovers the remarkable stories behind them, their creations and the most important topics in fintech.   You can subscribe to this podcast and stay up to date on all the stories here on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio.   In this episode the host John Siracusa chats with Jimmy Chen, founder and CEO of Propel.  Propel builds software dedicated to helping low-income Americans improve their financial health.  Its core product, Fresh EBT, is a smartphone app that allows EBT cardholders to manage their benefits, plan their grocery shopping, and save money on food.   Fresh EBT is used by over two million families across the country, which helps people who receive SNAP benefits to improve their financial health.   Their investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Nyca Partners, Kleiner Perkins, Serena Williams, and Kevin Durant.      Tune in and Listen.   Subscribe now on iTunes, Google , Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio to hear next Tuesday's all new episode with Monica Brand Engel  from Quona Capital.   About the host:   John, is the host of the 'Bank On It' podcast recorded onsite in Wall Street at Carpenter Group, and 'Before the A' podcast recorded onsite in Flat Iron at Barclays/Techstars Rise NYC.   He's a highly sought after fintech, VC and financial services industry enthusiast and connector. He's in the center of the fintech ecosystem, keeping current with the ever-innovating industry.  Stay in the fintech know by subscribing to 'Bank On It', 'Before the A'  Follow John on LinkedIn, Twitter, Medium

About this nugget: This nugget was pulled from episode 223 from an interview with Brian Hirsch,  Founder & Managing Partner of Tribeca Venture Partners. This nugget is on how Tribeca Venture Partners invest with their thesis and their hearts. Subscribe to Bank On It on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio and you'll get these nuggets delivered every Wednesday morning.   This nugget is on how Tribeca Venture Partners has A guiding investment principle in the form of a clear, concise investment thesis.  Yet, invest in founders they love. It was a great back and forth conversation that artfully mixed business metrics with a gut feeling and intuition.  This is an audio representation on how most investment decisions are made.   What is a nugget of the week?:    The host John Siracusa has recorded over 280 episodes as the host of the Bank On It & Before the A fintech podcasts where he interviews founders building the future of fintech and the VCS/Angels who fund them.    With each interview there's this wow moment when the person interviewed has shared something really special, unique or a reminder on how founders or investors should think. So, here we are delivering those moments to you in the form of a bite sized nugget.   About Brian Hirsch:   Brian is a co-founder and Managing Partner of Tribeca Venture Partners. Prior to starting Tribeca Venture Partners in 2011, Brian was the founder and Managing Director of the venture arm of Greenhill & Co (NYSE: GHL), a Principal at Sterling Partners and a Vice President at ABN AMRO's U.S. venture fund. In total, Brian has spent more than 20 years in the venture business. He has invested across a broad number of sectors during his career including fintech, enterprise and SMB SaaS, marketplaces, healthcare, martech and real estate tech. Brian currently is responsible for the following TVP investments: ACV Auctions, AiCure, AlphaSense, CommonBond, Cuebiq, Domio, Honeybook, Lendio, Mighty, Ozobot, ShopKeep, Suzy, Thinkful, Truveris, Visibly and Zibby.  Brian serves on the Board of Directors of the New York Venture Capital Association (NYVCA).   About the host:    John, is the host of the 'Bank On It' podcast recorded onsite in Wall Street at Carpenter Group, and 'Before the A' podcast recorded onsite in Flat Iron at Barclays/Techstars Rise NYC.   He's a highly sought after fintech, VC and financial services industry enthusiast and connector. He's in the center of the fintech ecosystem, keeping current with the ever-innovating industry.  Stay in the fintech know by subscribing to 'Bank On It', 'Before the A'    Follow John on LinkedIn, Twitter, Medium

Every week the show host John Siracusa talks with impressive fintech leaders and entrepreneurs, through conversation uncovers the remarkable stories behind them, their creations and the most important topics in fintech.   You can subscribe to this podcast and stay up to date on all the stories here on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio.   In this episode the host John Siracusa chats with David Buxton, founder and CEO of Arachnys.  Arachnys provides cloud-based solutions for assessing financial crime customer risk and CDD, KYC, and EDD compliance.  The idea for Arachnys came about when in 2008 Russian customers of large companies stopped paying and David witnessed it.  Those large companies assumed the non-payment was a credit control problem, but actually they were selling to shell companies located in Russia.  The problem was that some of those shell companies were legitimate while others weren't. With that, it was extremely difficult to sort it out. Arachnys is backed by VCs such as QED.     Tune in and Listen.   Subscribe now on iTunes, Google , Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio to hear Thursday's all new episode with Jimmy Chen  from Propel.   About the host:   John, is the host of the 'Bank On It' podcast recorded onsite in Wall Street at Carpenter Group, and 'Before the A' podcast recorded onsite in Flat Iron at Barclays/Techstars Rise NYC.   He's a highly sought after fintech, VC and financial services industry enthusiast and connector. He's in the center of the fintech ecosystem, keeping current with the ever-innovating industry.  Stay in the fintech know by subscribing to 'Bank On It', 'Before the A'  Follow John on LinkedIn, Twitter, Medium

