BANK ON IT

About this nugget: This nugget was pulled from episode 169 from an interview with Chris Britt, co founder and CEO of Chime. This nugget is on having a crystal clear value proposition.   Subscribe to Bank On It podcast on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio and you’ll get these nuggets delivered every Wednesday morning. No matter the stage of a company, nailing the value proposition is hard.   Whether it's at startup or growth stage it's difficult, the only thing that evolves is the scope of the challenge.    Regardless, the challenge for founders falls under about three main points.  Does it resonate? Can we deliver a best in class experience? Does it attract customers to drive the right consumer habits? These are very basic points, but nailing the nuances of them is where the real challenge is.  Details are often missed and there’s a failure to predict future outcomes on one, two or three of these points, since companies early in life are focused on getting a relative-size customer

Every week the show host John Siracusa talks with impressive fintech leaders and entrepreneurs, through conversation uncovers the remarkable stories behind them, their creations and the most important topics in fintech.   You can subscribe to this podcast and stay up to date on all the stories here on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio.   In this episode the host John Siracusa chats with Gavin Myers, General Partner of Prudence Holdings.  Prudence Holdings is an early and growth stage investment firm based in New York City. They have an impressive list of companies it has backed such as Compass, Blockchain.com and Morty.. In addition, they’ve invested at the growth stage in companies including Facebook, Uber and Spotify.        Tune in and Listen.   Subscribe now on iTunes, Google , Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio to hear Thursday’s all new episode with Wes Burton from Third Prime.     About the host:   John, is the host of the ‘Bank On It’ podcast recorded onsite in Wall Street at

Every week the show host John Siracusa talks with impressive fintech leaders and entrepreneurs, through conversation uncovers the remarkable stories behind them, their creations and the most important topics in fintech.   You can subscribe to this podcast and stay up to date on all the stories here on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio.   In this episode the host John Siracusa chats with Will Mitchell, co-founder & CEO of Rabbet.  Rabbet is a construction finance platform that parses documents and connects information for frictionless transactions. Will noticed there are so many people and processes that need to align in order to get construction loans processed so he built Rabbet to solve this problem.  Rabbet is backed by QED Investors, Goldman Sachs, Tectonic Capital and Camber Creek.        Tune in and Listen.   Subscribe now on iTunes, Google , Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio to hear next Tuesday’s all new episode with Gavin Myers from Prudence Holdings.     About the host:

About this nugget: This nugget was pulled from episode 240 from an interview with Mark Beeston,  Founder and managing partners at Illuminate Financial. This nugget is on reading the market and taking action.   Subscribe to Bank On It podcast on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio and you’ll get these nuggets delivered every Wednesday morning. Market conditions often change in little ways, but sometimes there are massive shifts. Reading the market and building a business model that rides the wave of change is very hard to do.  To do this, investors look for signals of change and use those signals as a baseline to benchmark. Humans are always looking for patterns, we do this starting as babies.   But, when in the cusp of a massive market change signals and patterns can be confusing and misleading.    Causing us to have incorrect or short-sighted predictions.   As we get older and wiser we start to ask why more often, asking yourself why 5 times to a single question, can lead to the ro

Every week the show host John Siracusa talks with impressive fintech leaders and entrepreneurs, through conversation uncovers the remarkable stories behind them, their creations and the most important topics in fintech.   You can subscribe to this podcast and stay up to date on all the stories here on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio.   In this episode the host John Siracusa chats with Dan Rosen, co-founder & CEO of d1g1t.  d1g1t is a digital wealth management platform powered by analytics that offers advanced, transparent portfolio management services.  Dan is a quant and adjunct professor of mathematical finance at the University of Toronto. d1g1t was born out of  a successful exit from his past company R2 (pronounced R Squared). d1g1t is venture backed by Portag3, Illuminate Financial, Extreme Venture Partners, CI Financial and Purpose Financial.      Tune in and Listen.   Subscribe now on iTunes, Google , Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio to hear Thursday’s all new episode w

