CONTACT
MELISSA CRAIG
Lifecycle of
the FinTech Ecosystem
How Does Each Component Create Value
4 Sectors of
the FinTech Ecosystem
How Does Melissa Craig Create Value
About
Melissa Craig
Articles &
Resources
Ecosystems Work Best When all the Components are Strong.
FinTech Ecosystem: Circle of Life
WHAT DOES EACH PART OF THE FINTECH ECOSYSTEM DO TO CREATE VALUE?
Companies & Banks
They Buy It. They:
- Fuel Development with Their Revenue
- Now Do More with Less Cost
- Maybe Pay a Dividend with Earnings
- Invest in Startups
- Do Pilots with Startups
- Sponsor Accelerators
- Provide Industry Know-How
Founders & Operators
They Create It. They:
- Provide Great Solutions to Users
- Challenge the Status Quo
- Expand and Hire People
- Create Value for Shareholders
- Improve the Customer's Bottom Line
- Also Create Benefits for Coffee Shops and Rental Agents
Investors
They Feed It. They:
- Fund Start-Ups
- Fund Accelerators
- Provide Guidance
- Create Value When Portfolio Companies Grow
- Create Value for Partners when Fund Grows
- Reinvest Profits into New Funds and Companies
Accelerators
They Push It. They:
- Create a Safe Playground
- Make Introductions
- Provide Office Space and Working Capital
- Provide Counseling and Guidance
- Get Funding from Corporate Venture Groups Who Get the First Look at New Technology
- Get Funding from Banks Who Host Early Pilots
- Get Funding from Investors
- Get Early Equity in Promising Startups
B2B Fintech is often broken into these FOUR sectors
Under each sector are the areas that Melissa Craig has experience with:
Payments
Transfers
Capital Markets
Trading Ecosystem
Credit & Lending
Financial Services
Banking Systems
Insurance
- Payment Rails »
- Enterprise E-payments »
- Blockchain Technologies »
- Transaction Processing
- Trading Systems: High Performance; Managed Services »
- Market Surveillance Tools: Exchanges, Broker-Dealers »
- Infrastructure: Low-Latency Networks
- Managed Services for Banks and Lenders
- Compliance Management of 3rd Party Providers »
- Turnaround and Distress Situations »
- Digital Banking + Core Banking Systems »
- Portfolio Mgmt and Reporting Tools for PE/VC Funds »
- Bank and MSB Regulation and Licensing
- Bank and 3rd Party Compliance Issues »
IF YOU'RE A COMPANY OR BANK, MELISSA...
Identifies financial technology and services that deliver transformational efficiency gains to your organization. Some examples are:
- Portfolio management platforms for VC and PE funds (PortCo Financial Data and Fund Performance)
- Core Banking Solutions
- B2B E-Payment Platforms
- Blockchain Solutions for Banks and Corporates
- Cloud-Based and SaaS Solutions for Exchanges and Broker-Dealers
- Trading solutions
Each one of these solutions delivers similar or better results for a lower monthly spend. Your savings fall to the bottom line.
IF YOU'RE A FOUNDER OR OPERATOR, MELISSA...
Helps the entire team be more productive so they can focus on product and market.
- Take ownership in P&L management, finance and accounting; legal; correspondence; investor reporting. Contributor in operations; HR; management; sales.
- Do what needs to be done pro-actively. Sense of urgency to deliver results.
- Grow top line and increase EBITDA via pricing analysis, sales force effectiveness, M&A, geographic expansion.
- Operating rhythm and performance metrics
- Get into turnaround mode when performance stalls
IF YOU'RE An investor, MELISSA...
Adds Value for VCs + PE in Two Key Ways:
-
Operating Partner – experienced at parachuting in to work with management teams to create and/or preserve value. Start-ups, early growth, turnarounds and distress.
- Available to travel weekly
- Areas of expertise: B2B financial technology and financial services (FinTech); infrastructure (software, hardware, network and data centers); information and communication technology
- Execute the road map for portfolio company growth; get into turnaround mode when performance stalls
- BS Accounting and Corporate Finance, Summa Cum Laude; MS Accountancy; Turnaround Management Assn.
