Compliance That Makes Sense

While there is no region that won't present at least some challenges to FinTech leaders, there are several factors that are likely to predict the success or failure of a business. Tune in today to hear my advice on finding a home for your business!  If you found value in this episode, I would really appreciate if you could leave a review! My mission is to help and support as many FinTech startups...

Around this time last year, I was feeling pessimistic about the state of the world (just like the people at Davos). However, I now believe there are many reasons to be optimistic about our future, and in today's episode, I share why!  If you found value in this episode, I would really appreciate if you could leave a review! My mission is to help and support as many FinTech startups as possible, an...

The New York State Department of Financial Services recently fined Coinbase, and since then, there have been harsh (and in my opinion, false) accusations made against the company. In this episode, I share my thoughts on why Coinbase ended up in this position and what they could have done to avoid it!  If you found value in this episode, I would really appreciate if you could leave a review! My mis...

Oftentimes, when FinTech startups receive funding, they spend a lot of it on hiring new employees. During this episode, I explain the numerous negative consequences of growing your team before your company is ready for it.  If you found value in this episode, I would really appreciate if you could leave a review! My mission is to help and support as many FinTech startups as possible, and when you...

Most FinTech startups believe that the reason for their many unfinished projects is that they have too many ideas and too little time and resources to get them all done. However, I think this is a huge misconception, and in today's episode, I explain why! If you found value in this episode, I would really appreciate if you could leave a review! My mission is to help and support as many FinTech sta...

There is no better time than right now to look deeply at how to design and test projects, make faster decisions, reduce team conflicts, and keep costs low. So, today we will be taking some lessons from the strategy that Elon Musk has utilized as the new Twitter CEO.  If you found value in this episode, I would really appreciate if you could leave a review! My mission is to help and support as many...

In the last episode, I discussed the just-in-time method and how that is more effective than reactive firefighting, and I am now following up on that, talking about how I discovered the just-in-time method. As some of you may know, my earliest FinTech work was with Amazon and PayPal, and I share the lessons that I learned from projects on which I was the compliance point of contact. If you found v...

I wanted, for the first episode of 2023, to talk about why FinTech companies should be testing their decisions before testing their products. I walk you through the biggest mistake that startup FinTech companies make and why building a project from the bottom up generally does not work, and I explain the difference between reactive firefighting and just-in-time compliance and why the latter is mor...

For the last episode of the year, I wanted to reflect on what has been a challenging year (to say the least) but one filled with valuable lessons. I hope that you are able to make peace with everything that has happened in 2022 and enter 2023 feeling refreshed and renewed!  If you found value in this episode, I would really appreciate if you could leave a review! My mission is to help and support...

The purpose of a business is to serve customers and make money. So, doing something at the expense of the overall company's success because it is the "right" thing to do from a compliance standpoint is, in my opinion, a broken strategy. Tune in today to hear my thoughts on why compliance teams need to be humble!  If you found value in this episode, I would really appreciate if you could leave a re...

In the aftermath of the crash of FTX, many crypto exchanges have announced their readiness to publish their proof of reserves data with the aim of reassuring customers about the safety of their funds. Tune in today to hear my thoughts on this as well as the changes that I expect to see as a result of the FTX crash, the future of VASPs, and more!  If you found value in this episode, I would really...

Professional education and certification programs promise to teach us valuable skills for the FinTech industry, but they aren't teaching us the things that matter! Tune in today to hear why these programs do more harm than good and what I recommend doing instead.  If you found value in this episode, I would really appreciate if you could leave a review! My mission is to help and support as many Fi...

Is your team suffering from Boomers' Syndrome? If the answer is yes, you are not alone! Tune in today to hear why the traditional approach to compliance is so problematic in today's world and what you can do to help your team move away from it. If you found value in this episode, I would really appreciate if you could leave a review! My mission is to help and support as many FinTech startups as po...

Sign up for the Impact Mentorship program here !  In today's episode I share a personal story that highlights why you don't need a plan to be successful! Until 2020, I always measured my success by how closely I could stick to a plan. But I have come to realize how limiting that is, and through my Impact Mentorship program, I want to help you break away from any false beliefs you may hold about pl...

Driven by what I have been hearing from FinTech founders about their experiences with compliance, in today's episode, I talk about the core three elements of the just-in-time compliance framework, and why sometimes doing nothing is the best compliance strategy of all!   If you found value in this episode, I would really appreciate if you could leave a review! My mission is to help and support as m...

The majority of compliance trainings, certification curriculums, and seminars focus on understanding, interpreting, and implementing rules and regulations. In today's episode, I explain why I disagree with this tactic and what I recommend doing instead! If you found value in this episode, I would really appreciate if you could leave a review! My mission is to help and support as many FinTech start...

In this episode, I explain why to-do lists aren't actually as helpful as many time-management gurus would have you believe! I also share a new approach that you can use to define your strategic priorities instead of a to-do list. If you found value in this episode, I would really appreciate if you could leave a review! My mission is to help and support as many FinTech startups as possible, and whe...

In this episode, I run through some of the common mistakes that FinTech founders make when trying to build relationships with the government, and I share some helpful strategies for how to build these relationships more effectively. If you found value in this episode, I would really appreciate if you could leave a review! My mission is to help and support as many FinTech startups as possible, and...

When I interacted with Wirecard a few years ago, I had mixed feelings about them. In some ways, Wirecard is very similar to most other FinTechs, but their fraudulent activity is in a league of its own!  If you found value in this episode, I would really appreciate if you could leave a review! My mission is to help and support as many FinTech startups as possible, and when you leave a positive revi...

Yana is recording from one of her favorite cities, Dusseldorf. She's talking all about compliance tools, compliance tool selection, and why you shouldn't select your tools based on pricing alone.  We go through a list of questions to ask about the tool to really understand the metrics and amount of false positive checks created. Choosing the lowest price per check can cost you more if the tool cre...

Cancel culture refers to the ostracism of a person as a result of them saying morally wrong, subjectively offensive, or politically insensitive. In this episode, I talk about the downsides of cancel culture, and why it could ruin your FinTech startup if you let it thrive. If you found value in this episode, I would really appreciate if you could leave a review! My mission is to help and support as...

Compliance templates can be hugely beneficial, but they can also cause a lot of confusion if you don't know how or when to use them. If you've ever wondered about which situations are suitable for compliance templates and which are not, this episode is for you!  If you found value in this episode, I would really appreciate if you could leave a review! My mission is to help and support as many FinT...

Adding more features, data, and analytics capabilities to your RegTech tools may sound like a worthwhile effort, but it actually does more harm than good in the FinTech world. Tune in today to hear why this trend is more like a Candy Crush office game than an effective business strategy.  If you found value in this episode, I would really appreciate if you could leave a review! My mission is to he...

The Tornado Cash sanctions are unusual, unclear, and in my opinion, a perfect example of how modern politicians weaponize financial services and technical infrastructure. Tune in for this week's episode, where I share my thoughts on why sanctions against Tornado Cash are counter-productive. If you found value in this episode, I would really appreciate if you could leave a review! My mission is to...

After noticing that there is a lot of confusion around the difference between client fund segregation and deposit protection schemes, I decided to clear that up in today's episode by diving into what exactly client fund segregation is, why it exists, and how to approach it!  If you found value in this episode, I would really appreciate if you could leave a review! My mission is to help and support...