Bootstrapping with Services at the Cusp of AI and FinTech: Vahe Andonians, Founder of Cognaize (Part 1)

In this case study, you will hear Vahe talk a lot about bootstrapping – bootstrapping to exit, bootstrapping with services, so on. You will also learn a nifty way of building domain knowledge on top of horizontal AI expertise. This is a valuable and extremely interesting way of building AI companies for entrepreneurs to consider.

Building a Public FinTech Company From Scratch: OppFi CEO Todd Schwartz (Part 1)

Todd has built a public FinTech business with $7M of family money and another $8M of debt. OppFi went public in 2021. Impressive, capital-efficient, fundamentals-oriented journey. Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, and raised, and in what kind of background? Todd Schwartz:

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Thought Leaders in Financial Technology: Diversyfund CEO Craig Cecilio (Part 1)

The Jobs Act has introduced the notion of democratization in investing. The issue is not as simple as it sounds. There are lots of gaps in doing this safely. Sramana Mitra: Let’s start by introducing our audience to yourself as well as to the company.

Thought Leader in Financial Technology: DealMaker CEO Rebecca Kacaba (Part 5)

Sramana Mitra: I think this is a valuable discussion for people trying to understand equity crowdfunding. There need to be guard rails to protect consumers. I have seen what happened in the dot com crash. A lot of people got completely creamed out. Rebecca Kacaba: Those were public stocks, generally en masse. Sramana Mitra: Everything.

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Thought Leader in Financial Technology: DealMaker CEO Rebecca Kacaba (Part 4)

Rebecca Kacaba: Equity crowdfunding limits the amount you can invest. It’s in proportion to what your income is. I don’t fundamentally believe that, because you don’t meet an income threshold, you should not have a right to make an investment. The amount that they can invest caps how much they can lose. I think what

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Thought Leader in Financial Technology: DealMaker CEO Rebecca Kacaba (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: How many companies are raising funds on your platform right now? Rebecca Kacaba: Between 30 and 40 new companies every month and over $1.6 billion in capital transacted through the platform. Sramana Mitra: Are there any stage and sector trends? Rebecca Kacaba: Usually, we’ll see a good amount of technology, real estate, and

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Thought Leader in Financial Technology: DealMaker CEO Rebecca Kacaba (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: What is your business model? Rebecca Kacaba: We charge technology fees – setup, monthly, and transactional. We are very aligned with our clients. They can pay as they raise capital. We’re not asking them for a big upfront payment. We make money as they make money. Sramana Mitra: You take a percentage of

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Thought Leader in Financial Technology: DealMaker CEO Rebecca Kacaba (Part 1)

Equity Crowdfunding is evolving. This conversation highlights some of the trends. Sramana Mitra: Let’s start by introducing our audience to yourself as well as to DealMaker. Rebecca Kacaba: I was a capital market attorney for over a decade before founding DealMaker. The idea for DealMaker was born out of the problems my clients were having

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