As a change agent in Canada’s financial services industry, Simple Riches entered the arena in 2014 as a digital investment platform. Today, it has vastly evolved into a company that modernizes the user experience with one primary goal in mind: money made easy.
“We offer basic services to help people grow their money, but we also offer the tools to help them file their taxes, manage their everyday transactions and cash accounts,” says Michael Katchen, co-founder and CEO of Wealthsimple. “Our goal is to help people navigate the myriad of financial options they will face throughout their lives and to be their trusted source for doing so in a simple, seamless and unified experience.”
As a driving force behind the industry, Katchen has received a number of accolades throughout his career: he was named one of Toronto’s 50 Most Influential People by toronto life and one of Canada’s “Top 40 Under 40”. Today, he is credited with redefining investing for a new generation and disrupting the outdated behemoth of Canada’s financial services industry. What canadian businessKatchen, this month’s Leader in Residence, sat down with us to discuss her entrepreneurial journey, the keys to successful leadership, and details on what she’ll bring to the stage of the upcoming How I Did It series of talks.
Entering the business world is not an easy task; What drives you?
There was a great talk at Harvard University a couple of years ago where the dean talked about how there is no greater form of dignity than financial freedom. That is something that motivates me deeply at Wealthsimple. Generally speaking, I understand that business is one of the best ways to achieve the change you want to see in the world.
September marks eight years since the launch of Wealthsimple. To what do you attribute your success? Is this where you expected business to be?
If you had told me eight years ago today what Wealthsimple would become, I would have been shocked. But the truth is that we still have a lot to do. That’s one of the fun things about starting a business: the goal is something that is constantly moving forward.
Our success comes down to building something that people really want. It’s a classic ethos for any startup that, in order to create a successful product, they need to focus on who their customers are. This is our vision for the financial services space. While I don’t think people historically describe it as charming and frictionless, we’re trying to make the experience of managing your finances exactly that. The balloon and the mail named us the most trusted brand among young Canadians in financial services, which I believe reflects our efforts to provide a seamless experience that helps our clients achieve great financial results.
Why do you think young Canadians have been particularly attracted to Wealthsimple?
I think technology plays an important role here. This is a generation that doesn’t want or see the need to walk into a branch and deal with paperwork and long lines. For a long time, that was not something you could avoid. When we launched the company, for example, you couldn’t access a financial advisor unless you did it in person. Over time, we’ve been able to create the right products and also change the regulatory landscape to enable the kind of experience that today’s customers definitely want and value.
Wealthsimple has grown to more than 1,000 employees. How do you approach leadership today?
I think leadership is one of those things that is constantly changing, especially in a high-growth environment. The leadership I need to exhibit now is very different than when we only had 100 employees. Therefore, it is important to always adapt and allow your style to evolve. Just yesterday, I was in a meeting and Elénie Godzaridis, manager of our engineering team, put it perfectly: “Leadership is caring about things publicly.” On this scale, his comment certainly resonates with me. It’s about determining how you set up the behaviors you want to model and encourage your team to exhibit.
Amid changing market conditions and volatile times, where do you find resilience?
I remind myself to stay focused on the mission. We used to spend a lot of time on the five simple rules of smart investing, and I think rule number 3 was drown out the noise. I think the wisdom of what smart investing looks like reflects what building a business looks like. There is a lot of noise out there and the best way to build is to focus on mission, strategy and executing your way through the changing cycles of the market. We believe in long-term opportunity here and as long as we deliver on that, it will work.
How would you like the future of Canadian financial services to look like? How do we get there?
Ultimately, instead of financial management feeling opaque, complicated, expensive, and frustrating, I want a future that prioritizes frictionless user experiences and anxieties around finances are demystified.
What is the best advice you have received?
Most career advice goes along the lines of ‘follow your passions’, and I always hated that because I never knew what my passion was and I found that idea very overwhelming. So honestly, the best advice I’ve ever received has been to focus on people over passions and surround yourself with people who inspire you. I believe that most people can be happy and successful doing almost anything as long as they are surrounded by inspiring people.
What can guests expect from your discussion in our upcoming How I Did It series of talks?
Like many industries (healthtech, real estate, cleantech), the pandemic has fueled advances in fintech at a faster rate than anticipated. This, coupled with the highest cost of living in decades, presents a unique opportunity for innovators as we think about solutions that will best help Canadians in this next chapter. I’m looking forward to talking about our own evolution as a company, where we hope to be, and what I think Canada needs to continue to build on the momentum of the past few years.
Get your tickets for Canadian Business’s How I Made It Talk series, with Michael Katchen, here.