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Pupils come first with counselling
by The Spark Counselling | Sep 5, 2017 | Children and Young People, education, families, mental health, non-profit, parenting, Partnerships, relationships, Society, the spark, topical, young people | 0 comments
The Spark is at the forefront of efforts to improve the mental and emotional wellbeing of school pupils in Scotland. It is widely recognised that a child's ability and readiness to learn can be compromised by difficult life experiences.
Through counselling, education programmes and training for teachers we are helping schools manage the emotional and mental wellbeing of pupils. Thus allowing teachers and pupils to focus purely on learning and raising attainment.
School pupils come first thanks to counselling services from The Spark
Deputy First Minister John Swinney MSP recently visit Abercromby Primary to see the impact that school-based counselling has had on raising attainment. The school has partnered with The Spark since the start of 2017 to provide counselling for pupils.
During his visit the Deputy First Minister met with pupils, teachers and parents to hear about the benefits of placing youth counsellors in schools. At the conclusion of his visit, the Minister hailed the positive impact of school-based counselling:
"I was delighted to visit Abercromby Primary School in Clackmannanshire and see first-hand the positive impact and effect that the Spark counselling service is having on young people at the school.
This service is providing a safe space to identified children, giving them an opportunity to explore their feelings and emotions.
Our children's health and emotional wellbeing is one of the most important considerations that we must take as parents, carers and teachers. Counselling can play a key role in improving pupil health and wellbeing and can have a direct positive impact on attainment."
Launched at the end of 2016, the Pupil Equity Fund was established to help close the attainment gap. Schools across Scotland have turned to The Spark to support those efforts through school-based counselling.
Supporting pupils dealing with anger issues, parental conflict & family breakdown
Counselling can support pupils as they process significant life challenges. Negative influences upon their lives – parental conflict, poverty, bullying and family breakdown – can severely compromise a child's readiness to learn.
Mental and emotional support through counselling can reduce the impact of such issues and provide pupils with enhanced opportunities to realise their potential.
Counselling makes a positive impact on young lives
Through counselling and other support services, Abercromby Primary plus 10 other schools in Clackmannanshire have benefitted from The Spark's therapeutic services for children.
Measured against the Scottish Government's SHANARRI* indicators, the following outcomes were achieved by the end of the 2016/17 academic year:
School pupils that experienced an improvement in their distress levels had an average 9-point shift. A significant improvement by clinical standards
Feedback from teachers confirmed that counselling is positively impacting upon behaviour, concentration levels, pupil motivation and pupil resilience
89% of parent responses stated there had been some positive change/lots of positive change in their children.
Youth counsellors have worked on a wide-range of issues with school pupils during the academic year. Presenting problems illustrate the significant challenges facing children and young people growing up in Scotland. These included:
Anger and aggression
Parental mental health issues
Kinship/foster care
Loss and bereavement.
Supporting parents and families
Parental feedback from our work in Clackmannanshire confirmed that parents considered counselling a valuable service for their children. Furthermore they believe counselling is having a positive impact upon children in terms of:
How happy they are to attend school
Attendance and timekeeping
Their behaviour at home
Their willingness to talk to parents about personal difficulties.
Utilising the Pupil Equity Fund to provide counselling is an effective way to close the attainment gap. We have been engaged by schools across Scotland to support in excess of 5,000 pupils during the 2017/18 academic year.
Visit The Spark website to find out how our Children and Young People counselling and programmes could benefit your school. Read about our counselling services for Primary schools and counselling in Secondary schools.
You can also download a copy of the Clackmannanshire Council evaluation referred to in this article.
Relationship First Aid for Teachers
Find out more about the Relationship First Aid for Teachers courses which are delivered throughout the academic year in locations across Scotland.
Counselling in schools
To find out more about how The Spark's school-based counselling and support services could benefit your school, complete an enquiry form or contact the CYP Team on 0141 222 3910.
* SHANARRI – safe, healthy, active, nurtured, achieving, respected, responsible and included.
Children And Young People, Education, Families, Mental Health, Non-profit, Parenting, Partnerships, Relationships, Society, The Spark, Topical, Young People
Working at The Spark
Counselling careers


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Home Leaders The Top 50 Financial Technology CEOs Of 2020
The Financial Technology Report is pleased to announce the Top 50 Financial Technology CEOs of 2020. These exceptional executives lead some of the most prominent financial technology companies across the globe and have helped define many of the wide scale advancements the industry has undergone over recent years. They are innovators, strategists, and corporate leaders, who have built important organizations that are driving massive change in the way we spend, save, invest, or otherwise manage our financial lives. We reviewed thousands of CEOs from which we invited a select set to participate in this year's nomination process.
We then closely evaluated several hundred nominations and performed a more detailed review of each candidate based on demonstrated leadership capabilities by researching qualified information sources. We looked for technological impact on the financial industry, breadth of organization, number of businesses or consumers reached, career achievements and influence in the field and among peers.
It gives us great pleasure to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of these deserving CEOs.
1. Gary Norcross, FIS
Gary Norcross is Chairman, President and CEO of FIS, an $8.4 billion global business that holds leadership positions in payment processing, financial software and banking solutions. Gary started his career with FIS more than 30 years ago when he joined Systematics Inc. in 1988 as an entry-level programmer. He went on to serve in a variety of leadership roles prior to being named president and chief operating officer in 2012, president and chief executive officer in 2015, and chairman, president and chief executive officer in 2018. Under Gary's leadership, FIS has grown to more than 47,000 employees worldwide, serving over 20,000 clients in more than 130 countries. He was critical to the company's acquisition and integration of Metavante Technologies, Inc., and was heavily involved in its acquisitions of a large number of companies, including Certegy and eFunds. Gary holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Arkansas.
2. Patrick Collison, Stripe
Patrick Collison is the Co-founder and CEO of Stripe, the developer-friendly way to accept payments online. Patrick co-founded Stripe with his brother in 2010 after personally experiencing the difficulty developers face when implementing a way to accept payments online for content and goods. The Company is expanding internationally and has launched in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Ireland, processing millions of dollars each day for companies including Heroku, Foursquare and Reddit. Patrick previously co-founded and sold Auctomatic, an auction and marketplace management system, which he started in 2007 at the age of 18. A year later, the company was acquired by Canada's Live Current Media for $5 million. He earned his bachelor's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
3. Douglas Cifu, Virtu
Douglas Cifu is the CEO of Virtu Financial and was a Co-founder of Virtu in 2008. Virtu is one of the largest high-frequency trading and market making firms. The Company was founded in 2008 by Vincent Viola, a former chairman of the New York Mercantile Exchange, and Douglas Cifu. Previously, Douglas was a partner at the international law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. At Paul Weiss, he served as a member of the Management Committee, Deputy Chair of the Corporate Department and co-head of the Private Equity Group. He serves on the board of directors of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the board of visitors of Columbia College at Columbia University. Douglas earned his JD at Columbia Law School and his bachelor's degree magna cum laude from Columbia University.
4. Max Levchin, Affirm
Max Levchin is the Founder and CEO of Affirm, a financial technology company focused on providing consumer financing at retailers. Max was one of the original co-founders of PayPal where he served as the CTO until its acquisition by Ebay in 2002. In 2004, he founded Slide, a personal media-sharing service for social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook, which he sold to Google in August 2010. Also in 2004, he helped start Yelp, where he was the first investor in and Chairman of the Board from 2004 until 2015. He has served on several boards such as Yahoo!, Yelp, and Evernote. He is currently Co-founder and Chairman of Glow, a data-driven fertility company, and Co-founder and general partner at SciFi VC, a private venture capital firm.
5. Dan Shulman, Paypal
Dan Shulman is President and CEO of PayPal. Shulman was recruited to Paypal as its CEO in 2014. Recently, he explained that the jewel of Paypal is Venmo, which has grown tremendously with a volume that's expected to hit $1.0 billion by the end of this year. It taps into the cultural adoption wave of social and peer-to-peer technologies. Previously, Dan served as Group President at American Express and prior to that was President of the Prepaid Group at Sprint Nextel Corporation following its acquisition of Virgin Mobile USA, where he led the company as its founding CEO. Earlier in his career, Dan was President and CEO of Priceline Group. He began his career at AT&T, and was the President of the Consumer Markets Division. Dan serves as the non-executive Chairman of Symantec. He earned a bachelor's degree from Middlebury College and an MBA from New York University.
