Fintech Leaders

Send us a textIn this Fintech Leaders episode, we bring you a special set of interviews from Money20/20 Las Vegas, one of the largest Fintech Conferences in the world.First, Miguel sits down with Tracey Davies, Money20/20 CEO, and Scarlett Sieber, Money20/20 Chief Strategy & Growth Officer.  We discuss: - Their excitement to bring the event back in person - Some of the key fintech trends from this year, including Crypto,  DeFi, Financial Infrastructure.Next, you will hear a conversation with Immad Akhund, CEO/Founder of Mercury, a US-based challenger bank built for startups and e-commerce companies.Founded less than four years ago, Mercury Bank recently became a unicorn valued at $1.6 billion and has raised $180 million from a long list of investors including Coatue, a16z, and Clocktower.Immad and Miguel explored:- The story and incredible growth of Mercury- Immad’s vision on the future of business banking- Valuable Entrepreneurial advice: 1. Make something people really want2. Have a retentive product3. Focus on good unit economics4. Build a great distribution strategy5. And, most importantly, have a good story that you're genuinely passionate about!Finally, Immad reminded Miguel why his favorite type of people are entrepreneurs. They spent a long time looking for a quiet space to record our episode, and when the only available area was an empty corner with no chairs or tables, Immad didn’t hesitate for a second to just record the episode while sitting on the floor. It was yet another reminder that you don’t need a fancy recording studio or office to get shit done!Want more podcast episodes? Join me and follow Fintech Leaders today on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app for weekly conversations with today’s global leaders that will dominate the 21st century in fintech, business, and beyond. Miguel Armaza is Co-Founder & Managing General Partner of Gilgamesh Ventures, a seed-stage investment fund focused on fintech in the Americas. He also hosts and writes the Fintech Leaders podcast and newsletter.Miguel on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3nKha4ZMiguel on Twitter: https://bit.ly/2Jb5oBcFintech Leaders Newsletter: bit.ly/3jWIpqp

Send us a textMiguel Armaza sits down with Brynne McNulty Rojas, Co-Founder and CEO of Habi, a PropTech company that is streamlining the traditionally opaque home buying process in Latin America revolutionizing the real estate market in the region.Founded in 2019, Habi has raised over $100 million from investors, including SoftBank, Inspired Capital, Tiger Global, Homebrew, Clocktower, 8VC, and many more.Brynne and Miguel explore:- Building Habi and a deep dive of the exciting PropTech revolution taking place in Latin America.- Their recruiting approach to attract those crucial first employees, developing Habi’s culture, and a rundown of the company’s four key values and why they were written in English, rather than Spanish.- Habi’s secret data analytics machine and how they’ve been able to scale to over 30k real estate pricings per month.- Fundraising lessons for entrepreneurs… and a lot more!Want more podcast episodes? Join me and follow Fintech Leaders today on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app for weekly conversations with today’s global leaders that will dominate the 21st century in fintech, business, and beyond.Miguel Armaza is Co-Founder & Managing General Partner of Gilgamesh Ventures, a seed-stage investment fund focused on fintech in the Americas. He also hosts and writes the Fintech Leaders podcast and newsletter.Miguel on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3nKha4ZMiguel on Twitter: https://bit.ly/2Jb5oBcFintech Leaders Newsletter: bit.ly/3jWIpqp

Send us a textMiguel Armaza sits down with Austin Woodward, CEO & Co-Founder of TaxBit, the leading US tax software provider for crypto and digital assets.Founded in 2017, TaxBit has now issued tens of millions of tax forms and recently became a unicorn with over $230 million in equity from top investors like IVP, Insight Partners, Tiger Global, Paradigm, and Anthony Pompliano.In this conversation, Austin and Miguel discuss:How his passion for crypto and digital assets led him to launch a billion-dollar businessChallenges and opportunities of working with family and why it made perfect sense to co-found TaxBit with his brother, JustinWorking with US regulators and Austin’s optimistic vision for the US to become a global hub for cryptoLessons and reflections from raising over $200M in less than a year… And a lot more! Miguel Armaza is Co-Founder & Managing General Partner of Gilgamesh Ventures, a seed-stage investment fund focused on fintech in the Americas. He also hosts and writes the Fintech Leaders podcast and newsletter.Miguel on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3nKha4ZMiguel on Twitter: https://bit.ly/2Jb5oBcFintech Leaders Newsletter: bit.ly/3jWIpqp

Send us a textMiguel Armaza sits down with Oliver Hughes, CEO of Russia’s Tinkoff Bank (LSE: TCS), one of the best fintech companies around the world. Tinkoff went public in the London Stock Exchange in 2013 and has since grown to a $22B market cap with close to 20 million clients. It has also inspired a generation of fintech founders, including David Velez from Nubank.In this episode, we explore:Story behind Tinkoff, challenges that led them to pivot, and how they’ve managed to thrive despite three financial crises since inceptionTinkoff’s internal innovation machine and a deep dive of Oliver’s thought process to making big decisions and rolling out new productsExciting recent developments and what drove them to expand internationally to Southeast AsiaOliver’s take on the future of fintech... And a lot more!Want more podcast episodes? Join me and follow 21 Leaders today on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app for weekly conversations with today’s global leaders that will dominate the 21st century in fintech, business, and beyond.Miguel Armaza is Host of the 21 Leaders Podcast, Author of the Fintech Leaders Newsletter, and Co-Founder of Gilgamesh Ventures, a seed-stage investment fund focused on fintech in the Americas.Miguel on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3nKha4ZMiguel on Twitter: https://bit.ly/2Jb5oBcFintech Leaders Newsletter: bit.ly/3jWIpqp

