Operate Podcast

My latest guest is Amber Illig, General Partner at The Council.  What started, as she told me, as her desire to do angel investing eventually expanded to a community and then a fund a couple of years ago.

The Council Fund typically invests about $50-100K into pre-seed startups, and then she also has a group called the Council Angels, which has become a consortium of over a hundred angels.  Prior to that, she has a really interesting history in both startups and established tech companies.

She's worked in names you would definitely recognize: companies like Atmos, Cruise, Snap, and even Apple. She started her career in engineering roles at Eli Lilly and Delta Faucet, two of Indiana's most well known companies. And she also graduated from my arch rival school, Purdue. But I was still excited to speak with her.

We had a fun conversation covering her journey, the current state of VC, where she sees exciting opportunities, life as an emerging manager, and some examples of companies and less obvious industries where she's finding great investments.

Thanks to show sponsor, BankTech Ventures.

I've really enjoyed working with Sean Willett over the last couple of years, and it was a special treat to have him on the podcast. I'm grateful for the friendship we've developed and how generous he is with his perspective and feedback. We always have productive and future-focused conversations as we both work closely in the area of making community banks more capable, competitive and digitally transformed. He's made a big impact at Five Star Bank in his time there.

This was a typical conversation that we have, covering a lot of ground and challenging ideas and each other in the process. If you want to learn a lot about how community banks are evaluating and embracing the changing environment and their opportunities, Sean is a great teacher.

Thanks to show sponsor, BankTech Ventures.

Kristin Marcuccilli joined me to share the STAR Financial journey, which is in its 80th year and has had at least one member of her family involved since inception. She's a great example of a next generation business leader, fully aware of the opportunities and challenges that technology and change present, and embracing them for how they can strengthen their bank and the communities they serve. She's clearly comfortable with technology, and also recognizes how important it is to intentionally invest in team learning and development so they can use it and be enabled by it as well.

Learn about the bank's founding and why it's called STAR. Find out how they have defined their primary community of family businesses. Hear what they learned from being an early adopter of bitcoin in banking. And much more!

My takeaway: with great leadership, an organization can not only make the transition to its next generation, but it can also surge ahead and thrive in the years to come. I have great confidence that Kristin and STAR will be in that position.

Thanks to show sponsor, BankTech Ventures.

John Mizzi from Vero Technologies joined me to talk about his founder journey and the dual value proposition his company offers to banks and some of the larger commercial customers who hold and sell physical inventory.

We discussed how challenging it's been for many banks to manage their wholesale finance business, and how Vero built the modern platform to make it better, faster and more scalable. They've already brought banks back to this line of business, and are also showing banks how offering it can help them gain banking business from auto, equipment and other dealers of larger ticket merchandise; and in many cases earning the primary bank deposit business from them in the process. 

John also shared a lot about his entrepreneurial journey and how this one is different from his past experiences, as well as how he's benefited from working with strategic accelerators like ICBA's ThinkTECH one.

Thanks also to show sponsor, BankTech Ventures.

This conversation has been a long time coming, as Zac Lyons and I have been talking about Jobs-To-Be-Done and its applicability to how startups identify and build the most important products.  It was so fun to record our discussion, and you'll find me in the zone during many parts of it, as it's a topic that has become near and dear to me.

Zac has developed very cool tools at his firm, Agile Innovation Advisors, to help companies and founders identify valuable opportunities, using things like the Heat Map of Market Opportunity and JTBD Solution Sprint. This helps them better focus their design and development efforts, win with customers, and achieve their business objectives.

I love his approach for framing up innovation challenges in customers’ terms, and it's led me to ask many founders questions about how customers describe their problems and what they think they want and need. As Zac's approach is focused on identifying and prioritizing the needs of customers, based on the jobs they are trying to get done, he can better identify true opportunities for innovation. And I believe this is a critical approach nearly every founder should also apply to her process for evaluating opportunities and where they should (or shouldn't) spend their time.

Enjoy this conversation. I guarantee you will be challenged in your thinking and will learn something from it!

Thanks to show sponsor, BankTech Ventures.