6. Simon Paris, Finastra
Simon Paris is the Chief Executive Officer at Finastra, one of the largest fintech companies in the world. Since his appointment in 2018, Paris has been responsible for the company's strategic direction and fiscal growth. He has notably advocated the shift to a cloud-based model for all Finastra solutions and spearheaded the company's transformation from a solution to a platform organization. Formed in 2017 by the combination of Misys and D+H, the London-based company provides one of the broadest portfolios of financial services software spanning retail banking, transaction banking, lending, and treasury and capital markets. He joined the company in 2015 (formerly Misys) as President and Chief Sales Officer before climbing the ranks to become President in 2016, and Deputy CEO in 2017. Paris balances his current role with being a Chair on the World Trade Board and was appointed to the Everbridge Board of Directors in 2020. Before Finstra, Paris was the President of Industry Cloud at SAF, Vice President of EMEA Global Accounts at Infor Global Solutions, Partner at Netdecisions, and a Senior Associate at McKinsey and Company.
7. Anthony Noto, SoFi
Anthony Noto is the Chief Executive Officer of SoFi, a finance company that offers a range of lending and wealth management services. Founded in 2011, the San Francisco-based company provides state-of-the-art financial products to help its clients borrow, save, invest, protect, and spend their money better. Noto joined the company in 2018, after the SoFi board unanimously agreed that Noto's expertise in technology, consumer, and financial businesses made him the perfect fit. Prior to joining SoFi, Noto spent almost four years at Twitter in varying roles starting as Chief Financial Officer and eventually appointed as the company's Chief Operations Officer. Before Twitter, Noto served for almost four years as Co-Head of global TMT investment banking at Goldman Sachs. He joined Goldman Sachs in 1999, was named Partner in 2004, and served as the Head of Communications Media and Internet Equity Research. Before returning to Goldman, Noto spent almost three years as Chief Financial officer of the National Football League. Before this he was an Associate at Lehman Brothers and began his career as a Brand Manager at Kraft Foods.
8. Noah Kerner, Acorns
Noah Kerner is CEO at Acorns, the first company to offer micro investing to the world. Noah's background is diverse and ranges from Co-author of "Chasing Cool" with the former CEO of Barneys, founder/CEO of three startups, and former DJ for Jennifer Lopez. He built the leading millennial agency, Noise. Before being acquired by Engine, Noise developed hundreds of products and marketing campaigns for this generation including Facebook's first app, the first credit card to reward fiscal responsibility for Chase, Vice's music property Noisey, and the top branded game in the App Store. Noah advises and invests in a variety of fast-growing startups, including WeWork ($16B valuation), where he also served as Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer. He is a graduate of Cornell University where he studied Psychology and Economics.
9. Jon Stein, Betterment
Jon Stein is the Founder and CEO of Betterment, the largest independent online financial advisor in the U.S. with over $18 billion under management. Jon founded the Company in 2008 seeking to make life better by helping people save time and money and empower them to reach their important goals faster. Jon manages Betterment's core retail platform, often referred to as a "robo-advisor", a 401(k) platform called Betterment for Business and a digital advisory platform called Betterment for Advisors. Previously, he worked as a consultant for First Manhattan Consulting Group where he focused on product development, risk management and investment portfolio policy. Jon earned a bachelor's degree in Economics from Harvard University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
10. Eric Poirier, Addepar
Eric Poirier is CEO of Addepar, an investment management platform for investors and advisors. Previously, Eric spent nearly 7 years at Palantir Technologies, a multi-billion dollar software company that allows organizations to make sense of large disparate datasets. He joined the company in 2006 as one of its first 20 employees, and continually shaped the core technology there while building the finance business, which now represents half of the company's revenue base. Before Palantir, Eric worked in Lehman Brothers' Fixed Income Analytics group where he focused on modeling, simulating and visualizing data across a broad range of debt and credit instruments. Eric co-founded his first technology business when he was 15, scaling mission-critical websites with high performance requirements, winning eBay, Priceline and Novartis as customers. Eric graduated from Columbia University with a bachelor's degree in computer science.
11. David Zalik, Greensky
David Zalik has served as the CEO of GreenSky since he co-founded it in 2006. David also serves as the Chairman of the board of directors. GreenSky is based in Atlanta and has facilitated over $13 billion in loans for home improvement projects via a network of banks and 13,000 contractors. The Company has also branched into financing for doctor, dentist and veterinary visits. Prior to co-founding the Company, David founded MicroTech Information Systems, a computer hardware assembly company, and sold the business in 1996. He also founded Outweb, a web and mobile-development consulting firm, and formerly was a director of RockBridge Commercial Bank. He was the recipient of the 2016 Ernst & Young National Financial Services Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
12. Jeffery Yabuki, Fiserv
Jeffery Yabuki is the Chairman and CEO of Fiserv, a leading global provider of financial services technology solutions. The Company reported $15.8 billion in pro forma revenues in 2019, with approximately 44,000 associates serving thousands of financial institutions and millions of businesses. Jeffery has more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. Under his leadership, the Company announced a long-term strategic platform transforming Fiserv from its traditional holding company model into an integrated operating company focused on providing best-in-class financial software, systems and services that enable people to move and manage money at the point of thought. Prior to joining Fiserv, Jeffery was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at H&R Block for more than six years. Before H&R Block, Jeffery held a progression of leadership positions during 12 years at American Express, culminating with President and CEO of American Express Tax and Business Services.
13. Jonathan Corr, Ellie Mae
Jonathan Corr is the President and CEO of Ellie Mae, the leading cloud-based platform provider for the mortgage finance industry. Previously, Jonathan served as the Company's COO from November 2011 to February 2015, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer from November 2009 to November 2011, as Chief Strategy Officer from August 2005 to November 2009 and as the Company's Senior Vice President of product management from October 2002 to August 2005. Prior to joining Ellie Mae, Jonathan served in executive and management positions at PeopleSoft, Inc., Netscape Communications Corporation and Kana/Broadbase Software/Rubric, a number of software companies that combined through acquisition. He earned a bachelor's degree in engineering from Columbia University and an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
14. Anne Boden, Starling Bank
Anne Boden is the CEO and a board director of Starling Bank, which is a UK mobile-only bank offering personal, joint and business accounts. Its app helps people better manage their money by letting them visualize and coordinate their finances in real time. After graduating in computer science and chemistry, Anne started her career at Lloyds Bank, where she helped architect CHAPS, the UK's first real-time payments system. She worked at Standard Chartered and UBS, before becoming Head of EMEA, Global Transaction Banking across 34 countries for RBS and ABN AMRO. After the financial crisis, Anne spoke to people around the world about the changes in banking and technology. She joined Allied Irish Banks Plc as Chief Operating Officer to apply these learnings but was frustrated by the restrictions still imposed by outdated technology.
15. Jason Gardner, Marqeta
Jason Gardner is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Marqeta, a global modern card issuing platform for innovators like Square, Uber, Affirm, Instacart, and DoorDash. Founded in 2010, the Oakland California-based company operates globally across the US, UK, Europe, Canada and has set its sights on APAC. Under his leadership Marqeta has defined the global standard for modern card issuing, developing an industry-leading issuer processor platform that now powers the world's most innovative companies. Gardner doesn't have your typical executive background. Growing up in New Jersey he worked at thrift stores, wore tie-dyed shirts on trains on the way to Grateful Dead concerts and hung out around Radio Shacks, taking apart televisions. His lack of coding experience never slowed him down. Prior to Marqeta, Jason co-founded PropertyBridge, which became the leading rent and lease-related payment and transaction integration platform for multifamily real estate. PropertyBridge was acquired by MoneyGram International in 2007. Before this he founded Vertical Think, an IT management company that worked with startups and larger organizations.
16. Michael Hayford, NCR
Mike Hayford is President and Chief Executive Officer of NCR Corporation. The Company is a global leader in developing transformational transaction technologies including online banking, POS systems, and mobile payments. Previously, Mike served as Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Executive Vice President of FIS, Fortune 500's #1 financial technology company, from 2009 until 2013. As the President and Chief Operating Officer of Metavante Technologies, Inc., he led the successful completion of Metavante's merger with FIS to create the world's largest financial technology company. Mike was instrumental in building Metavante from a $93 million annual revenue company into the global leader of financial technology with over $6 billion of annual revenue. Mike is a Certified Public Accountant and holds an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Business and a bachelor's degree in Accounting and Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin.
