Kurt Nederveld
Embracing Excellence
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Cathy G. (Explorer)
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Josh Wilder (Cultivator)
Mike Jackson (Marketeer)
Katherine Price (Sustainer)
Richard Dann (Facilitator)
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STEFANIA DI BARTOLOMEO
CONQUERING ADVERSITIES
KURT NEDERVELD
CEO | RAINSTAR CAPITAL GROUP
IIntentionality and Wisdom; these are the two words Kurt uses when asked about his thoughts on leadership.
He de ines the former as thoughtthrough actions or decisions that are made in order to achieve the best possible results. On the other hand, he de ines the latter as something that can only be grasped through experiences, experiences of hardships, challenges, and failures.
These profound ideas form the core of Kurt Nederveld's astute leadership journey. Kurt gives credit for his personal and business achievements to his parents- Gord and Sherry for instilling a strong work ethic and a faith based business focus. He is also thankful for his Uncle Les, a retired commercial real estate developer, who mentored Kurt for many years and provided great support along Kurt's entrepreneurial journey.
Exeleon proudly Covers this transformational leader and deep dives into the various experiences that has shaped Kurt Nederveld's pathway towards success.
SEIZING AN OPPORTUNITY
In October of 2011, a young and determined Kurt Nederveld founded Rainstar Marketing. The name of the company was an amalgamation between a Rainmaker and Rockstar, further
depicting the energetic and con ident approach that has made the company a success.
Rainstar Marketing served over 100 clients in the capital market, which included banks, commercial real estate, and corporate inance lenders.
Kurt saw a burgeoning opportunity to build an all-inclusive lending platform for commercial real estate, small business, and equipment. He mentions, “Many other irms just do equipment or commercial real estate but there wasn't a irm out there doing it all under one roof.”
Thus he started Rainstar Capital Group in January 2014 with a focus on solving the need for inancing for business owner and commercial real estate borrowers. Over the years, the company has grown its portfolio to over 250+ registered lenders for clients with commercial real estate, corporate inance, small business, and equipment inancing needs.
He further mentions, “We have become a national growth debt advisory irm helping clients grow their commercial real estate portfolios and businesses by accessing debt capital.”
SMALL STEPS, BIG LEAP
Talking about the success of the irm, Kurt makes sure to not forget about the sacri ices and hard work that accompanied this journey. “A lot of hard work, early mornings, late nights, non-stop travel, speaking events, capital markets conferences and above all, we were focused on one thing: creating long lasting relationships.”
Rainstar Capital Group is one of the
premier companies because of its diversi ied lending platforms, its streamlined processes, educational trainings teaching investors and owners on how to access debt capital for growth, and an accomplished team that has combined completed over $1B worth of transactions.
In addition to all these, Kurt's longterm vision for the irm, providing accountability, and mentoring the team on success habits has
collectively made Rainstar Capital Group to where it stands today.
FACING ADVERSITIES
Amidst the positives in Kurt's journey, there have been multiple absolute low points as well. Among which, two of the most dif icult phases was when Kurt was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 26 and the passing of his baby daughter in 2019.
These low points would be enough for someone to spiral; however, Kurt has always been one to ight; ight against any forthcoming adversities. And so he did. After undergoing two surgeries, Kurt became cancer-free. Today, he makes sure to be there as a form of support for others who are going through similar setbacks in their lives. “Grief has been very dif icult to deal with, but I have tried to use the loss of our child to provide encouragement to others facing
similar hardships that they can overcome.”
On the other side of the spectrum, Kurt has seen success in the form of his company completing over $1 billion in inancing. Moreover, working with great clients and seeing growth and breakthroughs in his team further ills him with gratitude for the highs he has experienced over the years.
Talking about what he would do
Team of Rainstar Capital Group
“
Passion
is what drives you, belief is what keeps you going through hardship, and always take the highs along with the lows as the latter teaches you to be grateful for every day.
“
differently over this journey, Kurt mentions that he would be identifying it quicker that every business is about the people, and one needs to make the right hiring quick in order to grow their company faster. “Wrong people in your irm become a negative time suck of energy. Focus on boosting your recruiting processes to attract the best talent. Talent is what takes your company to new heights,” mentions Kurt.
