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Ted Westhelle with Mambu

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Ted-Westhelle
Atlanta Business Radio
Ted Westhelle with Mambu
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Atlanta-Blockchain-Center-Sponsor-v2

Ted-WesthelleTed Westhelle, Mambu

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:07] Broadcasting live from the Georgia World Congress Center for Fintech South 2022, it’s time for Atlanta Business Radio. Brought to you by Atlanta Blockchain Center. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:28] Lee Kantor here, broadcasting live at Fintech South, once again, it’s been a minute since we’ve been back here, but I’m excited to see all the folks again. Right now, we have Ted Westhelle with Mambu. Welcome, Ted.

Ted Westhelle: [00:00:42] Thank you, Lee. Thanks for having me on a short notice. Appreciate it.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:44] Sure. Tell us a little bit about Mambu. How are you serving, folks?

Ted Westhelle: [00:00:48] Yes, absolutely. So, at Mambu — first and foremost, you know, we really think that there’s a problem out there with a lot of technology, right? And this applies not only to financial services industry, but to many different industries, right? And most technology out there, while it’s really necessary, it doesn’t really allow the companies to be agile, to change, to add new products, to move into new markets quickly, right?

Ted Westhelle: [00:00:48] And so, Mambu really addresses that big problem with its existing technology out there by putting a lot of control back in the hands of the business owners. Letting them manage the technology and Mambu specifically lets them offer deposit and lending products.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:30] So, what’s the pain that your prospects are having? Where Mambo is the right answer?

Ted Westhelle: [00:01:36] A couple of things –.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:36] Symptoms, we just need some symptoms.

Ted Westhelle: [00:01:38] Yes. So, one of the big pains is, you know, whether you’re a Fintech or, you know, a regulated bank, they — you typically will get locked into an end-to-end core product, maybe a five, 10, even maybe 15-year contract, right. And they really become dependent on that core provider.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:59] Right.

Ted Westhelle: [00:01:59] Right. And it makes it difficult for them, like I said, to maybe add a new product that may be a nine-month process where they have to pay an additional $100,000.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:07] Right, because they bought this thing because they thought that was going to solve all their problems.

Ted Westhelle: [00:02:10] Right, right. And it does, sort of, initially, right. Because the way that those end-to-end solutions, they get customized for the specific needs of the company at that time.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:21] Right.

Ted Westhelle: [00:02:21] But every company is constantly evolving and changing, right?

Lee Kantor: [00:02:23] Right.

Ted Westhelle: [00:02:23] And so, it doesn’t allow them to quickly evolve over time.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:26] So, it doesn’t allow them to be as nimble as they need to be as things shift?

Ted Westhelle: [00:02:31] Exactly, and to that point, with a solution like Mambu, every single customer actually has their own dashboard into a Mambu product factory. It’s a zero-code environment where in the space of minutes, they can whip up a new product that they want to offer during the next few weeks.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:48] And then it’s in the market at that point, like it’s off and running or now it’s going to go through its testing and all the stuff that has to do?

Ted Westhelle: [00:02:56] Right. Exactly. I mean, theoretically, yes. If you were super risk-averse, you could offer it the next day. Typically, what our customers will do, they will test it in a Sandbox environment, make sure everything is —

Lee Kantor: [00:03:06] But it can be implemented —

Ted Westhelle: [00:03:08] Absolutely.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:09] — as quickly as they want it to be?

Ted Westhelle: [00:03:10] In a few weeks, absolutely.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:11] Right. As opposed to, you know.

Ted Westhelle: [00:03:12] As opposed to waiting nine months. Right. And so, if you think about that from the point of view of being able to react to new demands you’re seeing from your existing customer base. Being able to take advantage of opportunities you see in the marketplace, it’s huge.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:25] Yes. So, what’s the back story? How did this kind of get invented and started?

Ted Westhelle: [00:03:32] It’s actually a really great story. Our co-founders were at Carnegie Mellon, getting their grad degree in computer engineering. They then started off Mambu, it’s headquartered, initially, was in Germany. It’s now moved to Amsterdam. And they started it off purely on the lending engine side with a focus on actually micro-lending and microservices, right. And so, they did that in a lot of emerging markets.

Ted Westhelle: [00:04:00] And then found as it evolved, they expanded over to the deposit side as well. Started to sign some big customers, like in Oaknorth Bank was an initial big win for them in the European markets. And so, we grew gradually over the last 11 years. We now have 250 customers around the world and 65 markets around the world. Roughly, half of them are now in AMEA. And then we went to LatAm, APAC. And then three years ago we entered the North American market.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:25] So, what brings you to Fintech South?

Ted Westhelle: [00:04:27] A great environment. A great chance to get the Mambu brand out there. But most importantly to meet partners, ecosystem partners, different system integrators, and potential buyers.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:39] And if somebody wants to learn more about Mambu, what’s the coordinates, website?

Ted Westhelle: [00:04:44] Yes, just go to mambu.com. There’s tons of information on our website or reach out to me, Ted Westhelle.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:49] And it’s M-A-M-B-U?

Ted Westhelle: [00:04:52] M-A-M-B-U, Correct.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:54] Well, Ted, thank you so much for sharing your story today.

Ted Westhelle: [00:04:56] All right. Thank you. Thanks for having me on.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:58] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll be back in a few at fintech South 2022.

Outro: [00:05:09] This episode has been brought to you by Atlanta Blockchain Center, the catalyst for Atlanta’s emergence as the Premier Blockchain Innovation Hub globally, through cultivating entrepreneurship, inclusivity, and education. To learn more, go to atlblockchaincenter.com.

 

Fintech South 2022 is a world-class summit with its nexus in Atlanta live and in-person, a global financial technology hub that is home to more than 200 fintech companies. The top 15 public fintech companies in Georgia alone generate more than $100 billion in revenues.

Saurav Bhandari with ArboHQ

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Saurav-Bhandari
Atlanta Business Radio
Saurav Bhandari with ArboHQ
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Atlanta-Blockchain-Center-Sponsor-v2

Saurav-BhandariSaurav Bhandari, ArboHQ

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:07] Broadcasting live from the Georgia World Congress Center. For Fintech South 2022, it’s time for Atlanta Business Radio. Brought to you by Atlanta Blockchain Center. Now here is your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:27] Lee Kantor here. Broadcasting live from FinTech South 2022 in the Georgia World Congress Center. So excited to be talking to our next guest, Saurav Bhandari with ArboHQ. Welcome.

Saurav Bhandari: [00:00:39] Thank you. Thank you for having me here.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:42] Well, I’m so excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us a little bit about ArboHQ. How are you serving folks?

Saurav Bhandari: [00:00:47] So, we are an accounting software and finance software for tech companies.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:54] So, what are these tech companies using if they don’t have ArboHQ?

Saurav Bhandari: [00:00:58] They are using maybe QuickBooks or Xero or whatever their accountant shoves them into.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:04] And why is that a mistake? Why should they be using ArboHQ instead?

Saurav Bhandari: [00:01:08] So, just like any other thing, not everything is created equal. So, all CPAs do not focus on tech companies. And we are a Saas platform. So, we have CPAs on our team, and I’m a CPA myself who focus on tech companies.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:26] So, the unique challenges a tech company is facing –.

Saurav Bhandari: [00:01:29] Yes.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:30] — and their unique needs?

Saurav Bhandari: [00:01:31] Yes, from fundraising to getting their financials on time, ensuring they don’t have shady stuff on their balance sheet or income statement. So, all of that. Because there are certain things that investors look for when they’re analyzing whether to invest you — in you or not.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:53] Right.

Saurav Bhandari: [00:01:53] So, we ensure, like, their financials are up to date, they’re reflected the right way. All of their cap tables are reflected the right way on the balance sheet. So that reduces a lot of the headache on the client-side. And also, if you think — I’m going to talk to you about a story with one of our users.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:16] OK. So, they were a startup.

Saurav Bhandari: [00:02:18] They were a startup.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:19] And then they went with ArboHQ.

Saurav Bhandari: [00:02:22] They went with ArboHQ, yes.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:23] So, did they have a bad experience with the previous — another one of these other or they —

Saurav Bhandari: [00:02:28] No.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:29] — or you got to you got them early before they had any bad habits?

[00:02:33] Before — well, we can say that, yes. And also, like when they presented during the due diligence phase, when they presented their financials there. And this is the e-mail that I got from the investor. We’ve not seen a financial statement like this before because —

Lee Kantor: [00:02:50] In a good way.

Saurav Bhandari: [00:02:50] In a good way. Because you get your general ledger, you get all the way to the transactions, the cap tables, everything in one Excel file or a PDF.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:59] And it’s clean.

Saurav Bhandari: [00:03:00] It’s clean.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:00] It’s up to date.

Saurav Bhandari: [00:03:01] Yes.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:01] And it’s accurate.

Saurav Bhandari: [00:03:02] Yes, and it’s accurate. And the best of that is just not the accounting side, because when you talk to investors, you have to talk to them about your burn rate. You have to talk to them about your cash runway, right? What are your top ten expenses, revenue trending, the growth, right? So, all of that is readily available in the dashboard, in the executive summary that we have.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:26] Because you’ve reverse-engineered it for a startup —

Saurav Bhandari: [00:03:30] Yes.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:30] — to get investors, to show investors. So, it’s built for that environment. It’s not something that you’re taking something that was maybe an old school way of doing an accounting. And then now I got to take that data and then put it in this other thing to give to an investor?

Saurav Bhandari: [00:03:45] Right. So, this is the opposite way where you just sign up –.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:49] Right. You built this elegantly just to —

Saurav Bhandari: [00:03:51] Yes.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:51] So, they just have to input the information the — one time cleanly then it’s going to take care of itself?

Saurav Bhandari: [00:03:57] Not even input. All you got to do is connect your bank accounts.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:01] Yes.

Saurav Bhandari: [00:04:01] And just hands-off.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:03] Hands-off, it’s going to —

Saurav Bhandari: [00:04:03] Hands-off. It’s completely hands-off.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:03] It’s going to do all the heavy lifting?

Saurav Bhandari: [00:04:06] Yes, sir. Yes, it’s 90% automation that we have right now. And the 10% is more like tweaking around by the bookkeeper. So, you get dedicated bookkeeping team and tax team for you. And we also have outsourced CFO services in case you grow.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:25] And you need that, right.