17. Rob Frohwein, Kabbage
Rob Frohwein is Co-Founder and CEO of Kabbage, which provides the most advanced lending infrastructure available globally enabling small businesses to borrow the funds they need. The Company employs a direct SMB lending product and technology platform adopted by banks and non-banks worldwide. It has provided more than $6B since its founding. Rob believes deeply that small businesses are at the core of economic development around the world. He is a serial entrepreneur across several industries including media, financial services and financial technology. He is also a 3-time author, former co-host of a radio show, inventor with more than 30 patents and applications, and the owner of a lifetime pass to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Rob earned his bachelor's in economics from Dickinson College and a JD from Villanova University.
18. Brian Armstrong, Coinbase
Brian Armstrong is the CEO and Co-founder of Coinbase, the world's leading digital currency exchange. As CEO, Brad is responsible for Coinbase's retail and institutional arms and all products and services that are developed by both trading platforms. He co-founded Coinbase in June 2012, and since then, has led Coinbase to serve over 10 million customers across 32 countries, providing custody for more than $10 billion in digital assets. The Company has raised over $200M in funding from leading investors such as Andreessen Horowitz, IVP, USV, DFJ and NYSE. Before founding Coinbase, Brad worked as a software engineer at Airbnb from 2011-2012 as part of the hospitality marketplace, focusing on fraud prevention. Previously, he worked as a developer for IBM and consultant at Deloitte. Brad holds three degrees from Rice University - bachelor's of computer science, bachelor's of economics, and a master's of computer science.
19. Brock Blake, Lendio
Brock Blake is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer and of Lendio, the largest online marketplace for small business loans in the US. Propelled by his belief that capital should be more accessible as well as simpler and quicker for small business owners, Blake built Lendio to confront that problem. Today Blake leads a team that has helped business owners get access to more than $1 billion in funding. Founded in 2011, the Utah-based company offers a free online service that helps business owners find the right small business loans within minutes. He balances his role with being a national keynote speaker, Forbes columnist, and an industry thought leader whose expertise extends beyond the boardroom. Notably, for every loan facilitated on Lendio's marketplace platform, Lendio Gives - an employee contribution and employer matching program - donates a percentage of funds to low-income entrepreneurs around the world through Kiva.org. Prior to this, Blake was the Founder and CEO of FundingUniverse, a firm connecting qualified entrepreneurs with active VC's, angel investors and lending sources.
20. Paul Taylor, Thought Machine
Paul Taylor is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Thought Machine, a Fintech company that builds cloud-native technology to revolutionize core banking. Founded by two former Google engineers in 2014, Thought Machine is a cloud-based operating system designed for banks to bring finance into the 21st century. Headquartered in London, the company has a team of more than 300 people across London and Singapore offices. Notably, the company has raised $106 million over three funding rounds, its most recent Series B round taking place in March 2020. Taylor is a self-proclaimed "serial entrepreneur," best known for Phonetic Arts, which he founded in 2006. The speech recognition startup was sold to Google in 2010, and he spent three years there, running the company's text-to-speech operations. Before this, Taylor was a Visiting Lecturer at Cambridge University where he worked in the Engineering Department. Here, he wrote the book Text-to-Speech Synthesis, still widely regarded as the definitive book on the subject. In 2000, he co-founded Rhetorical Systems which was the world leader in text-to-speech and later acquired by Nuance in 2004.
21. Adam Hughes, Amount
At the beginning of the year, Avant split into two companies by spinning off Amount, the online lender's tech platform. The announcement coincided with the appointment of the company's Chief Executive Officer, Adam Hughes. Hughes joined Avant in 2012, as the company's Vice President of Marketing and Operations before climbing the ranks to become Chief Operating Officer and eventually President and Chief Operating Officer. By 2019, he was appointed President and Chief Operating Officer of Amount before taking the top position in 2020. Amount is a leading-edge tech company dedicated to creating and enhancing the digital credit offerings of financial institutions built by lending industry veterans. Founded in 2019, the Amount platform helps banks and financial institutions modernize retail banking through a modern API framework, clarifying and automating back-end tasks so that institutions can move faster and without disruption. Prior to his tenure at Avant, Hughes was the Head of Product and Marketing of United Kingdom Installment Lending, Senior Strategy and Operations Manager, and Senior Program Manager at Enova Financial, and began his career as a Consultant at Accenture.
22. Sergei Bogatenkov, Admiral Markets Group
Sergei Bogatenkov is the Chairman of the Management Board and Chief Executive Officer at Admiral Markets Group. A leading Forex and CFD trading provider with a presence in over 40 countries worldwide, Admiral Markets Group offers one of the industry's best trading platforms. Headquartered in Tallinn, Estonia, Admiral Markets was founded in 2001 and today has over 25,000 active clients. Sergei joined the company in 2014 as Chief Financial Officer where he was responsible for all aspects of financial management, reporting and controls of the group of companies. Prior to Admiral, Sergei was the Head of Treasury at Versobank where he laid the foundation and developed a well-functioning and highly efficient Treasury Department. Prior to this, he was an Expert at the Financial Stability Department at the Bank of Estonia. Before this, Sergei was a Consultant at Ernst & Young and began his career as an Investment Specialist at Swedbank Estonia where he oversaw private wealth management and private banking.
23. Michael Reitblat, Forter
Michael Reitblat is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Forter, the leading provider in e-commerce fraud prevention. Founded in 2013, the New York-based company protects over $200 billion in digital transactions annually, driving over $5 billion of incremental sales by using its identity-based fraud prevention solutions including attempts at account takeover, return abuse or loyalty program fraud. Under his leadership, Forter has become one of the most accurate and trusted fraud prevention solutions, powering Fortune 500 retailers, financial institutions and online travel companies, while driving over a billion dollars of incremental sales. Reitblat's passion for fraud prevention began in his role as an Intelligence Officer in the Israeli Cyber Command. In 2008, before its acquisition by PayPal, Reitblat led Product at Fraud Sciences. He then joined as the Vice President of Product and International Operations at Pango Parking where he was in charge of the deployment and adoption of Mobile Wallet technologies worldwide. Reitblat balances his role at Forter with being a Board Member at Beyon3D, a digital manufacturing and construction robotics firm.
24. Kelly Rodriques, Forge
Kelly Rodriques is the Chief Executive Officer at Forge, a marketplace for private equity, giving private and institutional investors access to top pre-IPO companies. Founded in 2014, Forge (formerly Equidate) has allowed employees and early investors of growing startups to liquidate a portion of their shares without having to wait years to take advantage of their company's growth and success. The San Francisco-based firm announced the appointment of Kelly as its Chief Executive Officer in 2018. With more than 25 years of fintech experience, Kelly has invested in more than 25 venture-back firms and is a founding investor of mFoundry, a leading provider of mobile banking acquired by Fidelity Information Systems in 2013. Kelly manages his current role with being the Managing General Partner of Operative Capital, an entrepreneur-run, early-stage investor in disruptive financial technology startups. Before joining Forge, he served as the CEO of PENSCO, a provider of self-directed IRA custodial and administrative services, which was acquired by Opus Bank in 2017. Prior to this, Kelly was an Operating Partner at Ignition Growth Capital, CEO of Totality, CEO of Novo, Marketing Director of Books That Work and Managing Director at Ogilvy Interactive.
25. Michael Carvin, SmartAsset
Michael Carvin is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer at SmartAsset, a marketplace connecting consumers to financial advisors since 2012. Headquartered in New York, SmartAsset has helped people make better financial decisions for almost a decade, providing tools and content on topics like retirement, taxes, homeownership, insurance, saving and budgeting. Under Carvin's leadership, the company has raised a total of $51.4 million over six funding rounds, most recently with a Series C round of $28 million in 2018. The idea for SmartAsset came from Carvin's own frustration by a lack of information to help him decide whether he should continue to rent or buy his home. Since expanding past their initial buy versus rent analysis tool, SmartAsset has developed unique calculators as well as access to financial advisors. Today, it serves over 60 million customers each month. With almost 15 years of experience in financial decision making, Carvin's previous role was in private equity. He spent four years as a Senior Associate at Altima Partners and a year as an Analyst at Leucadia National Corporation before founding SmartAsset.
