The next generation of fintech will be powered by these skills

Welcome to a special edition of?Human Capital , where we are tapping the minds of fintech leaders for their thoughts on industry trends, companies to watch, and skills of the future. Click Subscribe above to be notified of future editions.

There is ample evidence that financial services and technology have the power to change companies, industries, countries, even the world.

But financial services are designed and often delivered by people. Technology is built, implemented, and iterated upon by people. Both are used by, and for the benefit of, people.

So, at the heart of it all is people — and people are powered by their skills. Following part one of our Money20/20 series last week , this is part two, in which I asked executives, investors, and entrepreneurs about the skills that will power the next generation of financial technology.

Below is a selection of their responses.

And what do you think? Join the conversation with your own answer in the comments section.

What are some emerging or non-obvious skills required to be successful in fintech going forward?

The ability to manage the "frenemy/co-opetition" nature of embedded finance, where every fintech and software company is both a potential customer and competitor. We will always be in both direct competition and partnerships with one another, but it is the rarity of this competition and partnership dynamic that can also bring everyone together. I believe everyone can co-exist to provide a truly holistic experience by covering all sides and aspects of the industry. This is ultimately a win-win situation. — Ravi Adusumilli , general manager, Americas and SVP, global head of partnerships & business development,? Airwallex

We are hearing that retaining talent is a significant issue among fintechs. Right now I believe banks are winning the war on talent, and retention is achieved through meaning and quality of work. Discipline and focus are requirements for a fintech to be successful.?There are a lot of “shiny objects” out there to chase, and the companies that stay focused on developing a high-quality product or service that can be easily used by others in the financial ecosystem will be able to ride out any changes or fluctuations in the broader economic environment. — Zachary Aron , principal,? Deloitte Consulting , and U.S. banking & capital markets payments leader

As we enter into a recession, the most successful fintechs will be those that are hyper-focused on optimizing their operating models so they can sustain growth and emerge on the other side in even better financial shape. That means organizations must reduce their bloat while ensuring rigor in productivity and delivery. This is a skill set that hasn’t necessarily been required for young organizations that are emerging from an era that was flush with capital and defined by an unmeasured scale. In this new era, successful organizations will be defined by intentional, metrics-driven growth. — Johnny Ayers , founder & CEO,? Socure

To be successful in fintech, individuals must demonstrate the ability to form insights based on both technical and business knowledge. Too often, organizations become enamored with technology at the expense of a deep understanding of the business problem to be solved. The conversation around Web3 is a good example. Though an evolution of the internet as we know it may be important, much of the industry discussion on this topic fails to articulate the tangible problems to be solved and the ultimate benefits to the end user. Those with a mindset of solving market challenges will always be more successful than those promoting technology for technology’s sake. A second imperative in today’s industry is a mindset shift. No longer are there clear boundaries defining friends and foes. Instead, the ability to collaborate with imperfect allies is essential, be they other fintechs or financial institutions where there is competitive overlap. It's not about "winner takes all" anymore. Instead of fighting for slices of the pie, through collaboration via use of open APIs, open data standards, and the like we can grow the overall size of the pie such that everyone — especially consumers and small businesses — can come out ahead. — Chris Babcock , CEO,? Apiture

Maintaining rapid growth while achieving world-class compliance requires significant judgment that incorporates business savvy with legal and regulatory acumen.?Blending discipline with creativity, there are always ways to optimize for both high growth and world-class compliance.?Nonetheless, many fintechs (especially younger fintech startups) prioritize growth at all costs, avoiding or minimizing their focus on regulatory and compliance matters — at their peril. — Federico Baradello , founder & CEO,? Finalis

Thick skin! If you're going to be building a company in the fintech space, which had such a momentous rocket ship of several years heading into 2022. It's more important now than ever to be very analytical regarding what you're building, who you're pitching, and who you're partnering with. To navigate the turbulent times we're in right now, from the shaky markets and a possible recession to what's happening in the world, you've got to have thick skin to be prepared for what's to come. — Cody Barbo , founder & CEO,? Trust & Will

An openness to collaboration will always serve you well, especially in challenging market conditions. — Christina Bechhold Russ , SVP and head of strategic investment initiative,? Truist ?Ventures

Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to respond quickly to changes in the regulatory environment are crucial. Navigating new regulatory waves and adapting in a way that takes the best advantage of the possibilities of each market and each moment is a key skill to managing and driving success for any fintech company. To go global, the company's mindset also needs to take a leap in terms of diversity. Beyond the common sense of the term and the simple creation of an inclusive and welcoming work environment, diversity is directly linked to a company's adaptability and innovative strength. By focusing on building a diverse workforce, companies can greatly benefit from a wealth of different backgrounds, experiences, and knowledge together to develop, pilot, and fast-track innovative solutions. Finally, the critical skill of “putting yourself in your customer’s shoes” — meaning understanding what they need and what they prefer, and working to offer that, even if from a product point of view it doesn't seem to be "the best" solution. — Paula Bellizia , president of global payments,? EBANX

I have a high appreciation for the skills that fintech innovators have deployed to build the next generation of blockchain-based decentralized applications and programmable money. Whether you love it or fear it, because of their efforts there is little question that Web3 and immersive environments that blur the lines between digital and physical assets are on our doorstep, and I foresee an operating environment with exponentially more data points. As a result, we are going to need to become even more perspicacious, and develop expanded and, likely, very different skills to connect the data dots coming out of the next generation of fintech innovation. — Sarah Biller , co-founder,? Fintech Sandbox

You have to have an international focus. The trends affecting fintech come from different parts of the world. Mobile wallets may have begun with PayPal in the U.S., but they became dominant in China and can still see explosive growth in new markets, as we’ve seen with Satispay across Europe. The instant payments and open banking movement started in Europe and now is having a profound global impact, with Pix in Brazil and UPI in India. — Simon Black , CEO, PPRO

The most ‘non-obvious’ and frequently under-rated skill is being humble — you don’t need to have all the answers all the time. Rather, you just need to be comfortable and confident to ask questions. Utilizing your partners, advisors, and investors to build a best-in-class product will, in turn, build your professional network and this will become evident to your client base. It’s about the importance of collaboration and being comfortable with the idea that you must surround yourself with people who offer a skill set you don’t have or have not yet mastered. — Rachel Bourne, CFMP, CSM ?head of bank partnerships,? MaxMyInterest

The ability to track and leverage the key metrics and data behind the technology, such as measuring the real impacts to and for consumers, is a critical skill for any industry, especially fintech. For businesses to be truly sustainable and defensible to regulatory pressure, they must be able to demonstrate healthy outcomes. — Geoff Brown , co-founder & CEO,? Highline

First, understanding why finance is a regulated and supervised activity when building new services. And second, emotional intelligence to be effective at managing people who are younger and older than you. — Carmelle Cadet , founder & CEO,? EMTECH

A beautiful customer experience will only get you so far in fintech. To build a successful company that has longevity, you need to deeply understand the fundamentals of finance — the cycles of cash flow, how credit risk is calculated and why it has worked in the same way for 50 years. It may sound obvious, but the seemingly dull basics of credit risk management are often overlooked in favor of the more attractive tech aspects of running a startup. — Alexander Cardona , co-founder & COO,? Codat

The ability to consider security from A-Z. Fintech companies are often so excited about building a product that protection against fraud or cyber attacks becomes an afterthought. Evaluating and implementing infrastructures that address these issues from the get-go will ensure you operate smoothly on the road to success. — Nick Chandi , co-founder & CEO,? Forwardly

Capital efficiency?is in vogue again! — Stephanie Choo , general partner,? Portage

Given that most fintech companies are not banks and don't have bank licenses, most fintech companies (excluding pure-play infrastructure) will need to learn how to navigate the new normal of a high-rate environment. Profitability becomes paramount and the ability to turn cash flow-positive as soon as possible is going to be a skill that will test the resolve of most founders who grew up in an era of low rates and free-flowing capital. Without a balance sheet to draw from and relying entirely on spreads, margins are compressed and every expense needs to be offset with greater and greater revenue. At the same time, demand for services remains tepid given the challenging overall macro conditions. This will be a crucible moment for founders, and only those who can make the difficult decisions quickly, learn how to do more with less, and navigate the hardest fundraising environment they've ever experienced will be successful. — Nelson Chu , founder & CEO,? Percent

Adaptability and a growth mindset. Fintech is a constantly evolving field — you must embrace new technologies and new ways of thinking, and disrupt yourself before you get disrupted. You have to be open to learning something new every day and adapt your mindset accordingly. — Kevin Coop , CEO, DailyPay, Inc.

