Entrepreneur & Small Business Forum

Create a Financial Services Startup

 Matt Harris, Managing Director, Bain Capital Ventures
Greg Neufeld, Founder & Managing Partner, ValueStream Labs
Leigh Drogen, Founder & CEO, Estimize

The tri-state area has always been the primary financial hub of the country. Yet, the sector in this region has been in turmoil for several years. The net result is that financial professionals, in particular those who have been downsized from Wall Street, have decided to use their specialized skill sets to create their own firms. Younger professionals, cognizant of the fact that Wall Street is only a shadow of its former self, have also decided to embark on creating their own specialty financial brands.

It is a long road from point A to point B, and startup owners / managers are rarely in for a smooth ride. The first problem to overcome is the preference by angel investors for tech companies, which requires startups to research Sfunding sources which view the financial sector favorably. Secondly, financial startups frequently are niche plays, requiring a considerable amount of publicity in order to create a market presence.

The panel will approach the topic from three different angles. In order of speaking:
- an angel investor with a track record of investments in the financial services startup sector
- an incubator founder whose operations focus solely on company creation within the financial field, and
- a financial services startup owner whose firm has had a successful launch and carved out a niche for itself.

Matt Harris runs the NYC office of Bain Capital Ventures and focuses on business services companies, with a particular interest in financial services. Earlier in his career, he worked at Bain Capital in the private equity group. Matt serves on the boards of Bain Capital Venture clients Billtrust  and Novus  Partners. Prior to BCV, he co-founded and ran Village Ventures, where he focused on the same sectors and invested in financial startup companies  BlueTarp, Consumer United, Dwolla, iSend, On Deck Capital, Simple, TxVia and Zipmark.

 

  Greg Neufeld is Founder and Managing Partner of ValueStream Labs. VSL is an accelerator which, through ongoing programs, develops new financial services businesses serving a broad spectrum of industries. It maintains a network of accredited investors who have invested in the financial services sector. Prior to ValueStream, Greg co-managed  a series of investment funds at SI Capital Management, trading market index futures and options. 

  Leigh Drogen is Founder and CEO of the startup Estimize, a financial platform serving buy-side and independent analysts. Estimize receives fundamental data from over 3000 financial professionals, which enables it to provide a more accurate and representative view of expectations for over 900 stocks each quarter. The Estimize consensus estimate is frequently referenced in Forbes, Barron's, The Wall Street Journal, CNN Money, Investors Business Daily, and Business Week.