STANDING OUT
At Rainstar Capital Group, a holistic approach is taken to understand the situation of a client and the transaction they are looking to complete. He adds “We have a very speci ic debt advisory process we follow that helps us understand all the assets that we can help the client leverage- cash low, credit, commercial real estate, rental property, equipment, accounts
receivables, luxury hard assets, inventory, purchase orders and accounts payables.”
Talking further about the approach followed by the company to ensure optimal client satisfaction at every step of the way, Kurt points out that an intentional process that walks each client through the process of accessing inancing. “We have blueprinted it for our clients, so it's an easy step by step process that
they can follow to have the highest likelihood of success is securing growth capital.”
The Rainstar Capital Group platform boasts over 250 lenders for commercial real estate, company, and equipment inancing. “Our team of accomplished entrepreneurial bankers guide our clients through the product lines we can inance clients with.”
The education tools of the platform further help explain clients the pros and cons of different debt products that they can use to access capital. Furthermore, the company's branding, videos, webinars, social media presence, and client reach out strategies adds more to its credibility in the market. This all-inclusive service offerings and brand identity has made Rainstar a standout company since its formation.
Looking into the future and the upcoming projects, Kurt mentions that it is very bright for the company. “We have launched two sister companies Rainstar Development Capital and Rainstar Project Capital. We are working on a private equity fund to invest equity with our clientsand look forward to continuing the enhancement of our capital services to our clients.”
LEADING BY EXAMPLE
Aside from his entrepreneurial acumen, Kurt Nederveld is highly recognized as an investor and consultant in the debt capital markets. He has personally advised over 100 marketing clients, including Fund Managers, Debt Funds, Investment Bankers, Fintech lenders and Specialty Finance irms
Graduating from Calvin College with a bachelor's in business, Kurt always considered himself as a leader. His ideologies and philosophies shaped his decision-making ability, and it has only grown over the years amidst facing various challenges and mistakes. His maturity and growth level is re lected through some of his words, “Learning from mistakes and taking corrective action is what every business is all about. Trial/error and hard knocks are a part of every entrepreneur's journey.”
He advises young and aspiring leaders and entrepreneurs with a simple yet effective statement, “Word hard, work smart, ind the right talent, and enjoy the process.” He further continues saying, “Passion is what drives you, belief is what keeps you going through hardship, and always take the highs along with the lows as the latter teaches you to be grateful for every day.”
Too many new and small business are focused on the belief that an injection of cash will solve all their problems. A company is just like a building; if the foundation isn't solid, the building will eventually collapse. You could have a great product/service, and all the money in the world but without the right support your business is doomed.
We all know that it's not how much you have, it's what you can do with it ( nudge nudge, wink wink ). Having money is very helpful when starting a business, but there is so much more that is needed for a business to be successful. This can include mentorship or guidance from an experienced entrepreneur, access to business resources and support, and knowledge of one's industry and market. If you're not generating revenue, perhaps it's time to take a step back, and rede ine your target group, re-evaluate your USP and reinvent your marketing and sales strategy.
All aspects of business such as conducting operations effectively, investing in the right team members, improving the overall customer experience, and creating an excellent product or service are needed for businesses to be pro itable and run smoothly. In fact, some of the most successful companies in the world started from the bottom but were able to leverage their limited resources and climb to the top of their respective industries.
Furthermore, most entrepreneurs are misguided in thinking that an Incubator or Accelerator will be the lightning in a bottle that they need. The unfortunate reality is that traditional incubator/accelerator models are broken. Most business incubators/accelerators simply share their contacts and resources and take a portion of equity, then tell the business owner who to contact to resolve their issues. Any service that is rendered based on a referral from the incubator/accelerator has to be absorbed by the entrepreneur and in reality, most (if not all) small businesses don't have the free
cash low to cover these costs. Whatever happened to 'paying it forward' and helping support these small businesses to be successful without driving them into further inancial peril?
That's where we come in… Evolve’s Business Acceleration service provides the horsepower small businesses need (business development, social media, bookkeeping, marketing, administrative, PR and much more) without the cost of maintaining a complete workforce. Moreover, as part of our Start-Up Incubation service, we inancially invest in our
client's business, make a working line of credit available and provide all the necessary resources such as marketing, inance, admin support, business development, and more.
Let's face it - growing a small business is an ongoing process that involves perpetual trial and error. If you haven't felt “the suck” and happily accepted it, you will never be a successful entrepreneur. There is no substitute for hard work, focus, determination, and an unwavering ability to say, “Fuck It!” and keep following your dreams.
