events
Lenders, Leaders, and Las Vegas: Money20/20 Review
November 3, 2019
Two things arrived in Las Vegas last month: the first being an unusual dip in local weather, with temperatures dropping to the low forties at times and woolen hats making an appearance; the second being Money20/20.
Now in its seventh year, the conference runs smoothly to the point of being habitual, a trait several attendees mentioned to me when asked how they felt about the 2019 edition.
Running from Sunday the 27thto Wednesday the 30th, each day offered a different focus. The first of these being alternative finance, blockchains, and cryptos. Here, leaders from LendingClub, Kabbage, and OnDeck, among others, took to the stages to discuss issues ranging from strategies in the face of a recession to AI in lending. Running throughout were conversations about where cannabis banking regulation was headed and what can be done to prepare. Of note was Jontae James of NatureTrak, who spoke from the Leadership Lodge Stage, pitching his company as a solution to compliance issues facing lenders who want to work with cannabis companies.
The following days contained a mix of subjects, with Monday featuring many events relating to payments and entrepreneurship; Tuesday being the day for cybersecurity, regulation, and banking; and Wednesday closing the show with various talks on emerging technologies. Among the highlights of these were a talk from David Marcus of Calibra on the currency’s efforts to alter the financial landscape, a discussion on growth in emerging markets from Ant Financial’s Douglas Feagin, and words from BlueVine’s Eyal Lifshitz on the needs of small businesses.
Outside of the stages where these were held was the main expo hall. Dotted with booths and stands, the narrow pathways that were carved out by these were lined with a mix of businesses.
In overwhelming numbers though were companies offering identity verification services. A growing industry in today’s increasingly online world, their presence dominated the hall, with it being hard to turn around without being offered a pamphlet on the importance of knowing who your customers are and how much it will cost to confirm their existence and authenticity.
And while walking through the hall and stopping at stalls to talk offered pleasant and informative conversation, there was an underlying tenseness to some of the chatting. Perhaps it was the unrelenting air conditioning that caused this? Or the endless stream of coffee available had rattled some nerve endings? Or maybe it was the frequency with which an oncoming recession was referenced in the titles of talks?
Who knows, what is likely though is that if it is the last of these possibilities, in the case of a “looming crisis,” as one event labelled it, what was talked about in Vegas may not stay in Vegas.
Canadian Lenders Summit To Take Place on Nov 20, 2019 in Toronto
November 2, 2019The annual Canadian Lenders Summit produced by the Canadian Lenders Association will take place on November 20th in Toronto. Registrants can use promo code: debanked40 for 40% off the ticket price.
deBanked CONNECT San Diego Is A Hit
November 1, 2019
Under the California sun, our most recent CONNECT event kicked off last week in San Diego’s Hard Rock Hotel. Home to Ron Burgundy, we were a few days too early in the city for any sex panther cologne-infused costumes to make an appearance, although that didn’t stop one attendee donning a money-clad suit.
Beginning in the afternoon, event-goers were able to choose between starting the day with a session from Will Murphy and Josh Feinberg on their Equipment Broker School, a program that aims to arm participants with the knowledge to enter the equipment financing scene; or to dive straight into networking.
Following this, deBanked President and Chief Editor Sean Murray delivered an introductory speech laden with his disappointment in the New York Yankees, a gloom that revealed to him a particular silver lining: “if you’re going to lose, make sure you lose to the best.” Embracing it as a mantra, Murray encouraged brokers to carry out their dealings at the event with this perspective in mind, before expounding on what the future of the industry may hold.
Next up was Justin Thompson, CRO of National Funding, who spoke on the importance of building relationships, providing customers with options, and getting “hooks” into customers in order to plan for your company in the long term. A message that led into the proceeding discussion involving leaders from LoanMe, BFS Capital, and Ocrolus on how businesses are leveraging technology to improve their standing in the market and ensure longevity.
And concluding this panel was a ticket giveaway for the upcoming deBanked Miami event in January, which saw four winners pull a guitar pick from under their seat in a musical chairs-inspired take on Willy Wonka.
Closing out the show were a conversation about California’s unique licensing requirements and what one needs to be aware of when striving for legal compliance; and a series of tech demos showcasing a range of verification software from Truepic, Ocrolus, and Nationwide Management Services.
Left with naught to do but enjoy the rest of the evening, the remainder of the sunshine set on the Hard Rock’s outdoor Woodstock area, where food, drinks, and (mostly) poorly played drums were available to the attendees.
With the atmosphere being breezy and the conversation being comfortable, we left California happy. All that’s really left to say is until next time, you stay classy, San Diego.
LendIt China 2019 is Canceled
October 23, 2019
LendIt Fintech has officially announced that there will be no conference in China this year after 3 long years in the country. A blog post written by LendIt Fintech co-founder Peter Renton explained that calamitous events engulfing the peer-to-peer lending industry there, namely the abundance of fraud, and the government’s waning tolerance, has led them to believe that no lending companies will be interested in speaking, sponsoring or even attending this year.
“We will regroup in 2020 and hopefully will be able to bring our unique event back to China,” Renton wrote.
