EP54 Serving a Higher Purpose with Steven Lee, COO and Co-Founder at Crowdz

WPAOG Podcast

This episode features an interview with Steven Lee ‘01, COO and Co-Founder at Crowdz, an innovative receivables software as a service Fintech company set to revolutionize the $9 trillion receivables market.

Steven has over 18 years of hands-on leadership, operations, project management, logistics, finance, and personnel training in the military, aerospace, and high-tech industries. Prior to Crowdz, Steven led and managed positions at SanDisk, Dell, Cisco, and Honeywell Aerospace. He received his Dual Masters Degree at MIT Sloan, graduating with an MBA and MS in Engineering. Previously, Steven was a Captain and combat veteran in the United States Army, having graduated from West Point in 2001.

In this episode, Steven talks about his background, serving a higher purpose, and why he’s always rooted for the underdogs in business. He also discusses how he and the team at Crowdz are paving the way for blockchain in finance by revolutionizing the $9 trillion receivables market.

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Key Quotes

“At least for me, from a personal standpoint, the thing that really gets me through those hard times is that vision and impact, right? It is being able to serve a higher purpose to help these, I mean, I call them underdogs. My dad owned a small/medium business as well growing up, and I knew how hard it was for him. I've seen it firsthand. And so, you know, I grew up as an underdog and the fact that we're providing a platform to help the underdogs in the business world is extremely compelling and fulfilling for me, right? And that's what actually gets me through the rough times, when everything is going wrong and nothing is going right. It's that fulfillment that we're helping the underdogs, that gets me through those rough, rough tides, right.” - Steven Lee

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Episode Timestamps

(01:48) Steven’s West Point experience

(05:37) Cadet life at the academy

(08:03) Steven’s Army career

(09:08) Transitioning out of the Army

(12:03) Mentorship

(14:07) Founding Crowdz

(25:34) The future of Crowdz

(31:33) Crowdz’s value proposition

(37:13) 100 million in receivables funded

(38:49) Lessons from West Point

(44:50) Advice for young veterans

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Links

Steven Lee’s LinkedIn

Todd Cooper’s LinkedIn

West Point Association of Graduates