Fall.INT.016.mp4

Back

Or filter by your interest

Browse all our content

Finovate

Unlock all the content with only {{price}}

INT.016 Alexa von Tobel.vtt

English

{{00:00:03}}
Julie Muhn: Hello, my name is Julie Muhn.

{{00:00:05}}
I'm Senior Research Analyst with Finovate.

{{00:00:07}}
Thank you so much for joining us.

{{00:00:09}}
I'm here with Alexa von Tobel,
Managing Partner at Inspired Capital.

{{00:00:13}}
Thanks so much for taking the time.

{{00:00:14}}
Alexa von Tobel: Thanks
so much for having me.

{{00:00:15}}
Happy to be here.

{{00:00:15}}
Julie Muhn: Great.

{{00:00:16}}
So let's just jump right into things.

{{00:00:18}}
What is exciting you right
now in the FinTech industry?

{{00:00:22}}
Alexa von Tobel: First
of all, So many things.

{{00:00:23}}
I think we if in tech started roughly
15 years ago, I think we're starting

{{00:00:28}}
to see this next wave of innovation.

{{00:00:31}}
The innovation back in the day
when I built learn best, we

{{00:00:33}}
were in really innovation 1.

{{00:00:35}}
0, which is simply bringing things
online, getting things on mobile and

{{00:00:40}}
more accessible and transparency.

{{00:00:42}}
I think we're now going into the real
guts of innovation where it's back

{{00:00:46}}
office innovation, AI plus visuals
to data sets to allow claims and

{{00:00:51}}
things like that to be much, much
more seamless and much more rapid.

{{00:00:55}}
I think you're starting to see
the beginning of what is AI meets

{{00:00:58}}
certified financial planning
for the wealth world look like.

{{00:01:02}}
I always say I'm looking for the next
self driving wallet which I believe

{{00:01:06}}
as companies like Oram and others help
with instant money movement, you're

{{00:01:11}}
starting to see the rails being born
to be able to do bigger innovation.

{{00:01:15}}
Finally, the last big thing is
the world's become really flat.

{{00:01:18}}
As we hire people globally,
as we transact in do commerce

{{00:01:24}}
globally as individuals, right?

{{00:01:25}}
When you buy things from the Etsy's
and the Shopify's of the world and

{{00:01:29}}
you're buying from all over the planet.

{{00:01:31}}
We're seeing also currencies become
seamless, cross border payments

{{00:01:34}}
become seamless, and so that's only
going to continue at a rapid pace.

{{00:01:38}}
There's just tons of pockets of
really exciting innovation happening.

{{00:01:41}}
Julie Muhn: Yeah.

{{00:01:41}}
Yeah, it is.

{{00:01:42}}
Somebody mentioned on stage the other
day that FinTech is getting a lot

{{00:01:44}}
more boring, and that's a good thing.

{{00:01:46}}
We're finally tackling a lot of those.

{{00:01:49}}
From where you sit you
covered this a little bit.

{{00:01:51}}
What do you see as the top
trends right now in the industry?

{{00:01:57}}
Alexa von Tobel: I think we
continue to see payments,

{{00:01:59}}
instant payments, money movement.

{{00:02:00}}
I think we continue to see huge
issues with fraud and security.

{{00:02:05}}
Around money movement around the
world, and I think we'll only continue

{{00:02:08}}
to see that with the introduction
of generative AI, et cetera.

{{00:02:14}}
I think we continue to look for
better solutions for consumer fintech.

{{00:02:19}}
There hasn't, in my mind, been some
real innovation there in a while.

{{00:02:23}}
We backed a few companies very
quietly that I'm excited for

{{00:02:26}}
the world to learn more about.

{{00:02:27}}
But...

{{00:02:29}}
As you said, we're now in
the guts of things, right?

{{00:02:32}}
It's not the simple
lipstick on a pig front end.

