Fintech
Kieran Draper | FinTech Magazine
When it came to finding a candidate to help drive B4B payments in the U.S., company co-founders Paul Swinton and Rob Anderson had only one option: longtime collaborator Kieran Draper.
“I have lived in the United States for most of the last 30 years, mostly in New York and most recently here in Boston,” says Draper.
“So in 2019, when B4B was looking for investors for the company and trying to make the next move, they came to me for the umpteenth time and said, ‘Kieran, do you want to join us and help us expand into the US?’
“I’ve had a long career in management consulting with some of the biggest companies out there,” Draper continues, “and the timing was perfect for me to make this move, to join a startup and try to do my part.”
Sometimes, though, reality hits hard, and when Draper joined to lead B4B in the U.S., all he had “to start with was a whiteboard.”
“There was nothing,” he reflects, but he knew what he had to build. “The good thing for me in leading the expansion was that we already had fintech capabilities in place in Europe and the U.K. The platform technology was there, but we had to create a whole ecosystem here so we could actually use the platform to serve U.S. customers.”
Indeed, as if creating a new ecosystem from which to use B4B’s digital platform in the US wasn’t enough, once completed, Draper and co’s task shifted to market penetration and gaining momentum in a US sector that was completely different from that of the UK and the EU.
“My focus has been on establishing the company as a legal entity, partnering with Visa and our issuing bank, the data processor, hiring people, and then marketing the company, which is probably the most important thing,” Draper adds.
“The two most important functions of a CEO are bringing the right talent on board and advancing the company, and that has been key for me and I will continue to strive to do that.”
Read the full story HERE.
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