In the Hot Seat

Enfuce
In the Hot Seat

(Fin)tech uncensored! We ask tech leaders the questions you always wanted to ask – not shying away from the tough issues and taboos. Issuer processor Enfuce’s Co-Founder and Co-CEO Denise Johansson puts industry leaders in the hot seat, for the hot topics on everyone’s minds from how not to F#ck up compliance, make ESG actually matter, real talk on being a female founder, and more. Expect the unexpected alongside Denise’s trademark candor and wit.

  1. 27/11/2024

    Pleo x Enfuce: A Nordic Love Song- Keeping the Love Alive in Fintech Partnerships

    Ready for a steamy tech love story?. Thorbjørn Fink, COO of Pleo joins Denise for a spicy chat in the hot seat. Learn from Pleo and Enfuce’s love story about building winning partnerships, maintaining great communication, making compromises and navigating the occasional rough patch. Denise and Thorbjørn discuss learning the right love languages, building trust, and dealing with a partner if the shoe doesn’t fit.   Key Takeaways. [0:00] Denise Johansson puts Thorbjørn Fink, COO of Pleo and longtime business partner, in the hot seat. [3:42] Being a supplier is one thing, being a partner is another beast. Thorbjørn explains why long-term stability drives that choice. [5:36] Compromise works when partners can grow together and find their respective wins, but building for the long term is about more than just the tech and the deal. [9:34] Thorbjørn weighs the pros and cons of building everything yourself rather than taking the time to find the right partner: always focus on your mission! [13:21] Saying goodbye is always hard. But if the partnership isn’t right, it’s better for all. [17:10] Looking to become a great partner? Learn to speak the right language! [20:14] Thorbjørn shares his closing thoughts for listeners. [21:22] Denise signs out until the next time she puts an industry leader in the hot seat.   People. Guest Thorbjørn Fink, COO of Pleo, the spending solution for forward-thinking teams everywhere, making spending management effective and empowering. Host Denise Johansson, co-CEO and co-Founder of Enfuce, a female-founded fintech helping drive business growth, solve customer challenges, and extend financial inclusion.   Links. Pleo Enfuce   Guest Quotes (edited). Do the work before you put pen to paper. It's well worth it because you don't want to transplant your lungs and your heart and get something that doesn't match. — Thorbjørn Fink, Pleo, InTheHotSeat There's the agreement, there's the tech, but there's also the people behind it. — Thorbjørn Fink, Pleo, InTheHotSeat We are not here to build the full stack. We actually care very little about the tech stack. We care about the customer experience. — Thorbjørn Fink, Pleo, InTheHotSeat How on earth do I articulate this value to my stakeholders? How do I convince internally? Make sure you put yourself in your stakeholders’ shoes and bring them up to standard so you can have an informed discussion. — Thorbjørn Fink, Pleo, InTheHotSeat   Denise Quotes (edited). Business is still done between humans, you need to be able to trust them. Because when things don't go as planned, the relationship will be tested and you want the right partner by your side to fix it. — Denise Johansson, InTheHotSeat Growing the right leaders and cultures internally is the very start of becoming ready for true partnerships. — Denise Johansson, InTheHotSeat Communication is the key to success in private and business partnerships. — Denise Johansson, InTheHotSeat Once you are in a good partnership, you need to challenge each other, learn from each other, and trust that you are talking to smart, and capable people. — Denise Johansson, InTheHotSeat

