EKMH Innovators Interview Series
An interview series spotlighting global tech influencers, disruptors, visionaries, and of course, innovators.
Finnovista, an impact organization that empowers Fintech and Insurtech ecosystems in Latin America and Europe, including Startupbootcamp Scale, an innovation program for growth-stage startups in emerging markets which offers a customized approach to help startups solve challenges in areas such as business development and expansion. Launched in 2017, Startupbootcamp Scale Fintech continues to catalyze innovation in Latin America. Created specifically for later-stage high-growth startups, Startupbootcamp Scale Fintech addresses the specific needs of selected startups and helps the new businesses expand globally, increase their revenues and access fundraising opportunities.
“We are committed to being an ally for the best Fintech and Insurtech startups, to enable them to achieve growth and expand into Latin American markets,” indicated Startupbootcamp Scale Fintech MD and Finnovista Partnerships Director Christine Chang regarding the new batch of selected startups. “The success of prior generations of startups from the program is proof that our methodology works; coupled with the support, mentorship and networking opportunities with key industry players that we present to them.”
This year the Scale program received 27% more applications than last year. The increased number and quality of the startups indicates the maturity of in Latin American Fintech and Insurtech ecosystems. Startupbootcamp Scale Fintech has also seen a broader range of applications and an uptick in the number of non-Mexican companies applying to the program.
Startupbootcamp Scale FinTech Mexico City is locally supported by Visa, Scotiabank, HSBC Mexico, Banregio, IGNIA, Latinia, Fiinlab powered by Gentera, EY Mexico and White & Case. The Scale program began yesterday when selected startups joined corporate partners, mentors and the Startupbootcamp Scale FinTech team.
Christine Chang celebrates with this year’s chosen.
This years’ chosen startups are:
Ai360 (Mexico): Online house appraisal platform reducing friction in the real estate industry.
Apperto (Argentina): Super app for small and medium-sized Latin American cities.
Bederr (Peru): Improves customer retention and loyalty by providing a white label solution so that any company can easily set up its own loyalty program.
Kobra (Mexico): Digital platform helping financial entities attract more customers by giving them access to trusted financial agents for last-mile distribution.
Koibanx (Argentina): Blockchain payments platform for financial institutions that allows them to create their own payment ecosystems and the opportunity to serve unbanked users.
Siembro (Argentina): Digital financing platform for the agricultural industry.
At the end of the program, the teams will present their projects to more than 200 investors and industry experts at Demo Day - the program ending event that will take place in May 2020 - to raise capital and grow their businesses. After graduating, startups will continue to be supported by the Startupbootcamp Global Alumni growth program.
In the interview that follows, Christine Chang, the Managing Director of @sbcScaleFintech and Industry Partnerships Director at @finnovista, shares her insightful and eloquent perspective on a range of topics including Fintech and Startup trends, mentorship, career advice, establishing workplace diversity, building successful teams and ikigai.
EKMH: What fintech trends do you see emerging from Finnovista's third batch of participants from its Latin American scale program, Startupbootcamp Scale FinTech?
Christine Chang: With the third batch of participants, we are seeing the continued evolution of the fintech ecosystem. It is really exciting to see the progress over the past couple of years and how quickly things are progressing. For example, in this group, we have a wide variety of segments represented, from the more common payments and lending platforms to prop-tech, a super-app, collections and customer loyalty solutions.
The diversity of problems that these companies are addressing shows the steady growth and maturity of how both customer and banks’ readiness for tech-enabled, innovative options for meeting the increasing demand for financial services in emerging markets like Latin America.
EKMH: Startupbootcamp has a renowned and successful mentorship program that connects founders and industry leaders. In which key areas do founders repeatedly seek advice?
Christine Chang: As the financial sector is highly regulated, the topic of legal, compliance and regulation is a highly sought-after area. We have hosted several dynamic sessions with mentors with this expertise from across the industry, from both the public and private sector, where the startups are working with these experts on finding positive outcomes, or collaborating to find the possible ways that their proposed solution would work. These workshops have been incredibly enriching, not only for the startups but also for the mentors, who are pushed to take a different mentality and to think outside the box.
The topics of complex sales, fundraising and leading high-performing teams are also areas where founders seek constant advice. There is no right answer on any of these subjects, and therefore, the more people you can talk to who can share their successes -- and failures -- the better.
EKMH: How do you balance your roles at Finnovista and Startupbootcamp Fintech?
Christine Chang: Startupbootcamp FinTech in Mexico City is an initiative of Finnovista so we are actually one and the same organization. Although Startupbootcamp as a group originated in and is based in Europe, in 2017 Finnovista entered into a joint venture with Startupbootcamp to launch the FinTech programs here in Latin America.
In terms of the roles, at Startupbootcamp FinTech, so much of what we do is enabled by our work at Finnovista, and vice versa. Finnovista has created a strong community and vibrant ecosystem for fintech in Latin America, where we are in the centre of everything that is happening. Startupbootcamp allows us to drill into a deeper level with the participating startups, and a select group of corporate partners, which include Visa, Scotiabank, HSBC, Banregio, IGNIA, Latinia, EY and White & Case, to facilitate corporate-startup engagement.
At a more personal and individual level, as is the case when working at any high-growth startup, the balance is not always easy! There is so much to be done, you have to be ready to do a bit of everything and always be juggling a lot of highly interesting, highly important projects at the same time.