26. Renaud Laplanche, Upgrade
Renaud Laplanche is known in the industry as one of the first fintech disruptors. He is currently the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Upgrade, a neobank that offers affordable and responsible credit to mainstream consumers. At Upgrade, Laplanche presides over the company's business strategy and oversees its execution. Founded in 2016, the San Francisco-based company raised $60 million in Series A funding, the largest ever Series A investment in a US fintech company. Today, Upgrade has raised $202 million in funding over 5 rounds, with its most recent funding round in June 2020. Laplanche previously founded LendingClub, an online financial community bringing together borrowers and investors so that both can benefit financially. LendingClub was amongst the first peer-to-peer lenders in the industry. He also previously co-founded and led TripleHop Technologies, the MatchPoint software maker, which was later acquired by Oracle. He began his career as an Associate at Clearly Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in 1995.
27. Sallie Krawcheck, Ellevest
Sallie Krawcheck is the CEO and Co-Founder of Ellevest, a digital financial advisor for women launched in 2016. She served as CEO of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management and Smith Barney. It was through this experience that she realized that the "by men, for men" investing industry hasn't worked very well for women. Sallie began her career as an equity analyst covering Wall Street Firms eventually rising to Director of Research and then Chairman and CEO of sell-side research firm Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. She grew up in Charleston, South Carolina and in high school was a local track star. She received a scholarship to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she received a degree in journalism. Sallie earned an MBA form Columbia Business School.
28. Colin Walsh, Varo Money
Colin Walsh is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Varo Money. This mobile banking business helps customers cover their expenses, pay their bills, and build their wealth over time. Founded in 2015 the San Francisco-based company is on track to become the first mobile-centric national bank in US history. In May the company announced that it had been granted preliminary approval of its application for a national bank charter by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), signaling the OCC is ready to grant the charter pending Varo's completion of standard conditions. With a vision to help millions of people improve their financial lives, Walsh is positioned to lead the mobile banking revolution with Varo. Armed with over 25 years of experience spanning consumer banking at large global financial institutions, Walsh is well regarded as an industry thought leader. Before Varo, Walsh led Europe's largest credit and charge card business as an Executive Vice President at American Express and served as Managing Director for Lloyds Banking Group. He was previously Former Chairman at Council of Mortgage Lenders, Member of the Board of Directors at Executive Networks, Member of Board of Directors at Visa Europe, and Executive Vice President at Wells Fargo. Walsh is currently a Member of the Board of Directors at Friends of the British Film Institute.
29. Sam Graziano, Fundation
Seasoned financial services executive, Sam Graziano is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at Fundation. At the company, Graziano is directly responsible for the strategic direction and growth. Established in 2011, Fundation is an online direct lender offering simple interest small business loans to companies through a technology-driven process. Graziano founded the Reston, Virginia-based company on the premise of "re-engineering the credit delivery process to small businesses through technology and advanced analytics." Fundation has attracted a lot of attention to what they can offer consumers and small businesses. For the entrepreneur, this company underscores his belief in broadening access to capital to small businesses. He balances his role as CEO with being an Advisory Board Member for the Coalition for Responsible Business Finance which provides education and information to government, industry, and others on how technology can facilitate small business growth and access to funds. He's garnered a decade of experience in investment banking and private equity, where he's developed an expertise in strategic, financial and operational issues for banks, and other institutions throughout the financial services sector. Before this, Graziano was a Principal at Centerview Partners, Vice President at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, and Vice President KBW Capital Partners.
30. Sankaet Pathak, SynapseFI
Sankaet Pathak is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at SynapseFI. This banking platform enables companies to provide financing products to their customers for a fraction of traditional banks' costs. Pathak founded the company in 2014 after he moved to the US from Rajasthan, India and struggled with the excruciating experience of opening a bank account without any acceptable forms of identification. Pathak decided to be part of the solution and started Synapse to help companies build new banks or financial services, like Propel. Today, SynapseFI has raised a total of $50 million over two funding rounds. The company provides payment, deposit, lending and investment products as APIs to FinTech companies who build and launch their financial innovations on top of their banking infrastructure. Synapse enables everyone around the world to access best-in-class financial products, regardless of their net worth. Prior to starting SynapseFI, Pathak was a Research Assistant and Student Assistant at the University of Memphis following his graduation.
31. Michael Cassau, Grover
Michael Cassau is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Grover, which brings the access economy to the consumer electronics market. Propelled by Cassau's belief that renting will replace financing and purchasing within the next 10 years for most consumer products, Grover is an alternative to owning things, allowing users to subscribe to tech products on a monthly basis instead of buying. By prioritizing access over ownership, Grover makes the most out of the lifecycle of tech products. Headquartered in Berlin, Germany the company was founded in 2015. Today, the company provides access to over 2000 tech products spanning smartphones, laptops, virtual reality (VR) gear, and wearables. The Berlin company has raised more than $335 million in funding over 9 rounds. In 2018, the company raised one of Europe's biggest Series A rounds that year, with a funding round of more than $41 million. Before founding Grover, he worked as an Investment Professional with Goldman Sachs, where he acquired in-depth insight into the mechanics of the financial system. Later, he was Co-Founder and MD/Head of Roll Out and Operations at Rocket Internet.
32. Eyal Shinar, Fundbox
Eyal Shinar is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Fundbox, a B2B payment and credit network that transforms how funding flows. Founded in 2013, Fundbox has built the first two-sided payments and credit network explicitly designed to accelerate B2B commerce at scale. With automated machine-learning risk decisions, faster payments to sellers, and more flexible payment terms to the buyer, sellers can focus on increasing average order volumes while buyers have greater purchasing confidence and repayment flexibility. The San Francisco-based company has offices in Dallas, Texas as well as Tel Aviv, Israel. Prior to establishing Fundbox, Shinar served as a Vice President at Battery Ventures, where he led several projects and investments in finance, machine learning, and software (SaaS). Before this he was a part of New Product Development at BrightSource Energy, and one of the first employees at Old Lane, a $5.5 billion New York-based global hedge fund, which was later acquired by Citigroup. Shinar began his career as an Associate at Castle Harlan, a leading $6 billion NYC-based buyout firm.
33. Tore Steen, CrowdStreet
Tore Steen is the Chief Executive Officer of CrowdStreet, one of the largest and most established crowdfunding platforms where investors can participate in commercial real estate deals across the country. As a business leader, Steen's experience spans strategy, business development, sales, and marketing for both publicly traded and private enterprises. Founded in 2013, the Portland Oregon-based company allows investors to directly access institutional-quality commercial real estate offerings through CrowdStreet's marketplace. CrowdStreet Connect provides a platform for CRE developers and operators to manage investors and investments and raise capital to grow their business. Before joining CrowdStreet Steen was at Janrain for six years serving as Vice President of Business and Corporate Development, Vice President of Marketing and Strategic Services, and Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Prior to this he was the Director of Business Development at Earthlink Business, Director of Business Development at AAA, and Manager at Ernst & Young. He began his career as an Assistant Relationship Manager and Financial Analyst at US Bank.
34. Dan Holt, BillGO
Dan Holt is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at BillGO, a leading provider of innovative bill pay and real-time payment systems. The Fort Collins, Colorado-based fintech trailblazer, was established in 2015 and has innovated, centralized and simplified the process of paying bills. The idea came from a frustration Holt noticed in the marketplace around paying bills who created BillGo in realizing that the average American household pays $400 a year in late fees. Holt served eight years in the military where he became a US Air Force Officer. In 1999 he arrived at Silicon Valley leading IT at Softnet Systems followed by a stint at Greenlight and Ingenuity Web Apps before founding and becoming the CEO of HEIT, a SaaS Security company. After an acquisition by CSVI, Holt moved on to establish BillGO. In the meantime, he's served as the Board Director of Allied Payment Network and Community Funded. Holt currently serves as an Advisory Board Member of Accelitas and MVB Bank. He also balances his role with being a Mentor for the Entrepreneurship and Venture Accelerator Program at the Colorado State University.