    22 min
  2. 16/10/2024

    The Metaverse: Money’s Next Frontier

    Are you ready for money in the Metaverse? David Birch, payment industry legend and Author of Money in The Metaverse joins the hot seat to discuss what fintechs need to know about the future of payments in the Metaverse, what exactly the Metaverse is and why it isn’t just a virtual space and how it might help level the playing field when it comes to being more inclusive, and tackling fraud!   Key Takeaways. [0:00] Denise Johansson puts David Birch, payment industry legend and Author of Money in The Metaverse, in the hot seat. [3:30] David points out the fundamental differences in ownership and identity between other virtual spaces and what the Metaverse offers. [6:54] The three aspects of the new financial market infrastructure of the Metaverse, spatial computing, digital assets and digital identity. [7:56] Is this a person or not? It seems that for some people, it doesn’t matter. [10:24] What fintechs need to know now in order not to be left behind. [13:20] Does online connectivity mean less in-person interactions? [14:03] While spatial computing and asset tokenization are well on their way, digital identity seems to be lagging behind. [15:39] How money is spent in the metaverse and why simpler might be better. [16:18] David explains how digital identity can fend off the more insidious possibilities that come along with the metaverse. [17:42] How digital identity can serve as an inclusivity multiplier. [19:30] David explains how the Metaverse is being built with security first and might provide some measure of protection from online fraud. [21:56] The Metaverse is actually a plurality of Metaverses. [22:47] David shares a few important things to think about when it comes to the future of this technology. [24:10] Getting people educated about new tech is always the best policy. [24:55] Denise signs out until the next time she puts an industry leader in the hot seat.   People. Guest David Birch, payment industry legend and Author of Money in The Metaverse: Digital Assets, Online Identities, Spatial Computing and Why Virtual Worlds Mean Real Business. Host Denise Johansson, co-CEO and co-Founder of Enfuce, a female-founded fintech helping drive business growth, solve customer challenges, and extend financial inclusion.   Links. Enfuce   Guest Quotes (edited). In the metaverse, your identity, your money, your property is yours. It doesn't belong to the platform and you can take it with you and move it around. — David Birch, Money in The Metaverse, InTheHotSeat We really need more focus on the digital identity side of things if we're going to make this happen. If I want to trade securely with you in the metaverse, I don’t need to know your personal information, but I need to know some things about you. — David Birch, Money in The Metaverse, InTheHotSeat We want the internet to be inclusive. Obviously, if the goggles are 3000$ and you have to pay 100$ a month, that's not very inclusive. But I'm technologically optimistic. I think those costs can come down over time. — David Birch, Money in The Metaverse, InTheHotSeat   Denise Quotes (edited). Younger generations are more adaptive to a Metaverse future than us being a little older and not as connected. — Denise Johansson, InTheHotSeat Will people spend less time interacting in person? And does that mean we will spend less time interacting with the people we want in our lives? — Denise Johansson, InTheHotSeat The Metaverse is going to be the new normal. Our kids should be aware of how it is to interact online. — Denise Johansson, InTheHotSeat The new frontier of money and identity is in the Metaverse, companies need to look for opportunities to build out a presence in virtual worlds. — Denise Johansson, InTheHotSeat

