Affiniti

Episode 4 of the Founders by LightShed Ventures podcast, hosted by LightShed Ventures, titled "Affiniti" was published on January 31, 2025 and runs 46 minutes.

January 31, 2025 ·46m · Founders by LightShed Ventures

0:00 / 0:00

Summary

Aaron Bai is the CEO & co-founder of Affiniti, one of the fastest growing SMB fintech platforms ever. Affiniti has raised over $62M in capital and serves small businesses that generate $4B+ of combined revenues. With SMBs contributing 90% of the U.S. GDP, they are the backbone of the economy. However, Silicon Valley's financial technology companies have largely overlooked them. Affiniti is changing that by partnering with the largest industry trade associations to deliver co-branded and customized financial technology solutions tailored for SMBs. Their platform includes credit cards, loans, expense management technology, and more. Affiniti's vision is to be the technology driven JP Morgan Chase for small businesses — building innovative tools to empower the businesses that keep America running. [0:25] What problem does Affiniti solve? [3:04] What was the original business idea? [6:46] Why did you pivot to Affiniti? [9:12] How did you begin building trust with trade associations? [11:05] How do you think about product distribution? [11:44] Which trade associations are you currently working with? [13:07] What products does Affiniti offer SMBs compared to competitors? [15:42] Why has Affiniti been more successful in the SMB category than Brex and Ramp? [19:40] What are the credit scores of Affiniti customers? How does that differ from the rest of the industry? [22:49] What percentage of customers interested in Affiniti products are you turning away? Will that change over time? [24:47] How do you get SMBs comfortable with expense automation, and what other offerings do you provide them? [26:10] How quickly is the business ramping? [28:31] What types of trade associations are you looking to expand into and what makes them a good fit for Affiniti? [33:38] What does your product roadmap look like over the next few years? [36:50] How do you balance growth with launching new products? [38:43] Provide one or two case studies of how you acquire customers. [42:31] How did you come up with the name Affiniti? [43:49] How big is your TAM? What are your long-term ambitions for Affiniti? [45:11] Which entrepreneur do you admire the most?

Episode Description

With SMBs contributing 90% of the U.S. GDP, they are the backbone of the economy. However, Silicon Valley's financial technology companies have largely overlooked them.

Affiniti is changing that by partnering with the largest industry trade associations to deliver co-branded and customized financial technology solutions tailored for SMBs. Their platform includes credit cards, loans, expense management technology, and more.

Affiniti's vision is to be the technology driven JP Morgan Chase for small businesses — building innovative tools to empower the businesses that keep America running.

[0:25] What problem does Affiniti solve?

[3:04] What was the original business idea?

[6:46] Why did you pivot to Affiniti?

[9:12] How did you begin building trust with trade associations?

[11:05] How do you think about product distribution?

[11:44] Which trade associations are you currently working with?

[13:07] What products does Affiniti offer SMBs compared to competitors?

[15:42] Why has Affiniti been more successful in the SMB category than Brex and Ramp?

[19:40] What are the credit scores of Affiniti customers? How does that differ from the rest of the industry?

[22:49] What percentage of customers interested in Affiniti products are you turning away? Will that change over time?

[24:47] How do you get SMBs comfortable with expense automation, and what other offerings do you provide them?

[26:10] How quickly is the business ramping?