Mike Mittleman Career Coaching December FinTech Monthly Newsletter
Published: Tue, 02/22/22
Mike Mittleman Career Coaching
December FinTech Monthly Newsletter
Please Note: We have 2 new sections: “Networking Opportunities” and “Banks
Hiring for Internal Fintech Teams”
Hello readers. We don’t make you read all the way down to the newsletter bottom for our newest sections. For our 1st, please check out “Networking Opportunities” right after the Overview!
Overview
November people moves totaled 140 professionals, a 30% drop from the October tally of 200. However, we should note that October had 5 weeks of data compared to November’s 4. The slight dip likely reflects seasonality as most market and funding indicators remain persistently bullish.
Robinhood garnered our attention this month by jumping onto the leaderboard across a few different metrics. While their stock price has not rebounded since dropping 70% from an August peak, robust hiring could be a leading indicator for this FinTech giant. The company continues to expand its cryptocurrency offerings and just released new brokerage account transfer functionality.
Networking Opportunities
As a reminder, we split job type into the following categories:
Sales, Operations, and IT professionals were most in-demand with 20+ professionals each. Project Managers, Program Managers, Marketing each came in with fewer than 10. Strategy positions made a nice showing at about 10. HR and Finance professionals each contributed 10+.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan, and Citi contributed 25+ individuals. Deutsch Bank and Credit Suisse contributed fewer than 10 in total, surprising given the longstanding and recent negative press. Goldman and UBS contributed to 15+ job types between the two.
The bottom line is gone are the days when IT professionals were the most frequent category at 75%+. As Federal officials ramp up talk of FinTech regulation, we see an accelerated demand for compliance and risk professionals in particular.
No matter what you do for a living, FinTech has a home for you.
“Stripe” Company Job Postings Analysis
Stripe is the technology company that builds economic infrastructure for the smallest 1-person shop to clients as large as Salesforce and Facebook. Stripe facilitates online payments and conducts other financial back-office operations for clients. If you purchase products and services online, chances are your vendor used Stripe.
According to LinkedIn, they have over 5,000 employees, 4,000 of which are in the US, mostly living in San Francisco, Seattle, and NYC. They are a sought-after employer given their size and pedigree VC backing. With almost a 100% increase in headcount year over year, that’s a lot of new jobs. They just opened a Toronto office for those so inclined.
An analysis of the LinkedIn posted jobs for Stripe in the US shows about 1,400 positions posted in the last month alone. Mid to senior-level positions comprise over 75%. For sales and marketing professionals, about 30% of the opportunities could fit you! If you want to live in SF or NYC and work for them, 20% of the postings are for each city.
Their interview process involves behavioral questions and a short Q&A/case study. Be prepared to defend your answers in front of your future boss. You will meet about 10 people in the process.
Bye Bye Banks
During September (a 4-week month vs. 5-week in August), 139 professionals made a move from the top 10 investment banks to the top 40 FinTechs. This indicates a slightly lower weekly average of 35 professionals compared to 45 in August. Once again, all top 10 investment banks were represented. JP Morgan saw 33 professionals head to 17 different FinTechs. Bank of America, Citi, and Goldman Sachs each had 20 or more moves to
FinTech. Deutsche Bank and HSBC had the fewest departures with 3 each.
Hello FinTechs
PayPal aggressively took the lead with 21 total hires in September. Coinbase, Robinhood, Square, and Stripe followed along with 10+ professionals each.
3 FinTechs - DriveWealth, SoFi, and Toast- hired 5+ professionals this month while a total of 30 firms made a least 1 hire from a top 10 investment bank.
Location, Location, Location
Over 50 cities were represented this month with NYC doubling any other city. However, if you hail from DuBois, PA or Hockessin, DE, your city was represented!
PayPal and Robinhood hired in 10+ different cities while Stripe focused on NYC with most of their talent acquisition. Digit, Divvy, Gusto, and nCino all hired people in multiple locations. If you want to work at Square, they hired numerous professionals across 6 cities. Florida does not make the top ten states, standing in sharp contrast to Goldman Sachs, Elliot Management, Blackstone, and Citadel all moving major operations there.