About the Author
Tom Greenwood is a seasoned leader with more than 25 years of international experience driving growth, building teams, and executing innovative business strategies as both a senior in-house executive and as a trusted advisor. Tom is an expert in managing, structuring, and scaling businesses for explosive growth organically or through strategic acquisitions. His thorough understanding of global business cultures, operations, markets, and sales channels; combined with his extensive network of senior-level contacts across Canada, the USA, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East; allows him to effectively bridge global business practices in order to achieve substantial, quantitative results.
STEFANIA DI BARTOLOMEO
Investing in a Better Tomorrow
or Stefania Di Bartolomeo, giving back to the environment has always been F her passion. Through Physis Investment, she has created a platform to support entrepreneurs and companies that are dedicated towards protecting the planet and our natural ecosystem.
With its unique data reports and tools to measure real-time impacts of sustainable investment, Physis is making a mark to bring about a change in the business landscape.
In an Exclusive Interview with Exeleon Magazine, Stefania Di Bartolomeo discusses her passion, journey, and Physis Investment.
What according to you makes one a dynamic entrepreneur? How do you integrate the same thought into your leadership?
In my experience, a dynamic entrepreneur is one who continuously learns, adapts, and attempts new things. An entrepreneur cannot be a solo player. They are the ones who must lead and drive a group of people to continuously learn, adapt, and attempt new things. The exciting part is building a team and inding a market that shares your view and wants to make it happen!
A dynamic entrepreneur is someone who has built a dynamic environment where energy, knowledge, and passion are put forward in the creation of innovative products and solutions. It is not about making one product and putting it on the market, it is about working with brilliant minds in implementing new ideas that can keep improving and adapting to the way people live. Entrepreneurship is a neverending process.
Talk to us about your growingup years. What prompted your interest and subsequently your foray into the sustainable investing space?
I didn't have an epiphany moment, rather my passion for the environment has always been part of my life. I have always had an innate sense of respect for the planet, walking and being surrounded by nature makes me happy, and I want to preserve it. I
believe the natural ecosystem faces many challenges, from pollution to the uncontrolled exploitation of natural resources. Investing in companies and projects that protect the planet and the people is simply a natural consequence of what I believe is right. Sustainable investing is key to building a better tomorrow. I want to be an active contributor to this incredible journey that the inancial system has begun.
What was the idea that led to the formation of Physis Investment? What makes the company stand out?
Physis was born to bring transparency to the investment industry and display investment impact in a comprehensive, transparent way.
The idea for Physis came to me while I was a fund manager working with a client who was inquiring about a fund investment strategy. The client asked a simple yet powerful question: How do you prove you are positively impacting the planet with my money? And after a few seconds, she added: Do you have data to show me?
At this moment, I realized I could provide plenty of analysis with large datasets or provide ambiguous ESG information, but there was no way I could help the client engage more deeply with their investments and answer her questions.
Physis was designed to answer these questions. We provide unique impact data and multiple tools to measure real-time impact of investments on the planet, rather than a confusing score telling only half of the story.
Being the Founder and CEO, what role do you play in the dayto-day proceedings of the company?
A few weeks ago, in our team meeting, I presented a slide, there was Mario + a mushroom = Super Mario. It is a clear reference to the
game from Nintendo my generation grew up with. I told them I am the mushroom, my job and my responsibility is to make sure you, and the company grow. I am the captain of a fantastic crew that wants to make a difference in the way people invest. In the dayto-day, I bring the Physis vision and advanced industry knowledge to make sure I can enable growth for the whole team. I love sharing ideas, making execution plans, and checking results with all Physis' departments, from the analyst to developers to sales.
Looking back at your journey, what would you have done differently when starting out?
In the early years of my career, after work and on the weekends, I studied to be excellent the next day at work. I would probably tell my younger self to work and study less, so I could spend more time with friends. But the reality is that I was in love with my job and the world of sustainable inance. I felt a drive and an urgency to make a difference, thus deepening my knowledge to be effective.
What would be your advice for aspiring and emerging entrepreneurs?
I have a few advice for emerging entrepreneurs:
Ÿ Be persistent in your goals, the path is tough
Ÿ Be bold and attempt the impossible
Ÿ Build a supportive network around you
Ÿ Ask for help and learn from mistakes
Ÿ Hire smart people and let them add value every day
Ÿ Motivate your team to learn and leave their comfort zone
Ÿ Value and reward your people
Finally, what does the future look like for you and Physis Investment?
