At Core we’ve been getting more and more excited about insurance – not too worry, we’re not becoming actuaries anytime soon – and the potential for start-ups to disrupt that incredibly boring, but entirely gigantic whole industry. I owe a special gratitude to Thomas Smyth – who dropped into Core on a lark…
Disrupting Auto Finance
Last year, I woke up to the sleeping giant of auto finance. Over the last decade, we’ve witnessed an explosion of startups building software that dramatically cuts inefficiencies in the exchange of information, goods, and services – disrupting industry incumbents in the process. In the last year, Silicon Valley is…
Ford Foundation on how markets can create “justice”
The Ford Foundation released this video today, on our venture fund, Core Innovation Capital, and how our portfolio company, Progreso, makes an impact on consumers lives, while delivering market returns. Very nicely done piece – and we’re proud to be featured. Check it out:
Respek for Babak Armajani
There are, no doubt, many influences that play out on anyone’s career. No different for me. One of my most important ones was Babak Armajani. He died a year ago, today. Babak had nothing to do with financial services for the emerging middle class, economic development, or financial inclusion. To make…
Diverse Perspectives
I go to more conferences than are good for me. And if you’re like me, you don’t attend many sessions, and you meet with the same cast of characters. I have two suggestions on breaking those rules. If you read this blog, I’d argue there are two must-do conferences on…
Spent – Amex and Participant take on financial inclusion
Amex’ visionary Dan Schulman is marshaling that giant to embrace financial inclusion in very real ways, not just a philanthropic or PR side show. On the PR side, though, they have partnered with the guys behind Inconvenient Truth and Waiting for Superman (Jeff Skoll’s Participant Media), to create a short…
Susu Sudio: Shared Savings
Finding new ways to spend money you do and don’t have makes up the two largest segments in consumer finance: payments and credit, respectively. Finding new ways to save money – for a large purchase, a rainy day – is a barren landscape. Of course, saving is like flossing your…
The Underbanked Mega Challenge is here!
The past two years Core Innovation Capital has issued a national challenge for who makes the most innovative product or service serving the emerging middle class, aka the un- and underbanked, the cash-preferred, the credit underserved. Sign up here at corevc.com/megachallenge. This year, we’re improving and expanding. It’s not just a…
Underbanked Wish List
Goal and resolutions? Too personal. Predictions for this coming year? Too much pressure. Post mortem on last year? Too boring. So, instead, here is my wish list for our industry for the year of the Snake. An Iconic Brand. Confidence in banking is at historic lows. Perception of alternative financial services are…
Let’s Halve the $78b Spent by the Underbanked on Fees and Split the Difference
People generally assume serving the underbanked is a noble thing to do. And it is, if you do it right. You can make an incredible difference in the lives of a quarter of the US population by providing them with better tools with which to spend, borrow, plan and save.…