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We bring you a compilation of some of the best and most popular episodes of 2024. The guests of this episode have either founded or held key leadership roles in companies with a $200 Billion combined market cap, including Capital One, Kaspi, Mercado Libre, and Xero.

It was an amazing year for Fintech Leaders with 42 new guests from 13 countries. Our interviews were viewed almost 3 million times across all platforms and we reached people in 184 countries. Thank you for tuning for what was an amazing year and I’m excited to bring you a 2025 full of rockstar business leaders.

In this episode, you'll hear from:

1. Mikhail Lomtadze, CEO of Kaspi.kz (Nasdaq:KSPI)
2. Diya Jolly, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Xero
3. Pedro Arnt, CEO of dLocal (NASDAQ:DLO)
4. Eric Poirier, CEO of Addepar
5. Nigel Morris, Co-Founder of QED & Capital One
6. Rujul Zaparde, CEO & Co-Founder of Zip
7. Jack Zhang, CEO & Co-Founder of Airwallex

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.

Do you prefer a written summary? Check out the Fintech Leaders newsletter and join ~70,000+ readers and listeners worldwide!

Miguel Armaza is Co-Founder and 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/3nKha4Z

Miguel on Twitter: https://bit.ly/2Jb5oBc

Fintech Leaders Newsletter: bit.ly/3jWIp

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[Original air date, March 21, 2023]  For this Christmas Eve episode, I revisit my 2023 interview with Adam Nash, Co-Founder and CEO of Daffy, a special fintech platform that encourages charitable giving.

Giving to charity is a powerful way to create change; even a small contribution to the right cause can transform lives and it’s a chance to make a real difference. As the year comes to an end and you get a chance to reflect back, I encourage you to learn more about Daffy. Adam was nice enough to provide a $25 bonus for Fintech Leaders subscribers → sign-up today to get an extra $25 for charity when you join Daffy. Claim your $25 here!

Adam is also a fintech veteran and prolific angel investor, who has been on the boards of Shift and Acorns, and was previously CEO of Wealthfront. He previously held leadership roles at Dropbox, LinkedIn, eBay, and Apple.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Adam’s journey at Silicon Valley and what it was like to work with Steve Jobs at Next & Apple
• Building the first fully functioning donor-advised fund in the app store and how Daffy is helping people give more to charity
• Lessons from the role of the CEO and why it’s the only role that truly understands how a company’s pieces are going to fit together
• Why Adam remains excited and bullish on consumer-focused fintech businesses, the importance of building a great team… 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.

Do you prefer a written summary? Check out the Fintech Leaders newsletter and join ~70,000+ readers and listeners worldwide!

Miguel Armaza is Co-Founder and 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/3nKha4Z

Miguel on Twitter: https://bit.ly/2Jb5oBc

Fintech Leaders Newsletter: bit.ly/3jWIp

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Miguel Armaza interviews Daragh Murphy, CEO & Co-Founder of Imprint, a fast-growing and leading fintech in the co-branded credit card space that has raised $200 million from Thrive Capital, Ribbit, Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Stripe, and a many more great investors.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Challenges and lessons building Imprint, including pivoting and finding product-market fit
• Why a great Return on Equity (ROE) is what really matters when building a company
• Using heuristics to find values-aligned talent at Imprint
• A cautionary tale on the fragility of life and a reminder to live fully… 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.

Do you prefer a written summary? Check out the Fintech Leaders newsletter and join ~70,000+ readers and listeners worldwide!

Miguel Armaza is Co-Founder and 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/3nKha4Z

Miguel on Twitter: https://bit.ly/2Jb5oBc

Fintech Leaders Newsletter: bit.ly/3jWIp

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Miguel Armaza interviews Kamran Zaki, Partner at ICONIQ Growth and former COO of Adyen. ICONIQ growth is a multi-billion fund that has backed dozens of amazing companies, 27 of which have IPOd and together comprise a market cap of over $1.5T. Some of their fintech investments include Adyen, Chime, Ramp, Robinhood, Monzo and Bill.com.

In this episode, we discuss:

• What it means to be a value-add investor and VC
• Lessons from Adyen - the keys and challenges of building a truly global company
• Taking Adyen public and lessons for company leaders looking to IPO in the coming years
• Kamran’s take on stablecoins
• Traits and patterns of great leaders… 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.

Do you prefer a written summary? Check out the Fintech Leaders newsletter and join ~70,000+ readers and listeners worldwide!

Miguel Armaza is Co-Founder and 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/3nKha4Z

Miguel on Twitter: https://bit.ly/2Jb5oBc

Fintech Leaders Newsletter: bit.ly/3jWIp

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[Original air date, October 10, 2023]  Miguel Armaza sits down with Josh Reeves, CEO & Co-Founder of Gusto, one of the largest HR & Payroll companies in the US, focused on serving small and medium-sized businesses. In addition to HR, payroll, and benefits, Gusto is a strong player of embedded fintech solutions and in 2023 announced a very large partnership with JPM Chase.

Founded in 2011, Gusto now serves over 300,000 businesses in the US and in 2022 Gusto had revenues of more than $500 million dollars. They are backed by General Catalyst, YC, Kleiner Perkins, Obvious Ventures, Felicis, Ribbit, CapitalG, Altimeter, and a very long list of fintech investors.

We discuss:

• Finding Product-market fit in the highly complex SMB sector 
• Becoming a strategic partner and building the people platform for small businesses
• Lessons from building and launching Gusto’s embedded fintech strategy
• How Gusto built a structured and scalable hiring process
• Insights and learnings from the evolving role of CEO… 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.

Do you prefer a written summary? Check out the Fintech Leaders newsletter and join ~70,000+ readers and listeners worldwide!