{{00:02:35}}
We're now in the deep innovation of
materially helping people move their

{{00:02:40}}
wallet, move their wealth, watch their
money, helping companies do things

{{00:02:44}}
with better ROI, better reliability,
and we'll continue to combat fraud.

{{00:02:50}}
Julie Muhn: Great.

{{00:02:50}}
Great.

{{00:02:52}}
It's 2023 and FinTech
it has gone only so far.

{{00:02:56}}
Is there anything in the industry
that's frustrating you right now?

{{00:03:00}}
What should we be doing better?

{{00:03:03}}
Alexa von Tobel: I'd say two things.

{{00:03:04}}
One, just the fact that capital
has become more expensive.

{{00:03:07}}
As interest rates have gone up,
the cost of capital has gone up.

{{00:03:10}}
And I think that's frustrating.

{{00:03:12}}
We're going to be here
probably for a while.

{{00:03:14}}
And I think as a result, we're going to
see certain business models in FinTech

{{00:03:17}}
are going to become more problematic.

{{00:03:20}}
That's a bummer because a lot of
really good innovation was happening.

{{00:03:23}}
The second thing I think that I'm looking
for right now, somebody once described

{{00:03:28}}
where we are with AI as where do you
need a six year old in your business?

{{00:03:33}}
Generative AI, AI is still so nascent.

{{00:03:36}}
Some of it is low hanging fruit.

{{00:03:38}}
Customer support can get at AI
to reply rapidly, and that's

{{00:03:41}}
actually works and is productive.

{{00:03:43}}
But really to get to the next level
where AI can be really productive

{{00:03:47}}
around the personal wallet, the consumer
fintech angle were far from there, and

{{00:03:51}}
I'm still looking for, as somebody who
built LearnVest and is a bestselling

{{00:03:55}}
author around the wallet, I'm still
looking for the CFP for everybody.

{{00:04:00}}
So I'm excited about, as a certified
financial planner, when AI can actually

{{00:04:04}}
make access to talking to a CFP truly
flat and available for the entire planet.

{{00:04:10}}
That's coming, but AI is
far from there today, right?

{{00:04:13}}
AI isn't a doctor yet, right?

{{00:04:14}}
It's not a certified
financial planner yet.

{{00:04:17}}
And so we're far from there, and I
dream of a world when that actually

{{00:04:20}}
is at everybody's fingertips.

{{00:04:22}}
It's going to be a pretty beautiful
introduction to the planet.

{{00:04:24}}
Julie Muhn: Yeah, I love that.

{{00:04:25}}
It's going to take us some regulation to
get to that point, which might be painful.

{{00:04:28}}
Alexa von Tobel: We're going
to see a lot of regulation.

{{00:04:30}}
I long more regulation.

{{00:04:33}}
It's definitely where we're headed.

{{00:04:35}}
But so no, there's just more,
we're, I compared AI to electricity.

{{00:04:39}}
It's profound, but you don't
totally appreciate yet all the ways

{{00:04:42}}
that it's going to make our lives
better, but it's absolutely coming.

{{00:04:45}}
Julie Muhn: Very cool.

{{00:04:46}}
All right.

{{00:04:46}}
So to wrap up our conversation, are
there any areas in fintech right now

{{00:04:49}}
that you see as greenfields still?

{{00:04:52}}
Alexa von Tobel: Sure.

{{00:04:53}}
I think there's a lot of
really interesting greenfield

{{00:04:58}}
around insurance and AI.

{{00:05:01}}
And so just insuretech writ large.

{{00:05:04}}
I think you'll continue crypto has
been through such a brutal moment.

{{00:05:08}}
I think you'll continue to
see some really interesting

{{00:05:10}}
innovation, stable coins, et cetera.

{{00:05:14}}
I think there's still some real
innovation around security.

{{00:05:21}}
That I think we'll see.

{{00:05:22}}
So those are three that
come to mind quickly.

{{00:05:24}}
Julie Muhn: Great.

