Consumer Finance and Banking Board Advisor

POSITION SNAPSHOT 

Position Corporate Board Advisor – Consumer Finance and  Banking 

Company Invest Sou Sou 

Compensation 0.1% - 0.25% (2-year vesting, 1-year cliff, quarterly  thereafter) 

Location Remote (Global, US preferred) 

Founder(s) Fonta Gilliam, CEO 

Website investsousou.com 

ORGANIZATIONAL OVERVIEW 

Invest Sou Sou is a financial technology company built on the foundation of Afro Caribbean tradition to create a new form of banking that works for everyone. We take  our name from the sousou, an African-Caribbean form of social savings. Our company's  products and services are focused on the positive impact of social networks on savings,  fundraising, investing, and spending.  

Invest Sou Sou harnesses the power of social networking to create a service that offers  value to both consumers and businesses by utilizing artificial intelligence and machine  learning. The Sou Sou platform encourages users to build wealth together and stay  committed to their financial goals through perks, push notifications, and positive peer  pressure. As users build up their savings and credit scores, Sou Sou tracks their  progress and offers them rewards and perks for meeting their goals. After a user builds  up their credit and collateral, Sou Sou can match them up with relevant loans or  services and help give them access to the best interest rates.  

Sou Sou was also built with the needs of the banking industry in mind. Typically, banks  deny four out of five loan applications. Normally, a potential customer relationship ends  with a denied application. Banks that partner with Invest Sou Sou can refer those  contacts to our platform. This allows banks to cut back on customer acquisition costs,  gain access to untapped markets, focus on long-term business relationships, and  cultivate customers instead of turning them away.  

Since our launch, we've received investments and seed money from Echoing Green,  the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), and C5 PeaceTech. We've  also won Best of Show at the Spring 2019 Finnovate conference, the 2019 Africa  Fintech conference, and the honor of presenting at the 2019 World Government Summit  in Dubai as the GovHack 2019 US winner. 

BOARD MEMBER'S IMPACT POTENTIAL 

Right now, we are seeking to add a board advisor with deep connections in traditional  banking to help Invest Sou Sou capitalize on our increasing momentum. The board  advisor will work with the executives and other board members to provide important  feedback on company strategy, products, and services. They will also help to grow the  company's business network by supporting fundraising and recruitment initiatives.  

We are currently based out of Washington DC, but we have national clients and global  ambitions. We are looking for a candidate who can put their reputation behind Invest  Sou Sou. A successful board advisor will need to draw on their experiences as a former c-suite bank executive as they champion the industry-transforming potential of the  social-savings model to both potential clients and investors. 

WHAT CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED 

Technology has revolutionized many industries—telecommunications, consumer sales,  journalism—and now the time has come for the financial industry to be transformed by  the social power of the Web 2.0 era. Competition between banks for deposits is  increasing, especially among millennials. Millennials also have a discrete set of needs  as a financial consumer group. Millennials save less, and 40% of them have below average credit. Social networking and community connections are poised to  revolutionize the way consumers build credit, shop for mortgage rates, and apply for  business loans.  

Already nearly 80% of the world uses some sort of informal savings apparatus. We  founded Invest Sou Sou in 2015 as a way to formalize these groups and turn them into  more effective pathways to financial credit and stability. Our services and AI provide  smart saving solutions for customers and smart customer acquisitions for banks. The  Sou Sou platform can be licensed as a standalone application or via white label API. It's  a revolutionary new model for banking that has potential for community banks, local  governments, and even international financial institutions. 

Our product has gained significant traction, and we have partnered with experts in  investment banking, social media, and credit cards. With the addition of an advisor with  a high profile in commercial banking and fintech we hope to be able to build our  business relationships and secure the needed capital to fuel our accelerating growth.  

WHO YOU'LL BE WORKING WITH 

Fonta Gilliam (Founder and CEO): 

Invest Sou Sou was founded in April 2015 with the goal of empowering people to build  wealth together. Through her work with the US Foreign Service our founder, Fonta  Gilliam, recognized that traditional banking did not meet the needs of many minority,  female, or low credit consumers. After observing that different informal investing and  saving groups were used by these consumers around the world, she recognized that  banks were overlooking a huge business opportunity. 

Key Executives:  

Nneka I. Ukapai (CIO), Halima Murunga (CPO), Ramsey Smith, Ph.D. (CSO), Tanya  Hiple (COO),  

Key Board Members:  

Hamshy Raveendran (Global Business Development Expert for Samsung), Stacey  Jackson (Global Business Development Expert for VCs and Startups, Amazon Web  Services), Gregory Pickett (Director of the CDFI Disability Coalition), Paul Colin (Head of Audit & Commercial Airplanes & Enterprise IT, Boeing), Eva-Maria Dimitriadis (COO,  C5 Accelerate)  

Key Board Advisors:  

Chris Sarandos (Marketing, Facebook Ventures), Wyatt Robinson (Securities and  Fintech), Trecia Pessoa (Product Development, Mastercard Debit), Lisette Guittard (IT  Security), Duane Hughes (Central and South American Markets, Morgan Stanley), Sheri  Orowitz (Legal), Debra Fine (Executive leadership).   

