The FinanZe Podcast, a podcast focused on educating Gen Z about the technology and finance industry. I’m your host, Logan Lin. In this podcast I talk with the most renowned founders, CEOs, private equity investors, venture capitalists, investment bankers, and hedge fund managers on Wall Street. Welcome and let's start learning together!
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25 recent
June 10, 202653 min
Episode 26: Matt Moore, Co-Founder and CTO of Chainguard
Send us Fan MailToday's guest is Matt Moore, Co-Founder and CTO of Chainguard — the software supply chain security company on a mission to make the open-source ecosystem safe for enterprises everywhere. Matt's background spans some of the most consequential corners of the cloud-native world. Before co-founding Chainguard, he was a core contributor to the open-source ecosystem and played a pivotal role at Google, where he helped shape the Kubernetes and supply chain security landscape that underpins much of modern software infrastructure today.In today's conversation, we'll dive into Matt's journey from open-source engineering to founding a company, how Chainguard is tackling one of the most critical — and often overlooked — challenges in enterprise software, the philosophy behind building security into the foundation rather than bolting it on, what it takes to turn deep technical expertise into a venture-backed company, and his vision for the future of software supply chain security in an AI-first world.Support the show
May 1, 202644 min
Episode 25: Marty Vanderploeg, Co-Founder & Former CEO of Workiva
Send us Fan MailWelcome back to the FinanZe Podcast, episode 25.Today’s guest is Marty Vanderploeg, Co-Founder and former CEO of Workiva — the cloud platform that fundamentally transformed how organizations manage, connect, and report critical data. Today, Workiva serves over more than 80% of the Fortune 1000.Marty’s journey into software and entrepreneurship is anything but conventional. He began his career as a professor at Iowa State University before making the leap into building companies, founding Engineering Animation Inc., a pioneer in visualization software whose technology played a role in some of the most complex and high-profile events in modern history.He later co-founded Workiva, scaling it into a category-defining SaaS platform at the intersection of financial reporting, compliance, and enterprise data management.In today’s conversation, we’ll dive into Marty’s transition from academia to entrepreneurship, the story of EAI, the founding and scaling of Workiva, establishing a positive company culture, the lessons from building multiple companies, and what it takes to create, the future of software companies in today’s AI first world, and advice to young people on building enduring companiesLet’s get into it.Support the show
March 31, 202641 min
Episode 24: Chuck Templeton, Managing Partner of S2G Investments and Founder & Former CEO of OpenTable
Send us Fan MailWelcome to the FinanZe podcast, episode 24. Today’s guest has one of the most fascinating original stories you’ll hear in the world of investing — from being a US Army Ranger qualified sniper to founding one of the most transformative internet companies in the restaurant industry, to now backing the companies he believes can solve the most urgent problems facing our planet.Chuck Templeton is a Managing Partner and co-lead of S2G Investments, a firm focused on growth and late-stage venture businesses across food & agriculture, energy, and oceans. Before he was an investor, Chuck was an operator & serial entrepreneur. He founded and was the CEO of OpenTable, which fundamentally changed how we experience dining out. He then went on to serve as lead investor and Chairman of the Board at Grubhub.In today’s episode we talk about Chuck’s time in the military, early career at OpenTable and Grubhub, his investing philosophy at S2G Investments, the software landscape, and his advice for young people entering an AI first job workforce. Link to S2G Investments Website: https://www.s2ginvestments.com/Support the show
October 6, 2025Episode 2348 min
Episode 23: Barry Eggers, Co-Founder and Partner of Lightspeed Ventures
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, we sit down with Barry Eggers, Co-Founder and Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners.We are going to explore his journey from Silicon Valley’s early days, to leading one of the most influential venture firms. We dig into the founding of Lightspeed, starting the M&A practice at Cisco, the story of Snapchat, his investment strategy, the AI era, the one misconception young VCs should know, and EQ over IQ in investing. If you enjoy today’s episode please leave a 5 star review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Support the show
June 19, 20241 hr 4 min
Episode 22: Ted Smith, Co-Founder and President of Union Square Advisors
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I am joined by one of the top technology investment bankers on wall street, Ted Smith. Ted is the Co-Founder and President of Union Square Advisors, a technology focused investment bank.After graduating with a bachelor's degree from Notre Dame University, Ted began his career at Morgan Stanley, where he was an early member of the firm’s technology investment banking group. Prior to co-founding Union Square Advisors he was a Managing Director at Credit Suisse, where he headed the global software investment banking practice. He also served as a corporate executive at Novell, including as Vice President of both Corporate Development and Business Development. In our episode we chat about his time in the early days of Morgan Stanley’s tech group, the dot.com era, founding Union Square, his career journey, AI tech trends, work life balance, and his advice for junior investment bankers. Support the show
March 23, 2024Episode 2126 min
Episode 21: Steve McLaughlin, Founder and CEO of FT Partners
