The Fintech OG's from TWIF

In the final episode of The Fintech OGs, hosts Julie VerHage-Greenberg and Lauren Crossett talk with Salman Syed, CEO of Astrada and Hans Morris, Managing Partner at Nyca Partners for a conversation about the highs and lows of life in Fintech.

They reflect on fintech’s last decade, from the post-2008 reset in trust and brand to the cloud-driven drop in barriers to entry, and then look  at what’s changing again. AI is moving from “feature” to “actor,” and agentic finance raises uncomfortable questions: What controls still work? How does fraud evolve when software can initiate transactions? What new infrastructure layers have to exist so autonomy doesn’t become a new attack surface?

Along the way, Salman and Hans share career highs and lows, talk through fintech winners that almost failed, and debate what’s genuinely exciting versus what’s getting oversold.

Subscribe for more conversations with operators building the future of financial services.

This episode is sponsored by Granola. Try it free for 3 months at granola.ai/thisweekinfintech using code THISWEEKINFINTECH.

This episode is also sponsored by Lithic.

Connect with the Hosts & Guest

Julie VerHage-Greenberg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-verhage-greenberg-1748801b

Lauren Crossett: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-crossett-b3752126

Salman Syed: https://www.linkedin.com/in/salmanhsyed/

Hans Morris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hansmorris/

About The Fintech OGs

Former Bloomberg Fintech reporter Julie VerHage-Greenberg leads panels of the people who’ve taken Fintech from a hashtag to an industry through discussions on where we see the industry moving, what it takes to stay on top of the enormous changes that are still gripping the financial services industry,  and what they have learned as the best leaders in the field.  

Listen for the best up-to-date know-how from leaders in banking, payments, venture capital, fintech entrepreneurs, and all of those that have recreated financial services, and are still at it.

In this episode of The FinTech OGs, hosts Julie VerHage-Greenberg and Lauren Crossett sit down with Sam Maule, Head of Business Development at Moov, and Will White, Partner at Bedeloes,  for a candid conversation about navigating a career in fintech.

From spinning up payment cards in minutes to moving money across borders in real time, fintech has made incredible progress—but understanding what's actually happening behind a transaction can still be surprisingly complex. Sam shares his journey from the Navy to global banking, consulting, 11:FS, Google Cloud, and now payments at Moov. Will reflects on his path from auditing banks during the financial crisis to helping build some of fintech's most influential companies, including Monzo and WalletConnect.

Together, they explore what makes great operators indispensable, why neither chose the founder path, and how being the "safe hands" in the room can help a fintech company scale through uncertainty. They also discuss practical ways to break into fintech, the value of mentorship, lessons learned from career setbacks, and why the convergence of stablecoins and traditional finance feels different this time around.

Subscribe for more conversations with operators building the future of financial services.

This episode is sponsored by Granola. Try it free for 3 months at granola.ai/thisweekinfintech using code THISWEEKINFINTECH.

Connect with the Hosts & Guest

Julie VerHage-Greenberg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-verhage-greenberg-1748801b

Lauren Crossett: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-crossett-b3752126

Will White: https://www.linkedin.com/in/will-w-11004b15/

Sam Maule: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sammaule/

About The Fintech OGs

Former Bloomberg Fintech reporter Julie VerHage-Greenberg leads panels of the people who’ve taken Fintech from a hashtag to an industry through discussions on where we see the industry moving, what it takes to stay on top of the enormous changes that are still gripping the financial services industry,  and what they have learned as the best leaders in the field.  

Listen for the best up-to-date know-how from leaders in banking, payments, venture capital, fintech entrepreneurs, and all of those that have recreated financial services, and are still at it.

Hosts Julie VerHage-Greenberg and Lauren Crossett sit down with Michelle Tran and Sasha Pilch, co-founders of NYC FinTech Women, to unpack how a small New York meetup grew into a national fintech community with 16,000 members and chapters across major cities.

From career transitions out of institutions like BlackRock and global banks to founder-led sales, venture capital decision-making, and the realities women founders face in fundraising, the conversation explores what it really takes to build influence and longevity in fintech. They also dive into AI in financial services, compliance automation, stablecoins, and how fintech infrastructure is evolving behind the scenes.

Subscribe for more conversations with operators building the future of financial services.

This episode is sponsored by Granola. Try it free for 3 months at granola.ai/thisweekinfintech using code THISWEEKINFINTECH.

