This week I had the pleasure of interviewing John Mizzi of Vero Technology and Lever. John just raised a $4M Seed Round for his fintech company that offers credit options for equipment dealers. We talk about what it is like starting a Fintech company, milestones needed to obtain both equity and credit funding, and managing teams. You can listen/watch the podcast on YouTube, Apple, or Spotify.
John is the co-founder and CEO of Vero Technologies. Vero has developed an end-to-end commercial lending platform that supports underwriting, origination, administration and portfolio management, coupled with a servicing operation so banks and credit unions can offer new credit products without adding headcount or investing in new systems.
He was previously the COO of Bond.One, a capital markets technology platform, focused on streamlining settlement and reconciliation functions for asset servicers (Corporate Trustees and Administrators) in the debt capital markets.As an entrepreneur-in-residence for Danish software company, cVation, he launched 2 fintech companies, Bond.One and IMTC. IMTC is a portfolio management software solution for investment managers.
His responsibilities have focused primarily on customer discovery, product development, marketing and operations. He joined IMTC as the first employee in January 2017. Toward the end of 2017, the team began exploring applications for blockchain technology within the fixed income markets, ultimately resulting in the founding of Bond.One. He was solely responsible for managing Bond.One since the end of 2018.
Prior to joining cVation, he began his career working in Corporate Strategy for Bank of America Merrill Lynch after which he worked across business development and operations at the alternative asset manager, GCM Grosvenor.
He is currently on the Board of Directors for the McCarton Foundation, a nonprofit organization that seeks to educate, empower, and provide exceptional treatment for children with autism.
John attended the University of Michigan, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics. While in Ann Arbor, he co-founded InSilico, an education technology start-up focused on developing software solution for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.
What You’ll Learn:
Managing Yourself and Employees
How a fintech product should look like to determine creditworthiness
Process to raise a seed fund as a balance sheet lending business
FinTech milestones and ways to evaluate a FinTech company
Go to market motion
Channel Sales through banks
Level of Product Market-Fit
30/60/90 days plan after a $4M raise
Favorite Quote:
“You do not do business with business, you do business with people”
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