Once Upon a Startup: Recent Episodes
Finotta
Everyone wants to know what it takes to become successful, but few have the tenacity to gamble their entire life to create something as risky as a tech startup. Parker Graham, founder and CEO of Finotta, left his cushy finance job and set out on an entrepreneurial journey to change the world of banking technology. Little did he know he would face heartache, euphoria, and everything in between when bringing a startup to life. With exclusive interviews from the main characters that create this story, other tech founders, and industry experts from around the world, this podcast will provide an inside look on how a company can start, fail, and rise form the ashes to fight another day. Learn from those who have the guts to do it everyday, Welcome to Once Upon a Startup.
Today you are going to get an inside look at Finnota’s first major launch. On Tuesday, November 8th at 10:00 am, about 4 years after Finotta’s Founder and CEO Parker Graham started this journey, Finotta’s technology went live with First United Bank. The team's technology was in the hands of around 140,000 real users. If you have been following along with The Modern FI, you understand what it has taken to get to this point. We have documented the creation of growth of Finotta for over a year now, and this episode is really the culmination of all that hard work. This journey began with an idea, no money, and no team. Now, Finotta has 15 highly qualified individuals on the team all working towards the same mission, to financially empower 1 million lives. That goal is now more attainable than ever before. Please enjoy the Season 2 Finale of The Modern FI.
Resources
- Finotta.com
- The Finotta Team
- Finotta LinkedIn
Each episode of The Fintech Cookout will feature a conversation between Finotta’s Head of Customer Success, Quincy Kennedy, and a fellow fintech leader in the BIPOC community. You will learn about the technology that is creating a more equitable financial industry, how financial institutions are responding to this technology, and the incredible individuals behind it all. On this episode, Quincy sits down with Joseph Akintolayo, live and in person, at Finovate Fall, a conference that showcases cutting-edge banking and financial technology. Joseph is the Founder of Philanthrolab, the founder and executive chairman of Renaissance Innovation Labs, and the Founder and CEO of Deposits, a cloud based fintech platform that offers banks and brands an easy to use, turnkey solution for engagement, modernization, and best-in-class financial experiences such as payments, mobile apps, and lending — whether you can program or not. Basically, Deposits makes creating a digital bank as easy as creating a website on Wix. This is an amazing conversation with an incredible guest, so without further ado, please enjoy this episode of the Fintech Cookout.
Resources:
- Joseph's LinkedIn
- Deposits.inc
- PhilanthroLab
- Renaissance Innovation Labs
- Quincy's LinkedIn
- Garrett's LinkedIn
- Finotta.com
Finclusive is hosted by Finotta’s Chief Product Officer, Kelsey Houghton. Each episode, Kelsey will interview a fellow female or LGBTQ leader in fintech, and they will discuss everything from the future of fintech to diversity, equity, and inclusion. This series will highlight the best and brightest voices from the communities that often go unheard. On this episode of Finclusive, Kelsey sits down with Ariam Sium at Finovate Fall, a conference that showcases cutting-edge banking and financial technology. Ariam is currently the VP of Product for FinGoal, who we have featured on this podcast network before. Before joining FinGoal, Ariam had been the Co-Founder of Axium Group, CEO of Sium Solutions, and Co-Founder of Click-A-Shift. So needless to say, she has an incredible entrepreneurial drive. Today, Ariam oversees product development for FinGoal, which is an insights platform that sits on top of digital banking and personal finance data. FinGoal enriches transaction data to build customized profiles of each end user, and provides them with tailored calls to action on their transactions. This is a great conversation between two incredible product minds, so without further ado, please enjoy this episode of Finclusive.
Resources:
- Ariam's LinkedIn
- Fingoal.com
- Kelsey's LinkedIn
- Garrett's LinkedIn
- Finotta.com
Each episode of The Fintech Cookout will feature a conversation between Finotta’s Head of Customer Success, Quincy Kennedy, and a fellow fintech leader in the BIPOC community. You will learn about the technology that is creating a more equitable financial industry, how financial institutions are responding to this technology, and the incredible individuals behind it all. On today’s episode, Quincy sits down with Rodney Williams, Co-Founder & Chairman of SoLo Funds. SoLo Funds is a financial service provider enabling a marketplace where members can request and fund emergency needs. SoLo launched in 2018 with the goal of providing a lending alternative that was equitable, empowering, and community-driven. Since then, SoLo has processed millions of transactions and redefined financial services for its community members. Today, they are driven to new heights launching additional financial services, but grounded in the same hope and mission: to build a community that enables financial autonomy for all. For more info: www.solofunds.com. Without further ado, please enjoy this episode of The Fintech cookout.