Saurav Bhandari: [00:04:26] If you need that. Yes, so.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:27] But you don’t have to start with that. You can —

Saurav Bhandari: [00:04:30] You don’t have to start with that.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:30] You can do it through a bookkeeper, just kind of basics.

Saurav Bhandari: [00:04:34] Yes, basic and it’s free.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:34] Free?

Saurav Bhandari: [00:04:36] Free until you raise or until you start making revenue. So, there’s a precursor to it. So, you can use the platform for free, because we built it.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:46] Right.

Saurav Bhandari: [00:04:46] Now, we built it the right way, the best way. And it’s out there for free. So, we’re launching our mobile apps today, like today, today.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:57] Today.

Saurav Bhandari: [00:04:57] On both App Store and Android — Play Store.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:01] So, it’s in Google and Apple?

Saurav Bhandari: [00:05:04] Yes.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:04] Both ecosystems.

Saurav Bhandari: [00:05:06] Yes.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:06] And it’s ready to go today. If you are a pre-revenue startup, you can just sign up and then you can use this as you move — moving forward?

Saurav Bhandari: [00:05:13] Yes. So, you can sign up. So, the sign-up happens on the web app. So, the phone apps, it’s more like after you sign up. It’s to get your dashboard and stuff and everything.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:24] Right, right, right.

Saurav Bhandari: [00:05:24] There’s still some capabilities that we need to. At the end of the day, we’re a startup ourselves.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:30] Sure.

Saurav Bhandari: [00:05:30] So, we got to take it slow. Whatever we can bite off, right?.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:32] Right. So, this exciting time. So, were you the technologists that put the code together or you were kind of the subject matter expert as a CPA or both?

Saurav Bhandari: [00:05:41] So, the beauty of it is I was both. So, my previous background is with Home Depot on finance, accounting, and analytics. So, I’ve been on the FP&A, so it’s a decade worth of experience of mine as a CPA and in supply chain, all of this analytic stuff that I did for Home Depot and HCA combined into the platform. So, it’s just not an accounting platform, it’s also an FP&A tool. So, it has a built-in plan manager where they can review the budget and plans with their investors. And what that does, it just keeps you in check.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:17] Sure.

Saurav Bhandari: [00:06:17] So, you don’t have to lay off 20% of your workforce next year.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:20] Like surprise.

Saurav Bhandari: [00:06:22] Yes.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:22] Now, how has it been? Are you still at Home Depot now or in this side hustle or are you all in on this now?

Saurav Bhandari: [00:06:28] Oh, I’m like all in and more of it. So my life, everything is in it already.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:35] So, what was that transition like going from a big corporate entity, like at Home Depot for so long, and then now this is your own thing? This is — you’re in charge. The buck stops with you.

Saurav Bhandari: [00:06:45] Yes, it was — so with Home Depot, I was on a leadership position as well. So, I had all of the responsibilities. But I — it was that itch. I would — I’ve always wanted to build a software. And there were bigger problems that I could solve but when I started getting into Atlanta Tech Village. And — because I started — as a side hustle, I started CPA firm, which I — as soon as I got in, I realized, alright, there are issues with this industry. And it’s a century-old industry. $140 billion industry that has not been disrupted. It’s currently going through disruption but not a disruption that ArboHQ can bring.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:25] Right, like — and QuickBooks isn’t really a disruption.

Saurav Bhandari: [00:07:28] Quickbooks is the —

Lee Kantor: [00:07:31] It’s a tool that you know, maybe is an updated tool.

Saurav Bhandari: [00:07:34] Yes.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:34] But it’s still kind of the same system, right?

Saurav Bhandari: [00:07:36] Yes, it’s the same system that’s very slow. So, one of the biggest thing that got me started on building the accounting software myself is because Amazon has been in existence since a long time now.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:51] Right.

Saurav Bhandari: [00:07:52] And you could not integrate Amazon Marketplace with QuickBooks until 2021. Can you believe that?.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:58] And that’s probably over 20 years —

Saurav Bhandari: [00:08:00] Yes.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:00] — that Amazon was in business –.

Saurav Bhandari: [00:08:01] Yes.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:02] — before that happened.

Saurav Bhandari: [00:08:02] Exactly. Now, they’ve figured it out and started, like, doing things a little differently, but it’s a pain point for the CPAs themselves to use. But they don’t have any other options. They have — the second option is Xero, which is the UI is — I’m not a big fan of their UI. So, there’s no hands-off approach.

Saurav Bhandari: [00:08:24] There’s one approach which is Bench. So, Bench is our closest competition because it’s — so instead of DIY, they focus on DIFM.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:33] Right.

Saurav Bhandari: [00:08:33] Which is, do it for me. So, we’re taking the similar approach with our software. But Bench is, again, it’s just like QuickBooks, it’s for small business, it’s for, like, Mom and Pop shops.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:44] Right, it’s not specializing the startups.

Saurav Bhandari: [00:08:47] Yes, it’s — it does not specialize on tech startups. And if once — and it does not do accrual accounting. And you have — another closest competition is Pilot. But Pilot is super expensive because they’ve already grown. They don’t care about startups.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:02] Yes, and I’m sure you can’t start for free.

Saurav Bhandari: [00:09:05] Exactly. You cannot start with Pilot for free. It cost an arm and a leg. And they do not have their own software. They just have a fancy UI on top of QuickBooks, which isn’t actually disrupting the company or disrupting the industry.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:20] So, now if somebody wants to learn more about ArboHQ, where do they go?

Saurav Bhandari: [00:09:25] They can go to arboHQ.com. See for themselves. We have a screenshot of what the dashboard is going to look like. It’s going to look like the same, or even better once you log in because it takes time for us to update the front manning page. And — or they can check us out in Apps Store, hopefully, by end of this week because we launched it. It takes some time for it to go through the app stores.

Saurav Bhandari: [00:09:48] But web app is completely functional. It’s fully functional, secure, no issues there. And they can also reach out to me on LinkedIn — connect with me on LinkedIn, on Instagram. No Facebook, because we clearly realize at first, like, our market is not in Facebook.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:08] Sure, and look —

Saurav Bhandari: [00:10:08] So, we’re not Facebook.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:09] — if you’re a pre-revenue startup, there’s no reason not to check you out, right?

Saurav Bhandari: [00:10:15] Yes, exactly.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:15] Like every pre-revenue startup should be checking out ArboHQ.

Saurav Bhandari: [00:10:17] Exactly. Exactly. And it’s for free.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:20] Right.

Saurav Bhandari: [00:10:20] You cannot beat that. Nobody in this world can beat that.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:24] Right. All right. So, that’s arbohq.com to learn more.

Saurav Bhandari: [00:10:29] Yes, it’s A-R-B-O-H-Q which stands for Arbo Headquarters.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:34] All right. Well, thank you so much for sharing your story today.

Saurav Bhandari: [00:10:37] Thank you so much.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:39] All right.

Saurav Bhandari: [00:10:39] Thank you for having me here.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:40] We’ll be back in a few with — at Fintech South 2022.

Outro: [00:10:52] This episode has been brought to you by Atlanta Blockchain Center, the catalyst for Atlanta’s emergence as the premier blockchain innovation hub globally through cultivating entrepreneurship, inclusivity, and education. To learn more, go to atlblockchaincenter.com.

 

Fintech South 2022 is a world-class summit with its nexus in Atlanta live and in-person, a global financial technology hub that is home to more than 200 fintech companies. The top 15 public fintech companies in Georgia alone generate more than $100 billion in revenues.

Fintech South 2022: Rodrigo Dantas E Silva with EY

by

Rodrigo-Dantas-E-Silva
Atlanta Business Radio
Fintech South 2022: Rodrigo Dantas E Silva with EY
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Atlanta-Blockchain-Center-Sponsor-v2

Rodrigo-Dantas-E-SilvaRodrigo Dantas E Silva, EY

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:08] Broadcasting live from the Georgia World Congress Center for Fintech South 2022. It’s time for Atlanta Business Radio. Brought to you by Atlanta Blockchain Center. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:28] Lee Kantor here back at Fintech South 2022. So excited to be talking to Rodrigo Dantas who is the chair of Fintech South. Welcome, Rodrigo.

Rodrigo Dantas e Silva: [00:00:39] Thank you. How are you, Lee?

Lee Kantor: [00:00:40] I am doing well. So excited to be back in person at Fintech South. I remember the days at the stadium just across the way, so it’s great to see all these folks in person. It must be a joy for you too to leave the Zoom’s little boxes and into the real world.

Rodrigo Dantas e Silva: [00:00:57] It definitely is. So, we can see some of the happiest faces ever, right, and just by walking the halls and talking to people.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:05] Yes, I haven’t shaken this many hands in a long time.

Rodrigo Dantas e Silva: [00:01:08] That’s great. Yes, it’s a good feeling.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:10] So, now, tell us a little bit about Fintech South. What’s kind of the State of the Union?

Rodrigo Dantas e Silva: [00:01:16] Yes, I think this year, we not only wanted to do the Fintech conference, but we wanted to try to touch what we believe are some of the most strategic issues and matters in the industry. So, we’ve been able to define the three major tracks, our pillars, if you want, of themes for the conference and being able to touch on one side all of the digital transformations related to the metaverse, the revolution of the Web 3 and all the opportunities that come out of that. Then, the other sea level conversation that’s very relevant has to do with everything related to inclusion, and it comes from diversity, but it also goes to financial inclusion and how the Fintechs play a role in that. And then, not forgetting the traditional discussion on, you know, disrupting or changing or, you know, molding the financial services industry through Fintechs. So, I think we were able to organize a conference around these three major themes, and it’s been a really high-quality dialog around all of those.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:19] So, now, you have the education component, obviously, in the panels and all the stuff that’s going on. And then, you have the innovation challenges where you have, you know, the startups and seeing that come together. Are you seeing the level of collaboration and cooperation between the enterprise level folks and the startup and the younger folks? Are you seeing some of that come together and seeing some of the fruits of that effort?

Rodrigo Dantas e Silva: [00:02:42] DDefinitely, indeed. So, as you know, I’m chairing the conference this year, but I’m a partner with UI. And it’s interesting because we have been working a lot exactly on that matter. And people ask me, OK, why are you working with Fintech? And then, what’s your UI’s interest in the Fintech space? So, there are many angles for that. But definitely, one of the angles is exactly to be building that bridge. Many of our larger corporations, they want to know more of what’s going on in the Fintech world and they want to know who are the cool ones, the most innovative ones, and who are the ones that better fit their strategies. So, allowing or enabling that connection to be made is definitely an important component in the conference. Like this one is a speed dating opportunity to build those bridges, right?