WHAT YOU'LL BRING TO THE COMPANY 

As a board advisor, you will work with chief executives and other members of the board  to collaborate on decision making, execute strategic goals, and grow the company's  professional network. You should have a solid understanding of current trends and  challenges in financial technology and feel comfortable assessing how to best integrate  social savings with the mainstream banking industry. We are looking for a candidate  that has C-suite experience at a large national or international bank. Knowledge of both  the B2B and B2C services of commercial banking structures is a must. It would be  preferable if you have already completed a successful tenure as a CEO and are a well known retiree with the ability to buoy the confidence of investors and augment the  company's access to venture capital. 

All candidates are expected to display strong interpersonal skills and a level of business  acumen that has been honed over many years of experience. All board advisors at an early-stage startup should be able to provide mentorship to the CEO, assist with soft  introductions to potential investors or recruits, and act as an ambassador for the  company.  

Impact Description – Year 1 

The below list breaks down the effect that this position will have on the company  into a clear set of actionable goals. We recommend that, prior to reaching an  agreement, both the board advisor and the CEO review and modify this list  as necessary. The final timeline should guide the advisor's decision-making  process throughout their first year and also provide a mutually defined and  understandable measure of success for the end of the year. 

Within 1 Month, You'll: 

• Participate in our capital raise efforts 

• Meet with the different team members you'll be working directly with  

• Get up to speed with the company's current tasks and goals  

• View a demonstration of the product  

• Review current and pending projects  

• Set a schedule for future meetings and trainings 

• Evaluate the company's current fundraising efforts and develop a list of interested  contacts  

• Set specific goals for how you can contribute to the company's network of clients  and investors  

Within 3 Months, You'll 

• Expand the company's network through several ‘warm' introductions to potential  clients  

• Assist with the company's current seed round  

• Represent the company while networking with potential investors and reaching out  to your existing business connections  

• Finalize your foundational knowledge by analyzing the product-market fit, value  proposition, and existing client base of the company  

Within 6 Months, You'll 

• Hold one-on-ones with different team members to gain further insight into the  company's business model, go-to market strategy, and value proposition to banks • Combine your new knowledge of the company with your existing industry expertise  to offer advice on how to improve the company's operations and customer  acquisition 

Within 12 Months, You'll 

• Become a critical sounding board for other team members  

• Review your achievements in fundraising, consulting, and recruitment with the CEO • Assess your impact on the company and how you have affected its trajectory • Compare the strengths and needs of the company when you started with where they  currently sit 

• Define future goals that will build off of your prior successes, address new  opportunities, and continue to advance the company's growth 

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION @ INVEST SOU SOU 

Our customers come from all walks of life and so do we. We hire great people from a wide  variety of backgrounds, not just because it's the right thing to do, but because it makes our  company stronger. If you share our values and our enthusiasm for small businesses, you will  find a home at Invest Sou Sou. 

SCORE 3 – STARTUP BOARD INITIATIVE 

There is a dire need for more diverse viewpoints in the boardrooms of corporate  America. At Score 3, we are building on our experience with entrepreneurs in the  technology industry to create a fast-moving and innovative solution. Our Startup Board  Initiative uncovers diverse board candidates and connects them to our wide-ranging  network of tech founders. These experienced corporate leaders' partner with companies  by taking on the role of board advisor or board director in exchange for company equity.  

Our initiative offers the most logical and effective entry point for diverse corporate  executives: acting as board members for early-stage startups with diverse founders  whose obstacles, talents, and dilemmas they are best equipped to handle. Board  members can provide input on company strategy, acceptable risks, and priorities. They  are valuable sources of warm introductions to new investors, potential employees,  prospective customers, or future board members. In exchange, board members gain  experience in the rewarding environment of high-tech, high-growth startups and equity  in the company. As they develop their board-level leadership skills, they are exposed to  some of the latest ideas, technologies, and business practices. Together, founders and  board members will be able to grow professionally while shepherding the company  towards future success. 

The Score 3 Startup Board Initiative provides people of color, women, and LGBTQ  business leaders a way to bypass workplace bias and unfair stereotypes. Board  members receive personalized help to gain skills and create business connections that  will enable them to take their careers to the next level. Likewise, founders acquire the  critical social capital and additional business expertise that they need to accelerate the growth of their company. The technology industry is known for moving fast and breaking  things, and it's time to apply that philosophy to disrupting the homogeneity of the  corporate board room.