35. Peter Maragos, Dash Financial
Peter Maragos is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at Dash Financial Technologies, a leading trading technology provider to the institutional trading community. Established in 2009, Dash has developed a high-performance execution and analytics platform designed to handle to the complexities of institutional options trading in the current environment. At the heart of the New York-based company's offering is the Dash360 transparency dashboard. Today, nearly 16% of daily US listed options volume is handled by Dash. Maragos propels the company forward with a focus on order routing transparency and constant improvements to its platform. Along with his co-founder, Chief Creative Officer David Karat, Maragos has built Dash into a firm widely recognized as ushering in the modern approach to routing transparency and execution optimization. Previously, he was co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of LiquidityPort, which offered a fully electronic OTC brokerage platform for all NYMEX Clearport products including Blocks, EFPs, EFSs, and Options. Before this, he was the Managing Director and then the Chief Executive Officer at SDS Financial Technologies, and started his career as an options trader on the CBOE floor.
36. Mazy Dar, OpenFin
Mazy Dar is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of OpenFin, the financial industry's operating system, enabling rapid and secure deployment, native experience and desktop interoperability. Today, the company's platform is used by over 1,500 companies across the buy-side and sell-side to connect nearly 1,000 apps. OpenFin's operating system provides three key solutions - easier deployment of apps to end-users, fast security assurances for applications and interoperability - which have previously been absent from the financial services industry. To date, over multiple funding rounds OpenFin has raised a total of $47 million, with its latest funding raised in December 2019. Prior to OpenFin, Mazy was Vice President of CDS Strategy at IntercontinentalExchange, where he was responsible for managing the company's CDS e-trading and processing platforms. He also led its launch of CDS central clearing for buy-side market participants. Before this he was the Chief Strategy Officer at Creditex Group, and a Programmer Analyst at UBS.
37. Mike Babineau, Second Measure
Mike Babineau is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Second Measure, a leading provider of data analytics that delivers valuable insights into company performance and consumer behavior. Founded in 2015, the Silicon Valley company allows investors and consumer brands to use its tools for competitive benchmarking and to make key decisions on product strategy, partnerships, and growth marketing. It all started when Babineau was working at a video game company when a friend who worked at a hedge fund asked him for advice. The investor has two terabytes of data sitting on a hard drive that he wanted to analyze and he wanted to know how to upload it to Excel. Babineau saw this as an opportunity to inform investors and create tools to read the data they needed. To date, Second Measure has raised a total of $25.4 million in funding over four rounds. Prior to this, Babineau was a Consultant at Mesosphere, Senior Software Engineer at The Factory, Senior Software Engineer at Rumble, Senior Systems Architects at Electronic Arts, and Lead Infrastructure Engineer at Bizo. He began his career as the Lead Infrastructure Engineer at ShareThis, a technology company that provides free engagement and growth tools for site owners.
38. Angela Ceresnie, Climb Credit
Angela Ceresnie is the Chief Executive Officer of Climb Credit, an innovative student lending platform that makes career creation and transformation accessible, affordable, and accountable. Founded in 2014, the New York-based company addresses the $1.4 trillion student loan crisis by expanding socioeconomic opportunities for lower and middle-income Americans. Ceresnie joined Climb Credit in 2016 as Chief Operating Officer and was approached to be the company's CEO by 2018. In her role she takes on being the company's visionary, always looking for big picture answers. With more than 15 years of experience, Ceresnie is a seasoned leader with operations, finance, management, risk management analytics and strategic planning experience. Prior to joining Climb, she was the Founder, CFO, COO and Senior Advisor at Orchard Platform, where she oversaw corporate operations, scale functions from inception to over 50 employees, established and executed strategic planning and more. Before this she was at Citibank as Vice President of Risk Management, and Director of Risk Management at American Express.
39. Doug Ricket, PayJoy
Doug Ricket is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of PayJoy, which offers a pay-as-you-go solution that allows consumers to transform consumer electronics purchases into monthly installment plans. Propelled by a vision to democratize digital tools and technology, PayJoy hopes to put an end to cash purchases or predatory lending. Founded in 2015, the San Francisco-based company began as a mobile app that allowed users to choose payment plans for unlocking purchased smartphones. PayJoy has raised a total of $71.2 million. Ricket balances his current role with being a Guest Lecturer at Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Prior to establishing PayJoy, he was the CEO of Silicon Valley Technology Partners, Director of Engineering at D.Light Design, Senior Software Engineer and Manager at Google. Notably, Ricket was also previously a Lecturer at University of Gambia in West Africa and the Founder and Executive Director of MIT's Women's Technology Program.
40. Matt Rodak, Fund That Flip
Matt Rodak is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Fund That Flip, a venture-backed real estate investment marketplace specializing in short-term loans for residential real estate flippers. Rodak established the New York-based company in 2014 driven by his passion for residential real estate investing and the belief that the lending industry could be revolutionized. Fund That Flip offers a transparent and straightforward online application process with a 24-hour turnaround time for funding commitments. Under Rodak's leadership, the company has grown exponentially recently raising $11 million in a Series A funding round. Rodak is also a Mentor at the Founder Institute, where he provides guidance for early-stage entrepreneurs. Before founding Fund That Flip, Rodak was at FM Global where he worked in Sales and Marketing and eventually rose to Business Development Executive. Prior to this, he was the Production Underwriter at Affiliated FM, Networking Director at The Cleveland Professional 20/30 Club, Community Relationship Manager at ASAP and an Associate Recruiter at AHRA.
41. Patrick Boyaggi, Own Up
Patrick Boyaggi is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Own Up, a Boston-based company changing the way people seek out, secure and compare mortgages. Propelled by Boyaggi's belief that everyone should understand their mortgage, Own Up provides a combination of intelligent software and personalized advice from mortgage experts. "We see all homebuyers as real people with real aspirations and the name Own Up reflects the joy and accomplishment associated with the upward mobility of homeownership." Before founding Own Up, Boyaggi was the Senior Vice President at Leader Bank where he was responsible for the Residential Leading Division and closed over $11 billion in residential mortgages, effectively increasing annual loan volume by over 140%. Prior to this he was an Intern Associate at Early Stage Partners and a Consultant at Accenture.
42. Michael Nicastro, Continuity
Michael Nicastro is the Director and Chief Executive Officer of Continuity, a fintech company providing compliance management solutions in the growing RegTech sector. Founded in 2008, the New Haven Connecticut-based firm combines regulatory expertise and cloud technology, to provide a way to reduce regulatory burden and mitigate risk at a fraction of the cost. Nicastro has led the company's strategic direction and managed the growth of its product base since joining the company in 2009. With over 30 years of experience providing technology to community financial institutions, he is a leading strategist in the industry. Nicastro is currently an Associate Professor and Entrepreneur in Residence at Central Connecticut State University, where he mentors graduate and undergraduate business plan teams. This is in addition to his role as a Committee Member of CTNext, the higher education entrepreneurial advisory committee. He is also currently the Principal and Owner of Coppermine Advisors. Prior to Continuity, Nicastro held roles at Simsbury Bank, COCC, Central Connecticut Chambers of Commerce, Weston Software, and spent 14 years at Open Solutions where he was one of the original employees.
43. Cale Johnston, ClickSWITCH
Cale Johnston is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of ClickSWITCH, an automated account switching solution for financial institutions and fintech companies. Founded in 2014, the Minneapolis-based company simplifies the process of bringing new depositors onboard by quickly, safely and efficiently switching their direct deposits and recurring payments from their old accounts to new ones. Here, Johnston is responsible for global business strategy, innovation, growth, as well as investor and customer relations. Under his leadership, the company has experienced rapid growth with 100% year-over-year revenue growth. In 2019, ClickSWITCH doubled its workforce and the company plans to continue hiring in 2020. A respected industry thought leader, Johnston has experience serving both large and small, as well as domestic and global financial institutions. Before forming ClickSWITCH, Johnston was Vice President of Sales for Cachet Financial Solutions, where he was responsible for the sales and marketing of their Mobile Check Capture solution. It was in this role that Johnston identified the demand for easy-to-implement, consumer-friendly financial services. He began his career as a Business Development Specialist at GradStaff in 2010.
44. Kumesh Aroomoogan, Accern
Kumesh Aroomoogan is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Accern, a New York-based venture-backed AI startup. Founded in 2014, Accern is a NYC-based venture-backed AI startup that has raised $16million to date. Founded in 2014, Accern accelerates AI workflows for enterprises with a no-code development platform. Data teams from the world's leading organizations, including Allianz, IBM, and Jefferies, use Accern to build and deploy AI solutions powered by its adaptive NLP and forecasting features. In 2018, Kumesh was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Enterprise Technology list. He balances his role as a Founding Member of the Forbes Finance Council and is a Contributor at Big Data Analytics and Quantitative Finance and Forbes. Previously, he was the co-founder and CEO of BrandingScholars, an advertising agency, a General Accountant at the Ford Foundation, an Executive Board Member, Chairman of Public Relations at ALPFA, Equity Researcher at Citigroup and a Financial Analyst at SIFMA.
