Wharton Fintech Podcast

David Gogel chats with Arthur Hayes, CEO and Co-Founder of BitMEX, aka the Bitcoin Mercantile Exchange, a cryptocurrency-based derivatives exchange based in Hong Kong. They discuss Arthur’s background, the launch of BitMEX, Bitcoin, Ethereum, derivatives trading, exchange business models, regulation, security, initial coin offerings, and the future state of cryptocurrencies. BitMEX handles on average $100 million dollars per day in the total value of products traded.

Ruhi Dang (Wharton MBA '18) chats with William Hockey, co-founder and CTO of Plaid. Plaid is the tool that empowers a large number of applications you use today. In very simple terms, Plaid allows a variety of financial-technology startups to access their customers’ bank account information. Tune into this podcast to hear William discuss the story of Plaid, the emerging industry trends and talk about how some out-of-the-box startups are using Plaid today. What’s more you ask? Some xkcd humor and a dive into Plaid’s APIs for the tech geek in you! William hopes to see some of you use Plaid to build groundbreaking applications and transform the industry in the coming years. Check out https://plaid.com today!

Happy Summer! Volunteering, internships, and general travel has taken Wharton students to all corners of the world this summer. Wharton FinTech has also made its first foray into Southeast Asia. Check out this latest podcast, where Kevin Vichyastit (Wharton MBA 2018) chats with Iwan Kurniawan, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Modalku, a P2P lending platform in Indonesia for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Modalku is funded by Sequoia Capital, and founded by locals, hoping to make an impact in Indonesia. In this informative and heartwarming podcast, Iwan talks about the exciting MSME market in Indonesia, describes his startup journey, gives some candid advice on coming down from our ivory towers and watching our blind spots, and makes a passionate plea for MBA students and budding entrepreneurs to look South East! Iwan has been featured in CNN, Jakarta Post, Bisnis Indonesia, Tech in Asia, Metro TV and other major media for the platform’s early successes. Prior to Modalku, Iwan was a man

David Gogel (MBA '18) chats with David Klein, co-founder and CEO of CommonBond. David discusses a wide range of topics in FinTech, student lending, and entrepreneurship. He goes deep on CommonBond’s student loans products, business model, and future prospects. He discusses how the Wharton MBA experience helped him launch CommonBond. We also cover David’s views on the FinTech industry more broadly, blockchain, and advice for student entrepreneurs. David Klein is CommonBond’s co-founder and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to pursuing his Wharton MBA, David worked in consumer finance at American Express, as Director of Strategic Planning and Business Development, where he led a team that managed a $250M annual portfolio. Prior to American Express, he worked at McKinsey & Company, where he advised clients in the financial services industry. David graduated from Brandeis University with a BA in Politics, Economics, and International Business. He is an alumnus of Wharton Business School and served on the Board of

Nipun Jasuja (Wharton MBA 2018) chats with Kaz Nejatian, Co-founder and CEO of Kash, a Y Combinator Summer 2014 payments startup. Kash's mission is to make payments simple by getting rid of interchange, chargebacks, and everything merchants hate. In this fun podcast, Kaz fondly speaks about his memories as an immigrant kid that incepted the seeds of entrepreneurship, his obsession with consumer behavior, the story of Kash, and his insightful perspectives on digital payments, both in the US and internationally. Do not miss this one! #wharton #fintech #kash #payments

Matt Applegate chats with Will Janensch, Co-Founder and COO of Concur Reference Data, about blockchain solutions for capital markets. Will has over 15 years of experience in market and reference data at Thomson Reuters as VP of Strategy and senior roles in Marketing and Operations at Thomson Reuters and First Data. Will led the strategy on multiple $100M+ M&A transactions, including the $625M acquisition of FXAll. He holds a BA from Yale University and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. http://concurreferencedata.com http://twitter.com/WJanensch

Christophe Williams (MBA '18) chats with Andy Rachleff, co-founder and CEO of Wealthfront. Andy discusses a wide range of topics in FinTech, investing, and how to grow tech companies. He goes in-depth on Wealthfront's competitive advantages in automated investing and how he approaches product/marketing strategy to grow sustainably. Also covered are Andy's background in venture capital, the process of founding Wealthfront, and how he sees disruptive innovation affecting financial service incumbents. As a bonus, we have a special Wealthfront sign-up link for our listeners. To get your first 15,000 dollars managed for free, sign up using: http://www.wealthfront.com/whartonfintech Andy Rachleff is Wealthfront's co-founder, President and Chief Executive Officer. He serves as a member of the board of trustees and vice chairman of the endowment investment committee for University of Pennsylvania and as a member of the faculty at Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he teaches courses on technology entrepren

Brian Shah (MBA '18) chats with Michael Tannenbaum, Chief Revenue Officer of SoFi. As CRO, Michael is responsible for driving successful execution and growth across SoFi’s core lending products. In this podcast, Michael discusses the company's foray into new financial products, its unique membership perks, and its recent acquisition of Zenbanx. He also shares his perspective on the current fundraising environment and the future of financial technology.

