Today we sit down with Omair Ansari, co-founder at Abhi, a fintech startup focused on Emerging Markets. Omar had a stellar career in finance, working both for the sell side and buy side before deciding to start his own company. Omair gives very concise and practical advice on what NOT to do when raising debt, how to win in a recession, the best way to keep innovating within a fast-growing company, and much more. We discuss the SBM opportunity, the recent valuation crash, and the megatrend of financial inclusion and well-being.
Abhi is a fintech startup that provides earned wage access to employees at the click of a button
(00:00) - Coming next
(01:00) Introducing Omair and Abhi
(02:00) Starting a company in emerging markets
(05:36) Being an entrepreneur after being an investor and a banker
(08:36) Why did he choose the Earned Wage Access model?
(13:42) The role of fintech in financial inclusion
(21:26) Focusing on the SMB side vs becoming a neobank for employees
(27:41) The challenges with access to local currency debt
(30:34) Top 3 pieces of advice for founders raising in emerging markets
(36:09) How to improve your credit engine before a recession?
(38:02) Why is the SMB segment so attractive?
(44:50) What’s next for Abhi
(47:55) Top advice to keep innovating within a startup
(50:15) What's your view on inflation?
(54:58) Valuation: are we going to see multiples going up again?
(57:55) Where to find out more
Shownotes
https://www.meritechcapital.com/benchmarking/historical-trading-data/ev-ntm-revenue
https://www.youtube.com/@ycombinator/videos
https://abhi.com.pk/
https://twitter.com/abhikaropk
#entrepreneurship
#business
#businessadvice
#fintech
#neobank
#money
#startup