Every week the show host John Siracusa talks with impressive fintech leaders and entrepreneurs, through conversation uncovers the remarkable stories behind them, their creations and the most important topics in fintech.   You can subscribe to this podcast and stay up to date on all the stories here on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio.   In this episode the host John Siracusa chats with Shannon Austin, Partner at Financial Venture Studio.  Financial Venture Studio is a Venture Capital firm, but their model is quite different, they run a 6-month program for high potential early-stage firms. They invest with a mix of content, connections and camaraderie which they feel will help founders build successful startups.        Tune in and Listen.   Subscribe now on iTunes, Google , Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio to hear next Tuesday’s all new episode with Dan Rosen  from d1g1t.     About the host:   John, is the host of the ‘Bank On It’ podcast recorded onsite in Wall Street at OpenFin, a

About this nugget: This nugget was pulled from episode 219 from an interview with Matt Burton,  One of the partners at QED. This nugget is on how to actually get your foot into a VCs door.   Subscribe to Bank On It podcast on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio and you’ll get these nuggets delivered every Wednesday morning. Matt Burton has had successful exits to Google, Facebook and Kabbage.  His last exit was with Orchard to Kabbage and post exit he joined QED as a partner.  As a successful operator turned VC he has a unique perspective on the decision making process in which VCs use to invest.  Most founders spin their wheels pitching investors incorrectly. Matt said the essence of a pitch deck is a poor way to get your foot in the door and there’s actually a much better way.  In this clip he shares some potent ways to do so. Coming from a partner at QED, a powerful nugget to soak in and act on.  What is a nugget of the week?:  The host John Siracusa has recorded over 280 episodes

Every week the show host John Siracusa talks with impressive fintech leaders and entrepreneurs, through conversation uncovers the remarkable stories behind them, their creations and the most important topics in fintech.   You can subscribe to this podcast and stay up to date on all the stories here on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio.   In this episode the host John Siracusa chats with Monica Brand Engel, co-founder and managing partner of Quona Capital.  Quona Capital is a venture capital firm that invests in growth-stage financial technology companies in global emerging markets.       Tune in and Listen.   Subscribe now on iTunes, Google , Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio to hear Thursday’s all new episode with Shannon Austin  from Financial Venture Studio.     About the host:   John, is the host of the ‘Bank On It’ podcast recorded onsite in Wall Street at OpenFin, and 'Before the A' podcast recorded onsite in Flat Iron at Barclays/Techstars Rise NYC.   He’s a highly sought afte

Every week the show host John Siracusa talks with impressive fintech leaders and entrepreneurs, through conversation uncovers the remarkable stories behind them, their creations and the most important topics in fintech.   You can subscribe to this podcast and stay up to date on all the stories here on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio.   In this episode the host John Siracusa chats with Jimmy Chen, founder and CEO of Propel.  Propel builds software dedicated to helping low-income Americans improve their financial health.  Its core product, Fresh EBT, is a smartphone app that allows EBT cardholders to manage their benefits, plan their grocery shopping, and save money on food.   Fresh EBT is used by over two million families across the country, which helps people who receive SNAP benefits to improve their financial health.   Their investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Nyca Partners, Kleiner Perkins, Serena Williams, and Kevin Durant.      Tune in and Listen.   Subscribe now on iTunes,

About this nugget: This nugget was pulled from episode 223 from an interview with Brian Hirsch,  Founder & Managing Partner of Tribeca Venture Partners. This nugget is on how Tribeca Venture Partners invest with their thesis and their hearts. Subscribe to Bank On It on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio and you’ll get these nuggets delivered every Wednesday morning.   This nugget is on how Tribeca Venture Partners has A guiding investment principle in the form of a clear, concise investment thesis.  Yet, invest in founders they love. It was a great back and forth conversation that artfully mixed business metrics with a gut feeling and intuition.  This is an audio representation on how most investment decisions are made.   What is a nugget of the week?:    The host John Siracusa has recorded over 280 episodes as the host of the Bank On It & Before the A fintech podcasts where he interviews founders building the future of fintech and the VCS/Angels who fund them.    With each i