Resources:
- Rodney's LinkedIn
- Solofunds.com
- Quincy's LinkedIn
- Finotta.com
- Garrett's LinkedIn
- Podcast
- Podcast
- Article
- Article
- CNBC Article
- Article Interview
Finclusive is hosted by Finotta’s Chief Product Officer, Kelsey Houghton. Each episode,Kelsey will interview a fellow female or LGBTQ leader in fintech, and they will discuss everything from the future of fintech to diversity, equity, and inclusion. This series will highlight the best and brightest voices from the communities that often go unheard. On this episode of Finclusive, Kelsey sits down with Laura Kornhauser at Finovate Fall, a conference that showcases cutting-edge banking and financial technology. Laura is the Co-Founder and CEO of Stratyfy, a fintech company that is on a mission to accelerate financial inclusion by providing greater transparency and less bias to critical financial decisions that impact millions of people. Stratyfy's patented machine learning platform enables financial institutions to instantly assess credit risk, fraud, and bias, allowing traditional banking services to safely open doors for underbanked consumers and drive impact at scale. Laura and Stratyfy actually ended up winning Best in Show at Finovate Fall, so congratulations to Laura and the rest of the Stratyfy team. Without further ado, please enjoy this episode of Finclusive.
Resources:
- Laura's LinkedIn
- Stratyfy.com
- Kelsey's LinkedIn
- Garrett's LinkedIn
- Finotta.com
The Fintech Cookout features a conversation between Finotta’s Head of Customer Success, Quincy Kennedy, and a fellow fintech leader in the BIPOC community. You will learn about the technology that is creating a more equitable financial industry, how financial institutions are responding to this technology, and the incredible individuals behind it all. On this episode, Quincy sits down with Uday Akkaraju, live and in person, at Finovate Fall, a conference that showcases cutting-edge banking and financial technology. Uday is the founder and CEO of BOND.AI, a human centered AI platform for financial institutions. Powered by the world’s first Empathy Engine, BOND.AI provides various products and services including the BOND Network, a powerful embedded finance network that connects financial institutions and enterprises providing tools to help them grow, the Super Bot, an AI bot that gives straightforward answers and unique insights to enhance finances every time one speaks with it, and an onboarding product that allows you to onboard customers in seconds. Again, all of this is powered by their human-centered AI engine called the Empathy Engine. Without further ado, please enjoy this episode of The Fintech Cookout.
Resources
- Uday's LinkedIn
- BOND.AI
- Article
- Article
- Quincy's LinkedIn
- Garrett's LinkedIn
- Finotta.com
Each episode of The Founder Experience showcases amazing founders from around the world. Finotta’s Founder and CEO, Parker Graham, will have a conversation with a fellow founder, and they will discuss everything from their founding stories, to their top lessons learned, and everything in between. On this episode of The Founder Experience, Parker sits down with Jason Henrichs, live and in person, at Finovate Fall, a conference that showcases cutting-edge banking and financial technology. Jason is currently the CEO of Alloy Labs Alliance, a consortium of leading community banks working together to operationalize innovation through partnerships and strategic investments. Jason has been a founder, venture capitalist, executive, board member, advisor, angel investor and mentor in the startup world for two decades. He is also the host of the number one global fintech podcast, Breaking Banks. Without further ado, please enjoy this episode of the Founder Experience.
Resources:
- Jason's LinkedIn
- Alloy Labs Alliance
- Parker's LinkedIn
- Finotta
- Garrett's LinkedIn
Finclusive is hosted by Finotta’s Chief Product Officer, Kelsey Houghton. Each episode, Kelsey will interview a fellow female or LGBTQ leader in fintech, and they will discuss everything from the future of fintech to diversity, equity, and inclusion. This series will highlight the best and brightest voices from the communities that often go unheard. In this episode of Finclusive, Kelsey sits down with Patty Brewer at Finovate Fall, a conference that showcases cutting-edge banking and financial technology. Patty Brewer is the CPO of Linqto, a fintech company that makes private investing similar. Linqto helps you identify, evaluate and invest in the world's leading Unicorns. Patty was the Senior Product manager at Intuit, VP of product at Nav Inc., and CPO of Petzy Technology before joining Linqto. This is an amazing conversation between two experts in product development, so without further ado, please enjoy this episode of Finclusive.
Resources
- Linqto
- Patty’s LinkedIn
- Kelsey’s LinkedIn
- Crunchbase: Linqto
Each episode of The Founder Experience showcases amazing founders from around the world. Finotta’s Founder and CEO Parker Graham will have a conversation with a fellow founder, and they will discuss everything from their founding stories, to their top lessons learned, and everything in between. On this episode of The Founder Experience, Parker sits down with David Nohe, live and in person, at Finovate Fall, a conference that showcases cutting-edge banking and financial technology through a unique blend of short-form demos and key insights from thought-leaders. This is the first of our Finovate series, and we will have plenty more Finovate episodes to come so stay tuned for that. David Nohe and his wife, Carolyn, are the founders of Fingoal, and they founded this company with a singular goal: to serve the financial champions who are helping regular folks take back control of their financial life. FinGoal is an insights platform that sits on top of digital banking and personal finance data. They enrich this data and build rich profiles of each end user, enabling them to provide users with customized calls to action on their transactions. David and Parker talk about everything from being a founder and a father to the biggest surprises they have had during their founder experience. Without further ado, please enjoy this episode of The Founder Experience.