    26 min
  3. 17/09/2024

    Stranger Than Fiction

    Financial fraud is a full-blown epidemic. Geoff White, Investigative Journalist and Author of Rinsed jumps in the hot seat to explain the current landscape, what the future might look like, and how getting back to the basics of employee engagement might be the best defense companies have against fraudsters.   Key Takeaways. [0:0] Denise Johansson puts Geoff White, Investigative Journalist and Author of Rinsed, in the hot seat. [2:24] Social media feeds are feeding the fraud epidemic while a cashless society removes friction for laundering and money routing. [4:53] Geoff explains how the layered world of money laundering has evolved with technologies and into unexpected sectors like gaming. [7:28] How North Korean money heists led Geoff to write Rinse. [9:35] The most astonishingly strange theft Geoff knows about, from billion-dollar salamander video games to totalitarian regimes laundering hundreds of millions of hot crypto. [13:47] Is 5 years too much or too little for financial crimes? [14:57] Geoff explains who AI is currently benefiting most and why AI battling AI won’t necessarily come to pass. [17:26] How defenders can keep the AI advantage over time through auditing. [19:51] The current state of action for individual defrauded customers needs to be more cohesive and encouraging both for customers and law enforcement. [23:26] Social media platforms and the dilution of responsibility. [26:06] Geoff’s 1-2-3 advice for fintechs looking to increase their fraud detection. [28:11] Back to the basics: Phishing messages. The future of fraud control is awareness and employee engagement! [29:23] How an employee looking for a new job costs a company 625 million dollars. [32:11] Denise signs out until the next time she puts an industry leader in the hot seat.   People. Guest Geoff White, Investigative Journalist and Author of Rinsed: From Cartels to Crypto: How the Tech Industry Washes Money for the World's Deadliest Crooks. Host Denise Johansson, co-CEO and co-Founder of Enfuce, a female-founded fintech helping drive business growth, solve customer challenges, and extend financial inclusion.   Links. Rinsed Enfuce   Guest Quotes (edited). We are now increasingly in a cashless society. That gives more digital routes for stealing people's money or conning them out of it. —  Geoff White, Rinsed, InTheHotSeat The public thinks that video games and Bitcoin are not real money. But actually, it is still worth millions and millions of pounds if you can transfer it into usable money. —  Geoff White, Rinsed, InTheHotSeat Many people think that cybercriminals are just geniuses: A few lines of code and that's it, your money's gone! Computer hackers are very good at breaking into banks, but what they're not so good at is once they've got in: Taking the money out, washing it, and hiding the traces. —  Geoff White, Rinsed, InTheHotSeat Hackers are very good at code, malware, phishing, social engineering, and working out how your servers work. But to transfer the money, you need to know about Swift, IBANs, and MoneyMule accounts. —  Geoff White, Rinsed, InTheHotSeat Transferring out the 625 million dollars, in the form of crypto, took one minute 55 seconds. Fastest crime ever, hands down. —  Geoff White, Rinsed, InTheHotSeat You have this bizarre situation where there is a video game involving salamanders, half a billion stolen by the most dangerous regime in the world and the crypto and tech community prosecuting the U.S. government when they take action against it! —  Geoff White, Rinsed, InTheHotSea Do I have to build an AI system to defraud you? No. What I need to know are the parameters that your AI is sticking to and work around those. I don't have to build my own AI to get around yours. —  Geoff White, Rinsed, InTheHotSeat Where there's lots of money sloshing about with lots of values going down, international trade, and lack of regulation, that's where you'll find the money launderers. And cryptocurrency, video gaming, and NFTs. —  Geoff White, Rinsed, InTheHotSeat   Denise Quotes (edited). The fraud epidemic is being driven by advances in AI, cryptocurrency, and scamming techniques that are leaving even the most trained detectives scratching their heads. — Denise Johansson, InTheHotSeat For the experts in money laundering and cybercrime, the world they work in is getting more and more interesting, if not more and more disturbing. — Denise Johansson, InTheHotSeat When it comes to fraud detection, we've been talking more about how to detect false positives, but it might be time to identify the false negatives and understand why they went through. — Denise Johansson, InTheHotSeat