Every week the show host John Siracusa talks with impressive fintech leaders and entrepreneurs, through conversation uncovers the remarkable stories behind them, their creations and the most important topics in fintech.   You can subscribe to this podcast and stay up to date on all the stories here on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio.   In this episode the host John Siracusa chats with PV Bóccasam, CEO of WealthEngine and General Partner at Novak Biddle Venture Partners.   WealthEngine provides wealth intelligence and prospect research for nonprofit organizations and financial services companies.  PV is a seasoned entrepreneur and investor. Novak Biddle is an investor in WealthEngine and PV took on the role of CEO to help take the company to the next level of potential.   Tune in and Listen.   Subscribe now on iTunes, Google , Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio to hear next Tuesday's all new episode with David Buxton from Arachnys.   About the host:   John, is the host of the 'Bank On It' podcast recorded onsite in Wall Street at Carpenter Group, and 'Before the A' podcast recorded onsite in Flat Iron at Barclays/Techstars Rise NYC.   He's a highly sought after fintech, VC and financial services industry enthusiast and connector. He's in the center of the fintech ecosystem, keeping current with the ever-innovating industry.  Stay in the fintech know by subscribing to 'Bank On It', 'Before the A'  Follow John on LinkedIn, Twitter, Medium

About this nugget: This nugget was pulled from episode 250 from an interview with Perry Rahbar,  founder & CEO of dv01. This nugget is on how Perry went from a disastrous pitch to $28 million in funding.  Subscribe to Bank On It on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio and you'll get these nuggets delivered every Wednesday morning. Most of us have experienced the fear that something bad is about to happen soon. Sometimes we're right and it does,  but most of the time nothing happens, making all that worry, a total waste of time and energy. To most fears, the financial meltdown during 2008 actually happened.  The day Bear Stearns closed its doors, Perry was there. He was getting his career started and then it happened. During the full interview he shared in detail how it all ended, in one day Bear Stearns went from a bustling business to a ghost town.  Post the news, he stayed around to assess the exposure. Then, as it relates to the existence of Bear, it was all over.    While he was assessing total exposure post-Bear he found something odd.   Here are his words:   -"So I stayed around and helped my boss at the time try to figure that number out (total exposure), keep in mind like Bear was pro, it was known to be really good with their risk, which is crazy when you think back to it. We had a really difficult time just figuring out what was the total exposure, every system was spitting out different numbers. We had to put everything in a spreadsheet and to me it was just mind boggling that, you know, you're talking about what was eventually over $50 billion in exposure."   ----------------Perry Rahbar during his Bank On It podcast interview   This was the beginning of what dv01 would become, his worst possible scenario became became the beginning of his biggest opportunity.  We live in an exciting time in fintech due in part by the financial meltdown in 2008. That meltdown impacted so many, which became the spark of people in finance to build and fund fintech as we know it today.   Perry found this massive problem which he needed funding to build.  So he pitched the idea to a handful of top VCs and he blew it. In this clip you'll hear how he went from a disastrous pitch to $28 million in total funding.       What is a nugget of the week?:  The host John Siracusa has recorded over 280 episodes as the host of the Bank On It & Before the A fintech podcasts where he interviews founders building the future of fintech and the VCS/Angels who fund them.  With each interview there's this wow moment when the person interviewed has shared something really special, unique or a reminder on how founders or investors should think. So, here we are delivering those moments to you in the form of a bite sized nugget. About Perry Rahbar: Perry is founder and CEO of dv01, the reporting and analytics platform that provides institutional investors transparency into lending markets, starting with marketplace lending. He founded dv01 to solve the challenges he encountered during his decade-long career trading mortgage bonds at Bear Stearns (Managing Director, MBS trading) and J.P. Morgan (Executive Director, Co-Head of CMBS trading).   To date, dv01 has offered investors insight into over $35 billion of securitizations and more than $105 billion of consumer, small business, real estate, auto, and student loans from the largest online lenders, including LendingClub, Prosper, and SoFi.   About the host:  John, is the host of the 'Bank On It' podcast recorded onsite in Wall Street at Carpenter Group, and 'Before the A' podcast recorded onsite in Flat Iron at Barclays/Techstars Rise NYC.   He's a highly sought after fintech, VC and financial services industry enthusiast and connector. He's in the center of the fintech ecosystem, keeping current with the ever-innovating industry.  Stay in the fintech know by subscribing to 'Bank On It', 'Before the A'  Follow John on LinkedIn, Twitter, Medium

