INSEAD Fintech Club: A Year in Review
The INSEAD Fintech Club took form in mid-2016, the brainchild of three members of the MBA class of July 2017. I recently spoke with Sagar Sarbhai, INSEAD MBA Class of July 2017, one of the club’s co-founders, and asked him to describe the earliest days of the club during its start in Singapore, how it’s grown since then, and where the club, and its recently-graduated founding members, are headed next. Read on below for his insights.
How did the idea of a fintech club at INSEAD first get started? Did you come to INSEAD with the intention of starting one?
Sagar: Before INSEAD, I spent around nine years in the banking industry. In my last job at Deutsche Bank in Singapore, I worked with central banks and governments in Asia Pacific to draft fintech policies including regulatory sandboxes. Being a computer science graduate, I was very fascinated by how new technologies like blockchain and artificial intelligence were disrupting the banking industry. I thought the time was ripe to make a career transition from banking to fintech and decided to pursue my MBA from INSEAD.
“I thought the time was ripe to make a career transition from banking to fintech and decided to pursue my MBA from INSEAD.”
Back then, only two US b-Schools had dedicated fintech clubs. I thought it would be a great opportunity for myself and like-minded batchmates if we could create an avenue to connect students with INSEAD alumni in the fintech sector through a dedicated fintech club. I was joined by two other batchmates — Luca Dotti and Lina Gedvilaite, who had similar ambitions of switching from financial services to fintech. We took inspiration from the Wharton Fintech club and approached INSEAD alumni to seek help in launching the club. With support from alumni and the INSEAD administration, we were able to officially launch the club even before starting our MBA. We launched the Fonty chapter (led by Ross McDonald and Sarah Wong) in the next two weeks and within a month, we had more than 200 members across two campuses.
Why start a separate club for fintech, rather than just rolling it into the TMT club?
Sagar: This was certainly a dilemma for us and there was a view that the fintech club should be rolled into the TMT. However, given the magnitude of investments flowing in the sector and the number and variety of stakeholders involved (banks, insurance firms, startups, VCs, funds, etc.), a dedicated club was the need of the hour. We also figured that in both Europe and Asia Pacific, most high-profile fintech startups were founded or led by INSEAD alumni (Transferwise being a prime example) so it made sense to launch the first Fintech club outside the Americas at INSEAD. From a more philosophical point of view, there was also this dream to establish INSEAD as a fintech power house in Europe and APAC and a dedicated fintech club would be a step in that direction.
What was the initial reception of the club among students like?
Sagar: We received a lot of interest from students coming from the tech and financial services sectors. During the club fair week — the Fintech Club received the second most number of registrations after (no points for guessing) the Consulting Club. A lot of ex-consultants also became members of the club. A lot of students were intrigued by the ‘hype’ around blockchain and the ‘myth’ of how fintech will replace banks in the near future. So I would say intrigue was the driving factor behind so many students joining the club.
How has the two-campus model worked for the club? What have been some pros and cons?
Sagar: To launch a new club at INSEAD, there is a prerequisite that both campuses have club chapters, each with a dedicated campus leadership team. So we were almost mandated to adopt a two-campus model. But it worked out brilliantly. With chapters in Fonty and Singy, we were able to connect with the two biggest fintech hubs globally — London and Singapore, respectively. Whilst we organized fintech treks in London, students from the Singy campus attended the MAS Fintech Festival which was host to a global who’s who of fintech. Through the two-campus model we established strong networks with alumni, professionals, and entrepreneurs in both Europe and APAC. We also received a lot of support from faculty on both campuses.
As far as drawbacks are concerned — it was difficult to give a ‘consistence’ experience to club members. For example — given location advantages, Singy had more events and treks than Fonty. On the other hand, the Singy experience was mostly restricted to Singapore while Fonty members were able to create strong linkages with companies in London as well. Furthermore, with club leadership teams switching campuses it was difficult to maintain relationships with alumni and other professionals. That being said, this was an issue with all clubs and not just the Fintech Club.
Do you find that students are generally more interested in club events from a future employment perspective or more from an informational/curiosity perspective?
Sagar: Our aim, at least initially, was to educate students and generate awareness about fintech and some of the emerging technologies like Blockchain, roboadvisors, etc. In that regard, we organized several education workshops and speaker session on specific topics — some technical and some business focused. Once there was enough interest generated and students started becoming aware of career opportunities, the club helped them connect with innovation labs and startups in Europe and APAC. Many students (including myself) were able to discuss career opportunities with big incumbent firms and fintech startups.
How do fintech companies tend to react to speaking to a group of MBA students? Do most view there to be concrete roles for MBAs in the space?
