René Lacerte: Building BILL to Process 1% of US GDP

Episode 010 of Between Two Founders: René Lacerte has spent nearly three decades building the financial infrastructure that powers millions of small businesses. As the founder and CEO of BILL, he has created a platform that now processes over 1% of US GDP, serving nearly half a million customers and 9,000 accounting firms.

In this epsiode with Jeff Seibert, René shares his journey as a fourth-generation entrepreneur. He introduces the concept of "Owner Mode" as his alternative to the founder mode vs manager mode debate, and shares his contrarian view that SMBs don't want more AI, they want less work.

The episode also marks the launch of the Digits × BILL partnership, designed to simplify and automate financial operations in real time while reducing manual work and errors.

A masterclass in building financial infrastructure that works for small businesses.

Connect with us here:

1. René Lacerte- https://www.linkedin.com/in/renelacerte/

2. Jeff Seibert- https://www.linkedin.com/in/jseibert/

3. Digits- https://www.linkedin.com/company/digits-financial/

4. BILL- https://www.linkedin.com/company/bill/

00:00 Trailer

01:25 Introduction

03:02 René’s Entrepreneurial Roots

05:36 Innovations in Payroll and Financial Operations

07:44 The Genesis of ⁠Bill⁠

22:59 The Evolution of Leadership

26:19 AI and the Future of SMBs

29:26 Building an AI Platform

34:10 Leadership Reflections and Advice

37:25 Advice for First-Time Founders