    33 min
  4. 20/08/2024

    From Dinosaurs to Dynamos

    Can banks do what needs to be done to stay alive? How can the legacy players stave off the next ice age? Leda Glyptis, recovering banker and author, and Monika Liikamaa Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Enfuce burn up the hot seat with a no-holds-barred discussion on how parasitic relationships, hedging bets, and corporate FOMO killed off countless fintechs with great potential! And, just wait till they dish on why banks need to start moving away from in-house builds and into partnerships to truly succeed in a customer-driven world!   Key Takeaways. [0:0] Denise Johansson puts Leda Glyptis, fintech executive and former banker, and Monika Liikamaa, co-CEO and co-Founder of Enfuce, in the hot seat. [3:39] Leda and Monika agree. Because of dinosaur mindsets and structures, the banking industry has changed a lot but not enough at all in the current landscape. [6:20] Some problems take care of themselves! Although Monika underscores a possible challenge with upcoming mass retirements. [8:05] Regulators exert external pressure on banks and they are moving in the right direction. Leda explains what is still missing. [11:49] The cost/benefit of digitization is something banks don’t quite understand. Leda argues that this inflationary period is critical to decision-making if banks want to remain alive. [12:56] Is innovation really a fridge that runs its own Kubernetes cluster? Monika and Leda offer that true innovation is a little boring and not very sexy. [15:40] Have VC’s ruined innovation with zombie parasitic relationships? Monika and Leda roll out a scathing indictment of the fintech petting zoo. [18:44] Money is not a dirty word was Leda’s keynote title and where the money comes from (the right money) is important, Enfuce is a testament to that. [29:18] Liking and trusting are two very different things. Some fintechs have confused the two and the human ability to forget about past mistakes is driving recurring failures that undermine trust. [31:03] Regulators will lead the financial sector into the future. Leda shares some specifics of where the future is taking us, from deepfakes to migration tooling and AML. [33:58] Taking your time with real time! [36:40] What Leda’s new book has in store. [39:49] Denise signs out until the next time she puts an industry leader in the hot seat.   People. Guest Leda Glyptis, Strategic Advisor, Board Member, fintech executive, and former banker. Guest Monika Liikamaa, co-CEO and co-Founder of Enfuce, a female-founded fintech helping drive business growth, solve customer challenges, and extend financial inclusion. Host Denise Johansson, co-CEO and co-Founder of Enfuce, a female-founded fintech helping drive business growth, solve customer challenges, and extend financial inclusion.   Links. Enfuce   Guest Quotes (edited). When it comes to banking, The unsexy is where it’s at, both in terms of customer adoption and in terms of long-term profitability. So where is true innovation? Where you can't see it. —  Leda Glyptis, InTheHotSeat Innovation isn’t spending money on visible things when your API infrastructure is balanced on top of something that plugs into a mainframe from the 60s. —  Leda Glyptis, InTheHotSeat So where is true innovation? It's the adoption of scaled technologies to solve customer problems in a way that improves choice, transparency, and stability, and reduces cost. —  Leda Glyptis, InTheHotSeat Have banks changed a lot? Yes. Have they changed enough? No. What I think banks haven't done is realise that the world around us is on an irreversible path that is changing much faster than the industry. —  Leda Glyptis, InTheHotSeat The bank’s lease-on-life and breathing space of today’s high interest rates should be the time to make decisions. But it won't be for a lot of them. —  Leda Glyptis, InTheHotSeat You should talk about your business model before you take money from an investor or a partnership. Most of the relationships I saw at the time in accelerators were zombie parasitic relationships that would never go to market. —  Leda Glyptis, InTheHotSeat One of the questions I'm looking into is: What money do you take, and can the money kill you? The answer is yes. But it is hard to do. When you're trying to build something, saying “No” to a check in front of you is extremely hard. —  Leda Glyptis, InTheHotSeat To everyone listening, if you're a banker, don't try to build it yourself. Seriously, just partner. Partner, partner, partner! —  Leda Glyptis, InTheHotSeat The good news is that the problems in the financial sector will die, or retire. The challenge is that the culture will prevail if the hierarchy is too rigidly systematic. It will be a mindset thing at the incumbent level also. —  Monika Liikamaa, Enfuce, InTheHotSeat The words innovation and disruption should be changed to adoption and transformation. For banks, now is the time not to die. —  Monika Liikamaa, Enfuce, InTheHotSeat VCs have been pouring money into weird-ass companies offering some weirdo niche products for free and as such, are skewing the real cost of building fintech products. —  Monika Liikamaa, Enfuce, InTheHotSeat Being owned by a bank is not a good way to be if you're a tech company. . —  Monika Liikamaa, Enfuce, InTheHotSeat   Denise Quotes (edited). Maybe I can try to defend the banks… Despite everything, we love banks! We love and trust banks. Trust is something that many fintechs have yet to crack. — Denise Johansson, Enfuce, InTheHotSeat Building successfully in the fintech space entails a lot of failure, and you need to have been around the block. Some day we will share all of ours openly. Maybe post IPO or exit, when we aren’t so connected to it and you have to Google us to see what we did back then. — Denise Johansson, Enfuce, InTheHotSeat

