David vs. Goliath: Internet Startups Battle Money Giants

Felix Salmon, Mitchell Jacobs, Sean Harper, Shamir Karkal

The financial services industry has been shrouded in mystery for decades. The internet is finally transforming the financial services landscape by empowering consumers and businesses to research, compare, and demand better prices and service by knowing the competition. Mint.com, LendingTree, TransFS and BillShrink caused paradigm shifts which put power in the hands of the customer instead of big institutions cashing in on a lack of knowledge. This panel will leverage the experience of thought leaders in the industry to explore the trends which have led to their success: transparency, honesty, free for user models, disseminating information, etc. The panel will also explore what’s at stake in the future both for consumers, small businesses, and big institutions. Is there such a thing as too much transparency? Does the acquisition of startups spreading transparency undermine their value proposition?

Finance    #PLACEHOLDER

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