Founders by LightShed Ventures

Affiniti


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Aaron Bai is the CEO & co-founder of Affiniti, one of

the fastest growing SMB fintech platforms ever. Affiniti has raised over $62M in capital and serves small businesses that generate $4B+ of combined revenues.

 With SMBs contributing 90% of the U.S. GDP, they are the

backbone of the economy. However, Silicon Valley's financial technology companies have largely overlooked them.

Affiniti is changing that by partnering with the largest

industry trade associations to deliver co-branded and customized financial technology solutions tailored for SMBs. Their platform includes credit cards, loans, expense management technology, and more.

Affiniti's vision is to be the technology driven JP Morgan

Chase for small businesses — building innovative tools to empower the businesses that keep America running.



[0:25] What problem does Affiniti solve?

[3:04] What was the original business idea?

[6:46] Why did you pivot to Affiniti?

[9:12] How did you begin building trust with trade

associations?

[11:05] How do you think about product distribution?

[11:44] Which trade associations are you currently working

with?

[13:07] What products does Affiniti offer SMBs compared to

competitors?

[15:42] Why has Affiniti been more successful in the SMB

category than Brex and Ramp?

[19:40] What are the credit scores of Affiniti customers?

How does that differ from the rest of the industry?

[22:49] What percentage of customers interested in Affiniti

products are you turning away? Will that change over time?

[24:47] How do you get SMBs comfortable with expense

automation, and what other offerings do you provide them?

[26:10] How quickly is the business ramping?

[28:31] What types of trade associations are you looking to

expand into and what makes them a good fit for Affiniti?

[33:38] What does your product roadmap look like over the

next few years?

[36:50] How do you balance growth with launching new

products?

[38:43] Provide one or two case studies of how you acquire

customers.

[42:31] How did you come up with the name Affiniti?

[43:49] How big is your TAM? What are your long-term

ambitions for Affiniti?

[45:11] Which entrepreneur do you admire the most?

...more
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Founders by LightShed VenturesBy LightShed Ventures