Hi, fintech fam! 💜

Excited to announce that we have already sold 100 tickets for the Fintech Is Femme Leadership Summit in April!

I am extremely honored that so many of you will be joining us to kick off New York Fintech Week with this amazing community. (Grab your early bird ticket here!)

Even better, we have a whole month ahead of us to celebrate our community for International Women's Day and Women's History Month!

I have planned various fun events, both in person and virtual, so we will have plenty of opportunities to connect. I will be sharing the details of new events for March later this week, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, let's gain insights and strategies from another inspiring female founder.

By sharing these stories, I am actually giving you a sneak peek into my upcoming book, Fintech Feminists.

So, thank you for allowing me to workshop my research and profiles with you!

Let's get started.

WHY UPGRADE?

There’s a big difference in how the mainstream media covers fintech and how I do. Every week, I will provide you with the latest fintech news (minus the BS), profiles of inspiring women in fintech, and insightful analysis to help you stay ahead of the competition.

For our premium members, I send out updates 3x a week through our new column, "On Performance.” These columns will provide tactical advice to improve your entrepreneur and business leader performance.

Plus, premium members support female-led journalism and keep this work going. Because of your support, Fintech Is Femme is more than just a newsletter; it's a media empire and community for women to connect, learn, and support one another.

ICON

From Food Trucks to Fintech: Sofiat Abdulrazaaq's Journey to Transform Mobile Business

Sofiat Abdulrazaaq, the CEO and co-founder of Goodfynd, envisions technology as a powerful catalyst for supporting communities. 

Her company, Goodfynd, is a payments platform and marketplace for food trucks and mobile vendors.

Through fintech, she’s giving mobile small business owners the financial tools they need to succeed with an easy-to-use payments platform that helps food truck operators scale.

Recognized as one of Ebony's new C-Suite, Millennial Execs Changing the Game, Sofiat utilizes her industry expertise to raise millions of dollars in venture capital and reinvest in her community.

If you’ve been part of the Fintech Is Femme fam since the beginning, you probably remember Sofiat as one of my speakers at my first-ever Fintech Is Femme storytelling event in 2022.

Shout out to the OGs who were there! 💜

Today, Sofiat is leveraging her personal story to build a fintech company that fundamentally changes how mobile business owners and operators, many of them immigrants & people of color, leverage technology to grow.

Here’s her story.

Sofiat Abdulrazaaq learned early from the strong women in her life that no matter what life hands you, never settle.

That’s because life is filled with facing different “bridges and tunnels,” or moments that lead you to the next opportunity.

Sofiat’s first tunnel was in college. 

She graduated with double majors in Political Science and Psychology from Virginia Tech, where she also met her co-founders at Goodfynd, Lemaire Stewart and Kyle Miller. 

It was at Virginia Tech in 2007 that Sofiat also experienced a mass school shooting. She lost friends and classmates and wrestled with survivor’s guilt, wondering why she survived and they didn’t. 

“It gave me a thirst for life, a passion for life,” Sofiat said of the tragedy in a conversation on my podcast. 

She said traumatic experiences like that “fuel you to start feeling like hey, maybe I'm here because of a responsibility to share the stories of those I lost.” 

Sofiat witnessed one of the most traumatic events in American history at a time when she should’ve been focused on her future career and professional experiences. 

But, Sofiat pressed forward and graduated from Virginia Tech, then received her Master’s Degree in Global Affairs from the University of Denver and her Juris Doctorate from American University College of Law. 

🔥 Sofiat’s resilience is just one of the many reasons I admire her so much.

In January 2019, Sofiat launched Goodfynd alongside her two co-founders. 

Goodfynd started for the love of good food. Sofiat and her co-founders are foodies at heart but couldn’t keep track of their favorite food trucks. 

The trio started building an app to support that need, but they quickly found food trucks and mobile vendors needed other support, most importantly, a tech stack that served them. 

After launch, they were onto gold and gaining traction. 

Then, COVID-19 struck. 

The food market where they did most of their business had to stop operating due to CDC guidelines. 

