Fintech Product Development & Consulting
Bill DavenportI’ve been fortunate to have been creating Fintech products since the adoption of the Internet. I use my experience to help a select group of clients launch and expand their Fintech businesses. My engagements include strategy, project planning, epic/ticket creation, and implementation. I have a network of trusted collaborators I can bring to engagements - graphic designers, senior software engineers, and QA engineers.
To avoid potential conflicts of interest, I do not participate in expert networks and only work with clients in non-overlapping markets.
Unique perspective
As an active Fintech tool user I have many ideas on new products & services; as a career Fintech professional I know how to find good compromises to get things done.
Many of the products & services I’ve developed have had a strong content foundation. At First Call/Thomson Financial, the company had amazing content assets (earnings estimates, real-time broker research, corporate fundamentals) which were largely deployed separately in client/server solutions. There I looked to bring the content together in a unified web interface, and bundle the offering to create a differentiated experience vs. single line competitors. At BD-X I co-invented the first real-time corporate conference call transcripts, which has become an 8-figure market along with extracted management guidance data. With Forefield, the leading player in the wealth management advisor / client education market, we refined the existing product with a focus on real-time advisor education, and coupled that with new product development for marketing solutons including advisor newsletters, websites and seminars. Forefield was acquired by Broadridge, and became a key part of Broadridge Advisor Solutions along with subsequently acquired companies. OnDeck was one of the first companies I worked with where there wasn’t a content asset - there the key intellectual property was OnDeck’s proprietary credit scoring models for small business lending. I had the opportunity to implement three new credit scoring modes (with full NOAA support) in collaboration with the risk/analytics and software engineering teams while also being the Group Product Manager lead integrating OnDeck’s and Enova’s back-end infrastructure. Today, OnDeck is originating billions in small business loans (OnDeck was acquired by Enova in 2020).
Key roles I’ve had include: Group Product Manager, P&L owner, Enterprise account manager, COO, Presient, and Compliance liason. Having worked on both front-end development and back-end scaling and automation, I have full-stack product management coverage.
I bring a production focus, a practical approach, and a sense of humor to help teams build innovative solutions. What gives me the most satisfaction is enabling and being part of happy teams that ship great software. My co-workers find that I create strong alignment between business needs / vision and technology feasibility and emphasize helping them understand the “why” of our development efforts.
In 202 I’m enjoying working a new project using AI in the corporate governance space while doing some consulting work for select clients.
Many of the products & services I’ve developed have had a strong content foundation. At First Call/Thomson Financial, the company had amazing content assets (earnings estimates, real-time broker research, corporate fundamentals) which were largely deployed separately in client/server solutions. There I looked to bring the content together in a unified web interface, and bundle the offering to create a differentiated experience vs. single line competitors. At BD-X I co-invented the first real-time corporate conference call transcripts, which has become an 8-figure market along with extracted management guidance data. With Forefield, the leading player in the wealth management advisor / client education market, we refined the existing product with a focus on real-time advisor education, and coupled that with new product development for marketing solutons including advisor newsletters, websites and seminars. Forefield was acquired by Broadridge, and became a key part of Broadridge Advisor Solutions along with subsequently acquired companies. OnDeck was one of the first companies I worked with where there wasn’t a content asset - there the key intellectual property was OnDeck’s proprietary credit scoring models for small business lending. I had the opportunity to implement three new credit scoring modes (with full NOAA support) in collaboration with the risk/analytics and software engineering teams while also being the Group Product Manager lead integrating OnDeck’s and Enova’s back-end infrastructure. Today, OnDeck is originating billions in small business loans (OnDeck was acquired by Enova in 2020).
Key roles I’ve had include: Group Product Manager, P&L owner, Enterprise account manager, COO, Presient, and Compliance liason. Having worked on both front-end development and back-end scaling and automation, I have full-stack product management coverage.