Every week the show host John Siracusa talks with impressive fintech leaders and entrepreneurs, through conversation uncovers the remarkable stories behind them, their creations and the most important topics in fintech.   You can subscribe to this podcast and stay up to date on all the stories here on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio.   In this episode the host John Siracusa chats with Anders Jones, Co-founder and CEO of Facet Wealth.   Facet Wealth is a unique approach to wealth management, headquartered in Baltimore, they seek to revolutionize the next generation of financial life management.   Tune in and Listen.   Subscribe now on iTunes, Google , Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio to hear Thursday's all new episode with PV Bóccasam from WealthEngine.   About the host:   John, is the host of the 'Bank On It' podcast recorded onsite in Wall Street at Carpenter Group, and 'Before the A' podcast recorded onsite in Flat Iron at Barclays/Techstars Rise NYC.   He's a highly sought after fintech, VC and financial services industry enthusiast and connector. He's in the center of the fintech ecosystem, keeping current with the ever-innovating industry.  Stay in the fintech know by subscribing to 'Bank On It', 'Before the A'  Follow John on LinkedIn, Twitter, Medium

Every week the show host John Siracusa talks with impressive fintech leaders and entrepreneurs, through conversation uncovers the remarkable stories behind them, their creations and the most important topics in fintech.   You can subscribe to this podcast and stay up to date on all the stories here on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio.   In this episode the host John Siracusa chats with Mazy Dar, Co-founder and CEO of OpenFin.  OpenFin is quickly becoming a platform which is the operating system of Wall Street.     This is the second time Mazy has been a guest on the show and a lot has changed since the last interview. They recently raised their C round to bring even more seamless integration for financial desktop operating systems to have a mobile-like experience.        Tune in and Listen.   Subscribe now on iTunes, Google , Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio to hear next Tuesday's all new episode with Anders Jones from Facet Wealth.   About the host:   John, is the host of the 'Bank On It' podcast recorded onsite in Wall Street at Carpenter Group, and 'Before the A' podcast recorded onsite in Flat Iron at Barclays/Techstars Rise NYC.   He's a highly sought after fintech, VC and financial services industry enthusiast and connector. He's in the center of the fintech ecosystem, keeping current with the ever-innovating industry.  Stay in the fintech know by subscribing to 'Bank On It', 'Before the A'  Follow John on LinkedIn, Twitter, Medium

About this nugget:  This nugget was pulled from episode 213 from an interview with John Buttrick,  One of the partners at Union Square Ventures. This nugget is on Investment clarity through a clear thesis. Subscribe to Bank On It on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio and you'll get these nuggets delivered every Wednesday morning. This nugget is on how Union Square Ventures determines investments through a crystal clear investment thesis.   Most founders and venture capitalists are familiar with USV, for multiple reasons such as Fred Wilson and the A VC blog, it's all in part to a combination of having a crystal clear investment thesis which has evolved as the world around us does.  This evolving thesis lead to investments in companies such as Etsy, Twitter, KickStarter, FourSquare, Meetup, Soundcloud, Lending Club and many more.  Many of these high profile investments showcased USV as one of the most recognizable names in Venture Capital. A strong, focused and followed thesis is a self imposed constraint, and constraints force creativity and focus.  The partners creativity and focus built USV to what we know it as today.      What is a nugget of the week?:  The host John Siracusa has recorded over 270 episodes as the host of the Bank On It & Before the A fintech podcasts where he interviews founders building the future of fintech and the VCS/Angels who fund them.  With each interview there's this wow moment when the person interviewed has shared something really special, unique or a reminder on how founders or investors should think. So, here we are delivering those moments to you in the form of a bite sized nugget. About John Buttrick: John Buttrick is a partner at Union Square Ventures, joining the firm in 2010. He began his career as a corporate lawyer at Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York and Paris and was a partner in the firm's mergers and acquisitions group from 1994-2000. Between 2000 and 2010 John was involved in a number of private equity and venture projects. He has been a member of the Board of Environmental Advocates of New York since 2004 and currently serves as Board Chair. John majored in American Studies at Northwestern University and has a JD degree from Villanova University School of Law. John is a native New Yorker.   About the host:  John, is the host of the 'Bank On It' podcast recorded onsite in Wall Street at Carpenter Group, and 'Before the A' podcast recorded onsite in Flat Iron at Barclays/Techstars Rise NYC.   He's a highly sought after fintech, VC and financial services industry enthusiast and connector. He's in the center of the fintech ecosystem, keeping current with the ever-innovating industry.  Stay in the fintech know by subscribing to 'Bank On It', 'Before the A'  Follow John on LinkedIn, Twitter, Medium