Leo Tyndall is the CEO and founder of Fintech Marketlend and he’s been on a crusade recently  to warn the SME sector about Fintechs, saying the sector is akin to a “wild west”. He’s a former barrister and has seen businesses being burned too many times by unethical lending. But equally of interest is the road Leo took to get here. After decades of working in the ‘big end of town’ – global legal and financial services firms – Leo realised the ‘small end’ was being badly neglected. While large-scale investors and borrowers had any number of sophisticated finance options available to them, the SME space was largely ignored; investors couldn’t break into the market, leaving SMEs with only banks and large financial institutions to turn to. So Leo went ahead and assembled a team of veteran finance industry professionals, and built a first-of-its-kind proprietary platform through which SMEs could form direct relationships with institutional and sophisticated investors. Marketlend is now closing in on $50 million lent and $100 million in secured funds to SMEs.

<p>Leo Tyndall is the CEO and founder of Fintech Marketlend and he&rsquo;s been on a crusade recently &nbsp;to warn the SME sector about Fintechs, saying the sector is akin to a &ldquo;wild west&rdquo;.&nbsp;He&rsquo;s a former barrister and has seen businesses being burned too many times by unethical lending. But equally of interest is the road Leo took to get here.&nbsp;After decades of working in the &lsquo;big end of town&rsquo; &ndash; global legal and financial services firms &ndash; Leo realised the &lsquo;small end&rsquo; was being badly neglected. While large-scale investors and borrowers had any number of sophisticated finance options available to them, the SME space was largely ignored; investors couldn&rsquo;t break into the market, leaving SMEs with only banks and large financial institutions to turn to.&nbsp;So Leo went ahead and assembled a team of veteran finance industry professionals, and built a first-of-its-kind proprietary platform through which SMEs could form direct relationships with institutional and sophisticated investors. Marketlend&nbsp;is now closing in on $50 million lent and $100 million in secured funds to SMEs.</p>

Talking Business is an inflight entertainment radio program on Qantas, hosted by Alan Kohler. Each month business leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators are interviewed about their expertise, businesses, and careers. This is where you can podcast all of the guests from Talking Business.

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