Felicia Meyerowitz Singh is a serial entrepreneur passionate about fintech, wealthtech, innovation and digital change. Her achievements include:

- Founder and CEO of Akoni Hub, a UK wealthtech platform, where she recently exited
- Co-founder of Hive Founders, a global network of female entrepreneurs, supporting founders at any stage
- Managing Director of strategic relationships at leading wealthtech firm FNZ
- Fintech mentor for the UK Department of International Trade
- MBA from London Business School

She talks about:

- How entrepreneurs need grit, determination and perseverance
- How to use talent, energy and experience to build high growth companies
- Having a bias for action by spotting gaps in the market and solving for them

Felicia is a true fintech warrior.

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Doug Thompson has been working in and around the metaverse for the last 15 years.

Doug is a serial entrepreneur running a metaverse strategy agency, co-founder of a NFT project called Echocore and is involved in DAOs such as the Open Meta DAO.

He is a digital nomad and a true expert in all things related to the metaverse. His newsletter Out of Scope is a must read.

Hear Doug's thoughts on:
- How gaming is the onramp to the metaverse
- What is the definition of The Metaverse
- How big is the metaverse opportunity
- What and where are the metaverse jobs
- DAOs and NFTs
- How to get started in the metaverse
 
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Elena Armijo joins Work in Fintech to discuss her career, DEI initiatives and sense of belonging within organisations.

Elena has been in coaching for 8 years now. Previously, she was a professional opera singer and she has recently launched a new platform called C-Suite Collective which encourages DEI initiatives and helps companies create culture from the inside out.

Hear Elena's thoughts on:
- The value of diversity and inclusion
- The C-Suite Collective platform
- Are DEI initiatives worth it?
- Challenges in implementing DEI initiatives 
- Best practices within DEI
- What is your definition of belonging
- Future of C-Suite Collective

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Joy Macknight is first woman to lead The Banker, a Financial Times publication, in its 95-year history.

She is uniquely positioned with a front-row seat of banking, technology and fintech by interviewing CEOs, CFOs and founders about the transformative change and disruption brought on by innovations in fintech and a fundamental generational shift in preferences for managing money.

Hear her perspective on fintech based on 6 years of interviews from the hugely successful TechTalk series where she has met most of the world's fintech leaders. Joy also talks about diversity and inclusion in finance and fintech, how the fintech opportunity has evolved and what young people should do to start a career in fintech.

She joined The Banker in August 2015 as transaction banking and technology editor, which still remain her passion. She was previously Features Editor at Profit & Loss, an FX and derivatives publication and events company. Before that Joy was editorial director of Treasury Today following a period as editor of gtnews.com.  She has also worked on Banking Technology, Computer Weekly, and IBM Computer Today. Joy holds a BSc from the University of Victoria, Canada.

Joy is interviewed by Work in Fintech co-founder Matt Cheung and Work in Fintech member Yasmine Karimi.

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Chapters:

0:34

Joy Macknight and The Banker introduction

3:40

What is your definition of fintech

7:42

How fintech and the ecosystem has evolved over the last six years

9:21

How the fintech opportunity has grown from London and beyond

11:52

Why is DeFi, crypto and web3 important

14:55

Should traditional finance be afraid of DeFi

23:05

Diversity and inclusion in finance and fintech

Simon Vans-Colina has been at the forefront of fintech for over 20 years.

He started coding at 11, he found working at a bank boring , he was on the founding team of Monzo (the UK neobank unicorn), he is CTO and co-founder of Fronted, Founder of TreeDAO and is now moving to Singapore to join BigPay. He loves defi and web3.

Hear Simons thoughts on:
- Startups and why you need to be a generalist
- How the lines of fintech are blurring
- The massive opportunity in fintech, web3 and the metaverse
- DAOs and NFTs
- How to pick your 'elevator'
- What skills you should acquire to stand out
 
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Sebastian Widmann, Head of Strategy at Komainu, joins Work in Fintech to discuss how finding a good mentor and manager will help careers, how passion for a subject (blockchain ) gave him an edge and offers graduates some great advice from moving from intern to head of strategy in the space of a few years.

With a multi-disciplinary background spanning many languages, banking and blockchain Sebastian was the first hire in the digital assets team at Nomura, the leading Japanese investment bank. He's knowledge and passion for blockchain helped him to rapidly rise to head of strategy at Komainu, a crypto custodian backed by Nomura, Ledger and CoinShares.