    40 min
  5. 31/07/2024

    Power to The People

    Disrupt the status quo and give power to the people! Felipe Hillard from the Bank of London, jumps in the hot seat to tackle the notion of control (and why sharing is a good thing), how inclusivity helps align payment solutions with customer needs, why choosing value over profit puts you squarely in the eye of the finance revolution, and why honing your purpose and focus in the fintech space can save you from going extinct.   Key Takeaways. [0:0] Denise Johansson puts Felipe Hillard, Chief Client Officer at the Bank of London, in the hot seat. [2:01] The historical context and current geopolitical aspects of the UK’s powerhouse status in fintech and banking. [4:53] Felipe shares how the Bank of London, and Enfuce are focusing on giving power to the people. [6:06] Felipe shares what difficult (and scary) thing financial organisations need to give up to be part of the citizen-focused financial revolution. [7:39] Being purpose-built isn’t baked-in only at inception, Felipe explains how your purpose can be nourished by enabling your customer’s purposes and disrupting the status quo. [10:37] Innovation can be painful! Making it part of your culture from the get-go can make it less so. [13:36] Culture is a tricky thing, about rhythms and rituals, how teams function together and come together. [17:21] Felipe talks about how to manage sharing control to extend agency to the margins and reframes the discussion away from philanthropy. [18:56] Denise signs out until the next time she puts an industry leader in the hot seat.   People. Guest Felipe Hillard, Chief Client Officer at the Bank of London, disrupting the fundamentals of banking while prioritising depositor money preservation and market stability. Host Denise Johansson, co-CEO and co-Founder of Enfuce, a female-founded fintech helping drive business growth, solve customer challenges, and extend financial inclusion.   Links. Bank of London Enfuce   Guest Quotes (edited). With the Brexit vote, the UK just can't take access to outside markets for granted anymore, there's a need to innovate. —  Felipe Hillard, Bank of London, InTheHotSeat Citizen-focused finance means being willing to give up a degree of control, which means a very awkward moment for organisations that are used to having control, giving a piece of it up. —  Felipe Hillard, Bank of London, InTheHotSeat Culture comes down to how decisions are made and how decisions are communicated. —  Felipe Hillard, Bank of London, InTheHotSeat If innovation is baked in from the start, it won’t be as painful, but it will always be painful. —  Felipe Hillard, Bank of London, InTheHotSeat   Denise Quotes (edited). We live in an almost cashless society, except for marginalised communities that can’t access digital payments. We decided there must be a better way and today, more funds are being delivered through cards, through Enfuce. — Denise Johansson, InTheHotSeat In the UK, a place built on tradition and legacy institutions, the banking revolution is driven by purpose-built, citizen-focused fintechs and banks. — Denise Johansson, InTheHotSeat Being purpose-driven is finding a niche where you can make a change, and where you can tackle real challenges. Don't invent challenges, there are enough real ones out there! Find out what they are and how you can add value. Find your purpose, and then weigh all your decisions against that purpose. — Denise Johansson, InTheHotSeat We need to rebuild how banks make decisions and how the operations work so that we can serve the clients that we want to serve.  — Denise Johansson, InTheHotSeat

