Financial Forward: The Future of Consumer Finance & Banking
Financial Forward with Jim McCarthy
Explore the Future of Consumer Finance, Banking Regulation, and FinTech Innovation
Financial Forward is the essential podcast for professionals in finance, compliance, and innovation. Hosted by Jim McCarthy, founding member of the CFPB and expert in regulatory risk management, each episode features in-depth conversations with leaders from banks, credit unions, fintech companies, and regulatory agencies.
🎯 What You’ll Learn:
- Consumer finance trends and policy changes
- CFPB rulemaking and enforcement actions
- Compliance with FDIC, OCC, NCUA, and CFPB oversight
- FinTech, open banking, and RegTech innovation
- Credit cards, loans, mortgage servicing, and fair lending
- AI and automation in banking compliance
- Risk management and consumer protection
🎧 Who Should Listen:
Bank executives, compliance officers, fintech founders, consumer advocates, and anyone interested in regulatory reform and financial inclusion.
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Financial Forward: The Future of Consumer Finance & Banking
Beyond Strategy: How Execution Drives Real Growth
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Financial Forward – Season 4, Episode 3
Guest: Tanya Puri
Host: Jim McCarthy
In this episode, Jim McCarthy speaks with Tanya Puri, a finance and operations leader turned entrepreneur, about her career journey and her transition into building a consulting practice as a fractional executive.
Tanya shares how her background in investment banking, investment management, and strategy & operations shaped her understanding of how businesses grow—and where they often struggle. She explains why she left traditional employment to work across multiple companies, helping them solve critical challenges related to capital, scaling, and operational efficiency.
The conversation explores how companies at different stages—from early fundraising to growth and optimization—can benefit from experienced leadership without the need for full-time executive hires.
Topics Covered
- Tanya Pura’s career across finance, strategy, and operations
- Transitioning from corporate roles to entrepreneurship
- What a fractional executive is and why the model is growing
- Helping companies raise capital and prepare for growth
- Operational scaling and building efficient systems
- Supporting companies across industries and lifecycle stages
- The gap between strategy and execution in growing businesses
Key Takeaways
- Many companies fail not because of bad strategy, but because of poor execution.
- Fractional leadership provides high-level expertise without full-time overhead.
- Scaling requires both capital and operational discipline.
- Cross-industry experience can be a powerful advantage in consulting and advisory roles.
- Leaving traditional employment can create broader impact when expertise is applied across multiple organizations.
Guest Information
Tanya Pura
Fractional Executive | Strategy & Operations Leader | Finance Background
(Primary areas of focus: capital strategy, operational scaling, business transformation)
More from Jim:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mccarthyhatch/
https://www.mccarthy-hatch.com/
But some of the more common ones that I'm seeing that I'm able to diagnose pretty quickly when I start an engagement is one is is the founder the bottleneck for all big decisions, all decisions?
SPEAKER_01Welcome to Financial Forward. I'm Jim McCarthy. Today I'm joined by Tanya Pura, a seasoned leader with over 15 years of experience spanning investment banking, investment management, and strategy and operations. Tanya has built her career at the intersection of finance and execution, and now she's taken that experience to the next level. In this episode, we talk about her transition from traditional corporate roles into building her own consulting practice, where she serves as a fractional executive, helping companies raise capital, scale operations, and navigate critical growth stages. This is a conversation about what it really takes to move from strategy to execution, how businesses can scale intelligently, and why more leaders are choosing independence to create impact across multiple organizations. Here's my conversation with Tanya Pura. Hey, Tanya, nice to see you. Hopefully I said it right. Tanya, is that right?
SPEAKER_00Hi, Jim. Yeah, you said it perfect. Great to see you as well.
