Brendan Malone, CEO of Raiz Invest, joins Dexter Cousins to mark 10 years since Raiz launched to Australian retail investors. From a joint venture with US micro-investing app Acorns in 2015, Raiz has grown to $2.1 billion in funds under management, over 330,000 active monthly users and over $5.5 billion invested for Australians.

What We Discuss

• How Raiz started as a joint venture with US app Acorns in March 2015 before listing on the ASX as Raiz in April 2018
• The roundup innovation that put $2.2 billion to work for 340,000 Australians through small amounts consistently over time.
• Why Raiz expanded into Southeast Asia, the 280 million person opportunity in Indonesia and what made it harder than expected
• The ASX listing as a capital strategy when VC appetite for fintech was thin in 2018
• Brendan's frustration with CDR after a decade of roundtables, policy submissions and no meaningful consumer outcome
• How a 42-person team manages $2.2 billion using AI and machine learning, and why Brendan would not start again from scratch even in the AI era
• Raiz's product roadmap including the Raiz Kids ecosystem and why Brendan expects consolidation among micro-investing platforms within the next few years
• The endurance principles shared by Australian fintechs that have survived a decade: stay close to customers, resist the bright shiny things, and stick to the strategy

Key Timestamps

01:00 Celebrating a Decade in Business
02:11 The Genesis of Raze and Early Challenges
05:13 Breaking Down Barriers to Investing
08:08 Innovative Wealth Management Solutions
10:49 Growth Plans and Market Strategies
13:18 Exploring Southeast Asia's Market Potential
15:50 The Scale Game: Financial Inclusion in Indonesia
18:28 Lessons from Early Adopters: The CDR Experience
19:51 Navigating Regulatory Challenges in FinTech
23:04 Customer-Centric Innovation: Listening to the Market
24:19 The Impact of AI on Business Transformation
28:21 Building an Ecosystem for Sustainable Growth

Links and Resources

• Raiz Invest: raizinvest.com.au
• Brendan Malone on LinkedIn
• Tier One People: tieronepeople.com

This show is brought to you by Tier One People, where we work with founders like Brendan to find the 1% who redefine what's possible. If you're scaling your leadership team, start at tieronepeople.com.

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David Hyman co-founded Lendi Group in 2013 and built it into Australia's largest non-bank mortgage platform with a $107 billion loan book, 5 million customers, and $350 million in annual revenue. He stepped down as CEO in January 2026 and within weeks was building his next company.

In his fourth appearance on Fintech Chatter, David joins Dexter to talk about Mono AI, a platform business that helps established companies become AI native before a leaner AI native competitor makes them irrelevant.

They cover the difference between human motion and agentic motion, why the CTO is often the biggest blocker to AI strategy, what ElevenLabs's $2 million revenue per employee tells you about the next three years, and the two traits (curiosity and high agency) that separate people who will thrive in this transition from those who won't.

David also explains the Mono AI wedge model, why he's building a global AI business from Sydney, and what roles the company is actively hiring for now.

This episode was recorded just before the major job losses at Block and Atlassian. It is one of the most practically important conversations on this show to date.

Find David on LinkedIn or visit monoai.co

Tier One People: tieronepeople.com

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Block Just Cut 4,000 Jobs. WiseTech Cut 2,000. Here's What To Do Next.

Last week was a wake-up call for anyone working in fintech and tech in Australia.

Block — the company behind Square, Cash App, and Afterpay — cut more than 4,000 employees. That's nearly half the company, down from over 10,000 to just under 6,000. The stock surged 24% on the same day. Afterpay is still headquartered in Sydney, and Australian staff have been directly affected.

The same week, WiseTech Global announced 2,000 job cuts over two years — 29% of their workforce. CBA quietly cut 300 roles, mostly in technology. All three cited AI as the driver.

In this video, Dexter Cousins breaks down what actually happened and gives you three practical steps to take today if you've been affected or think you might be next.

Chapters

• 00:00 Navigating Job Loss in FinTech
• 01:39 How Your Experience Is In Greater Demand Than Ever
• 03:02 Avoid Three BIG Mistakes
• 03:49 Career Balance Sheet
• 05:03 Identifying Opportunities
• 05:45 GTM Strategy — Quick Wins
• 07:09 Building Momentum and Networking

Career Balance Sheet - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hLJJQl2B_h1u00G46sNxlhGNRXXZlCv6/view

Part 1 - https://tieronepeople.com/2025/11/14/find-fintech-jobs/

Part 2 -https://tieronepeople.com/2026/01/12/professional-networks-job-hunting/

Part 3 - https://tieronepeople.com/2026/02/16/professional-brand-first-principles/

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Contact: info@tieronepeople.com

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