Some New FTT+ Perks

Hey everyone, Ian here!

Wanted to talk a bit more about our releases this week. We’ve had a number of announcements and new products, so wanted to highlight them for you, and why we’re launching them too.

Virtual Events

Interviews and events in fintech can be hit or miss, with people only half paying attention and waiting for the happy hours. I think one of the issues is that a lot focus on talking to the highest profile people they can find, versus finding people that are actually pushing the envelope and building something interesting in fintech.

There are probably a few reasons, but I think one is that people are eager to open up to people that know a lot about the fintech industry and are equally as passionate about it as they are. I’ve seen it firsthand with the FTT Slack—an off-the-record, private, invite-only Slack group we run. Because we bring like-minded people together, there’s been a ton of collaboration: companies setting up calls to discuss risk and fraud strategies, investments and connecting to capital, partnerships, and general networking too.

We’re taking this to the next level with FTT Virtual Events. There are a few reasons they’re better than offline events, especially when it comes to educating and learning more about fintech:

• Accessibility: anyone in the world can attend; you don’t need to pay for an overpriced conference ticket, flight to Vegas and a hotel. It’s free for FTT+ members, and $25 a ticket for non-subscribers. You can literally watch it from your bed.
• Go Deeper: We’re aiming to have really in-depth discussions; no fluffy press talk here. Because its for a private audience and we know what we’re talking about, we can get in the weeds better than others. Julie VerHage, Fintech Today’s senior correspondent, has been covering this space since many of the larger players were just emerging, and has a ton of experience interviewing executives in the industry at Bloomberg News. I was a reporter for 2 years and have been in product for the last 3, and have a lot of questions in general. I was a reporter for 2 years and have been in product for the last 3, and have a lot of questions in general.

We’re excited to announce our first virtual event on April 30th, from 3–5pm EST: Shipping Product During COVID-19.

We’re chatting with a few awesome companies that are moving quickly and solving problems for their users, whether it’s businesses, consumers, or both, and aiming to help people with their fintech products during these unusual circumstances.

• Alex Wheldon, cofounder of Rho Banking
• Tommy Nicholas, cofounder of Alloy
• Elana Knoller, head of product for Better.com

If you’re interested in the event next Thursday, RSVP here. If you want to subscribe to FTT+, where you get free access to virtual events, the FTT+ newsletter, and more, click here.

Monthly Q&A’s

One of the reasons I started Fintech Today is because I missed interviewing people. I see it as a really fun way to connect with people I admire, ask them questions, and learn from them.

Julie and I have been thinking a lot about how we can structure a product that allows us to interview people in a way that both informs the audience and moves the ball forward in a fast moving industry.

We decided to each do monthly Q&A’s for FTT+ members only. That means subscibers get 2 Q&A’s per month, one from me, and one from Julie.

I’m excited for our first one, which is dropping on Tuesday, April 28th. I’ll be chatting with Steve McLaughlin from FTPartners. He’s worked with dozens of the companies we’re talking about on a daily basis, and when we connected recently I knew he’d be a great person to chat with. I have a ton of questions for him, but if you have any, feel free to let me know on Twitter or email me at ian@fintechtoday.co.

Like I said, this is for subscribers only, and you can’t buy tickets to this content. If you want to subscribe to FTT+, where you get free access to virtual events, the FTT+ newsletter, Q&A’s from me and Julie, and more, click here.

FTT Jobs

We also launched a new newsletter product this week, in a partnership with Tom Guthrie and OneJob, called FTT Jobs.

The goal is to help people find jobs in the fintech industry, share knowledge from our network about working in fintech and developing products in the industry, and help you level up in your career.

FTT Jobs is free for FTT+ subscribers (just email me at ian@fintechtoday.co), and for non-subscribers, it’s only $5/month. And, if you sign up today, your first month is on us.

If you want to learn more, check out my post on FTT Jobs from earlier this week. We also made our first issue free, which you can read here.

Like I said, this is for subscribers only, and you can’t buy tickets to this content. If you want to subscribe to FTT+, where you get free access to virtual events, the FTT+ newsletter, Q&A’s from me and Julie, and more, click here.