Wharton Fintech Podcast

Miguel Armaza sits down with Eric Dunn, CEO of Quicken, one of the largest personal finance software companies in the US with over 17 million clients and also one of the original fintech brands, launched over 30 years ago. In this episode, they discuss: - Eric’s career and why he decided to join Intuit in 1986 as employee #4! - Becoming an investor and reflections from the years he spent in Venture Capital + how it made him a better operator - Quicken’s journey and some of their challenges and reflections from 35+ years - Thought process behind Intuit’s decision to spin off Quicken - His management approach and frameworks to make strategic company decisions - Analysis of a fast-growing fintech space - And a lot more! Eric Dunn Eric has served as the CEO of Quicken Inc since 2016. He has been part of the Quicken business since its early days – he joined Intuit, Quicken’s previous owner, as employee #4 in 1986, when Quicken was the only Intuit software product. Over the course of his 20 years at Intuit Eric

Ryan Zauk sits down with world-renowned former GE CEO Jeff Immelt. Fresh off the release of his book, "Hot Seat: What I Learned Leading a Great American Company," Jeff comes on to discuss his career and legacy, as well as numerous topics ranging from China/US Relations to new fintech trends. Jeff joined GE after graduating from Harvard Business School and worked there for the next 35 (with 16 as CEO). Following the iconic tenure of Jack Welch, Jeff had a rocky road as CEO, losing billions in market cap and weathering numerous crises. Jeff has received merciless criticism from academics, execs, pundits, and more over the last decade, and has finally decided to share his side of the story. Ryan & Jeff touch on it in today's episode, but we highly recommend picking up Hot Seat as your summer read: Book Links: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Hot-Seat/Jeff-Immelt/9781982114718 https://www.amazon.com/Hot-Seat-Learned-Leading-American/dp/1982114711 Episode Breakdown: 4:25 His journey to the top of GE 7:50

Miguel Armaza sits down with Scott Sobel, Co-founder & Managing Partner of Valor Capital Group, a cross-border venture fund focused on Brazil and United States opportunities, with offices in New York, Silicon Valley, and São Paulo. In this episode, we discuss: - Scott’s journey and why he and his father, Ambassador Clifford Sobel, decided to launch Valor focusing on the Brazilian market - Investing strategy and case studies from some of their most exciting portfolio companies - The incredible fintech opportunity in Brazil and Latin America - What’s driving their big bets in the crypto space - Lessons learned from over a decade of investing and the importance of staying with your winners - And a lot more! Scott Sobel Scott Sobel, Co-founder & Managing Partner of Valor Capital Group, was part of the founding team of the pioneer Internet Telephony company Net2Phone; Scott helped take the company from a piece of software that was first to bridge the PC and the Public Switch Telephony Network to acquiring mil

Miguel Armaza sits down with Charlie Javice, Founder and CEO of Frank, a company that aims to make the application process for student loans faster and easier. Charlie founded the company in 2016 and has since reached almost 10 million households and raised over $25 million dollars in equity from top industry investors like Apollo, Slow Ventures, Reach Capital, and Tusk Venture Partners. She’s also a proud alum of our very own Wharton School. In this episode, we discuss: - Charlie’s background and how her family history inspired to pursue an entrepreneurial path - Her experience dealing with financial aid at the University of Pennsylvania and how it led Charlie to launch Frank - Their approach to help fix the underserved student loan market - Frank’s journey to reach almost 10 million households - Building company culture and why empathy is the most important trait she looks for in new hires - Valuable advice for entrepreneurs - What she considers her greatest achievement to date - A lot more! Charlie

Ryan Zauk sits down with Kendrick Nguyen, Co-Founder & CEO of Republic. In 2016, Ken co-founded Republic, a platform empowering everyday people, both accredited and not accredited, to invest in the future they believe in. Republic provides access to high-growth startups, real estate, mission-driven enterprises, crypto, video games, and more. Republic has facilitated over $300 million in investments from over one million global community members! Ryan & Kendrick Discuss: - His long journey from immigrant, to lawyer, to startup founder - How Republic works from both the investor and business side - The coming disruption of venture capital - Their onboarding of GumRoad and Backstage Capital - Value aligned investing - And a fun rapid-fire round including a hilarious first job, his thoughts on Naval, the best Vietnamese in the Bay, and more! Link: Republic.Co For more Fintech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/Ry