The advantage is, as I mentioned, my two roles are very intertwined -- being able to lead Industry Partnerships is very much fed by the experiences I have in having designed and implemented the very first scale-up program in all of SBC’s global network. And bringing the most relevant content and mentorships to our startups is enabled by the conversations I am constantly having with key corporate players in the sector in my Finnovista role, helping large companies understand where they are in their innovation journey and assessing their readiness in working with startups.
In terms of the day to day, what I have learned that helps a lot is to ensure that the team has as much visibility as possible at all levels. My job is to be clear on what we are trying to accomplish, help the team understand how to make the right decisions, empower them and get rid of any barriers they are facing.
With all this, it is also critical of course to have a strong support system at home and balance in your personal life. As an old boss once told me, if you are not good outside of work, you won’t be able to do your best when you are at work.
EKMH: What advice do you have about establishing workplace diversity, building successful teams and rainmaking?
Christine Chang: There are a lot of discussions, especially in developed markets such as in my native US about diversity and inclusion. The first step is asking what does that even mean? To you, to your team, to your company?
For me, personally, I am always for the diversity of opinions and perspectives and creating room for different voices to be truly heard. It has been proven that more diverse teams have better results over the long term. It is important to think of the long term because it is highly probable that it will not be easy at first to lead or be in a diverse team, with differing opinions and different work styles. Sometimes it is exhausting, but I would say the end result is always worth it and it is way more challenging and rewarding to work with people who don’t just agree with you all the time.
What I would say that diversity is NOT: diversity should not be a policy you put in place to cover your a**. Diversity should not be avoiding lawsuits or saying that no one has complained that they feel discriminated against. There is a huge difference in avoiding negative situations and outcomes versus proactively creating a workplace and a company where people are encouraged to think critically and problem-solve in different ways.
In the same way, successful teams are those who are not just ticking the box with all the things they have to do or the bare minimum. Successful teams are those that are clear about and aligned toward the same goal, have the right tools to get there, and are all pulling toward a common objective, including stopping and picking up other teammates when they are down and out and are enjoying the journey as well.
As for rainmaking, there is a Japanese concept called ikigai where you try to link your purpose with your work but finding the intersection of what you love, what you are good at, what the world needs, and what you can get paid for doing. I think that is the ideal situation and environment where you truly and authentically make it rain because if you are passionate about what you do, you will naturally be good at what you do. Then all you have to do is find your product-market fit.
Leadership at work.
EKMH: For those seeking to begin their fintech careers, what advice can you share about the interview process?
Christine Chang: Fintech may be a hot sector right now, but that is not a good enough reason to want to work in Fintech. Clearly define for yourself what skills and talents you can contribute and also why you are passionate about Fintech. Whatever career path you choose, and especially if you are considering working at a startup, it is so crucial to have 100% clear what about that job makes you excited to go to work every morning? If not, you will have a tough time.
Startups are high-risk companies in every sense and I think sometimes that is easy to forget with all the buzz around them, around VC, around fintech. Do your research on the different stages of startups and understand what size and maturity of the company might be best for your profile and work style. And also understand that with the opportunity to work on shaping the future of finance, you will also be faced with constant change, and very often limited resources and long hours. This is why it is so essential to ask yourself if this job would make you excited to go to work every day.
EKMH: You have lived and worked in several countries. What past experiences have helped you grow as a global leader?
Christine Chang: Each one of my experiences abroad has shaped me in some way. As I mentioned, leading diverse teams is not easy. And that can be multicultural teams, multifunctional teams, multi-fill in the blank teams. You have to look at each team as unique, find out what it is comprised of, and what you have to work within the aggregate so that you can more easily, effectively and enjoyably reach your business objectives.
I would say one of the biggest lessons I have learned over the years is that it is not always about the result but rather how can we reach our collective goal while also allowing each team member to be learning and to be contributing what he or she is really really good at?
I tend to use personality profiles anytime I have a new team; not to pigeonhole people but rather to help understand the mix that we have in the group, how they like to communicate, how they like to work, how they tend to approach problems. One profile test that I really like is Belbin team roles which focuses more on the functions that you need in any high-performing team. That helps you to shape and balance out the team and gives each person the room to contribute their inherent abilities.
Another area in which I find constant opportunities to grow is asking for additional input. I find that now I almost always look for a second opinion on something, just to see what I might have missed or got a different perspective, not necessarily because I don’t know the answer. Two minds are always better than one, especially when you are working in startups -- no one really has the right answer because we are all making it up as we go along!
EKMH: And finally, which books are you currently reading and which books would you recommend to readers?
Christine Chang: I am currently re-reading The Best Place to Work by Ron Friedman, which I have recommended to several people recently. Next on my reading list is What you do is who you are, by Ben Horowitz on creating your culture.
I recommend Blitzscaling by Reid Hoffman and Chris Yeh for anyone who thinks they might be a high-growth startup (you might not be a billion-dollar business and that is ok!), and for corporates who think they are moving fast (you’re not).
I love and adamantly recommend reading anything by Brené Brown, who has really amazing, data-backed insights on being more authentic and more human, as well as how this translates to leadership and the corporate world. As the saying goes, investors invest in teams, not ideas so make sure you have all the tools with which to build and be the winning team, and that starts with each of us as individuals.
**After this interview Christine launched her fabulous Virtual Coffee Talks Series on YouTube. Don’t miss it!