Seniority
Almost 55% of total hires were senior-level positions. Mid-level hires were 35% and junior-level hires were up slightly at 10%. The high ratio of senior-level hiring has been a constant so far this year. Entry-level hiring is still significant however many of the candidates are not coming from the top investment banks we monitor.
Robinhood, Square, and Stripe all made double-digit hires for mid or senior-level positions. PayPal claimed the top spot again this month for senior-level positions with 17 hires.
September Capital Raising Activity
September capital raises came in at $4+ billion. Varo Bank, one of our favorites, raised $510 million. However, in one of the largest capital raises we have seen, Databricks, the data and AI company based in SF, raised $1.6 billion for a $38 billion valuation. Their funding was led by an arm of Morgan Stanley.
Plenty of solid fundraisings include SpotOn, Melio, Papay Global, and Form3 with $300, $250, $250, and $160 million respectively. If you are interested in lending to subprime consumers, check out Self Financial with a $50 million raise.
The good times keep rolling…
Hot off the Press: New CB Insights 2021 Fintech 250 List
CB Insights is one of the top 2 publishers of comprehensive FinTech data and reports. Less than 2 weeks ago, they published their list of the 250 most innovative and interesting FinTechs.
What is most important about the list is not the list itself. What is most important are the sectors they break the FinTech world into. Since FinTech can be defined by 5 people 10 different ways (and they work in the industry), gaining an understanding of a top-down framework is key.
Their list categorizes the 250 FinTechs into 19 different sectors including Capital Markets, Digital Banking, Asset Management, and Cryptocurrency just to name a few where you might find as your next home. When you examine the 19 sectors, most financial professionals are qualified to work in about 6-12. Choose your sectors before your job search and you’re halfway to the promised land.
Client Move Spotlight
FinTech is hiring. My client just moved to a LinkedIn 2021 top 50 FinTech. After 10 years at a top 3 bank, he was frustrated with the slow pace of innovation and difficult hierarchy.
My client’s new employer falls at the intersection of the Digital Banking, Crypto, and Institutional Asset Management verticals. No longer do FinTechs neatly fit into one box.
When I caught up with him recently, I asked how his new position was going. With the freedom to choose his destiny within his company, he was thrilled.
As a bonus, he told me that his firm has a voracious appetite for talent.
I did some research on LinkedIn. His firm grew headcount by 150% in the past 2 years. They currently have almost 400 job openings, running the gamut from finance, IT, and product to program, HR, and operations.
I’m not a recruiter and don’t get paid by his employer for anything, but I bet many of you would thrive in a hot company like his. Email me at [email protected] for my assistance.
1. How far back should the job history on my resume go?
2. Should I pursue jobs even if I don’t have all the required experience?
3. Should I follow up after an interview?
4. What exactly is a personal brand and why do I need one?
Answers appear at the end
Quiz
How many courses related to FinTech does Coursera offer?
1. 25
2. 50
3. 72
4. 102
5. Trick Question
Answers appear at the end
The End
Q&A Answers
1. Generally, your job history should include all employers and titles at a minimum. Space for bullets should be allocated in 5-year tiers with the most recent 5 years emphasized most, the previous 5 years next, and so on. Since there are always exceptions, check with a professional
2. Absolutely! Employers rarely hire candidates with 100% of the required experience.
3. Yes! You should send a “thank-you” email within 24 hours of the interview. You can follow up 1 week later if a timeline for next steps was not given.
4. A personal brand is the combination of your skills, experience, and accomplishments presented virtually and in-person. Your personal brand is most helpful when it communicates your value proposition in a way that specifically meets an employer’s need.
Quiz Answers
#4. 102: We like the Wharton courses the best. Solid, practical, and reasonably priced. We receive no compensation for these recommendations. '
Top 10 Investment Banks and Top 40 FinTechs we follow:
Investment Banks: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citi, UBS, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Barclays, and JP Morgan.