Miguel Armaza sits down with Kelly Fryer, Executive Director of FinTech Sandbox, a nonprofit that promotes innovation in the financial sector worldwide by providing FinTech entrepreneurs and startups with access to critical data and resources at no cost. The Fintech Sandbox accepts new startup applications on a rolling basis, so if you or someone you know is part of a fintech startup that could benefit from this critical program, make sure to apply! We discuss: - Kelly’s background and why she’s so passionate about new technologies and their applications in the financial industry - The importance of access to data and resources for early-stage startups and how the Fintech Sandbox helps democratize access to information - Their application process, program structure, and the kind of startup they typically look for - Driving Inclusive Fintech and why this is one of Kelly’s most important goals - And just a lot more! Kelly Fryer Kelly Fryer is the Executive Director of FinTech Sandbox, where she leads the

In today's episode, Ally McCloskey sits down with Hussein Ahmed, Founder & CEO, and Ryan Conway, Head of Business Development & Strategic Partnerships, at Oxygen. Oxygen is a modern financial platform designed for the 21st century economy - providing digital natives, creators and entrepreneurs pushing everyday boundaries a banking partner that understands how they live and work. Oxygen offers a seamless user experience for both personal and business accounts and is available on both iOS and Android. Its users enjoy no monthly fees, early direct deposit, simple transfers, and cashback rewards on everyday purchases. Businesses can easily control their finances with integrated solutions that are elegant, simple and secure. Their motto? Reject ordinary. Banking for the Extraordinary. In this lively conversation, Ally, Hussein, and Ryan cover a wide range of topics including: -Redefining the Gig Economy beyond Uber drivers and DoorDash deliverers to include the full on-demand workforce of creators -The material

Miguel Armaza sits down with the amazing Kevin Busque, Founder and CEO of Guideline, a modern 401(k) provider for small businesses. Under Kevin’s leadership, Guideline has grown to be the retirement plan of choice for more than 20,000 small businesses, amassing more than $4 billion in assets under management and raising over $140 million in equity from top industry investors like Generation Investment, Tiger Global, Greyhound, Lerer Hippeau, Amex, Propel, Felicis, NEA, and many more. Kevin founded Guideline after seven years as a Co-Founder at TaskRabbit, another massively successful business that was acquired by IKEA in 2017. We also want to extend a special thank you to professor Adam Grant for his help in making this episode a reality, where we discuss: - Kevin’s background and how his upbringing led him down the entrepreneurial journey - Launching Guideline from a house garage and some of their early-day challenges - Navigating the pandemic and why they had no idea how it would affect their business

Ryan Zauk sits down with fintech investor & frequent Wharton Fintech collaborator, Michael Sidgmore! Michael is a Partner at Broadhaven Ventures, part of Broadhaven Capital Partners, a leading merchant bank focused on financial services. In addition to Broadhaven, Michael runs a media platform called Alt Goes Mainstream, as well as Community x Capital with Reddit Founder Alexis Ohanian. These platforms focus on the emergence of alternative assets, 'culture assets,' investing, and the convergence of community & capital. Michael is ultra-deep in fintech, with years of experience as an investor, operator, advisor, angel, and more in this space. In today’s episode, they discuss: - The evolution of the Alts landscape over the last decade and the major trends that will drive it forward - His investment in and admiration for Republic and its CEO Ken Nguyen - The huge opportunity for wealth managers and alternative assets - The rise of the passion economy with products like sneakers, sports cards, and wine - His c

Miguel Armaza sits down with Anna Irrera, Chief Correspondent at Reuters in London where she covers fintech and tech-related developments at some of the world’s largest financial institutions. In her role she works on stories at the intersection of Wall Street and Silicon Valley, including crypto, blockchain, peer-to-peer lending and online investing. In this episode, we discuss: - Anna’s journey and why she began covering Fintech before it was cool and mainstream - The exponential evolution of fintech over the last 10 years and why it’s increasingly more challenging to cover the space - Her editorial process and the steps she takes when deciding to write a story - The rise of crypto and why the audience loves reading about it - Noticeable differences of shifting bank cultures - Rise of global fintech - And a lot more! Anna Irrera Anna Irrera is a Chief Correspondent at Reuters in London where she covers the financial technology sector and technology related developments at some of the world’s largest f