SPEAKER_01Great to see you. Hey, tell us about who you are and tell the audience kind of where you're at and how you got to where you're at today.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so um I have about 15 years of experience uh in my professional career. I've started across financial services, your traditional investment banking, investment management, you know, then went and got my MBA and really spend the last, I want to say almost eight years in this strategy and operations role. Um I'd say my career spans finance, strategy, and operations, and recently broke away from traditional employment or really start my own consulting practice where I work as a fractional executive with a variety of different companies across different industries and sizes and sort of help them with whatever stage they're at, um, either raising capital, scaling to have better operations, or really thinking through what their next strategic goalposts should be. Um, I live in California with my husband and my two-year-old. Um, and yeah, I'm just excited to chat with you more about um what I do with my clients and learn from your experience as well.
SPEAKER_01That's absolutely fantastic. So it's great to have you, and I think this is going to be an important conversation because it really lands where most of the confusion is today. And that that confusion is really around what do we do? Um it reminds me a lot of the dot-com era back in the mid-90s and later 90s. Um of those confusion about what was happening, what was going to happen, how do you predict it, how do you leverage it, what do you do, what do you not do, feels like this current environment. And so I think the skills that you bring to the table are really important. Would you agree with that?
SPEAKER_00You're so right. I think, I think it's easy, and you have this amazing experience to leverage that, you know, that last sort of inflection point, if you will, that it's really easy to get caught up for a lot of companies in the buzzword, whether it's AI or a dot-com or whatever of the moment, and sort of lose sight of, you know, what are we doing as a company? What's our clear product? What do our customers pay us for? And what are we trying to achieve? And get sort of caught up with should we be doing more of this or should we be messaging this to our customers and kind of lose sight of what they um what their moat, if you will, actually is. And so I think you're so right. This moment right now can be really confusing to a lot of founders, um, and certainly the ones that I'm working with, um, about um how should they position themselves right now, and all of a sudden they're questioning um if what they thought was their path forward should now look different.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and you've spent your career helping founders, you know, really to focus on what what really matters to them, right? And so yeah. Yeah. So tell me when you first meet a startup founder today, as an example, um, what are some of the most common strategic mistakes that you're seeing out there in the marketplace?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's a that's a great question. Um, and it's funny because I I'm actually working with three clients in such completely different industries, um, but it's still really, really interesting to see that if they're all sort of in the same um phase of growth uh or similar phase of growth, they are sort of all dealing with very similar problems. Um, so that's been interesting for me to learn. But some of the more common ones that I'm seeing um that I'm able to diagnose pretty quickly when I start an engagement is one is is the founder the bottleneck for all big decisions, all decisions. You know, it's a company structured in such a way where makes sense in the early days, founder wants to be involved in everything, makes perfect sense. But as a company starting to grow and scale, you're now becoming a bottleneck. And that's a big strategic mistake that I see across clients that they're not set up for scaling success. They're sort of still working every decision to the founder, uh, you know, in their brains is where all the information lives. Um, and so that's a huge strategic and very costly mistake that I come in day one to help them sort of undo. Another one is, and they're all kind of coupled together, um, is hiring when your processes are just not set up. So, you know, another one is which ties into what I said, it all lives in the founder's brain. Nothing's documented. Um, and this is it's it's a it's a it's a symptom that's actually a great symptom because it means you grew very fast, right? You grew so fast you didn't have time to stop and document and write things down and have processes set up. So it's not a bad thing, but you need to now diagnose and bring someone like me in to sort of help prevent this from being a costly mistake going forward. So now when you bring the new hires in, because your first, you know, your first thing is, oh, I need someone to help me, everything's flowing through me, but then you don't have anything set up, you bring on a new hire, you don't have any processes or documentation for them. So your ROI on that hire is going to be negative to start off with because you're spending that much more time training them, getting things up to speed, they're coming to you with all the questions because, like I said, it all lives in your head. So that's another really costly strategic mistake I see founders making, hiring when none of their processes exist. And I think sort of again, coupled with the first two is really just not investing in the right tools at the right time. So when they're seeing these symptoms, one of the knee-jerk reactions is I should hire someone, right? And that can end up being costly, like I said. And the other piece is sort of thinking, oh, we're not big enough or we're not at the right stage where I should get this type of tool, you know, whether it's timekeeping or, you know, expense tracking, or they sort of think, oh, whatever lives in my spreadsheets right now, or in this one file somewhere is good enough. And I think that's a really costly strategic mistake because that's preventing you from um the founders shouldn't be spending their time past a certain stage doing those admin cleanup tasks. But so many of the founders I work with are saying, you know, I spend three days staying up all night doing my taxes because I know where every cost goes and where everything does. And it's it's great that you do that in the first two years. You should not be doing that anymore. And so that's a really costly strategic mistake. And again, having the right tools and the right person come on and help you get those tools set up is again something that I do. But to me, those are the three most common mistakes that I'm seeing in founders at this sort of inflection point would have grown really fast and they're starting to scale, but nothing's really set up to help them support that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Have you ever seen the opposite of your third one where they outsource everything, but no one is talking to the other one and they're not synthesizing and accumulating the information properly within the company? Yes. But yeah, that's being taken care of. Yeah, but that needs to be informed by a different channel and so on and so forth. You ever see that?
