1 00:00:15.780 --> 00:00:18.720 Marc Antoine Caya: Hi, my name is Marc, and I am the CEO and co 2 00:00:18.720 --> 00:00:22.140 founder of gopeer. Today I'm meeting with Smarter Loans. 3 00:00:22.470 --> 00:00:26.370 Vlad Sherbatov: Today we're joined by Marc Caya. He is the 4 00:00:26.400 --> 00:00:32.040 president and CEO of gopeer, gopeer is a Toronto based 5 00:00:32.040 --> 00:00:35.670 startup. They allow people to both borrow money and invest 6 00:00:35.670 --> 00:00:38.400 money. Mark, welcome to the program. 7 00:00:39.270 --> 00:00:40.890 Marc Antoine Caya: Thank you Vlad, really happy to be here 8 00:00:40.890 --> 00:00:41.340 today. 9 00:00:46.200 --> 00:00:49.740 Vlad Sherbatov: What is gopeer? And how does it work, exactly? 10 00:00:51.060 --> 00:00:53.550 Marc Antoine Caya: So gopeer is a Canadian financial wellness 11 00:00:53.550 --> 00:00:58.470 company. We're Toronto based. And we have two offerings on 12 00:00:58.470 --> 00:01:00.840 one, we're a peer to peer lending company. So we connect 13 00:01:00.840 --> 00:01:06.510 lenders with borrowers, to borrowers, we offer unsecured 14 00:01:06.510 --> 00:01:10.830 term loans, three to five years up to $25,000 at affordable 15 00:01:10.830 --> 00:01:13.230 interest rate, and we have a wide range of credit 16 00:01:13.230 --> 00:01:17.220 applications as well. And on the investor side, we're offering 17 00:01:17.580 --> 00:01:21.030 the opportunity for everyday Canadians like you and I to 18 00:01:21.030 --> 00:01:24.990 invest in consumer loans. So essentially, to invest to make 19 00:01:24.990 --> 00:01:29.730 money like a bank, pretty much. So that offers high yield short 20 00:01:29.730 --> 00:01:31.650 duration investments. 21 00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:39.100 Vlad Sherbatov: Marc, I want to ask you about sort of your 22 00:01:39.100 --> 00:01:43.120 journey, okay. And your journey to becoming the co founder and 23 00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:48.550 CEO of gopeer, and also just your journey of becoming an 24 00:01:48.550 --> 00:01:52.630 entrepreneur, and what that's been like and tell us why did 25 00:01:52.630 --> 00:01:54.850 you decide to start gopeer? 26 00:01:55.410 --> 00:01:57.360 Marc Antoine Caya: Yes, absolutely. So I've always 27 00:01:57.360 --> 00:02:00.270 wanted to be an entrepreneur since I was a kid, it has always 28 00:02:00.270 --> 00:02:05.580 been my dream. But the idea for gopeer really started a few 29 00:02:05.580 --> 00:02:09.180 years ago, maybe two, three years ago. So previously to 30 00:02:09.210 --> 00:02:11.820 gopeer, I was working in investment banking at one of the 31 00:02:11.820 --> 00:02:16.170 large Canadian banks. And I remember I was underwriting a 32 00:02:16.170 --> 00:02:19.200 deal for for one of our corporate clients, essentially, 33 00:02:19.200 --> 00:02:24.150 we were issuing a convertible debenture, so a piece of 34 00:02:24.180 --> 00:02:29.430 corporate debt that can that can be converted into equity if 35 00:02:29.430 --> 00:02:33.390 certain prices are met. And I thought for my own personal 36 00:02:33.420 --> 00:02:36.090 investment portfolio, I thought this was a very interesting 37 00:02:36.120 --> 00:02:39.330 investment. So I looked into other similar investments. And I 38 00:02:39.330 --> 00:02:46.290 realized that as an individual, we cannot invest in almost any 39 00:02:46.650 --> 00:02:50.220 fixed income securities in Canada, because fixed income and 40 00:02:50.250 --> 00:02:54.420 debt does not trade on an exchange. As a individual 41 00:02:54.420 --> 00:02:58.200 investor, like you and I we're really limited in terms of 42 00:02:58.200 --> 00:03:02.310 investment opportunities to mostly stocks or mutual funds, 43 00:03:02.340 --> 00:03:08.040 GICs. So I thought that was a massive problem, that only big 44 00:03:08.040 --> 00:03:10.770 institutions and banks had access to this sort of 45 00:03:10.770 --> 00:03:13.920 investment. And I wanted to change that. And this is how the 46 00:03:13.920 --> 00:03:15.180 idea for gopeer was formed. 47 00:03:15.990 --> 00:03:18.960 Vlad Sherbatov: So what is your typical day, like, as the leader 48 00:03:18.960 --> 00:03:19.740 of this company? 49 00:03:21.340 --> 00:03:24.700 Marc Antoine Caya: So usually, I mean, there's no typical days, I 50 00:03:24.700 --> 00:03:28.870 think that's your typical answer. But I usually get up 51 00:03:28.900 --> 00:03:33.700 early in the morning, do a little bit of workout. And then 52 00:03:33.700 --> 00:03:37.480 I'll start, we receive a lot of customer support emails or 53 00:03:37.480 --> 00:03:40.870 questions overnight or early in the morning. So I'll start 54 00:03:40.870 --> 00:03:44.560 answering those right away. But I'll have breakfast go to work. 55 00:03:44.620 --> 00:03:48.820 And depending on what comes up, there's always new surprises, 56 00:03:48.820 --> 00:03:52.930 which is what's amazing about this job, why I like working in 57 00:03:52.930 --> 00:03:57.520 the startup, we're working so many hats. And there's constant 58 00:03:57.520 --> 00:04:01.900 balance between the day to day needs and strategic planning out 59 00:04:01.900 --> 00:04:02.710 of the way, so. 60 00:04:07.990 --> 00:04:11.050 Vlad Sherbatov: Do you have any advice for other entrepreneurs 61 00:04:11.080 --> 00:04:13.060 or maybe aspiring entrepreneurs? 62 00:04:13.090 --> 00:04:16.566 Marc Antoine Caya: Do it. Do it, that's that's all I have to say. 63 00:04:16.642 --> 00:04:21.404 Do it. Perhaps keep your job at the beginning while you work on 64 00:04:21.480 --> 00:04:25.486 the idea on the project, but certainly do it. I think 65 00:04:25.561 --> 00:04:30.021 everyone everyone can do it. And it's it's just a matter of 66 00:04:30.096 --> 00:04:34.556 determination and hard work. It's incredible how much were, 67 00:04:34.632 --> 00:04:40.150 fear stops us to do. And once we overcome that fear, you can do whatever. 68 00:04:40.500 --> 00:04:47.421 Vlad Sherbatov: Don't forget to subscribe to the Smarter Loans 69 00:04:47.571 --> 00:04:57.050 YouTube channel for more videos that will help you make smarter 70 00:04:57.200 --> 00:05:00.210 financial decisions.