The heart of a community banker is a real thing. I remember it from my childhood, growing up in a community where my family was involved in the local community bank. My grandfather's and father's friends were bankers and they were passionate about the community and what the bank could do to help it thrive. Not everyone has had that experience, but Brad Bolton has, and he lives it by example every day in his community in Alabama and at his bank, Community Spirit Bank. 

He also lives it through his involvement in the ICBA (Independent Community Bankers of America), where he was recently Chairman, and traveled the country meeting with his fellow community bankers.  It was an inspiring and insightful conversation to hear about his journey, his perspective and his passion for community banking. And I'm also excited about his resolve for how community banks will continue to effectively serve their communities from coast to coast.

It's been a wild year so far for banks, and Brad's thoughts on what it means for community banks is worth a listen. Enjoy!

Thanks to BankTech Ventures for sponsoring as well.

I really enjoyed my conversation with Samantha Berg, the Chief HR Officer at Choice Bank. She's spent most of her career there and has grown and advanced inside of the bank, and embodies its culture. She also has a fresh and relevant perspective as an HR leader, and shared a lot of those thoughts and ideas in this episode.

Choice is a progressive bank with one of the most active banking-as-a-service businesses in the industry, and we talked about how that affects talent and culture across the bank, and whether to silo or integrate it.

Enjoy this discussion with a people leader who thinks a lot about attracting and retaining talent in the banking industry, clearly the most important topic facing her peer bank leaders across the country.

Thanks to show sponsor, BankTech Ventures.

In this episode, Heath Fountain, CEO of Colony Bank, delves into the world of community banking and how Colony Bank has navigated growth and innovation amidst the current economic uncertainty.

He discusses the importance of incorporating technology to create efficiency for the bank and better experiences for customers, the need to redefine community beyond geographical boundaries, and the role of community banks in revitalizing rural areas. Heath also highlights the value of personal touches and ease of doing business that community banks provide in comparison to national and regional banks. Additionally, he shares insights into his strategic planning process, leadership perspectives, and personal habits for growth and development.

Heath has built a culture that attracts and retains talent, and creates a desire to compete and win in serving customers and building a future-oriented bank.

Thanks to show sponsor, BankTech Ventures.

Greg Ohlendorf is the President and CEO of First Community Bank & Trust in Beecher, Illinois. He has over 35 years of experience in community banking and is known for his active leadership and advocacy for community banks. Greg has served as both a board director for the ICBA and his state banking association, and he is a vocal advocate for digital transformation in banking and collaboration with fintechs.

He has been an early and aggressive adopter of new solutions, positioning his bank to compete effectively in the changing landscape. Greg's vision for the future of his bank revolves around meeting evolving customer expectations while remaining committed to serving the community. He is comfortable with digital transformation and fintech collaboration and encourages his peers to embrace change and speed. Greg effectively filters through the numerous fintechs, using partnerships with the ICBA and BankTech Ventures to help him identify valuable opportunities.

He also provides advice to fintechs on improving their relationships with banks, as well as helping banks to more productively work with fintechs as well.

Outside of banking, Greg's personal interests contribute to his professional development and shape his leadership style. He maintains habits of personal development to stay energized and motivated. When asked why a business should work with a community bank as a financial partner, Greg emphasizes the benefits of personalized service and a deep understanding of the local community. He is excited about the bank's prospects for the year and also looks forward to playing golf at various courses - he is a world class golf aficionado.

Thanks to BankTech Ventures for supporting the show.

Zach Duke is the founder and CEO of Finosec, a company that provides a governance automation platform for financial institutions. They offer automated solutions, relentless protection, continuous monitoring, and actionable insights to help financial institutions save time and enhance exam preparedness. Their platform is designed to simplify cybersecurity management and reduce cybersecurity liability. They are passionate about community banking and all of their services are designed to help financial institutions manage evolving threats.

Zach and I had a great conversation that spanned his career and entrepreneurial journey, his love for community banking, bank technology and cyber security, and his advice for other founders out there.

Thanks to show sponsor, BankTech Ventures!