In today’s episode, Anirudh Singh sits down with Eddie Serrill, 
Business Lead for Stripe Capital and the site lead for Stripe’s New York office. In the episode, they discuss what makes Stripe so good at offering products to online businesses, how Stripe leverages banking relationships to bring the best products to the table, the impact that Stripe Capital has had on the small businesses it partners with, and much more. 

Eddie Serrill:
Eddie is the Business Lead for Stripe Capital and the site lead for Stripe’s New York office. Stripe is a technology company that's building economic infrastructure for the internet. Businesses of every size—from new startups to public companies—use Stripe's software to accept payments and manage their businesses online. Stripe Capital provides Stripe users with access to financing, and enables platform partners to offer financing to their customers with an end-to-end lending API. Prior to Stripe, Eddie served as the COO of Bond Street and the VP of Revenue & Operations at TrialPay. He holds a degree in Economics and Philosophy from Duke University and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Eddie Serrill, Business Lead for Stripe Capital - Using Future Performance to Unlock SMB Growth

Tarang Gupta hosts Todd Schwartz, CEO, Executive Chairman, and Founder of OppFi, a fintech platform that helps everyday Americans gain access to credit with digital specialty finance products.

In this episode you will hear about
- How observing pawn shops inspired Todd to start OppFi
- OppFi's partnerships with incumbent banks to provide services to underserved consumers
- Alternate data analysis and how OppFi underwrites loans
- OppFi's special 'Turn-up' program to help borrowers find lower cost debt options
And much more!

About Todd Schwatz
Todd Schwartz is the CEO, Chairman, and Founder of OppFi. He is also a Principal at Schwartz Capital Group, a dynamic family investment business based in Chicago, IL, and a Partner at Strand Equity, a LA-based growth equity firm investing in consumer brands. Previously, Todd founded the multi-family real estate company Beach Coast Properties in California. He also holds a B.S. in finance from Tulane University.

About OppFi
Based in Chicago, OppFi provides a fintech platform to streamline the personal lending process and provide access for underserved borrowers and middle-income, credit-challenged consumers who do not qualify for traditional loan options.

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Todd Schwartz, CEO & Founder of OppFi - Helping underbanked consumers gain access to credit

Kailee Costello hosts Harsh Sinha and Steve Naudé from Wise. Harsh is the Chief Technology Officer, and Steve is Head of Wise Platform. Wise has built a leading cross-border payments network and processes £9B in cross-border payments every month on behalf of over 16 million customers. Wise’s IPO on the London Stock Exchange took place in 2021. 

In this episode you will hear about:
- Wise’s journey from money transfer service to leading cross-border payments network
- How Wise have put an API around their cross-border payment infrastructure so that they can offer it to banks and non-banks via Wise Platform
- How Wise is able to achieve such low transaction costs
- Whether Wise will be able to push prices lower in the future
- The friction that still exists in cross-border payments
- The role that crypto solutions will play in the future.
- How Wise deploys cross-functional teams that operate as a small startup within Wise and are fully equipped as a vertical unit to solve the problem for the customer
- Challenges faced in building and growing Wise Platform
- Growth opportunities for Wise Platform, and why Wise is expecting Platform to represent the majority of FX volume in the long-term


About Wise
Wise is a global technology company building the best way to move and manage money around the world. Wise processes £9bn in cross-border payments every month on behalf of over 16 million customers, saving them £1.5bn a year in bank fees. Wise’s IPO took place in July 2021. 

About Harsh Sinha and Steve Naudé
Harsh Sinha is the Chief Technology Officer at Wise. Prior to Wise, Harsh was the director of product at PayPal. He led product strategy and development of PayPal's mobile apps and software. Previously, Harsh led various technology functions at eBay. Harsh is also an angel investor, an advisor to early stage start-ups and venture capital firms.

Steve Naudé is Head of Wise Platform, Wise’s cross-border payments infrastructure offer for banks and non-banks alike. Wise Platform allows financial institutions and major enterprises to leverage the power of Wise’s technology and embed solutions that make sending, receiving, and managing money internationally easier than ever for their customers directly into their existing infrastructure. Today, Wise Platform is live with more than 60 banks and financial institutions across the world, including Monzo, Google Pay, Ramp and Bank Mandiri, one of Indonesia's largest banks.

