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☆ A startup founder sat in an airplane bathroom trying to move his company's funds out of Silicon Valley Bank after its collapse. Here's how 7 other founders reacted to the bank's implosion.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( April Joyner | Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Silicon Valley Bank was shut down by US regulators on Friday. It's been a chaotic day for the startup world following the failure of Silicon Valley Bank. Insider spoke with eight startup founders about how they're responding to the crisis. Other founders weren't as fortunate: They still had their company's funds at Silicon Valley Bank as the FDIC announced it had taken control of the bank. A couple of early-stage founders told Insider they did not hold accounts with Silicon Valley Bank.

Silicon Valley Bank was shut down by regulators on Friday. The news has made startup founders worried that they won't be able to pay their employees next week. Startup founders still reeling from Silicon Valley Bank's implosion have something new to stress about: whether they'll be able to access enough money to cut employee paychecks next week. "Lots of startups are missing payroll in 2-4 weeks if a) Silicon Valley Bank doesn't have the deposits b) SVB doesn't get sold or c) SVB isn't rescued." "If you're a startup founder dealing with this, I'm here to help any way I can," Ayush Sharma, founder and CEO of payroll and compliance startup Warp, tweeted.

☆ More pain for the crypto industry means a chance for startups to pivot
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

After an awful 2022 that saw one of the industry's high-profile figures implode, the crypto market is looking for a bounceback. McDermott laid out to Insider's Bianca Chan and Dakin Campbell how tough times for crypto startups mean more realistic valuations and, in some cases, a reevaluation of the business model. Once of the most common critiques I hear about crypto is "It's a solution looking for a problem." The most recent crypto winter could force startups to be a bit more pragmatic about the specific problem they are looking to address. "If you can solve fraud in crypto, you can solve fraud in basically any part of finance," Meier told Insider.

☆ BNPL Sezzle had a brutal 2022. The fintech's CEO lays out its comeback plan amid a competitive field in payments.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Paige Hagy | Bianca Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Fintech Sezzle is betting on a comeback after a miserable year for not only itself but the wider buy now, pay later market. Murphy's LawTrue to Murphy's Law, anything that could go wrong did go for Sezzle, Charlie Youakim, Sezzle's CEO, told Insider. In February of 2022, Sezzle announced it would be bought by Zip, another Australian-traded BNPL. The shift leaves room for a "proliferation" of BNPL and other payment options, Savage said. That way, Sezzle can still extend credit to the customer, who can theoretically build on their credit score with short-term payments.

☆ Goldman Sachs' head of digital assets says there's still 'a little bit more pain' to come for crypto startups. Here's how he's looking for the silver lining in the industry.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Bianca Chan | Dakin Campbell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Mathew McDermott oversees Goldman Sachs' crypto and blockchain efforts. He says the worst isn't over for crypto startups. The worst isn't over yet for the crypto industry, according to Goldman Sachs' global head of digital assets. "We're going to see a little bit more pain this year as we see more people struggle" in the crypto industry, Matthew McDermott, global head of digital assets at Goldman Sachs, told Insider. But there may be a silver lining to the crypto carnage: startups running out of runway may be looking for an exit.

☆ These 8 execs are leading teams at Stripe, Apple Pay, Visa, and other top payment players to stay ahead of the competition
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Bianca Chan | Paige Hagy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Payments are off to a red-hot start in 2023, with action from big banks, Big Tech, and fintech. Insider identified the people helping established payments firms stay ahead of the innovation curve. With competition bubbling up in the payments sphere and downward macro pressure on fintechs and tech companies broadly, the rat race to come out on top has begun. For the well-established payments players looking to defend their turf, sometimes the best defense is a good offense. Here are the people at the bleeding edge of innovation at eight top payments companies.

☆ As PayPal searches for a successor for its CEO, these 6 high-profile executives could be prime candidates to run the payments giant
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Paige Hagy | Bianca Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Payments giant PayPal is in search of a new CEO. On February 9, PayPal's president and CEO, Dan Schulman, announced his plans to retire at the end of the year. The search for the new CEO comes at a critical time for the company, which has been on a cost-cutting crusade. In August 2022, PayPal estimated that savings from cost cutting would reach $1.3 billion in 2023, on the back of 2022 savings to the tune of $900 million. Insider spoke with seven analysts, VCs, and industry insiders to discuss who they think would be prime candidates to succeed Schulman.

☆ Chime is building its own version of ChatGPT to speed up its engineers' work. The fintech's CTO laid out his strategy and why he's not going with OpenAI's or Google's generative AI offerings.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Bianca Chan | Dakin Campbell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Chime is in the early stages of building its own private version of ChatGPT that is set to launch this year, Insider has learned. If done successfully, Chime would unlock a competitive advantage of launching new products and features faster and more cost efficiently. The bot uses generative AI, which refers to artificial intelligence that can produce content, from creating art to coding software for engineers. He declined to disclose hiring goals and the size of Chime's tech organization. Barrese said he sees the tech as an assistant to the engineers and said the AI won't replace engineers.