Every week the show host John Siracusa talks with impressive fintech leaders and entrepreneurs, through conversation uncovers the remarkable stories behind them, their creations and the most important topics in fintech.   You can subscribe to this podcast and stay up to date on all the stories here on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio.   In this episode the host John Siracusa chats with David Buxton, founder and CEO of Arachnys.  Arachnys provides cloud-based solutions for assessing financial crime customer risk and CDD, KYC, and EDD compliance.  The idea for Arachnys came about when in 2008 Russian customers of large companies stopped paying and David witnessed it.  Those large companies assumed the non-payment was a credit control problem, but actually they were selling to shell companies located in Russia.  The problem was that some of those shell companies were legitimate while others weren’t. With that, it was extremely difficult to sort it out. Arachnys is backed by VCs such as Q

Every week the show host John Siracusa talks with impressive fintech leaders and entrepreneurs, through conversation uncovers the remarkable stories behind them, their creations and the most important topics in fintech.   You can subscribe to this podcast and stay up to date on all the stories here on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio.   In this episode the host John Siracusa chats with PV Bóccasam, CEO of WealthEngine and General Partner at Novak Biddle Venture Partners.   WealthEngine provides wealth intelligence and prospect research for nonprofit organizations and financial services companies.  PV is a seasoned entrepreneur and investor. Novak Biddle is an investor in WealthEngine and PV took on the role of CEO to help take the company to the next level of potential.   Tune in and Listen.   Subscribe now on iTunes, Google , Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio to hear next Tuesday’s all new episode with David Buxton from Arachnys.   About the host:   John, is the host of the ‘Bank O

About this nugget: This nugget was pulled from episode 250 from an interview with Perry Rahbar,  founder & CEO of dv01. This nugget is on how Perry went from a disastrous pitch to $28 million in funding.  Subscribe to Bank On It on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio and you’ll get these nuggets delivered every Wednesday morning. Most of us have experienced the fear that something bad is about to happen soon. Sometimes we're right and it does,  but most of the time nothing happens, making all that worry, a total waste of time and energy. To most fears, the financial meltdown during 2008 actually happened.  The day Bear Stearns closed its doors, Perry was there. He was getting his career started and then it happened. During the full interview he shared in detail how it all ended, in one day Bear Stearns went from a bustling business to a ghost town.  Post the news, he stayed around to assess the exposure. Then, as it relates to the existence of Bear, it was all over.    While he w

Every week the show host John Siracusa talks with impressive fintech leaders and entrepreneurs, through conversation uncovers the remarkable stories behind them, their creations and the most important topics in fintech.   You can subscribe to this podcast and stay up to date on all the stories here on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio.   In this episode the host John Siracusa chats with Anders Jones, Co-founder and CEO of Facet Wealth.   Facet Wealth is a unique approach to wealth management, headquartered in Baltimore, they seek to revolutionize the next generation of financial life management.   Tune in and Listen.   Subscribe now on iTunes, Google , Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio to hear Thursday’s all new episode with PV Bóccasam from WealthEngine.   About the host:   John, is the host of the ‘Bank On It’ podcast recorded onsite in Wall Street at Carpenter Group, and 'Before the A' podcast recorded onsite in Flat Iron at Barclays/Techstars Rise NYC.   He’s a highly sought afte

Every week the show host John Siracusa talks with impressive fintech leaders and entrepreneurs, through conversation uncovers the remarkable stories behind them, their creations and the most important topics in fintech.   You can subscribe to this podcast and stay up to date on all the stories here on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio.   In this episode the host John Siracusa chats with Mazy Dar, Co-founder and CEO of OpenFin.  OpenFin is quickly becoming a platform which is the operating system of Wall Street.     This is the second time Mazy has been a guest on the show and a lot has changed since the last interview. They recently raised their C round to bring even more seamless integration for financial desktop operating systems to have a mobile-like experience.        Tune in and Listen.   Subscribe now on iTunes, Google , Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio to hear next Tuesday’s all new episode with Anders Jones from Facet Wealth.   About the host:   John, is the host of the ‘Ban