General management skills, writ large, are scarce in fintech. Now, much more obvious than before, these skills are critical to weathering the storm of explosive interest rates, macroeconomic slowdown, and valuations plummeting back to reality. Fintech, particularly publicly traded fintech or those players who are privately held and at scale, need to figure out how to migrate from a “grow at any cost” mentality to “creating their own cash” (while sustainably growing) mentality. The world has pivoted from cheap and accessible equity and debt to one that is radically expensive on both dimensions. Traditional general management skills, including making hard decisions about operating expenses, product-development prioritization, and focus on the cash-flow statement, will separate winners from losers over the next few years. — Jay Dearborn , chief strategy officer,? WEX

There’s a well-known African proverb that says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” I think this can be applied to the fintech industry. Competition, of course, is important because it keeps driving innovation forward, but the strongest players will be those that can provide multiple services to customers — and often this can be achieved by partnering with other businesses and being open-minded. — Kieran Draper , head of North America, B4B Payments - A Banking Circle Group Company

Engagement is the key to success, since truly devoting yourself to your work is what will drive you forward, especially during challenging times. If you commit yourself to a new project and say to yourself that you’ll do it for the money, or that you’ll treat yourself to a vacation once complete, it will still be a struggle. Achieving success and taking ownership of my goals are certainly my source of inspiration. — Monica Eaton , founder,? Chargebacks911

The most important skill required to be successful in fintech is the ability to balance security with a great user experience. At the end of the day, when it comes to financial services, people want to feel secure. If I am leaving money with someone or using their platform for transactions, I want to be guaranteed that platform is secure and I will not lose money or be scammed. On the other hand, when it comes to online security, most platforms end up creating too much friction in order to prove the user's identity, affecting the user experience significantly. Being able to deliver both at once is a relevant differentiator. — Andre F. , co-founder & CEO,? Incognia

One of the most important skills for any fintech leader is communication. Fintechs used to take the role of outsider storming the castle, but more often than not, they now need to influence boards of traditional partners or customers to build the partners that drive growth. The ability to communicate mutual value and move customers and partners toward a needed shift in thinking is essential for fintech leaders today. — Michael Fife , vice president, customer success,? Backbase

You need to move beyond marketing spin and really remove friction points and adapt to the customer needs. That requires listening to a whole group of stakeholders. Listening isn’t the most obvious skill when it comes to the fintech industry, but it’s often the one that is most underrated. — Sinead Fitzmaurice , CEO,? TransferMate Global Payments

How about fewer skills? The emerging "no-code" and "low-code" will redefine application development soon. Besides reducing the challenge of hiring scarce and expensive software talent, this new trend will bring business and software development skills very close. This new era will make positions in Product and IT/R&D have very similar skills. — Carlos Garcia , COO,? Buckzy Payments Inc.

You don’t have to be a nonprofit to be focused on ‘good.’ The ability to think strategically about a business model and tie that to a social mission is a unique skill and also incredibly important to the success of financial services and the greater good of the economy. — Leslie G. Gillin , chief growth officer,? Pagaya

Fintech tends to look like a cool industry, and user experience is a very important part for sure, yet this is an industry that is built on compliance and regulation. Therefore, you need to know a lot about your domain and the regulation, and you need to respect them. Regulation always makes things complex as it sets limitations, but I think we should all understand it's coming to protect the users and we should embrace it. — Eynat Guez , CEO,? Papaya Global

As we look at the proliferation of technology across the landscape, the ability to use data to position bespoke products at customers’ point of need is going to be more crucial than ever. And, as always, relationships matter. We believe that being able to partner with banks, traditional financial service providers and utilize technology in ways that unlock specialized use cases will provide the needed competitive advantage. Additionally, the ability to leverage the treasure trove of customer data for near-real-time risk and credit decisioning will significantly drive customer engagement and acquisition. There is so much data out there that being able to corral it for the various decision-makers and pivot business models, if needed, to benefit with the evolution of platform economics will be key. — Taira Hall , SVP, embedded finance,? FIS

A successful fintech leader should know what they’re good at and what they’re not — and be able to build strong teams that counterbalance their weaknesses. Knowing how to assemble the right group of partners is also key — you can’t succeed by going it alone. — Sherri Haymond , executive vice president, digital partnerships, 萬事達卡

Strong customer trust is essential in a world where customers have tons of options and low switching costs. Trust, a holistic offering, and a consumer-centric philosophy are essential to compete in the market today. Good client care requires a seamless connection between clients’ financial lives and their personal lives. — Lindsay Holden , head of? Truist ?Foundry

