Fintech South 2024: Megan Heinze with Accelerate Consulting

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studio in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Atlanta Business Radio, brought to you by Kennesaw State University’s Executive MBA program, the accelerated degree program for working professionals looking to advance their career and enhance their leadership skills. And now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here, broadcasting live from Fintech South 2024 at the Woodruff Arts Center. So excited to be talking to our next guest, Megan Heinze with Accelerate Consulting. Welcome.

Megan Heinze: Thank you Lee. I’m super excited to be here today.

Lee Kantor: Well, tell us a little bit about your firm. How are you serving folks?

Megan Heinze: Yeah, so we are we’re serving firms in the fintech arena, helping them grow their business, especially in embedded payments. And that’s become very big over the last few years. Payments is growing beyond where it was traditionally, and now it’s part of software as a service.

Lee Kantor: So what’s your backstory? How’d you get involved in this line of work?

Megan Heinze: Yeah, absolutely. So my background is I used to work at US Bank Elavon. I was head of payments for the US Bank division. So everything from very large accounts to the 3000 branches that we supported, including big partners like Costco and the partner channel. I then went on to be the chief revenue officer at Texas. And then I went to my last company, was president of North America for Idemia, which was tying in identity with payments.

Lee Kantor: So you’ve been all over the place, huh?

Megan Heinze: I’ve been all over the place, but I’ve been in the financial sector, you know, starting off when digital just became the reality with wingspan bank.com, which was the first only online bank.

Lee Kantor: So is this the first time where it’s just you and your consulting firm?

Megan Heinze: Yes. It is. So is that.

Lee Kantor: Transition been difficult for you.

Megan Heinze: And the transition has been interesting to me. I’ve always worked for a very large company and now I’m out on my own, and it’s been fun because I got to meet so many different people, and it’s so vibrant in Atlanta with all the different fintechs.

Lee Kantor: Now, any advice for folks out there that are going from a corporate into an entrepreneurial role like this? Is there any kind of do’s and don’ts that you’ve learned since you’ve been on your own like this?

Megan Heinze: Yeah, I mean, I think there’s definitely a lot of do’s. So there’s a lot of organizations. Tag is a great organization to first start off with the Technology Association of Georgia. They do have lots of societies. They have 18. One of them just happens to be fintech. But there’s lots of different ones including AI, data, etc.. And then the other one is Fintech Atlanta. That’s a great way to meet other small startups, other companies. And then Atdc is another great way.

Lee Kantor: Now in your firm, you focused in on fintech. How have you seen this industry evolve over the years you’ve been involved in it?

Megan Heinze: Well, it continues to grow. I know everybody calls it right now. Um, the winter, the fintech winter. There’s been less investment since 2020. However, it continues to grow and thrive. We’re seeing companies that are being more profitable. They understand how to grow up. Before it was, let’s fake it till you make it. Now it’s no longer fake it till you make it. You actually have to grow revenue.

Lee Kantor: And then are you finding that your clients that you’re dealing with are kind of leaning into this, or are they doing things more in a, in a defensive manner?

Megan Heinze: They’re leaning in. I think everybody realizes if you’re going to get investment from private equity, venture capitalists, angel investing, you have to show profitability.

Lee Kantor: And then what are some of the challenges that they’re having where Accelerate Consulting is the solution to help them?

Megan Heinze: Well, it helps them identify where to grow and where to focus.

Lee Kantor: So they might have plateaued or they’re struggling and then they come in and have you triage that situation and then help them kind of get over the hump. Or are they, you know, is there a certain issue that they’re struggling with?

Megan Heinze: There’s a couple. So one is growth. How do they grow? How do they become profitable? I mean, that’s a big thing too. And then also what avenues actually make sense. So there’s a lot of different associations out there. There’s a lot of rules and regulations etc.. And it’s hard to know everything. And so you bring in an expert like myself to actually help you identify those key issues with your organization.

Lee Kantor: So they might be there might be kind of opportunities that they’re just not on their radar.

Megan Heinze: Yes. So for example, I was recently helping a company and they didn’t really think about payments. They’ve added embedded payments now and they’re seeing huge growth and also seeing a decrease in attrition in their overall SaaS model.

Lee Kantor: Is there a um, any low hanging fruit for you? Like what’s your typical point of entry?

Megan Heinze: The point of entry. There’s not really any low hanging fruit. I think, um, it’s more of looking at the company holistically. So sometimes it’s really hard when you’re internally focused. Um, and it’s nice when someone looks at externally focused and where they should be focusing. Um, sometimes you get so much in the nitty gritty, you don’t look at what’s out there. So, um, that’s what I’m really good at helping companies and saying, okay, have you thought about this? Have you thought about X, Y, and Z? And then, you know, sometimes I hear, well, we’ve tried that before, but things keep on evolving all the time. So I’m going to use the example of mobile payments. I remember we did our first launch with mobile payments, with Mastercard, with mobile phones. We actually gave mobile phones out. It didn’t work. But look at where mobile payments are today, right? If you said no at that time, it doesn’t mean no in the future. Um, same with tap. We tried tap a long time ago. Tap is working now. Um, embedded payments is where a lot of people are seeing growth Um, so software as a service. Companies are seeing huge opportunities there.

Lee Kantor: So is that kind of a missed opportunity for some people who did try it? Maybe they were early adopters early on. They have the scar tissue and they’re like, they’re hesitant now, even though the technology has improved dramatically.

Megan Heinze: Yes, absolutely. I think a lot of companies even had headaches the first time they went to software as a service, going from on prem to software as a service. So, um, absolutely. I think companies software as a service companies didn’t really think about adding payments. And now more and more companies are and the growth rates are phenomenal as well as decreasing the overall overall attrition rate.

Lee Kantor: So what do you need more of? How can we help you?

Megan Heinze: Um, of course I always want more clients, so I want more clients. I want, uh, more support, but also I want to keep on investing and focusing on the Georgia market, helping fintechs grow, but also nationally as well.

Lee Kantor: And then can you share maybe your ideal client profile? Like what is the ideal client for you?

Megan Heinze: Yeah, the ideal client is anywhere from a startup, um, to, you know, 500 million.

Lee Kantor: So anywhere in between. And the and the main problem that they’re having is a growth that it’s growth.

Megan Heinze: It’s growth.

Lee Kantor: So if they’re struggling with growth in any way, shape or form, they should call Megan. Yes. And then if somebody wants to connect, what’s the best way to do that. Website.

Megan Heinze: Yeah or no just on LinkedIn is the easiest way. So Megan Megan hainsey h e I n e if you just remember Heinz ketchup with an E at the end, it makes it a lot easier. Um, and connect with me on LinkedIn.

Lee Kantor: Good stuff. Well, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Megan Heinze: Thank you very much.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor back in a few. At Fintech South 2024.