Wharton FinTech Podcast Wharton Fintech Podcast

Russell Matambo hosts Serigne Dioum, Group CEO of MTN Fintech, an African mobile financial services platform and subsidiary of MTN, Africa’s largest mobile network operator. With a footprint of 16 countries, over 69 million customers, and an annual transaction value of over US$220 billion, MTN Fintech is among the largest mobile financial services platforms in Africa.

They discuss MTN’s ambition to scale Africa’s largest fintech platform, the strategic importance of carving out MTN Fintech and its partnership with Mastercard, and much more!

About Serigne:
Serigne Dioum is the Group CEO of MTN Fintech. Prior to this, Serigne was the MTN Group Executive for Mobile Financial Services. Serigne joined the MTN Group in September 2013, and has since then been responsible for driving MTN Mobile Money (MoMo) and related mobile financial services products and
services across the MTN footprint. Serigne is passionate about financial inclusion and is spearheading MTN’s ambition to build Africa’s largest fintech platform, accelerating economic and social development through digital innovations for the benefit of citizens across the continent and beyond. Prior to joining MTN, Serigne headed Orange Money Skill Centre from 2008 to 2010 where he coordinated the launch of Orange Money in several Orange affiliates. Serigne holds a qualification in Telecommunications Engineering from the French institution ENST Bretagne.

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Zoey Tang sits down with Vinay Nair, founder and CEO of TIFIN, a fintech platform that drives personalization for wealth using AI and investment intelligence. TIFIN operates a collection of fully-owned subsidiaries in wealth and investments that are shaping the future of investor experience. Vinay was also the Founder and Chairman of 55ip, which was successfully sold to J.P. Morgan.

As a serial entrepreneur and investor, Vinay was also a former finance faculty member of Wharton. His teaching focuses on venture capital, private equity, and entrepreneurship. He is also recognized as an expert in the areas of sustainable and responsible investing and has written “Investing for Change”, a book published in 2008 by Oxford University Press.

In the episode, Vinay covers his journey from academics to entrepreneurship, how TIFIN is helping transform Wealth Management for consumers and financial advisors, and how TIFIN is pioneering in the space using Gen AI through partnership with incumbents.

Nate Gee hosts Anthony Scaramucci, Founder and Managing Partner of SkyBridge Capital, an alternative investment firm with a significant focus on digital assets.

In this episode, they cover:
- Anthony’s partnership with FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried
- What led to FTX’s 30% stake in SkyBridge, and takeaways from FTX’s collapse
- Risk-taking, facing criticism, and moving on from mistakes
- Insights from Anthony’s time as White House Communications Director
- Recent performance and the road ahead for SkyBridge
- Bitcoin, other digital assets, and the future of money
- Anthony’s macroeconomic and geopolitical concerns
- SkyBridge’s SALT Conferences
- And much more!

About SkyBridge
SkyBridge Capital is an alternative asset manager and investment advisor whose holdings include digital assets, public and private equity, and hedge funds. It was founded in 2005 by Anthony Scaramucci, also the founder and chairman of SALT, SkyBridge’s venture studio and networking forum covering public policy, finance, and technology.

About Anthony Scaramucci
Anthony Scaramucci is an investor and entrepreneur whose focus in recent years has included digital assets and related technology at SkyBridge Capital. Scaramucci has also worked in politics, most notably in a brief stint as the White House Communications Director for President Donald Trump in 2017. He was ranked among Cointelegraph’s most influential people in crypto and blockchain in 2022, and in 2016, he was listed among Worth Magazine's 100 most powerful people in global finance. Scaramucci has authored multiple books and speaks on CNBC, Bloomberg, and other media.

Before founding SkyBridge, Scaramucci sold his prior investment business, Oscar Capital Management, to Neuberger Berman in 2001. He began his career at Goldman Sachs and holds a JD from Harvard Law School and a BA from Tufts University.

