FINTECH
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G reat ideas are often borne of necessity . That ’ s certainly true of the fintech sector , where the genesis of many of the most successful startups and innovators lies in an original and inventive solution to a particular problem . Tim Chen , founder and CEO of Nerdwallet , is a great example of this . The 35 year-old entrepreneur sprung upon the idea behind the US-based personal finance company in 2009 when , he says , he was “ sitting around twiddling my thumbs ” having lost his job as a result of the financial crash .
Chen ’ s story is particularly interesting , given the way in which Nerdwallet grew organically from a single spreadsheet for a family member to a successful fintech business that reaches some 100 million people and is worth in excess of $ 500mn . He took to the stage at last year ’ s Money20 / 20 show in Las Vegas to elaborate on this journey as part of a keynote speech titled How Nerdwallet turned an $ 800 investment into a $ 500mn company .
Chen and Nerdwallet ’ s story began with an email from his sister , who was living in Australia at the time and , like many others facing a financial decision was having difficulty finding answers regarding her search for a credit card with lower foreign transaction fees . “ Like all of us , my first instinct was ‘ let me Google that for you ’,” he told the audience . “ Basically , I found a load of infomercials , a lot of marketing or promotional material
MARCH 2020