My (mostly) fabulous Fintech Journey to date.

And some lessons learned …

by Michael Garrity

You know you are the old guy in the room when ….

in February 2007 I decided to start a “Fintech” company ...

So … you know … pretty Good Timing!

This crisis made the challenge of starting a “marketplace for debt” … well … significantly more challenging …

Then I was recruited to start this …

And most of the dark in my hair ...

And my investors money ...

The result was delay, churn, expense … and … eating a bunch of my money

The good news is that we pivoted ...

And avoideda terrible death …

It took a massive re-build, re-cap, and re-staff ...

And for now things are going a lot better ...

1. Financial Services is a VERY big market with MANY problems to solve …

2. Canada is a world leader with “Unicorns” you likely haven’t heard of …

3. Financial Services is more regulated than drugs and alcohol distribution …

4. It’s all about scale.

So what can I tell you about Fintech from my experiences …

Deposits

Lending

Investments

Insurance

Payments

1. Financial Services has 4 traditional pillars … and a new 5th pillar …

1. … and is … big ...

The McKinsey Global Institute extrapolated that the total revenue of the global financial services sector in 2011 was roughly $11 trillion.

1. … no, like super big ...

That amounts to 17% of the global economy, measured in GDP.

1. … with many problems to solve ...

2. Canada is a World Leader

2. … with Unicorns a plenty …

3. Fintech is heavily regulated ...

… and speaking of trouble …

Pre-IPO Capital Raised:

● Stripe: 300M

● Square: 250M

● Kabbage 316M

● LendingClub 240M

● OnDeck 220M

● Fundbox 107M

● WealthSimple: 30M

● Financeit: 35M

4. Last but not least - Scale ...

So what all does this mean for Product?

So what all does this mean for Product?

1. Be better than a bank (reduce friction, make it simple, speak human... )

So what all does this mean for Product?

2. Build around regulatory issues (no seriously … you’ll go to jail otherwise ...)

So what all does this mean for Product?

Don’t be Clinkle!

3. Never forget it's about managing money ... so design to build trust, to highlight security and privacy and to demonstrate professionalism…

So what all does this apply to Product at Financeit?

Make something complex, simple

Leverage technology smarts ...

Build trust, transparency and professionalism

Questions?