Physis is a young, Boston-based intech company always looking to provide innovative solutions. Our growth strategy initially focused on the USA market alone but thanks to the European sustainable investing and reporting regulations, an increased number of European investors are inquiring about the Physis platform. We have seen exponential growth in the EU, and we are excited to create a new division there.
In the following months, in the USA, we will launch three different versions of the platform to better capture the diverse needs of investors, from small RIAs to large asset managers that aim to create and understand the impact of their portfolios.
MARK MURPHY A Critical Thinker Driving
Wealth Creation Strategies
There are no two ways about it that earning money and creating wealth are two different yet necessary skill sets. But sorting out inances to budget, save, spend, and invest involves complex jargons and concepts. There is a pressing need for relevant inancial awareness to give direction to your goals, desires, and ambition.
This is where Mark Murphy and his dynamic vision stands out. As a true visionary with over 35 years of experience in the inancial services industry, his only aim is to help and guide people. With this as his priority, he founded Northeast Private Client Group, where he has the client — and only the client — in mind.
Mark is the author of two books The Win-Win Outcome - The Dealmaker's Guide to Buying and Selling Dental Practices, which he co-wrote with, the CEO of Fortune Management, Bernie Stoltz, and Extraordinary Wealth - The Guide to Financial Freedom & an Amazing Life. Mark is presently working on his third book, Entrepreneurial Mindset - How To
Go From Business Owner to CEO. His irm, Northeast Private Client Group is a national inancial planning and wealth management irm. Unlike other inancial planning irms, Mark and his team focus on the process by which clients use inancial products rather than the products themselves.
Subsequently, Mark believes in integrating his thought leadership and business decisions with humility. “I don't have 28 people who work for me, I have 28 people whom I serve,” he humbly remarks.
AMBITIOUS PURSUITS IN FINANCE
As a young and keen child, Mark was vigilant and emphatic to his surroundings. “Growing up, my family always lived paycheck to paycheck,” he recalls. This did not give him much choice with his school and education. But his perseverance and positive mindset encouraged him to pursue something bigger and meaningful.
Mark graduated with a degree in Finance from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. He wanted to ensure that other people do not have dearth of opportunities while making smart inancial decisions. He says, “I always ask my clients what is important to them and that becomes our business starting point.”
Mr. Murphy also holds the Chartered Life Underwriter® (CLU®) and Chartered Financial Consultant® (ChFC®) professional designations of the American College as well as the NFLPA Registered Player Financial Advisor designation – all of which require rigorous training and testing. His continued commitment to education ensures that he is invested in the latest inancial planning news, information, and trends.
GIFTING VALUE THROUGH ABUNDANCE
Mark believes that building anything, especially abundance is deeply psychological. He emphasizes the need to be
resilient with your emotional itness while making wealth creation strategies.
For over 35 years, Northeast Private Client group has been his vehicle to make other people's lives better. The one frontier that makes his irm stand out from others is the consistent organic growth. “The business has grown organically through client referrals and that has been immensely gratifying,” he comments.
According to Mr. Murphy, successful professionals have one major roadblock from living their dream life — their self-limiting beliefs. Mark works with entrepreneurs, mid-size companies, celebrities, athletes, hedge fund managers, doctors, dentists, and other high net worth individuals to shift their mindset towards a growth perspective. This has a compounding effect on not just their money but also the quality of their life. He puts together a comprehensive plan of action by actively listening to the wants and needs of his clients and charting out different strategies to create real wealth. “With this plan, you can live comfortably today, and reap the rewards of capital, or what I like to call “paychecks” so that you can enjoy well into your retirement years,” he asserts.
As a leader, Mark strives to be the type of leader that he would want to work for. He says, “ I consider everyone my colleagues and value all opinions.”
BUILDING STRENGTH IN OBSTACLES
As a key business strategist, Mark aims to simplify complex terms and concepts and provide the right
direction, creativity, and companionship from a holistic perspective. This vision also holds true to his team members where each and every individual is a critical thinker and business strategist before a inancial advisor.
Additionally, Mark realizes that building relationships is key to longlasting impact. It is the people dynamics that upholds and promotes the reputation, and image of any company, especially a client-centric organization. He has also formed his company's core values on the exceptional value that he brings to his clients. Mark is honored to have earned the trust of both his clients and other advisors.