Lee Kantor: [00:03:37] This is a linchpin event when it comes to that type of a bridge, right? Because this is where you have that combination of folks all in one place.

Rodrigo Dantas e Silva: [00:03:45] That’s very true. And TAG, the Technology Association of Georgia, has that as an important component of its mission, right? And it’s funny, just by looking at the banner of the sponsors here and you see that, right, from the platinum level to the bronze level, you see exactly that. You know, bigger corporations up there, smaller corporations on the other levels. But everybody wants to — wanting to be part of it.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:13] Right. Now, coming from Atlanta, where there are so many different types of industry. And Fintech is an important component of that economic ecosystem that we have here. Some industries seem a little faster to be partnering with startups and creating kind of an ecosystem where they can share information, get to know each other, do deals, maybe, you know, invest a little bit in smaller companies so they have a chance to see what they can be or not be, right? In the Fintech world, we want to be the capital of Fintech, obviously, in the US and the globe, but I think we need more of that. I’m getting a lot of — I’m hearing it from the folks that I’m interviewing here, that a lot of the smaller folks are saying, I wish there was more from the enterprise level. Is there more that can be done in order to create that level of collaboration so that, you know, the rising tide lifts all the boats?

Rodrigo Dantas e Silva: [00:05:08] Definitely, indeed. And that’s a great question, Lee, because it opens up another component. And I do think that Atlanta is uniquely — and Georgia, but it’s uniquely positioned to drive that collaboration to the next level because of the relevance of the payment’s industry here in this region. I do believe that payments is the conduit through which the traditional financial services industry’s boarders are being redefined and —

Lee Kantor: [00:05:38] And it is being redefined because this is an old industry. You know, finance has been around for a minute, you know. But now, finance means so many different things. It’s expanded. Like, at one point, technology — you know, being a tech firm was something. Now, everybody’s a tech firm. And somebody earlier said, now, soon everyone’s going to be a Fintech firm.

Rodrigo Dantas e Silva: [00:05:58] But think about it, when the big tech companies say that they are entering into financial services. If you think of Apple, Google, Amazon, whomever, or even not only technology companies, but when companies say that they are entering financial services, they are not really stepping into right away lending. You know, they are firstly stepping into payments.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:18] Right. I’ll take payment.

Rodrigo Dantas e Silva: [00:06:19] Exactly. So, the payments is that conduit. And that’s why I believe Atlanta being the payments hub that it is and in Georgia being the payments hub that it is and having, you know, a more intentional focus on driving that transformation is where the opportunity really is.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:37] Right. There has to be kind of an opening of the eyes and a widening of the perspective of what this Fintech means and how there’s different ways to touch it and the opportunity that comes with that.

Rodrigo Dantas e Silva: [00:06:50] I definitely agree.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:52] So, now, how — like what are the conversations you’re having? I’m sure you’re having conversations with the companies that the largest level, the largest companies here in town. Are they seeing that or are they still hesitant? Because, you know, it’s a risk averse industry. I mean, it has to be in some ways.

Rodrigo Dantas e Silva: [00:07:06] I think everybody’s seen that this despite of the fact that some are saying and some are not.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:12] Right.

Rodrigo Dantas e Silva: [00:07:12] Everyone has seen the transformation going on. And to some of them, this is a madness. To some of them, there’s an opportunity. And, you know, everybody is seeing, and some are saying some or not, but definitely wanting to weigh in and double down on the understanding so that you can position yourself to be the winner of the new dynamics. Because whatever is the recipe that brought you here is definitely not the one that will take you there.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:40] Right. And you have to kind of lean into this because you don’t know what’s next.

Rodrigo Dantas e Silva: [00:07:45] Indeed. So, there are a few there are few things. I mean, no one knows what’s next, right. But there’s definitely some transformative elements being dropped down out there. And I do believe, you know, that the more pervasive dynamics of instant payments, that’s starting to happen and that will happen even further as Fed now is launched, enabling all the community banks and all of the — you know, the players in the ecosystem to participate in that. This will unleash a whole new number of products and applications and needs of transformation. So, I think we might not know exactly what’s next.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:28] There are some breadcrumbs.

Rodrigo Dantas e Silva: [00:08:29] But there are some — exactly. There are some hints.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:31] So, now, are you like — I think there’s around 400-ish Fintech companies in Georgia now.

Rodrigo Dantas e Silva: [00:08:38] Yes, around there.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:39] And are you bullish on this? Are you seeing more and more? Is it a combination of people coming from other areas saying, oh, I’m going to plant a flag here in Georgia? Or is it just some of these larger companies spinning off smaller companies and a lot of these people who are working in those larger entities going, hey, I’m going to do my own thing here?

Rodrigo Dantas e Silva: [00:09:00] I see some of that. You know, the spinoff from larger. I don’t think that that specifically is going to increase too much. I do think, though, there are two other movements that we can already feel. One, you’ve mentioned, you know, people or companies or startups coming from other geographies to Georgia because of many reasons, right. But, you know, the logistics, the environment, you know, and actually, you know, the amazing work that’s been done on the talent side here in Georgia by my friend, Tommy, and some others. But definitely, you know, having the talent pool here, it’s very competitive, but maybe not as dramatically fierce as some other places. That’s one of the components. But also, I believe, as people start to realize that, that this is an important hub of transformation and can become an even more important hub for a startup environment, we also are — we are also seeing a flow and/or a convergence of the venture capital firms and all of that dynamics also picking up. So, I do believe that there’s no there’s no venture capitalist today in this country that would think of Fintech without having Atlanta as an important part of its strategy.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:26] Right. I remember doing the Fintech South a few years ago and there were people from all over the world were coming in and they were saying, oh, I’m going to a big Fintech conference in America. And they were like, oh, where’s it at, New York or California? And they’re like, no, it’s in Atlanta. And it’s like —

Rodrigo Dantas e Silva: [00:10:44] Yes. Atlanta is a reality for that already. And, you know, I am — you might have already figured from my accent, right? I’m not a native.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:52] It sound like Smyrna. Right? Not Smyrna?

Rodrigo Dantas e Silva: [00:10:55] It’s almost like that, just a little further south, right? I’m originally from Brazil. I moved — UI moved me here five years ago because of the relevance of Atlanta for the payments industry and the Fintech industry. So, they got me, you know, from 1,000 miles south.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:16] South, right.

Rodrigo Dantas e Silva: [00:11:16] And brought to this place, not New York, not San Francisco, not everywhere else. I mean, Atlanta. That was the ask. And I think it was the right move. And it’s been a great journey.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:28] A great journey for you. And thank you so much for your leadership when it comes to this event. It’s so important to this city. It’s so important to the state to have an event like this, to celebrate the work that’s being done and to educate the folks that are in the community of all that can be.

Rodrigo Dantas e Silva: [00:11:45] No, my pleasure. And thank you for the opportunity to be here.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:48] Now, if somebody wants to learn more about Fintech South, obviously, they’re going to learn more about what’s happening here currently, but if in the future they want to attend a future Fintech South, is there a central website for Fintech South?

Rodrigo Dantas e Silva: [00:12:00] It couldn’t be easier than fintechsouth.com. That’s it.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:04] Well, Rodrigo, thank you again for sharing your story. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Rodrigo Dantas e Silva: [00:12:08] Oh, my pleasure. Thank you for the opportunity.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:09] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll be back in a few at Fintech South 2022.

Outro: [00:12:21] This episode has been brought to you by Atlanta Blockchain Center, the catalyst for Atlanta’s emergence as the Premier Blockchain Innovation Hub globally, through cultivating entrepreneurship, inclusivity, and education. To learn more, go to atlblockchaincenter.com.

 

Fintech South 2022 is a world-class summit with its nexus in Atlanta live and in-person, a global financial technology hub that is home to more than 200 fintech companies. The top 15 public fintech companies in Georgia alone generate more than $100 billion in revenues.

Fintech South 2022: Robert Daniel with ATDC

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Robert-Daniel
ATDC Radio
Fintech South 2022: Robert Daniel with ATDC
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Atlanta-Blockchain-Center-Sponsor-v2

Robert-DanielRobert Daniel, Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC)

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:07] Broadcasting live from the Georgia World Congress Center for Fintech South 2022. It’s time for Atlanta Business Radio. Brought to you by Atlanta Blockchain Center. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:27] Lee Kantor here back at Fintech South 2022. So excited to be talking to Robert Daniel with ATDC. He’s the FinTech Catalyst. Welcome, Robert.

Robert Daniel: [00:00:36] Welcome. It’s great to be here.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:38] Well, tell us — for the people who don’t know, tell us a little bit about ATDC and your role as FinTech Catalyst.

Robert Daniel: [00:00:48] Yes, I’d love to. ATDC has been around for 40 years. We’re an incubator in Atlanta, state funded. So, our goal is to really produce some fantastic startups that are coming out of ATDC, the incubator that really impact the Georgia economy. So, we’re looking for companies anywhere from, hey, I have an idea and I’m trying to figure out how to get this off the ground, all the way up to, hey, I need to raise Series A and find that next growth trajectory.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:16] And then, do you mind sharing, if you know, some of the kind of superstar companies that have come out of ATDC? I think this is one of those best kept secrets. Unless you are kind of in the know, you may not be aware of how important ATDC has been to some of the biggest startups here in Georgia.

Robert Daniel: [00:01:35] I think that’s the key. There’s a lot of unicorns that have popped up. We’ve had 13 unicorns over the past eight years. We’ve been fortunate to see Rob from Kabbage. He was up on stage earlier. He’s one of the unicorns, green light, green sky flocked — flock safety. There’s just some phenomenal companies that are coming out of there, and we’d love to hear more of those successes. I think 90% of our signature’s companies graduate with a certain amount of success. Obviously, we’d love to see more unicorns, but they really feed the Atlanta economic — or ecosystem a little better that way because that money keeps pouring back into talent and you have some more startups, just like Rob is starting to keep now. So, you have follow-on companies just like that.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:22] Right. They have a successful exit and then, they — fortunately, for the folks here in Georgia, they decide to stay here in Georgia instead of going to some island somewhere and, you know, going to the beach all day.