Miguel Armaza is Co-Founder and 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/3nKha4Z

Miguel on Twitter: https://bit.ly/2Jb5oBc

Fintech Leaders Newsletter: bit.ly/3jWIp

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Miguel Armaza interviews Alan Patricof, Co-Founder of Primetime Partners, Greycroft, and Apax Partners. It’s hard to explain just how important Alan has been for tech and VC. He’s one of the true pioneers in venture capital worldwide, having started his first VC firm in the 1970s, Alan Patricof and Associates, which later became Apax Partners and currently has over ~$80Bn AUM.

We sat down live on stage at Barclays Rise in NYC for the Gilgamesh Ventures Summit, an annual meeting where we gather over 150 Limited Partners, Founders, Co-Investors, and friends for a series of events and discussions about the future of financial services.

Alan is an inspiring figure, not only because of his success in the business world but also because of his vitality and contagious optimism.

We recorded the episode a day after his 90th birthday and candidly, he had more energy than most people I know. 

We discussed:

• The early days of Venture Capital and Tech in the 1970s and beyond
• Alan grew up in NYC and built his career in NY – how was the city back then?
• Building primetime partners to invest in the fastest growing market, people over-60
• Staying healthy. How Alan keeps fit, focused and is closing deals at 90 Years Old
• Why your reputation is all that matters in this business… 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.

Do you prefer a written summary? Check out the Fintech Leaders newsletter and join ~70,000+ readers and listeners worldwide!

Miguel Armaza is Co-Founder and 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/3nKha4Z

Miguel on Twitter: https://bit.ly/2Jb5oBc

Fintech Leaders Newsletter: bit.ly/3jWIp

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Miguel Armaza travels to Alexandria, Virginia for an in-person interview with a fintech legend: Nigel Morris, Co-Founder of QED and Capital One. 

QED is a global fintech venture capital firm that has backed numerous amazing companies, including Credit Karma, Nubank, Avant, SoFi, and Klarna. They currently have over $4.0 billion in AUM.

Prior to QED, Nigel co-founded Capital One in 1994. The bank today is amongst the 10 largest banks in the US with almost $500 billion in assets. They are also one of the most innovative financial institutions that have inspired countless of entrepreneurs worldwide.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Building Capital One and the principles and innovations that shaped the success of the bank
• Nigel started investing in venture capital 17 years ago – what has he learned about backing great founders?
• Why Nigel is still very bullish about the future of fintech
• What makes an effective board meeting, a day in the life of Nigel… 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.

Do you prefer a written summary? Check out the Fintech Leaders newsletter and join ~70,000+ readers and listeners worldwide!

Miguel Armaza is Co-Founder and 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/3nKha4Z

Miguel on Twitter: https://bit.ly/2Jb5oBc

Fintech Leaders Newsletter: bit.ly/3jWIp

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Miguel Armaza interviews Howard Morgan, Chair at B Capital, and also co-founder of Renaissance Technologies and First Round Capital.

Howard and Miguel sat down live on stage at Barclays Rise in NYC for the Gilgamesh Ventures Summit, an annual meeting with over 150 Limited Partners, Founders, and Investors for a series of events and discussions about the future of tech and financial services.

In this inspiring conversation, Howard discussed:

• How B Capital is using AI to improve their operations
• Launching Renaissance Technologies and their quantitative trading strategies
• The evolution of venture capital from local to global investing
• Qualities of great founders and investors, Howard’s work in philanthropy… 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.

Do you prefer a written summary? Check out the Fintech Leaders newsletter and join ~70,000+ readers and listeners worldwide!

Miguel Armaza is Co-Founder and 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/3nKha4Z

Miguel on Twitter: https://bit.ly/2Jb5oBc

Fintech Leaders Newsletter: bit.ly/3jWIp

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Miguel Armaza interviews Jouk Pleiter, CEO & Founder of Backbase, a global fintech that’s modernizing software and infrastructure for banks around the world.

Founded in 2003, Backbase was bootstrapped to €200M in annual revenue until they raised a single Private Equity round of €120M from Motive Partners in 2022, valuing the company at €2.5B. They have now grown to over €300M in ARR, work with 150 banks, and continue to expand across the world.

We discuss:

• Bootstrapping the company and why they eventually decided to raise external capital
• Successful strategies for fintechs trying to sell software to banks
• Why company leaders should think in five-year chapters
• Amsterdam as a tech and fintech hub… 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.

Do you prefer a written summary? Check out the Fintech Leaders newsletter and join ~70,000+ readers and listeners worldwide!

Miguel Armaza is Co-Founder and 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/3nKha4Z

Miguel on Twitter: https://bit.ly/2Jb5oBc

Fintech Leaders Newsletter: bit.ly/3jWIp

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Miguel Armaza interviews Benjamin Fernandes, CEO & Founder of NALA, a global, cross-border payments company that helps customers send money in and out of Africa.

Founded in 2018, NALA today is profitable and has raised over $50 million from Accel, Acrew, Amplo, Bessemer, DST, and NYCA.

We discuss:

• Why NALA built their own infrastructure and stopped relying on local African incumbents
• Challenges of going through a company pivot from local to cross-border payments
• The important role that VCs can have on founders, positively and negatively
• How Benjamin’s background as a TV host led him to payments… 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.

Do you prefer a written summary? Check out the Fintech Leaders newsletter and join ~70,000+ readers and listeners worldwide!

Miguel Armaza is Co-Founder and 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/3nKha4Z

Miguel on Twitter: https://bit.ly/2Jb5oBc

Fintech Leaders Newsletter: bit.ly/3jWIp