Waters Wavelength Podcast Episode 108: Dan Schleifer Talks About the Challenges of Creating a Fintech

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Anthony Malakian, US editor of Waters, and James Rundle, news editor of Waters, record a weekly podcast touching on the biggest stories in financial technology.

Dan Schleifer, co-founder and CEO of charting specialist ChartIQ, joins the podcast to discuss some of the challenges that he and fellow co-founder Terry Thorsen faced when they created the company out of a barn in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2012.

To hear the full interview, listen in the player above, or you can download it.

1:00 Dan talks about some of the early growing pains.
3:00 Did you know that, not only did they start out of a barn (just like Markit), but that the barn had been renovated previously by the Dave Matthews Band to be a recording studio?
5:00 Some more advice on traps to avoid early on.
7:00 Oh, and the long sales cycle—always remember that.
9:30 What were the advantages in starting in a suburban area, as opposed to New York or London?
11:30 What about finding talent outside of tech hubs?
14:00 Why is the fintech sector becoming more viable—relatively speaking—than it was a decade ago?
17:30 Is the market becoming so flooded with niche firms now that having a startup grow into a Wall Street giant is impossible?
(Dan managed to hold out saying, “ChartIQ for the greatest charts,” or some variant for 21 minutes!)
22:00 There is still disintermediation between systems, so there’s room for specialists and the need to create workarounds to make sure everything talks together—in case you’re sitting at your desk listening to this and wondering if you, too, can create a startup.
23:30 Dan talks about being weaning off social media.
32:15 The best mentally-friendly releases on TV.

Contact Info

As is the case with everything we do, we'd love to get some feedback from our listeners. Feel free to reach out to Anthony or James via Twitter or email.

Anthony: @a_malakian; [email protected]

James: @JimRundle; [email protected]

Past 10 episodes:

Episode 98: A Focus on Asia, Rolet Out at LSEG, Nasdaq's Bitcoin Futures

Episode 99: Fintech and Innovation, a Discussion

Episode 100: Bitcoin Futures...Again

Episode 101: The Top 10 Stories of 2017

Episode 102: The Best of Longform Journalism in 2017

Episode 103: Mifid II is Now Law; How to Apply for the Women in Data & Tech Awards

Episode 104: Regulators Struggle with AI; SS&C Snaps up DST Systems

Episode 105: Blackstone's Bill Murphy, Part 3

Episode 106: Blockchain on the Buy Side; the Importance of Coding