General Information
Instructor Bio
Dan Richards brings 30 years of experience in the financial industry. Over that time he built and sold two start-ups (including one to Rogers Communications). In 2002, he was recruited to become CEO of a public company that was struggling after acquiring five investment distribution firms; he led a team that stabilized the situation leading to a successful sale two years later.
Dan has been a member of Rotman’s marketing faculty since 1992 and has consistently won teaching awards based on student ratings of his courses. In 2019 he initiated the Finhub Student Fellow Program, an initiative to provide a select number of first year students with in-depth exposure to Fintech industry founders and experts. Dan’s columns have appeared in the Globe and Mail Report on Business and he is a regular guest on Business News Network. Dan holds an undergraduate degree in economics from McGill University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Target Audience
Students who plan to work in financial services, consulting, venture capital or strategy roles, as well as those generally interested in the startup space, digital disruption and innovation.
Format
12 regular sessions – 2 hours in length, incorporating a guest speaker, discussion of articles and cases and a lecture. There will also be optional out of class meetings with senior decision makers at banks and venture capitalists
Course Mission
Fintech Marketing explores the number one issue for CEOs of every successful player in financial services: the onslaught from a wave of well-funded, disruptive startups looking to carve out their most profitable lines of business. The course addresses this from the perspective of disruptors, established financial institutions and venture capital firms, looking at issues of customer segmentation, positioning, product development (including minimum viable products), pricing, distribution, customer acquisition, scaling of offerings and competitive insulation. The case features guest talks by fintech founders, senior decision makers at banks and VCs, supplemented by case discussions and lectures.
Student Comments
“My best course at Rotman, tremendous learning”
“Amazing course, great insights from the professor”
“Great guest speakers to learn from”
“Impressive breadth of material, tons of interesting readings”
“A must for students interested in innovation, startups, digital marketing or disruption of finance”
“Among the most valuable courses in my two years at Rotman”
“Excellent speakers with unrivalled market knowledge”
“Passionate prof with outstanding knowledge of financial services”
“Guest lectures were amazing. My best course with tremendous learning”
“A fantastic professor! One of my favourite courses at Rotman”
“By far my best course at Rotman!”
“Industry speakers were a big value-add, allowed us to gain perspective on what’s going on in the world of Fintech outside of course materials/case studies”
| Student Comments | 2020 | 2019 | 2017 | 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| “Overall, I learned a lot from this course” | 6.58 | 6.29 | 6.76 | 6.72 |
| “The course was relevant to real-world problems” | 6.84 | 6.61 | 6.88 | 6.88 |
Evaluation and Grade Distribution
| Component | Due Date | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Class Participation | Ongoing | 20% |
| Group Assignment | TBD | 40% |
| Final Exam | Exam Week | 40% |
Required Resources
There is no text, rather the course uses a combination of recent cases and in depth articles from leading publications that act as “living cases’. Video segments enhance the learning process.
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