Issue link: http://endeavor.uberflip.com/i/1202586
20 LESSON 3 THE FINTECH COMMUNITY IS CLOSELY CONNECTED TO THE BANKING SECTOR THROUGH FORMER EMPLOYMENT. Through former employment and investment connections, Milan fintech entrepreneurs and the people who support them are closely connected to the banking sector. Among 159 fintech founders with employment histories in the study, over 40 percent percent had previous work experience in banking, insurance, or consulting, and over 40 percent of these latter as senior executives. The careers of support organization leaders mirror this trend: over 60 entrepreneurship support organization leaders come from a banking career. However, despite these connections, founders mentioned that collaboration with banks could be difficult as work flows are lagging behind the accelerated timeframes of entrepreneurial companies. Further, profit sharing contracts with a specific bank could crowd out other financial institutions. Scaling companies can benefit from the community's close ties to the banking industry. Some of the fastest growing fintech companies (such as Credimi, Soisy and Satispay) were able to scale their operations that used these connections, channeling them into business partnerships and in some cases, even equity investments from private banks. (Interviews). Evidently, the industry's ties to the banking sector are a resource that can be further leveraged to get more fintech companies to reach scale in Milan.