Robert Daniel: [00:02:34] And that’s what we need to see more of. And that’s what I’m excited about. We’re starting to see more and more of that in the ecosystem here. And that’s going to create more opportunity all around.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:44] Now, at ATDC, like you said, you can be a student, you can be young. It’s for any part of kind of the life cycle of a startup, right? It’s not just for people who are funded. It’s not just for super technologists. You can be a non-technical founder. There’s a place for you to learn to kind of just educate yourself about how to be a leader or how to get involved in the startup community. It is — you don’t have to have this fully baked to participate at some of the work that’s happening at ATDC.

Robert Daniel: [00:03:20] That’s correct. We have a staff of about 30 people. I’m one of them. I’m the FinTech Catalyst. So, my job is to focus on the Fintech vertical. We’ve got a program for that. We’ve also got a supply chain vertical. We’ve got robotics. We’ve got health tech. We’ve got kind of the ESG focus and sustainability. So, the coaches are there to help get you through that, you know, product market fit, customer discovery, all the way up to how do you find partnerships? We’ll help you try to connect into people and leverage our connections as well as who are the angel investors or who are the venture capitalists we need to talk to. That’s our role to kind of connect the dots there and make those opportunities happen.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:03] So, it doesn’t matter what stage you’re at, there’s a place for you at ATDC. And that’s important for people to understand. And the fees there are minimal and sometimes nothing.

Robert Daniel: [00:04:15] That’s exactly correct. Our lowest membership is — our lowest dollar denominated membership is the Educate platform, which is fantastic because there’s a lot of training and around — especially customer discovery, which you need to know to get off the ground. And then, there’s other opportunities to connect with how do you leverage grants for some of our startups there? So, having that education platform is so critical for a lot of people who have never gone through this program before. They’re interested in startups. They have an interesting idea, but they might not be either technically savvy with a lot of the coding, or they might not be able to understand what goes into being a great entrepreneur. We’ll help teach that. We’ll help get you off the ground, and then we’ll make those connections as you progress through the various different memberships.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:02] So, what’s your back story? Did you come from a startup? Did you come from technology into the — you’ve been in Fintech your career and decided to get involved with a ATDC to give back? Like, what’s your back story?

Robert Daniel: [00:05:15] Yes, my back story is a bit interesting. I don’t have a startup behind me. When I originally graduated from Georgia Tech in 2001, wanted to get into startups. Not the best time during the recession. And at that point in time, you saw a lot of companies being pulled away from Georgia. I went into more of a traditional finance. I went into hedge funds until 2008, which was a different time.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:38] Timing is everything for you.

Robert Daniel: [00:05:39] Timing is everything. And then, for the past six years, I’ve been working in New York at a company that was kind of consulting and also producing events. We’d talk about best practices in the banking and payments and Fintech space. So, really learn what the best operations were and wanted to leverage that when the pandemic hit to really come back to Atlanta and make an impact here. I was looking for purpose in my life. I saw that the startups were actually now staying in Atlanta and the ecosystem here was amazing. Got involved with TAG, the TAG FinTech society. And just the support kind of pulled me back in and said, I need to be here. I want to be part of this. And the growth that we’re — we’ve yet to see in Atlanta. I mean, it’s phenomenal, but there’s a lot more coming and you just want to be a part of it.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:27] Now, for folks who, you know, maybe haven’t worked in the New York environment that you did for the years, can you kind of just shed a little light on what it’s like there as opposed to here? Like, what are some of the — you know, there’s obviously trade-offs. What are some of the good and the bad and the ugly of the difference between New York and Atlanta?

Robert Daniel: [00:06:49] Wow. There’s — that’s — I think about that quite often. New York is very fast. It’s fast paced. You have to get the things going very quickly, especially when you’re in finance. Hedge funds, you’re trading down to the second. In a way, I feel like that sometimes happens in the in the startup ecosystem. You have to get things moving. You have to build a product —

Lee Kantor: [00:07:13] Action first, right? You got to take action.

Robert Daniel: [00:07:16] Yes, action. And you see that. But I think in New York, it’s a bit different. We were moving so quickly and sometimes it’s a little more gruff. The hospitality down in Atlanta is amazing. The networks that I see down here, you say, I need help, and people are like, oh, you need to talk to this person or you need to get involved —

Lee Kantor: [00:07:34] It’s very collaborative?

Robert Daniel: [00:07:35] Oh, yes. I had somebody who was saying, you need to be part of the technology executive roundtable. You need to get involved with TAG. You need to get involved with Fintech Atlanta. So, all of a sudden, it just weaves together a lot quicker. So, you have that support system. And I think that is — that’s the really power of Atlanta.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:55] That’s a secret sauce?

Robert Daniel: [00:07:56] It is the secret sauce. It’s the Southern hospitality.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:59] Right. And the relationships, to me, it’s very collaborative. Everybody’s kind of trying to help everybody. It’s not as — they don’t treat every relationship as precious, and I’m going to keep this from you because I need this information for myself.

Robert Daniel: [00:08:13] It’s all about the ecosystem and how can we build that up? You know, I was at Atlanta Blockchain Center and somebody said, well, you know, you have at ATDC, ATV, you know, Atlanta Blockchain Center and Ali over at ATV, she said, but we’re all here to support the ecosystem. We’re all here to see how we can work together and build that.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:33] Right.

Robert Daniel: [00:08:33] Because it’s —

Lee Kantor: [00:08:33] It’s not a zero-sum game?

Robert Daniel: [00:08:35] It’s not. And it’s more important to help everybody around us and produce more of those unicorns.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:53] Right.

Robert Daniel: [00:08:53] Because it gives back to the community in a way that affects our culture, it affects diversity, it affects education and our economic viability.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:53] Well, if somebody wants to get involved with a ATDC, what is the coordinates? What’s the best way to get a hold of you or somebody on your team?

Robert Daniel: [00:09:00] I’m available on LinkedIn or you, R. E. Daniel. Just look for R.E.D. That’s my initials. So, everybody usually calls me Red. I’m available on Twitter and, you know, just reach out to me.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:12] And ATDC.org? Is that the website?

Robert Daniel: [00:09:15] It’s at ATDC.org. You can’t miss it.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:17] All right. Well, thank you so much for doing what you do. It’s important and we appreciate you.

Robert Daniel: [00:09:22] It’s my pleasure.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:23] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll be back in a few at Fintech South 2022.

Outro: [00:09:35] This episode has been brought to you by Atlanta Blockchain Center. The catalyst for Atlanta’s emergence as the Premier Blockchain Innovation Hub globally, through cultivating entrepreneurship, inclusivity and education. To learn more, go to atlblockchaincenter.com.

 

Fintech South 2022 is a world-class summit with its nexus in Atlanta live and in-person, a global financial technology hub that is home to more than 200 fintech companies. The top 15 public fintech companies in Georgia alone generate more than $100 billion in revenues.

Fintech South 2022: Peter Cresse with RightData

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Peter-Cresse
Atlanta Business Radio
Fintech South 2022: Peter Cresse with RightData
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Atlanta-Blockchain-Center-Sponsor-v2

Peter-CressePeter Cresse, RightData

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:08] Broadcasting live from the Georgia World Congress Center for Fintech South 2022. It’s time for Atlanta Business Radio. Brought to you by Atlanta Blockchain Center. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:28] Lee Kantor here back at Fintech South 2022. So, excited to be talking to Peter Cresse with RightData. Welcome, Peter.

Peter Cresse: [00:00:36] Hey, thanks, Lee. Nice to be here.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:37] Well, before we get too far into things, tell us a little bit about RightData. How are you serving folks?

Peter Cresse: [00:00:42] Well, we’re in the exciting area of data infrastructure, and I say that lightly. But data infrastructure people are behind the scenes, making data available for applications and machine learning. So, it’s exciting area.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:54] So, what’s the genesis of the idea? How did it come about?

Peter Cresse: [00:00:58] Well, the senior vice president of Bank of America had an idea and a vision when he was managing a massive organization, and that was to make data more accessible and trustable. And then, he evolve that into a deeper workflow for the modern data stack. A lot of buzzwords to say, can my data be better and faster so I can learn from it? And he quit his job, started this. And now, we’re on our way with a bigger startup, with our funding.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:23] So, now, you got funding? That’s what you’re at right now, you got some funding?

Peter Cresse: [00:01:27] Yeah. So, we just received our Series A from a top company in the United States called Level Equity. And with the Series A Money, we’re going to be investing in huge development as well as, of course, sales and marketing to bring our message to market.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:40] So, now, what’s — the who hires you? Who uses your service?

Peter Cresse: [00:01:46] Well, the – any person that wants to improve and trust their data or get better data workflow. So, any — it’s really not vertical specific, but it’s very applicable to banks, retail, marketing, anybody that really wants to learn on their data and get an edge. By the way, you can organize your data.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:04] So, what are they using now if they’re not using RightData? Are they just kind of winging it?

Peter Cresse: [00:02:08] No, there’s like a history. So, traditionally, we would use a data warehouse, which would bring structured data into a data warehouse. And then, we move to a data lake idea, which would basically put all types of data into a repository. But today, the hottest thing in modern data stack is the data lakehouse. And data lakehouse means is that you can actually bring any data anywhere, process it and manage it and learn at the same place. That’s the new concept.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:37] And that’s the kind of the structure behind RightData? That’s what you’re trying to accomplish?

Peter Cresse: [00:02:41] Yes, we really want to conquer the space in the area of data lakehouse and something called data mesh. It means putting together operational data, transactional data, together with learning data at the same place. And then, you can send it on to a data outcome.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:57] So, now, if I’m a company and I’m using RightData, what kind of new information am I getting? What kind of new insights am I getting?

Peter Cresse: [00:03:04] Exactly. You move your data down the line from just raw data ingestion on a layer. And once it’s ingested, you actually create greater value as you improve it and clean it and then, make it more quality data. And then, you send it on, actually, to the learning or the outcome. That’s why it gets better and better as it moves down the workflow line.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:25] And then, so, I’m able to get these insights faster? I’m able to get more insights than I was previously?

Peter Cresse: [00:03:31] Yes. Because where we’re doing is we’re conquering an area called — it’s kind of esoteric, but it’s called domain-specific learning. So, instead of putting data in a big bucket and learning from it, you actually put it in domains of activity, say customer inventory, customer names, operational names, vendor names. And the domains themself represent the data teams that are trying to learn in those areas. So instead of trying to reach in a big bucket and for the data which is slower, you can actually have the domains do their work, which is faster.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:04] So, it’s the right information and the right place at the right time?

