Given the lifestyle business goal was met by the end of 2013, one and a half years after I left Corporate America, I decided to utilize my free time consulting
for financial tech startups that I believed could revolutionize the industry for the better.
In the same week, Circle, a Goldman Sachs -
backed financial tech startup, shocked the public by buying a cryptocurrency exchange, news first reported by yours truly.
Refocusing its outbound efforts to solely target consumers,
financial tech startup Blooom has laid off nearly a third of its staff and a top executive has resigned.
I recently joined Personal Capital, a 3.5 year
old financial tech startup leveraging the internet to bring wealth advisory to those with over $ 100,000 in investable assets instead of just those with millions of dollars.
• WeLab, a Hong Kong -
based financial tech startup that operates online lending platforms, raised $ 220 million equity and debt Series B + funding, according to TechCrunch.
During the year and a half of consulting
for financial tech startups I learned a ton about Silicon Valley tech culture, compensation structure, fundraising, growth metrics, venture capital, product creation, pitfalls of working at a startup, and various ways people exit for big and small money.
MioTech,
a financial tech startup with offices in Hong Kong and Shanghai, has raised $ 7 million in Series A funding to develop artificial intelligence based software for investment managers.
Although I tried hard to stay retired, I was given an offer to join Personal Capital,
a financial tech startup as a consultant for 25 hours a week.
WeLab,
a financial tech startup that operates online lending platforms in Hong Kong and China, has raised $ 220 million in combined equity and debt financing.
Editor's note: Chris Costello is the CEO and co-founder of Blooom,
a financial tech startup based in Leawood, Kan., that recently raised a $ 9.15 million round.
-LSB-...] been over two months since I started consulting at
a financial tech startup and I've now got to make a decision to lobby for a permanent spot, stay on as a consultant -LSB-...]
You may already be acquainted with some of
the financial tech startups that are challenging the world of Canadian personal finance, like Wealthsimple or Mint.