In this episode of the Fintech Thought Leaders podcast by QED Investors, QED Managing Partner Nigel Morris is joined by Wayflyer CEO Aidan Corbett and QED Partner Yusuf Özdalga.

Tune in to learn:

• [2:28] How Wayflyer  helps e-commerce companies pay for inventory and for marketing spend and solves the struggle of working capital requirements. 
  
  
• [4:59] Why banks have traditionally refused to enter this space, including why e-commerce companies typically don't have many assets that a bank can use as security other than inventory. 
  
  
• [7:17] Why this twist on a vertical banking theme was so appealing to QED and how knowing the return on marketing spend affects loss rates.
  
  
• [8:52] How Wayflyer uses data sources to underpin a merchant cash advance by essentially purchasing future receivables.
   
• [10:59] Why the challenge of using AI in not necessarily in the analysis of the data, it's in cleaning the data and labeling the data effectively, for example in extracting value from bank account data.
  
  
• [16:22] The decisions that led to Wayflyer expanding from Dublin, first to the U.S. and then to Australia, all during COVID-19 pandemic.
  
  
• [21:27] How to maintain a cohesive culture that supports the business strategy, while emphasizing the importance of asynchronous communication.
  
  
• [25:50] How a company needs to think intentionally about its culture once it crosses the Dunbar threshold -- the point where a CEO or manager can no longer remember the names, titles and duties of every person in the company or office because it has grown so much.
  
  
• [30:35] The benefits of having a two- or three-person founding team that covers the full vista of different functional requirements.
  
  
• [36:57] How a company such as Wayflyer thinks about product expansion and the potential for moving beyond e-commerce.