    19 min
  6. 03/06/2024

    Back to the future: Reimagining the future of payments

    What does an AI future mean for fintech? Matthew Gardiner, from A1 AI, jumps in the hot seat for a burning discussion on what fintechs need to do today to be part of an AI future, how fraudsters provide a great learning opportunity, and why you need to start using AI in your organization today.   Key Takeaways [0:0] Denise Johansson puts Matthew Gardiner, founder of A1 AI, in the hot seat. [3:15] Matthew shares how long he has been learning about AI. [4:23] Why this AI revolution cycle is the most important one to date as we walk into the supercomputing age. [5:46] Matthew shares where AI can impact fintech, and which industries are currently making the most of AI. [6:39] Finance has very nascent AI usage, and the more data can be fed to it the better. [7:28] The worst of AI in the financial world (and one current success story). [8:27] Can hallucinations ever be under control? [9:22] Local and agent-based models with local data may point the way to the future. [10:08] The diversity bias problem with AI and why getting involved now is important. [11:04] Where is Europe on the AI racetrack? [11:56] Just try it! [13:35] There is a rapid proliferation of AI models you can interact with, and they are getting smarter. [14:17] AI can cut through the fat like no other and that is the key to tackling many issues, including climate change. [15:09] Matthew touches on robotics and education as two massive fields AI can propel forward. [16:27] Our robotic future and our existential future. [18:05] When is this future arriving? Matthew shares the probabilities. [19:04] How is AI impacting healthcare? [20:25] How are fraudsters so effective, and how do we outsmart them? [22:46] Matthew’s advice for fintech leaders looking to work with AI. [:] Denise signs out until the next time she puts an industry leader in the hot seat.   People Guest Matthew Gardiner, founder of A1 AI, In this dynamic world of technology A1 AI offers expertise and the ability to look into the future. Host Denise Johansson, co-CEO and co-Founder of Enfuce, a female-founded fintech helping drive business growth, solve customer challenges, and extend financial inclusion.   Links A1 AI Enfuce   Guest Quotes (edited) A model which learns locally and has answers locally is far more intelligent. —  Matthew Gardiner, A1 AI, InTheHotSeat This is very early days and it's good to be involved now. Sure, a year down the line, problems will be fixed, but it's very good to have it within your processes now, so you can iterate upon it. —  Matthew Gardiner, A1 AI, InTheHotSeat Experiment! Before you're in a critical space, try it. Think of that future. Should our lives be changed quite dramatically by AI, how are you going to cope with it? How are you going to lead everybody forward through it? —  Matthew Gardiner, A1 AI, InTheHotSeat Multi-layer, multi-level governance is a massive problem. So AI is very good at getting through to actually what needs to be done and proposing a solution. —  Matthew Gardiner, A1 AI, InTheHotSeat We've lived in this industrial revolution era, it’s very prescribed and we deal with a lot of legacy systems. What did we do before we had mechanization? —  Matthew Gardiner, A1 AI, InTheHotSeat We're going through a burn-up on re-entry at the moment, massive storms of fraud coming towards us. But it's much more opportunity and data to learn from. —  Matthew Gardiner, A1 AI, InTheHotSeat Have a strategy. We are at a crucial phase, some say we've got around two years to get it right. If you're concerned about AI being destructive, bring some very high-quality data into it, so it does the best, rather than a mediocre job. Who wants to be governed by a mediocre entity?  —  Matthew Gardiner, A1 AI, InTheHotSeat   Denise Quotes (edited). How will we overcome hallucinations? Won't there always be room for lying? That's what humans have been doing so far. When we don't have the answer, we come up with an answer. So that's kind of smart of AI. — Denise Johansson, Enfuce, InTheHotSeat Currently, the data is from the internet, it’s from public sources. We need to start to feed in big data that can have a bigger impact on societies. — Denise Johansson, Enfuce, InTheHotSeat At Enfuce today using AI is almost mandatory, at least on a weekly basis. If not, we will start to lag behind the rest of the room. — Denise Johansson, Enfuce, InTheHotSeat