Send us a textToday’s episode comes from FINNOSUMMIT Connect, a conference organized by Finnovista on the future of Fintech in Latin America.In this special edition, we bring you a recording from Miguel Armaza's conversation with Angela Strange, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz and Dileep Thazhmon, Co-Founder & CEO at Jeeves, where they discuss: Angela’s take on the fantastic evolution of fintech in Latin America and why these are still the early daysJeeves history and why although they are building a global company, they actually decided to launch their first product in MexicoChallenges and opportunities for the ecosystem in the region… and a whole lot more!  Want more podcast episodes? Join Miguel and follow 21 Leaders today on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app for weekly conversations with today’s global leaders that will dominate the 21st century in fintech, business, and beyond.Miguel Armaza is Host of the 21 Leaders Podcast, Author of the Fintech Leaders Newsletter, and Co-Founder of Gilgamesh Ventures, a seed-stage investment fund focused on fintech in the Americas.Miguel on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3nKha4ZMiguel on Twitter: https://bit.ly/2Jb5oBcFintech Leaders Newsletter: bit.ly/3jWIpqp

Send us a textMiguel Armaza sits down with Laura Spiekerman, COO & Co-Founder of Alloy, an identity decisioning platform that has built the command center for identity that covers the compliance and fraud fighting needs for banks and fintechs.Founded in 2015, Alloy now serves over 200 clients, has raised over $150M in equity, and recently became a unicorn valued at $1.35B. Top investors include Lightspeed, Bessemer, Felicis, Flourish, Clocktower, Eniac, Primary.In this episode, we discuss: Challenges and opportunities of working with sensitive client data and why their approach has become Alloy’s competitive advantageWhy her role as a Co-Founder and company leader changes every 3-6 months and how Laura manages to adapt to this reality.Collecting customer feedback and how Alloy stays close to the clientReflections from tough company moments and dealing with rejection back at the beginning of Alloy and how she managed to keep going and maintain a relentless optimism along the wayLessons and reflections for aspiring entrepreneurs… A lot more!About AlloyAlloy is the command center for identity that covers your compliance and fraud-fighting needs. Our dynamic platform connects you to more than 120 data source products to help you verify identities and monitor transactions - giving you a holistic view of each customer from the day they onboard and throughout their time with your organization. From automatic decisions and fewer manual reviews to smooth onboarding, Alloy is how smart banks and fintech companies take a closer look at the whole picture. Learn more at Alloy.com and on Twitter @UseAlloy. Want more podcast episodes? Join Miguel and follow 21 Leaders today on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app for weekly conversations with today’s global leaders that will dominate the 21st century in fintech, business, and beyond.Miguel Armaza is Host of the 21 Leaders Podcast, Author of the Fintech Leaders Newsletter, and Co-Founder of Gilgamesh Ventures, a seed-stage investment fund focused on fintech in the Americas.Miguel on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3nKha4ZMiguel on Twitter: https://bit.ly/2Jb5oBcFintech Leaders Newsletter: bit.ly/3jWIpqp

Send us a textIn this very first episode of the 21 Leaders podcast, Miguel Armaza sits down with Assaf Wand, Co-Founder and CEO of Hippo Insurance (NYSE: HIPO), a revolutionary home insurance company focused on making homes safer and better protected, harnessing the power of data and technology. Founded in 2015, Hippo recently went public on the New York Stock Exchange and has a current market cap ~$3B.In this great conversation, Assaf and Miguel discuss:Why he’s “the worst employee ever” and entrepreneurship was the only career path that made sense for himDisrupting the home insurance industry, a sector with a net promoter score of -49, and why over the last century incumbents forgot who is their actual customerThe importance of listening to your client, collecting feedback, and always doing the right thing by the customersLessons from his evolving leadership approach and the hardest decisions Assaf has ever made at HippoKey questions they ask themselves before making any important decision at HippoTaking the company public via SPAC and some hard lessons he’s learned as a public company CEOReasons behind Tel-Aviv’s success as a hub for entrepreneurship and innovation… A lot more!Want more podcast episodes? Join Miguel and follow 21 Leaders today on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app for weekly conversations with today’s global leaders that will dominate the 21st century in fintech, business, and beyond.Miguel Armaza is Host of the 21 Leaders Podcast, Author of the Fintech Leaders Newsletter, and Co-Founder of Gilgamesh Ventures, a seed-stage investment fund focused on fintech in the Americas.Miguel on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3nKha4ZMiguel on Twitter: https://bit.ly/2Jb5oBcFintech Leaders Newsletter: bit.ly/3jWIpqp