45. Saum Noursalehi, tZero
Saum Noursalehi is the CEO of tZERO, a global leader in the development and commercialization of blockchain-based financial technology. As CEO, Saum's focus is on accelerating the implementation and adoption of tZERO's security token trading ecosystem, which includes securities tokenization, ATS and exchange technology, as well as brokerage technology. In addition to this role, he serves as a member of the Board of Directors at tZERO and the Boston Security Token Exchange (BSTX), tZERO's joint venture with BOX Digital Markets to launch the industry's first regulated security token exchange. Prior to his current position, Saum served as President and Board Member of Overstock.com, where he leveraged his marketing, technology, and analytical skills to provide online customers the best experience in the rapidly growing home goods category. Saum received a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Utah.
46. Noah Breslow, OnDeck
Noah Breslow is the CEO of OnDeck, a technology company providing businesses with access to capital. The company uses data aggregation and electronic payment technology to make credit decisions in minutes and deliver funding to small businesses within 24 hours. As OnDeck's first employee, Noah has held a variety of leadership roles since joining the Company in 2007, including chief product officer and chief operating officer, and became CEO in June of 2012. To date, OnDeck has delivered over $11 billion in financing to customers in 700 different industries across the U.S., Canada and Australia. Previously, Noah was VP of Marketing & Product Management for Tacit Networks, guiding the company from initial launch to its successful sale to a public company. He holds a bachelor's degree in computer science from MIT and an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School.
47. Ryan Williams, Cadre
Ryan Williams is Co-founder and CEO of Cadre, an investment platform for institutional grade real estate. Prior to founding Cadre in 2014, Ryan worked at The Blackstone Group in its real estate private equity division. There he was involved in over $3 billion in transactions across multiple asset types. Prior to Blackstone, Ryan worked at Goldman Sachs in its technology media group where he worked on transactions totaling more than $5 billion. He founded and launched an institutional real estate single family homes fund in 2009, acquiring, renovating, and selling single family homes throughout the United States while acquiring more than 1,500 multi-family units. Prior to that, he founded a sports technology company. Ryan earned his bachelor's degree from Harvard College.
48. Guillaume Pousaz, Checkout.com
Guillaume Pousaz is the Founder and CEO of Checkout.com. He officially launched the Checkout.com brand in 2012 and has since dedicated himself to shaking up the way payments are handled, boosting transparency, efficiency, and accessibility. The Company helps businesses accept more payments around the world through one integration. Its unified global payment processing platform features in-country acquiring, relevant payment methods, feature parity across geographies, fraud filters, and reporting features, via one API. Guillaume was born and raised in Switzerland. He has since lived all over the world. Earlier in his career, he was the CEO of NetMerchant SA. He received degrees in mathematical engineering from Ecole polytechnique federale de Lausanne and in economics from HEC Lausanne.
49. David Kerr, bonkers.ie
David Kerr is the Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer of bonkers.ie, a Dublin-based fintech company that operates Ireland's leading online price comparison and switching platform. Founded in 2010, bonkers.ie is a customer acquisition platform enabling straight-through-processing. The company helps consumers find the best deals across a wide range of household bills and personal finance products, including electricity mortgages, savings accounts, personal loans, current accounts, credit cards, and insurance products. Kerr has over 20 years of experience in providing price comparison software and services to the UK market. Notably, his unique expertise in delivering world-class technology solutions has allowed him to develop vertical rich search engines to consumers enabling impartial and precise product comparisons. Before establishing bonkers.ie, Kerr was the Director and Vice-Chair and eventually Chairman of the Irish Internet Association. Before this the Dublin native was the Founder and Owner of a childcare business, Ladybug Childcare; the Lead Architect, Chief Technology Officer and CEO of Xelector PLC, and began his career as Lead Researcher of Broadcom Eireann Research.
50. Yoshi Yokokawa, Alpaca Markets
Yoshi Yokokawa is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Alpaca Markets, the world's first commission-free algorithmic trading brokerage platform. Alpaca does this by providing simple REST Trading API and free real-time market data to developers domestically and internationally. Since its inception in 2015, the San Mateo-based company has helped big banks and trading firm quants, algo, and software developers. Yoshi balances his current role with being a co-founder and Advisor at AlpacaJapan, which builds deep-learning AI technology for capital markets and works with a number of top financial institutions globally. Prior to this, he co-founded Ikkyo Technology, a software solution provider to the customers in the entertainment and internet industries. Yoshi has also held roles as Managing Partner at Software Development Shop, spent a period as an individual day trader, Vice President of Structured Finance at Nomura, and was an Associate at Lehman Brothers.

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Disruptive or revolutionary — what's the difference?
"Disruptive innovation". That phrase causes marketers to swoon and CEO's ears to twitch. A truly disruptive innovation is, after all, a game changer. By definition, it creates a new market and value network by displacing established industry leaders and alliances. An example often quoted is the introduction of the Ford Model T in 1908; while earlier automobiles were revolutionary, they didn't authentically challenge the market for horse-drawn buggies because they were too expensive. Thirty years later, the mass-produced, lower priced Model T almost immediately generated mass demand, and Ford cornered 48 percent of the market by 1914. During that time span, buggies were barned and streets were built. Though not the first automobile introduced to America, that car was a disruptive innovation.
It's vogue today to claim to be a disruptive market force, but many offerings are just a product flavor du jour. For example, a chef and a bartender claim to have "disrupted the cupcake industry" when they entered boozed cake concoctions into the marketplace. Their product adds variety but not necessarily replacement value. Just as bacon-flavored chocolate bars will never edge out Hershey bars, at best a booze cupcake product may carve out its own small slice in an already small flavor niche market. By claiming the mantle of "industry disrupters", we expect c-h-a-n-g-e for our buck. Lots of change.
Compare that example to this one: Netflix changed our perception of the best way to "rent" movies and essentially kicked Blockbuster aside as it became a more convenient and less costly option for Blockbuster's core customers. Had Netflix not met and then exceeded Blockbuster's value, it would have remained a small niche player. A disruptive innovation tends to be produced by outsiders – that is, by new market or foothold market companies which, at first, may be little more than an irritant to industry leaders. They usually enter the marketplace at a higher risk ratio than competing products. Nonetheless, they eventually blast aside industry leaders with blunt force market penetration. That's what makes them "disruptive" rather than just "revolutionary".
Still, the distinction is not always clear. A significant product upgrade may quickly push a mainstream product into obsolescence. Certainly the small, enhanced-memory flash drive quickly pushed aside the more laborious practice of burning of CDs, which already had vanquished the saving of data on floppy disk drives. These small components changed the portability of our work and our entertainment channels; it effectively rocked our world. However, the flash drive was introduced in the U.S. market by IBM. It combined a number of older technologies with upgraded micro-processing capabilities, making flash more revolutionary than disruptive. It enhanced rather than replaced offerings by industry giants.
Drones are revolutionary in nature. If drones were interjected into the freight deliveries industry by a new player which managed to overtake UPS or FedEx market shares, we might proclaim drones to be a disruptive influence. However, Amazon and Google are too large to be a distraction, and their plans are well-publicized, so it's unlikely we'll see a repeat of Blockbuster's shock-and-awe experience.
If you're contemplating a David-and-Goliath market experience, experts advise that you approach disruption enterprise as a process rather than a product identity. Enter the market in an unobtrusive way and, if possible, offering lower pricing. First engage industry fringe customers who will try your product largely based on price or a free subscription model. Then, as quickly as possible, rise to the key player's level with regard to service and performance. Then raise the bar again, emphasizing your unique delivery system, new business model, or revolutionary product innovation. If it's more convenient or serves a higher purpose, you're in. If it doesn't, perhaps you can still win flavor du jour.


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Krešimir Josić, professor of mathematics at the University of Houston's College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, is one of 40 U.S. and Canadian faculty awarded a 2015 Simons Fellowship in Mathematics. He is the only recipient from a Texas university.