{{00:05:25}}
Thank you so much for your time, Alexa.

{{00:05:27}}
This has been Alexa von Tobel,
managing partner at Inspired Capital.

{{00:05:31}}
Thanks so much for having me.

Julie Muhn: Hello, my name is Julie Muhn.

I'm Senior Research Analyst with Finovate.

I'm here with Alexa von Tobel,
Managing Partner at Inspired Capital.

Alexa von Tobel: Thanks
so much for having me.

What is exciting you right
now in the FinTech industry?

Alexa von Tobel: First
of all, So many things.

I think we if in tech started roughly
15 years ago, I think we're starting

The innovation back in the day
when I built learn best, we

0, which is simply bringing things
online, getting things on mobile and

I think we're now going into the real
guts of innovation where it's back

office innovation, AI plus visuals
to data sets to allow claims and

things like that to be much, much
more seamless and much more rapid.

I think you're starting to see
the beginning of what is AI meets

certified financial planning
for the wealth world look like.

I always say I'm looking for the next
self driving wallet which I believe

as companies like Oram and others help
with instant money movement, you're

starting to see the rails being born
to be able to do bigger innovation.

Finally, the last big thing is
the world's become really flat.

As we hire people globally,
as we transact in do commerce

When you buy things from the Etsy's
and the Shopify's of the world and

We're seeing also currencies become
seamless, cross border payments

become seamless, and so that's only
going to continue at a rapid pace.

There's just tons of pockets of
really exciting innovation happening.

Somebody mentioned on stage the other
day that FinTech is getting a lot

From where you sit you
covered this a little bit.

What do you see as the top
trends right now in the industry?

Alexa von Tobel: I think we
continue to see payments,

I think we continue to see huge
issues with fraud and security.

Around money movement around the
world, and I think we'll only continue

to see that with the introduction
of generative AI, et cetera.

I think we continue to look for
better solutions for consumer fintech.

There hasn't, in my mind, been some
real innovation there in a while.

We backed a few companies very
quietly that I'm excited for

As you said, we're now in
the guts of things, right?

It's not the simple
lipstick on a pig front end.

We're now in the deep innovation of
materially helping people move their

wallet, move their wealth, watch their
money, helping companies do things

with better ROI, better reliability,
and we'll continue to combat fraud.

It's 2023 and FinTech
it has gone only so far.

Is there anything in the industry
that's frustrating you right now?

One, just the fact that capital
has become more expensive.

As interest rates have gone up,
the cost of capital has gone up.

We're going to be here
probably for a while.

And I think as a result, we're going to
see certain business models in FinTech

That's a bummer because a lot of
really good innovation was happening.

The second thing I think that I'm looking
for right now, somebody once described

where we are with AI as where do you
need a six year old in your business?

Customer support can get at AI
to reply rapidly, and that's

But really to get to the next level
where AI can be really productive

around the personal wallet, the consumer
fintech angle were far from there, and

I'm still looking for, as somebody who
built LearnVest and is a bestselling

author around the wallet, I'm still
looking for the CFP for everybody.

So I'm excited about, as a certified
financial planner, when AI can actually

make access to talking to a CFP truly
flat and available for the entire planet.

That's coming, but AI is
far from there today, right?

It's not a certified
financial planner yet.

And so we're far from there, and I
dream of a world when that actually

It's going to be a pretty beautiful
introduction to the planet.

It's going to take us some regulation to
get to that point, which might be painful.

Alexa von Tobel: We're going
to see a lot of regulation.

But so no, there's just more,
we're, I compared AI to electricity.

It's profound, but you don't
totally appreciate yet all the ways

that it's going to make our lives
better, but it's absolutely coming.

So to wrap up our conversation, are
there any areas in fintech right now

I think there's a lot of
really interesting greenfield

Alexa von Tobel, Managing Partner, Inspired Capital, joins us to talk about the megatrends in fintech and the areas of innovation that are coming up next.