What are the core components of an enduring fintech company in 2024? “Fintech” is such a widely accepted term in industry these days that it’s easy for any one company to get lost in the noise. The industry has certainly taken its fair share of bumps as it continues to mature and for most fintech companies today it probably feels harder than ever to cut through the noise. Noise is a product of competition and Ben Verschuere, the Co-Founder & CIO of Treasure, is no stranger to the latter. Having worked for nearly a decade in public markets, competition was a constant for Ben and his team. Today, in the world of fintech, Treasure is an embedded treasury management company that gives any company the type of treasury management skills accessible to only the largest of Fortune 500 companies. In this interview, Ben and I talk a little about the changing dynamics within public and private markets, building efficient distribution, and about the inner workings of Treasure in general. 

Ben, great to have you on. Could you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?

Thanks for the invite, Dez. Excited to be talking with you today. So my background– originally I'm from Belgium, born and raised there, and then went for grad school in the US. After a short stint in London where I worked for big banks, I moved back to the US, where I worked 10 years for Peter Thiel’s hedge fund and family office. 

When I was working with Peter, I was very much focused on fixed income securities and managing a large portfolio for him and that's what paved the way towards what we've been building at Treasure. I saw first-hand how fixed income securities can be very, very valuable as a cash management tool, but can look very, very complex to outside people. My background basically helped me deepen my expertise in that part of the financial market and was a good foundation for building Treasure right after.

What was the founding moment for Treasure? Are you building it on your own? Do you have co-founders? How did you guys come together?