Sebastian's insightful lessons are essential for all young people looking to make an impact in their career in fintech and web3.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sebastianwidmann/

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A new initiative between Goldman Sachs and Warwick University promotes equal access to opportunity and social mobility through a new Masters Degree Apprenticeship.

Ayaz Haji, Global Head of Data Products for Core Engineering at Goldman Sachs, is active in championing D&I programmes for GS. In his role, he noticed a skills gap in under-represented students, leading him to initiate the idea of a GS sponsored degree apprenticeship with University of Warwick. Ayaz, Managing Director at GS, thinks that the "Master’s apprenticeship is the best of both worlds combining computer science and data with on-the-job learning, essentially creating a leadership acceleration programme".

Ayaz is joined by Stuart Croft, Vice-Chancellor and President at Warwick University, who have worked together to create a tech focussed degree apprenticeship to promote social mobility. Sir Peter Estlin, Chair of the Association of Apprenticeships and previously City of London Lord Mayor in 2018/19 also joins the conversation as a champion of both digital skills and D&I, and promoting the apprenticeship journey.  Previously he was CFO at Citi, Barclays, Salomons and a partner at PWC.

Work in Fintech co-founder Matt Cheung hosts the podcasts which touches upon a variety of topics, ranging from the impact of degree apprenticeships to the future of learning. The group talk about how partnership programs, such as the collaboration between University of Warwick and Goldman Sachs, can create an equity of opportunity, challenging the traditional route of attaining a degree and fostering inclusivity.

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Youtube: Work in Fintech

In this episode of our interview series, Ying Cao is joined by Basil Moftah, general partner of Global Ventures and founder member of Reuters Venture Capital group. At Reuters Venture Capital group, he invested in leading global companies such as Yahoo!, Verisign, and Webex. His strategic acquisitions and management of emerging markets for Reuters allowed him to seamlessly grow the $600 million business. He then went on as the President of Intellectual Property and Science business at Thomson Reuters where he contributed to the overall direction of the company, developed the strategic proposition of the $1 billion revenue business, and prepared the division for sale to private equity for $3.55 billion in 2016.  Basil is now an advisor, investor, and board member at numerous global technology companies.

In this conversation, we cover topics such as what opportunities Basil sees in the world of FinTech, qualities he looks for in founders and their startups, how he entered the field of venture capitalism, and what he values in terms of the work he does. Whether you plan on pursuing a career in venture capitalism, working toward obtaining funding for your startup, or even getting started on your career path in general, Basil has valuable insight to share.

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Michelle Tran, cofounder of NYC Fintech Women, joins Ying Cao to discuss how she pivoted from her traditional finance background to establishing her brand in the fintech space. 

Michelle started her career at Blackrock in the ETF businesses before recognizing the bigger opportunity of fintech and joining startups. In the podcast, she talks about what fueled her desire to take an active role in innovative technologies for asset management or investment and ultimately, how this fueled her transition to startups. As the cofounder of a community, she is passionate about raising the visibility and empowering of women in the fintech industry. 

In this exclusive interview, we touch upon a variety of topics, ranging from navigating the transition from corporate to a startup, the importance of gender diversity, and emerging trends in wealthtech. Michelle also shares best practices and advice on how college graduates and aspiring fintech professionals can advocate for themselves in a rapidly changing field. 

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Anusha Dandapani, Chief Data & Analytics Officer of UNICC joins Ying Cao to discuss her exciting career journey and how she has navigated herself toward her passions.

Anusha Dandapani has had a long career in data science inspired by her passion to use it to solve real-world problems. She was the Data Science lead at Barclays where she led several strategic initiatives related to electronic surveillance and financial crime compliance. She is currently the Chief Data & Analytics Officer at United Nations International Computing Centre where she advises and partners with other UN organizations, Industry, and Academia on solving business problems by leveraging Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Analytics, Data Engineering, and Data Science offerings and capabilities. She's passionate about educating young students and recently led an ideation workshop for students to apply data science to tackle food waste in schools.

In this exclusive interview, Anusha imparts upon us the wisdom she's gained throughout her career path, from starting off as a software programmer and working in the financial services industry, to immersing herself in a career of data science and scaling her skills and experiences to work on initiatives involving using data science to solve real-world problems. She shares with us what mindset we should embrace, whether we're starting out or in the middle of our careers, to successfully pursue our passions and challenge ourselves. 