Miguel Armaza sits down with Ali Tamaseb, Partner at DCVC, a VC fund that backs teams applying deep tech to transform giant industries. Ali is also a published author, having recently authored Super Founders: What Data Reveals About Billion-Dollar Startups, a book that uses a data-driven approach to understand what really differentiates billion-dollar startups from the rest—revealing that nearly everything we thought was true about them is actually false. Ali Tamaseb began this project four years ago, trying to answer a single question: what was different, if anything, between startups that go on to become billion-dollar successes and those that raise VC funding but don’t succeed in that scale? Thousands of hours later, having manually collected 30,000+ data points, he was shocked with the result. The data rejected so many popular narratives that he decided to write a book based on the findings. In the process, Ali interviewed founders of many billion-dollar companies like Zoom, Instacart, GitHub, and Nest

Anirudh Singh sits down with Devie Mohan, CEO and Co-Founder of Burnmark. In this episode they discuss: - Founding Burnmark - The changing relationship between fintechs, incumbents, and regulators - Devie's time teach fintech courses - Devie's first book "The Financial Services Guide to Fintech" and plans for future publications - The future of fintech and why it may disappear And more! Devie Mohan: Devie Mohan is an influential writer, speaker, and commentator on fintech, and is the co-founder and CEO of Burnmark, a fintech research company, that supplies research and data to all players of the fintech ecosystem. Devie has helped several banks, fintech startups, innovation groups, and investors understand the trends in the fintech industry, helping them set their corporate, marketing, and investment strategies. She is also a proponent of a fintech ecosystem where banks and startups collaborate to drive innovation. She is a panel member on the ING Group Think Forward initiative on better financial dec

Ryan Zauk sits down with none other than Harry Hurst, Co-Founder & CEO of Pipe. Harry Hurst is a serial entrepreneur who developed a passion for technology early in life, graduating high school age 12 studying Computer Science. Harry and Pipe Co-Founder Josh Mangel built their first company Skurt, a financial technology company in the mobility space. After four years, Skurt was successfully acquired by Fair in 2018. Pipe was founded in 2019, to unlock the largest untapped asset class in the world — revenue — to empower entrepreneurs and companies to grow their business on their terms without debt or dilution. Harry has raised over $150 million for his companies and is considered an industry expert on financial technology and emerging asset classes. He is also an angel investor and mentor to a number of companies. Pipe is unlocking revenue as an asset class, allowing founders to fund their businesses without the need to raise dilutive equity capital or restrictive debt, by trading their revenue streams on a

Miguel Armaza sits down with Coen Jonker, Executive Chairman and Co-founder of Tyme, a digital banking business operating in Africa and Southeast Asia. Tyme’s flagship project is TymeBank in South Africa, which was launched in February 2019 and has since grown to over three million customers just over two years. An incredible growth! In this episode, we discuss: - Coen’s background and why he’s always been interested in the transformative potential of business for economic inclusion - Idea behind TymeBank and why Coen and his co-founders decided to launch banking solutions for the unbanked in South Africa - Decision behind launching a hybrid banking model, integrating the digital bank into retail environments - Scaling to 3 million clients in 2+ years - Stories from a tough fundraising journey and how their largest shareholder come to be a group of ordinary citizens and community groups in South Africa - International expansion to Southeast Asia - Entrepreneurial lessons for founders in emerging markets - A

Miguel Armaza sits down with the legendary Sallie Krawcheck, Co-founder and CEO of Ellevest, an innovative digital investment platform built by women, for women, providing solutions for all stages of women's financial lives to help them invest more, save more, and earn more. Founded in 2015, Ellevest recently crossed over $1B in Assets Under Management, backed by some of the most impressive names in the industry, including PSP Partners, Khosla Ventures, Mastercard, Paypal, Allianz, Eric Schmidt, Max Levchin, and Mohamed El-Erian. Sallie is one of the highest-ranked women to have ever worked on Wall Street, is an influential writer and thinker, and without a doubt one of the most impressive people to join us on this podcast. We also want to extend a special thank you to professor Adam Grant for his help in making this episode a reality. We discuss: - Sallie’s storied career on wall street and how it felt to be publicly fired not one but two times, and the lessons she learned from these experiences - Inspi