Aditya Goel chats with Ram Ahluwalia, Co-founder and CEO, PeerIQ. This New York-based financial information services company is creating tools to analyze, access, and manage risk in the peer-to-peer lending sector. In this podcast, Ram discusses the trends, evolution and future of alternative lending markets and the role of analytics and platforms in this asset space, sharing both his own perspectives and insights from recent industry conferences. Ram also provides precious nuggets of wisdom for future entrepreneurs and MBA students looking to enter FinTech.

Nipun Jasuja chats with Brandon Yahn, Founder of Student Loans Guy - a brand new FinTech startup. Brandon started Student Loans Guy to help people better understand their student loans and more easily navigate the lending and refinancing marketplace. In this podcast, Brandon shares his perspectives on the student loan market in the US, describes the mission and vision behind Student Loans Guy, and walks us through his exciting professional journey, sharing candid advice for budding entrepreneurs.

Ruhi Dang chats with Virraj Jatania, Co-founder & CEO of Pockit. Pockit is a digital banking alternative for the unbanked, underserved and low income consumers in the UK. Virraj talks about his journey from a family business in Nigeria to building Pockit – a new front door that’s open to all, especially those shut out or short-changed by traditional high street banks. Listen to him talk about Pockit’s plans to expand into Europe and into newer product lines for their existing market as he discusses industry trends and contrasts Pockit with traditional solutions in the FinTech space.

Uday Seth chats with Howard Lindzon, a Canadian author, financial analyst, technical analyst and super angel investor. Lindzon manages a hedge fund, serves as managing partner of the holding company Social Leverage, limited partner at Knight's Bridge Capital Partners, and is the co-founder of StockTwits. In this podcast, Lindson shares his perspective on FinTech, and the opportunities and challenges ahead.

Bobby Rosenbleeth chats with Ed O’Brien, CEO of eMoney Advisor, a financial technology company serving more than 40,000 financial professionals nationwide. Featuring an industry leading client portal, collaborative financial planning capabilities, powerful data aggregation services, deep integrations with top third-party applications, and robust business analytics, eMoney’s product suite helps financial advisors build trust, strengthen their relationships, and succeed. Fidelity Investments acquired eMoney in 2015.

Adam Chadroff chats about insurtech trends with Drew Aldrich, Associate at AXA Strategic Ventures (ASV). ASV is a $250 venture fund that makes seed and growth equity investments in enterprise software, financial technology, insurtech, and related sectors. In this podcast, Drew shares his thoughts about trends in insurtech and insurance innovation.

David Gogel chats with Daniel Schreiber, CEO and Co-Founder of Lemonade, an insurtech startup based in New York. The property and casualty insurance company offers fast and low cost homeowners and renters insurance powered by technology, honest culture, and a commitment to social good. The company just raised $34 million in series B financing and is backed by top Venture Capital firms including Sequoia, General Catalyst, and Google Ventures.

Uday Seth chats with Maex Ament, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Taulia. Taulia works with the world's largest and most innovative companies to transform the way they partner with their supply chains. Through a mix of supplier self-services, e-invoicing, and flexible supplier financing, Taulia enables organizations to turn every invoice into a revenue opportunity while drastically strengthening supplier relationships. A few of Taulia’s clients include Coca-Cola Bottling, eBay, John Deere, Hallmark, and Dominion Energy. https://twitter.com/maex242 https://twitter.com/taulia https://taulia.com/en/

Christophe Williams chats with Colin Walsh, Co-Founder and CEO of Varo. Varo is redesigning mobile banking and the personal financial management experience. Before founding Varo, Colin held a number of senior executive posts at American Express, Lloyds, and Wells Fargo. https://twitter.com/colindwalshsf https://twitter.com/VaroMoney www.varomoney.com/

Katie Koh chats with Atish Davda, CEO and Co-Founder of EquityZen. Atish received an undergraduate degree in Economics from Wharton. EquityZen is an online marketplace for trading pre-IPO employee shares from privately held companies. The platform often links employees from private companies with investors who would not otherwise be able to invest in the company prior to an IPO. https://twitter.com/adavda https://twitter.com/EquityZen https://equityzen.com/

Abhi Agrawal spoke with the co-founders of Final: Aaron Frank, CEO, and Ben Apel, VP of Marketing. Final's mission is to eliminate the hassle associated with credit card cancellations, fraud, and theft. Final allows its customers to generate a unique credit card number for every merchant, or a disposable one-time use number for one-off purchases. Final allows consumers to control their credit card experience by removing the hassle of re-establishing payment relationships, missing important bills, or checking statements for suspicious charges. https://getfinal.com/ twitter.com/arfrank twitter.com/final

Gabriele Pigoli chats with Gary Lieberman, Chairman of the Board of Darien Rowayton Bank (“DRB”). With over three decades of experience building and restructuring businesses in the financial industry, Gary has helped transform DRB from a local retail bank into a national, technology-driven financial company. Under his leadership, DRB is the fastest lender in industry history to reach $1 billion in student loan refinancing originations. In addition to his role at DRB, Gary is also the founding member and President of West Side Advisors, LLC, an SEC registered investment advisor established in 1997. Gary received a B.A. from Emory University and an M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. https://twitter.com/drbstudentloan https://student.drbank.com/