Fintech5

Dominic Venturo, the Chief Innovation Officer at U.S. Bank, is one of those industry legends who floats under the radar somehow.  Those of us in the industry consider him to be one of the best in the business, someone who pretty quietly just gets things done. More importantly, somehow I missed in my research how talented his daughter Sophia Venturo is.  She just released her first EP - listen to the song "Denver" - the talent shines through.

I finally met someone who can explain "cognitive banking" to me!  Devika Thapar, IBM Watson's Chief of Staff for Financial Services, is one of those rare techies who can explain deep AI concepts in simple English, or Hindi for that matter.  We lift up the curtain a bit on Watson and where IBM is headed with their industry solution.

I immediately hit it off with Stephen.  We were introduced by Kim Hong from Trullio and we spent must of the interview cracking jokes and riffing off each other.  Therefore, for this write-up, I'm going to continue giving Stephen a hard time.  He is one of those younger, hip, good looking, in shape, well-dressed, successful founders you'd expect to find on the cover of a magazine.  Well done Stephen. And he's smart too.  Damn it Stephen.

Ohad Samet describes himself this way on this Twitter profile:  "One of the best Ohad Samets in the world."  That one sentence pretty much sums up Ohad.  He is funny as hell, smart as hell, sharp witted as hell, and he is the founder of one hell of a product in TrueAccord.

Yes, Margaux Avedisian was profiled in the Wall Street Journal.  Yes, she is a bitcoin comic.  Yes, she is quite funny.  But Margaux is also one sharp entrepreneur when it comes to cryptocurrency and the future of money.   During the day she is the world's funniest EVP at Transform Group and can pretty much tell you anything you need to know about ICO's.  Just ask her.  

Richard leads a team of engineers and innovators looking at emerging technologies and their application across RBS. His current focus is on the application of distributed ledger technology including blockchain across RBS.  Or as Richard puts it, I've been focused on innovating banking ledgers way before this was cool. Yes, it's cool now.  Stop your sniggering.

Bianca has done more in her brief time on the tech scene than most people have accomplished in a 30 year career.  She's founded multiple companies stretching across multiple industries and has now fully grasped the impact biometrics can have on the question of digital identity.  Make sure you check out Bioconnect. Spend five minutes chatting with Bianca and you will feel ready to conquer any mountain.  Exactly what I'd look for in a great founder.

Chloé James is Group Media and PR Director and Editor of the Australian Retail Banker and Global Retail Banker for global business intelligence and digital media provider, RFi Group.    She is also a presenter on Sky News Australia.  What makes Chloé  stand out in my opinion is the authenticness of her love of tech and its potential impact on improving consumers' financial lives.

There are several reasons I'm friends with Dion.  1) He's smart as hell;  2) he heads up fintech for CapGemni so we basically have the same job; 3) he has less hair than I do; and 4) he is a huge Arsenal football fan.  What more could you ask for in a friend?

At this point Fidor Bank is a fintech dinosaur, which is actually a compliment.  Matthias Kröner, the CEO of Fidor, founded the bank in Germany back in 2009.  Many of the current concepts and themes of "Neo" and "Challenger" banks have their roots in the Fidor ethos.  Matthias has, and continues to be a true revolutionary when it comes to banking and fintech solutions.  I loved interviewing him.

Danielle Guzman_The Strategic Marketer_Episode 83

Jennifer Tescher_Financial Health Innovator_Episode 82

Steve McLaughlin_The Dealmaker_Episode 81

Gemma Godfrey_The Money Guru_Episode 80

Norris Koppel_Banking Migrants_Episode 79