Wharton FinTech Podcast

Trevor Prince sits down with John Beccia, the Co-Founder and CEO of FS Vector, and Edin Trto, a Managing Director at Canaccord Genuity. FS Vector is a strategic consulting firm in the FinTech industry, focused on regulatory issues and other critical functions.

In this episode, John and Edin discuss how their teams prepared FS Vector for its first institutional capital raise, how they navigated market volatility during their process, their outlook on the FinTech regulatory landscape, and much more.

In today's episode, Wesley Aster hosts Justo Benetti, SVP Head of Americas at dLocal. Justo formerly served as VP of Strategic Solutions at Worldpay.

In this episode you will hear about:

- Justo's background and new role at dLocal

- Payment processing in emerging economies

- Managing regulatory complexity across emerging markets

- dLocal's $100M investment in Argentina, and how Argentina's new presidential administration will impact the fintech sector

- Global fintech trends

In today’s episode, Joshua Benadiva hosts Irana Wasti, Chief Product Officer at BILL. Irana was previously the Chief Product Officer at Typeform and President of GoDaddy EMEA.

In this episode you will hear about:

- How to be a successful product manager in fintech

- How Irana measures and implements successful strategies for building for small businesses

- Best practices for managing product organizations in fintech

- BILL's strategy to provide value as a full-stack financial operations platform

- How BILL leverages machine learning and AI throughout its product

- How to lead a product-led growth team and how to measure success, activation rates, and customer value

For more FinTech insights, follow us on

WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech

WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech

WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech

Josh's Twitter: @josh_benadiva

Josh’s LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jbenadiva/

Rhea Advani Bobba hosts Tess Bloch, co-founder and Head of Operations of Spade, a fintech startup reshaping the card ecosystem with real-time merchant intelligence. They delve into how Spade is revolutionizing transaction data clarity, enabling FIs to enhance fraud detection, authorize more transactions, and foster innovation in financial products and services. They discuss the journey of Spade from its inception and path to product-market fit. The conversation also covers the challenges and successes faced in expanding globally, the importance of a clear ROI for financial institutions, and Spade's ambitious plans for the future.

About Tess

Tess Bloch is the co-founder and Head of Operations of Spade. In her current role as Head of Operations, Tess leads Spade’s operations, finance, sales, and people teams, and grew the employee headcount 5x. Before co-founding Spade, Tess spent two years at the leading income and employment connectivity API, Pinwheel, where she started as the Chief of Staff before becoming its Head of Operations. In these roles, she helped scale the Pinwheel team 14 to 100 employees and supported growth that helped the company raise a $50M Series B. Previously, Tess also worked for McKinsey & Company in London, where she focused on payments, private equity, and public and social sector work, but her passion for fintech didn’t start there. Already, before graduating from Stanford, she realized her interest in the financial services ecosystem early on in her career, starting an internship at Venmo in her freshman year and taking time off during her junior year to work there full time.

About Spade

Spade provides real-time merchant intelligence for the card ecosystem. Spade leverages its ground truth database to link any card transaction to a real merchant identity – providing granular merchant, category, and geolocation information. Spade leads the market in terms of merchant coverage, geolocation matching accuracy, and speed of transaction enrichment. Customers such as Mercury, Sardine, Ramp, and Unit trust Spade's data to authorize more transactions, prevent fraud, and build more innovative features.

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As always, for more Fintech insights and opportunities to collaborate, please find us below:

WFT LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/

WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech

WFT Blog: medium.com/wharton-fintech

WFT Home: www.whartonfintech.org

Rhea’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rheaa/

Kailee Costello hosts Ed McLaughlin, the President & Chief Technology Officer of Mastercard

Tune in to hear about:

- Evolution of payment systems: Mastercard's journey into the digital era

- Adapting to the digital payment landscape: Mastercard's evolution and innovations

- Navigating quantum computing: securing payment systems and anticipating future challenges

- Quantum computing's potential in fraud detection and loyalty enhancement

- Mastercard's AI-powered fraud detection and prevention strategy

- The frontier of Generative AI technology

- Mastercard's role in global economies: ensuring resilience, security, and innovation

- Fostering fintech innovation: Mastercard's collaborative approach

- Shaping the future of payments: Mastercard's vision and innovations

- Consumer-facing interface of blockchain and stablecoin

- Harnessing technology for financial inclusion

For more FinTech insights from Wharton Fintech, follow us on:

WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech

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Kailee’s Twitter: @KaileeCostello_

Kailee’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaileecostello/

Trevor Prince sits down with John Mitchell, the Co-Founder and CEO of Episode Six. Episode Six is a provider of payments infrastructure to firms across the financial services industry seeking to build customized products for their customers.

In this episode, John discusses his background in the payments industry, Episode Six’s business model and growth story, his view of the payments industry, and much more.

About John Mitchell:

John has served as the CEO of Episode Six since its founding in 2015. Prior to E6, John was the Chief Executive Officer of Rêv Worldwide which provides innovative, end-to-end payment solutions to global partners. John also spent seven years at NetSpend Corporation where he was responsible for shifting the firm’s strategy to serving underbanked Americans. John holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Texas.

Zoey Tang and Rocky Gowni sat down with Rex Salisbury and Nik Milanovic. In today’s episode, we discussed

-Latest updates from This Week in Fintech and Cambrian

-Nik and Rex’s experiences as solo GP

-Their perspectives of the latest fintech ecosystem and what to look forward to in 2024

About Nik Milanovic & This Week in Fintech

Nik is the founder of This Week in Fintech. He has been a key organizer in building the fintech community, bringing together fintech enthusiasts all over the world. Last year, he also started the Fintech Fund as the solo GP.