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Wise, Harsh Sinha & Steve Naudé - Building a leading cross-border payments network

“We build the monetisation engine for Google. We build the entire stack that moves money and we do it at Google scale. The reason we have to build it internally is (because) at our scale and with all our different business models and products that we support at Google there is not really one product out there that does it all. You have to piece together multiple different things and some of that is very unique to the way Google runs and its scale and reach… billions of users, hundreds of countries and territories. So that’s why we do what we do.” 

Sonal Goyal and Kareem Itani host Kan Liu, VP of Product for Payments Platform at Google, which provides fast, easy and trusted payment solutions to Google’s businesses and their end users. Kan has been at Google for almost two decades where he previously led Google Desktop and Chrome OS. 

In this episode, they discuss Kan’s career journey, everlasting product principles, balancing innovation with regulatory compliance, Google’s big bets in digital payments, advice for fintech and product enthusiasts, and much more!

Kan Liu, VP of Product at Google - Building fintech products at scale

In today’s episode, Kailee Costello hosts Nikhil Lakhanpal, Co-Founder at Narmi. Narmi’s mission is to offer financial institutions the best digital banking platform in the industry. Narmi does this through an API-driven platform that layers on top of existing banking infrastructure to give these financial institutions access to Narmi’s products, including digital account opening, consumer and business digital banking, and an admin platform. 

In this episode you will hear about: 
- Nikhil’s journey from running a financial institution during his undergraduate years at Georgetown to founding a fintech.
- How Narmi integrates with the tech stack for financial institutions to provide a superior customer experience
- How Narmi thinks about segmenting and targeting potential customers
- How Narmi approaches selling to financial institutions (which have typically been risk-averse and slow to adopt new technologies)
- Who Narmi’s main competitors are, and how Narmi distinguishes its value proposition from theirs
- Outlook for the banking sector, including the impact of FedNow and how banks have recently started focusing more on digital and tech spend
- What’s top of mind for Nikhil given that 2023 has been a tumultuous year for the banking sector
- How Narmi approached developing their suite of products, and whether what Narmi looks like today is what Nikhil envisioned when he started working on the company
- Narmi’s short-term goals, and where Nikhil sees Narmi 5 years from now


About Narmi
Narmi offers state of the art digital banking and digital account opening platforms to financial institutions. The platform – built for the enterprise – allows financial institutions to open accounts in less than 2.5 minutes, and then grow that relationship over a lifetime through intuitive mobile and online channels. Every single product at Narmi integrates with leading core banking systems.


About Nikhil Lakhanpal
Nikhil Lakhanpal is the Co-Founder of Narmi. Prior to Narmi, Nikhil ran a financial institution as CEO and also held roles in Investment Banking at Citi.

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Narmi’s Co-Founder Nikhil Lakhanpal - building an API-driven digital banking platform

In this episode, Blythe Masters reflects on her career that spans three decades within financial services. She discusses pivotal moments, from navigating through major mergers and market upheavals to becoming a mother at an early age. Addressing the evolving landscape of financial services, she delves into the transformative impact of AI and technology on Motive’s investment thesis, portfolio companies and day-to-day operations. Her experiences and observations provide a unique perspective on the industry's past, present, and future, making this podcast a must-listen for finance professionals and enthusiasts alike. 

About Blythe Masters
Blythe Masters joined Motive Partners in 2019 and is a Founding Partner. At Motive, Blythe sources and executes investment opportunities with a focus on strategy and growth for Motive portfolio companies, through her extensive experience as a financial services and technology executive. Blythe is Chair of Motive Ventures, the early-stage investment capability at Motive Partners. 

Prior to joining Motive, Blythe was the CEO of Digital Asset Holdings, the leading enterprise blockchain fintech company responsible for the Australian Securities Exchange’s ground-breaking post-trade infrastructure replacement project. Previously, Blythe was a member of the Corporate and Investment Bank Operating Committee and firmwide Executive Committee at J.P. Morgan. Her J.P. Morgan career spanned 27 years, fulfilling several roles including head of global commodities, head of corporate and investment bank regulatory affairs, CFO of the investment bank, head of global credit portfolio and credit policy and strategy, and head of structured credit. Blythe is a graduate and Senior Scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge where she received a B.A. in Economics.