Resources
- David’s LinkedIn
- Parker’s LinkedIn
- Fingoal Website
- Fingoal Demo Video
- Podcast with David: Launchpad Podcast
- Video Podcast with David: Constellation, Meet the Fintech
- Article Interview with David: PentaData
- Garrett’s LinkedIn
Each episode of The Fintech Cookout will feature a conversation between Finotta’s Head of Customer Success, Quincy Kennedy, and a fellow fintech leader in the BIPOC community. You will learn about the technology that is creating a more equitable financial industry, how financial institutions are responding to this technology, and the incredible individuals behind it all. On Today’s episode, we have the founders of BREAUX Capital, Ras Asan and Derrius Quarles. BREAUX Capital is a financial technology company that is helping Black Men pool their funds in community with one another to invest collectively and create intergenerational wealth. Born and bred on Chicago’s Southside, Derrius Quarles is a 13-year foster care survivor who has triumphed through childhood poverty, abuse, and public housing to become an award-winning and internationally praised technologist, activist, author, and recording artist. Ras Asan has always been an entrepreneur with a social conscience. He co-founded Million Dollar Scholar, TechGroove Fest, and BREAUX Capital - all aimed at impacting the lives of historically underserved people. Ras was named Inc. 30 Under 30 for his work with BREAUX Capital, and has received other coveted awards for his work to improve humanity. As a certified herbalist and exercise scientist, Ras authored Heal Thy Hustle: Wellness Guide For Go-Getters, teaching entrepreneurs how to maintain their health even with their fast-paced lifestyle. Ras Asan’s work has been featured on CNN, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Inc. magazine, American Banker, Fast Company, Forbes, and Black Enterprise.
Resources:www.derriusquarles.comhttps://www.rasasan.com/www.healthyhustlebook.comhttps://www.breauxcapital.com/ Podcast-https://open.spotify.com/episode/6Iq5g0Tdiu2qH47256DfdX?si=b3ad597612264afd TedX- https://youtu.be/DsgxD7nn2Y8 Article- https://www.inc.com/zoe-henry/30-under-30-2018-breaux-capital.html Quincy’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/quincykennedyco/ Garrett’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrett-amundsen-01a619203
Each episode of Startup school will highlight one of the many talented leaders of Finotta, and they will show you how to lead a team or organization of your own. They will break down the strategies, lessons, and thought processes behind what they do so that you can get a better understanding of how the fintech world is operating. On this episode of Startup School, we are going to talk about marketing with Finotta’s Head of Marketing, Destinee Day-Cassidy. This episode is broken down into three parts: how to get started in marketing, how to become a leader of a small team, or even just a team of one. And finally we will talk about how to scale and grow your marketing team. This is a jam-packed episode with lots of valuable information, so if you are a marketing leader looking to gain some quality insights be sure to grab a pen and paper.
Resources:
Destinee’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/destineedaycassidy/ Garrett’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrett-amundsen-01a619203 Article: https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/careers/what-does-a-marketing-director-do
Welcome to the first Episode of Finclusive, a Modern FI series presented by Finotta. Finclusive is hosted by Finotta’s Chief Product Officer, Kelsey Houghton. Each episode, Kelsey will interview a fellow female or LGBTQ leader in fintech, and they will discuss everything from the future of fintech to diversity, equity, and inclusion. This series will highlight the best and brightest voices from the communities that often go unheard. In the first episode of Finclusive, we have Scarlet Sieber, Chief Strategy & Growth Officer at Money 20/20, one of the largest fintech conferences in the world. Scarlett has had an incredible career as an international speaker, innovator, and influencer. She has been a fintech contributor for Forbes, the Huffington Post, and the Financial Brand. She has received the Rising Star Award by Women in Payments, has been named the top 10 fintech influencers in the United States by Medici, the top 50 most influential people in fintech by Richtopia, and top 20 women in finance by Rise Global. She is also the author of Embedded Finance: When Payments become an Experience. Please enjoy the first episode of Finclusive.