Global Head of Institutional Account Management at Coinbase, Sashi Dias Valtz, joins Ying Cao to discuss her career journey from working at an investment bank to her current position at Coinbase and give advice on how others can pursue their passion in this field or any field in general. 

Sashi Dias Valtz has always had many passions starting from an early age, but an interest in entrepreneurship and financial services led her to seek experiences and eventually work at investment banks. Her desire to continue to pursue her passions and explore new challenges led her to get involved in the new FinTech emergence and take on new risks at FinTech companies including Symphony and Coinbase. 

In this interview, Sashi goes over the motivation behind her career moves, shares her perspective on the development of digital assets, provides insight on qualities she would want in her teammates at Coinbase, and inspires those who want to pivot their career or are in the process of starting their careers to pursue their curiosities and leverage their network. 

Anand Sambasivan, founder and CEO  of PrimaryBid, joins Matthew Cheung and Josh Lavorini to discuss his experiences in the world of Fintech and the challenges faced by entrepreneurs. 

PrimaryBid is a technology platform that allows everyday investors fair & equal access to investing in public companies raising capital. They have worked with the likes of Aston Martin, Ocado and William Hill and have raised more than $1bn via their platform. 

Anand started his career in Investment Banking before setting up his own hedge fund, which he ran for eight years. The seeds of what would become PrimaryBid gradually grew as his career progressed and he decided to take the leap and innovate in the Capital Markets space in 2012. 

Key topics include navigating the regulatory environment, the importance of having a workforce from diverse backgrounds, the challenges of maintaining a strong culture within a company that is experiencing exponential growth, and key skills for thriving in Fintech in the future.
 
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Brad Levy,  Symphony CEO, former CEO of IHSMarkit and ex-MD at Goldman, shares his thoughts on  everything from the future of artificial intelligence to finding purpose and much, much more!

Brad began his career working at Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs before venturing into Fintech through a Partner role at IHS Markit, multiple Chairman roles at the likes of FINOS and now CEO of Symphony.  Brad's role as a sector pioneer and thought leader within the space of finance and technology are testament to his drive, pursuit and openness for learning, a fantastic lesson for all ambitious individuals!

In this episode, Brad is joined by Work in Fintech co-founders Matthew Cheung and Ying Cao to explain the evolution of technology, investing in the future and what makes a successful professional.

Technology Futurist, Theo Priestley joins Matthew Cheung and Benjamin Ahmed to discuss the future of the world!

Theo Priestley has worked within the technology industry for up to 20 years in both the client facing side and the vendor side. During his time in the industry, Theo study various trends that occurred, leading him to write "The Future Starts Now", which encapsulates all these trends.

In this exclusive interview, Theo breaks down what the Metaverse is and how students can take advantage of future trends in technology.

Sharon Thorne, Global Chair of Deloitte,  joins Matthew Cheung and Josh Lavorini to discuss her experiences breaking glass ceilings in the business world.

Sharon is the first-ever female to hold the role as Deloitte's Global Chair and was also the first-ever female partner in the Manchester office, the first of two women on the UK board in 2004, the first female on the UK executive in 2006 and the first female leader of the regional executive. In 2019, she was appointed as Global Chair.  She is an inspiration to women and girls across the world and an advocate for diversity and inclusion in the workplace. 

In this exclusive interview, we touch on a range of topics, including how Deloitte and broader society is helping to reduce the challenges faced by marginalised groups in society, how they are adapting to the fourth industrial revolution with the new technologies and societal changes that come with it, and careers in ESG, audit and advisory.

These issues affect all of us and are of paramount importance in today's world, so make sure to give the interview a listen and learn from the insights of one of the industry's most impressive leaders. 

Kene Ejikeme, ex-Professional Rugby Player and Goldman Sachs Managing Director, Head of Multi Asset Platform Sales EMEA,  shares his thoughts on everything from finding your career, why athletes are a good fit in finance, the importance of diversity and much more!

Kene's story is a fantastic insight into pursuing your passions and taking risks. Kene initially grew up with  aspirations of entering a career in civil engineering before finding motivation for the sport of Rugby and finally finding his feet in Sales & Trading at Goldman Sachs. His ambitions to pivot into new areas provided a catalyst of learning and development, aspects that Kene notes as contributive to his career at Goldman Sachs.