Amidst the testing hardships, tough lessons and rewarding results, he built himself as a strong pioneer in the inancial services industry. One powerful lesson that he learnt during these adventurous decades was “learning to say no.” He feels being a yes-man can do more harm than good and one must recognize their boundaries and also make them clear to others.
Mark is a frequent guest speaker on topics ranging from leadership, practice merger/acquisition strategies, estate planning, charitable giving, and strategies to create multi-generational wealth. Invariably, the numerous awards and recognition is a true testament to how he and his team continue to perform remarkably in the wealth management practice.
As an inspiring leader, he continues to focus on achieving predictable and permanent results. “Everything I do in my business is focused on delivering a superior experience and delivering abundance to each and every client,” he concludes.
HIS LIFE-AFFIRMING ADVICE
Mark's business ethics, commitment and humility makes him a perfect role model for young and aspiring leaders in the inance and wealth industry. Throughout his journey, he consistently invested his time, knowledge, and efforts in himself that has now made him unbeatable in his niche.
He reiterates the same school of thought for the future entrepreneurs who look up to him — “the best investment you can make is to invest in yourself.” As in any investment, it takes tremendous patience to reap the bene its and it is surprising to see them unfold in an unexpected and powerful way.
Mark also suggests to never underestimate the value of time and encourages everyone to make each minute count. “There is always untapped opportunity somewhere but not enough hours in the day,” he says.
LOOKING NORTH TOWARDS THE FUTURE
Mr. Murphy is thrilled about the expansion and goals of Northeast Private Client Group. “We are growing!” he remarks. Since he and his team recently moved to a space that's much bigger and better than their previous location, his vision is also supercharged to make the most out of this move.
“Our goal is to create a bigger, better future and improve the lives of all the people we touch,” he concludes with conviction.
LARRY HIGHTOWER
Helping Clients Make Sound Financial Decisions
Human emotions are a powerful thing. They can take us to a place where we can conquer the world, or they can break us and show us the bottom of the ocean. If we do not understand them, they possess the power of taking over us at every possible turn. But, if we know how to use them to our advantage, it can become a powerful ally that lifts us to heights we never thought were possible.
For Larry Hightower, it was the feeling of being inspired from a loss that took him to the zenith of success. Larry saw a successful family business go down due to the lack of inancial planning and literacy. Then and there he promised that he would never let it happen again and ventured into the Finance Industry.
Fast forward to thirty years, Larry has become prominent in the industry dedicated to providing inancial guidance. He also established his own Investment Advisory Firm, Hightower & Boler, LLC, in 2017, where he currently serves as President & CEO, and Chief Investment Of icer. At the irm, Larry ensures that all the investments for the clients are sound, compliant with FINRA regulations, and best address their inancial goals.
A VETERAN IN THE INDUSTRY
For 30 years, Larry has been dedicated to providing inancial services. Prior to establishing his Registered Investment Advisory Firm, he worked as a Financial Advisor for BMO Harris Financial Advisors, Inc., where he offered inancial advice to bank customers at seven BMO Harris bank of ices in the Chicagoland region.
Before joining BMO Harris Financial Advisors, Larry worked as a Senior Financial Advisor for Ameriprise Financial He offered inancial services to clients in Alabama, Georgia, Ohio, Texas, and Washington State, as well as Illinois, while there.
After taking a short sabbatical from his work, Larry founded Hightower & Boler, LLC., a Registered Investment Advisor Firm. Through his organization, he delivers inancial solutions for today and tomorrow through a personalized inancial planning approach that offers clients comprehensive inancial services. He works alongside individuals, municipalities, business owners, charitable organizations, and estates and trusts to deliver these exceptional services.
THE DEFINITION OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADER
In Larry's opinion, a transformational leader works with little more than a vision of a goal. The leader then forms a plan and acts on or implements the plan to transform that vision into reality. For him, it was to learn from the mistakes of the family business going down and making sure that does not happen with anyone else.
And today, even after 30 years of service, Larry serves his clients with utmost dedication. His team meets with each prospective client to determine their goals, timelines, and risk tolerance. Based on the gathered data, the team devises a plan as to what the next steps of the plan would be.
As such, the clients are rest assured to get the best offerings of a multitude of inancial planning services. The services range from Wealth and Investment Management for Individuals and Municipalities, Tax planning and preparation, as well as Estate and Philanthropic planning.