Fintechs are started because they want to close a gap and provide for a population that has been underserved. I would encourage founders looking to raise funds and the firms providing capital to fintechs to remember these aims and inclusion goals as you scale operations and raise capital for growth. We don’t need to sacrifice the goals of inclusion just to get to scale and profitability. — Mary Ellen Iskenderian , president & CEO,? Women's World Banking

Payments is flattening the world, so one skill necessary is thinking globally and more broadly than payment rails. With the cloud and cross-border commerce, you need to be aware of various nuances to different customer types, cultural traditions, business orientation and preferences. — Amit J. , president,? Attentive

Actually what we need to do is double down on core strengths that got us here. For Bushel, it’s always been about “flearning” — learning from failures. Because so much is changing and updating, you need to be constantly trying new things and figuring out what works. Research goes beyond simply UX and really goes into a deep understanding of our customers’ business models. But when consumers don’t even quite know what they want, you need to put something in front of them and test if it works. If it doesn’t, “flearn fast” and iterate based on the voice of your customer. — Jake Joraanstad , CEO,? Bushel

Thoughtfully integrating innovation and compliance is critical, particularly in the current regulatory environment. — Brendon Kensel , CEO,? PrimaHealth Credit

Gone are the days when traditional financial-services experience automatically gave you a leg up in fintech. Now, there are more and more people interested in fintech from all sorts of backgrounds. Fintech and money movement are very complex, and people who have a long history of working in tech can bring a broad range of experience and new methods of problem-solving to the industry. — Randy Kern , CTO, Marqeta

Successful fintech entrepreneurs need more than technical savvy and a passion for the project — they need to be weird. You can’t change the world thinking like everyone else. — Daniel Kimerling , managing partner,? Deciens Capital

The world of fintech is always changing, but it pays to be curious about the history of our industry and understand why things work the way they do. Unlike some other areas of tech, fintech builds upon one of the oldest industries there is. The changes that we make can have a long-lasting impact on our customers’ lives and, for those of us working with financial advisors, the relationships that they’ve built over the course of their careers. It’s important to first have an appreciation and understanding for the regulatory, technology, and distribution challenges that incumbent players have in order to make step-change improvements to the way things are done. — Michael Konialian , co-founder & CEO,? Modern Life

We need to get on the other side of complexity. Most fintech is really excited about itself: a neat or cool feature, analysis, capability. We need to instead focus on the end user, the customer, and get on the other side of what we as product developers and engineers find interesting, and make the application as useful and straightforward as humanly possible. Otherwise put, we need to bridge past complexity; it’s not about how amazing the application is, it’s about how easily and quickly it gets the job done in a way that gets the human being to a better place in an inspired and engaging way. With that in mind, the digital applications that impress me the most are personalized yet simple and give the user the impression of, “Wow. You?know?me … possibly even better than I know myself. You don’t judge me. Instead, you move past judgement and simply help me do less of what doesn’t work and more of what does.?It’s as though you’ve seen my vision board, you’ve got my back and you’re going to help me achieve my aspirations. It’s all about what matters most to me.” On that note, the idea of scenario planning is nothing new, yet I believe it’s a great skill to hone to be successful in fintech. — Michael Liersch , head of advice and planning,? 富国银行 ?Wealth and Investment Management

In order to be successful in fintech, it’s important to understand how and where the future flow of capital — including funds and currencies — will happen. In other words, thinking about the bigger picture. This entails keeping abreast of industry trends and developing solutions in line with consumer demands to future-proof a business. — Jussi L. , chief commercial officer,? Banking Circle

A non-obvious skill that is so deeply underrated in our field is empathy and relatability to the problem you're trying to solve. Products are better when they are created by people who can fully understand and empathize with the people and problems they are trying to solve, and they are so much more powerful and impactful than a group of professionals sitting in a bank's New York headquarters thinking about what people want. Examples of this are credit products for immigrants created by immigrant founders or products for single mothers created by single mothers. — Jehan Luth , founder & CEO,? BANYAN

Macroeconomic and risk management expertise — fintech business models are the most sensitive to changes in macroeconomic conditions. Especially interest rates! Fintech founders and investors alike need to understand how broad economic factors will impact unit economics, and manage their risk and exposure accordingly. — Emily Man , investor,? Redpoint

The abilities to solve complex challenges and contribute meaningful ideas are the most important skills needed to succeed in fintech. We’re operating in a new space, in uncharted territory. So, we’re looking for people who can navigate the intricacies that come along with that. People can learn to code, they can learn to balance books or sell solutions, and all of that is important. Self-starters and problem solvers are the ones who have every opportunity to make their mark right now. — John Mitchell , co-founder & CEO,? Episode Six (E6)