“[My co-founders and I] went home and were like our business is over," Sofiat told Forbes. "People weren't even going out to get take out. We just wasted six months developing something that now has no merit."

But within a few weeks, new guidelines were released for consumer-facing businesses. Food trucks fell within the guidelines, and Sofiat says business quickly ramped up, as mobile vendors were some of the only remaining places to eat out safely.

What could’ve been a blow to their business turned into an opportunity - but they needed capital.

Black founders in the U.S. raised 0.48% of all venture dollars allocated last year. 

As three Black founders - Sofiat and her partners were up against a worldwide pandemic, systemic oppression, and the normal challenges of founding a startup. 

Then they raised $1.8 million in a round led by Diana Murakhovskaya of The Artemis Fund, a group that typically only goes after late-stage companies.

Sofiat didn’t feel prepared during the call, and what she thought was an informal get-to-know-you turned into something so much more.

"She asked the toughest questions," said Sofiat to Forbes of Diana. "I felt unprepared, and I thought I had blown it. But there was a great vibe, and at the end of the conversation, [Diana] said she would talk to her partners.”

The rest, as they say, is history.

Today, Goodfynd provides extensive support to underserved food truck owners through user-friendly software-as-a-service tools. 

These tools cover critical aspects like: 

• Payment processing, 

• operations management, 

• supply-chain security, 

• and inventory control. 

The technology is meticulously tailored to the unique needs of mobile entrepreneurs, addressing challenges such as food preparation, supply procurement, tax management, language barriers, and industry insights. 

Goodfynd offers one-on-one support and tools in English and Spanish, with plans to expand language support based on user needs.

Moreover, Goodfynd provides valuable insights into customer behaviors, trends, and event schedules, assisting businesses heavily reliant on foot traffic. 

This data empowers food truck owners to make informed decisions regarding parking and operating hours, crucial factors influencing sales performance and financial sustainability.

Goodfynd's user base stands out for its diversity: 34% are Latinx, 31% are Black, 20% are Asian and Pacific Islander, and 15% are white immigrants. 

This commitment to inclusivity is rooted in Sofiat’s personal connection to the challenges faced by her father, a Nigerian immigrant who grappled with business failures due to complexities common in small enterprises.

Fintech fam, I hope Sofiat’s story has inspired you to take advantage of the “tunnels” in your life as “bridges” for opportunity. 

As Sofiat says, “I have never met a badass woman in my life who squanders opportunity.”

Bet on yourself and make bold moves, my friend. 🤑

_{WTF ELSE?}

• Traditional banking and fintech: Finding the balance in evolution

• Fintech personal loan pie doubles in 5 years: Report

• Payments fintech Block climbs after strong earnings forecast

• General Atlantic leads $50M investment in Colombia’s fintech Bold

• Get ready for International Women’s Day with UN Women’s theme for 2024: Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress

_{I WANT IT, I GOT IT}

• 📚 Today’s Read: I will be interviewing a fellow financial journalist, Josie Cox, on Tuesday, March 19th, in NYC to discuss her latest book titled "Women, Money, Power." The book delves into the ongoing struggle for financial equity among women, highlighting both the progress made and the work still ahead. RSVP here if you’re in town! 

• 👀 Today’s Watch: The Daily Show: Jon Stewart is back and spicier than ever. Love or hate him, his journalism mixed with comedy is insanely informative and entertaining.

• 🍣 Today’s Eats: Speaking of food, I found myself at the iconic Katz's Delicatessen this weekend. If you haven’t been, this spot has been a New York staple slinging sandwiches since 1888.

_FINTUNES

🎵 SZA - Saturn

SZA is an artist who expresses her creativity through music and epic performances, and I love her so much for it. She tells stories about heartbreaks, love, feeling like a loser, hate, and even existential crises.

This song is about finding beauty in tough times. It reminds me that we learn and grow the most from our losses and struggles.

Listening to her music makes me feel like I'm starting my day well or ending my night with a storyteller who understands life's challenges.

That’s all for now! Stay safe, everyone. Hug your loved ones. See you Thursday!

Love,

Nicole

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