Send us Fan MailIn this episode of the FinanZe podcast, I am joined by one of the top investment bankers on Wall street, Steve McLaughlin. Steve is the Founder and CEO of FT Partners, one of the premier investment banks in the world and the largest focused on Fintech. After graduating with a finance degree from Villanova University, Steve spent his first few years working at GE Capital in their famous financial management program. He then received his MBA from The Wharton School at The University of Pennsylvania, leading him to Goldman Sachs, where he spent 8 years at the firm becoming the head of the fintech group until his departure in 2002. With his entrepreneurial spirit and love for fintech, Steve started Financial Technology Partners in San Francisco. Steve was named the most influential dealmaker in Fintech by The Institutional Investor in 2017 and has continued to close some of the biggest deals in the fintech industry. Thank you to our sponsors at Magic Mind. Please learn more about the healthy energy drink shot at https://magicmind.comOrder your Magic Mind today at https://a.co/d/4R06mLiSupport the show
February 16, 202415 min
Episode 20: Saira Malik, Chief Investment Officer of Nuveen
Send us Fan MailIn this episode I am joined by another amazing guest Mrs. Saira Malik. Mrs. Malik has had a fantastic career in the finance world. Mrs. Malik is currently the Chief Investment Officer of Nuveen, one of the largest investment management firms in the world. Previously, she spent her first 6 years at J.P. Morgan Asset Management in equity research. Saira was recognized as one of Pensions & Investments’ "Most Influential Women in Institutional Investing" in 2023 and has been profiled in Barron’s, which ranked her among the top 100 most influential women in U.S. finance. She was also named one of the LinkedIn "Top Voices in Finance". Saira holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo and a masters of finance from The University of Wisconsin-Madison. Lastly, she holds the CFA designation.Enjoy the episode!Support the show
November 29, 2023Episode 1945 min
Episode 19: Tom Gotsch, Director at TD Cowen
Send us Fan MailThank you to our sponsors at Magic Mind. Please learn more about the healthy energy drink shot at https://magicmind.comOrder your Magic Mind today at https://a.co/d/4R06mLiHi everyone, and welcome to the FinanZe podcast, episode 19. Today I am joined by another fantastic guest Mr. Tom Gotsch. Tom has had a fantastic career in the finance world with over 9 years of investment banking experience. Tom is currently a Director at TD Cowen, one of the top investment banks in the world. Tom began his professional career with Raytheon Technologies where he was a program manager for 8 years before transitioning to MHT Partners, which was eventually acquired by Cowen and Cowen was recently acquired by TD Bank. Tom holds a bachelors and masters degree in industrial engineering from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. In addition, Tom earned his MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Business.Support the show
July 9, 2023Episode 1829 min
Episode 18: Robert Park, Chief Financial Officer of Dolby Audio
Send us Fan MailRobert is currently the Chief Financial Officer of Dolby, the #1 audio company in the world for entertainment technology. Previously, he also served as the VP of Finance for Chegg, Paypal and BlueJean Networks. In 2021 Dolby was named to Fast Company’s prestigious annual list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies and consistently among the top-ranked companies leading the music industry forward.Robert began his finance career with Ernst & Young, one of the big 4 accounting firms, serving numerous technology clients. Robert holds a B.S. degree in Business Administration with a concentration in accounting from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. In this episode we will be talking about the value of an accounting background, how to break into the corporate world, and the steps to climbing up the corporate ladder!To learn more about our podcast, follow us on Instagram @The_Finanze_podcast to receive updates on new episodes and our podcast’s future, or subscribe to our youtube channel at The FinanZe Podcast. To receive updates about our podcast episodes, join our emailing list at the.finanZe.podcast@gmail.com. Enjoy the episode!Support the show
February 27, 2022Episode 1720 min
Episode 17 (Part 2): Paul Polman, Former CEO of Unilever
Send us Fan MailOn today’s episode, we are joined by Mr. Paul Polman. Business leader, campaigner, Co-Author of “Net Positive: how courageous companies thrive by giving more than they take”, recently published October 2021. I loved the book so please go check it out on Amazon here: Net Positive Book on Amazon. To learn more about Mr. Polman and what he is trying to accomplish regarding ESG please check out his website here: Net Positive Website.Paul Polman works to accelerate action by business to tackle climate change and inequality. A leading proponent that business should be a force for good, Paul has been described by the Financial Times as “a standout CEO of the past decade”. Being named Investor Magazine CEO of the Year 3 years in a row from 2010 to 2012, as well as being named European Business Leader of the year by The Wall Street Journal.As CEO of Unilever (2009-2019), he demonstrated that a long-term, multi-stakeholder model goes hand-in-hand with excellent financial performance. Paul was a member of the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Panel which developed the Sustainable Development Goals and which he continues to champion, working with global organizations and across industry to advance the 2030 development agenda.Paul’s new book, “Net Positive”, is a call to arms to courageous business leaders, setting out how to build net positive companies which profit by fixing the world’s problems rather than creating them. He Chairs IMAGINE, a social venture dedicated to systems change, and Saïd Business School, and he is Vice-Chair of the UN Global Compact as well as a B Team Leader. Paul isHonorary Chair of the International Chamber of Commerce, which he led for two years.In part 2 of today’s discussion we hit on topics such as what it takes to be successful in the corporate world, what makes a great ceo, how people are at the heart of business, and what Paul thinks are a leaders most important attributes. Mr. Polman is a once in a lifetime CEO… please enjoy this episode. This one was my favorite podcast and I hope you guys enjoy.To learn more about our podcast, follow us on Instagram @The_Finanze_podcast to receive updates on new episodes and our podcast’s future, or subscribe to our youtube channel at The FinanZe Podcast. To receive updates about our podcast episodes, join our emailing list at the.finanZe.podcast@gmail.com. Enjoy the episode!Support the show
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