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In today’s episode, Kailee Costello hosts David Haber, General Partner at a16z. David focuses on technology investments in financial services.David was previously a senior executive in Firmwide Strategy at Goldman Sachs where he helped lead partnerships, new ventures and M&A. Before joining the firm, David was the Founder and CEO of Bond Street, which aimed to transform small business lending through technology, data, and design. Bond Street was acquired by Goldman Sachs in 2017.

In this episode you will hear about:
- The outlook for fintech: challenges and opportunities
- How seeing the world from the perspective of an operator, an entrepreneur, and an investor has shaped David’s investing today
- David’s current investing theses
- David’s learnings from Bond Street about the importance of “leading with software”
- How David’s lessons from Bond Street and his time at Goldman Sachs have influenced what he looks for in an investment and a founding team
- David’s rationale for leaving his VC role at Spark Capital to found a startup
- What David liked and disliked about his roles in VC compared to his role as founder and CEO at Bond Street

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Zoey Tang sits down with Mark Fiorentino, partner at Index Ventures. Founded in 1996, Index Ventures is a global Venture Capital firm with offices in San Francisco, New York City, and London. Index Ventures has previously invested in prominent fintech companies such as Adyen, Plaid, Robinhood

As part of the early members of the San Francisco team, Mark is focused largely on fintech and application SaaS. He is especially interested in fintech infrastructure, verticalized payment workflows, and SaaS tools disrupting legacy incumbents. He’s currently invested in RevenueCat, Loop, Catch, Pomelo, and Mercantile.

Prior to Index, Mark helped build and lead business strategy and finance at Stripe from 2015 to 2019, driving key initiatives for sales operations, global growth, and fundraising. He helped the company assess international product market fit, grow from a couple hundred to nearly 2,000 people, and move upmarket into late-stage and enterprise. Before that, Mark was an investor at GI Partners, focusing on vertical SaaS and insurance marketplaces, including the acquisition of MRI Software. He was also an investment banker at Goldman Sachs, and served as a board member of the Stonestown YMCA for three years.

In today’s episode we discuss Mark’s journey into Fintech and venture investing, his investment philosophy for companies in different stages, and his advice for founders in a period of volatility.

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In this episode, Blythe Masters reflects on her career that spans three decades within financial services. She discusses pivotal moments, from navigating through major mergers and market upheavals to becoming a mother at an early age. Addressing the evolving landscape of financial services, she delves into the transformative impact of AI and technology on Motive’s investment thesis, portfolio companies and day-to-day operations. Her experiences and observations provide a unique perspective on the industry's past, present, and future, making this podcast a must-listen for finance professionals and enthusiasts alike.

About Blythe Masters
Blythe Masters joined Motive Partners in 2019 and is a Founding Partner. At Motive, Blythe sources and executes investment opportunities with a focus on strategy and growth for Motive portfolio companies, through her extensive experience as a financial services and technology executive. Blythe is Chair of Motive Ventures, the early-stage investment capability at Motive Partners.

Prior to joining Motive, Blythe was the CEO of Digital Asset Holdings, the leading enterprise blockchain fintech company responsible for the Australian Securities Exchange’s ground-breaking post-trade infrastructure replacement project. Previously, Blythe was a member of the Corporate and Investment Bank Operating Committee and firmwide Executive Committee at J.P. Morgan. Her J.P. Morgan career spanned 27 years, fulfilling several roles including head of global commodities, head of corporate and investment bank regulatory affairs, CFO of the investment bank, head of global credit portfolio and credit policy and strategy, and head of structured credit. Blythe is a graduate and Senior Scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge where she received a B.A. in Economics.

About Motive Partners
Motive Partners is a specialist private equity firm with offices in New York City, London and Berlin, focusing on growth equity and buyout investments in software and information services companies based in North America and Europe and serving five primary subsectors: Banking & Payments, Capital Markets, Data & Analytics, Investment Management and Insurance. Motive Partners brings differentiated expertise, connectivity and capabilities to create long-term value in financial technology companies. For more information, please visit www.motivepartners.com

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