And when it comes to clients, Larry knows just one thing: to place values
of integrity above all else, both personally and professionally. He also makes certain that all customers not only receive investments that match their risk tolerance, but that they recall each stage of the process as a pleasant experience with a quali ied and experienced adviser. He wants clients to recognize his irm and himself as maintaining the highest level of integrity. He attributes his ability to keep to his ideals and deliver the best possible service to his religious upbringing.
DOING WHAT'S BEST IN THE INTEREST OF OTHERS
Both He and his Firm act as Fiduciaries for all clients. While his three decades in the inancial industry have won him national recognition, Larry is taking his time to establish his expanding client base, ensuring that he can provide personal attention to each and every client. He is currently leveraging his combined skills in inance and his 11-year term as an elected North Chicago Alderman to serve municipal customers in the Chicagoland area with investment management services.
Larry served as an Alderman and was knowledgeable in the bond issue, taxation, and revenue creation. He also has certi icates from the Financial Planning Association and the American Heart Association in Philanthropic Planning Solutions. Recently, Larry has joined the Carole Robertson Learning Center's Board of Directors, which provides educational services to children and families in the Chicagoland region.
He has also lectured the Certi ied Financial Planning Certi icate Program at DePaul University and
Northwestern University as an adjunct faculty member.
OPENING DOORS INTO THE FINANCE INDUSTRY
Larry's advice for anyone who is willing to penetrate this enormous industry is to keep their vision insight and manage any roadblocks encountered by keeping God irst and always persevering.
With his irm, Larry is committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity and professionalism in his relationship with the clients. Coupling that with his work, philosophy, and experience, he is quite happy to disseminate his knowledge of inance to the masses. Moving forward, the future for Larry Hightower and Hightower & Boler, LLC. looks bright and very promising.
SERVICES AT A GLANCE
Hightower offers the following investment advisory services to individuals, trusts, estates, businesses, and charitable organizations.
Ÿ INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT SERVICES
Hightower offers its clients personalized investment advising services. This is accomplished by ongoing human contact and engagement with clients while offering discretionary investment management and related advisory services. To build a portfolio strategy, Larry collaborates carefully with each client to understand their investment goals and objectives, as well as their risk tolerance and inancial condition.
Ÿ PENSION ADVISORY SERVICES
Hightower provides pension advisory services for its municipal clients, speci ically with Police Pension Fund and Fire Pension investment portfolio strategies, by working closely with the respective Boards of each Fund, reviewing/establishing the Fund's Investment Policy Statements, and ensuring adherence to the State Statutes that govern these municipal fund investments.
Ÿ
FINANCIAL PLANNING SERVICES
Hightower offers clients inancial planning and advisory services. Depending on the Client's goals, objectives, and inancial status, services are provided in a variety of areas of their inancial situation.
Hightower Financial Planning offers Comprehensive Financial Planning, Basic Financial Planning, and Consultative Financial Reviews.
Ÿ RISK MANAGEMENT SERVICES
Hightower offers clients Risk Management services in the areas of Life Insurance, Long Term Care, Disability, and Health Care Insurance. He assesses and analyses existing coverage and, if appropriate, provides suggestions to address any vulnerabilities.
Ÿ TAX PREPARATION SERVICES
Hightower offers tax preparation services on a stand-alone basis to individuals and trusts.
& A Q
More often than not we align leadership with terms like power, control, and authority. However, the de inition and the resulting perception of the world leader has gone through a radical change over the years.
A Ivan Gowan Q&A
True leaders understand that their success is intimately tied to the work of the collective; of the entire team. One example of such a leader is Ivan Gowan, who makes sure to lead a team that understands and echoes his vision, mission, and strategy. In an exclusive interview with Exeleon Magazine, we ind out about the journey and the beliefs of this innovative leader.
What makes for an effective leader? How do you integrate the same in your leadership?
It is very important to set out a
mission, vision and strategy in clear language that the people you are leading understand. This should be linked to the initiatives you are driving and show progress towards your mission. It is very important to spend time ensuring your team understand their role in helping achieve the company's goals and the steps they need to take to deliver. It is also very important to take on board feedback from your team and adapt to ind effective solutions.
What has been your role as a leader since being appointed as the CEO of Capital.com.?