Krešimir JosićFor his fellowship, Josić will spend the 2015-2016 academic year visiting the lab of Matthew Bennett, a synthetic biologist at Rice University. Josić will work on developing mathematical models to guide the design of synthetic microbes.
Josić has an ongoing collaboration with Bennett. The two have worked jointly to engineer and model synthetic organisms that can compensate for changes in temperature and display preprogrammed dynamics. The team's next goal is to engineer microbial populations that interact in controlled ways.
Through this sabbatical, Josić will be able to participate closely in the experimental design and data analysis. "A closer involvement with experiments will help me in the development of new mathematical models," he said.
According to the Foundation's website, the most important criterion for receiving a Simons Fellows award is the potential for research accomplishment, as judged by accomplishments over the last five years.


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Citizenship Expanded by the US Government for Children of Same-Sex Couples Born Overseas
Home / same-sex-single-parents / Citizenship Expanded by the US Government for Children of Same-Sex Couples Born Overseas
August 10, 2021 admin same-sex-single-parents, Whats news in the world of surrogacy
The Biden administration on Thursday announced a change in its interpretation of U.S. immigration law that will allow children born abroad to parents who used assisted reproductive technology, like surrogacy, to qualify for U.S. citizenship and green cards.
As long as one parent is a U.S. citizen and one parent is genetically related or gave birth to the child, the baby will meet the eligibility requirements, according to the updated USCIS guidance. The parents must be married and recognized as the child's legal guardians in their locations of residence.
The new interpretation, which alters long-standing U.S. immigration policy, is a victory for same-sex couples and other parents living overseas who use surrogates and assisted reproductive technology procedures, including in-vitro fertilization, or IVF.
USCIS said the updated guidance is designed to help modern families.
"USCIS is taking a crucial step towards ensuring fair access and support for all families and their loved ones," newly minted USCIS Director Ur M. Jaddou said in a statement. "We are committed to removing unnecessary barriers promoting policies for all people as they embark on their journey to citizenship and beyond."
Highlighting "advances" in assisted reproductive technology since the relevant immigration laws were enacted in 1952, the State Department said it would allow married couples with one U.S. citizen parent to transmit U.S. citizenship to their children, as long as one of them has a genetic link to the baby or gave birth to him or her.
Children who will benefit from the Biden administration's policy changes could have been previously considered to have been born "out of wedlock" under the decades-long interpretation of U.S. law, rendering them ineligible for U.S. citizenship and other benefits.
Under President Biden, USCIS has publicly touted efforts to dismantle Trump-era "barriers" that make it more difficult for immigrants to obtain the agency's benefits, which range from asylum and work permits, to green cards and naturalized U.S. citizenship.
Aaron Morris, the executive director of Immigration Equality, a group that advocates for LGBTQ immigrants, welcomed Thursday's announcement.
"The recent change in USCIS policy is an important step in overcoming the federal government's previous archaic, narrow, and unlawful definition of what a family is," Morris said. "We look forward to working with the Biden administration going forward to ensure recognition for all queer families."
This Amendment is likely to increase the Number of Gay and Single Men to travel abroad to Countries like Colombia etc to have a baby through Surrogacy
Kiran fertility Services-Helping to Build Families
Kiran Fertility Services is a pioneer in the field of fertility care with a work experience of more than 200 years, providing treatments such as IUI/IVF/ICSI/Gamete Donation/PGS and Surrogacy. Kiran Fertility Services has clinics in India (Hyderabad and Bengaluru) and facilities in Ukraine and Georgia for International Surrogacy.
Successfully helped intended parents from 58 different countries, with more than 10,000 births through IUI/IVF/ICSI and more than 1500 babies through Surrogacy Programs in India and abroad. The entire international team from KFS; comprising of Doctors, Patient Coordinators, Immigration Specialists and Lawyers can confidently say that the services offered by KFS are highly personalized, result oriented and perhaps the best in the world when it comes to IVF, Third Party Assisted Reproduction and Surrogacy.
Colombia is a great destination for surrogacy, because of its excellent medical care system and affordable prices.
Surrogacy in Colombia is available to everyone, offering a unique alternative for Single Intended Parents and Same-Sex Couples and Heterosexual Couples, who are looking for a more affordable option.
Queer Eye Star Tan France Hailed Their First Baby via Surrogacy
Israel's Homosexual Couples Granted Rights by High Court to Have Progeny via Surrogacy
Couples with surrogate babies could get automatic parental rights without having to apply through the courts under proposed legal reform
Israel's Homosexual Couples
same-sex-single-parents
Whats news in the world of surrogacy


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The public contractors poised to benefit most from infrastructure funding – Construction Dive
Stock market analysts point to the engineering and construction companies they are most bullish on, including Jacobs, AECOM and Tetra Tech.
The morning after the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill passed the House of Representatives earlier this month, dozens of stocks tied to construction experienced a boost, with some funds even passing record highs, according to CNBC.
The package, which President Joe Biden signed into law Nov. 16, pays for power, broadband and water infrastructure, among other things, and promises to boost construction firms public and private from around the country for years to come.
"I think this is going to be a rising tide for most construction firms that are involved in various flavors of infrastructure," said Matt Arnold, senior equity analyst for St. Louis-based financial services firm Edward Jones. "But given the breadth and the sheer size of this bill, it's going to be an environment where it would be hard to picture your average construction company not finding some opportunity coming their way."
But some engineering and construction companies will benefit more than others. Construction Dive spoke with several stock market analysts to determine which public companies stand to gain the most from the spending measure. Here is a rundown of the biggest winners as well as the challenges on the horizon:
AECOM. Nearly every analyst mentioned Dallas-based AECOM as a clear winner when it comes to infrastructure projects, and optimism about the spending package is already permeating throughout the large public contractor. During its recent fourth-quarter earnings conference, CEO Troy Rudd said the legislation would provide much-needed, long-term funding certainty across the company's strongest markets, such as transit modernization, electrification, environmental remediation and climate resilience.
"Importantly, we are positioned to benefit from nearly every line item in this bill," Rudd said. "We anticipate this funding will increase our addressable market and our most profitable business by double digits over the coming years, and we expect the most meaningful benefits in fiscal 2023 and beyond."
AECOM gains 35% of its revenues from transportation and 28% from environment and water end markets, according to Krzysztof Smalec, an equity analyst on the industrials team for Chicago-based financial services firm Morningstar. "If you look at a company like AECOM, almost two-thirds of their revenue is very well aligned with the [infrastructure] spending," he said
Jacobs. Other industry analysts also placed AECOM in the winner's category, but the construction behemoth wasn't alone. Dallas-based technical, professional and construction services firm Jacobs Engineering Group also stands to benefit.
"If you look at the overall bill, I would say that the two companies that are the best positioned are AECOM and Jacobs," Arnold said. "They both have a very strong competitive position, particularly in the transportation, water and environmental markets."
Smalec agrees. He said 17% of Jacobs' revenue comes from transportation work, 12% are in water projects and 6% are in the environmental space. "Those are some areas where I think they can really see some upside," he said.
Fluor. While Smalec also thinks Irving, Texas-based engineering and construction company Fluor should benefit because of its strong position in transportation, including the highways and bridges space, its upside will be limited.
"Fluor will see less growth just because I don't think they are as broadly exposed to the priorities in the infrastructure bill," Smalec said. "They're a little bit more focused on legacy oil and gas type work."
In the past, Fluor has had issues with cost overruns on fixed-priced projects — something many public firms have dealt with in recent years — which could make the company less aggressive, according to Smalec.
"I think they're going to try to be more conservative," he said. "They've indicated before that they're going to focus on states where they have a proven track record. So I think a company like Fluor will likely be more selective with pursuing opportunities to make sure that they're not just chasing revenue, but that they're also keeping in mind margins."
The tracker below shows how the stock prices of major U.S.-based contractors have fared since the bill was signed into law. Click the company names at the top to scroll through:
Sterling/Tetra Tech. Outside of the overall boost that massive national companies like AECOM and Jacobs will enjoy, other companies will benefit from certain pockets of spending. Sean Eastman, equity research analyst at Cleveland-based corporate and investment bank KeyBanc Capital Markets, expects the 30% increase in baseline transportation funding to boost Houston-based heavy civil construction company Sterling Construction Co. and the $55 billion investment in water infrastructure to help Pasadena, California-based consulting and engineering services firm Tetra Tech.
