As 2023 draws to a close, we looked back at some of our most popular and interesting podcasts we hosted throughout the year. This list is mostly art with some science packed in — we looked at factors like number of listens, shares, and comments and then doused that with some subjectivity regarding which were some of our favorite to listen to.
2023 was a big year for the Tearsheet Podcast.
- Audience: We’re still expanding and topped 1 million followers.
- Library: Tearsheet published 73 episodes in 2023, covering topics from payments, banking, accessibility, green finance, Gen Z, and customer acquisition in financial services (note: not a lot of crypto or blockchain this year).
- Quality: Our conversations continue to improve as we explore the intersection of finance and technology. We had more senior leaders from traditional banks and lenders than we’ve ever had.
Top 10 Tearsheet podcasts for 2023
The Old Switcheroo
Why we chose this one: When competitor Robinhood began suffering from outages, product launch mistakes, and bad press from the GameStop/meme-stock craze, Public.com conducted what could be seen as a textbook end-around. The online broker eschewed Payment for Order Flow, launched an ad campaign with Michael Bolton, and was one of the first to get a GPT-based product to market. The result was 2x’ing its user base in just a matter of days.
My BaaS is bigger than yours
Behind Citi’s move to become a global partner bank, with Chafic Haddad
Why we chose this one: With all the discussion of small regional players moving in (and out) of Banking as a Service models, Citi has assembled the pieces to be a massive partner bank with deep international reach and a traditional bank’s experience with compliance. It’s a powerful thing for a single financial institution to be able to support a growing fintech or global brand moving into embedded finance across dozens of markets.
Strategy + Innovation + Investing
Inside Synchrony’s top strategy and corporate investing role with Trish Mosconi
Why we chose this one: In her role as Chief Strategy Officer, Trish Mosconi has oversight over the bank’s corporate venture arm, strategy, and innovation. In a year where innovation efforts (long term) were challenged by the economy (short term), leaders needed to balance keeping their heads down but their eyes up. This episode was an interesting look into the institutional fortitude needed to strategically partner and collaborate with top fintech companies.
A case study on a turnaround
Why we picked this one: In this tough economic environment, it feels like Citizens Bank is navigating smartly. For example, the firm recognizes the importance of digital and yet also admits that the physical bank branch is a competitive advantage, even for Gen Z which prefers in-person interactions around advice. Brendan Coughlin, the bank’s Vice Chair and head of consumer banking, joined us on the podcast to discuss how his firm is approaching growth and stability in this market.
Road trip: How a top FI centralized its data function
‘The Chief Data and Analytics Office is a team sport’: Vanguard’s Ryan Swann
Why we picked this one: This episode with Vanguard’s Ryan Swann gives great insight into how one of the largest asset managers on the planet restructured its organization around a centralized data function. Maybe it was Ryan’s military background or maybe it was his bubbly personality, but listening to him you get the feeling that the impossible can be done, that with the right leadership and will, large banks and other financial institutions can evolve into more modern organizations.
Surviving massive growing pains
What the Plaid and Brex CTOs learned scaling teams, skills, products during years of hyper growth
Why we picked this one: When the history books are written, there won’t be too many firms like Plaid and Brex in terms of how quickly they scaled their products and teams. The CTOs from both firms joined us on the podcast to explore how product planning has evolved, how talent needs have changed as their companies launched more products, and some lessons they’ve learned in growing their teams.
How to launch a card
Why we picked this one: This was an easy one. Tearsheet interviewed about a dozen people to put together a three-part series on what goes into launching a card: from planning and forecasting to partnering and marketing. We spoke to leaders at firms like Wise, Bluevine, Dave, Cross River, Stash, and Galileo. This podcast includes insight into what went right for these firms — and what they would do differently — when launching a card. While you’re there, you can also download our card launching guide which has even more value.
Gotta figure out the younger customers
The Gen Z Effect: Sustainability, technology, and the future of finance
Whey we picked this one: We did a lot of work on trying to understand the Gen Z financial services customer this year. This one was with Salah Said, Head of Sustainability at Klarna, Dave Donovan, Head of Publicis Sapient’s Financial Services Practice in North America, and JD Shadel, Editor at Large at Good on You, which publishes data on 5,000 fashion brands’ sustainability. And in this episode, you can really hear and understand what Gen Z is looking for in providers, the tension between the depth of their values and the thinness of their wallets.
New leadership, new-ish focus
Why we picked this one: Liza Landsman was only a couple weeks into her new role as CEO of Stash, the breakout investing/saving app. Taking over the reins from founders isn’t an easy transition for a startup and Liza shares how she’s evolving her leadership and the organization into a new era. She also deconstructs how Stash built its own core which will enable the firm to leverage its B2C chops into B2B relationships.
My phone’s my bank now
A year into the Google Wallet launch with Jenny Cheng
Why we picked this one: Google Wallet now integrates much of Google’s payment app with the added benefit of including other stuff — like a travel itinerary and digital drivers licenses. The tech firm wants its users to finally be able to feel good leaving their physical wallet at home. A year after launching, Jenny Cheng, VP, General Manager of Google Wallet at Google, joined us to talk about where Wallet has come from and where it’s headed.