I bring a production focus, a practical approach, and a sense of humor to help teams build innovative solutions. What gives me the most satisfaction is enabling and being part of happy teams that ship great software. My co-workers find that I create strong alignment between business needs / vision and technology feasibility and emphasize helping them understand the “why” of our development efforts.
In 202 I’m enjoying working a new project using AI in the corporate governance space while doing some consulting work for select clients.
Sample engagements
My engagements primarily fall into two categories:
1. Seed stage companies needing help getting launched and finding product/market fit.
2. Series A/B companies growing their business, needing assistance with product roadmap planning, epic/ticket development, process improvement and automation.
1. Seed stage companies needing help getting launched and finding product/market fit.
2. Series A/B companies growing their business, needing assistance with product roadmap planning, epic/ticket development, process improvement and automation.
Career
I’ve had the honor of leading numerous organizations over the years including Broadridge Advisor Solutions, Forefield, BD-X and First Call/Thomson. I’ve managed teams spanning sales and marketing, content development, product management, and operations. I’ve worked with subscription-based SaaS models in both B2B and B2C markets.
Over the years I’ve grown multiple $10m+ P&L’s, held three Board directorships, and built three companies that have had successful investor exits. I’ve gone through numerous M&A transactions in leadership roles with companies that have been acquired, and have also been part of the leadership team of public companies expanding their business through acquisitions.
Ultimately what I’m best at is working with Development teams to build new solutions, achieving product/market fit, and creating high quality scalable products & services.
2024 - Present: Consulting & AI/Fintech Product Development (Stealth mode)
2018-2024: OnDeck/Enova (Group Product Manager for Platform Development / SMB Lending)
2010-2017: Broadridge Advisor Solutions (Wealth management)
2002 - 2010: Forefield (Wealth management)
2000-2002: BD-X (Real-time corporate conference call transcripts)
1998-2000: First Call/Thomson (Broker Research, Earning Estimates, Fundamentals)
Over the years I’ve grown multiple $10m+ P&L’s, held three Board directorships, and built three companies that have had successful investor exits. I’ve gone through numerous M&A transactions in leadership roles with companies that have been acquired, and have also been part of the leadership team of public companies expanding their business through acquisitions.
Ultimately what I’m best at is working with Development teams to build new solutions, achieving product/market fit, and creating high quality scalable products & services.
2024 - Present: Consulting & AI/Fintech Product Development (Stealth mode)
2018-2024: OnDeck/Enova (Group Product Manager for Platform Development / SMB Lending)
2010-2017: Broadridge Advisor Solutions (Wealth management)
2002 - 2010: Forefield (Wealth management)
2000-2002: BD-X (Real-time corporate conference call transcripts)
1998-2000: First Call/Thomson (Broker Research, Earning Estimates, Fundamentals)
Market experience
* Lending
* Consumer Finance
* Wealth Management
* Institutional Research & Portfolio Management
* Institutional Sales
* Investor Relations
* Retail trading
When viewed across all the markets I’ve worked with, I’ve supported tens of thousands of financial professionals (Analysts, Portfolio Managers, Traders, Institutional Salespeople, Investor Relations Officers, Wealth Managers) who in turn support millions of investors. In my lending experience I’ve supported tens of thousands of small business owners, and worked with major retailers in enhancing and deplying point of sale consumer financing applications.
* Consumer Finance
* Wealth Management
* Institutional Research & Portfolio Management
* Institutional Sales
* Investor Relations
* Retail trading
When viewed across all the markets I’ve worked with, I’ve supported tens of thousands of financial professionals (Analysts, Portfolio Managers, Traders, Institutional Salespeople, Investor Relations Officers, Wealth Managers) who in turn support millions of investors. In my lending experience I’ve supported tens of thousands of small business owners, and worked with major retailers in enhancing and deplying point of sale consumer financing applications.
Skillset & Consulting
Business Strategy, B2B/B2C, SaaS, New product development, Project Management, Epic/Ticket creation, Digitization, Operations, Data science, Content development, Analytics, M&A
For consulting inquiries please email billd@horyzen.com.