IBS Journal April 2017
57
impact is incredibly gratifying. There are always challenges in any business, and certainly one of ours has been rising above the noise of the many small business lenders to differentiate ourselves as a leader. Everything from our Net Promoter Score (NPS) to our brand awareness and even our recent Glassdoor award has benchmarked our success in that area, but we aren’t resting on our laurels. Maintaining our maniacal focus on culture and customer experience while growing quickly is definitely difficult.
IBS Journal: When it comes to women in technology, Kabbage appears to be a progressive company. Could you give some insight into your activity in this area?
KP: We always want to hire the very best people, regardless of gender, ethnicity or any other human quality. The fact that we are open-minded and actively seek diversity has given us access to talent that might have been otherwise overlooked by a traditional organisation.
IBS Journal: Recent DHL International research showed that FinTechs fell short of banks when it came to gender equality. Only 8% of directors globally are women, compared to 22% in big banks. Why is this such an issue for a FinTech sector, which is forward thinking in so many other ways?
KP: In my opinion, larger companies are more likely to have diverse boards, and those governance mandates come from shareholder, customer and public expectations. Unfortunately, women don’t tend to flock towards technology companies or startups, so they are underrepresented at the founder, em- ployee and board levels.
IBS Journal: Should more be done in schools, colleges etc to encourage more females to get into the tech sector?
KP: Without a doubt we should encourage women to pursue careers in technology. Whether it’s encouraging tech-focused
coursework or shifting the culture in academia to actively pursue women for tech degrees/scholarships, we can definitely do more.
IBS Journal: How else can we create a permanent social and cul- tural shift that levels the playing field for women in FinTech?
KP: Five years from now Capital One will be seen as having been The biggest issue, in my opinion, is a woman’s ability to bal- ance work and family. Like it or not, women bear the primary responsibility for child-rearing and other family obligations (like housework, shopping or meal preparation), and only a significant cultural shift will change that. If we really want to see household equality (which will ultimately transfer to professional equality), we should give men paternity leave that matches maternity leave. What better way to see both partners contribute equally to the household?
That’s just a first step. The only reason I was even able to enter- tain starting (and growing) a new business is because my hus- band and I have swapped traditional gender roles. He has been the primary at-home parent to our 16-year-old and our 12-week- old, and without that support there is no way I could have man- aged the commitment required by a startup. It shocks me that in 2017, I still get a raised eyebrow from the ‘old guard’ when I tell folks he is a stay-at-home dad. They assume he was unsuccessful in business, not that it was his choice because he loves kids and is a kickass dad.
IBS Journal: Looking to the future, what can we expect to see from Kabbage in 2017 and beyond?
KP: We will continue to grow our core business with a focus on technology and data innovation. I think you’ll see geographic expansion as well as product expansion, as we endeavour to give small businesses worldwide the best experience possible to obtain capital they need to grow
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