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We visited the headquarters of some of the most innovative and imaginative leaders in business for the CEO Series, learning what it takes to launch and grow a thriving brand. For this episode, our crew went to the offices of M1, a fintech platform that bills itself as “the financial super app.” The powerful online banking and investment platform has raised $315 million at a valuation of about $1.5 billion and manages about $8 billion for half a million customers. I caught up with founder and CEO Brian Barnes to find out all about the platform, how it was created, and his advice to founders on running a company that’s built to last.
Below are some highlights from our conversation, which have been edited for length and clarity. You can watch the full video above.
The emotion of investing
“M1 is a personal finance platform. We started the company about eight and a half years ago. We now manage about $8 billion on the platform for half a million customers. And we’re just trying to create the best possible way for someone to manage their finances. And we do it with a lot of customization, personalization and automation. I was lucky enough to be introduced to finance at a young age and was immediately fascinated by it. I love the idea of investing, of trying to find out what a company is worth and how it operates in a complex world. As an investor, you’re making a high-conviction bet. If you’re right, you make money. If you’re wrong, you lose money. And so, you know, some people like sports betting. For me, it’s that that will be worth a company in the next five to 10 years.”
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Doing business in good times and bad
“We want to build a financial institution that lasts for decades. There are companies out there that last for centuries. If you’re around for that period of time, it’s indisputable that you’re going to have these huge disruptions in the overall market. And so we tried to build a organization so that it can survive in any macro environment and not just be tailor-made for one.”
Calm in the storm
“I try to stay calm on the outside. [Laughs] The entrepreneurship quote I love is that the highs are high, the lows are low, and they are ten minutes away. There are times when you think about conquering the world. And then there are times when you say: What the hell am I doing? I took all this money, I got people to quit their jobs and join me, I’m competing against the Schwabs of the world. But stewing in all that stress accomplishes nothing. I think holding onto my emotions and understanding how I can allocate my time productively has been a good attribute I’ve had as I’ve built the organization.”
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The life of a founder
“Being the founder of a technology company is much more than just being a CEO. You are both the most senior and the most junior person in the company. You can set the direction and the strategy and things like that, but in any area in Isn’t there someone dedicated to that role? It’s up to you to bridge the gap. I would say I played the CEO role from 8:00 to 11:00 and then I played the junior analyst role from 11:00 to midnight every day. evenings. You’re just running around and trying to add value where you can. As you grow, you’d like to put things on hold while you figure out how to grow your team. But that’s not how it works: you have to grow your team, building a product and acquiring customers at the same time. There’s some chaos, but you have to thrive in the chaos.”
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Leadership legacy
“My mother Brenda Barnes was CEO of PepsiCo and Sarah Lee. I mean, she’s a great person to learn from. She was one of seven sisters. They all shared a bedroom. They were a Polish immigrant family in Chicago. Her father was a worker. And so, I think he always had an insanely healthy respect for the people who did the actual work in his companies. The people who bottled the cola, who loaded the delivery trucks. As a CEO, you have to respect the fact that they know their job better than you. And the leader’s job is to set an example of what you want the values to be throughout the company. If you could write down all the positive attributes and values you would like to instill throughout the company, then you’d better exhibit those things.”
Discover more profiles of innovative and impactful leaders by visiting the CEO Series archives.