About Motive Partners
Motive Partners is a specialist private equity firm with offices in New York City, London and Berlin, focusing on growth equity and buyout investments in software and information services companies based in North America and Europe and serving five primary subsectors: Banking & Payments, Capital Markets, Data & Analytics, Investment Management and Insurance. Motive Partners brings differentiated expertise, connectivity and capabilities to create long-term value in financial technology companies. For more information, please visit www.motivepartners.com

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Blythe Masters, Founding Partner at Motive Partners - On the evolution of financial services

In today’s episode, Kailee Costello hosts David Haber, General Partner at a16z. David focuses on technology investments in financial services.David was previously a senior executive in Firmwide Strategy at Goldman Sachs where he helped lead partnerships, new ventures and M&A. Before joining the firm, David was the Founder and CEO of Bond Street, which aimed to transform small business lending through technology, data, and design. Bond Street was acquired by Goldman Sachs in 2017.

In this episode you will hear about:
- The outlook for fintech: challenges and opportunities
- How seeing the world from the perspective of an operator, an entrepreneur, and an investor has shaped David’s investing today
- David’s current investing theses
- David’s learnings from Bond Street about the importance of “leading with software”
- How David’s lessons from Bond Street and his time at Goldman Sachs have influenced what he looks for in an investment and a founding team
- David’s rationale for leaving his VC role at Spark Capital to found a startup
- What David liked and disliked about his roles in VC compared to his role as founder and CEO at Bond Street 

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David Haber, a16z General Partner - Fintech through the lens of an operator, entrepreneur & investor

Kailee Costello hosts Jack Zhang, the CEO and co-founder of Airwallex. Airwallex is revolutionizing the way that businesses operate globally; their financial infrastructure provides a modern tech stack for businesses of all sizes to operate internationally without the challenges of the current global financial system. 

They discuss: 
- Airwallex’s growth story
- How Airwallex built their global money movement infrastructure 
- AI opportunities Airwallex is pursuing, including using LLMs to improve KYC and onboarding processes
- Why Jack does not expect crypto to play a significant role in cross-border payments 

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Airwallex CEO and Co-Founder Jack Zhang - empowering businesses to grow beyond borders

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.

John Beccia - Co-Founder and CEO, FS Vector & Edin Trto - Managing Director, Canaccord Genuity

In today's episode, Wesley Aster and Djavaneh Bierwirth host Graham Weaver, the founder and managing partner of Alpine Investors, a people-driven private equity firm that invests in software and services businesses.

Tune in to hear about:

- Graham's journey from starting Alpine in his Stanford dorm room to growing the firm to $16B in AUM
- Graham's personal growth and investment philosophies, as well as how he thinks about driving long-term impact
- Alpine's latest $4.5B fund 9, and Graham's experience fundraising in a challenging market

Graham Weaver - Founder & CEO, Alpine Investors - On Finding Purpose & Exceptional Investing

In today's episode, Kimberly Zhang hosts John Taylor Garner, the Founder and CEO of Odynn - an embedded loyalty and fintech next-gen program manager that is transforming the way banks and fintechs engage with their customers through smart loyalty solutions. With a background in volatility trading and a passion for travel and rewards, John brings a wealth of experience and innovation to the loyalty space.

Tune in to hear about:

- The early challenges and milestones of building Odynn, and the lessons learned along the way
- What sets Odynn apart as a holistic loyalty optimization platform
- How AI and machine learning are driving a new era of customer loyalty solutions
- The future of customer retention and emerging trends in the banking and fintech sectors

Odynn Founder & CEO, John Taylor Garner - Building an Embedded Loyalty & Fintech Next-Gen Program Manager