SPEAKER_00A hundred percent. That's another, I've definitely seen that as well. Um, and it it all I think still comes back to um a founding team that realized they need support, which is a great first step, and went out to get that support. But then, you know, there's one or two steps like you pointed out after that that really set up, set this up for success. Are they talking to each other? Are they getting the right context? Um, is everything flowing back to where it should? Um, and I think that's a big mistake that also ends up being very costly because um you hire three or four people, you outsource something, but discrete tasks are getting done. But the overall sort of picture and moving your company forward strategically is still kind of sitting in the middle of nowhere. And I think that's another really big question that founders need to sort of address and understand that it really, and this is one of the big, big sort of things that I work with founders. I call it my decision matrix, is there's a lot of things that should move off of your plate as a founder when you're at a certain point of growth in your company. There's some things that should still stay with you. And sort of at some point, being that central point where you're getting the right information from different, whether it's outsourced support or any or tools, and you're the one who's able to synthesize it. Because at certain stages, you're still the one who knows your trajectory better than anybody else you could have hired. Um, and in some cases, the founding team is still the one who can say, um, you know, even if the numbers are telling me this is the right project or type of client to invest in, I may know the market better as a founder. And so, like you said, sometimes those things aren't connected because people are doing things in silos, but really being able to know when to step in as a founder is critical, uh, but also equally when to step away and offload things from your plate.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. So listen, you've worked at institutions like Morgan Stanley, uh, BlackRock, and you're part of the Chicago Booth Angels Network. Is that is that true?
SPEAKER_00Yes, all of that's true.
SPEAKER_01All right. So the and I want to know more about the Booth Angels Network, but how does understanding the investor mindset change the way founders should approach, say, fundraising?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's a great question. I'd say, I'd say having been on both sides of the table, so both sort of, you know, investing in companies and then also now advising companies who are looking to raise capital is, I think, one of my invaluable um skill sets, just kind of knowing how both sides of the table think and what they're looking at. It's a pretty unique uh standpoint, I think. Um, and I think one thing that I'm talking to my founders who are looking to raise is that there's so many external factors or factors external to their own company, their product, their service, their traction that really determine their success that they need to get very smart on very quick. So things like what's the market environment, where are interest rates at, how much dry powder these funds have, investing trends, these can dictate a startup's fundraising success dramatically. And like I said, some of that has nothing to do with your own, your company's product or what you're offering or how successful you've been. Sometimes just knowing that right now all funds care about its AI is a really important piece of information. That was, you know, I'm exaggerating, but that's a kind of piece of information that founders should know when they go in those conversations because things like that can really affect the outcome. And I and like I said, founders need to get smart really fast on all of these macro trends in order to go in those conversations, sort of equipped to have those conversations and end up with a successful outcome. And having been on both sides of the table, I can advise them on things like that. Like, okay, I'm hearing funds are only looking at these kinds of products. I mean, one example is we really are in a very different fundraising environment than you know, even four or five years ago. Things like investing in pre-revenue companies is in my um current experience is unheard of. When it would be something that you could easily, not easily, but you could for sure go to a fund and say I'm pre-revenue, but here's my pipeline, and here's sort of what I might believe, and and here's my IP and here's my product, and you could get funding. Today that's seeming to be a lot harder. So, and that kind of information that I'm able to share with the founders I'm working with, I think is a really big game changer. And I think that's a big, that's what I'm advising them when they're coming to fundraising, sort of really being nuanced when they talk about what their company is talking about, um, why this is the right time for that product, why they have a really unique um hold on the market and somebody or some AI or a service can't come in and disrupt them, um, and why that market's growing. So I think being able to kind of um tell them how investors will look at um their deck or or their pitch um has been pretty helpful um in the few few with the few engagements I have that are around fundraising.