Resources:
Finotta: https://www.finotta.com/ Finotta Podcast Page: https://www.finotta.com/podcast Kelsey Houghton’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelseyhoughton/ Scarlett Sieber’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scarlettsieber/ Embedded Finance: https://books.telegraph.co.uk/Product/Scarlett-Sieber/Embedded-Finance/27038305
Each episode of Startup school will highlight one of the many talented leaders of Finotta, and they will show you how to lead a team or organization of your own. They will break down the strategies, lessons, and thought processes behind what they do so that you can get a better understanding of how the fintech world is operating. On this episode of Startup School, we are going to talk about sales with Finotta’s Head of Sales, Cory Miller. We are going to break this episode into three parts. The first part will be about getting started in sales and how to find success from the get go. Then, we will discuss how to become a leader of a small sales team and set yourself apart from your peers. Finally, we will close with how to hire employees, lead a full-sized team, and scale. Please enjoy this episode of Startup School.
Quote:
“There are 24 hours in a day, everybody has to sleep, everybody has to eat. But all of that other time, the more efficient you are with it, the better off you are in the long run.” - Cory Miller, Head of Sales, Finotta
Resources:Finotta: https://www.finotta.com/podcastCory’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/corymiller81/
Article: https://www.zippia.com/head-of-sales-jobs/
Article: https://www.cleverism.com/job-profiles/head-of-sales/
Welcome to the The Fintech Cookout, a Modern FI series presented by Finotta. Each episode of The Fintech Cookout will feature a conversation between Finotta’s Head of Customer Success, Quincy Kennedy, and a fellow fintech leader in the BIPOC community. You will learn about the technology that is creating a more equitable financial industry, how financial institutions are responding to this technology, and the incredible individuals behind it all. The first episode of The Fintech Cookout features Marcus Cobb, Founder & CEO of Mozaic, a fintech company built for the creator economy that makes it easy to collaborate with and pay creators anywhere and at scale. Quincy and Marcus dive deep into Marcus’ upbringing, how he rid himself of a victim mentality, turned weaknesses into strengths, got hired by Microsoft out of high school, and ultimately turned himself into a world-renowned entrepreneur. This episode is absolutely incredible and Marcus is a true inspiration.
LINKS:
- Finotta: https://www.finotta.com/
- Marcus’ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcuscobb/
- Mozaic: https://mozaic.io/
- Article: https://moneyinc.com/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-jammber-ceo-marcus-cobb/
- Article:https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/jammber-acquires-tuneregistry-to-expand-music-rights-and-royalty-administration-capabilities/
- Article:https://www.synchtank.com/blog/royalty-tech-spotlight-mozaic-io-fka-jammber-founder-marcus-cobb-on-his-mission-to-get-creators-accurately-credited-paid/
Each episode of Startup School will highlight one of the many talented leaders of Finotta, and they will show you how to lead a team or organization of your own. They will break down the strategies, lessons, and thought processes behind what they do so that you can get a better understanding of how the fin-tech world is operating. On the first episode of Startup School, we are going to talk about customer success with Finotta’s Head of Customer Success, Quincy Kennedy. This episode discusses the rise of customer success within businesses, why it is important, how it differs from customer support, how to create playbooks and strategies for your customer success team, the importance of goal setting and habit stacking, and much more.
Reference Links
- Finotta: https://www.finotta.com/
- Article/Study: https://blog.hubspot.com/service/customer-success
- Quincy’s LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/quincykennedyco/
The Founder Experience is a Modern FI series that showcases amazing founders from around the world. Each episode, Finotta’s Founder and CEO Parker Graham will have a conversation with a fellow founder. They will discuss everything from their founding stories, to the ups and downs of their careers, and everything in between. On the first episode of The Founder Experience, Parker talked with George Youmans, Co-Founder & CEO of Hiyo, a stress-relieving social tonic mindfully crafted with natural adaptogens, nootropics, and functional botanicals to be a better-than-alcohol alternative. Parker met George at the start of his entrepreneurial career. He was going around the country looking for potential cities to start his business in, and when he was in California he happened to message George, who was working at SnackNation at the time. Since then, they have both launched their own businesses and found incredible success. This episode contains conversations about the pressures of hiring employees, the isolation that founders go through, finding fulfillment as a founder, and much more.
Links:
Blog: https://www.finotta.com/podcast Hiyo- https://drinkhiyo.com/ George’s LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-youmans-43428052/
This episode of Behind the Vault features Greg Massey and Melissa Perrin, the CEO and CCO of First United Bank. First United is Finotta’s first major investor and customer, and one of the largest privately owned banks in the country. We discussed Greg and Melissa’s upbringings, and the powerful impact that their parents had on their lives. We talked about the incredibly unique culture of First United, and how they continue to foster that culture every day. One of the most impactful parts of this interview was the emphasis on leading with love. Both Greg and Melissa use compassion and love as a major part of their leadership strategies. This episode is jam packed with valuable information, and truly highlights why First United Bank is one of the most unique financial institutions in the world.
