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In this Fintech Leaders edition, I sit down with Renaud Laplanche, Co-Founder & CEO at Upgrade, one of the leading neobanks in the US that was ranked as the fastest-growing US company in 2021 by the Financial Times.
Founded in 2016, Upgrade has issued over $10 billion in credit to consumers and has raised more than $600 million in equity from DST, Union Square Ventures, Ribbit, Coatue, and many more.
In this episode, we discuss:
Leadership lessons – Renaud is a serial entrepreneur and fintech OG, who previously founded Lending Club, one of the first fintech companies that went public in 2014 on the NYSE. He shares what he learned from that experience, including the impact of recurring revenue, people management reflections, fundraising strategies, and a lot more.
“Spending time with the initial hires is critical, because those are the people who are gonna be part of the initial strategy, initial product strategy, but also those people who are going to hire to the next level down. And if you don't get that first level, right, there's absolutely no way you get the next level down, right. And then it snowballs downhill from there.”
Stakeholder capitalism – why optimizing the bottom line isn't enough for companies and CEOs need to pay attention to multiple stakeholders and demonstrate a positive impact on society.
“The role of corporations in society has evolved. We expect more from corporations than just bringing great products and turning a profit. We're expecting them to be engaged and talk openly about what's happening in society and how we can help, other than just through our products.”
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Renaud’s take on current investor sentiment for publicly traded fintech companies and why despite the latest downturn, he’s seeing high enthusiasm from investors for the fintech sector.
“What's useful to remember is that a lot of these stocks were up 200% last year, right? So you lose a bit, but it’s from a very high multiple to start with… And even with the market being down a little bit, you see pretty high investor interest and enthusiasm for the sector… you can't really predict where the market is gonna go, but you know it's gonna turn around at some point.”
Launching crypto-driven products and how upgrade is helping mainstream consumers dip their toe into crypto… and a lot more!
“Today, a bit under 10% of the new cards we issue are the Upgrade Bitcoin Rewards card. So, it's decent, we're glad we did it, but it's hasn't been transformative… but I think we will see that evolve over time.”
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Miguel Armaza is Co-Founder & Managing General Partner of Gilgamesh Ventures, a seed-stage investment fund focused on fintech in the Americas. He also hosts and writes the Fintech Leaders podcast and newsletter.
Renaud Laplanche, Co-Founder/CEO of Upgrade – Building Two Fintech Unicorns, The Evolution of the CEO Role, & Why your Company’s First Hires are Incredibly Important