Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, here is yet another ousted CEO emerging with a new fintech. Remember Lending Club's Renaud Leplanche who went down in a blaze of controversy in 2016 and then, within a matter of months, went on to found the new lending platform Upgrade? Now we are having another "deja' vu all over again" moment with the career rebirth of another exited CEO - SoFi's ousted Mike Cagney - who is seeking capital to form a new fintech within the home equity line of credit (HELOC) space, utilizing blockchain, artificial intelligence and advanced analytics. Those are all the right buzzwords for VC investors in 2018, and we suspect we will see the launch of this firm imminently given the management team's pedigrees. As we've said in the past, we're all for second (and third and fourth) chances. All we ask is for a more professional work environment this time around. Mistakes made, lessons learned, move on.
(Cindy Taylor/Publisher)
"The former CEO and founder of the fintech giant SoFi, who was ousted from the San Francisco company amidst sweeping allegations of sexual harassment, is already pitching a new idea for a financial services startup to investors, Recode reports.
Mike Cagney is reportedly shopping a new startup that will focus on home equity lines of credit, which he plans to launch with his wife, June Ou, previously SoFi's chief technology officer. So far, Cagney has reportedly approached investors including PayPal Holdings and Palantir billionaire co-founder Peter Thiel, Recode reports, and Ou has shared a listing on jobs website Glassdoor looking for talent for a new venture.
“We are launching a new FinTech focused company in the credit enablement space with the mission of leveraging blockchain, AI and advanced analytics to unlock new access points for consumer credit products that can transform the financial lives of our users,” the listing reads. “We are a group of passionate innovators and serial entrepreneurs with a proven track record of creating billions of dollars in value in the FinTech space.”
Since September, five of the company's top executives, including Cagney, all stepped down..."
Full story at Bizjournals.com
(may be behind paywall for some)