Previously, in the first episode of the Envestnet | Yodlee Incubator Blog Series, we gave you an overview of cohort #5, consisting of Betterfin, Class Action, Hurry Home, MyPerfectFinancialAdvisor, Productfy, Rocket Dollar, Transaction Connect and Zinsur. In it, we discussed how the Envestnet | Yodlee Incubator connects FinTech startups with the mentorship and strategic guidance necessary to grow a successful business, while also providing free access to the leading Envestnet | Yodlee Financial Data Platform. Cohort #5 began their journey in the first of three bootcamps with an introduction to Silicon Valley. Over the course of this weeklong session, these entrepreneurs were immersed in team building exercises, speaker presentations from industry veterans, and business skills workshops. The developers also had a chance to spend time with technical experts from VC firms and successful fintech enterprises to learn from their experiences. This first session garnered a lot of positive feedback from the entrepreneurs. This is the first step on the road to the May 23rd Demo Day where they will pitch VCs, financial institution execs, engineers and luminaries on their ideas. Here are some reflections from cohort #5 members about the first bootcamp: Nicholas Stuller, CEO and Founder, MyPerfectFinancialAdvisor
- Experts and Mentors: It was incalculably valuable to get deeper insights into all functional areas of building a successful FinTech business from others who are going through, and have previously gone through, the start-up process.
- Product Focus: Learning about and developing personas for our product has brought us new areas for development consideration. We can now really focus product development on who would get the most use out of our experience.
Rick Dude, CTO and CPO, Rocket Dollar
- Silicon Valley Exposure: The San Francisco Bay Area is to technology as Florence was to the Renaissance. Just being in Silicon Valley, you live and breathe an ecosystem that can be tapped into and drive us to be better than our competition. The Envestnet | Yodlee Incubator has also forced us to have accountability for our roadmap; with clear tentpole progress markers.
- Data Expertise: Working with Envestnet | Yodlee, we are standing on the shoulders of data giants. The level of support, enthusiasm, and access is unmatched in helping us handle this complex orchestra of data connections. With this level of support, we can focus on building the product rather than trying to figure how to get the data we need.
Henry Yoshida CFP, Founder and CEO, Rocket Dollar
- Envestnet Network: I have built companies before and the Envestnet name opens doors to advisors, managers and key decision makers that are crucial to building this business.
- Platform: I have used other aggregators in the past for previous companies as the data was inexpensive and had a simple use case. Envestnet | Yodlee delivers more than that with needed analytics, insights and connections.
“Bootcamp #1 was a great opportunity for our entrepreneurs to meet each other and lay the business foundations for the cohort” said Envestnet | Yodlee Incubator Director Jeff Cain. “Between now and Bootcamp #2, we will be matching each of the startups with appropriate mentors and experts, who will provide invaluable guidance. Meanwhile, the Incubator team will work with the companies on setting milestones and overcoming obstacles and the Envestnet | Yodlee engineering team will be helping the startups implement our APIs.” With the next bootcamp to be held mid-March, we will continue talking to our entrepreneurs as they build their products, companies, and demos on the road to Demo Day.