It's important to have a strong understanding of the existing systems and stakeholders in order to: (1) understand how you're effecting change; (2) understand who stands to lose?in?the future ecosystem, because those players, rather than other emerging players, will be your biggest competitors. While it's exciting to think about the future — Apto Payments was the first to issue a bitcoin debit card?in?the U.S. after all — it is important to study the past and understand the potential impact of our innovation. — Meg Nakamura , co-founder & CEO,? Apto Payments

One skill that’s imperative for ensuring long-term success is building a strong, inclusive company culture. Especially during times of fast growth, entrepreneurs often struggle to build and maintain a culture that is understood and lived by a growing and now often-remote workforce. We have three core values: First, the mission always comes first, which is to make the financial lives of people in Mexico easier. Second, we are a rock band, not solo performers, meaning we operate as a team. And lastly, “revenge of the geeks,” which loosely translates to our vision of providing an intellectually stimulating work environment that promotes a strong learning culture. — Adalberto Flores Ochoa , founder & CEO,? Kueski

We continue to see a need for having financial services industry knowledge — specifically a foundational understanding of how a financial services company can generate adequate margins.?As capital allocation becomes increasingly diligent, a clear and probable path to profitability will be critical for long-term success. Outside of that, creative and arts skills are becoming increasingly important in a digital world — and it’s no different in banking.?Generally, financial products have been widely commoditized, so a fintech’s ability to differentiate their brand, create content that stands out, produce simple and clean messaging that’s easy to understand, etc., is very important. — Jason W. Osborne , global head of banking and client solutions,? 简柏特

A crucial skill for anyone is being able to identify people who possess distinct, valuable talents that uplift others. Surrounding yourself with such people, who each contribute to the larger mission in their own way. Being able to learn and take motivation from them is pivotal for success, especially for founders and those in leadership positions. — Anabel Perez , CEO,? NovoPayment

It's called “fintech” for a reason, and successful operators need to prioritize innovation and problem-solving in line with the applicable financial regulatory frameworks and expectations. A proactive regulatory stance and “ask for permission” approach will yield safe, secure products and solutions. — Noah Perlman , COO, Gemini

First is being able to clearly understand your market and boil it down to clean insights and observations backed by data analytics and extensive research — the problem statement needs to be clearly defined. Second is the ability to be extremely curious and willing to adapt your thinking. I am not advocating for a chaotic and constantly shifting approach, but rather understanding that this is a dynamic industry with growing customer expectations that are always demanding more from their financial interactions. Third is the art of communication and storytelling. This is a new concept, and if you want people to pay attention to you, you should be able to get your point across with no more than three talking points. I love when people are driven to clearly communicate their purpose in 6-10 minutes, because otherwise the message often gets lost and good ideas don't get the attention they deserve. Last is being open to partnering with others. There are so many great ideas out there, and I often wonder what would happen if more businesses collaborated together to turn these ideas into complete solutions. — Yolande Piazza , VP of financial services,? Google Cloud

You have to be a good partner! The success of fintechs is going to depend on who they partner with and how that relationship goes. The nature of a startup or a smaller company is that you are not going to be able to build everything from scratch. — Kiran Pookote , director of business strategy,? 发现金融服务公司

It’s an important balancing act to create a product with high-quality visual design and user experience that also prioritizes compliance and risk management requirements. — Peeyush Ranjan , VP and GM of consumer payments and Next Billion Users,? 谷歌

The ability to navigate multi-jurisdiction regulations in areas concerning finance, data, and privacy. And of course, an appreciation of the industry and all that compliance professionals do. — Joe Robinson , CEO, Hummingbird

Adapting to change. There are many companies out there that have been around for quite some time and are sedentary in their business practices. The market is changing daily, and your employees and your products need to be nimble to meet the needs of your clients. — Charles Rosenblatt , president,? PayQuicker

Security outweighs cost and brand recognition. Building a product and company that place the consumer at the center of the process is essential. This means that protecting personal data and setting an example in the industry are fundamental — not a nice-to-have. Consumers shouldn't have to comb through the fine print to find hidden policies; the expectation is that data won’t be exploited. A bonus is the increased client retention and success. — Ryan Sandler , co-founder & CEO,? Truework