Peter Cresse: [00:04:07] RightData. Yes, exactly. And what’s really cool, Lee, is that you’re able to now collaborate with stakeholders in each domain. So, one team may say, hey, we saw this learning with customer inventory of a product. And another one said, oh, we saw the customer behaviors. Now, they can dialog using the same data set. The biggest problem today is that there’s data duplication. The average duplication is seven times of the same data set is created seven different versions. Today, if we can have one version and people participating, it makes it faster and better collaboration.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:44] And then, is this out in the wild anywhere or is this kind of where — or what stage are you in the evolution of the product?

Peter Cresse: [00:04:50] Oh, we’re ready to go with our dextrose product. And we’re building off the data lakehouse idea, which has been introduced as a framework on the project. So, we aim to conquer that space and the data mesh where we’re learning and processing and managing at the same time. That’s really the inflection point.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:08] So, what do you need more of right now? How can we help?

Peter Cresse: [00:05:11] Well, I think people that should obviously reach out and talk to RightData and just shameless mention of our website, which is getrightdata.com. But we like to dialog with our customers to be, say, what is it that you’re trying to do? And most customers are saying, faster data as we scale and learn better against the data that I have.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:35] So, if they’re having a problem in that area, they can have a conversation with you and kind of explore ways that you can work together?

Peter Cresse: [00:05:42] Yes, specific for them. So, it’s not a custom software, but it’s customizable for their needs. And we’re not a consulting company, we’re a software-based company that were automating this whole process. So, if you want to be faster and learn better and quicker with your data, get RightData is the way to go.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:58] So, now, you’re here at Fintech South. Are you on a panel? Are you exhibiting? What are you trying to get out of Fintech South, networking?

Peter Cresse: [00:06:07] Well, really talking to real-life users and customers and consulting customers here that says, OK, what problems are you trying to solve? And what we’ve learned here is one big thing is that there’s a huge growth in APIs. We work with APIs, Application Programming Interface, in the Fintech area. There’s a lot of overlays on that, but we can do better with the APIs by organizing the data as it feeds back and forth, the APIs. Fintech, to me, is all about the API revolution that’s happening is, we want to participate at that data layer. Again, not super interesting to some, but for data infrastructure people, we’re the people doing the potatoes in the kitchen behind the scenes.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:48] So, now, one more time, the website?

Peter Cresse: [00:06:50] The website is RightData, but it’s called getrightdata.com. And it basically gives tons of information and insight into where we’re going for the future.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:59] Now, if somebody wants to connect with you, is there a LinkedIn? What’s the best way to get a hold of you?

Peter Cresse: [00:07:04] Probably LinkedIn’s OK. Peter Cresse, C-R-E-S-S-E. But there’s plenty of contacts on the website.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:05] On the website?

Peter Cresse: [00:07:05] And quite honestly, we’re a pretty high-tech company that makes it easier for the business user or the data scientists or any stakeholder. So, anybody that really wants to know more, this is kind of the place to go because we’re at the forefront. That’s why Level Equity provided the money because they see a great future in this area for growth.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:29] Good stuff. Well, thank you so much for sharing your story today.

Peter Cresse: [00:07:31] OK. Thanks, Lee.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:33] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll be back in a few at Fintech South 2022.

Outro: [00:07:45] This episode has been brought to you by Atlanta Blockchain Center. The catalyst for Atlanta’s emergence as the Premier Blockchain Innovation Hub globally, through cultivating entrepreneurship, inclusivity, and education. To learn more, go to atlblockchaincenter.com.

 

Fintech South 2022 is a world-class summit with its nexus in Atlanta live and in-person, a global financial technology hub that is home to more than 200 fintech companies. The top 15 public fintech companies in Georgia alone generate more than $100 billion in revenues.

Fintech South 2022: Farrukh Siddiqui with Defynance

by

Farrukh-Siddiqui
Atlanta Business Radio
Fintech South 2022: Farrukh Siddiqui with Defynance
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Atlanta-Blockchain-Center-Sponsor-v2

Farrukh-SiddiquiFarrukh Siddiqui, Defynance

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:08] Broadcasting live from the Georgia World Congress Center for Fintech South 2022, it’s time for Atlanta Business Radio. Brought to you by Atlanta Blockchain Center. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:27] Lee Kantor here broadcasting live from Fintech South 2022. So, excited to be talking to my guests right now. Farrukh Siddiqui with Defynance. Welcome.

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:00:38] Thank you, Lee. Thank you for having me on.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:40] Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about Defynance. How are you serving folks?

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:00:45] Well, we’re tackling a huge problem, which is the student debt crisis here in the United States. So, we’re able to actually refinance student loans with an income-sharing solution. So, we actually take students or ex-students, actually, people who have left school, who have existing student debt, out of debt into a more favorable income sharing solution, which means we’re able to pay off their student loans. Giving them an immediate credit boost. Tie their payments to their income.

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:01:13] So, they’re always protected, especially in a downturn where if their income goes down or they become unemployed. We actually pause their payments. We don’t ding their credit or chase after them or charge late fees. We actually do the opposite. We help them find a job through our curated resources for career, such as career counselors, recruiters, upskilled resources, et cetera.

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:01:33] And then we also have a fund for investors who deploy capital. We use that money to refinance these student loans. And give investors a fixed income type of return with low volatility, passive income quarterly. But investors also make a great impact by getting people out of debt.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:50] So, what was the genesis of the idea? How did this come about?

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:01:54] Well, I kind of experienced the financial crisis in many different levels.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:58] So, you had a student loan?

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:01:58] No, I had a business at that time, tied to Wall Street. So, it basically crashed and burned. And I quickly discovered, as an insider, how much of this was caused by our own, you know, self-inflicted wounds, essentially, right.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:13] Right.

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:02:13] So, it really became a passion to work on, you know, like with Defynance, our goal is to beautify finances, to make it better, and to level the playing field. Aligns the goals of the consumer with the financial companies. And that’s what we’re trying to do now with Defynance and with the solution.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:30] So, how did you connect the dots between and say, OK. I’m going to go with student loans. I’m going to throw investors in the loop here. I got — there’s a few moving parts here that aren’t usually connected together.

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:02:41] It took some time. Things, you know, they take the time to evolve. But after the financial crisis, I have to recover from that. I worked with Lexington Insurance Company for a few years. Working on like a different type of an insurance product.

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:02:53] And then eventually about three years ago, I really wanted to kind of get back into — in the startup scene again and really focus on the next big problem. And I started researching various aspects of financial services. And this thing just — all of a sudden I’m like, student debt has been around forever.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:09] Right.

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:03:09] But what has it become now? And then, you know, how it is, right? When you find something and all of a sudden it starts popping up all around you.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:16] Right, now you see it.

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:03:16] You see it everywhere. So, I’m looking at my family, my friends, and so many people struggling with this issue, and it just became this huge passion to try to solve this. And I didn’t really see — even now, I don’t see how the situation is getting better. We’re talking about debt forgiveness, this and that. But the underlying problems have to be dealt with.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:33] Right. That’s one — forgiving the debt is great for the people you’re forgiving the debt for. But in five or 10 years, like you haven’t fixed anything.

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:03:41] Exactly.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:41] The problem is going to bubble up again. So, but — you’re — it sounds like you’re connecting dots in a way that haven’t been connected before. You’re putting people together or groups together that maybe hadn’t necessarily thought to combine forces and join forces to help kind of the greater good here.

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:03:56] Yes, yes. Let’s talk about investors, right? Like we’ve basically turned income into an investable asset. So, for the first time, an investor can actually invest in the American workforce and the earning power of the great American workforce.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:09] Right.

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:04:09] And that’s something that, at least, to my knowledge has not been done before. So, yes, I think like you’re saying, we are connecting some dots that we feel it’s a very new concept. But it’s a much-needed concept. And it makes a lot of sense because, you know, growing up in the ’80s, right, the greed is good, Wall Street culture —

Lee Kantor: [00:04:27] Right.

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:04:27] — that we had in those days. Where now it’s so much different. And I really commend the younger generations for really focusing on social responsibility, on finding purpose, living with purpose. And now we want to work with purpose, too, right? So that’s what we’re trying to do.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:40] And then what is the biggest challenge of when you have these disparate groups with their own kind of objectives? How are you kind of focusing them all on this true north?

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:04:52] Well, because ultimately what you have to — it has to make sense for both sides. So, we have to have a competitive product for the person that’s refinancing. So, we need to make sure that, you know, we’re competing with the refinancing lenders and all those. And for the investors, the same thing, right. We have to offer them something that ultimately we want to prove that this is an investable asset and our fund makes sense to an investor whether they care about making an impact or not, right.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:17] Right, it has to —

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:05:18] Because if that —

Lee Kantor: [00:05:18] — has to check that box.

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:05:20] — yes, it has to stand up on.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:20] For sure.

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:05:20] Yes, exactly, for the first and foremost. So, for us, impact is icing on the cake. It is not the cake.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:25] Right.

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:05:25] Right.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:26] Yes, so the why and the mission that is — it’s not relevant for everybody, but it is relevant for some people.

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:05:34] But, hopefully, if you do it right, you know, people are contributing to that mission.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:37] Right, everybody wins. It doesn’t matter.

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:05:39] Yes, exactly.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:39] It’s helping anyway. So, how are you attacking Fintech South? Like, what’s your objective here? Are you a sponsor? Are you listening to the panelists? Are you going to these things, networking? Like, what was your intention of coming here?

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:05:51] We were fortunate enough to be one of the innovation challenge companies, seven companies that got a chance to sort of pitch. So, that’s how we — I mean, I’ve known of the conference, of course. But — so, we — we’ve — we’re here as one of those seven companies. So, we were able to kind of do a pitch last — yesterday for investors downstairs.

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:06:08] And then now we’re just here networking, meeting people, getting the word out. Our solution is fully live. As of about a month ago, the fund was the last thing that we launched.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:19] Right.

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:06:19] So, now, you know, we’re in go-to-market mode and sales mode.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:22] So, what do you need more of? How can we help?

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:06:24] Well, obviously, we need investors for — we have a pipeline of $12 million of people that have already applied to refinance student loans. So, we feel — obviously, there’s a big need there. People that are —

Lee Kantor: [00:06:33] Obviously. Right.