-
Implement industry-leading Portfolio Management Platforms to reduce monitoring expense, gain more insight from current spend, and ensure compliance
- Liaise with platform vendor, fund management and port co management to deliver transformational efficiency gains
IF YOU'RE An accelerator, MELISSA...
Brings elements of the FinTech Ecosystem together:
- FinTech startups poised to break
- Banks, VCs and corporate venture groups support with capital and guidance
- Industry specialists provide advice and connections
- Excellent contacts spanning Silicon Valley, London and Northeastern US: Boston, New York City, Washington DC
MORE ABOUT MELISSA CRAIG
I bring major components of the FinTech Ecosystem together.
Companies and banks get financial technology and services that deliver transformational efficiency gains.
Founders and operators can focus on the business because I take responsibility for a lot of corporate functions.
Private capital investors (PE/VC) get an Operating Partner who works well with portfolio companies. I’m also knowledgeable about industry leading portfolio management and reporting tools.
For the FinTech Ecosystem, I bring bankers and FinTech startups together in environments conducive to learning and pilots – accelerators; regional gatherings.
I’m a company builder and value creator. My insights come from overseeing corporate operations as founder, investor and CXO in several technology startups and turnarounds.
BS Accounting and Corporate Finance, and MS in Accountancy; special training in turnaround management. Relentless about revenue and profit. Not just a finance and accounting person. I know what needs to be done and how to do it. Special focus on group dynamics and engagement.
Strong communications skills. High degree of attention to detail. High level of personal integrity.
The Future of Banking and
Navigating the Changes
Cap One’s Warning: ‘Near-Term’ Digital Investment Is ‘a Negative Trade’
Bank Innovation, Philip Ryan, January 2015
In Q4 2014 earnings call, Cap One’s CEO says digital investment’s going up, and the return on that investment is not likely in near-term.
ARTICLES AND RESOURCES
PE / Venture funds
Value of Operating Partners
Portfolio mgmt and reporting tools
PE Value-Creation Stories
Privcap with EY, May 2015
10 case studies show PE improves portfolio companies -- a smart thesis, sourcing approach, and/or operational improvement led to success.
Capital Markets Technology
Innovations in Capital Markets Technology
Financial Technology Partners LP, May 2015
Focusing on Open Source Communication Networks, Unstructured Data Analytics and Intelligent Search
The Future of Banking and
Navigating the Changes
Complexity Measurement: Assess and Quantify the Complexity of Banking Systems
Axxiome Advisory Services, March 2015
Capture banking systems’ Key Complexity Indicators (KCIs). Helps stakeholders balance major decisions. Show progress against multi-year transformation goals.
Validating an M&A Deal
A Framework for Validating an M&A Deal Thesis
Stephen G. Morrissette, December 2014
Neither brilliant financial engineering nor excellent merger integration work can overcome a flawed deal. Research on what to look for before you leap.
PE / Venture funds
Value of Operating Partners
Portfolio mgmt and reporting tools
Positioning to Win: 2015 Global Private Equity Survey
EY with Private Equity International, September 2015
Explores the rapidly evolving link between PE firms and investors, both poised to capitalize on an opportunistic environment.
The Future of Banking and
Navigating the Changes
A New Digital IT Blueprint for the Everyday Bank
Accenture Banking Services, Max Colangelo et alt, Fall 2014
Accenture offers a new blueprint for the IT environment that maximizes the speed vs efficiency trade-off.
The Future of Banking and
Navigating the Changes
Professionalizing Change in Banking
Accenture, September 2015
Unprecedented scale of change in banking demands a professional change capability and bank-wide agility.
The Future of Banking and
Navigating the Changes
Raising Your Digital Quotient
McKinsey & Company, Tanguy Catlin, June 2015
High-performing digital companies have risk-taking culture, put best people on it + move quickly to implement initiatives. Leaders are involved in digital.
The Future of Banking and
Navigating the Changes
From Spaghetti to Lasagna: The Future of Banking is Now
BIAN, Hans Tesselaar, Banking Industry Architecture Network, October 2014
Banks’ IT horizon is spaghetti. A gradual migration using standard SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) is the best recipe for lasagna.
The Future of Banking and
Navigating the Changes
Survey of API Initiatives at Banks
Open Bank Project + Bank Innovation, May 2015
What prevents banks from launching initiatives to open their APIs [ application programming interfaces.