In today's episode, Ben Newman sits down with Sam Gaynor, managing director at
Altamont Capital Partners, for an insightful conversation on investing across the
insurance landscape. Sam shares his path to private equity, how Altamont navigates the
complexity of investing in insurance businesses, and his perspective on when it makes
sense to build vs. buy a company.
Tune in to hear about:
- Why private equity has traditionally shied away from insurance—and why
Altamont is leaning in
- Altamont’s investment in Accelerant, a risk exchange transforming the specialty
insurance value chain through advanced data ingestion, transparency, and
analytics
- Altamont’s approach to de novo financial services investments

Altamont Capital Partners MD, Sam Gaynor - Investing Across Insurance & The Accelerant Risk Exchange

In today’s episode, Kimberly Zhang sits down with David Fortunato, CEO of Wealthfront, for an in-depth conversation on how technology is transforming wealth management, and what it takes to build a truly digital-first financial advisor. David shares his journey from early software engineer to CEO, reflecting on how an engineering mindset helped shape Wealthfront’s product-led culture and commitment to automation.

Tune in to hear about:

	• How Wealthfront is navigating the shifting landscape of wealth management
	• The company’s approach to making institutional-grade financial strategies accessible through innovative products
	• David’s thoughts on the future of WealthTech and leading a company that’s reshaping how a generation grows their money

Wealthfront CEO, David Fortunato - Inside Wealthfront’s Digital-First Playbook

In this episode of the Wharton Fintech Podcast, Sabrina Fathi sits down with Tom DeBow, CTO of Schonfeld Strategic Advisors, to explore how AI and advanced technology are reshaping modern hedge funds. Tom shares insights from his journey through top-tier firms like SAC Capital and Alphadyne, and dives into Schonfeld’s pragmatic yet forward-thinking approach to AI adoption. From developing the firm’s in-house AI tool to enhancing talent workflows and unifying data systems, Tom discusses how AI is driving smarter, faster decision-making across the organization without replacing the human edge.

Schonfeld CTO, Tom DeBow - Technology and AI's Impact on Modern Hedge Funds

In this episode of the Wharton Fintech Podcast, host Sabrina Fathi chats with Seth Rosenberg, General Partner at Greylock, about what it takes to build and back enduring companies at the intersection of fintech and AI. Seth shares lessons from launching Facebook Messenger, insights on founder-market fit, and how great early-stage companies validate ideas, build defensibility, and navigate market shifts. With deep takes on AI, blockchain, and the future of financial services, this episode is packed with practical wisdom for builders and investors alike.

Greylock General Partner, Seth Rosenberg - Building Fintech for the AI Era

In this episode of the Wharton Fintech Podcast, hosts Sabrina Fathi and Wesley Aster speak with Yoonkee Sull, General Partner at ICONIQ, about building category-defining fintech companies through every market cycle. Yoonkee reflects on his journey from early ICONIQ associate to GP, lessons from backing leaders like Chime, Groww, Adyen, Wealthsimple, and Ramp, and what it takes to earn trust with founders over the long term.

They unpack how startups can differentiate in a crowded space, how embedded finance is reshaping distribution, and why knowing your customer better than anyone else is the ultimate moat. With thoughtful takes on unit economics, financial inclusion, and the real use cases for AI and blockchain, this conversation is a must-listen for founders, operators, and investors navigating the next chapter of fintech.

ICONIQ General Partner, Yoonkee Sull - Finding Edge in Fintech and Building Enduring Companies

In today’s episode, Kimberly Zhang sits down with Ram Mahidhara, former Chief Investment Officer at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group. Ram reflects on his decades of experience investing across emerging markets, driving inclusive growth through private capital, and championing the role of fintech in global development.

Tune in to hear about:

• How technology and private investment are reshaping financial inclusion in emerging economies
• Lessons from leading cross-border investment strategies at scale
• Ram’s perspective on the role of fintech in sustainable development and what’s next for innovation in underserved markets

International Finance Corporation (The World Bank Group) Former CIO, Ram Mahidhara - Inclusive Capital & Emerging Market Innovation

In this episode of the Wharton Fintech Podcast, host Sabrina Fathi speaks with Ashwin Murthy, Chief of Staff  and VP of Growth Operations and Strategy at Credit Karma, about how one of the most recognizable names in consumer fintech continues to evolve.

