In this episode of Breakthrough Labs, General Atlantic’s Head of Financial Services Paul Stamas speaks with Chris Britt, Founder and CEO of Chime. They discuss Chris’ early days in consulting and his time working at start-ups in San Francisco; his experience at Green Dot and working on teams that invented the retail distribution of credit and debit cards in traditional retail locations like Walmart and Walgreens; Chime's founding vision to cater to customers that were underserved by traditional banks; meeting his co-founder Ryan King and the importance of their complementary skillsets to scaling the business; establishing Chime after the Global Economic Crisis and the business’ approach to gaining customers by aligning with them on key values; the structural advantage that Chime benefits from compared to big money-center banks that it competes with; how the company has navigated operating in a highly regulated industry; how Chime puts user experience forward by partnering with banks; brand loyalty and how the business’ success is a reflection of its commitment to values and principles; the power of social media to engage and connect with members; measures Chime took during the pandemic to ease uncertainty for its members; how the company’s mission-driven approach has allowed it to recruit top talent; efforts Chris and the leadership team take in order to prioritize employee wellness; and the importance of surrounding yourself with the best people that represent diversity of thought and experience.

Key Takeaways – “In this episode”

• Chris discusses the impact of the Global Economic Crisis on the everyday consumer and how Chime grew out of a universal desire for more equitable banking services in the years to follow.
• A look into Chris’ early days pitching Chime to investors— he explains his vision for unlocking scale while serving a societal need by creating a business for the two-thirds of working age Americans, or about 150 million people, who live paycheck-to-paycheck.
• The initial difficulty that came with creating a fee-free business model and learning how to operate a company that could become profitable while still staying true to its core values.
• Chime becoming the jersey partner of the Dallas Mavericks and the company’s continued devotion to giving back to its community of users.
• Chris discusses how Chime has gone on to influence other incumbent banks to reduce consumer fees and offer more consumer-friendly policies, as well as banking innovations on the horizon.

In this episode of Breakthrough Labs, BeyondNetZero Managing Director Rhea Hamilton speaks with Frédéric Trinel, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of EcoVadis, the global provider of business sustainability ratings, intelligence, and collaborative performance tools servicing more than 130,000 companies across the globe. They discuss Frédéric’s long history as an entrepreneur, with EcoVadis marking his fifth business endeavor; deciding to start the Company in 2007 at a time when not many people were focused on sustainability; meeting his co-founder Pierre-Francois Thaler 32 years ago while working in Asia; identifying a need for sustainability ratings within supplier networks; his focus on profitability and decision to forgo outside capital until 10 years into the Company’s journey; the importance of managing data quality as a SaaS company and leveraging AI to achieve this; overcoming significant challenges when entering the US market, especially around hiring talent; establishing the Company around its core ratings product and evolving its suite of product offerings to meet customer demand; building upon EcoVadis’ proprietary ratings methodology to address new global sustainability regulations; the significant growth the Company experienced during the Covid pandemic; focuses for future growth, including beginning work with directly with banks on sustainable finance products like sustainability-linked loans; findings from an EcoVadis-led study demonstrating a correlation between a company’s financial performance and sustainability performance; and the benefits of having a co-founder and how he and Pierre-Francois have worked together as co-CEOs for nearly two decades.

Key Takeaways – “In this episode”

• Frédéric discusses his experience as an entrepreneur, founding four companies before he started EcoVadis, and the lessons learned that he continues to apply today.

• EcoVadis’ role as a supplier of sustainability ratings at scale and how Frédéric and Pierre-Francois identified the market opening as an early mover in the space.

• Frédéric outlines the opportunities and challenges that come with building an international company out of Europe with global talent, and how he navigated headwinds when entering new markets, including the US.

• EcoVadis’ evolution beyond its core ratings product to meet the growing needs of customers and the shifting ESG and sustainability regulatory landscape.

• Frédéric reflects on the company’s reach to over 130,000 customers as the importance of sustainability intelligence continues to increase.