Breaking into Embedded Finance: Building Your Fintech Team from Zero with Morten Laufer

You've decided to build a Fintech product. Now comes the hard part: hiring the right team.

Should your first hire be a product manager or a compliance expert? Do you need dedicated Fintech developers, or can your existing tech team handle it? How do you actually convince top Fintech talent to join a non-financial brand?

In this episode, I sit down with Morten Laufer from Nova Search, a Hamburg-based Fintech and embedded finance recruiter who works with both Fintech companies and non-financial brands to build their teams. We discuss the real challenges of breaking into Fintech as an outsider and the costly mistakes companies make when hiring their first Fintech talent.

Key Topics Discussed:

• Why product managers should be your first hire (and what to look for)
• The compliance gap: why most companies underestimate this critical role
• How to evaluate Fintech talent when you don't have in-house expertise
• Compensation strategies: Do you need to match Fintech salaries?
• Why top Fintech talent is actually interested in non-financial brands
• The #1 risk that scares candidates away from your opportunity
• Retention strategies: keeping your team motivated beyond just salary

Building Your Fintech Team?

If you're a non-financial brand making your first Fintech hires, I can help you design the right strategy and team structure, working in collaboration with Morten to find the right talent. Reach out to discuss your needs.

Connect with Morten Laufer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/morten-laufer-694a95180/

Visit our website www.embeddedfinancereview.com for more content. This episode was produced by Orama.tv.

(00:00) Start(01:22) Introduction and Welcome(01:31) Morten's Background and Location(01:42) Transition from Berlin to Hamburg(02:05) Diving into Recruiting and Team Building(02:22) FinTech vs Non-Financial Brands(03:08) Challenges with Non-Financial Brands(04:37) Practical Example: First FinTech Hire(06:45) Advice for Hiring FinTech Talent(10:13) Evaluating the First FinTech Hire(14:20) Building the FinTech Team(21:26) Compensation and Retention Strategies(32:26) Conclusion and Contact Information