SPEAKER_01That's absolutely fantastic. So let's transition that into another part of that. So we all have a story, right? And that story is important to each of us founders. So you often help founders ref refine um uh how they tell their company story to investors. So what would you say separates what a pitch is uh that raises capital from one that gets politely say declined? What's the real magic sauce?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and it's uh that's a tough one because it's you know, some funds will tell you they all have their like calculators and they weigh certain parts of your deck differently than others because it comes down to what that fund's looking to do and looking to invest in. But I think I can you know bring all of that a couple levels up and distill it in a few different points. Um this one's kind of it's hard to say because there's not much we can do about it, but sometimes it does really come down to founders who show passion and coachability. So, in my experience, funds typically really want to work with founders who are easy to work with, are extremely knowledgeable about their space, their product, the market they're in, and have a really solid plan in place with what they're gonna do with that capital that they're getting. Um the second piece, which I think is super important in today's sort of AI world, is, and I talked about this a little bit briefly a couple of seconds ago, is why is what you're doing not easy to replicate or be disrupted? Why is it so important for us to invest in this now, not two years from now or three years from now? And and what can you do that's not being replicated by anybody else? So I think that's sort of even more important than showing that you've had traction and you have paying customers. And I think the third piece is I think I mentioned this a little while ago as well, but they want to be in growing markets, right? So you can have a really niche, cool product where you have paying customers, but an investor wants to know that that market is growing as well. Like, is there gonna be two extra TAM or three extra TAM in the next 10 years? Um, to them, that's a really big positive signal as well, where they want to put their money. So I think for me, having a story that really combines those elements, putting your founder, you know, coaching them to where they're in a point where they can answer these questions really well and tell the story in a very conversational manner, answer these questions, you know, show they've done their diligence. Um, all of this really sets them apart versus the usual 10 or 12-page slide deck about, you know, here's my company, here's my product, here's what it does, here's the team. But I think really stepping back and being able to tell that story why you're unique, why your product is unique, um, gets an investor's attention and gets you sort of that next meeting.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's absolutely that that's absolutely valuable to the listeners. I think it's very important to understand that it still comes down to being knowledgeable about what it is that you're doing in the market that you're working in and being passionate about what it is that you're delivering. You know, here at McCarthy Hatch, our our uh our um claim to fame, if you will, is I want to improve the human condition, right? And that that sounds crazy and lofty, but there's a lot of work that we do that actually does that, right? So um we've got a product that that looks at consumer sentiment and delivers that in a report fashion back to the client so they know where their customers are at any given point at any given time, right? What's better about that, right? That's helping move that needle of human condition. And I think when you do these quote unquote pitches, it comes out to me when someone's not fully invested or engaged in what they're what they've built. Is that consistent with what you're saying?