Ashwin shares his journey from investment banking and consulting to leading strategy at Credit Karma. He discusses the company’s expansion from free credit scores to taxes, savings, and more, and how data, trust, and personalization have been critical to that journey. The conversation also dives deep into GenAI’s role in financial decision-making, Credit Karma’s evolving partnership with Intuit, and the future of financial access.

Credit Karma Chief of Staff & VP Growth Ops, Ashwin Murthy - Trust & Personalizing Finance with AI

In this episode of the Wharton Fintech podcast, Djavaneh sits down with Robbie Figueroa, co-founder and former COO of Maza, now Chief Business Officer at Flex following Maza and Flex’s merger in late 2024.

Robbie shares how growing up in Queens with immigrant parents from Brazil and Ecuador inspired him to tackle financial exclusion. What started as a Spanish-first neobank for underbanked consumers evolved into a platform tailored to solopreneurs operating in the informal economy. From onboarding thousands of users to building ITIN application tools and automating entity formation, Maza met customers where they were, and grew alongside them.

We discuss:
How Maza identified and served Spanish-speaking solopreneurs
Why distribution often beats product innovation in fintech
The strategic fit between Maza and Flex and what’s next

Robbie also shares hard-won advice for early-stage founders and reflects on what it takes to build products that truly resonate with underserved users.

Whether you’re passionate about inclusive fintech, curious about startup pivots, or exploring founder-to-operator transitions, this episode is full of insight.


Flex & Maza's Robbie Figueroa - From Neobank to Solopreneur OS: Building Maza and Merging with Flex

In this episode of the Wharton FinTech Podcast, Bobby Ma sits down with Brian Kaas, President and Managing Director of TruStage Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of TruStage.

Brian shares his experience founding TruStage Ventures and the work he and his team have done in the past decade bridging the gap between FinTech founders, credit unions, and the broader financial services industry culminating in $400 million in investments since 2016. 

We discuss:
- The 140+ million member-strong credit union movement and services they provide to the community
- The partnership and value add TruStage Ventures brings in working with its FinTech investments
- Investment criteria and role the group plays in the broader TruStage organization
- Outlook on how stablecoins and other emerging technologies are poised to disrupt the financial services industry
- The success they have had investing in early-stage FinTechs through their Discovery Fund

Bridging the Gap Between FinTech Founders and the Credit Union Industry

In this episode of the Wharton Fintech Podcast, Jackson Ellis sits down with Sid Jayakumar, founder and CEO of FinsterAI. Sid shares his journey from a background in  engineering to founding FinsterAI, a company redefining how financial professionals interact with data. The conversation dives into:
- The vision behind Finster: an intelligent platform that leverages AI to streamline financial analysis, automate research, and improve decision-making
- What differentiates Finster in a crowded AI and fintech landscape
- How Finster enhances workflows for analysts and investors
- The strategic challenges of scaling an AI-driven financial product
-  How Finster navigates the evolving regulatory environment for AI in finance and what the future holds for intelligent financial systems

Finster AI and the Future of Financial Workflows

In this episode, Wharton FinTech’s Abhi Chadha sits down with Michele Alt, Co-Founder of The Klaros Group and former OCC regulator, to unpack the evolving relationship between fintechs and the U.S. banking system. Michele shares her insights from two decades at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and her current work helping non-banks pursue bank charters. They discuss the shifting regulatory climate across administrations - from the OCC’s early fintech charter attempts, to the Biden-era freeze, and now a renewed openness under Trump 2.0. Michele explains the nuances of charter types like industrial loan companies (ILCs) and national trust banks.

The conversation explores:
- The history and future of fintech chartering
- Differences among OCC, FDIC, and Fed oversight
- How U.S. fintech regulation compares to Europe and the U.K.
- Challenges foreign fintechs face when entering the U.S. market
- How Michele’s OCC experience helps startups navigate complex regulatory processes

Michele also shares her perspective on the cyclical nature of financial regulation - from deregulatory “sugar highs” to inevitable crackdowns - and offers advice for those eager to build a career in fintech regulation and compliance.