In this episode, Kene is joined by Work in Fintech co-founder Matthew Cheung and founding member Amrit Khatkar to explain how to land a role of Goldman Sachs, why Fintech is the future and the differences between Rugby and Sales & Trading.

Hossein Azari, CEO and Founder of Cmorq, is a former Chief Data Scientist at Goldman Sachs and Senior Data Scientist at Google. He successfully co-founded his own company called Clarity Money, a personal finance app for consumers, which was eventually bought out by Goldman Sachs for $100m. 

Hossein's impressive CV also includes being a Teaching Fellow and Research Assistant at Harvard University on route to completing a PhD in Computer Science, along with an MBA from Columbia Business School later on. The list continues as Hossein has 12 publications, 1 patent, and Fellowship awards from Harvard and Stanford University.

But he's not finished there! He's now turned his attentions to consumer banking again, and specifically decentralised finance. Cmorq is a consumer banking platform centred around the principles of DeFi. In this episode, Hossein joined Work in Fintech founder Matthew Cheung and founding member Jagraj Singh to explain the buzz around DeFi, and where it's headed in the future.

Jess Houlgrave, Chief of Staff at Checkout.com joins Matt Cheung and Helene Lipp in this episode to talk about the year of NFTs, blockchain, payments, valuable skills to succeed, stereotypes and women in tech.  One of the key messages are to be brave, seek out challenges, stay curious and be willing to learn across everything you do.

Chief of Staff at Checkout.com, a global fintech company with over 1,400 employees and 19 offices around the world, Jess works with some of the world’s most innovative companies and established global brands to simplify financial complexities, drive innovation and unlock growth by providing solutions to complex digital payment problems.

She has a multidisciplinary background across finance, private equity and blockchain technology, a MA in Economics and Management from the University of Oxford and an MA in Art Business from Sotheby's Institute of Art.

Furthermore she is a member of the Bank of England CBDC Engagement Forum and founder and trustee of the Foundation for Art and Blockchain. 

Pavir Patel, Head of Strategy and Business Development at Bitpanda Pro, and former Digital Strategy and Fintech VP at JP Morgan, shares his experiences of the traditional finance world compared to fintech. 

Starting off as a graduate at JP Morgan, Pavir undertook rotations in EM Markets Hybrids Trade Support and Rates Derivatives Sales Support, followed by becoming Lead Product Manager for Digital Research, Product Manager for Data and Analytics. In the past few years, he helped set-up the Hong Kong Digital Strategy & Fintech team, before moving onto Bitpanda Pro in mid-2021. 

In this episode, Pavir joined Work in Fintech founder Matthew Cheung and founding member Jagraj Singh to explain why he left traditional finance for fintech, and highlight the growing demand of NFTs and digital assets.

Dmitry Buterin, serial entrepreneur, blockchain mentor, investor and father of Vitalik Buterin (co-founder of Ethereum),  shares his insights on everything from following your passions to dropping out of university, the blockchain and NFTs.

From humble beginnings, Dmitry grew up in the Soviet Union and quickly found his passion with technology. At the age of 25, Dmitry created his first start-up and has continued to innovate within both the software development and blockchain space ever since, a creative and entrepreneurial streak that has been passed down to his son, Vitalik.

In this episode, Dmitry is joined by Work in Fintech co-founder Matthew Cheung and founding member Benyamin Ahmed to explain what success means to him, the future of the metaverse and the importance of curiosity.

Alastair Clarke, Senior Equity Trader at Capital Group and FinTech Intrapreneur, joins Matthew Cheung and Josh Lavorini to discuss what makes a good trader, the future of careers in FinTech and the uncertainty that he faced upon graduating and going out into the world of work.

Alastair began his career on the sell-side, working in corporate finance and research before finding his niche in Sales and Trading. He worked at ABN AMRO and then JP Morgan on equities desks before moving to the buy-side at Capital Group, one of the biggest asset managers in the world with over $2 trillion USD under management. 

Alongside his responsibilities as a senior equity trader, Alastair is also the project lead for Capital Group’s trading and analytics platform for execution (TAPE), an innovative new platform that helps the firm’s traders worldwide to further explore investment decisions and streamline their decision-making processes. With very limited coding skills and some interest in technology, he describes the learning curve that he has experienced whilst working on TAPE and the importance of clear communication between project leaders and developers. 

He touches on the necessary skills for working in FinTech and finance more broadly, with a particular focus on advice for young people and generalists. With a wealth of wisdom under his belt as a result of an impressive and varied career, Alastair’s insights and perspectives are of great value to anyone interested in FinTech and innovation. 