☆ Meet 12 tech execs helping top private-equity firms like Apollo and Blackstone use AI and alternative-data to cut deals
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Bianca Chan | Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The people responsible for private-equity firms' internal tech have never been more important. Alt-data and AI capabilities are emerging as ways for firms to make deals and win new business. But that's starting to change as some of the largest PE firms take the plunge to invest in their own internal tech. Private equity has largely taken a wait-and-see approach to investing and building internal tech operations. Here is a list of top tech execs to know in the private equity industry.

☆ Private equity is finally stepping up its tech game. Here's who is leading the charge.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

What's the first thing that pops into your head when you hear the term "private equity?" PE firms do plenty of things quite well (and they are certainly compensated for their work), but their internal tech has never been a top priority. What I find most fascinating about the so-called "digitization" of PE isn't so much the actual tech but the culture. Click here to learn more about the 12 executives helping PE firms get up to speed on cutting-edge tech they can use to source and close deals. Silicon Valley Bank, which is the go-to bank for tech startups, is under pressure amid the market downturn, the Financial Times reported.

☆ Who's going to run PayPal? Industry insiders highlighted 6 potential candidates to succeed Dan Schulman at the payments giant.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Paige Hagy | Bianca Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Payments giant PayPal is in search of a new CEO. Insider spoke with seven industry experts for their thoughts on who might be tapped for the role. On February 9, PayPal's president and CEO, Dan Schulman, announced his plans to retire at the end of the year. In August 2022, PayPal estimated that savings from cost cutting would reach $1.3 billion in 2023, on the back of 2022 savings to the tune of $900 million. Insider spoke with seven analysts, VCs, and industry insiders to discuss who they think would be prime candidates to succeed Schulman.

☆ PayPal's CEO search amid an uncertain economy will be no easy task
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

In case you missed it, PayPal CEO and President Dan Schulman announced his plan to retire at the end of 2023 earlier this month. Coming off an extremely difficult 2022, and with competition seemingly coming at them from every which way, PayPal has to find a new CEO. I hesitate to compare this to the seemingly never-ending CEO search at Carlyle, but it's easy to see how a difficult quarter or two could complicate this entire search. The rich stay rich thanks to another loophole that helps them save on taxes. Elliott Management's Paul Singer and Two Sigma's David Siegel both played second fiddle to Haidar Capital's Said Haidar in 2022 when it came to comp.

☆ These 8 execs at payment powerhouses like PayPal, Stripe, and Visa are leading innovative teams and projects to stave off competition from banks and startups
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Bianca Chan | Paige Hagy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

☆ Here's who's keeping top payment players like Stripe, PayPal, and Square ahead of the competition
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Fun fact Friday: The only letter of the alphabet that doesn't appear in a US state name is "Q." There are plenty of reasons to want to get in (money changes hands A LOT, whether it's between people, companies, or both). This list from Insider's Bianca Chan and Paige Hagy looks at the people pushing top payment companies to stay ahead of the innovation curve. Bianca and Paige spoke to more than a dozen industry insiders to identify executives who are making sure companies like PayPal, Stripe, Apple, and Visa are keeping the competition at bay. Click here to check out eight executives ensuring the top payment players stay ahead of the competition.

☆ Here is the 14-page pitch deck a fintech helping SMBs get approved for loans via alt data used to raise $1.8 million from ATX Venture Partners, Rex Salisbury, and others
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Bianca Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Here is the deck Uplinq used to raise a $1.8 pre-seed extension round. One financial-technology startup trying to bring alternative data to small-business lending is catching the attention and dollars of some of the most notable fintech investors in the space. The latest round brings Uplinq's total funding to $5.6 million, with the startup raising its initial $3.5 million pre-seed round in April 2022. And is the credit score really an accurate reflection of their true credit worthiness?" Here's the 14-page pitch deck Uplinq used to raise $1.8 million.

☆ Potential buyers are leveraging high-profile blowups like Frank and FTX to get better terms. Insiders detail how dealmaking is changing in 2023.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Paige Hagy | Bianca Chan | Carter Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

We don't want to look like JPMorgan,'" Jason Mikula, fintech analyst and writer behind Fintech Business Weekly, told Insider. How closely they adhere to it matters greatly in terms of if a deal is on the line," Mandelbaum told Insider. Investors pumped $132 billion globally into fintechs in 2021 and there were more than 900 fintech M&A exits, according to CB Insights. "It's now a buyer's market," Rob Brown, CEO of Lincoln International, a global investment-banking advisory firm, told Insider. One way companies might optimize the due-diligence process without cutting corners is by leaning on machines to help with the heavy lifting.

