Prior to starting Vector, Will Chu helped start Addepar – a leading wealth management platform that specializes in data aggregation and analytics. In this Global FinTech Series interview, he discusses his journey as a tech entrepreneur and how Vector helps streamline and digitize the payments process for supply chain and logistics.
How about a quick read:
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Can you tell us a little about yourself Will, and what your entrepreneurial journey has been like so far?
I get excited about working on challenges that have a huge impact. I saw that my path would be clearest if I learned how to build and so I chose to study computer science and engineering when I went off to college.
In 2009, prior to Vector, I helped to start a company called Addepar. Coming out of the financial crisis of 2008, we saw that there was an opportunity to build a transparent wealth management platform to help people better understand their financial portfolios and their underlying assets. Addepar quickly grew and I’m proud to say that we’re deployed at the largest of financial institutions.
I made the transition to trucking when a good friend of mine was taking over the family business. He runs a flatbed trucking company in northern California. He asked if I was interested in helping him think about how technology could accelerate his business and I jumped at the opportunity. I went from being behind a computer monitor all day to being out on the road in a truck or out in the yard where they loaded equipment. I loved it.
The journey has been rewarding – I’ve learned a lot, I’ve made a few mistakes, and even more friends. I get to work with an incredible team of software engineers, sales executives, and trucking vets.
In terms of hobbies, I’m a dad now, so most of my free time is spent with my family – riding bikes, hikes, and playing Uno!
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Given your expertise and experience in the tech industry so far, we’d love to hear about some of your biggest learnings and hurdles, from your time as an Engineer to Co-founder/CEO at Vector.
From the engineering side, my biggest learnings have always revolved around understanding the nuances and the use cases of our customers. Every industry and every customer is slightly different and finding the common thread is always the challenge. You have to build a product that can scale well to unique use cases and that integrates into the existing software stack. At Vector we have been able to deploy a product that works across different types of use cases and fleets from flatbed to tanker to dry van.
As a co-founder and CEO, my biggest learnings are around creating a vision and culture that allows us to recruit talent in an extremely competitive market. In the Bay Area, there are more than 5k startups at any given time, plus thousands of other well established tech companies – all of which are all constantly hiring.
I try to foster an environment that allows hard working and creative minds to work on tough problems. I work closely with my co-founders to create a company that helps people grow their own careers, while creating a lot of value for our customers and shareholders.
We know how at Vector, the team believes that better technology can transform trucking and logistics. Can you share your thoughts on how innovations in payments and billing technology (specifically) will transform global supply chains and logistics?
Trucking companies have a need to get paid as soon as possible. It’s difficult for carriers to wait 30 to 45 days to get paid when they just spent that money on fuel and driver pay. On top of that, it’s a painful process for trucking companies to invoice their customers. Proof of Deliveries (POD’s) are paper and it’s difficult to get that from a truck driver who may not be coming back to the office for a week.
Vector is streamlining and digitizing the paper-based invoice process. Our platform consists of a mobile app that allows drivers to complete a pickup or delivery workflow and a web portal for the back office to automatically send invoices. Ultimately the driver is becoming a biller – once they scan their POD using the mobile app, the invoice automatically goes out to the customer.
We’re also now offering the option to fleets to get paid on our platform. Instead of waiting 30 days for payment, a fleet can now get paid seconds after delivery. While our current go-to-market focus is on trucking, we see these same types of cash flow, paper based processes and communication problems across all of transportation and logistics.
Could you share some of your top takeaways when it comes to hiring and building a strong sales and operations team for a young tech product/company in fintech?
We want to bring on people who are excited about learning about our customers needs and how our product is constantly evolving to address those needs. Our product is technical and it streamlines a very critical workflow of a trucking fleets operations. Our business development team is made up of people who are mission oriented and are passionate about making a difference in a core area of our economy.
Regardless of department or function, we take the same approach in retaining strong people. We try to create opportunities that help them grow and invest in their success. We’re only successful if our people are successful. This stems from our culture where we provide transparency across the company and encourage everyone to ask questions and/or question the leadership’s decisions.
As a tech entrepreneur – what are some of the challenges you face while running your day to day business, what would you advise fellow tech entrepreneurs to do to overcome these same challenges?
Time is our biggest enemy – every day counts. It’s easy and tempting to get pulled in different directions which can be pretty costly if you go down the wrong path. Everyone in the company is constantly coming up with good ideas. The day to day challenge is harnessing that energy and creative thinking to prioritize which ideas are worth exploring and which are not without suppressing the team’s fire.
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How according to you will the fintech segment shape up in the next couple of years, given the constant innovations and investments in certain areas? In what way will it impact the global B2B do you think this landscape will look like in future?
Money will become easier and easier to move and platforms that facilitate micro transactions will have a big impact. It will allow people access to tools and platforms that were previously designed for larger organizations. An example of this, in the last few years you see Girl Scouts in front of grocery stores accepting Venmo, Paypal and Square for cookie purchases. Platforms like Shopify make it easy for anyone to become an e-commerce retailer overnight.
Could you talk about some of the other innovative fintech apps and platforms in the finance industry that according to you are set to be new game-changers?
I don’t believe fintech is a niche anymore, especially when you consider what Ripple is doing with crypto, how Marqueta is changing payments or what Robinhood is doing with stock trading. Let’s not forget about what the big banks are doing with advancements in mobile checking and the ability to wire money globally from the palm of your hand. CB Insights tracks this category closely and there are more than 250 venture backed companies covering a wide range of finance capabilities. The market is huge for fintech and there is enough opportunity in this industry for several competing platforms and app companies to all grow into large successful businesses.
What are some of the top must-have key-features that every fintech app/solution should offer their B2B clients, according to you?
It really depends on the app or the solution. However the top must have features that every solution should have, even outside of fintech would be integrations, security, analytics, scalability and mobile ready.
Tag (mention/write about) the one person in the fintech industry whose answers to these questions you would love to read!
Chris Larsen, Serial entrepreneur and Founder of Ripple
Anthony Noto, proven enterprise level executive and current CEO of SoFi
Max Levchin, serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Paypal
Vector automates driver workflows and back office processes to help fleets improve cash flow.
Will Chu is a serial entrepreneur and the CEO and co-founder of Vector, a leading provider of real-time fleet mobility solutions.