    25 min
  7. 23/05/2024

    Unlocking the secrets of Nordic Innovation

    Strong safety nets and early-age encouragement build fearless innovators. Love Dager and Lana Brandorne of Stockholm Fintech jump in the hot seat to talk about where Nordic innovation is today and where it is going. Fintech isn’t dead! Long live fintech!   Key Takeaways. [0:0] Denise Johansson puts Love Dager, CEO and co-founder of Stockholm Fintech, and Lana Brandorne co-founder of Stockholm Fintech, in the hot seat. [3:37] Nordic tech is hot! Lana and Love talk about why that is and the factors that drive innovation from the north. [6:06] The world looks to Nordic countries for innovation, but some legacy systems have to catch up. [8:55] Embedded everything! Denise, Love, and Lana discuss hot trends. [11:01] Flat hierarchies, sandboxing, and sibling-like relationships between Nordic countries drive healthy collaboration and competition in the fintech ecosystem. [14:52] Want to replicate Nordic success? Move your startup to the Nordics! [18:49] Long live Fintech! Lana and Love talk about upcoming movements in fintech and why it’s just getting started, from better investment opportunities to available talent. [22:57] Love and Lana discuss what to watch for in the coming years, from embedded, B2B, AI — with less hype! to increased demand in cyber-security. [24:27] The AI revolution may have been over-hyped in terms of immediate impact, Love and Lana share examples of how it’s making a difference today. [28:02] Lana and Love share their closing thoughts on Nordic innovation in these challenging times. [29:06] Denise signs out until the next time she puts an industry leader in the hot seat.   People. Guest Love Dager, CEO and co-founder of Stockholm Fintech, co-founder and COO of Hack for Earth, and founder of Outside Minds, driving innovation and creativity using modern methodology. Guest Lana Brandorne formerly at Mastercard, co-founder of Stockholm Fintech, advancing the fintech landscape through community collaboration, and knowledge sharing. Host Denise Johansson, co-CEO and co-Founder of Enfuce, a female-founded fintech helping drive business growth, solve customer challenges, and extend financial inclusion.   Links. Stockholm Fintech Hack for Earth Outside Minds Enfuce   Guest Quotes (edited). “Embedded everything” is a mega trend we've seen for a couple of years, but it's definitely ramping up. — Love Dager, Stockholm Fintech, Hack for Earth, Outside Minds, InTheHotSeat A shared sameness makes us good at collaborating in Nordic countries, we are like siblings who want to be the best. It creates an ecosystem of friendly players competing to create innovation and synergies. — Love Dager, Stockholm Fintech, Hack for Earth, Outside Minds, InTheHotSeat Nordic innovation comes from a combination of having the potential to go big and go global, but testing it out in our safe backyard. — Love Dager, Stockholm Fintech, Hack for Earth, Outside Minds, InTheHotSeat It's not a bad time for all fintechs. There are a lot of quality investments being done: more quality over quantity. If you have a good fintech and you have products and customers, it's not that hard to raise money. — Love Dager, Stockholm Fintech, Hack for Earth, Outside Minds, InTheHotSeat For many startups, it's about pushing through these hard times. So maybe look into alternative financing if you're running low on cash and use AI tools to try to be more efficient. — Love Dager, Stockholm Fintech, Hack for Earth, Outside Minds, InTheHotSeat We are very digital in Nordic countries. It's such a natural thing to build companies, we even ask our teenagers to start companies, to think about solutions. And we have the safety net to do so. —  Lana Brandorne, Stockholm Fintech, InTheHotSeat Hierarchies here are flat. Any idea is welcome, whether it is your first day at an entry-level job, if you have a good idea senior management often listens and it fosters a lot of innovation. —  Lana Brandorne, Stockholm Fintech, InTheHotSeat As someone coming into the Nordic market, you need to be aware that your reputation will precede you. You do not have room for mistakes in this market because people will remember. —  Lana Brandorne, Stockholm Fintech, InTheHotSeat Fintech is definitely not dead. The people who don't truly understand the space are exiting it because there's no longer hype, but it’s far from dead. If anything, we're in many areas just getting started. —  Lana Brandorne, Stockholm Fintech, InTheHotSeat   Denise Quotes (edited). Globally, they see us as the Nordic countries, we are bundled in together. But then when you are in the Nordics, then we are Swedes, we are Finns, we are Danes. — Denise Johansson, InTheHotSeat Since day one at Enfuce that we have had the zero a*****e policy. — Denise Johansson, InTheHotSeat You can't fail. Everything won't necessarily become a success, but you will always learn from everything you do in life. If you calculate risk and start being afraid of what might happen you will never move forward.  — Denise Johansson, InTheHotSeat As the CEO of a flat organisation it's a huge relief to feel that trust from the employees, and I can trust that innovation, ideas, and improvements will make their way to me. — Denise Johansson, InTheHotSeat

    30 min
  8. 25/03/2024

    What if You Could Have It All?