SPEAKER_00It's so true. It's so true. I mean, you can you can have a really polished looking, professional looking deck, but when you put a founder in front of in front of investors and and and they, you know, this isn't their soul and their baby, you can tell that immediately. Um, and it's one thing to be a serial entrepreneur and have done different things. I think that's fine as well. But I think, you know, when you go in front of investors and ask them for capital, and this isn't something you're living and breathing every day, and you've put your blood, sweat, and tears behind, it does kind of come across very clearly. Um, and I think, and no one's saying that that's you know, you you have to be sort of torturing yourself to be successful, but I think there is a clear difference between that's clearly this person's passion. They know so much about it. Um, and they can talk about the product's ins and outs and why it's the right product versus someone who has just done a really great deck can talk about what's on those 10 slides very well, and and not detracting from that. That's half of the job. But I think you know, we're talking about what gets you that next conversation versus what gets you just a foot in the door. And there is a clear difference between those two stages. And I think so much of what you said as well is is is so spot on.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so let's carry that forward. Um, let's let's say that um let's say that we're successful and we have growth, we have takeoff, right? So you help founders not lose their sanity or the soul of the company when that growth takes off, uh as I read. So, what are some of the operational mistakes that often derail fast growing startups in in your experience?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I think I think that really, you know, that's so much, that's literally my bread and butter that I work with with founders. Um, and and so I love talking about this. Um, and some of it is stuff we touched on before because it all kind of bleeds into um similar themes, if you will, like the strategic mistakes they're making, or or you know, where they sort of they're going fast, but they haven't quite figured things out. I think the first one that comes to mind that I think is it's boring, it sounds boring, but it's so critical. It's just not documenting anything. And I think I've talked about this with you a few minutes ago, but um to me, this isn't just a today's problem or a problem because you grew fast. Like this has compounding effects of nothing was documented, then you hired someone, then that person didn't document anything. If you don't have a culture where things are organized and documented and processes exist for a reason that are followed the T, then you're kind of just flying blind. And I think it's, you know, I've said this before, it works when you're at a certain stage of your company and you're just trying to grow and get traction and survive. But I think, you know, we're talking about higher growth companies who sort of gotten the capital now and are scaling. For them, the ways they operate have got to be different than what they did five years ago or when they had five employees and now they have 20. Um, and so not documenting anything and not having processes is just one that I see all the time, and one that I come in and I help them get um better at. Um, I think the key to this is not doing something overly complicated. Like it doesn't have to be this like binder of 10 different things, and it's most complicated. Google spreadsheet. You know, as long as you have a new higher handbook, you have processes for information. Voicing, your processes for how you track POs, your processes for how you track revenue coming in by customer, by program. It just needs to be things that you can do on your own easily. So when I leave, because I'm a fractional, I come in for three months or six months at a time. When I leave, I want to set you up for success. And so it's got to be something that they can do on their own and follow and replicate. So it's got to be simple. But honestly, it's so like I said, it sounds boring, but not having anything documented is a huge mistake that I see in a lot of these companies that I work with. And I think the second point is again something I hinted at, but I I read this term, I think on LinkedIn and I loved it and I've stolen it or borrowed it. But it's when founders don't know how to share their Legos. Um I love that term because it's so, you know, it's it's very visual. Um, and I'm a I'm a pyramid toddler, so it resonates with me exceptionally well right now. But I think, you know, so much of an early startup success is the founder being so entrenched. We talked about that, the one who knows everything and passionate and really understands their business. But you get to a certain point and you've got to start losing your grip on some of those Legos. And having someone like me or someone in my with a similar experience come in and help you prioritize which Legos really you shouldn't be owning anymore is so critical at this point of their growth. Um, because you're either gonna lead to founder burnout, or you're gonna lead to a company that moves excruciatingly slow because every decision goes to the founder, neither of which are good outcomes. Um, or you're just gonna have um, you know, a company that's just not achieving their potential because um, you know, they're they're just they're not, they don't have a culture where um they're bringing up new growth in the company in terms of personnel and headcount. And so I think for me, a delicate part of my job is for sure working with founders and helping them prioritize accurately and helping them sort of see the value of sharing some of their Legos and understanding that there's some that they might never give away, which is completely appropriate, but then for sure some they need to part with.
