During this 36th episode of the Fintech Impact podcast, Jason Pereira interviews Ben Harrison, Partner and Head of LP
Engagement & Partnerships at Portag3 Ventures, one of the top venture capital firms in the
fintech space.
● 00:56 – Portag3 is made of two funds that handle areas like blockchain and A.I..
● 02:19 – Ben has just over 16 years with Great West Life.
● 05:08 – Financial customers want the same user experience that they are familiar with from Amazon and Google.
● 10:28 – In order to have a better understanding of the change that is happening, invest in and partner with those that are doing it.
● 13:31 – The cost of starting a start-up as dropped dramatically during the last decade.
● 16:12 – When start-ups get absorbed by huge institutions, the corporate culture should remain the same to maintain those talented developers.
● 20:30 – Success in Asia from an insurance company standpoint success is measured in selling 100s of 1000s or millions of insurance policies in a year.
● 23:22 – When there are major investments involved, there are broad power shifts.
● 24:40 – What is the platform that is going to streamline blockchain.
● 27:00 – Portag3 Ventures invests in great, talented people in the founders and high comfort with the technology, performance, and scalability.
● 29:53 – Ben Harrison is most excited about seeing the interest in the bigger companies being willing to have partnerships.
3 Key Points:
1. Portag3 Ventures’s first fund was made up of Power Financial, Great West Life, andIGM.
2. Approximately, 10 years ago the average price of launching a start-up company was $5 million, now it is about $500,000 dollars.
3. To adapt to change and stay ahead of the curve—you have to be willing to partner up.
Tweetable Quotes:
- “Portag3 is an early stage venture fund.” – Ben Harrison.
- “Customers just expect now the types of experiences that they receive from Google or Amazon or Netflix.” – Ben Harrison.
- “So it’s not so much that fintech is going to topple the business world, it’s now questions about these big platform tech players.” – Ben Harrison.
Resources Mentioned:
● LinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedIn
● Facebook – Jason Pereira’s Facebook
● Woodgate Financial – Website for Woodgate Financial
● Ben Harrison – LinkedIn for Ben Harrison
● Portag3 Ventures – Website for Portag3 Ventures
","author_name":"Jason Pereira"}