Connect with the Hosts & Guest

Julie VerHage-Greenberg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-verhage-greenberg-1748801b

Lauren Crossett: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-crossett-b3752126

Sasha Pilch: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sasha-pilch/

Michelle Tran: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellektran/

About The Fintech OGs

Former Bloomberg Fintech reporter Julie VerHage-Greenberg leads panels of the people who’ve taken Fintech from a hashtag to an industry through discussions on where we see the industry moving, what it takes to stay on top of the enormous changes that are still gripping the financial services industry,  and what they have learned as the best leaders in the field.  

Listen for the best up-to-date know-how from leaders in banking, payments, venture capital, fintech entrepreneurs, and all of those that have recreated financial services, and are still at it.

Hosts Julie VerHage-Greenberg and Lauren Crossett sit down with Neetika Bansal, Business Lead at Stripe, and Shivani Siroya, CEO & Founder of Tala, to explore what’s really changing in fintech and payments infrastructure.

From alternative data underwriting and AI-powered credit models to cross-border payments, stablecoins, embedded finance, and the future of money movement, this conversation dives into how companies are rebuilding financial systems for a global, AI-driven economy.

Neetika shares Stripe’s evolution from payments to financial infrastructure, while Shivani explains how Tala uses behavioral data and AI to expand access to credit and financial resilience worldwide.

Subscribe for more conversations with operators building the future of financial services.

This episode is sponsored by Granola. Try it free for 3 months at granola.ai/thisweekinfintech using code THISWEEKINFINTECH.

Connect with the Hosts & Guest

Julie VerHage-Greenberg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-verhage-greenberg-1748801b

Lauren Crossett: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-crossett-b3752126

Neetika Bansal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neetika-bansal/

Shivani Siroya: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shivanisiroya/

About The Fintech OGs

Former Bloomberg Fintech reporter Julie VerHage-Greenberg leads panels of the people who’ve taken Fintech from a hashtag to an industry through discussions on where we see the industry moving, what it takes to stay on top of the enormous changes that are still gripping the financial services industry,  and what they have learned as the best leaders in the field.  

Listen for the best up-to-date know-how from leaders in banking, payments, venture capital, fintech entrepreneurs, and all of those that have recreated financial services, and are still at it.

Powered by Spade.

On this episode of The Fintech OGs, hosts Julie VerHage-Greenberg and Lauren Crossett sit down with Ian Lampl, co-founder and CEO of LoanStreet Inc., and Mike Taormina, co-founder and CEO of Vault, for a conversation about what it really looks like to build through multiple market cycles, from marketplace lending hype and COVID disruptions to crypto booms, AI momentum, and policy shifts no one can predict.

Ian shares how LoanStreet grew from a thesis around syndicated lending access for community banks and credit unions into a broader marketplace, analytics, and servicing platform. Mike reflects on the realities of scaling a fintech lender, from raising that first major pool of capital to realizing that once pricing unlocks demand, the next challenge is finding enough funding to keep up.

The conversation digs into the unknown unknowns founders face when external events suddenly reshape the business, including the overnight impact COVID had on student loan refinancing, and how resilient lending companies adapt when the model changes beneath them.

Julie and Lauren also unpack where financial infrastructure is heading, from cloud-native systems and stablecoins as a faster way to move dollar value to the practical role AI can play inside lending workflows, while Mike explains Vault’s bet on crypto-backed lending and why pledged digital assets could create a smarter way for borrowers to qualify, improve rates, and help lenders better account for collateral while staying compliant.

Subscribe for more conversations with operators building the future of financial services.

This episode is sponsored by Granola. Try it free for 3 months at granola.ai/thisweekinfintech using code THISWEEKINFINTECH.

Connect with the Hosts & Guest

Julie VerHage-Greenberg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-verhage-greenberg-1748801b

Lauren Crossett: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-crossett-b3752126

Ian Lampl: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-lampl-b7a5b684/

Mike Taormina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelataormina/

About The Fintech OGs

Former Bloomberg Fintech reporter Julie VerHage-Greenberg leads panels of the people who’ve taken Fintech from a hashtag to an industry through discussions on where we see the industry moving, what it takes to stay on top of the enormous changes that are still gripping the financial services industry,  and what they have learned as the best leaders in the field.  

Listen for the best up-to-date know-how from leaders in banking, payments, venture capital, fintech entrepreneurs, and all of those that have recreated financial services, and are still at it.

Powered by Spade.

Even the most polished fintech apps break on one stubborn problem: messy transaction data. The same merchant can show up differently across issuers like Amex and Chase, driving broken rewards, poor insights, fraud risk, and support noise.