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:06:34] — already going outside. But now we need investors to become aware of what’s going on with us and the great opportunity. And we also feel like with the way the investment climate has changed this year, right, the stock market, kind of, going into this bear territory. Crypto coming off its run that’s been going on for a while. Interest rates going up, so bond yields are decreasing.

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:06:55] Well, imagine, you know, what we’re doing is not pegged to any of those things.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:59] Right.

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:06:59] People are, like, unemployment is so low right now, we’re investing in people’s earning potential.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:03] In people, right.

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:07:03] People are working. And data shows that even during recessionary times, incomes are still stable and growing. So — and our core expertise is we’re underwriters, we’re risk people. We know how to underwrite people and assess someone’s individual risk. And we’ve developed our own algorithm and underwriting criteria for doing that.

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:07:21] So, I think investors can rest assured that we know how to do that part of it. And the more we can get capital into our fund, we can create diversity — in our fund as well, diversification fund, different types of people. And really, over time, build a scalable solution that can withstand different economic climates.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:40] So, now walk me through from that student, you know, former student, what they go on the website, what happens?

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:07:47] Yes, they go to our website. There’s an apply option there. They go, sign up to our portal, fill out their application, apply. We give them a quote, so they can decide between a five-year income sharing versus — up to 15 years, whatever goal they want to accomplish. Whether they want to end it soon or they want to lower their payments for a longer period of time. So, they select the option that they want then they get prequalified. And as we’re getting investor capital in, we’re going to start doing more and more deals.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:15] So, now when the student comes through, you’re vetting them, like if they’re a computer science major, then that’s — everybody’s like, oh, this one for sure, right? But what if they’re like a marketing major, you know, or like something that their future isn’t as stable. Maybe as somebody that is in a kind of a sure thing. Like if you’re a computer science, the unemployment rate for that is negative.

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:08:41] Yes. I mean, we want to find people — I’m going to give you a general statement, with stable, growing income streams, right. With — even if unemployment may be high, as long as we’re able to predict it and sort of price it in, it’s OK.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:58] Right.

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:08:59] It’s going to happen as part of life. Unemployment is going to happen.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:02] Sure.

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:09:02] So, it’s about being able to predict future income and having that data to do that effectively. So, we can fund a marketing major, we can fund a teacher, we can fund a psychologist, a doctor, a lawyer. But, yes, somebody who’s just starting in a sales job with high commissions, that’s tough.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:16] Right, exactly.

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:09:17] Because of that, the income is volatile. We have to be careful with that.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:19] Right.

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:09:20] But if the income is like W-2 income, 1099 income, they have a work history that shows how they’ve done in their career. So, it’s not — we don’t even have to rely on their education background as much. If they worked for five, six years, we can see how they’ve done. What role they’re in in the company.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:34] Right

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:09:34] All of that goes into our algorithm to help calculate that. So, you’d be surprised how many people we can fund if we have the right kind of information and data to go off of.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:42] Well, it sounds exciting, and congratulations on the momentum that you have thus far.

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:09:47] Thank you so much, Lee. Appreciate it.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:48] And if somebody wants to learn more on both sides of, I guess, the marketplace, where should they go? What’s the website?

Farrukh Siddiqui: [00:09:53] Simple, deynance.com, D-E-F-Y-N-A-N-C-E.com, they can actually go to apply there. There’s also an investor tab there which takes them to the separate website for investors because this is dedicated site. And that site is called ISA Credit Fund, isacreditfund.com.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:12] All right. Well, thank you again for sharing your story. You’re doing important work, and we appreciate you.

Speaker3: [00:10:16] Thank you for having me.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:17] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll be back in a few at Fintech South 2022.

Outro: [00:10:29] This episode has been brought to you by Atlanta Blockchain Center, the catalyst for Atlanta’s emergence as the premier blockchain innovation hub globally, through cultivating entrepreneurship, inclusivity, and education. To learn more, go to atlblockchaincenter.com.

 

Fintech South 2022 is a world-class summit with its nexus in Atlanta live and in-person, a global financial technology hub that is home to more than 200 fintech companies. The top 15 public fintech companies in Georgia alone generate more than $100 billion in revenues.

Fintech South 2022: Damian Tanenbaum with Blankfactor 

by

Damian-Tanenbaum
Atlanta Business Radio
Fintech South 2022: Damian Tanenbaum with Blankfactor 
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Atlanta-Blockchain-Center-Sponsor-v2

Damian-TanenbaumDamian Tanenbaum, Blankfactor 

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:08] Broadcasting live from the Georgia World Congress Center for Fintech South 2022, it’s time for Atlanta Business Radio. Brought to you by Atlanta Blockchain Center. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:27] Lee Kantor here broadcasting live from Fintech South 2022. I’m so excited to be talking to Damian Tanenbaum with Blankfactor and it’s not just because he brought gifts. Damian, welcome.

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:00:41] Well, thank you very much. Pleasure to be here.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:43] How did you guys come up with socks as the giveaway?

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:00:46] Oh, man. They’re sexy, man. You got to look good. Socks are incredible. They go with everything. Everybody has to wear them, so mind as well give them away.

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:00:53] Good choice. Good choice. Well, tell us a little bit about Blankfactor. How are you serving folks?

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:00:58] We are engineering the future. So, we offer software engineers in both near-shore and offshore, and of course local and the U.S.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:07] So, how did you get into this line of work?

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:01:09] Oh, man. Well, I’ve been in Fintech for almost 30 years, so I understand everything that both the banks and the Fintech companies need.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:15] Right.

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:01:16] And so, our job at Blankfactor is to offer engineers that can help connect the two, whether it’s integrations, front ends, back end developers, user interface, you know, whatever it is from a design side. We offer project managers, people that can get involved and understand the industry, which is key, right? So, it’s not just being great at being a software engineer.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:35] Right.

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:01:35] But it’s understanding the Fintech space.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:37] And then the talent shortage that’s everywhere in this field. How do you find the talent?

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:01:45] Well, we have different sites.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:45] Because they have jobs, right?

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:01:46] Oh, yes.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:46] They’re already working.

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:01:47] Oh, yes. So, it’s a challenge, obviously. But because we have multiple sites, we’re able to kind of balance. So, we have folks in Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Colombia, Argentina, Peru.

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:02:00] So, if we’re having a challenge in one site, we’ll go ahead and, you know, try to shift the work to one of the other sites. And then we’ll focus on our social benefits and, of course, our financial benefits within each site. Figure out what it is to engage the employees to get, you know, do employee referrals. Figuring out what it is, what benefits we have to offer so that we can kind of catch up on the hiring.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:19] Now, if I’m talent, what do I do to stand out so that Damian calls me.

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:02:25] Well, first of all, have a great LinkedIn.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:28] OK.

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:02:29] Be active in your community of software developers, you know, kind of keep an eye out for positions. And then when we call you, answer the phone, be available, respond to LinkedIn messages, respond to our messages and then ask for more information. Right? We want people to be engaged with us. So, it can be as, you know, ask us the right questions. Do I have to come to work each day? What benefits do you offer? Will you pay for my gym membership, right? Because we want to employ for the part of this.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:56] So, there’s no dumb questions when it comes to this because you want to get as best fit as you possibly can. And you want to make sure the match is good, right?

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:03:04] Oh, for sure. For sure. I mean, my job as chief operating and people officer is to make sure we hire the right people first. Second, I got to make sure we keep them engaged, happy, working for us on a long-term, everlasting relationship. And then third, if we do those two things, our customers are going to be happy.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:21] So, now the people who are hiring, what are you doing to coach them to be attractive, to get the right folks?

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:03:28] So, a few things. They have regular meetings with our tech leads. They understand Fintech because we’ve given them training in the Fintech space. And then they’re trained on the use of tools, right? LinkedIn, the job sites, how to find the right talent. And then they get feedback after they bring new and potential employees to us. And we do the tech interview, and we do the tech assessments. Those recruiters get direct feedback as to whether those employees — potential employees, were the right fit.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:55] Because it’s important to work — so you’re working both sides of the marketplace, right? You have to have, you know, the employer and the employee. So, there must be ways to help them from a culture standpoint, because people don’t quit jobs. They quit bosses. So, how do you — is there things you do to kind of help them keep the people that you — you know, that you spend all this time and energy to get the right person in there. You want them to stick?

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:04:21] Yes. So, one thing that’s good. Luckily, I don’t have a product to sell. I’ve got no brick-and-mortar. No hard product to sell.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:27] Right.

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:04:27] So, what I have is people.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:28] Right.

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:04:28] So, I can focus all my energy on one, getting them. Two, keeping them. And as part of keeping them, what we have to do is we have to make sure within each of the sites. So, first, you have local culture, making sure that there’s a match, right?

Lee Kantor: [00:04:41] Right.

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:04:41] Whatever the social benefits are, the financial benefits are that they care about locally. Second, they need attraction. They need to feel like they’re part of Blankfactor, the corporation. Because they want to know that there’s bigger things that they can be part of.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:52] Right.

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:04:52] Third, the customers we go after have to be sexy. They have to be something for the future, right? Futuristic, future-proof, whatever it is. So that the employees that we hire, they want to work for a company that they know is going places.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:05] Right. And they want to make a mark, right? They want to, you know, have their kind of picture on the wall. They want to feel like they’re part of something bigger than themselves.

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:05:14] Exactly. So, in that — and again, so you can’t — I can’t say it enough. It’s that local culture, the company culture, and then the customer culture, that all has to come together for the right employee.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:23] So, now it’s — it sounds like super rewarding work. Like, you’re really making a difference in these people’s lives, right?

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:05:30] Yes.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:30] You’re helping them get opportunities they couldn’t get on their own, really, without you.

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:05:34] Yes. And you got to understand, too, we’re dealing with some smart people.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:38] Sure.

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:05:39] Right. And these are some, you know, these are guys who understand how to build technology. Guys — and understand how to use facial recognition to make payments. I mean, these are some smart people. So, keeping them engaged takes a lot of creativity.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:53] Right. It sounds like it’s a job that on paper it seemed like, oh, this supply and demand, this should be easy. But it’s not. I mean, there’s a lot of nuance to this and there’s a lot of kind of soft skills needed in order to really get the most out of this.

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:06:05] Yes, so we engineer the future with technology, but it’s all based on the people.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:10] People, right. It’s a people business at the end of the day.

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:06:12] At the end of the day, that’s exactly what it is. And it’s people that you don’t even know, right. And the recruiting process, they have to trust you. You have to build that relationship during the recruiting process, the onboarding, right. It has to be organized.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:24] Yes, you can’t sleep on the onboarding, right? Because you’ll lose people there.