Links:
- Finotta Website: https://www.finotta.com/podcast
- Hosted and Producer : Garrett Amundsen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrett-amundsen-01a619203
- Co Producer: Quincy Kennedyhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/quincykennedyco/
- Senior Producer and Creative Director: Destinee Day-Cassidyhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/destineedaycassidy/
- Greg’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-massey/
- Melissa’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissalperrin/
- First United Bank: https://www.firstunitedbank.com/
Donald Hawkins is the Founder and CEO of Kinly, a modern neo-bank helping black America create generational wealth. Donald has had a serious impact on Finotta. Back in episode one, Donald helped with the pivot from Destiny to Finotta. Donald encouraged Parker to talk to his customers in order to find their true pain points. In doing this, Parker discovered a massive problem in digital banking. A problem that Finotta now solves. Donald and I talked about discovering when to pivot your startup, how to do so, and the overall importance of customer conversations.
LINKS:
Newsletter: https://share.hsforms.com/1ucU783f0Q9e3VZSfiS2AIg4dfnb Finotta Website: https://www.finotta.com/podcast Guest Interview (Donald Hawkins, Founder & CEO, Kinly):https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-sandy-kemper-b2366812/ Hosted and Produced by: Garrett Amundsen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrett-amundsen-01a619203 Co Produced and Engineered by: Quincy Kennedyhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/quincykennedyco/ Senior Producer and Creative Director: Destinee Day-Cassidyhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/destineedaycassidy/Fintech, startups, banking, digital banking, entrepreneurship
Joni Cobb is the founding CEO of Pipeline Entrepreneurs and the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Center for American Entrepreneurship. Joni has seen the formation of hundreds of teams throughout her career, so she shared her thoughts on how to build the best possible team. We discussed the importance of making sure employees fit the culture of the company and leading by example. To hear context around this conversation listen to episodes two and three, It takes a Village, and Avengers Assemble.
Mario Ruiz is the Co-Founder & CEO of Infinity Ventures, an early-stage venture firm investing in global fin-tech infrastructure and commerce enablement. On this episode of Best of Guests, Mario provides advice on how to pitch to venture capitalist. He breaks down everything he wants to hear when listening to an investment pitch, and walks through some strategies to improve on these areas. We discuss the importance of storytelling, hiring the right people, and being in the right market size. To hear context around this conversation, listen to episode one, The Birth, Death, and Resurrection of a Startup.
LINKS:
Newsletter: https://share.hsforms.com/1ucU783f0Q9e3VZSfiS2AIg4dfnb Finotta Website: https://www.finotta.com/podcast Guest Interviews (Mario Ruiz):https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariorruiz/ Host and Produced by: Garrett Amundsen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrett-amundsen-01a619203 Co Producer and Engineered by:Quincy Kennedyhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/quincykennedyco/ Senior Producer and Creative Director: Destinee Day-Cassidyhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/destineedaycassidy/
Best of Guests is a new series we will be putting out during our season break. We will highlight the best parts of each guest interview from season one. Today's episode featuresSandy Kemper, Founder & CEO of C2F0, the largest working capital marketplace in the world. To hear context around this conversation, listen to episodes 2 and 4, It Takes a Village, and Hitting Roadblocks. Sandy talks about how to build a great company culture, and more importantly, how to do it at scale. We ask and answer the question, "Is there a correlation between the growth of your company and degradation of your culture?" We also discuss the overall importance of leading by example and how to do so.
LINKS:
Newsletter: https://share.hsforms.com/1ucU783f0Q9e3VZSfiS2AIg4dfnb Finotta Website: https://www.finotta.com/podcast Guest Interviews (Sandy Kemper, CEO of C2F0):https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-sandy-kemper-b2366812/ Hosted and Produced by: Garrett Amundsen:https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrett-amundsen-01a619203 Co Produced and Engineered by:Quincy Kennedyhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/quincykennedyco/ Senior Producer and Creative Director: Destinee Day-Cassidyhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/destineedaycassidy/
Best of Guests is a new series we will be putting out during our season break. We will highlight the best parts of each guest interview from season one. Today's episode features Zach Pettet, head of content for Money 20/20 (one of the largest fin-tech conferences in the world) host of For Fintech's Sake, and founder of Fountain City Fintech, an accelerator program that Parker joined way back in episode one. So to hear the context around this episode, listen to episode one, The Birth, Death, and Resurrection of a Startup. Zach discusses investing in the founder versus the idea, the attributes of great entrepreneurs, and how to develop these attributes yourself.
