Prateek Sodhi, '20 MBA

BAA: Why did you decide to do your MBA at the Alberta School of Business?

In early 2016 I was working for TD Direct Investing which had a great program to support its employees pursuing higher education. This presented me with a perfect opportunity to start an MBA to deepen my skillset and to expose myself to different verticals of finance. I didn’t want to go back to school full-time, and I really liked my job, so I decided to stay in Edmonton and applied to UofA’s part-time MBA program with a specialisation in Finance. Even though I had already heard great things about the program, I did my own supporting research by visiting the campus and meeting with students, faculty, and the admissions office staff to learn more about the program and the specialisations available.

Following this, I started preparing for the admission requirements, including the GMAT exam. Within two months of making the decision to apply, I took the GMAT and, happily, I scored well without extensive preparation. I then was admitted to the MBA program for the fall of 2016 intake.

BAA: You were very involved in student life during your MBA - what are some of your favourite memories?

As I knew from the onset that this would be the last time I would ever pursue a degree, I certainly wanted to make the most out of it. I am fond of many memories during my time at UofA, including the time spent preparing for case competitions, working on a data analytics consulting project for PCL, and working with startups participating in the Creative Destruction Lab program. My favourite memories of all, though, are from the study tour I took to Europe, which was focused on family businesses. This experience allowed me to learn a lot about governance models in century-old family businesses. I then elected to extend this European trip, asked my girlfriend to join me and proposed to her on the trails of “Path of the Gods” on the beautiful Amalfi coast in Italy. This is also where the first inspiration for my startup came about, so it definitely holds a special place in my heart.

BAA: How has your career developed from graduation to today? 

I did not wait to complete the program to start leveraging my learnings. A year into my MBA, I moved on from TD to pursue an opportunity to work at EncoreFX. In this role, I successfully built a book of mid-sized business clients for whom I managed currency exposures. I found myself in the fortunate position of being able to apply the learnings from my evening courses in finance to my job the very next day. It was around that time that I began identifying the pain points in the foreign exchange (FX) industry which we are solving today with Finofo.

As part of my capstone project, I had an opportunity to spend time at the Creative Destruction Lab where I assisted several startups with fundraising, financial modeling, and building value proposition case studies.

I graduated from the program in May 2020, in the midst of the pandemic. The strong currency movements prompted by the early days of the pandemic triggered a series of events that led to my employer filing for bankruptcy. This stemmed from inadequate internal risk controls compounded by a lack of technology and of real-time connectivity.

Building on the experiences I had working with the Creative Destruction Lab, I wanted to continue working within the startup ecosystem in Alberta. I came across an opportunity to work at the Alberta Enterprise Corporation, whose mission of building a self-sustaining VC and startup ecosystem in Alberta resonated with me strongly. I soon joined the small but highly productive investment team at Alberta Enterprise Corporation. This allowed me to experience the institutional side of fundraising and to understand how institutional investors select money managers in the VC asset class. It taught me how an institution with a larger mandate than simply generating financial returns builds a diversified portfolio of VC funds. I worked closely on multiple investments and learned the art of investment due diligence in selecting solid money managers to help achieve the organization’s objectives of advancing the innovation economy of Alberta. Recently, in late September 2022, I left AEC to work on my startup, Finofo, full-time.

Tell us about your new business Finofo! What does your company do, and what drove you to co-found it?

While working in the FX industry, helping my clients manage their foreign currency exposures, it became quite clear to me that existing solutions were failing to recognise the changing needs of businesses and that it was only a matter of time until this lagging industry also got disrupted by technology. I closely observed the pain points experienced by my clients, peers, and the existing solutions providers. Following further research that validated the significance of the pain points we had identified in the broader market; we built a demo product showcasing how our core innovations solve these immediate pain points. We found success with this demo product and secured a revenue-sharing partnership with a financial institution. Based on this we decided to raise capital and to jump on Finofo full-time.

At Finofo, we are building an operating system for finance teams at mid-sized businesses which will provide them with accounts payables automation, smart financial planning models, precise financial risk analytics with FX hedging recommendations, and the ability to execute on transactions directly from the platform. Our vision is to become the only finance application finance teams need to operate their businesses, to gather intelligence, and to make informed and timely financial decisions. You can learn more about Finofo here. 

My two co-founders in this venture are Charles Maranda and Malav Shah, whom I both met in 2015. Charles is the brain behind our algorithms and is responsible for developing our IP base from a financial engineering standpoint, and Malav is our rockstar programmer. Each brings their highly relevant experience to the table, with Charles having developed and implemented financial risk models and systems at the National Bank of Canada and Malav having spent the last decade in Silicon Valley building scalable web applications for Facebook and Pinterest. To this day, every dollar of revenue generated by Pinterest flows through code that was either written or reviewed by Malav.

BAA: What has the transition from student to employee to CEO been like?

To be honest, I haven’t had much time to think about the transition. It feels like it has been a natural progression as I have always been a big picture kind of person, always looking for the next challenge. I was able to leverage my experiences as a student to propel me along this journey. One thing I would say that is singularly different about being a CEO is that building a company is an enduring challenge and requires relentless resourcefulness. This transition has already been really rewarding. I get to work with brilliant people like my co-founders everyday while having fun building something massive.

BAA: Although it’s early days for Finofo, can you share a piece of advice that already rings true for you in your experience building a business?

I would recommend not to overly protect your Aha! moment. Most good ideas already exist somewhere in the world or in someone’s mind in some form or another; the key is to put them to the test of research and then to execute on them. Also, if you believe your business idea may require venture capital, it’s a strong plus to start building relationships very early in the game. VC investors love momentum, so don’t be afraid to share your idea. You may not raise capital immediately, but they will track your progress and will invest when you really need it.