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:06:27] Yes.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:27] If it’s not, you can blow up the whole deal right on that — in that part.

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:06:30] That’s exactly right. And then once they’re on board, they have to like the customer that they’re partnering with. They still have to love Blankfactor, and they have to love coming to work every day in the office culturally.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:40] Right. So, are the expectations changing, like, through the pandemic? Now you have people that are a little more picky. A little more — have a little more needs that maybe they didn’t have prior to the pandemic?

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:06:54] Yes, depending on location, you have different needs in a sense of, you know, whether they do or don’t want to come to the office. How often they want to come to the office. The time of day they want to work, and what benefits they expect when they come to the office.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:05] So, now when you’re working with folks that are maybe now doing a — they’re trying to do hybrid, right?

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:07:10] Yes.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:10] That’s super popular now. But hybrid, to me, means you’re no longer — kind of, can live anywhere. I still now, I have to live in the city for this — because I can’t come in if I’m, you know, six-hour flight away from where I’m working.

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:07:25] I think there’s flexible hybrid situation. So, the answer is, yes. Where hybrid is kind of the ideal situation. Come to the office three or four days a week and we’ll let you pick what days you come to the office. Maybe even pick what hours. We do want to have that center culture and teamwork where you are working with your project manager —

Lee Kantor: [00:07:41] Where there’s — right. And it’s in person and you’re seeing each other and shaking their hands and seeing eye to eye.

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:07:48] Exactly. At the same time, we have to be flexible to the people we’ve hired during the pandemic that work thee to five hours away from the office.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:55] Right.

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:07:55] And maybe in that situation, we’ll pay for your ride to the office. Maybe it’s only every other week until you come in.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:01] Right.

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:08:01] And we have different types of team meetings.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:03] So, if somebody wants to learn more about Blankfactor on both sides of this marketplace, whether they’re talent or whether they need talent, how do they find you?

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:08:11] So, first, everybody needs talent

Lee Kantor: [00:08:13] Right, they should be. That’s the first bit of advice, right?

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:08:16] Especially in this world. I mean, look at what’s happening. I mean, when you look at the technology on your phone, the technology on the computers, the — how fast payments are moving. Everybody needs talent. And most people can’t find them for — within their shop or they don’t have the budget to hire so they need to outsource to a company like us. And they need to use us as kind of a partner to build what they need because they may not even have the in-house expertise for what they want so they can go to blinkfactor.com and get information.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:41] It’s that simple?

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:08:42] Yes.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:43] Good stuff, Damian. Thank you so much for sharing your story. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Damian Tanenbaum: [00:08:48] Thank you for your time.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:48] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll be back in a few at Fintech South 2022.

Outro: [00:09:01] This episode has been brought to you by Atlanta Blockchain Center, the catalyst for Atlanta’s emergence as the Premier Blockchain Innovation Hub globally, through cultivating entrepreneurship, inclusivity, and education. To learn more, go to atlblockchaincenter.com.

 

Fintech South 2022 is a world-class summit with its nexus in Atlanta live and in-person, a global financial technology hub that is home to more than 200 fintech companies. The top 15 public fintech companies in Georgia alone generate more than $100 billion in revenues.

Fintech South 2022: Sanjay Ahuja, Intellekt AI

by

Sanjay-Ahuja
Atlanta Business Radio
Fintech South 2022: Sanjay Ahuja, Intellekt AI
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Atlanta-Blockchain-Center-Sponsor-v2

Sanjay-AhujaSanjay Ahuja, Intellekt AI

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:07] Broadcasting live from the Georgia World Congress Center for Fintech South 2022, it’s time for Atlanta Business Radio. Brought to you by Atlanta Blockchain Center. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:27] Lee Kantor here broadcasting live from Fintech South 2022. So excited to be talking to Sanjay Ahuja with Intellekt. Welcome.

Sanjay Ahuja: [00:00:37] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for inviting me.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:39] Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us a little bit about Intellekt.

Sanjay Ahuja: [00:00:44] Sure. Intellekt is basically a self-onboarding platform for Fintechs. As you know that a lot of companies in the digital age are onboarding merchants, consumers, businesses. And most of them typically are taking about 60 to 70 days to onboard.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:00] Right.

Sanjay Ahuja: [00:01:00] And that’s a big problem in the market. So, we’re creating a platform which will allow them for self-onboarding in a few weeks. So, that’s the key thing.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:08] So, what’s your background? Have you always been involved in Fintech?

Sanjay Ahuja: [00:01:12] Yes, not primarily Fintech, but in the tech industry. But mostly in Fintech, e-commerce, health care. So, that’s been my background over 28 years. We work with various organizations. So, I know quite a bit about the process.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:27] Now, how do you find the Fintech community here in Georgia?

Sanjay Ahuja: [00:01:32] Well, I think — I would say this is the Fintech capital of the U.S., right? Because most of the payment industries are out here. The New Age, Neobanks are coming out of here. There’s a huge amount of talent pool which is there. And I think the big thing is that the education system is getting improved by the day, right? The Georgia FinTech Academy is helping new engineers to kind of train themselves on the Fintech processes. So, I think the whole ecosystem is coming together to support.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:01] Is that really a challenge in terms of when you have a startup and you’re really trying to grow to have the right talent?

Sanjay Ahuja: [00:02:10] Often — fundamentally, it’s all about people, at the end of the day, right? Because we are developing a software, and software is made by people, right? But the good part is that we are part of the ATDC which is a part of the Georgia Tech community. So, we’re getting a lot of support from the community in terms of engineers, as well as other ecosystem players.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:28] Now, you mentioned the FinTech Academy. That’s where the University System is training up and that has curriculum around Fintech, right?

Sanjay Ahuja: [00:02:37] That’s right, yes.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:37] That’s critically important and it’s kind of unique to Georgia, right? This isn’t something that’s in every city.

Sanjay Ahuja: [00:02:43] It is not. And it’s curated towards the new generation. Technologies coming in like — Fintech is broad, right? It’s just not banks. So, it’s about knowledge about NFT’s, knowledge about crypto, and these are new things coming up in the market. And new jobs are being created.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:59] It’s changing every day.

Sanjay Ahuja: [00:03:01] Every day.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:01] There’s a new one, right?

Sanjay Ahuja: [00:03:01] Exactly, yes. So, I think the community is doing a great job in training these young engineers or people who are students coming in from these universities. So, I think we’ll have probably a large talent pool in the next couple of years to be able to fulfill all these jobs.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:18] Right. Because right now, it’s like negative unemployment, right? The only way you’re finding somebody is that they’re leaving another opportunity somewhere.

Sanjay Ahuja: [00:03:24] Exactly, yes. I think you’re right on that. So — and I think we are also seeing a lot of skills moving from other cities to Georgia because of this ecosystem we’ve developed. So, I think that’s going to be good for us.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:35] Now, are you seeing that, nationwide, that a lot of folks are moving to Georgia for these opportunities because, like you said, this is the Fintech capital of, at least, the United States or maybe the world?

Sanjay Ahuja: [00:03:46] It is. And I can clearly see that. I think the three reasons why people are moving here. One is, you know, there’s a lot of new companies coming in. So, there’s a lot of new jobs, you know. The whole startup ecosystem is really coming up and they need a lot of people.

Sanjay Ahuja: [00:03:59] Number two, I think the cost of living is much cheaper than many of these big cities. And third is the climate, obviously, right? Because it’s much more warmer as compared to what’s going to happen in the global warming cities.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:09] Sure.

Sanjay Ahuja: [00:04:09] So, I think, yes.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:09] Now, are you finding that there’s good collaboration with enterprise-level organizations and startups? Is there a good, kind of, give and take in the sense that the enterprise level, organization or public company might be open to more taking shots and working with startups and earlier stage companies?

Sanjay Ahuja: [00:04:28] I would say yes and no. I think there’s a lot of work which has been done, but there’s a lot more needs to be done. Because I think the big boys have agreed and understood the value which we’re bringing in. But I don’t think the mass is doing it right now.

Sanjay Ahuja: [00:04:40] So, I think a lot more has to be done to be able to get to that stage, but it’s in the right direction. So, we’re seeing a lot of education being done on companies of the value they’re bringing into the ecosystem. So, yes, definitely it is the right direction.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:56] Now, is that something that Intellekt is looking to partner with more enterprise-level organizations?

Sanjay Ahuja: [00:05:01] Yes, definitely. So, we’re doing a couple of things to be able to get to these enterprises. One is, we are actually doing a series of education, you know, through our blogs, through our videos on our platform. The second is we are looking at interns to be able to, you know, get to these companies and kind of provide some good entry-level talent.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:22] Right.

Sanjay Ahuja: [00:05:22] And third is, we are actually doing some free proof of concepts for them to feel how a startup can do it. Because the big boys can do things, but they just take a lot of time, right? We can be more agile and that’s the advantage we bring to the table.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:37] Right. So, you can take action faster and demonstrate actual work being done as opposed to them whiteboarding something for months on, you know —

Sanjay Ahuja: [00:05:46] Exactly.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:46] — and thinking about it and being on the back burner where you can just make something happen almost instantly in their world.

Sanjay Ahuja: [00:05:52] Exactly. And you’ve seen that big companies are actually losing market share because they’re just not agile,

Lee Kantor: [00:05:57] Right.

Sanjay Ahuja: [00:05:57] Because they’re just waiting for six months, nine-month projects.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:00] And the world changes.

Sanjay Ahuja: [00:06:02] Every week.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:04] So, what do you need more of — how can we help you?

Sanjay Ahuja: [00:06:07] So, I think what is definitely needed is more catalysts who are talking to these enterprises and looking at talent pool, number one. Number two, I think we need more of the local universities making Fintech programs for the talent pool to be aware of what the opportunities are.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:28] And create that curriculum so that these younger people are ready to go, rather than you’re going to have to retrain them anyway after they get out of college.

Sanjay Ahuja: [00:06:36] Exactly. Like you see this program, too, right. Fintech South is good for corporates and businesses. But if you can create a program for the kids just for education, right?

Lee Kantor: [00:06:46] Right.

Sanjay Ahuja: [00:06:46] Like a fair or Fintech fair. Now, they’ll be like — thousands of kids wanting to learn what’s going on. So, that’s the kind of exposure which we need to give because then everybody will feel that — you see, because traditionally what everybody wants to do is get into computer science or get into medicine, right. That’s been the traditional old-school thinking.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:07] Right.