SPEAKER_01So, Tanya, you've worked with organizations like Credit Karma during the periods of extremely rapid expansion. I mean, that's a ride that not a lot of people have been on, but you've been there. So going back and thinking about that rapid expansion at Credit Karma, um, what lessons from those experiences translate most directly to today's startup founders?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's a great question. My time at Credit Karma was it certainly felt like being on a rocket ship. I think they like multiples by multiples grew revenue. It was a very exciting time to be there. And I learned so much. I'm very grateful for that experience. And I really think they did two things extremely well, which I've taken with me as I now work with um startup founders. One was um Kernakarma was ruthless about asking this question anytime they were launching a new product or testing a new feature. They're they were ruthless about asking what is the benefit to a customer from doing this? And they didn't work on things that they couldn't tie directly to the benefit of a consumer. Um, you know, so even if it made you money and it it was a great thing to have for engagement or something else, if it didn't ultimately benefit the consumer, um, they didn't think that it was worth investing in. I think that was such a wonderful um value for that company. And so one of the things I work with my founders for is do you have a clear line of sight of what your customers are looking for? And how are you servicing that need? How are you uniquely servicing that need better than any other of your competitors? Um, do you know what it is? Have you have you figured it out? Because a lot of times you might be generating revenue and be profitable, but you're performing a service or you have a product, you haven't quite figured out what it is that you're uniquely doing that's making you successful. So one of my one of my first clients, actually, um they're in like a hardware tech um uh space. And what they realized and my work with them helped them uncover was it wasn't even the product that they were, that they were creating, it's how they managed their relationships with their clients that met led the customers to go back and say, oh yeah, I want to get that from that person. There were other competitors making the exact same product or you know, variations of it, but the client relationships that they had built got them to winning those clients, those, those contracts again and again and again and getting bigger contracts down the line. And they haven't figured out that actually that was their secret sauce. And so one of it's I think this is such a key strategic question for companies is where you think growth is going to come from. Sometimes you're wrong. And of course, you have to have a product that you're generating revenue from, but that might not be your secret sauce. And so I think really uncovering what you're doing for the customer uniquely is such a game changer for so many of the founders that I work with that I learned from my time at Credit Karma.
SPEAKER_01And it's great to know that there's there are resources out there that can help through this process. You do not have to do this alone. And I can tell you, as a as one of the two founders of our company, I can tell you it's hard to figure it out alone because oftentimes you don't pay attention to things until they hurt you. And that gets your attention in a big hurry. Um, and so it's important to to know that there's resources out here. So talk to me a little bit about how does someone reach you? What what services do you do you offer? And um who do you work with? And tell me a little bit about your world.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, um, I work with early and mid-stage startups, uh, companies and really industry across the board, any industry, although I have a lot of experience in financial services and fintech, but I'm fairly industry agnostic. Um, and I help them with anything from raising capital, like we talked about, getting in front of investors, being successful with those pitch pitch decks and raising. And then once you've raised capital, or if that's not your path, really having the right strategic and operational foundation so you can scale successfully. Um, and so I really think of as a three-prong of strategy operations and finance. And I provide those services to founding teams as a fractional executive. So I come in for three to six month retainers, diagnose what your key blockers to success are, and really help them set up the right tools and systems. So when I leave in three or six months, they're ready to go, those those systems set up, and they don't um need any big overhaul to keep continuing down those um those pathways that are created for them. Um, I can be reached on email or my website. So my company's called Pure Insights. I don't think I shouted that out before, but No, shout it out.
SPEAKER_01And how do you sell it? Is it just P-E-E-R?