    Having it all does mean choosing. Join Sarah Greasly and Denise Johansson as they dive into the myth, break the cycle of mom-shaming, and invite more women into tech. Keep an ear out for tips on how to build the female leaders your organisation needs and what you should never say at work.   Key Takeaways. [0:0] Denise Johansson puts Sarah Greasley, former Director, Solution Architecture and EMEA, Amazon Web Services, in the first hot seat of season 2. [2:17] What having it all means to Sarah and Denise. [4:44] Sarah shares the story of how she got to where she is in tech today. [6:03] How to build a 3-year plan around your interests and why Sarah believes 3 trumps 5. [7:07] The very first time Sarah realized being a woman in tech was an unusual thing. [9:40] Putting on a cloak of invincibility is something Sarah is now passionate about teaching younger generations of women leaders. [11:06] What does the separation of personal and professional look like for Sarah, if it exists at all? [12:22] Sarah’s journey had a traditional start, but tragedy propelled her into unique roles. [16:15] Thinking about “what ifs” is not part of how Sarah lives her life, she explains why. [18:43] Denise and Sarah share what having it all means to them. [21:49] Sarah shares one thing you should never say at work (but should at home!). [24:20] Denise shares how she struggled with managing her schedule to accommodate for her non-negotiables. [26:27] Sarah offers that some of the pressure women feel when balancing home and career might be a little self-inflicted. [28:04] Getting more women into tech can be achieved by focusing on joining, succession planning, and fixing the leaky pipeline. [30:53] 40 years in tech enables Sarah to share what has changed and what she finds incredibly exciting. [34:01] Sarah’s advice for women looking to have it all. [36:12] Denise signs out until the next time she puts an industry leader in the hot seat.   People. Guest Sarah Greasley, former Director, Solution Architecture and EMEA, Amazon Web Services, working with customers, and leading solution architects across EMEA. Host Denise Johansson, co-CEO and co-Founder of Enfuce, a female-founded fintech helping drive business growth, solve customer challenges, and extend financial inclusion.   Links. Enfuce   Guest Quotes  Putting on your cloak of invincibility means separating your professional self from your personal self to preserve the latter. — Sarah Greasley, InTheHotSeat Don’t apologise if you can’t make it to a meeting. Sometimes it’s just that you literally can’t be there at 1:30 a.m.! — Sarah Greasley, InTheHotSeat There is more parity, but by the same token, I think we also put some of that pressure on ourselves as women. — Sarah Greasley, InTheHotSeat Succession planning is a good path to getting more women involved in tech. — Sarah Greasley, InTheHotSeat We have to live in probabilities, we have to live with risk. — Sarah Greasley, InTheHotSeat Every family is different, every partner. Don’t worry about mom shaming and just find what works for you. — Sarah Greasley, InTheHotSeat   Denise Quotes (edited). Life will challenge us, we have no idea of the story behind every successful woman. — Denise Johansson, InTheHotSeat There are things that you can’t plan in life. Children are among these. — Denise Johansson, InTheHotSeat I am not the mom who does the cooking, cleaning, and picking up, but I have never compromised on my family being first. — Denise Johansson, InTheHotSeat You can have it all, but you have to choose what having it all means to you. — Denise Johansson, InTheHotSeat Create the leaders that you want to have within your organisation. — Denise Johansson, InTheHotSeat

    37 min

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(Fin)tech uncensored! We ask tech leaders the questions you always wanted to ask – not shying away from the tough issues and taboos. Issuer processor Enfuce’s Co-Founder and Co-CEO Denise Johansson puts industry leaders in the hot seat, for the hot topics on everyone’s minds from how not to F#ck up compliance, make ESG actually matter, real talk on being a female founder, and more. Expect the unexpected alongside Denise’s trademark candor and wit.

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