LINKS:
Newsletter: https://share.hsforms.com/1ucU783f0Q9e3VZSfiS2AIg4dfnb Finotta Website: https://www.finotta.com/podcast Guest (Zach Pettet):https://www.forfintechsake.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachpettet/ Hosted and Produced by: Garrett Amundsen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrett-amundsen-01a619203 Co Producer and Engineered by: Quincy Kennedyhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/quincykennedyco/ Senior Producer and Creative Director: Destinee Day-Cassidyhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/destineedaycassidy/
Best of Guests is a new series we will be putting out during our season break. We will highlight the best parts of each guest interview from season one. Today's episode of Best of Guests features Trent Bigelow, Co-founder and CEO of Abound. Trent was originally introduced to Finotta at the Fountain City Fintech accelerator, and was a valuable mentor for Parker early on in his entrepreneurial career. So to hear some context around this episode listen to episode one, The Birth, Death and Resurrection of a Startup. Trent talks about the imposter syndrome that early entrepreneurs can often have, how to combat this, and how to learn from people who have been down the entrepreneurial path before.
Newsletter: https://share.hsforms.com/1ucU783f0Q9e3VZSfiS2AIg4dfnb Finotta Website: https://www.finotta.com/podcast Guest Interview (Trent Bigelow, CEO, Abound):https://www.linkedin.com/in/trentbigelow/ Hosted and Produced by: Garrett Amundsen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrett-amundsen-01a619203 Co Produced and Engineered by: Quincy Kennedyhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/quincykennedyco/ Senior Producer and Creative Director:Destinee Day-Cassidyhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/destineedaycassidy/
Episode #10 is the SEASON 1 FINALE of Once Upon a Startup! We talk about founder and CEO Parker Graham winning Innovator of the year by Pipeline, and the astounding progress that Finotta has made on its objectives & key results (OKRs). We also look forward to season two, and the team prepares to roll out amazing new features to the next group of 2,000 users. This will be Finotta’s biggest test yet, and will determine where this company goes in the future, SO STAY TUNED FOR SEASON TWO.
We will be launching a new series during the season break called Founder’s Lounge. Finotta’s founder and CEO Parker Graham will sit down with fellow founders and CEOs, share startup stories, and dissect the lessons learned along the way. Stay tuned for Founder's Lounge in the coming weeks.
Finotta Website: https://www.finotta.com/podcast Hosted and Produced by: Garrett Amundsen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrett-amundsen-01a619203 Co Produced and Engineered by: Quincy Kennedyhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/quincykennedyco/ Senior Producer and Creative Director: Destinee Day-Cassidyhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/destineedaycassidy/
Episode 9 of Once Upon a Startup is about CEO Parker Graham’s trip to Finovate, CTO Brenden Smith’s trip to Q2, and Head of Marketing Destinee Day-Cassidy’s lessons about marketing. Finovate is a conference that showcases cutting-edge banking and financial technology. Parker talks about his experience, and explains how to make the most out of an industry conference. While Parker was at the conference, the tech team took a trip to Q2, the digital banking provider for First United Bank. Brenden explains the importance of this relationship, and Parker discusses how this relationship has created $30 million in revenue opportunity. Lastly, Destinee hires a PR agency, and then discusses her vision for the Finotta brand. Stay tuned for the season finale of Once Upon a Startup, coming next week!
Finotta Website: https://www.finotta.com/podcast
Article Used:
https://medium.com/@h_locke/the-psychological-impact-of-video-calls-dbed57aa792b
https://www.freshworks.com/crm/sales/summary-of-start-with-why-blog/
Hosted and Produced by: Garrett Amundsen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrett-amundsen-01a619203
Co Produced and Engineered by: Quincy Kennedyhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/quincykennedyco/ Senior Producer and Creative Director: Destinee Day-Cassidyhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/destineedaycassidy/
WE ARE LIVE! Episode eight of Once Upon a Startup tells the story of Finotta finally being live with real users. The first group of 26 test users are now able to use the application, input data, and provide feedback to the team. This is a major milestone. Other companies with tens of millions of dollars have taken years to go live with their technology. Finotta, on the other hand, was able to create and implement game-changing technology within about 6 months. One of the major changes that came from this test group was the switch from financial health “score” to “level”. The product team worked closely with the user group and discovered that the term “score” carried a negative connotation. So, the team pivoted to “levels”, leaned into the gamification aspect of the game, and created an even better feature. This episode also talks about the most recent company all hands meeting, the implementation of new paid parental leave policies, the formation of the employee handbook, and the promotion of Kelsey Houghton to Chief Product Officer.
