Merge Co-Founder, Shensi Ding - Building the Infrastructure Layer for B2B Integrations
In today’s episode, Jackson Ellis hosts Shensi Ding, the co-founder of Merge, a unified API platform that simplifies B2B integrations across categories like HR, accounting, and CRM. Shensi shares her journey, the playbook behind scaling a developer-first GTM motion, and how the best founders balance product intensity with storytelling.
Tune in to hear about:
- How Merge built a category-defining product by focusing on the "plumbing" behind software
- Why developer empathy and real documentation became their biggest competitive moat
- The challenges and wins of fundraising while scaling in a crowded API ecosystem
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20:42
Catherine Porter, CBO at Prove - The Identity Layer of Fintech
In this episode of the Wharton Fintech Podcast, host Sabrina Fathi speaks with Catherine Porter, Chief Business Officer at Prove, a leading platform in digital identity verification and authentication. Catherine shares her journey from Silicon Valley to spearheading innovation in identity security. They explore how AI is reshaping fraud prevention, the future of portable identity, and how Prove is helping companies build trust in an increasingly digital world.
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1:02:22
Melissa Wasser, Partner at Andreessen Horowitz - How a16z’s Network is Powering Founders
In today’s episode, Jackson Ellis hosts Melissa Wasser, the Partner and Head of the Fintech Capital Network at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), a leading venture capital firm backing bold entrepreneurs building the future through technology.
Tune in to hear about:
- Melissa’s career journey from Goldman Sachs to FT Partners to leading fintech support at a16z
- How the Fintech Capital Network helps founders navigate fundraising, M&A, and strategic partnerships
- The tradeoffs between equity and debt financing, and how fintech founders can structure smarter capital strategies
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36:25
Marc Andusko, Partner at Andreessen Horowitz- Investing in Fintech & B2B Software
In today’s episode, Zoey Tang speaks with Marc Andrusko, Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), where he focuses on fintech and B2B software investments. Marc’s current investment interests span capital markets, AI applications, payments infrastructure, and companies operating at the intersection of fintech and other sectors.
Marc shares how his journey—from working in interest rate sales and trading at Goldman Sachs to leading personal financial management at Plaid—influenced his perspective on fintech and broader B2B applications. In addition to his work at a16z, Marc is known for hosting what some may call "the Met Ball of finance"—a gathering that bridges executives and startups within New York City’s vibrant financial services ecosystem.
Tune in to hear about:
-Marc’s path from Goldman Sachs to Plaid and eventually a16z
-Opportunities in Capital Markets
-AI and Finance
-AI x Accounting (read more about Marc's latest perspectives here: https://a16z.com/generative-ai-in-accounting/)
For more FinTech insights, follow us on:
Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech
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In today's episode, Wesley Aster speaks with Ezra Kebrab, Founder and CEO of Caliza, a cross-border payments platform leveraging stablecoins to eliminate geographic barriers by allowing companies around the world to open digital dollar accounts for their users to save and transact. Ezra shares how is personal journey - from his childhood to his experience at Visa and Intuit - inspired him to build infrastructure for the next generation of global payments.
Tune in to hear about:
- Ezra's path from Intuit and Visa to launching Caliza
- The problems Caliza solves for businesses in Brazil and the company's recent expansion to Mexico and Asia
- The advantages of using stablecoins over traditional cross-border systems like SWIFT
- Caliza's 2024 raise with Initialized, Quona, Abstract Ventures, Digital Currency Group, and others
For more FinTech insights, follow us on:
- Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech
- Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech
- Instagram: instagram.com/whartonfintech
Connecting you with the people, companies, and ideas revolutionizing global financial services. Our guests are the leading fintech founders, investors, and thinkers in the world.
Subscribe and follow us for more FinTech content by searching @whartonfintech on your preferred platform!
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