Patrick De Suza Of Grain On How They Are Helping To Promote Financial Inclusion
An Interview With Orlando Zayas
Make business decisions based on inclusivity and fairness such that you are keeping inclusion at the forefront of your business.
Most of us take it for granted that we can open a bank or a credit card. But the truth is, according to the World Bank, close to one-third of adults — 1.7 billion — are still unbanked, and have no access to a transaction account. About half of unbanked people include women in poor households in rural areas or out of the workforce. What can be done and what is being done to promote more financial inclusion? Authority Magazine is starting a new series about Companies Helping To Promote Financial Inclusion. In this series we are talking to leaders of companies and organizations who are helping to promote financial inclusion.
As part of this series I had the pleasure to interview Patrick De Suza, Co-Founder and CTO of Grain.
Patrick is the CTO and Co-Founder of Grain. Previously, he was a Senior Software Engineer and Vice President at Goldman Sachs. As a kid, he was fascinated by electronics and had a penchant for taking things apart and putting them back together again. Patrick is passionate about social justice issues and in his spare time he mentors several young men and cheers for his beloved NY sports teams. Patrick earned his BS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to ‘get to know you’. Can you tell us a bit about how you grew up?
I grew up in Queens, NY as the youngest of four children. My parents were immigrants and worked multiple shifts to be able to send us to private school. Growing up, my siblings and I were involved in lots of activities ranging from sports, music lessons, community service and really prided ourselves on excellence. While trying all of these new things, I became really interested in technology and my mom would buy me things like chemistry sets and microscopes. I loved building small electronics and circuits, all before STEM became as popular as it is now. My mom recognized my love for technology and while she didn’t try to push me, she definitely helped guide me in that direction.
One day, a high school physics teacher told me I should apply to MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). At the time I didn’t even know what that was, and once I did learn about it, I didn’t think I would ever get in. But I applied, and to my surprise was accepted. It ended up being the most challenging, yet most impactful four years of my life.
A friend from MIT introduced me to Christian Joseph, fellow Grain co-founder who was working out in the Bay Area and looking for an engineering lead to join him as a Co-Founder for a new business he was starting. When talking to Christian, he mentioned his friend who was working in New York at the time at Goldman Sachs, Carl Memnom. I was also working at Goldman Sachs but I was in technology and Carl was in legal, so our paths rarely crossed. After speaking with Christian and realizing I may join him on this journey, I met with Carl. From there, the three of us co-founded Grain.
Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
The book Rich Dad, Poor Dad had the biggest influence on me, specifically the second book of the series, Cashflow Quadrant. The book was gifted to me by a friend who told me it would change my life. Although I put off reading it for two years, after finishing it, I knew that I would become an entrepreneur; it was just a matter of when. It completely changed my perspective on financial freedom, and creating a business system to break the linkage between dollars and hours. Specifically, breaking the mental model that the number of hours you work is proportional to the money you make (trading hours for dollars). I realized that creating businesses allows you to ultimately generate much more income than you can make even if you work every hour of the week.
Do you have a favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life or your work?
My favorite has to be, “Success is a journey, not a destination.” It’s so important to make sure that instead of only focusing on the endpoint, you appreciate the small wins along the way. Success is all about the process.
How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
A leader is someone who is willing to roll up their sleeves and jump into the trenches, rather than ordering other people to do it all for them. A leader is someone who is willing to do first, and lead second.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
There have been so many! There were highs such as my first private jet and helicopter experience while traveling to a recruiting event. And the time I got to chat with Dikembe Mutombo over passed hors d’oeuvres following a work event. But probably more impactful were the lows. The times I pulled overnighters at the office and slept under my desk or on a conference room floor. And times I was overlooked for promotions or leadership opportunities that I knew I deserved. These low experiences were significant because I realized that instead of trying to figure out the rules of success in that game, it was time to stop playing, and create my own game.
Ok, thank you for all that. Now let’s move to the main focus of our interview. Let’s start with a basic definition so that all of our readers are on the same page. What exactly is Financial Inclusion?
Financial inclusion means equitable access to financial opportunities for all people.
What does it mean to be “unbanked”?
