In this episode of the Operate Podcast, we give you a behind-the-scenes look at company building with Isabella Sun, Founder and CEO of Short Story, a subscription e-commerce company serving petite women. The discussion sheds light on Isabella's journey from a structured finance career to becoming a successful e-commerce entrepreneur catering to a n…

In this episode of the Operate Podcast, we got a behind-the-scenes look at company building from Tiffany Haynes, COO at Fingercheck. Tiffany discussed her transition from a 19-year career at Jack Henry to her role at Fingercheck, a startup focused on payroll and HR services for small businesses. She highlighted the challenges and learning curves sh…

In this episode of the Operate Podcast, we dive deep into the evolution of 'Banking as a Service' (BaaS) and its complexities. My guest, Rafael DeLeon, the SVP of Industry Engagement at NContracts, shares his extensive insights on the partnership dynamics between community banks and fintech companies. We explored how these relationships started, th…

In this episode of the Operate Podcast, we delve into the use of AI & Machine Learning within the commercial real estate lending industry. My guest is Shayne Skaff, co-founder and CEO of Blooma, a SaaS company revolutionizing commercial real estate lending and portfolio management. Our discussion outlines Shane's entrepreneurial journey, the origin…

In this episode, we delve into cybersecurity and the importance of making it relevant to each individual, beyond just their organization. My guest is David Shipley, Co-founder and CEO of Beauceron Security. David shares his journey from a career-altering cybersecurity incident at the University of New Brunswick to leading a cloud-based platform des…

In this episode of the Operate Podcast, we delve into the essential role that technology and data analytics play in the banking industry's future. My guest was Brian Bauer, CEO of Revio, a promising banking and analytics technology startup that's making waves by assisting banks in leveraging their core banking transaction data to foster growth. Bri…

Given all that is going on in partner banking between community banks and fintechs, it was good timing to have Adam Shapiro on from Klaros Group. We took a deep dive into the evolving landscape of the financial industry, particularly at the intersection of banking, innovation, and regulation. Adam shared his extensive experience in it. Our discussi…

Entrepreneurs always inspire me, and Michael Berman re-affirmed that when we met a couple years ago. It's also been a pleasure to build a partnership with him and his company, NContracts. He shared a lot of company and personal history, as well as industry perspective, in this conversation. With an increased need for efficient and effective risk, v…

In this episode, I interviewed Winter Mead, founder and CEO of Coolwater Capital, an incubator/accelerator that helps launch and scale venture capital funds, as well as a fund to invest in them and community to support them. This was a super fun, engaging and important conversation for emerging fund managers. He's met and worked with thousands of t…

It was an absolute pleasure to have Kraig Lounsberry and Mike Kelley from Community Bankers Association of Illinois on the podcast. As the leaders of the association and service corporation, respectively, they advocate for and support community banks at one of the largest bank state associations in the country. 2024 is also their golden anniversary…

I was excited to record my conversation with Tara Schultz, as we've had several good discussions since meeting and she always has so many ideas and perspectives to share. She has been a key part of CSI for several years, and discussed her career path in and around banking, how CSI is evolving and adjusting to life as a private equity-owned company,…

My latest guest is Amber Illig, General Partner at The Council. What started, as she told me, as her desire to do angel investing eventually expanded to a community and then a fund a couple of years ago. The Council Fund typically invests about $50-100K into pre-seed startups, and then she also has a group called the Council Angels, which has becom…

I've really enjoyed working with Sean Willett over the last couple of years, and it was a special treat to have him on the podcast. I'm grateful for the friendship we've developed and how generous he is with his perspective and feedback. We always have productive and future-focused conversations as we both work closely in the area of making communi…

Kristin Marcuccilli joined me to share the STAR Financial journey, which is in its 80th year and has had at least one member of her family involved since inception. She's a great example of a next generation business leader, fully aware of the opportunities and challenges that technology and change present, and embracing them for how they can stren…

John Mizzi from Vero Technologies joined me to talk about his founder journey and the dual value proposition his company offers to banks and some of the larger commercial customers who hold and sell physical inventory. We discussed how challenging it's been for many banks to manage their wholesale finance business, and how Vero built the modern pla…

This conversation has been a long time coming, as Zac Lyons and I have been talking about Jobs-To-Be-Done and its applicability to how startups identify and build the most important products. It was so fun to record our discussion, and you'll find me in the zone during many parts of it, as it's a topic that has become near and dear to me. Zac has d…

The heart of a community banker is a real thing. I remember it from my childhood, growing up in a community where my family was involved in the local community bank. My grandfather's and father's friends were bankers and they were passionate about the community and what the bank could do to help it thrive. Not everyone has had that experience, but …

I really enjoyed my conversation with Samantha Berg, the Chief HR Officer at Choice Bank. She's spent most of her career there and has grown and advanced inside of the bank, and embodies its culture. She also has a fresh and relevant perspective as an HR leader, and shared a lot of those thoughts and ideas in this episode. Choice is a progressive b…

In this episode, Heath Fountain, CEO of Colony Bank, delves into the world of community banking and how Colony Bank has navigated growth and innovation amidst the current economic uncertainty. He discusses the importance of incorporating technology to create efficiency for the bank and better experiences for customers, the need to redefine communit…

Greg Ohlendorf is the President and CEO of First Community Bank & Trust in Beecher, Illinois. He has over 35 years of experience in community banking and is known for his active leadership and advocacy for community banks. Greg has served as both a board director for the ICBA and his state banking association, and he is a vocal advocate for digital…

Zach Duke is the founder and CEO of Finosec, a company that provides a governance automation platform for financial institutions. They offer automated solutions, relentless protection, continuous monitoring, and actionable insights to help financial institutions save time and enhance exam preparedness. Their platform is designed to simplify cyberse…

Ian White and I have known each other for nearly 20 years, and intertwined through several parallel entrepreneurial adventures. I was excited to finally record one of our conversations and let him talk about Koffie Financial, the company he co-founded a few years ago, that is disrupting the $100B+ commercial truck insurance market. We also talked a…

It's been an absolute pleasure to be alongside Jacob Ruytenbeek for his founder's journey since the very early days of SailPlan. His passion for the maritime industry was evident from the moment we met, and then combining that with a curiosity and openness to the customers and their biggest challenges, it was easy to be convinced that he'd find his…

Nicky Senyard takes me on the journey of her career as a successful entrepreneur and how that passion led her to do it again for a new customer segment in the financial services industry. Her company, Fintel Connect, is at the intersection of 2 major trends in the digitization of marketing and banking. Since we both work a lot with community banks,…

Nathan Baumeister is a co-founder and the CEO of ZSuite, and it was a pleasure to have him on the podcast. We talked about the founding of ZSuite within a community bank, and how it's now working with dozens of banks to help them with commercial escrow accounts, and also expanding bank deposits as a result of it. It's been a pleasure to get to work…