Podcast with Nick Shalek, General Partner at Ribbit Capital
In our latest podcast, Christian Rolon (WG ’19) is joined by Nick Shalek, a general partner at Ribbit Capital. Ribbit Capital is a leading venture capital firm focused on early stage firms across Fintech verticals such as lending, insurance, wealth management, and blockchain. Ribbit Capital has made a number of investments across the Fintech space, including: Affirm, Brex, Coalition, Coinbase, Credit Karma, Funding Circle, Gusto, Nubank, Revolut, Robinhood, Upgrade, and Wealthfront.
Podcast Overview:
- Nick’s path into venture capital, and what attracted Nick to Fintech
- Ribbit’s investment approach, from selecting successful entrepreneurs to preferred stage of financing
- The risks and opportunities that regulation presents for Fintech startups
- How large differences between financial services customers and lack of winner-take-all dynamics helps startups scale
- How incumbents can position themselves to best compete against startups
- How challenger banks are exemplifying the recent rebundling of financial services
- Ribbit’s global investments in Brazil, Europe and other regions, and lessons for US-based startups from their international peers
- Whether recent mega-rounds are here to stay, and risks and opportunities that these large rounds pose for entrepreneurs
- Ribbit’s direct investments in crypto and the crypto investment process
- Fintech verticals Nick is most excited about over the next few years
- Advice for students looking to break into Fintech
Nick is a General Partner at Ribbit Capital, investing and serving on the board of a number of Fintech firms. As a firm, Ribbit Capital has made investments in many of the Fintech space’s leading startups — such as Coinbase, Revolut, and Robinhood. Nick has been at Ribbit Capital since 2012. Prior to Ribbit, Nick worked in Yale’s Investments Office, which manages the Yale University endowment. Nick also has experience as an operator, across Verne Global, Facebook, and Aspire Public Schools. Nick has a BA from Yale University, as well as an MBA and an MA in Education from Stanford University.