The Past & Future of Fintech Regulation with Michele Alt

In this episode of the Wharton FinTech Podcast, host Ruhi Jain sits down with Aaron Kaplan, Co-CEO of Prometheum, Inc., for a deep dive into the digitization of capital markets and the future of fully regulated digital assets. Aaron shares his journey from securities attorney to fintech founder, why he believes U.S. federal securities laws offer the most resilient pathway for blockchain innovation and how Prometheum’s end-to-end infrastructure aims to reshape how digital assets are issued, traded, custodied, and settled.

Together, Ruhi and Aaron explore:

- Why the regulatory lens is essential in building blockchain-based financial infrastructure
- Efficiency gains blockchain can unlock across settlement, transparency, capital usage and market structure - and what this means for both institutions and retail investors
- A forward-looking view into the future of capital markets, the evolving role of intermediaries and the “wild-card” risks Aaron believes the industry is overlooking

A must-listen for anyone interested in the intersection of blockchain, securities regulation and the next decade of digital market infrastructure.

Licensed to Tokenize:  Where Blockchain Meets Regulation

In this episode, Jackson sits down with Jimena, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Prometeo, to discuss the future of financial infrastructure in Latin America. Jimena shares her journey from tech journalism to entrepreneurship, the inspiration behind building Prometeo, and how the company is creating a unified API layer across the Americas to power open banking, real-time payments, and next-generation financial innovation.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

- How Prometeo became one of LatAm’s leading open banking infrastructure platforms
- The challenges of building across highly fragmented regulatory and technical environments
- Why true financial inclusion requires more than just account access
- How real-time payments, cross-border rails, and agentic financial services are reshaping the region
- Prometeo’s philosophy on trust, cybersecurity, and building long-term infrastructure “legacy”

The API Layer for Latin America


In this episode of the Wharton FinTech Podcast, host Meaghan McGowan sits down with Mike Yu, CEO and Co-founder of Vesta, to explore the modernization of the mortgage technology stack. Mike shares Vesta’s origin story and how he and his team are rebuilding the loan origination system to be flexible, automated, and API-first. The episode explores:

- How modern workflows, partner integrations, and recent developments, including Vesta’s partnership with Pennymac, are reshaping lender operations
- Macro trends, the growing role of AI, and how lenders are rethinking their technology stacks
- The future of “self-driving” origination, and
- Advice for founders building in regulated financial infrastructure


The Future of Mortgage Tech

In this episode of the Wharton FinTech Podcast, host Vaibhav sits down with Sarah Levy, CEO of Betterment and former executive at Disney, Viacom, and Nickelodeon. Sarah shares her insights on the evolution of financial services, why trust is the cornerstone of financial decision-making, how Betterment balances simplicity with expanding investor choice, and how AI is shaping the future of wealth management. Sarah emphasizes the significance of fiduciary responsibility and the role of simplicity in financial tools, while also providing advice for aspiring entrepreneurs in the wealth management space. She also shares key insights from Betterment’s latest Retirement Readiness Report, including why Gen Z is both confident and deeply anxious about the future. A wide-ranging conversation that blends behavioral finance, product strategy, and the future of wealth tech.

Designing the Future of Wealth with Betterment CEO Sarah Levy

In this episode of the Wharton FinTech Podcast, host Vaibhav speaks with Riya Grover, co-founder and CEO of Sequence, an AI native revenue platform that unifies quoting, billing automation, and receivables so finance can finally run at the speed of sales.

Riya shares her journey from investment banking and Harvard Business School to exiting her first startup and then launching Sequence to fix one of the most neglected parts of the CFO stack, quote to cash and accounts receivable. She goes deep on what it really takes to find product market fit in a saturated software world, why AI native entrants can out execute incumbents, and how Sequence is using agents to automate complex finance workflows.

They also unpack Riya’s recent Series A fundraise, the story that resonated with investors, and her candid advice for founders building in a noisy, AI heavy, but more competitive than ever venture environment.