The decision only applies to their Lang Di Fintech China event. Their US event is scheduled to take place in New York this year on May 13-14 at the Javits Center. That event will be immediately followed by deBanked’s Broker Fair 2020 at the brand new Convene at Brookfield Place on 225 Liberty Street in New York on May 17-18.
Last Call To Book Rooms & Sponsor deBanked CONNECT San Diego
September 21, 2019deBanked CONNECT San Diego, which kicks off on October 24th at the Hard Rock Hotel, is fast approaching. Discounted hotel rooms through deBanked’s special link will only remain available until Monday at 5pm. Even if you were planning to book later and pay full price, the hotel has informed us that they are almost entirely sold out of rooms.
Monday is also the last day to become a sponsor of the event. Don’t miss out on this incredible west coast opportunity and call 917-722-0808 or email events@debanked.com to register.
Tickets to the event can be purchased HERE. Commercial finance brokers benefit from a reduced entry fee.
class=”aligncenter size-large wp-image-182322″ />Win Two FREE Tickets to deBanked CONNECT San Diego
September 12, 2019WILL YOU BE JOINING THE INDUSTRY IN SAN DIEGO?!
The prize for the one lucky winner of deBanked’s raffle is TWO tickets to deBanked CONNECT San Diego*.
Here’s how to enter:
1. Follow @debankedmagazine on Instagram
2. Like the giveaway post
3. Comment on the post by tagging three friends
The results will be shown LIVE on 9/19! Start tagging friends to win!!!⠀
*Tickets do not include flight and hotel, only entry to the event in San Diego.
Spotlight on deBanked CONNECT Toronto
July 30, 2019
As the heat of the Toronto sun split the stones outside, the crowd inside the Omni King Edward’s seventeenth-floor Crystal Ballroom mingled and munched as part of deBanked’s most recent CONNECT event.
The first of its kind to be held in Toronto, the CONNECT series are half-day events that take place in both San Diego and Miami as well. Despite not being as established as the latter two, Toronto proved just as eventful, with a variety of speakers and topics broached, as well as a host of attendees from differing backgrounds making an appearance. It was par for the course for an inaugural deBanked show with the attendance figures being reminiscent of deBanked’s first ever event in the USA, a market that’s 10x the size.
The day was kicked off by entrepreneur, a dragon on the Canadian Dragons’ Den series, and co-founder of Clearbanc, Michele Romanow, whose anecdotes detailed the adventures that accompany the beginning of a startup. Regaling the audience with the story of Evandale Caviar, Romanow began with telling the room of a post-college venture that saw her working tooth and nail to secure a fishing license, studying YouTube fish gutting tutorials that were exclusively in Russian, and getting her hands dirty with the other co-founders when the time came to put their time spent online to use.
But it wasn’t all blood and glory for Romanow, as the tale shifted from one of youthful expansion to one of reflection and acceptance of the unknown. Speaking on the effect of tech giants in various fields, Romanow explained that “we have no idea of how these industries will shape out.” The likes of Uber and AirBnb never planned change the world, just to change a product and thus solve a problem, and their meteoric rises are unpredictable as a result. Iteration, rather than innovation, is what drives a company forward according to Romanow.
And this sentiment was brought further along with the following panel, which featured Vlad Sherbatov of Smarter Loans, Paul Pitcher of SharpShooter Funding, and SEO expert Paul Teitelman, speaking on the trials and novelties of the sales and marketing scene. Offering wisdom on various aspects of the field, the three men covered the need to go beyond the traditional forms of advertising, instead looking outward towards unorthodox methods of marketing; the hardships that come with the grind of a sales job; and the role that SEO can play when raising public awareness of your company; respectively.
“It’s a matter of spreading the word,” one conference goer noted when asked about the sales panel afterwards. “Businesses have to know who we are, and we’re working on that.”
Similarly, Martin Fingerhut and Adam Atlas discussed the existing legal topics of note to Canadian alternative financing companies, as well as those incoming rulings that may be worth knowing about. Covering both the English-speaking provinces and Quebec, the duo gave a comprehensive crash course on the legal landscape of the industry, highlighting laws unique to the regions. Aaron Iannello of Top Funding considered the talk to be particularly engaging, commending it for relaying information that might otherwise be unknown to American companies.
Following this, Kevin Clark, President of Lendified, took to the stage to talk about the importance of the Canadian Lenders Association (CLA). Saying that in the absence of a regulatory body, the CLA seeks to offer guidance to those companies who are looking for it. Clark asserted that “it’s a good thing for our industry to have oversight from a regularly body,” and that he looks forward to the day when one is established.
And before wrapping up the speakers for the day, Clark was joined by IOU Financial’s President, Robert Gloer, to discuss contemporary risk management. Covering everything from the next recession to the emergence of AI, the pair, which accumulatively have been in the industry for decades, offered knowledge learnt from years of experience in both the pre- and post-crash eras.
And the prophesizing of what will be the next big episode to shake the industry continued beyond the day’s scheduled agenda as many attendees continued on well into the evening at smaller networking functions offsite.
As the sun started to touchdown on the tips of Toronto’s skyscrapers, the salvo of excited conversation briefly harmonized to produce a singular axiom, that there was an abundance of opportunity in Canada.