Newsletter: https://share.hsforms.com/1ucU783f0Q9e3VZSfiS2AIg4dfnb
Finotta Website: https://www.finotta.com/podcast
Article Used: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/the-gamification-of-finance-may-be-a-good-thing-after-all/2022/01/28/1bf59cb4-8011-11ec-8cc8-b696564ba796_story.html
Hosted and Produced by: Garrett Amundsen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrett-amundsen-01a619203
Co Produced and Engineered by: Quincy Kennedyhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/quincykennedyco/ Senior Producer and Creative Director: Destinee Day-Cassidyhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/destineedaycassidy/
Episode seven of Once Upon a Startup explains three personal changes that Finotta has experienced. Natalee Wilhite joined Finotta’s marketing department back in episode three, but in this episode she joins the product team. Natalee’s true passion for product was discovered when she was in college. Her classical schooling in marketing combined with her inherent passion for product makes her an incredibly valuable asset. Tori Franco becomes the newest member of the Finotta team, filling the gap that Natalee left in the marketing department. Destinee, Finotta’s Head of Marketing, asked one of her former colleagues if he had any recommendations for this role. The candidate that stuck out was Tori. Her unique skills in new-media and her experience with her own podcast (The Tori Franco Show) made her the obvious choice. Finally, employee number four, Joshua Bleu, leaves Finotta for his own startup. Josh’s passion for writing code had started to wither, and he wanted to chase his dream of starting his own business. However, the way he did so created tension between him and the Finotta leadership team. After months of working on his own company behind the scenes, the secrets finally came out at Finotta’s quarterly all-hands meeting. This experience served as a valuable lesson for both Josh and Finotta.
Newsletter: https://share.hsforms.com/1ucU783f0Q9e3VZSfiS2AIg4dfnb
Finotta Website: https://www.finotta.com/podcast
Article Used: https://hbr.org/2007/06/learning-from-success-and-fail
Guest Interviews (Sandy Kemper, CEO of C2F0):
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-sandy-kemper-b2366812/
Hosted and Produced by: Garrett Amundsen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrett-amundsen-01a619203
Co Produced and Engineered by: Quincy Kennedyhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/quincykennedyco/ Senior Producer and Creative Director: Destinee Day-Cassidyhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/destineedaycassidy/
This week’s episode of Once Upon a Startup tells the story of Finotta finally getting its code into the production environment (PROD) of First United Bank’s mobile application. This marks a major milestone for the team because real users are now able to use the app, input data, and provide feedback. However, the delay to getting in the environment came with some negative side effects as well. Because it was taking longer than anticipated to complete the minimum viable product (MVP), the product team used prototypes and started iterating before the actual app was even live. These iterations were being added to the tech team's list of things to do, but they could not even work on those things until the MVP was done. This caused them to feel like they were holding everything up. Luckily, the team made it into PROD, started chipping away at the backlog , and is now back on track. The team is sitting at the metaphorical top of the roller coaster, and things are about to speed up.
LINKS:
Newsletter: https://share.hsforms.com/1ucU783f0Q9e3VZSfiS2AIg4dfnb Finotta Website: https://www.finotta.com/podcast Guest Interviews (Donald Hawkins, CEO of Kinly): https://www.linkedin.com/in/donald-j-hawkins/ Hosted and Produced by: Garrett Amundsen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrett-amundsen-01a619203 Co Produced and Engineered by: Quincy Kennedyhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/quincykennedyco/ Senior Producer and Creative Director: Destinee Day-Cassidyhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/destineedaycassidy/
Episode Five of Once Upon a Startup details the compliance and regulation issues that slowed down Finotta in January of 2022. The long, detailed, compliance processes that plague the banking world have seriously slowed down innovation in recent years. B-C fin-tech companies have forced banks to begin thinking about innovation. What is the solution? Partnerships between massive financial institutions and small agile startups. Finotta and First United Bank are the living example of what collaboration can do for innovation. This episode also tells the story of Finotta's tech team implementing their code into First United's production environment. The first major roadblocks are in the past, and Finotta is moving onwards and upwards.
Newsletter: https://share.hsforms.com/1ucU783f0Q9e3VZSfiS2AIg4dfnb
Finotta Website: https://www.finotta.com/podcast
Hosted and Produced by: Garrett Amundsen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrett-amundsen-01a619203
Co Produced and Engineered by: Quincy Kennedyhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/quincykennedyco/ Senior Producer and Creative Director: Destinee Day-Cassidyhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/destineedaycassidy/
Cites:https://www.autoremarketing.com/autofinjournal/study-shows-manual-processes-slow-down-banking-compliance
https://www.credit-suisse.com/li/en/articles/news-and-expertise/building-relationships-between-banks-and-startups-201512.html
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2020/03/24/this-one-problem-stifles-innovation-at-big-companies/?sh=33a4803d313a
This Week’s Episode of Once Upon a Startup is about the roadblocks and setbacks that the Finotta team experienced back in December of 2021. The original goal was to go live with Finotta’s first launch partner on December 1st. However, the tech team continued to experience setbacks that were largely out of their control. This cycle of taking two steps forward only to take one step back was having a major impact on the team. Episode four covers a wide range of topics including burnout, the importance of taking breaks, company culture, how to lead by example, the inevitability of setbacks, and how to fail forward.