About Rex Salisbury and Cambrian

Rex is the Founder & Solo GP @ Cambrian VC. He started Cambrian previously in 2016 to cultivate a community focused on founders and builders in fintech. His community building had accidentally led him into the world of venture, as he ultimately became a founding member of a16z’s fintech practice, investing in companies such as Tally, Deel, and Oyster Technology.

For more FinTech insights, follow us on:

WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech

WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech

WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech

Zoey's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoeytang1007/

Previous episodes with Nik & Rex:

-https://medium.com/wharton-fintech/nik-milanovi%C4%87-founder-of-this-week-in-fintech-and-general-partner-of-the-fintech-fund-on-9023790f242c

-https://medium.com/wharton-fintech/podcast-with-rex-salisbury-founder-of-fintech-devs-and-pms-e40869eb4de1

Nate Gee hosts Gal Krubiner, Co-founder and CEO of Pagaya, whose AI-driven network of investors, lenders, and borrowers aims to reshape the credit underwriting process and extend financial opportunity to more consumers.

In this episode, they cover:

- Gal’s motivation for founding Pagaya

- How qualified loan applicants can be left behind in traditional credit underwriting

- Pagaya’s AI-driven lender network and how it works

- The future of AI in financial services

- Pagaya’s IPO in 2021

- And much more!

About Pagaya Technologies

Pagaya was founded in 2016 with a goal to promote financial inclusion through improved credit underwriting and evaluation. It aims to build the leading AI network to enable better outcomes and create new credit opportunities for financial services providers and their customers. The company became publicly listed in 2021 (NASDAQ: PGY).

About Gal Krubiner

Gal Krubiner has served as Pagaya’s Chief Executive Officer since he co-founded the company in 2016. Prior to co-founding Pagaya, Gal focused on structuring and distributing sophisticated credit and asset-backed securities products at UBS AG. He’s also held other roles in investments, entrepreneurship, and financial markets. Gal graduated from Tel Aviv University in 2012.

For more FinTech insights, follow us on:

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WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech

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Nate’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathan-c-gee/

In today’s episode, Joshua Benadiva hosts Dan Kimerling, founder and Managing Partner of Deciens, a leading early-stage fintech venture capital firm. Dan shares insights into the fintech industry, emphasizing the importance of timing in entrepreneurship and the need for businesses to have increasing returns and moats as they scale.

In this episode you will hear about:

- Dan's journey in the fintech industry and the founding and selling of Standard Treasury

- The challenges and opportunities within the fintech space

- The role of coaching in venture capital and the importance of customer satisfaction in the banking industry

About Dan Kimerling:

Dan Kimerling is deeply committed to investing in transformative companies at their inception, holding board positions in several Deciens portfolio companies like Chipper, Therma, and Treasury Prime. Before Deciens, he co-founded and led Standard Treasury to its acquisition by Silicon Valley Bank, establishing leading API solutions for the financial services industry. Standard Treasury garnered recognition from American Banker and SWIFT for its innovation. Post-acquisition, Dan headed API Banking and Open Platform at SVB. His early career included a stint at TechCrunch and an educational journey at the University of Chicago, where he achieved honors and won prestigious awards. Dan is recognized by Forbes’ "30 under 30," is a Kauffman Fellow, and actively contributes to the University of Chicago's Polsky Council and the Young Presidents’ Organization. He enjoys a personal life filled with reading, cooking, biking, and skiing in Chicago and Albuquerque.

About Deciens:

Founded in 2017 by Dan Kimerling, Deciens Capital is a venture capital firm dedicated to ushering in the next generation of financial services. By focusing exclusively on early-stage investments, Deciens aims to support foundational companies reshaping industries and regions, including significant collaborations with Chipper Cash, Treasury Prime, and Therma. The firm prides itself on being the initial significant investment for companies poised for substantial growth, deep market impact, and the establishment of strong competitive moats in sizable markets. Deciens' portfolio showcases a commitment to groundbreaking fintech ventures such as Treasury Prime, Chipper Cash, and several others, emphasizing its role in the digital transformation of traditional financial institutions.

For more FinTech insights, follow us on

WFT Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech

WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech

WFT Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech

Josh's Twitter: @josh_benadiva

Josh’s LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jbenadiva/

Zoey Tang sits down with Sarah Hinkfuss and Saanya Ojha from Bain Capital Ventures. At BCV, Sarah and Saanya partner with growth-stage founders building the next generation of software products, with a particular focus in Fintech.

Before joining Bain Capital, Sarah started her investing career on the growth team at KKR. She previously worked at Applied Predictive Technologies, an enterprise SaaS company in the predictive analytics space that was acquired by Mastercard in 2015.

Saanya is a proud Wharton alum. After starting her career at Goldman Sachs, she joined Coatue in 2019 and then Bain Capital Ventures. In today's episode, we got to know about Sarah and Saanya’s stories and their views on the impact of Generative AI on Financial Services.

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As always, for more Fintech insights and opportunities to collaborate, please find us below:

WFT LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/

WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech

WFT Blog: medium.com/wharton-fintech

WFT Home: www.whartonfintech.org

Zoey's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoeytang1007/

About Bain Capital Ventures

Bain Capital Ventures is the venture arm of Bain Capital, one of the world’s renowned private investment groups with $165B AUM. BCV is currently investing out of fund ten ($1.9BN) with a wide mandate, writing checks starting from $1M and up to $100M.