We sit down with Oban MacTavish, CEO and Co-founder of Spade, and Alan Miller, Partner at Oak HC/FT, to unpack how raw transaction data gets transformed into clean, structured merchant records in real time.

From Spade’s scrappy, hand-labeled beginnings to its bet on treating enrichment as a search problem, we explore what it takes to build durable fintech infrastructure. We then step back to look at fintech’s shift toward sustainable growth, the rising importance of clean data in the AI wave, and where stablecoins and new payment rails are gaining traction.

Subscribe for more conversations with operators building the future of financial services.

This episode is sponsored by Granola. Try it free for 3 months at granola.ai/thisweekinfintech using code THISWEEKINFINTECH.

Connect with the Hosts & Guest

Julie VerHage-Greenberg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-verhage-greenberg-1748801b

Lauren Crossett: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-crossett-b3752126

Oban MacTavish: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oban/

Allen Miller: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allen-miller-6670b133/

About The Fintech OGs

Former Bloomberg Fintech reporter Julie VerHage-Greenberg leads panels of the people who’ve taken Fintech from a hashtag to an industry through discussions on where we see the industry moving, what it takes to stay on top of the enormous changes that are still gripping the financial services industry,  and what they have learned as the best leaders in the field.  

Listen for the best up-to-date know-how from leaders in banking, payments, venture capital, fintech entrepreneurs, and all of those that have recreated financial services, and are still at it.

Powered by Spade.

Money moves faster than ever, but the hardest moments in fintech still happen when something goes wrong: a confusing transaction, a disputed charge, a fraud claim, or a control that fails when regulators come calling. We talk with Shanti Shanmugam, CEO and co-founder of Casap, and Natasha Vernier, CEO and co-founder of Cable, about what it takes to build trust in those high-stakes edge cases and how modern AI is changing the playbook for banks and fintechs.

We also get candid about founder life: the highs, the gut-punch lows, and the practical ways they stay resilient, from building a support network to separating identity from the company. Finally, we debate how agentic AI could drive more niche consumer finance products, what creates real loyalty, and what advice actually helps new grads entering fintech now.

Subscribe for more conversations with operators building the future of financial services.

Connect with the Hosts & Guest

Julie VerHage-Greenberg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-verhage-greenberg-1748801b

Lauren Crossett: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-crossett-b3752126

Shanthi Shanmugam: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanthi-shanmugam-4057284a

Natasha Vernier: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natashavernier

About The Fintech OGs

Former Bloomberg Fintech reporter Julie VerHage-Greenberg leads panels of the people who’ve taken Fintech from a hashtag to an industry through discussions on where we see the industry moving, what it takes to stay on top of the enormous changes that are still gripping the financial services industry,  and what they have learned as the best leaders in the field.  

Listen for the best up-to-date know-how from leaders in banking, payments, venture capital, fintech entrepreneurs, and all of those that have recreated financial services, and are still at it.

Powered by Spade.

Welcome back to This Week in Fintech and another episode of Fintech OGs. Season four kicks off with a look at how behavioral economics shows up in real fintech product decisions, and the gap between how fast money moves and how well users actually understand it.

This episode features Angela Hung and Dan Egan, two builders and researchers whose careers span policy research, Robinhood, Earnin, and Betterment. Together, they have helped shape how modern wealth and financial tools are designed and experienced.

The conversation takes a deep dive into how behavioral economics collides with real fintech product decisions, from robo-advisors to earned wage access. We explore why AI will reshape finance unevenly, making some experiences smarter behind the scenes while forcing hard lines around trust, accuracy, and user control. 

Fintech OGs returns for Season 4.

Julie returns as host, now joined by co-host Lauren Crossett, to sit down with the pioneers who built and transformed fintech. From the early days of digital finance to the innovations redefining money today, these are the stories behind the people who changed the industry.

Powered by Spade.

We trace fintech’s arc from marketplace lending to a rebundled, infrastructure-led future shaped by AI, compliance, and programmable money. Jillian Williams and Dimitri Dadiomov share how trust, ledgers, and switching costs define what sticks, and where the next real opportunities lie.

• founding stories of Field Ventures and Modern Treasury
• why infrastructure, ledgers and money movement now lead value
• AI’s role in finance teams and why trust beats novelty
• audit automation, SOX evidence and identity orchestration
• convergence of crypto and banks via stablecoins
• surprises: big tech’s limited wins and mobile dominance
• alternative underwriting’s limits versus FICO
• lessons from SVB and resilience in operations
• practical career advice for interdisciplinary builders
• near-term opportunities in risk, compliance and treasury

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