From Los Alamos Nuclear Physicist to Surfin CEO, Dr Yanan Wu's journey through market and tech cycles

The year is 2017. On a work trip to Bali, Dr Yanan Wu is inspired to take on the next stage of his career. Seeing the immense wealth gap in the market, he starts Surfin to leverage the emerging technological dividend around data analytics and AI in markets like Indonesia, where there is a demographic dividend of young, digitally savvy population with an unmet need for better financial services. Seven years later, Paulo goes On Call with Dr Wu to hear his story over the last 30+ years, from being a nuclear physicist in Los Alamos National Lab in the US to developing models for the capital markets at global financial institutions, and finally developing more equitable credit models for the underserved at Surfin. Surfin now serves 60 million users across nine markets globally with an ecosystem of financial service products ranging from financing to wealth management and credit cards, built on a proprietary core credit scoring engine. Insignia Ventures Partners recently invested US$12.5 million in their first institutional round after seven years of growing bootstrapped Timestamps (00:00) Introduction; (01:49) A Global Fintech Born out of Demographic and Technological Dividends; (11:38) Navigating the Nuances of Financial Services in Different Emerging Market Regions; (24:37) Building Models Through a Career of Technological Cycles; (30:07) Finding Allies in a World Class Board and 2800+ Employees Across the Globe; About our guest Dr Yanan Wu has had over 26 years of global investment experience serving in various financial institutions and family offices. He's also no stranger to fintech as well, having launched a robo-advisory startup prior to Surfin. He received his PhD in statistical physics from the University of Western Ontario in Canada, and completed his post doctoral research at Los Alamos National Lab in the US. Connect with Yanan Follow us on LinkedIn for more updates Check out Insignia Business Review for more insights Subscribe to our monthly newsletter for all the news and resources Directed by Paulo Joquiño Produced by Paulo Joquiño The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Insignia Ventures⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ fund. Any and all opinions shared in this episode are solely personal thoughts and reflections of the guest and the host.