☆ ChatGPT is supercharging how EQT sources deals. A top tech exec at the investing giant gives an inside look at how it's 'trying to make cyborgs' out of its dealmakers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Bianca Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

But at Sweden-based investment firm EQT, the tech is being used at full throttle. "We're trying to make cyborgs," Alexandra Lutz, head of Motherbrain, EQT's AI platform, told Insider. With ChatGPT, Lutz said EQT has reached "the next frontier," putting the power of AI directly in the hands of its investors and portfolio companies. EQT's AI journey has been seven years in the makingThe impetus for EQT's AI platform can be traced back to a simple question. The AI platform generates lists of companies for EQT investors that look promising based on an input of desired attributes, from company size to geography and underlying technology.

☆ ChatGPT is coming for Wall Street next
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Insider's Paige Hagy and Bianca Chan asked industry experts how they see a tool like ChatGPT impacting all areas of Wall Street, from investment banking to financial planning to consumer banking. So if your boss pitches you on using ChatGPT to help "streamline your workflow" understand that you could be training your replacement. Click here to read more about the types of jobs ChatGPT might upend across Wall Street. Wall Street trading firm GTS Securities is looking to make investing in music royalties accessible to the general public, Bloomberg reports. Stephanee Beggs made seven figures selling her study materials on TikTok and Etsy, which means she cleared more business than half the bankers on Wall Street.

☆ From financial planning to dealmaking, here's how ChatGPT could impact jobs across Wall Street
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Paige Hagy | Bianca Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Here's how the chatbot could impact six different areas of Wall Street. Experts have predicted ChatGPT's impact on a variety of industries, and it appears Wall Street will be no exception. ChatGPT has the capacity eventually to replace humans in certain roles, according to some, but the realization rests in the customers' hands. But while you mull on whether or not to pay attention to ChatGPT on Wall Street, some are already putting the tech to work. Insider spoke to five industry experts to get their take on how ChatGPT and its underlying tech could be applied to various sectors of financial services.

Some hedge funds, wealth managers, and asset managers are still hiring. Recruiters told us what roles are in demand and what skills can help you land them. Big-name hedge funds like Citadel, D. E. Shaw, and Millennium Management posted double digits in a year that many other investment managers would rather soon forget. Alternative asset managers, meanwhile, are hiring in the private-wealth-management businesses they've spent recent years building out. … if you're in or interested in wealth managementDespite the market downturn, wealth managers are in high demand.

☆ Inside JPMorgan massive tech org: 7 key execs helping global CIO Lori Beer manage the firm's $14 billion tech budget.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Bianca Chan | Carter Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

JPMorgan's tech organization is led by nine-year bank vet Lori Beer, its global CIO. As the biggest US bank by assets, JPMorgan's sprawling $14.1 billion tech budget can be hard to comprehend. The size and scale of JPMorgan's tech spending can seem unfathomable to a small startup or everyday consumer. Lori Beer, JPMorgan's chief information officer, oversees that sprawling tech budget, which grew by 20% from 2019 to 2022. Insider mapped out the key tech executives at JPMorgan who report to Beer and help her lead the bank's massive tech org.

☆ The dealmaking boom meant fast timelines and loose due diligence. But high-profile implosions like FTX and Frank mean would-be sellers can expect more scrutiny, insiders say.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Paige Hagy | Bianca Chan | Carter Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

☆ Due diligence is top of mind for Wall Street in the wake of blowups at Frank and FTX. Here's what it means for the state of M&A.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

In the long list of boring, behind-the-scenes stuff for deals to get done, due diligence ranks close to the top. One of the more fascinating knock-on effects is how buyers might leverage FTX and Frank as a way to get better terms on deals. Click here to read more about the new state of due diligence in the wake of FTX and Frank. I know you're a passionate bunch, so we compiled everything Wall Street is saying about the EV maker's fourth-quarter earnings. Which fast-food joint has the best coffee?

Some hedge funds, wealth managers, and asset managers are still hiring. Layoffs across industries have been dominating headlines in January, and Wall Street has been no exception. Big-name hedge funds like Citadel, D. E. Shaw, and Millennium Management posted double digits in a year that many other investment managers would rather soon forget. Alternative asset managers, meanwhile, are hiring in the private-wealth-management businesses they've spent recent years building out. Emily Landon, the CEO of the Chicago-based headhunting firm The Crypto Recruiter, pointed to the job board Crypto Careers, which has over 2,400 openings.

☆ Inside THL's investing playbook for how the PE firm uses the public cloud to be aggressive in the bidding process
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Bianca Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The cloud has become a key piece of private-equity firm THL's investment playbook. But for THL, the cloud has become an important part of the investing giant's playbook for winning over acquisition targets. He likened the due diligence and courtship process for founders and CEOs to speed dating with a bunch of investment firms. But the cloud, with its promise of cost savings and easy innovation, is helping THL stand out in the bidding process, Benaquista said. Eventually, as part of the move to the cloud, THL was able to split up Ten-X's commercial and residential businesses with the aim of selling the former.

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