Christian Duffus
Co-Founder of LEAF College Savings / FinTech Entrepreneur
FinTech Entrepreneur: Innovating the next generation of finance and technology.
Call Rates
Duration | Price |
---|---|
15 minutes | $50.00 |
30 minutes | $100.00 |
60 minutes | $200.00 |
Tags
Biography
Christian L. Duffus (“Chris”) is serial entrepreneur and innovator. Chris is currently a co-founder of LEAF College Savings, LLC (“LEAF”). LEAF is the leading employee benefit marketplace for 529 college savings. This platform is utilized by companies and benefits exchange platforms to allow employees to contribute to 529 college savings plans as a direct deposit employee benefit, making saving for college through an employer like a 401k or HSA.
Previously, Chris was Vice President of Finance and Corporate Development for Spectrum Bridge, Inc. ("SBI"); the leading wireless networking company in the emerging TV White Space market, where he was responsible for all financial and strategic matters.
Prior to his position at SBI, Chris was the deputy CEO of Finance and Administration for the 2008 Democratic National Convention Committee (“DNCC”) in Denver Colorado, where he was responsible for a budget of more than $100 million.
Before joining the DNCC, Chris was Vice President of Finance and Corporate Development for M2Z Networks, a development stage entity formed to acquire AWS-3 spectrum (2155-2180 MHz) for use in a nationwide wireless broadband network.
Formerly, he served as the CFO and a managing principal for Govolution, Inc. (“Govolution”) the leading provider of electronic payment software and services to the public sector and the banking industries. At Govolution, Chris led the company in various roles from start-up, growth, profitability and successful trade-sale to First American Payments (a Lindsay Goldberg portfolio company).
Earlier, he worked in the family investment office for John Kluge at Metromedia Company where he focused on Internet and telecommunications investments.
Chris began his career with Goldman Sachs in the North American Mergers and Acquisitions Group.
Chris is a Graduate of Florida A&M University and the University of Virginia's Darden Graduate School of Business Administration where he currently serves as a member of the Alumni Board of Trustees.
Finally, Chris is the founder of the Scholar's Club, an extracurricular academic organization focused on developing a peer culture of accomplishment and academic excellence among disadvantaged and underserved students. It has become one of Southwest Florida's premier academic organization having served nearly 100,000 students since it's founding in 1989 as a high school student.
Education
UVA Darden Graduate School of Business
Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.)
Florida A&M University
Bachelor's Degree
Other
Publications
Patents
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ESTABLISHING AN INDEX FOR SPECTRUM USED TO SUPPORT WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS
8,290,848
October 2012
Disclosed are a system, a computer readable medium and a method for determining a spectrum index value as a function of financial data for a plurality of selected publically traded companies and spectrum-related data for the selected companies.
Has government regulation shaped your FinTech startups in any way?
As a 2nd part of this question - I note that Parker Conrad, the the CEO of the highly valued company Zenefits (which raised $500 million in funding), recently resigned amid scrutiny over the company's inadequate compliance measures. Will this have any effect on other FinTech start-ups?
What is the difference between decentralized, federated and centralized digital currencies and what are the top examples of all three? Thanks!
Additionally, what is the value proposition of darkcoin and who uses it?
How might advances in quantum computing impact financial services?
I am asking this question not for the typical answer of it impacting cryptography or algorithimic trading. What else might it change in financial services technology? For an example of a quantum computer see D-Wave System.
What inspired you to create LEAF College Savings?
And what problem does your company help solve?