Work it Out | Federico Cristoforoni, Co-Founder & CEO at Net Zero Insights, on his entrepreneurial journey across Europe and Asia

In this episode of Not Fintech Investment Advice, Alex is joined by the man, the myth, the legend, Simon Taylor, to discuss some of the latest, greatest fintech companies you should definitely not, but also maybe consider investing in.  Homeownership feels like a pipe dream for young people everywhere, and with so much pessimism and hopelessness surrounding it, how do you hook people back into the home-buying process when they don’t even think it’s obtainable? Foyer is a fintech savings app promising help for home buyers, but can it build enough momentum for its product to take off?  Then, Simon and Alex talk about the latest social shopping and rewards app targeted towards Gen Z called Claim. While it’s great to help people connect with brands they love, wouldn’t it be nice if the same user experience optimization efforts were applied to more than just apps designed for buying stuff?  Plus, the guys discuss the pre-see stage company looking to redesign the banking integrated savings experience for families, the regulatory license and charter management AI helping compliance teams with MTLs and lending licenses, before manifesting some fintech ideas, like why their email accounts can’t read their stuff in a more secure way.    00:01:43 - 2024: A Fascinating Year for Fintech Investment 00:02:42 - Foyer: The 401 for Homeownership 00:13:43 - Claim: The Social Shopping App for Gen Z Consumers 00:25:19 - Crew: Integrated Checking and Savings for Families 00:39:35 - Brico AI: Simplifying Compliance for Fintech 00:50:58 - Manifesting Fintech Ideas   Check out Simon’s 2024 State of Fintech article here: https://sytaylor.substack.com/p/fintech-brainfoods-2023-in-review   Sign up for Alex’s Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday and Thursday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/   And for more exclusive insider content, don’t forget to check out my YouTube page.   Follow Simon: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sytaylor/ Substack: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sytaylor/

With the smell of turkey, thanks, and pumpkin spice filling the air, what better way to celebrate the holiday season than having a candid sit-down conversation with the one man responsible for sparking Alex’s journey to fintech fanaticism?  That’s right—meet doting dad and OG fintech obsessive himself, Tom Johnson. A fintech maestro with 30 years of industry prowess, Tom's wisdom, acquired through decades of navigating the fintech landscape, is nothing short of gold.  He and Alex have a candid conversation about the biggest fintech lessons they’ve learned throughout their tenured careers, including the challenges and opportunities in building fintech infrastructure, the importance of listening to customer pain points, and why building best-of-breed solutions with a long-term strategy in mind is the key to surviving in a rapidly evolving fintech market.  Plus, find out why that one banker looking to carve out his career might just be your ticket to fintech glory.    00:01:34 - 30 Years of Fintech Experience 00:04:14 - You’re Just Gonna Have to Trust Me 00:06:36 - Building Configurable Fintech Infrastructure Services 00:14:48 - Selling to Fintech vs. Banks 00:23:59 - Listen to Your Customers 00:31:43 - The Evolution of Infrastructure Orchestration 00:40:44 - When to Start Playing Three-Dimensional Chess in Business 00:43:48 - Transitioning to an Orchestration Role 00:46:08 - Breaking Down Fintech Silos   Sign up for Alex’s Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday and Thursday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/   And for more exclusive insider content, don’t forget to check out my YouTube page.   Follow Tom:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomjohnsonzoot/   Follow Alex:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson  

You can’t disrupt fintech unless you fully understand its storied history. So what are the biggest lessons we can take away from the past?  Join Alex for a fascinating conversation with Charles Birnbaum, Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners and author of the article “The Five Waves of Fintech,” as they dive into the five major phases of disruption in the financial services industry. From before the term “fintech” was coined to the impending technological ripples in the future and beyond, Charles shares his insights on the different segments within fintech and the proof points needed for fintech companies to succeed in the coming years.  And later, Alex and Charles discuss the embedded fintech wave and its slower-than-expected progress, as well as the potential catalysts for a new wave of innovation.    00:02:55 - Understanding the History of Fintech 00:08:44 - Wave One 00:17:47 - Wave Two 00:21:29 - The Future of Valuing Fintech Businesses 00:29:38 - The Slow Rise of Fintech 00:34:07 - Navigating Sales in the Financial Industry 00:40:30 - Wave Three 00:41:35 - Wave Four 00:50:50 - Wave Five 00:56:07 - New Waves in Real-Time Payments   Sign up for Alex’s Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday and Thursday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/   And for more exclusive insider content, don’t forget to check out my YouTube page.   Read “The Five Waves of Fintech”: Website: https://www.bvp.com/atlas/the-five-waves-of-fintech   Follow Charles:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlesbirnbaum/   Follow Alex:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson Twitter: twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson For more information, please visit www.crowe.com/fintech

Things in life rarely go as planned. But things in fintech? Well…  They almost never go as planned.  So how do you put yourself and your ideas into the fintech world when failure is almost certainly inevitable? What happens when grinding isn’t enough to keep your company afloat? And how do you cope with the potential loss of the idea (and identity) you loved so dearly? In this special crossover series with Breaking Banks’ Jason Henrichs, he and Fintech Takes’ Alex Johnson sit down with fintech’s biggest innovators, disrupters, and industry changers to glean lessons from their tales of failure, success, and all of the tough decisions they’ve had to make along the way. Whether you simply have the spark for the next big idea, are a first-time founder, or somewhere in between, you won’t want to miss these incredible insights from some of fintech’s brightest minds.    Sign up for Alex’s Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday and Thursday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/   And for more exclusive insider content, don’t forget to check out my YouTube page.   Check Out Breaking Banks: Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/breaking-banks/id641357669  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4mhqSxyBCHZ1wTQwXlAvCG?si=2964cce20998440e    Follow Jason:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonhenrichs/   Follow Tamara:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamara-steffens/   Follow Alex:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson