Jon Zanoff, Founder of Empire Startups & Stella Ventures — YOLO Fintech and the Get Sh*t Done KPI
Listen on Apple | Spotify | Soundcloud
On today’s episode, I sat down with The Ghost of Fintech Future, Former Mayor of Fintech, Serial Investor, VC, Former Techstars Exec, Former Wall Streeter, and so much more… Jon Zanoff.
Jon is the founder of Empire Startups, an 18,000+ person strong fintech community and now runs Stella Ventures, an early-stage focused Fintech VC. Empire Startups is the world’s largest fintech job board and community!
Jon is a fintech legend in New York and we are excited to welcome him not only to the show but also to the Wharton Fintech Conference on April 22–23. He’ll be leading a panel called “Building a Fintech, Lessons Learned” featuring execs from Finch, Pando, Intrinio, public.com, and MassChallenge Fintech.
The entire Conference lineup is incredible! Check it out here, and if you don’t like it, well…you don’t like Fintech. How is Jon thinking about his panel?
“Entrepreneurship is exceptionally hard. You don’t do it because you want to get rich, you do it because you want to make a difference. If we’re not talking about the number of sleepless nights and mistakes made, then I haven’t done my job”
Now onto the episode.
Jon & Stella Ventures
Jon’s background is well-documented across numerous podcasts and pages, so I wanted to jump straight into what he’s up to now. Jon recently “retired” from his role as ‘Mayor of Fintech,’ handing off the title to Mengxi Lu.
Jon launched Stella Ventures, an early-stage focused Fintech VC looking at new companies across the US & Canada. Jon has implemented a powerful scout program across major hubs, helping get rising stars access and experience in VC. He also uses scouts to “get the word out” as much as possible. Why?
“Venture is becoming a media business. It’s about reach. How do you drive top of funnel awareness to make sure you get first crack at a deal?”
Stella is backed by execs from TransferWise, Simpl, Techstars, Kensho, FundingCircle, and more.
Warning: Jon uses the “D” word here……….democratization.
Changes in NYC Fintech
“The incumbents are finally taking a look at what’s happening outside their walls, becoming the buyers, purchases, investors, and partners in fintech…there’s a lot of innovation theater of course, but CVC, incubator, and accelerator support…has been a gamechanger to bolster New York.”
YOLO Fintech
As part of his thesis for Stella Ventures, he’s fascinated by what he calls the YOLO era of Fintech. What in the world does this mean?
“25% of new checking account consumers are saying ‘heck, let’s just try something’…it’s really YOLO fintech. How consumers are looking at products and their willingness to try is going to significantly alter the basic unit economics of the game moving forward. Those trends lower CAC but also LTV.
So what does banking look like when consumers are willing to try exponentially more products…and the switching costs approach zero?”
Given these trends, we agree we’re both most excited for the companies building the “picks & shovels” of this gold rush. Think TaxBit, Alloy APIs, Plaid, and others.
What He Looks for in Founders
At the highest level, he of course focuses on team, product, market, and deal dynamics. But when it comes to founders, it’s coachability that he cares most about.
“Not every VC will be looking at coachability…for us, we’re hands on. Everyone says we want to add value, but Stella Ventures wants to be that first call not only for capital but for support. And if a founder doesn’t have the intellectual curiosity to handle objections to how they think…they may not be an optimal founder for Stella Ventures.”
“Get Shit Done KPI”
“I’ll credit David Brown of Techstars with the importance of the Get Shit Done KPI. You need to eliminate biases in venture. Different founders will accomplish things in different ways…it is a mistake on my part to look at how a founder will get something done vs. how I would… what ultimately matters is if they can get shit done.”
This episode with Jon was a blast. We also cover angel investing pitfalls, what questions he asks in his investor meetings, and perhaps my most fun rapid-fire round ever, including his secret passion and dream job — baking cheesecakes!
Listen on Apple | Spotify | Soundcloud
—
Previous Stories You May Enjoy:
Y Combinator’s Michael Seibel & Dalton Caldwell — Lessons from 5000 Entrepreneurs
11:FS Co-Founder Simon Taylor — NFTs, Clubhouse, & The State of Crypto
Noah Kerner, CEO of Acorns — Leveling the Investment Playing Field
NFL Star & Penn Professor Brandon Copeland — Tackling Financial Education Through “Life 101”
Anish Acharya, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz — Doubling Down on Fintech
Robinhood’s COO, Gretchen Howard — Democratizing Finance, Navigating a Crisis, & Embracing Change
Upstart CEO Dave Girouard — Revolutionizing Lending & Taking a Fintech Public!
Lex Sokolin, ConsenSys CMO & Fintech Futurist — Fintech Trends, Defi, & Digital Collectibles
Frank Rotman, Founding Partner at QED Investors — Past, Present, and Future of Fintech!
Did Fintech Save Minority-Owned Businesses in the PPP? With NYU’s Dr. Sabrina Howell
Mike Dudas, Founder of The Block and VP at Paxos: Crypto, Venmo vs. CashApp, Andrew Yang, and More
Mayor Francis Suarez — Bringing Silicon Valley to Miami!
Fractional Trading 101 with Apex Chief Product Officer Dustin Kirkland
Cornerstone & Forbes Writer Ron Shevlin: Neobanks, The Dead, & How Community Banks Fight Back
—
For more Fintech insights, follow us below:
Wharton FinTech
Twitter | Medium | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram
Ryan Zauk
—
Ryan Zauk is an MBA Candidate at The Wharton School, where he runs the Wharton FinTech Podcast. He currently works with the US International Development Finance Corp looking at technology impact investments in developing markets. He has a passion for music, media, and all things FinTech.
You can reach him at rzauk@wharton.upenn.edu or on Twitter.
