Why Wharton FinTech
One of the many validating by-products of building Wharton FinTech is the extensive interest we receive from MBA candidates during and after the application cycle. Much like the college application process, we know that applying to MBA programs — and choosing which to ultimately enroll in — can be a momentous, existential inflection point in one’s identity and career. During the process, loved ones and mentors alike tell you to “embrace the introspection,” do your program diligence, and confront head-on the “who you want to be when you grow up” question you strategically avoided until now so that 21-year-old-you didn’t have to overthink it (lucky them).
Well, this post can’t and won’t provide the holistic application and program selection advice that genuinely IS too personal to be prescribed, but it will illuminate why joining Wharton’s MBA FinTech Club continues to be transformative for current members and alumni alike, in case that provides a helpful data point or two…
Founded in 2014, Wharton FinTech set out to become one of the most informative, fastest-growing, and best-connected MBA professional clubs for prospective industry entrants, seasoned FinTech practitioners, and everyone in between.
Almost a decade later, our core operating tenants are largely unchanged:
- Educate: provide ample opportunities for members to gain exposure to, dive deeper on, and upskill in relevant sub-sectors, geographies, technologies, and market trends
- Develop Careers: help members identify areas of highest interest and most applicable talents to inform suitable role and company targets; build relationships with and connect members to leading FinTech organizations and professionals to bolster individual networks; source, consolidate, and broadcast internship and full-time roles (including unique access to early-employment opportunities); and provide copious support and resources to new founders
- Build Community: create inclusive, representative spaces and forums for members to: exchange ideas, share past experiences, ask questions, bond over a shared passion, and/or find assistance, a mentor, or even a co-founder, in energizing and impactful ways
- Contribute Thought Leadership: develop and grow a platform for members to showcase their insights, build a digital track record, provide media coverage of industry events (e.g. LendIt FinTech), and collaborate with — and contribute to — the broader FinTech ecosystem (e.g. collaborating with QED on 7-part white papers)
Wharton FinTech creates year-long programming and events around these aims, steered by a hand-selected Leadership Board, which is made up of the following positions: President(s), Alumni Relations, Careers, CFO/Sponsorships, Community/Social, Conference Lead, CTO, Member Education, (Intra)Penn Partnerships, Media, Career Treks (with both US and International Leads).
Some of the Club’s proudest recent accomplishments include:
- (Virtually) ‘visiting’ 66 FinTech companies over the course of 12 Career Treks (back-to-back presentation / Q&A sessions with each company’s senior leadership representatives for the purpose of education, networking, and recruiting). Each Trek revolves around a sector theme (e.g. Banking/Lending, Payments, Wealth/Asset Management, RegTech, Banking-as-a-Service, Venture Investing, InsurTech) or geographic concentration (e.g. NYC, Bay Area, EMEA, APAC, Africa) to optimize attendee relevance
- Growing the Wharton FinTech Podcast to become a household-name in the Finance and Tech podcast categories, garnering 120k+ listens per month, over 2mm social media impressions in 2021, and winning Intern from Home’s Special Podcast And Content of Startups Award for Best Podcast, edging out some of the biggest names in podcasting. (Episodes are released every few days, so follow along on the podcast platform of your choice!)
- Hosting our inaugural Wharton Fintech Conference with 1,300+ attendees hearing from 150+ Founder, CxO, and Managing Partner speakers across 25 panels and 7 fireside chats spanning Financial Health, Fundraising & Dealmaking, Alternative Investments, DeFi, Payments, Regulatory Aspects of Blockchain and Central Banking, Crypto Exchanges, NFTs, Personal Finance, LatAm FinTech, and many more topics. The event also held a dedicated career fair and startup pitch competition for student founders with a $10,000 grant to the winner
- Continuing our popular series of intimate Lunch and Learns and Alumni Fireside Chats to cover in-depth topics, including: FinTech Solutions to the Student Loan Crisis (feat. Savi); Unpacking the Chief of Staff Role (feat. Varo); APAC FinTech Investing (feat. Temasek); Wise’s Latest Strategy with the CEO of Wise Asia-Pacific Ltd., and SO many more
- Collaborating with mentors from the Stevens Center for Innovation in Finance to create Independent Study Projects (for course credit) on topics of-interest to particular students (current examples include: Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs): Unlocking Value and Powering Social Impact, Crypto Education and Human Capital, Fintech Sponsor Banking with Hatch and Firstrust Bank)
- Enlisting mentors for, providing support to, and broadcasting the unveiling of Cypher, the Stevens Center for Innovation in Finance at Wharton’s remote, non-dilutive accelerator dedicated to Blockchain and Crypto startups building a decentralized future
- Hosting 20+ small group dinners amongst various Wharton FinTech members with thematic focuses (e.g. how to stay current on FinTech news, recruiting best practices, emerging market mobile wallets, alternative digital lenders, the effects of Covid-19, embedded finance, cryptocurrencies, Big Tech venturing into FinTech)
- And SO much more
With each passing year, Wharton FinTech bitter-sweetly sends off its 2nd years to the next stages of their careers, which include: launching their own FinTech startups (check out: Portabl, Card Curator, and Proyecto Verde, for starters) or FinTech VCs (e.g. Gilgamesh), joining ‘mature’ FinTechs like Stripe, Revolut, SoFi, and Nubank in Strategy&Ops, CorpDev, Growth, and other roles, becoming employee #<10’s at earliest-stage FinTech startups (some still in stealth), joining the FinTech practices at the most well-respected Investment Banking and Consulting houses like Morgan Stanley and BCG, respectively, and everything in between.
Long after graduation, the strength of Wharton FinTech alumni ties can be seen in the enduring WhatsApp groups, private Slack channels, and has even led to the creation of the Wharton FinTech syndicate, whereby alumni jointly source deal flow from the network and invest in the next generation of FinTech startups.
It is with this same vigor that we welcome in a new class of ambitious and driven industry enthusiasts to the Club each year, eager to leave their own imprint on its programming, community, and legacy. Good luck to all applicants, and if you have follow-up questions, the best way to reach us is by tweeting your questions @WhartonFinTech
How to Make the Most Out of the Wharton Fintech experience:
We all remember joining the Wharton family, and yes, it feels like drinking from a firehose. If you want to prepare yourself to be ready to hit the ground running when you get to campus, here’s the checklist:
1. Figure out what area of FinTech you are most interested in — FinTech covers a LOT of land, so “being interest in the space” isn’t enough anymore. We strongly urge you to check out CB Insights’ State of FinTech Quarterly reports, and here’s another article to get you started.
2. Learn from the best in the industry. Whether it’s the most forward-looking investors or the operators at the start-ups at the forefront of innovation, hear their stories on the Wharton FinTech Podcast.
3. Read about crypto and blockchain. Trust us, while everyone might have some Bitcoin or Ethereum in their wallet, most MBA’s do not know what else is brewing in this increasingly pervasive category.
4. Expand your horizons and discover FinTech companies outside of the US! Peruse Tech Crunch Africa, as an example.
5. Subscribe to newsletters and hear the perspectives of industry leaders. Try The Fintech Blueprint, a16z’s Future, Fintech Brain Food, Not Boring, Fintech Takes, This Week in Fintech, FT Partners Research, Fintech Business Weekly, and Fintech Leaders.
And as always, you can find us and what we’re up to here:
WFT Home | WFT LinkedIn | WFT Medium | WFT Twitter | WFT Instagram