About this nugget:  This nugget was pulled from episode 213 from an interview with John Buttrick,  One of the partners at Union Square Ventures. This nugget is on Investment clarity through a clear thesis. Subscribe to Bank On It on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio and you’ll get these nuggets delivered every Wednesday morning. This nugget is on how Union Square Ventures determines investments through a crystal clear investment thesis.   Most founders and venture capitalists are familiar with USV, for multiple reasons such as Fred Wilson and the A VC blog, it’s all in part to a combination of having a crystal clear investment thesis which has evolved as the world around us does.  This evolving thesis lead to investments in companies such as Etsy, Twitter, KickStarter, FourSquare, Meetup, Soundcloud, Lending Club and many more.  Many of these high profile investments showcased USV as one of the most recognizable names in Venture Capital. A strong, focused and followed thesis is a se

Every week the show host John Siracusa talks with impressive fintech leaders and entrepreneurs, through conversation uncovers the remarkable stories behind them, their creations and the most important topics in fintech.   You can subscribe to this podcast and stay up to date on all the stories here on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio.   In this episode the host John Siracusa chats with Sam Bobley, Co-founder and CEO of Ocrolus.  Ocrolus analyzes financial documents, regardless of format and quality, with over 99% accuracy. Today, they work with brands such as Ondeck, BlueVine, Funding Circle, Enova, Sofi, Lending Club, Upgrade and many others.  How Sam realized the model of Ocrolus was quite surprising.  Have you ever gone to a website and confirmed that you’re not a robot?  Of course you have, but what you're also doing is helping Google digitize millions of books.  By choosing pictures with fences in it or typing out the words in an image you’re also helping train Google's AI simult

Every week the show host John Siracusa talks with impressive fintech leaders and entrepreneurs, through conversation uncovers the remarkable stories behind them, their creations and the most important topics in fintech.   You can subscribe to this podcast and stay up to date on all the stories here on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio.   In this episode the host John Siracusa chats with Igor Telyatnikov, Co-founder and CEO of AlphaPoint.  AlphaPoint is a white-label software company powering crypto exchanges worldwide.  One of their clients is the The Royal Mint, which is the world's leading export mint, making coins and medals for an average of 60 countries every year.  Alphapoint has raised over $17 million to date from firms such as Galaxy Digital.    Tune in and Listen.   Subscribe now on iTunes, Google , Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio to hear next Tuesday’s episode with Sam Bobley from Ocrolus.   About the host:   John, is the host of the ‘Bank On It’ podcast recorded onsite

About this nugget:  This nugget was pulled from episode 183 from an interview with Charles Delingpole,  co-founder and CEO of ComplyAdvantage. It’s on how founders can make decisions fast and accomplishing a lot with a little resources. Subscribe to Bank On It on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio and you’ll get these nuggets delivered every Wednesday morning. This nugget is on how founders can accomplish a lot, with a little resources.   ComplyAdvantage is Charles’s third company, on the surface, each company is very different from each other, but by connecting the dots Charles distilled core aspects to build ComplyAdvantage. Those past companies are The Student Room (social media site) and MarketFinance (peer to peer lending).  When building a new startup there are the inevitable uncharted paths where past experiences fail to influence a positive step forward.   We live in a world where the competition is so high that the speed and accuracy in decision making can flounder or fuel e

Every week the show host John Siracusa talks with impressive fintech leaders and entrepreneurs, through conversation uncovers the remarkable stories behind them, their creations and the most important topics in fintech.   You can subscribe to this podcast and stay up to date on all the stories here on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio.   In this episode the host John Siracusa chats with Keith Smith, Co-founder and CEO of Payability.  Payability provides cash flow and working capital for Amazon and ecommerce sellers.  They’ve lent of $2 billion in funding thousands of ecommerce sellers. Astonishingly, in order to manage inventory financing and cash flow management 4 out of 5 of their customers go into Payability every single day.      Tune in and Listen.   Subscribe now on iTunes, Google , Stitcher, Spotify and iHeartRadio to hear Thursday’s episode with Igor Telyatnikov from Alphapoint.   About the host:   John, is the host of the ‘Bank On It’ podcast recorded onsite in Wall Street a