The Future of Banking and
Navigating the Changes
Innovation in Financial Services: The Elastic Innovation Index Report
Haydn Shaughnessy, January 2015
Some banks are adapting to industry changes. This meta-study examines the relationship between innovation and certain success factors.
The Future of Banking and
Navigating the Changes
The Limits of Disruption in Banking
Robert Barba, September 2015
Many disruptive startups need banks to thrive. Their futures are intertwined with banks’ legacy systems. This can make it hard to scale.
The Future of Banking and
Navigating the Changes
How Innovation Benefits the Financial System
Thomas J. Curry, Comptroller of the Currency, August 2015
OCC’s initiative will address the view that it’s too hard for new ideas to get through the regulatory approval process.
The Future of Banking and
Navigating the Changes
Survey: How IT leaders can stop spending too much on ‘Running the Bank’ and start spending more on ‘Changing the Bank’?
Finextra + CSC, Banking & Capital Markets, Mike Steinharter, March 2015
The next logical step is greater use of partner ecosystems and industry utilities. A wide range of service offerings will gain traction.
© 2017, Melissa Craig.
Internet of Things (IoT)
The Impact of the IoT on Financial Services
Capgemeni, September 2013
The Internet of Things will provide unique challenges and opportunities to financial services institutions.
PE / Venture funds
Value of Operating Partners
Portfolio mgmt and reporting tools
Operational Expertise Makes the Difference
Danielle Fugazy, August 2015
Deals today have high valuations + leverage. Outsized returns will be hard for PE/VC firms. Operating partners help port co grow in tough environments.
Internet of Things (IoT)
Blockchain: Implications for Trade Finance
TradeFinance. Training, October 2015
By embedding sensory and wireless technology, IoT makes possible digital transfer of ownership of physical property. Also the ‘object' can transmit data on identity and existing conditions.
PE / Venture funds
Value of Operating Partners
Portfolio mgmt and reporting tools
Private Equity's Value Creation Secrets
Herb Engert, EY , June 2014
What would a PE fund do if the largest stakeholder demanded operational changes because its back-office strategy lagged behind that of its peers?
PE / Venture funds
Value of Operating Partners
Portfolio mgmt and reporting tools
The PE Data Tsunami
Privcap with iLevel, December 2014
Key Findings: PE firms building infrastructure to handle investors’ requests for tsunami of data.
The Future of Banking and
Navigating the Changes
Career Bankers are the Industry’s Biggest Threat
David Brear, Digital Transformation Consultant, Think Different Group, July 2015
“What is the biggest impediment holding the banking industry back?” The answer may be the people within the organization. Research shows banking workforce falls into 8 distinct categories.
The Future of Banking and
Navigating the Changes
Coming In From The Cold
Heather McKenzie, Banking Technology, October 2015
Relationship between fintech and FIs is a “give and take, learning relationship.” Collaboration offers FIs opportunity to provide modern services clients.
The Future of Banking and
Navigating the Changes
Bitcoin Blockchain Technology: How Disruption Will Play Out
Laura Shin, Forbes Contributor, September 2015
They’ve seen the movie. Many incumbents getting in today are competing to maintain or grow their share of what could someday be a less lucrative pie.
The Future of Banking and
Navigating the Changes
Survey: Why Banks are Failing the Innovation Test and How to Do Better
Disruption House Research, October 2015
The best banks by innovation capability are as good as strong tech companies. There are just too few of them.
The Future of Banking and
Navigating the Changes
Survey: Corporate Innovation: Nurture and Enable an Entrepreneurial Culture
Accenture Mgmt Consulting, 2013
Failure to support corporate entrepreneurialism can drain a company of its most promising employees. How to change this.
The Future of Banking and
Navigating the Changes
Banking Lacks a Culture of Innovation
Jim Marous, The Financial Brand’s Retail Banking Strategies, October 2015
Reviews the findings of Accenture’s survey on nurturing ideas swiftly.
The Future of Banking and
Navigating the Changes
Survey: Cracking the Digital Code, Global Survey
McKinsey & Co, Summer 2015
“High performers” who succeed at digital take more risks in their digital programs, move faster to implement initiatives, and reallocate resources and their best people to digital work.