In this episode, we learn about:

- Why quote to cash and revenue operations have lagged behind AP and spend in automation
- How Sequence uses AI agents to read contracts, generate invoices, and support finance teams
- What investors really cared about in Sequence’s Series A, from logo quality to 190 % NRR
- How Riya stays close to customers while scaling a fast growing infra company
- Her advice for aspiring founders on standing out in today’s crowded AI landscape

Reinventing Billing & Quote-to-cash with Sequence Cofounder & CEO, Riya Grover

David Klein, CEO and Co-Founder of CommonBond

In our latest podcast, Keane Ehsani (WG ’20) is joined by Thomas Sponholtz, CEO and Chairman at Unison Home Ownership Investors (https://www.unison.com). In this extensive interview, Thomas explains how Unison helps first time homebuyers by co-investing in their down payment. Thomas also discusses homeowner’s equity as an asset class, how Unison uses data analytics to forecast the value of its portfolio, and how Unison is revolutionizing the industry by unlocking homeowner’s equity.

Unison is pioneering a smarter and better way to buy and own homes by helping homebuyers with their down payment in exchange for a portion of their home’s appreciation when they sell. At Unison, Thomas has built a team of financial and real estate professionals who are committed to helping homebuyers get the home they want, and homeowners finance their life needs without adding debt. Unison believes in a world where buying and owning a home is not a zero-sum game, and that with the right partners, everyone can win.

Thomas founded Unison and leads the company’s overall strategic direction. He has more than twenty years of experience building large-scale consumer finance and investment management businesses at companies such as Barclay’s Global Investors, where he managed the $28 billion residential mortgage portfolio, built the first Fixed Income ETF (iShares) and developed Barclay’s Global Multi-Strategy and Credit Long/Short fund.

Thomas Sponholtz, CEO and Chairman at Unison Home Ownership Investors

Miguel Armaza is joined by Melbourne O’Banion, CEO and Co-Founder of Bestow, a digital life insurance company leveraging technology to make protection accessible and affordable. Bestow has received over $68 million in equity financing from Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures, NEA, Morpheus Ventures, Core Innovation Capital, Abstract Ventures, Sammons Financial, 8VC.

Melbourne O’Banion is the CEO and Co-Founder of Bestow, a digital life insurance company leveraging technology to make protection accessible and affordable. Through data-driven technology applications and innovative products, Bestow is changing the way life insurance is perceived and purchased. He is an entrepreneur and investor with expertise in fintech and direct-to-consumer businesses. Among his startups, he was a founding member of Presidio Title, a leading title insurance agency in Texas. He is also co-founder of Beauty Bioscience, a skincare line sold via TV shopping channels and luxury retailers. Melbourne is a member of the National Advisory Council for the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University and is on the board of the SMU Tate Lecture Series. He is a graduate of BYU and studied Finance and Ancient Near Eastern Studies.

Bestow is an insurance technology company that builds products and software that make life insurance accessible to millions of families. In addition to its direct-to-consumer arm, Bestow provides industry-first APIs enabling partners to offer bespoke life insurance coverage to their customers with ease. Bestow is reshaping the life industry as the insurance company of the future. The company is headquartered in Texas with offices in Dallas and Austin. Learn more at www.bestow.com

In this episode, Melbourne shares:
- His background as a serial entrepreneur and what drove him to life insurance.
- Why he and his co-founder decided to avoid third party software solutions and, instead, built an insurance product along with its integrated software from scratch. And why this decision has made a huge positive difference.
- Reasoning behind Bestow’s entry market strategy.
- Finding product-market fit and how they decided what customer segment to focus on
- Bestow’s key partnerships, ranging from traditional life insurance companies to Fintechs like Acorns, Chime, Stash, Moneylion, and more.
- The importance of hiring a great team, establishing company principles early on, and leading and hiring by those principles.
- Famous Texas Hospitality. The advantages of launching a startup in Texas and why he thinks there isn’t a better place in the US to start a company.
- How the COVID-19 crisis has awakened a lot of people to a sense of their own mortality and what this has meant for the life insurance business.
- The state of InsurTech and why he thinks new entrants in the insurance space will have to do something radically new and different to differentiate themselves.
- Valuable advice for entrepreneurs and aspiring founders.

Modernizing Life Insurance with Melbourne O’Banion, CEO and Co-Founder of Bestow

Connecting you with the people, companies, and ideas revolutionizing global financial services. Our guests are the leading fintech founders, investors, and thinkers in the world.

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