So much of fintech has been built on a self-service model, where you can't reach a customer service professional by phone or chat. At the end of the day, the real difference maker, as it is in more mature industries, will be how you treat the client. Suppose you don't build that into your operating system at the early stages; in that case you will miss the necessary cultural impact internally, and it will be incredibly hard to fix in later years when it matters. — Eric Satz , founder & CEO,? Alto

To be successful in fintech requires strategic thinking to position yourself in all scenarios, including when the wind isn’t at your back. In reality, many of today’s founders have only seen a bull market with near-zero interest rates. Understanding the durability of your business on either side of the current market environment is critical for success. Lastly, and very importantly, curating the right team — be they investors, colleagues, founders, or others you can rely on to work through the ups and downs — is essential for the growth of the business. It’s far better to surround yourself with smart people and focus on your long-term plan than to take what may appear to be “easy money.” — Aaron Schumm , CEO,? Vestwell

Empathy. When we talk about financial technology as an industry, we tend to focus a lot on the nuts and bolts and on speed to market. While there is profit to be made, you can’t lose sight of the people you’re ultimately serving. — Anthony Sharett , president, Pathward

In order to continue to succeed in fintech, professionals need to be flexible and adaptable so they can continue to navigate significant change. One way to achieve this is through constant, proactive learning. This industry is evolving quickly, so developing skill sets beyond everyday job functions to help manage ongoing client engagement amid such change is key. — Jonathan Silver , CEO,? Engage People Inc.

User experience and simplicity are core to great technologies. Making complexity simple is key to scale. — Josh Smith , co-founder & CEO, VRGL

To be successful in fintech, companies must recognize that the space requires collaboration. There tends to be an inherent desire to own an entire customer ecosystem or platform, but this is less likely to be successful for B2B transactions given their complexity and cross-border nuances. Merchants must put their business buyers’ needs at the center and understand who they can collaborate with to solve the problem together. This means drawing on multiple vendors and being forward-thinking to build your platform in an API-centric way to offer the best inter-connected solution. — Brandon Spear , CEO, TreviPay

Regarding customer acquisition, fintechs need to understand storytelling and content development. Fintech solutions are getting increasingly more technical to improve the customer experience. With this in mind, they need to better explain the technology’s benefits in a simple, clear way. People in the industry should understand how to create stories to address the primary customer-acquisition stumbling blocks — earning trust, building credibility, and educating potential customers on the value of the product. These stories must resonate with real people. — Gina Taylor Cotter , executive vice president & general manager of U.S. small business banking,? American Express

Analytics and business intelligence skills. The digital distribution channel allows us to receive real-time feedback and analytics from our customers for risk scoring, allowing us to maximize conversions and deliver an optimized product experience. The ability to effectively process today’s digital data and translate it into intelligent business decisions is a key component of success for a fintech startup. — John Tomich , co-founder & CEO,? Credit Key

Bank compliance. In my role, it is my responsibility to understand the core components of bank compliance to be able to effectively propose feasible solutions for the banks. Many fintechs operate outside of the banking space, and even if they are not regulated, their bank partners may expect them to meet bank standards. — Siya Vansia , chief brand & innovation officer,? ConnectOne Bank

The ability to build more inclusive risk assessment models is definitely a skill needed in fintech today, especially to serve the wide spectrum of businesses that are SMEs. This goes hand in hand with another skill: ultra-personalization at scale. Financial-service providers can no longer address all SMEs in one stroke, as they need to segment and serve them separately in order to create real value in the fintech space. — Mikkel S?lvsten Velin , co-CEO,? YouLend

Solve a real problem, not ones you may find in a business report. It seems product-market fit has lost its attractiveness, but will always be a founder’s equalizer. Everything tends to work out when you’re providing a real solution to real people in a positive way. I’m big on empathy because you have to have intimate knowledge of your customer. Startups too often try to solve a problem rather than trying to elevate someone’s experience, but the real mark of a good business is one led by people who know how to listen to a customer and then build a team of people who reflect that experience. A report isn’t going to tell you what you need to know to really connect the dots and transform someone’s economic experience. Additionally, adaptiveness is key. Fintech moves fast and a lot of those entering the space underestimate its pace in innovation and regulation. You have to be able to keep up with the emerging and descending trends in order to reflect those in your product. Many of these trends aren’t temporary fads but permanent factors of evolution in the industry, so those who can’t keep up won’t last. The product you start off with most likely won’t look the same down the line as you develop it, so you have to be open to change, growth, and failure. — Rodney Williams ,?co-founder & president,? SoLo Funds

Join the conversation with your own take on fintech skills of the future in the comments below.