In this episode of What the Heck, Fintech, we sit down and have a Fin-tastic discussion with Mark Zheng, Founder & Executive Director of TopContenders Network, a dynamic platform dedicated to empowering transformative startups.

Mark explains how TopContenders identifies and scales breakthrough ventures by providing mentorship, funding opportunities, and access to industry leaders, while also spotlighting the next generation of innovators through curated events and competitions.

We explore:

🚀 How startups can leverage TopContenders Network to help break through barriers to growth

💡 The intersection of Agentic AI and Fintech innovation

🌍 Why building strong founder networks is key to scaling impact-driven companies

Whether you’re an aspiring founder, investor, professor, student, or just curious about the future of startups and innovation, this conversation delivers insights into how TopContenders is shaping the startup ecosystem. This is part 1 of a 2-part series.

In this episode of What the Heck, Fintech, we sit down and have a Fin-tastic discussion with Mark Zheng, Founder & Executive Director of TopContenders Network, a dynamic platform dedicated to empowering transformative startups.

Mark explains how TopContenders identifies and scales breakthrough ventures by providing mentorship, funding opportunities, and access to industry leaders, while also spotlighting the next generation of innovators through curated events and competitions.

We explore:

🚀 How startups can leverage TopContenders Network to help break through barriers to growth

💡 The intersection of Agentic AI and Fintech innovation

🌍 Why building strong founder networks is key to scaling impact-driven companies

Whether you’re an aspiring founder, investor, professor, student, or just curious about the future of startups and innovation, this conversation delivers insights into how TopContenders is shaping the startup ecosystem. This is part 2 of a 2-part series.

In this episode of What the Heck, Fintech, we sit down with the Fin-tastic leadership team from Gemsen — Charlie Ko (Co-founder & CEO), Aoife Manley (Co-founder & COO), and Ezra Levine (Chief Strategy Officer).

Financial institutions are swimming in data but starving for insights. Gemsen is solving this paradox by helping organizations unlock data faster, cheaper, and more securely. Gemsen enables machine learning up to 1,000x faster, uses 99% less storage, and preserves data privacy through advanced data abstractions. We dive into how Gemsen empowers data scientists, accelerates innovation, and transforms how financial institutions leverage AI and machine learning.

If you’re interested in the future of fintech, data science, AI in finance, machine learning, and secure data access, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss. This is part 1 of a 2-part series.

In this episode of What the Heck, Fintech, we sit down with the Fin-tastic leadership team from Gemsen — Charlie Ko (Co-founder & CEO), Aoife Manley (Co-founder & COO), and Ezra Levine (Chief Strategy Officer).

Financial institutions are swimming in data but starving for insights. Gemsen is solving this paradox by helping organizations unlock data faster, cheaper, and more securely. Gemsen enables machine learning up to 1,000x faster, uses 99% less storage, and preserves data privacy through advanced data abstractions. We dive into how Gemsen empowers data scientists, accelerates innovation, and transforms how financial institutions leverage AI and machine learning.

If you’re interested in the future of fintech, data science, AI in finance, machine learning, and secure data access, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss. This is part 2 of a 2-part series.

In this episode, we had a Fin-tastic talk with Austin Zhou. Austin was not only a standout fintech student but also a dedicated basketball player at WPI. After earning both his BS & MS, he went pro in Fintech at Fidelity Investments. You will hear his great stories, insights, and learnings on growing up in fintech.

Hearing Austin share his stories, amazing approaches, and thoughts on how he learns, listens, hustles, helps, and leads in life and in fintech every day. Austin will inspire you to always keep learning, be bold to ask the right questions to the right people, and always be determined and resilient as you grow in your career. This is part 1 of a 2-part series with Austin.

In this episode, we continued our talk with Austin Zhou. Austin was not only a standout fintech student but also a dedicated basketball player at WPI. After earning both his BS & MS, he went pro in Fintech at Fidelity Investments. You will hear his great stories, insights, and learnings on growing up in fintech.

Hearing Austin share his stories, amazing approaches, and thoughts on how he learns, listens, hustles, helps, and leads in life and in fintech every day. Austin will inspire you to always keep learning, be bold to ask the right questions to the right people, and always be determined and resilient as you grow in your career. This is part 2 of a 2-part series with Austin.

In this episode, we had a Fin-tastic talk with Marcel Blais. Marcel shares his great perspectives and stories as a 20+ year professor at WPI in Mathematical Sciences, Data Science, and as an advisor for many capstone fintech student projects. He also explains the importance of quantitative finance and project-based learning in real-world industry environments, and how this approach is deeply connected and necessary in fintech learning.

After you listen to Professor Blais demonstrate his passion and commitment to fintech, coupled with a strong and impressive focus on mathematics and hands-on experimental learning, you will be inspired to learn, collaborate, and join Marcel with his passion to help, guide, coach, and mentor all levels of individuals with fintech. This is part 1 of a 2-part series with Marcel.

In this episode, we continued our talk with Marcel Blais. Marcel shares his great perspectives and stories as a 20+ year professor at WPI in Mathematical Sciences, Data Science, and as an advisor for many capstone fintech student projects. He also explains the importance of quantitative finance and project-based learning in real-world industry environments, and how this approach is deeply connected and necessary in fintech learning.

After you listen to Professor Blais demonstrate his passion and commitment to fintech, coupled with a strong and impressive focus on mathematics and hands-on experimental learning, you will be inspired to learn, collaborate, and join Marcel with his passion to help, guide, coach, and mentor all levels of individuals with fintech. This is part 2 of a 2-part series with Marcel.

In this episode, we had a Fin-tastic talk with Ken Mooney. Ken was a successful senior financial services executive with over thirty years of lending and credit experience across various disciplines and industries. He is also a fintech/blockchain professor at Suffolk University, an angel investor, a board member, an advisor, a coach, a mentor, an all-around fintech enthusiast, and more.

You will hear Ken's unique teaching and leadership approach as he gives back to the fintech community by creating, helping, coaching, and mentoring the future fintech leaders of the world. Ken does this in so many awesome and fun ways by always connecting real-world fintech leaders, novel innovative thinkers, and sharing his impressive experiences and stories every day with his students, peers, and fintech friends. This is part 1 of a 2-part series with Ken.

In this episode, we continued our talk with Ken Mooney. Ken was a successful senior financial services executive with over thirty years of lending and credit experience across various disciplines and industries. He is also a fintech/blockchain professor at Suffolk University, an angel investor, a board member, an advisor, a coach, a mentor, an all-around fintech enthusiast, and more.

You will hear Ken's unique teaching and leadership approach as he gives back to the fintech community by creating, helping, coaching, and mentoring the future fintech leaders of the world. Ken does this in so many awesome and fun ways by always connecting real-world fintech leaders, novel innovative thinkers, and sharing his impressive experiences and stories every day with his students, peers, and fintech friends. This is part 2 of a 2-part series with Ken.