SPEAKER_00No, P-U-R insights. Um, and that is it's a play on my last name, Puri, so Pure Insights. And uh the website is pure insights.com, so PURINSights.com. Um, I have multiple links on the website to schedule quick, free introductory calls with me. And then of course, you can always reach out to me on LinkedIn. I'm very active on LinkedIn, but Tanya Puri and uh send me a message, uh comment and a post, anything. I love, I love even just sharing notes with founders and seeing what's working for them or not. Um, and uh and and yeah, so that's a little bit of what I do and how I can be reached. Um and you know, again, Jim, like I said, I'm I'm sort of new to the space, but really enjoying um what I'm doing so far. And it's um been such a crazy ride so far. I'm working with some amazing companies and just excited to see where it goes next.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and it's so great to see the results of your work. Like when you finish a project or you're in the middle of a project and you can bring a systemic operational process or or data governance, if you will, in the corporate world to a company and show them the results. It's it's it's efficiency plays, it's financial gains, it's um identifying your product is a massive growth strategy. All of those things are important. So tell me this: do you work only for founders? Are there people that maybe have positions that are within companies at a relatively senior level that might employ you to help them do their job?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean that's a great question. Um, I haven't so far, but I'm absolutely open to it. I've just I've just I think so far worked with um you know the founders of certain companies because they're the ones who are feeling the pain the most. Um but I'm so open, you know, in my past life before I, you know, started my own company, I worked with, you know, heads of strategy or heads of business operations within companies. And so I absolutely have that skill set as well. And I'm so open to um, you know, it's the skill set stays the same no matter who I'm serving. And I I'd love to help um any sort of leader within organizations um with any of these problems because this is the kind of work that I love doing.
SPEAKER_01So now I'm gonna pull out of you the Chicago Booth Angels Network. Talk to me about that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so I think um so Chicago Booth is where I went to um went for my MBA. It's the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. Um, and um while I wasn't so actively involved with venture when I was at uh Chicago Booth getting my MBA, but in the years since, especially since I'm um working with founders, raising capital, being on the Angel Network side has helped me, like I said, have that, you know, both sides of the table perspective. And so really the Angel Network is um booth alumni that are looking to put in funds at a very, very early stage, um sort of precede stage, um, the angel round, if you if you will a friends or family round into startups and um and see that growth. And obviously it's um mostly booth alumni that we invest in because you know it's sort of a booth network, but obviously the angel network is um is professionals who are looking to deploy small amounts of capital and anything that seems promising.
SPEAKER_01That's fantastic. So you have a strong consistency amongst the things that you do. So, where can we find you in the future? Do you have any conferences planned or speaking events planned? Anything, any travel set on the calendar for this year?
SPEAKER_00Um, not for any conferences just yet. I just spoke at the Cal Poly Women's Conference two weeks ago, um, which was a wonderful experience. Um, but I'm regularly in the Bay Area and for meeting with clients. Uh, so you know, travel is um is something that can be arranged very easily. If that makes sense for any future clients out there, it's not hard to make that happen.
SPEAKER_01Sure. Well, listen, I want to thank you very much for taking time out of your day to roll up with us and talk to us about this. I think it's important. Um, I think we have a lot of founders in spirit that want to start new ventures and they'd like to know what happens when you do. And I think we have people that are currently in a founder position and need to hear things like this to make sure that they know that they're not insane, that they're experiencing the same things that other founders are experiencing. And then I think it's important to um deploy the right strategies at an early stage or mistakes multiply very fast. And so I really I appreciate that. Um, I appreciate you rolling up with us today, and uh the audience is gonna absolutely love this one, and we'll have all of your contact information in the show notes, and um thank you very much for for coming in today.
SPEAKER_00Thank you so much for having me, Jim. I really enjoyed the conversation. Um, and yeah, I I hope to reach out to anybody who needs this help um and um and maybe help make their lives a bit easier.
SPEAKER_01That was my conversation with Tanya Pura. Tanya brings a sharp and practical perspective on what it takes to grow business from capital strategy to operational discipline. And her move into fractional leadership reflects a broader shift we're seeing across the market. Her experience highlights something important. Companies don't just need strategy, they need execution, alignment, and leadership at the right moments in their life cycle. If you're building, scaling, or thinking about how to structure leadership in a more flexible and effective way, this was a conversation worth paying attention to. Thanks for joining us on Financial Forward. If you found value in today's discussion, be sure to follow, share, and stay tuned for more conversations with leaders shaping the future of financial services and businesses.