Fintech and Emerging Financing Models in a Dynamic World

Many of the jobs we will be doing in five years do not exist today. The world is changing rapidly and the world of finance has to change with it. New innovations will take place both within and beyond existing structures: fintechs providimg services such as crowdfunding, P2P lending, family lending, inclusive financing and impact investing will be refined and made more sustainable, while new opportunities using blockchain technology will be developed. Fintechs will disrupt legacy banks and democratize financial services.

WHO SHOULD JOIN?
Students of business economics, business administration and comparable courses; business professionals from a wide range of sectors including consultancy, banking, NGO’s and all levels of government. Our courses are multi-disciplinary and therefore are open to students and professionals with a wide variety of backgrounds.

COURSE CONTENT
On this course, you will deal with real-life cases and projects, honing your creativity, flexibility, professional insights and social skills in lean (start-up) projects and scrums that equip you to face the future of today’s gig economy. You will learn to innovate within a sustainable financial model or product, cooperating with financial experts in a business environment based on principles such as good finance, inclusive finance and international impact investment. New startups as well as banks, insurance companies, pension funds and other traditional financial institutions will reap the rewards of your expertise on finance’s new frontier. 

In the morning sessions, lecturers and guest speakers will share their expertise on the above topics. In the afternoons, you will work on a new financial product or service, complete this with a plan and financing request which you will present and pitch at the end of the first and second week. 

During the second week of the course you will net to the abovementioned issues acquire the practical knowledge and skills to get to grips with financial planning in an entrepreneurial context. The focus will be on the financial questions that confront start-ups and SME ventures. What is a reasonable company valuation? How much capital should you raise at each stage? When should you raise it and from which source? How should you approach and manage various types of investors? 

You will also build financial models and prepare business presentations aimed at attracting external funding. Add this to the interactive lectures, practical workshops and encounters with the business community, investors and entrepreneurs and you are ready to step into a new world of finance. 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of this course, you:

•  grasp the principles and concepts of doing business in an international market context in various economic cycles. 
•  can develop a lean start-up and arrange SME financing during the lifecycle of a firm. 
•  can utilize forecasting and scenario techniques to define financing needs and structures. 
•  can adopt various approaches to financial models and fintech innovations such as blockchains. 
•  are able to work in cross-cultural teams, write a lean plan and present a financing request in a Dragons’ Den setting. 

EXCURSION
Visits will be organized to financial institutions in Amsterdam to discover how bankers and other finance professionals view new-world financing models.

ABOUT THE PROFESSOR
Frans Boumans worked more than 25 years as corporate banker at Mees & Hope, MeesPierson and ING and lectures for over 25 years (E)MBA and Msc bachelor courses at various universities in 15 countries around the globe, amongst these VU Amsterdam. His field of expertise is (corporate) finance and he published about New Financing models (in Dutch).  

"What is Good Finance in today’s world? Finance reinvented: back to the future!"

Matteo Millone is Assistant Professor in finance at VU University Amsterdam. He has a multidisciplinary background in Economics, Law and Political Science. His work is focused on banking in emerging countries and the interaction between social and financial performance at the level of both institutions and investors. 
His work on Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) has been published on World Development and the World Bank Economic Review. His current research focuses on topics such as sentiment in Bitcoin markets, SME lending, and crowdfunding.