In this episode of the Operate Podcast, we take a behind-the-scenes look at the birth of fintech P2P and marketplace lending with Peter Renton, one of its pioneers. Peter shared his extensive background, starting from his early days as a self-directed investor to founding key fintech companies like Lend Academy and LendIt, which later became Fintec…

In this episode, we get an insider look into the financial technology landscape with Jason Mikula. Jason shares his journey, from his unexpected entry into financial services and digital marketing to launching the publication Fintech Business Weekly. He emphasizes the importance of understanding customer acquisition metrics and analyzes the evoluti…

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…

It is so fun to get introduced to awesome new people, and I had a strong feeling that Teddy Mitrosilis and I would have a good conversation and connection. We did and I think you'll enjoy his stories and ideas thoroughly. (Thanks for the introduction, Mallory Maske!) We talked about his journey to becoming an entrepreneur, how the market wanted som…

Rex Salisbury has a great story as his path into venture capital and transition from Andreessen Horowitz to founding Cambrian. It was fun recording our conversation so he could tell that story and inspire others who can now consider other paths to get there. His development of a community of fintech founders was definitely rooted in great timing an…

Charles Potts is my favorite bank technology historian. And he happens to also be my partner in BankTech Ventures. This was a conversation I wanted to have and record for a long time, and I'm excited to share it. Charles is currently the Chief Innovation Officer of the ICBA (Independent Community Bankers of America) and it is a perfect role for him…

This episode was an absolute treat. Eric Sprink is what I call a human energizer bunny. He demonstrates abundance to his peers in community banking as he’s taught dozens of others how to do banking as a service right, which we talk about in the conversation. Eric is the CEO of Coastal Community Bank in the greater Seattle area, and yet his communit…

It was great to have Wayne Miller on the podcast and record our conversation, which wasn't far from a typical one we have all the time. Wayne recently joined ICBA to continue and expand the great work he's been doing with bank technology innovation and startups, and he's a key enabler of the future of community banking. Wayne and I talked a lot abo…

Brent Jackson saw the opportunity for Torpago inside the finance and accounting organization of a prior company. I always enjoy when a founder just sees the opportunity and goes for it. He has a good focus on customers and ensuring he has happy ones with stories of high impact. And while he's in a hypercompetitive market of corporate spend manageme…

It was a really fun first episode to start the year. Ron Shevlin from Cornerstone Advisors had a lot of great thoughts and insights to share and we covered a lot of ground. Ron talked about the strategic imperative for community banks and had a number of very clear action items banks can take to have more success in the coming years. A few areas we…

Serial entrepreneur, Howard Makler, has been growing Innovation Refunds at 200% per quarter this year. Few companies ever do that quarter over quarter, as the numbers get big very quickly. It's been amazing to watch, and I was thrilled to have him join me to talk about the experience, his personal and leadership philosophies and what's unique about…

David Wexler joined me to discuss a critical innovation and transformation topic in banking - integrations. This has been an expensive and painful area for banks and their technology partners for a long time, and few in community banking have embraced integration platforms, and that's slowed down their ability to digitally transform. I’ve had the p…

Zack DeFord joined me to discuss his experiences as a lifelong gamer, and how his younger brother was bullied while playing online games. Zack's desire to make gaming safer and more fun for his brother led him to start Smerf, and that authenticity has served him well as he's built the company. Zack and his co-founder, Ben, have developed Smerf to b…

Cat Berman and I met several years ago, so it was fun to finally have a recorded conversation. She is inspiring in her leadership of CNote and bringing more impact to the financial services world through the products that they offer. Community financial institutions have impact in their communities. It's central to who they are as businesses. They …

Jason Yeh and I had a super fun chat about founders, how to help them better tell their stories, and some great examples he's seen. We also talked about the changes in the venture capital landscape in the last year, and what's likely ahead. He's spent a lot of time internationally as well, especially Brazil, so we discussed his experiences there. J…

Bradley Leimer and I were destined to meet, and we finally did in NY earlier this year at Finovate, where we were on a panel together entitled "How Community Banks & Credit Unions Can Embrace Change to Compete In A Digital World." We both determined that we'd have a lot to talk about after the panel, so we decided to record it. Bradley is a career …

This episode was a bit of a "turn the tables" one, as Kiah Haslett is an accomplished and energetic journalist who covers the banking industry. She's done so for 10 years, and you can find her at Bank Director, where she's Managing Editor. Kiah has covered the full spectrum of banking from policy, strategy, trends, technology and M&A. She has a uni…

Mark Forbis joined me on the podcast and we covered a lot of ground about culture, innovation and the history of technology in banking. He is the former Chief Technology Officer of Jack Henry, one of the largest technology companies in the banking industry, and he’s also a current Board Director at Incredible Bank in Wisconsin and Citizens Bank in …

I’m excited to bring back the podcast with Alice Frazier, CEO of Bank of Charles Town (BCT). Alice is one of the most progressive leaders in community banking, and leads her bank that way. She’s active with the ICBA as its current Chair of the Policy Development Committee, and previously served as Secretary,. She is also active in her state with th…

Doug Holte is the Founder and CEO of Agile Workweek Investments, his startup that is investing in disruptive technologies and modernized properties for a more efficient and agile workweek. Doug’s inspiration for AWI was not Covid, but rather accelerated by it; the changes he began to see in how people want to live and work started several years ago…

Fred Thiel is currently the CEO of Marathon Digital Holdings (NASDAQ:MARA), a digital asset technology company that mines cryptocurrencies with a focus on the blockchain ecosystem and the generation of digital assets. He is a respected expert and frequent speaker on FinTech, digital assets, Blockchain, bitcoin, Internet of Things (IoT), artificial …

Dave Ferrera is currently the General Partner of Treadstone Holdings, a venture studio focused on catheter-based diagnostic and interventional radiology technologies. They work with doctors and entrepreneurs and use or create intellectual property to develop new companies. Dave is a board member for a number of early stage medical device companies …

Sloane Keane is currently the CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County and Inland Empire, a role she’s had for nearly 3 years, and after several years with the organization in senior development roles. Big Brothers Big Sisters is one of the highest impact non-profits in the area, and country, providing mentoring and support to thousands of …

Jeff Martin is CEO and Founder of Collective Genius, which he started 15 years ago to build high growth companies with talent recruiting, leadership team planning and tools. We met in LA where he’s expanded the company and spent considerably more time, eventually moving here, and we bonded as we’re both Midwest transplants to SoCal. I also apprecia…

Minnie Ingersoll is currently a Partner at TenOneTen, an LA-based venture capital firm actively investing in early stage tech companies. They’ve made dozens of investments in a bunch of SoCal founders’ companies and have already had many acquisitions, unicorns and even companies go public. She also leads their podcast, "LA Venture". She was previou…

Curtis Boyd is the founder of Objection Co, an online review protection and fraud detection software company. You'll want to hear him tell the founder story – it’s a good one. We’ve all seen and likely used online reviews about products, services and companies to influence our decisions. However, in many cases those reviews may not be honest, accur…