Sagar: Most firms were very welcoming and were keen to speak to INSEAD MBAs. Both big incumbent players like VISA, HSBC, Paypal (to name a few), and new startups invited students to their campuses. We also had a lot of fintech entrepreneurs coming on campus to share their experiences and knowledge. There was hardly a firm or entrepreneurs who refused to speak to students.
As far as career opportunities in fintech are concerned — this is still an evolving space. Whilst incumbents are still trying to figure out things, startups hire mostly for tech roles. That being said, there are a number of business roles such as corporate strategy, business development, sales and marketing, and finance up for grabs — but most firms prefer candidates with prior relevant experience for these roles. Furthermore, geographical experience and country work visas may also act as barriers for firms to hire MBAs. But again, it depends on how individuals forge strong connections and take things forward. I strongly believe in the next two years, fintech will see big MBA hiring.
To quote the founder of a crypto-currency firm — “In 2010 crypto/fintech meetups were dominated by computer geeks and nerds like me but the MBAs are slowly taking over now!”
What are some of your club highlights from this past year?
Sagar: There were a few but the following were the most memorable. And these are highlights only from Singy:
- MAS Fintech Festival: A bunch of us attended the inaugural fintech festival organized by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. We had the privilege of meeting the most high profile entrepreneurs and founders from across the globe. Atleast 5 big banks and payment firms invited INSEAD students to visit their innovation labs. To see the kind of path breaking work they were doing was inspirational
- INSEAD Fintech week: We organized the first INSEAD Fintech Week during P3. The week saw many speaker sessions, panel discussions and workshops. Almost every session was a full house. I particularly remember the Blockchain workshop we had organized. The speaker made a live transaction and actually showed how a block was created and what happened in the background to demonstrate how a blockchain actually worked.
- VISA innovation crawl — we organized various treks but the one at VISA was most memorable for me. INSEAD alumni at VISA were very welcoming (they even had a digital banner to welcome us) and gave us a thorough walk-through of the cool things VISA’s innovation lab was doing.
Where do you think the club should look to go next?
Sagar: The fintech sector will only grow from here. INSEAD has been at the forefront of fintech innovation and education and will play a bigger role in the future. The club will play a pivotal role here. Educating students about the sector and connecting them with alumni and professors for independent study projects (ISPs) are some of the areas the club can contribute a lot. It’s also important that the Fintech Club collaborate with other clubs — Consulting, TMT, Entrepreneurship, and leverage synergies. In the long term, it would be great to have an INSEAD Fintech platform that will provide a one stop shop for all students and alumni who wish to enhance their skill set or connect with fintech thought leaders. The Fintech Club can lead this initiative. Furthermore, the club should strive to publish white papers and articles on fintech trends, etc., in collaboration with INSEAD Knowledge and professors. This will further strengthen INSEAD’s reputation as a leader in fintech education.
What are your plans for after graduation? Did your involvement in the club at all shape those plans? Do you see the club as having played a role in shaping other students’ plans?
Sagar: I will be joining a Silicon Valley-based fintech firm, helping them grow in APAC and the Middle East. My primary focus will be to engage with governments and central banks across these two regions on payment infrastructure and innovation.
My involvement with the club really helped me shape my plans. Whilst I knew I wanted to join the fintech sector post MBA, it was my participation in club activities that helped me narrow my options. For the club’s launch event, we had invited Richard Olsen, the founder of Lykke (Swiss fintech firm). Hearing him speak about the power of crypto-currencies and the underlying technology really inspired me and helped me focus on my post MBA goals.
I am sure my fellow classmates would have had similar experiences. I know a few club members who were able to secure internships and ISPs with fintech startups. Also, given the focus on digital and fintech for the top consulting club, I would say the Fintech Club also helped classmates who were interested in consulting careers. Most importantly though, the club helped students forge strong networks and opened doors for future opportunities.
Shaina: Thank you to Sagar for taking the time for this interview and for all the work that he, his co-founders, and the rest of the leadership team have put into the club over the past year. The other members of the current leadership team and I have some big shoes to fill.
On that note, I’ll briefly chime in with a few words on what the Fontainebleau club members have been up to over the past few months to add to Sagar’s highlights from Singapore. Since March, we have visited over 10% of the 2017 global FinTech50 in a series of fintech treks to hubs across Europe. Through the benevolence of some exceptionally accomplished INSEAD alumni and generous fintech firms, we have met with fintech innovators and investors in Paris, London, Berlin, and Amsterdam, and our club members have benefited from some very candid and insightful discussions. We hope that you’ll follow us on our Facebook page or here on our blog to keep us with what we have in store for the coming months. Please also feel free to reach out to us through our website if you would like to connect directly.