My role has been very varied, from de ining strategy and communicating it internally and with external media, work closely with our product team on their roadmap and investments in product, work with our legal
and compliance teams to successfully obtain new licenses including our FCA license here in the UK and help drive our international expansion, establish banking and PSP relationships, working with our growth team to create and promote campaign messages, marketing payback and helping the team focus on areas of greatest growth.
How is technology changing the Fintech industry?
AI is changing the role of lots of people in different industries. At Capital.com we have built a highly scalable, real time trade analysis platform we call eQ that helps our clients to understand weaknesses in their trading strategies and provide context sensitive personalized education. It is extremely innovative and uses behavioral inance research
to identify clients trading biases and help them to become better traders through education – raising awareness of patterns of behavior they may not be aware of. We see that clients who read our eQ messages trade 10% better than those who do not.
What has the journey been like for Ivan Gowan as a leader?
I was part of a great team in my previous role and lead the development of IG's IT systems during a period where we expanded very aggressively internationally and when trading was moving away from traditional desktop applications to browser and mobile phone based.
stimulation and growth in my career. I have been very fortunate to work with cutting edge technology and growth minded innovative people throughout my career. My irst two roles in technology consulting irms gave me a great early exposure to a range of businesses and the ways that technology could be used to drive growth and new business models. This coupled with highly technical degrees positioned me well for the enormous change that the internet brought about.
What has been the biggest driving factor for you as a leader and entrepreneur?
A desire to build great products and
much scope for disruption and blockchain will be a big disruptor throughout the 2020's.
Capital.com claims to make the inance landscape accessible, engaging, and useful. How does it ensure the same?
We focus on ensuring our services are easy to understand and provide a lot of education. With so much inancial data available we put enormous effort into ease of use and accessibility for a wide audience. We believe people are not born as traders, but you can learn to become one. With an award winning platform widely recognized for great design and UX this forms a key part of our strategy.
“A desire to build great products and services has always driven me.”
At Capital.com, we have built award winning platforms on a very modern technology stack that is very cost-effective and scalable. My experience in capital markets providing leading trading services to high value clients has helped make the transition a lot easier, along with being able to leverage my extensive network in the industry.
Looking back, what would you have done different when starting out?
I have always focused on interesting work as a primary source of
services has always driven me. To engage with clients, understand their needs and desires, and deliver products and services they love.
What would be your advice for some of the aspiring leaders in the Fintech industry?
Find a niche that is growing and surround yourself with great people. Make sure you are addressing a real client need and move fast. It is extremely important to remain nimble and respond to changes in the market and your clients – whether you are in the B2B or B2C space. There is still so
How does Capital.com facilitate leadership and innovation among its employees?
We have a highly skilled team of people focused on UX and design who help digest feedback and pain points from clients and create hypothesis and solutions to ind innovative ways to solve their problems. They work closely with our other departments to continue to challenge the status quo and come up with great solutions. This can be challenging in a heavily regulated industry and takes a lot of time and attention to do detail.
What has been the biggest roadblock during your journey? What has been your biggest learning?
There have been lots of scale up challenges. Hiring great people is extremely important and dif icult to get right all the time. Obtaining our FCA license, banking and PSP relationships was a big challenge that we achieved in October 2018. Delivering a lot of things for the irst time in a new and growing company is much harder than it sounds sometimes.
How do you plan to take Capital.com forward? On a personal front, where do you see
yourself standing in the coming years?
We are pursuing growth and continued investment in Capital.com. The UK market remains our largest market. We will continue to invest in our platform to meet the needs of our clients with a broader product range (we already offer 2500+ markets to trade) and enhanced features.
Having experienced personal loss I live life day to day, appreciative for what I have. I work hard, always learning and try to inspire those around me. Who knows where I will be in 5 years' time.
Finally, what do you think is the most important trait for a leader and why?
In today's age with rate of change only increasing it is crucial to keep learning and looking for emerging trends and directions. Technology is cannibalizing a lot of industries and jobs. We need to be aware of these changes and help our people adapt and grow with so much change around them. This can be very stressful for people and we need to play a part in helping them become excited about the future.
ABOUT THE LEADER
Ivan Gowan is the CEO of Capital.com, a Fintech company which is on a mission to make the world of finance more accessible, useful, and engaging. Ivan is also the Cofounder and CEO of Currency.com.
The innovative leader began his journey as a software developer and has been always intrigued by the latest technological advancements and innovations. With his strategic understanding and technological expertise, Ivan has spearheaded Capital.com towards becoming an awardwinning platform.