Sanjay Ahuja: [00:07:07] Is Fintech a big career opportunity? It is, but not many people are aware of it. So, that’s where I think it’s our joint responsibility to be able to make them aware. So, we should have a big Fintech career fair or Fintech exhibition regularly so that the kids can get more knowledgeable about what’s going on.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:29] Right, and understand the career path that’s in that space. And they might not be realizing the opportunity is so great and people are so hungry for those — that kind of talent.

Sanjay Ahuja: [00:07:39] Exactly. Exactly, yes, I’m with you on that.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:41] So, be the change you want the world. Do you want to start working on this or work with TAG to get something like this to happen?

Sanjay Ahuja: [00:07:47] Absolutely. And I think we are already hobnobbing with most of the catalysts and we’re talking about it. So, I think you will see something coming up definitely before the end of the year.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:56] Exciting time. So, if somebody wants to connect with you or learn more about Intellekt, what’s a website?

Sanjay Ahuja: [00:08:01] intellekt.ai with a K.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:03] All right. Well, thank you so much for sharing your story. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Sanjay Ahuja: [00:08:07] Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:09] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll be back in a few at Fintech South 2022.

Outro: [00:08:21] This episode has been brought to you by Atlanta Blockchain Center, the catalyst for Atlanta’s emergence as the Premier Blockchain Innovation Hub globally through cultivating entrepreneurship, inclusivity, and education. To learn more, go to atlblockchaincenter.com.

 

Fintech South 2022 is a world-class summit with its nexus in Atlanta live and in-person, a global financial technology hub that is home to more than 200 fintech companies. The top 15 public fintech companies in Georgia alone generate more than $100 billion in revenues.

Fintech South 2022: Qazi Haq with EY-Parthenon

by

Qazi-Haq
Atlanta Business Radio
Fintech South 2022: Qazi Haq with EY-Parthenon
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Qazi-HaqQazi Haq, EY-Parthenon

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:08] Broadcasting live from the Georgia World Congress Center for Fintech South 2022. it’s time for Atlanta Business Radio. Brought to you by Atlanta Blockchain Center. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:27] Lee Kantor here, broadcasting live for Fintech South 2022 in the Georgia World Congress Center. I’m excited to be talking to Qazi Haq with EY-Parthenon. He is the co-chair of the Innovation Challenge here at Fintech South. Welcome, Qazi.

Qazi Haq: [00:00:41] Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:43] Well, before we get too far into things, let’s talk about this Innovation Challenge. What’s the vision there and what are you trying to accomplish with it?

Qazi Haq: [00:00:50] Yes, absolutely. Just at a high level, every year during Fintech South, we have the Innovation Challenge. It’s an accelerator for early-stage Fintech companies based in Georgia. And we have certain criteria.

Qazi Haq: [00:00:59] For example, they have to be based in Georgia. Have to be in the Fintech realm broadly. Maybe they’re not a Fintech, but they serve Fintechs. As well to have a cap of $1,000,000 in funding. And what happens in this challenge is before Fintech South, four to six weeks prior, we recruit the companies, we have them go through an accelerator program. So, we give mentors as well as speakers, train them on the pitch. And before a Fintech South, right before or a week before we select the top three.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:25] Right.

Qazi Haq: [00:01:25] So, those top three companies will be on the main stage today to pitch for a $25,000 prize.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:30] And then just for being part of it, do they get anything other than the mentorship and, kind of, the connections?

Qazi Haq: [00:01:36] Yes, so, PR is a huge, huge component of that. We make sure that they have spotlights during the conference, part of the conference. In addition, they get free access to Fintech South for them and their teams. And that can be a very major lift for an early-stage company.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:49] So, now when you say it’s Fintech or Fintech adjacent, they have to be touching Fintech in some way?

Qazi Haq: [00:01:55] In some form or fashion. For example, we have a company in this year that’s more of an EdTech platform, but they serve Fintechs. So, that has that tie to it.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:04] So, it doesn’t have to be a super direct tie?

Qazi Haq: [00:02:07] No.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:07] It just can be really adjacent?.

Qazi Haq: [00:02:09] Exactly, their customers can be Fintechs, for example, right?

Lee Kantor: [00:02:12] Right.

Qazi Haq: [00:02:12] They can have some component of Fintech tied to it. For example, a payments platform within their broader system.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:18] So, now walk me through. I’m a startup. I meet all that criteria. What happens on day one? I get accepted. I’m one of the — I guess, top ten people that are in there. So, what happens now?

Qazi Haq: [00:02:29] So, day one, we’re going to give you a mentor, a group of mentors. These individuals are usually leaders or experts in the Fintech space based in here in Georgia.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:38] And then you’re — trying to match me up with somebody that’s at least —

Qazi Haq: [00:02:41] Correct.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:41] — in the neighborhood —

Qazi Haq: [00:02:41] Exactly.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:41] — of what I do, right?

Qazi Haq: [00:02:42] Exactly, that’s the goal. Because they have been there, the journey they’re going through, so they can guide you better.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:47] And they can also make — help me make connections?

Qazi Haq: [00:02:51] 100%. And in addition, during the conference itself, we make sure the companies are meeting the right VCs, their partners, et cetera.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:58] And is there a fee to me as the startup founder?

Qazi Haq: [00:03:01] There is no fee, whatsoever. It’s a completely fee-free program. The only fee is filling out the application. So, your time commitment there.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:08] It’s time.

Qazi Haq: [00:03:09] Yes.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:09] But not money?

Qazi Haq: [00:03:09] Not money.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:10] And then so, this is definitely a journey worth taking?

Qazi Haq: [00:03:14] 100%. I highly recommend it. If I was a fintech founder and this opportunity came up —

Lee Kantor: [00:03:17] It’s not too late for you.

Qazi Haq: [00:03:18] Oh, I don’t know. If I can — be doing that yet, but maybe. We’ll see.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:21] So, now they come on the stage. You get to the top three. Now, who are the judges? Who are the people that are deciding the whittled it down to three?

Qazi Haq: [00:03:29] Yes, This is the most exciting part. So, during the conference, everyone judges. So, whoever is in the audience —

Lee Kantor: [00:03:35] Oh, the audience —

Qazi Haq: [00:03:35] — gets to pick the winner.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:36] — as one of the voters?

Qazi Haq: [00:03:36] Yes.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:36] And then it’s all voting online.

Qazi Haq: [00:03:40] It’s all on voting online.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:40] On the app, probably.

Qazi Haq: [00:03:41] Yes, very easy.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:43] And then, so you vote and then somebody is going to win. And then the other two, sorry. Thanks for playing?

Qazi Haq: [00:03:48] Sorry, but —

Lee Kantor: [00:03:48] So, winner take all?

Qazi Haq: [00:03:48] Hey, they got the PR, right?

Lee Kantor: [00:03:50] They get the PR.

Qazi Haq: [00:03:50] So, in the past, actually, we’ve seen the runners-up, “Get funding afterward”.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:56] Right.

Qazi Haq: [00:03:56] So, that presentation, the pitch on stage really —

Lee Kantor: [00:03:59] Because you’re still getting in front of lot and lots of people.

Qazi Haq: [00:04:00] Exactly, exactly.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:02] And then have you been involved in this challenge before in the previous Fintechs?

Qazi Haq: [00:04:06] Yes, so for the past two years I was supporting the co-chairs. And this year, the co-chairs got tired of doing it, so they passed it on to me.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:13] So, you had the short straw?

Qazi Haq: [00:04:15] Yes. No, but it’s been a great experience.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:16] Now, of the previous winners, any kind of success stories for them?

Qazi Haq: [00:04:20] So, Trust Stamp. So, Trust Stamp was one of the winners for the TAG report yesterday.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:26] Wow.

Qazi Haq: [00:04:26] So, they started for the Innovation Challenge. Won that, raised money grew, and now they won the advance award as a mature company.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:34] Wow.

Qazi Haq: [00:04:34] A great success story.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:35] So, that’s a great success story. And then your vision for this in the future.

Qazi Haq: [00:04:38] In the future, we want to go bigger. We want more companies to participate and apply. This year, we only had seven. In the future, we would love to see 15 because this is a free resource that these companies can benefit from. And as I mentioned, Trust Stamp is an example, went through the program, raised money because of Fintech South. Now, they’re putting all the awards.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:57] And then this is something — are you partnering with like ATDC and then some of the universities around the State.

Qazi Haq: [00:05:04] Absolutely.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:04] Because it’s so easy to be Atlanta-centric and forget about the rest of Georgia.

Qazi Haq: [00:05:09] Yes.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:09] So, how are you getting —

Qazi Haq: [00:05:10] We are — definitely broader Georgia. So, we partnered with the Georgia Fintech Academy, ATDC, ATV, Valor Panoramic. Any venture fund you can think of.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:19] Good stuff. So, if somebody wants to learn more about this challenge, what’s the way to do it?

Qazi Haq: [00:05:22] Easiest way, go on the website, Fintech South. There’s an Innovation Challenge portion of it, so look through that. And over time, TAG will send out more materials and information on their LinkedIn page or website on when you can apply next year.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:33] And then when typically is the application?

Qazi Haq: [00:05:36] Yes, so depending on when Fintech South takes place. Let’s assume it’s the same time period in June.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:41] Right.

Qazi Haq: [00:05:41] Applications generally open, end of March, early April.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:43] So, it’s like three —

Qazi Haq: [00:05:45] Correct.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:45] — 90 days prior?

Qazi Haq: [00:05:45] Correct.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:46] Good stuff. Well, thank you so much for doing the work you do.

Qazi Haq: [00:05:49] Absolutely.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:49] It’s important and we appreciate you.

Qazi Haq: [00:05:51] My pleasure. Thanks for having me on.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:52] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll be back in a few at Fintech South 2022.

Outro: [00:06:04] This episode has been brought to you by Atlanta Blockchain Center, the catalyst for Atlanta’s emergence as the Premier Blockchain Innovation Hub globally, through cultivating entrepreneurship, inclusivity, and education. To learn more, go to atlblockchaincenter.com.

 

Fintech South 2022 is a world-class summit with its nexus in Atlanta live and in-person, a global financial technology hub that is home to more than 200 fintech companies. The top 15 public fintech companies in Georgia alone generate more than $100 billion in revenues.

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