SPACs, SPACs, and more SPACs. It has been a SPAC mania over the last year, catapulting a fringe financial transaction to the front page of the Journal as hundreds of SPACs went public. Ryan Zauk sits down with Lee Einbinder, CEO of FinServ Acquisition Corp 1 and 2, and former Vice Chairman at Barclays. A long-time FIG and Fintech banker at Lehman and Barclays, Lee comes on the show to help demystify SPACs, what they do, and the advantages and concerns of them. They also dig into: - FinServ Acquisition Corp 1’s announced merger with Katapult - What Fintech was like in the late 90s (including a "baby" Elon Musk & Peter Thiel) - His retort to the Upstart CEO's critique of SPACs in our episode with him - The industry trends he’s most excited about in the coming year - And a rapid-fire round with a surprising answer about what students should do after graduating school in 2021. Katapult: https://katapult.com/ D&O Insurance: https://www.thehartford.com/management-liability-insurance/d-o-liability-insurance/expl

Ryan Zauk sits down with Rana Yared, Partner at Balderton Capital, one of Europe’s most storied venture capital firms. Rana is a former partner at Goldman Sachs, and helped lead the firm's principal strategic investments in the US and UK. She represented Goldman Sachs on the Boards of Tradeweb, NAV, Vestwell, New York Shipping Exchange, and Swapclear @ LCH. Rana joined Balderton as a General Partner in 2020, focusing on fintech investments. In today’s episode, they discuss: - Her long journey from Wharton to Goldman to Balderton, and a surprise stop for a masters in securities analysis (nukes and bombs, not stocks and bonds) - The secret sauce of Balderton, the Balderton Collective, and their fantastic track record - The two fintech verticals she’s most excited about - The 3 key things on her investor checklist and what is an immediate dealbreaker - Her investment in Unqork while at Goldman and Flywire while at Balderton - Why she’s so excited about Europe, Balderton’s new liquidity fund, and the massive “

In a long-anticipated episode for her, Ally McCloskey sits down with Titan Co-CEO & Co-Founder and fellow Wharton alum, Clayton Gardner. Clay and team set out to democratize active money management by offering the proverbial 'back of the restaurant' investment menu to the masses. Said differently, Titan is an active investment management platform that unlocks world-class investment products and experiences for everyone. Since its founding in 2018, the company has graduated from Y Combinator and grown from zero to over $500M in assets under management and over 25,000 clients with essentially zero marketing budget, making them one of the fastest growing advisors on record. Titan also just raised its $12.5M Series A led by General Catalyst with participation from Ashton Kutcher’s Sound Ventures, Lee Fixel, Instagram founder Mike Krieger, Eventbrite founder Kevin Hartz, and many others. In this episode, Ally and Clay discuss: -How Clay and his co-founder Joe reunited 6 years after meeting in Wharton undergrad t

In today's special episode, Ryan Zauk sits down with Bill McNabb, former Chairman & CEO of Vanguard, one of the world's largest and most important financial institutions with over 7 Trillion AUM. A Wharton MBA alum, Bill joined Vanguard in 1986 and became CEO in 2008 and Chairman of the Board of Directors / Board of Trustees in 2010. He stepped down as CEO at the end of 2017 and as Chairman at the end of 2018. In "retirement," Bill serves on the boards of IBM, United Healthcare, and Axiom, as well as a new fintech company called Altruist (linked below). He also serves as chairman of EY's Independent Audit Committee. In this powerful conversation, Ryan and Bill cover a wide range of topics including: - His long journey from teaching Latin, to Wharton, to becoming Vanguard's CEO (2:50) - His most critical leadership lessons from Jack Bogle & Jack Brennan, and what crisis leaders can learn from American prisoners of war (13:20) - How Vanguard positioned itself during the great rise of Fintech and wealth mana

This one-of-a-kind episode brings you inside the recent Wharton FinTech Conference for evergreen access to a raw and informative conversation between Asya Bradley, COO & Co-Founder at First Boulevard, and Amy Nauiokas, Founder and CEO of Anthemis Group and Archer Gray. Of the Conference's 30 panels and 6 fireside chats featuring 150+ speakers, this conversation was one of the standouts, so we're thrilled to share it with you here. In this special episode, Asya and Amy discuss: -how being an immigrant from South Asia and, more specifically, what the UN calls a “girl-child” ignited Asya's ambition and entrepreneurial spirit -why even now, Asya still fails KYC in the US -the explosion of niche and community-based neobanks and their tough path to profitability -how George Floyd’s murder inspired Asya and co-founder Donald Hawkins to create a legacy to break the cycle -bank deserts, zip code discrimination, and the ethics of AI -why the term “underserved” is NOT synonymous with impoverished and MUCH more! Asya