When I think about unbanked, I think of people living paycheck to paycheck and little to no savings; just an overall distrust of the banking industry.
For the benefit of our readers, can you explain some of the typical reasons why a person might be unbanked? Why can’t they just walk into the local bank and open an account? Why can’t they simply open an account online?
There are a few reasons why someone might be unbanked. One reason could be lack of exposure. Some people who are living in areas where banks are not widely used do not have as much exposure to banking as people living in areas where it is more common and accessible. Another big reason could be a lack of trust that people have with the overall banking system. For various reasons, both social and financial, many are skeptical of banks and do not trust that they have their best interest in mind. Lastly, opening a bank account can be cost prohibitive for many people. A lot of banks require people to pay a startup fee and then even maintain a minimum balance; which is not financially possible for some.
Can you tell our readers a bit about your work to promote Financial Inclusion? Without saying names, can you share a story about a person who was helped by your initiative?
Grain works to promote financial inclusion by providing people with the opportunity to join the credit system who may not otherwise have access to credit. Grain is completely custom to the consumer’s lifestyle, offering lines of credit based on current financial behavior rather than past mistakes. Grain does not push increases, but emphasizes the importance of a credit line that is manageable and applicable. Because of this, Grain is set up in a way that revolves around financial responsibility.
For various reasons, people may have fallen into debt, and the current credit system makes it extremely difficult to correct these mistakes. A customer recently described Grain as being a “godsend” for helping him restore financial health. After surviving 9/11, this customer battled with severe PTSD which impacted every aspect of his life, including finances. He found himself in a lot of debt and his credit was destroyed, making it extremely difficult to recover from this situation and restore his credit. After facing many setbacks including being denied apartments, he decided to give Grain a try and was able to build credit and re-build his financial confidence.
This may be obvious to you, but it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you articulate to our readers a few reasons why it is so important for businesses to promote financial inclusion?
It is important for businesses to promote financial inclusion because it is ultimately a matter of social justice. Financial inclusion and financial equality go hand in hand, and you can’t have a conversation about social justice without it. Financial freedom coincides with power, and the reason that underserved communities lack power and control is because they do not have equal access to financial resources. Because of this, they also don’t have access to do things like pay a mortgage or buy a home, making it extremely difficult to break this cycle. Equality and inclusion directly relates to financial freedom and access.
Ok. Here is the main question of our discussion. You are an influential business leader. Can you please share your “5 Steps Business Should Take To Promote Financial Inclusion”. Kindly share a story or example for each.
- Build a diverse team of people, especially people that represent your core audience. Everyone’s individual experiences, values, and strengths bring value to the company and to the audience you serve.
- Recognize that being financially inclusive is good for business. When more people have financial access, economic growth increases.
- Optimize your business model based on inclusivity and fairness decisions on an ongoing basis such that you are always keeping inclusion at the forefront of your business.
- Make business decisions based on inclusivity and fairness such that you are keeping inclusion at the forefront of your business.
- Build inclusive user practices into your product such that you are benefiting your business and the audience you serve.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
Outside of the world of finance, I want to inspire a movement that would get people talking and promote positive interaction and communication among people from different backgrounds, cultures and experiences. A lot of problems and conflicts that the world faces today seem driven by people not understanding one another; whether it be gender, sexuality, race or religion. If you don’t know anyone personally who has a different experience than you, it becomes much easier to have a fear or distrust of, or even challenge their experience. When you know someone first hand going through a different experience than you, it’s likely that you will be more accepting of it. Overall, my movement would consist of ways for people to engage with each other, despite their differences.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)
If I could have a meal with anyone, I would have to choose Neil deGrasse Tyson or Will Smith. Neil because I like his scientific mindset and the way he goes about explaining very complicated and difficult topics. His success as a Black intellectual scholar is inspirational to me.
Will because growing up in the 90’s and watching Fresh Prince, everyone wanted to be like Will. I think he’s accomplished great things throughout his life and he’s not only someone who I looked up to as a kid, but someone I still look up to as an adult, which I find really fascinating.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Visit trygrain.com and follow Grain on LinkedIn, Twitter, IG, and FB.
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!
