Credit: Stephen Sauer
Sarah Biller likes to tackle hard problems, particularly those that bridge technology and the financial sector to improve access to data and banking services.
As a co-founder of Fintech Sandbox, Biller helps financial technology startups access high-quality data; as the executive director of Vantage Ventures, she supports and invests in tech startups in West Virginia and Appalachia. She was the co-founder and president of venture-backed predictive analytics firm Capital Market Exchange and on the founding team of the Mass FinTech Hub.
We spoke with Biller — who presented at the recent MIT Fintech Conference — about working in a rapidly digitizing industry, what she carries with her from her childhood in Appalachia, and why access to financial data is crucial to building a equitable global fintech ecosystem.
What skill or ability has served you well in your work?
The financial services sector has evolved rapidly over the past decade, and the pace of change is only speeding up. How we move, lend, and invest money today will not be how we do so tomorrow. I am preparing for a financial services sector that will be permissionless, frictionless, and contactless — in other words, an industry where less human engagement will be the norm.
My ability to build tech organizations to address the new set of challenges brought by an increasingly digital-first financial services sector has served me well. These skills include developing technologies and the talent to build financial services products and services that tackle new risks and opportunities in an AI-powered, digital financial services sector.
In my mind, though, the greatest challenges lie ahead for even the most skillful operators: Can we align the public, private, academic, investor, and entrepreneurial sectors around the building and principled adoption of technologies that work for everyone, anywhere and anytime they need financial services?
How do you keep track of new ideas? And how does your team?
I grew up in the Appalachian Mountains, where handy tools for transforming new ideas into tangible things, like a pocketknife, ladder, or Leatherman [multi-tool], were never too far out of reach. Instead of physical solutions, I now rely heavily on my phone to help me keep track of and refine new ideas. As a team, we record new ideas via shared documents. That said, and as it was in my childhood, nothing beats coming together in person to advance new ideas into tangible outcomes.
What is the most difficult lesson you’ve learned in your professional life? In what unexpected way did you grow from it?
Muhammad Ali said, “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth.” I am routinely surprised by the fragility of this idea and that the fact that we don’t share a common purpose to ensure all parts of our society can thrive.
It’s been a rather hard lesson to learn that some of the most capable people in the United States live in proximity to some of the most economically distressed yet act to preserve the status quo. Building economic power from the top down by shortchanging individuals’ access to financial services, education, infrastructure, health care, or even the internet is eventually bad for everyone, including industry. I am devoted to leveraging the power of innovation and capital markets to solve these challenges.
Do you have a routine? How do you manage stress, overload, or burnout?
I am an early riser. The extra time in the morning gives me an opportunity to read, pray, and work out before intense days. I also play tennis and practice “shinrin-yoku” [“forest-bathing,” or spending time in nature] on a regular basis. Collectively, these activities help me stay clearheaded, healthy, and productive.
What is one thing you have read, watched, or listened to that informs your work today? In what way?
I am a voracious student of not just how things work but why, so it is quite hard to narrow the sources of information that have informed my work to one thing. I will say that the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank tackles some interesting challenges, and its publication “What It’s Worth: Strengthening the Financial Future of Families, Communities and the Nation” a decade ago deeply resonated with me. I still incorporate its findings — namely, that the American economy is only as strong as the American household — into my work today.
At MIT Sloan, we talk about ideas made to matter — ideas that are carefully developed and have meaningful impact in the world. In that context, what is your idea made to matter?
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Over a decade ago, I collaborated with a celebrated investor, David Jegen, to launch Fintech Sandbox, a nonprofit that provides a unique platform to make it easier for founders of early-stage financial technology startups to access market data. Today, we help startups across six continents and 30 countries access real-world financial and nontraditional datasets without friction or cost. This would otherwise be difficult, if not impossible, for early-stage entrepreneurs to secure.
We work with entrepreneurs innovating in areas that are not always on the mind of investors or industry service providers, such as financial inclusion, where startups can develop solutions to serve unbanked or underbanked populations, and personal finance tools, which can improve financial literacy and empower individuals.
By supporting early-stage companies and facilitating connections with data providers, investors, regulators, and financial institutions, we’ve been able to play a pivotal role in creating a global fintech ecosystem. This matters in a world where access to financial services can make a meaningful difference to the stability of society.
Read next: Can generative AI provide trusted financial advice?