LINKS:
Newsletter: https://share.hsforms.com/1ucU783f0Q9e3VZSfiS2AIg4dfnb Finotta Website: https://www.finotta.com/podcast Hosted and Produced by: Garrett Amundsen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrett-amundsen-01a619203 Co Produced and Engineered by: Quincy Kennedyhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/quincykennedyco/ Senior Producer and Creative Director: Destinee Day-Cassidyhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/destineedaycassidy/
Episode Three
This week on Once Upon a Startup you get to meet three new team members. Destiny Day-Cassidy joined the team as head of marketing after experiencing two different toxic work cultures. Immediately after being hired (literally 20 seconds after), she interviewed Natalee Wilhite. Natalee had spent months doing corporate, nerve racking job interviews with no luck. When she interviewed with Finotta and experienced the unique conversational interview style, she was able to be herself and got the job as product coordinator. Frank Luse left his job at a university and came on the team as a software engineer. Despite the fact that he has no formal schooling in engineering, he has accomplished incredible things with the tech team. The episode ends with a look into Finotta’s first company all hands meeting with all the new members, and the goal for the team is simple. $1 million in 7 months.
LINKS:
Newsletter: https://share.hsforms.com/1ucU783f0Q9e3VZSfiS2AIg4dfnb
Finotta Website: https://www.finotta.com/podcast
Guest Interviews (Sandy Kemper, CEO of C2F0):
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-sandy-kemper-b2366812/
Hosted and Produced by: Garrett Amundsen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrett-amundsen-01a619203
Co Produced and Engineered by: Quincy Kennedyhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/quincykennedyco/ Senior Producer and Creative Director: Destinee Day-Cassidyhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/destineedaycassidy/
This week on Once Upon a Startup, we meet the first five Finotta team members. Joshua Bleu joined Finotta as a high schooler, and he worked as a programming intern until he came on full time. Kelsey Houghton, Head of Product for Finotta, reached out to Parker after hearing him on a podcast. When she experienced sexism with past employees she stepped away from the business, but after learning about the new culture and environment, she came on full time. Brendan Smith was a highly sought after programmer, but when he and Parker connected he decided to join Finotta as CTO. Quincy Kennedy, Head of Customer Success, was expressing his distaste with his current job to Parker when he received a job offer from Finotta. Culture was a major force behind every team member’s decision to join, and every individual at Finotta contributed to the company culture. Sandy Kemper, founder and CEO of C2F0, shares his thoughts on the importance of company culture in episode two of Once Upon a Startup.
LINKS:
Newsletter: https://share.hsforms.com/1ucU783f0Q9e3VZSfiS2AIg4dfnb
Finotta Website: https://www.finotta.com/podcast
Guest Interviews (Sandy Kemper, CEO of C2F0):
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-sandy-kemper-b2366812/
Hosted and Produced by: Garrett Amundsen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrett-amundsen-01a619203
Co Produced and Engineered by: Quincy Kennedyhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/quincykennedyco/ Senior Producer and Creative Director: Destinee Day-Cassidyhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/destineedaycassidy/
Welcome to Once Upon a Startup, a podcast telling the story of a startup through the eyes of those creating it. The startup is Finotta, a fintech company that embeds financial technology into mobile applications for banks and credit unions. This podcast is tracking the creation and growth of Finotta, and listeners will gain a unique look into the formation of a fin-tech startup in real time. However, before we could tell you about what is happening today, we needed to give you some backstory. Episode one tells the story of Finotta’s founder and CEO, Parker Graham, how he pivoted from Finotta’s precursor to Finotta, lost his co-founders in the process, and how he rose from the ashes to secure $3 million in funding. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, follow, and leave a review. Also, subscribe to our newsletter (link below) to receive weekly updates, extended interviews, extra content, and much more.
LINKS:
Newsletter: https://share.hsforms.com/1ucU783f0Q9e3VZSfiS2AIg4dfnb
Finotta Website: https://www.finotta.com/podcast
Guest Interviews (Zach Pettet, Nicole Bentz, Mario Ruiz, Ryan Suchala):
https://www.forfintechsake.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachpettet/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-bentz/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariorruiz/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryansuchala/
Host and Produced by: Garrett Amundsen:https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrett-amundsen-01a619203
Co Producer and Engineered by: QuincyKennedy https://www.linkedin.com/in/quincykennedyco/ Senior Producer and Creative Director: Destinee Day-Cassidy https://www.linkedin.com/in/destineedaycassidy/
Everyone wants to know what it takes to become successful, but few have the tenacity to gamble their entire life to create something as risky as a tech startup. Parker Graham, founder and CEO of Finotta, left his cushy finance job and set out on an entrepreneurial journey to change the world of banking technology. Little did he know he would face heartache, euphoria, and everything in between when bringing a startup to life. With exclusive interviews from the main characters that create this story, other tech founders, and industry experts from around the world, this podcast will provide an inside look on how a company can start, fail, and rise form the ashes to fight another day. Learn from those who have the guts to do it everyday, Welcome to Once Upon a Startup.