Ep. 92: The VC’s Role as the Sixth Man—with FinTech Investor Michael Sidgmore of Broadhaven Ventures

How is an early-stage VC a lot like Shane Battier or Andre Iguodala? When they are on the court, they make the players around them better. That’s how Michael Sidgmore sees his role as a pre-seed and seed round FinTech investor: He’s the sixth man, coming off the bench to serve as the glue that helps his team get to the next level. He may not be in the trenches on a daily basis, but when he does get in the game, good things happen. Michael is a Partner at Broadhaven Ventures, an independent investment bank serving the financial services industry. In his role at Broadhaven, Michael focuses on sourcing, investing and managing investments in early-stage FinTech startups. Prior to joining the firm, he served as a pre-product employee at iCapital Network and the first sales hire at Mosaic. Michael is also the founder of Let’s Humanize Finance, an interview series with FinTech entrepreneurs and innovators who are changing the way we interact with money. Today, Michael joins us to share his unique path from semi-pro soccer player to Broadhaven Ventures, explaining how reading Leaving Microsoft to Change the World changed his life. He offers insight around how to measure impact in a nonprofit organization and how FinTech companies can make both a profit and an impact. Michael also gives us his take on the evolution of FinTech and the way cryptocurrency might fit into the larger picture of financial services in general. Listen in for Michael’s top four opportunities in the FinTech space and learn how he sees the role of an early-stage VC as that of the sixth man. Topics Covered Michael’s path from semi-pro soccer to Broadhaven Ventures Interned for Room to Read during accidental gap year in UK Transfer from Middlebury to London School of Economics Work at Goldman Sachs before shift to FinTech startups The key to running a successful conference Engaging content (e.g.: Shark Tank for trade ideas) Interesting people How to measure impact as a nonprofit organization KPIs specific to goals (i.e.: # of students with library access) View donors as investors expecting social return Michael’s definition of success in business Do something you love, doesn’t feel like work Help entrepreneurs realize dreams + make impact FinTech’s ability to make a profit AND an impact Access to credit for unbanked individuals, small businesses Facilitate growth of middle class in emerging markets Michael’s take on the evolution of FinTech From $3B of VC in 2012 to $16B in 2016 Challenge for disruptors to create standalone brand Bring enabling tech to traditional financial institutions Michael’s insight around the opportunities in FinTech Emerging markets (Asia, Latin America) Big brands become FinTech companies Banking the SMB Collaborations (e.g.: Goldman + Apple) Michael’s thoughts on how crypto fits into the FinTech picture Irony of centralized organizations in decentralized framework Interesting use cases in tokenization of assets How Michael sees his role as an early-stage VC Serve as sixth man (critical player off bench) Get companies ready to graduate to series A How Broadhaven is building out their team Institutionalizing processes Adding skill sets like culture, HR Connect with Michael Broadhaven Ventures https://www.broadhaven.com/ Broadhaven on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/broadhaven/ Michael on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelsidgmore/ Michael on Twitter https://twitter.com/michaelsidgmore Let’s Humanize Finance http://www.letshumanizefinance.com/ Resources Leaving Microsoft to Change the World by John Wood http://www.leavingmicrosoftbook.com/ Room to Read https://www.roomtoread.org/ LSE Alternative Investments Conference https://www.lseaic.com/ David Rubenstein at The Carlyle Group https://www.carlyle.com/about-carlyle/team/david-m-rubenstein Silver Lake https://www.silverlake.com/ Glenn Hutchins http://www.hamiltonproject.org/people/glenn_h._hutchins Man Group https://www.man.com/ Lord Stanley Fink https://www.crunchbase.com/person/stanley-fink#section-overview Mosaic https://www.joinmosaic.com/ iCapital https://www.icapitalnetwork.com/ QED Investors https://qedinvestors.com/ Gusto https://gusto.com/ Chime https://www.chimebank.com/ MoneyLion https://www.moneylion.com/ SoFi https://www.sofi.com/ Michael Gilroy https://www.canaan.com/team/michael-gilroy Canaan Partners https://www.canaan.com/ ScaleFactor https://scalefactor.com/ Greg Phillips https://www.broadhaven.com/greg-phillips Guissu Raafat Baier https://www.linkedin.com/in/guissu/ The Third Door by Alex Banayan https://thirddoorbook.com/ Keith Rabois on Boost VC EP090 https://theboostvcpodcast.simplecast.fm/rabois Connect with Boost VC Boost VC Website https://www.boost.vc/ Boost VC on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/boostvc/ Boost VC on Twitter https://twitter.com/BoostVC