Alex Struc, Founder and CEO of GoalsFirst and former Head of ESG Portfolio Management at PIMCO, gives an introduction to impact investing, where Fixed Income is going with technology, and how students can begin their career in markets. 

Alex is the founder and CEO of GoalsFirst – a specialist fixed income firm with a disruptive investment approach and the vision of mobilizing finance for change.  He is a fixed income investor and a portfolio manager with deep credit expertise.  For nearly 15 years he managed PIMCO’s leveraged loans, corporate debt and the firmwide exposure to financials, including the world largest capital securities fund, making the FN’s 40 under 40 asset managers list in 2014.  

Alex is also known as an innovator in impact investing – he led the industry-wide efforts on engagement as the Chair of the inaugural PRI Bondholder Engagement Committee in 2017. Having founded and led PIMCO’s first dedicated ESG investment platform, he originated large and liquid bonds linked to the Sustainable Development Goals. 

Today Alex joined Work in Fintech founder Matthew Cheung and founder member Ben Ford to help unravel impact investing and how young professionals can make their mark on the industry. 

In an exclusive interview held with Benyamin Ahmed and his father Imran Ahmed, we learn how 12 years old Benyamin first got into NFTs, what inspired him to create the Weird Whales collection which led him to amassing a small fortune of $450k just in a few weeks, and his journey to becoming an "overnight success".

Benyamin explains how to create coding superpowers that will enable you to do great things in crypto and the metaverse and also shares his ideas for future billion dollar opportunities in the digital world. Imran Ahmed, Benyamin's father, talks about how he encouraged curiosity, creativeness and entrepreneurship with his sons, and how he feels about the journey they have been on. 

In this episode, the pair joined Work in Fintech founder Matthew Cheung and founder member Jagraj Singh to discuss the growing fascination with NFTs, explain what they are, along with their potential purpose and use cases.

For more check out www.workinfintech.com and sign up to the mailing list!

0:00 Current Feelings
0:41 Creating Wealth with Weird Whales
1:19 The Journey to Achieving the Wealth
4:36 The Success of Weird Whales
5:16 Benyamin being Bankless
5:32 Imran's Feelings about the Success
8:37 Routines and Habits
10:30 Benyamin's Interest in Coding
11:28 What is an NFT and why are they valuable?
13:52 Clunky Experiences with NFTs
18:35 Benyamin's Future Plans
20:11 The World in 10/20 Years Time
23:15 Going to University
26:29 Advice for Fellow Young People
29:00 What have you both learned over the summer?

Toby Babb, Founder and CEO of Harrington Starr, shares what you need to know for an interview how students can beat the tough competition to landing your dream job in Fintech.

Toby is the founder and CEO of the Harrington Starr Group. Harrington Starr was launched in 2010 and focuses on the Financial Technology sector with offices in London and New York. The Group also owns The North Starr, a specialist Technology Sales talent acquisition business. He hosts the Fintech Focus podcast and Fintech Focus TV, edits the Financial Technologist Magazine and is the Chairman of the Fintech Influencers networking community.  He had been in the recruitment industry for 21 years having spent the first 10 in leadership roles for 2 listed recruitment groups. He has been named Agency Leader of the Year and the Entrepreneur of the Year by Recruiter Magazine.

Toby Babb joins Work in Fintech Founder, Matthew Cheung, and Founder Member, Ben Ford, to help our listeners better understand the necessities for landing a role in any career, the 4 soft skills every recruiter looks for, and how students can come out of the pandemic with the job of their dreams!

For more episodes like this please visit www.workinfintech.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.

Christian Frahm, Founder and CEO of United Fintech, joins Matt Cheung and Helene Lipp to discuss his entrepreneurial career path, having founded e.g. CFH Group in 2007 and United Fintech in 2020. 

Christian Frahm started off his career at Bloomberg and Saxo Bank before focusing on founding own businesses in the Fintech space. He set up CFH Group in 2008, exited for $120m to Playtech (a £1.35bln firm) in 2016. CFH has $20m revenue.

His incredible and  career path is an inspiration for everyone who is interested in the startup space and how to learn important skills  which are needed for an entrepreneurial career. His career and captivating lessons are essential for all students, graduates or young professionals looking to get a foot into the startup environment, becoming a founder themselves or to develop an entrepreneurial mindset.