Other beneficiaries. With $65 billion in funding slated for rural broadband and electric grid modernization, Eastman said companies in that sector as also poised to benefit. They include:
"That [electric grid funding] is an end market that's already got a lot of momentum behind it and this just seems materially additive," Eastman said.
Topics covered: commercial, infrastructure, design, green, regulation, multifamily construction, and more.
Volumetric Building's new factory will create prefab units for construction projects in major markets in the Northeast, such as Philadelphia, New York City and Washington, D.C.
While higher than 2021, Q2's filings were 16% lower than the average since 2008, according to a new report.
Keep up with the story. Subscribe to the Construction Dive free daily newsletter
Subscribe to Construction Dive for top news, trends & analysis
Top 100 Design-Build Construction Firms for 2021 – Building Design + Construction
Top 10 Deep Learning Projects for Engineering Students in 2022 Top 10 Deep Learning Projects for Engineering Students in 2022 – Analytics Insight
How to get a job at a Coinbase (really) – eFinancialCareers (US)
Cohort of 2022 Trailblazers in Engineering Fellows named – News … – engineering.purdue.edu
What Is Platform Engineering, and What Does It Do? – Gartner
From $70,000 to $120,000: Here's how much 3 software engineers earn around the U.S. – CNBC
Indian ride-hailing firm Ola to cut 10% engineering jobs – Reuters.com


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I never actually noticed her curvy girl status! To me, she kind of has a twiggy girl personality, if that makes sense. She actually has a great body!
She is just glowing these days! She just keeps getting prettier.
Very pretty! And I, for one, don't trust skinny chefs! I understand how it feels to be consumed with self-loathing, even over just your physical appearance. Hopefully she can grow stronger and more accepting. She's super cute!
She's definitely in the top of my list of celebrities who would look great with some extra weight!


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Juho Lemström examines Finnish conscripts' attitudes towards military profession and Finnish Defence Forces as an employer from the point of view of personal value systems. Further, he examines what has affected these attitudes. The study is based on the author's Masters' Thesis. Lemström found that attitudes towards military profession varied as a function several factors, for example some value types were more closely related to subsequent opinions. In sum, conscripts had quite neutral attitudes towards military profession and FDF as a potential employer, and it is postulated that these attitudes can be affected by enhanced visibility of FDF in educational career and media prior to national service.
Sanna Kailaheimo and Laura Häyhä examined how Finnish military cadets construct their professional identities as implicated in personal essays. They state that cadets' responses were quite homogenous, and that six different discourses related to identity construction could be extracted: (1) collective vs. individualistic discourse, (2) tradition and historicity, (3) values, (4) officers' duties and roles, (5) calling vs. occupation, and (6) societal pressure and change. What is more, the authors contemplate that officers' profession is has gradually changed with the society as a whole, but that it still includes basic duties related to the national defense.
Sini Kouri examines female officers' motives to apply to international crisis management missions, the impact female participation has on operations and the implementation of gender dimension to training and operational conduct. Kouri writes that most important impacts female participation has brought forth are contacts to female population in areas of operation, and the function of exemplifying equality. On the other hand, it is discussed that overtly emphasizing of gender issues may have disadvantages. The author also discusses critical implications of results: it is plausible that the gender view is not optimally implemented in on-the-job training, or operational planning and reporting. The study is based on Kouri's general staff officers' thesis.


text:
Q: Probability that all bins contain strictly more than one ball? Here's the problem I'm working on:
Given that I'm distributing $N$ balls into $K$ bins, what is the probability that all bins contain at least two (strictly more than 1) balls? This seems like a very similar question to asking what the probability that all bins contain strictly more than zero (e.g., all are occupied), but for whatever reason it's a lot harder!
Although the problem is similar to this related question addressed by Henry, Joe, David Mitra, and MJD regarding the expected number of bins containing >1 balls, it doesn't seem like I can apply the same method since different occupancy sets occur with different probabilities.
For example, distributing $N=4$ balls into $K=2$ bins, there are $K^N=16$ total distributions, six of which have two balls in each bin, giving me a probability of $6/16$.
Is there a general solution?

A: The probability is
$$\frac{K!}{K^N} \sum_i (-1)^i \binom{N}{N-i} \left\{ N-i \atop K - i \right\},$$
where $\left\{ n \atop k \right\}$ is a Stirling number of the second kind.
The $S_2(N,K)$ I have below satisfy $S_2(N,K) = K! \, T(N,K)$, where $T(n,k)$ is a 2-associated Stirling number of the second kind.  (See also their OEIS entry.)  The $r$-associated Stirling numbers of the second kind are the number of ways to partition a set of $n$ objects into $k$ subsets so that each subset contains at least $r$ objects.  The subsets can be considered as indistinguishable urns, so to distinguish them we multiply by the number of ways to order them (i.e., $K!$) to get $S_2(N,K)$.
There is a known formula for the 2-associated Stirling numbers of the second kind.  It's $$T(n,k) = \sum_i (-1)^i \binom{n}{n-i} \left\{ k-i \atop k - i \right\}.$$  See, for example, Fekete, "Two Notes on Notation, American Mathematical Monthly 101(8): 1994, pp. 771-778.  (My apologies for the JSTOR link.)
Since the probability is $$\frac{S_2(N,K)}{K^N},$$ we get the result.  So my comments below were overly pessimistic.

Original answer:
Charalambides's Enumerative Combinatorics, Exercise 9.23, says, "Let $S_r(n,k)$ be the number of distributions of $n$ distinguishable balls into $k$ distinguishable urns so that each urn contains at least $r$ balls."  The OP is asking for $$\frac{S_2(N,K)}{K^N}.$$
For the $r=2$ case, the exercise asks to prove the generating function $$S_{k,2}(t) = \sum_{n=2k}^{\infty} S_2 (n,k) \frac{t^n}{n!} = \left(e^t-1-t\right)^k.$$
The exercise also gives the recurrence relation
$$\begin{align}
S_2(n+1,k) &= k \bigg( S_2(n,k) + n S_2 (n-1, k-1) \bigg), \:\: n \geq 2k, \\
S_2(n,k) &= 0, \:\: n < 2k, \\
S_2(2k,k) &= \frac{(2k)!}{2^k}.
\end{align}
$$
The fact that Charalambides does not include an explicit expression is not a good sign.  The generating function and the recurrence relation may be the best we can hope for (especially since either differentiating the generating function $n$ times or unrolling the recurrence looks to be difficult).
Added: The $S_2(N,K)$ numbers are sequence A200091 in the OEIS.  There's nothing there beyond what's in Exercise 9.23 in Charalambides's book.

A: I would think the following approach should work. Let $A$ be the event "There is at least one ball in each bin" and $B$ the event "There are at least two balls in each bin". Then $P(B) = P(A)\cdot P(B|A)$, since $B$ cannot occur without $A$.
You seem to have already calculated $P(A)$, and $P(B|A)$ is calculated exactly the same way as $P(A)$, only with $N-K$ balls, since there is already one ball in each bin.

A: I believe you can simply start off by taking away the $2K$ balls that are evenly distributed among the $K$ bins and then you are left with just counting the number of ways to assign $N-2K$ balls to $K$ bins. Divide this by the number of total ways to assign $N$ balls to $K$ bins and you have your answer, namely: $$ \frac{K^{N-2K}}{K^N}$$

A: This is equivalent to  solve
\begin{equation}
x_1 + x_2 + \cdots +x_k = N
\end{equation}
with $ x_i \ge 2, i=1, \cdots k $ is integer nonnegative. Also this is equivalent to  solve
\begin{equation}
y_1 + y_2 + \cdots +y_k = N
\end{equation}
where $ y_i = x_i + 1.$ Then this is equivalent to  solve
\begin{equation}
x_1 + x_2 + \cdots +x_k = N - k
\end{equation}
where $ x_i \ge 1 $. Clearly we can assume that $ N-k \ge k $, otherwise the probability is zero. Thus the anwer is
$ \binom{N-k-1}{k-1} $ because each solution can be represented by put $ k-1 $ traces beteween $ N-k-1 $ places to separate the balls.
The probability is
\begin{equation}
\dfrac{\binom{N-k-1}{k-1}}{\binom{N+k}{N}}
\end{equation}
because the number of ways to put $N$ balls in $k$ bins are $\binom{N+k}{N}$ (the number of ways of put $N$ balls and $k$ traces).

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