Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Rangel
Hi Michael, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in Miami and attended the University of Miami Herbert Business School, where I received my B.B.A. in Finance & Entrepreneurship. After graduating, I worked as the lead trader for Fairholme Capital Management.
In the fall of 2015, I decided to leave my job and hometown of Miami. I moved up to New York City to take classes at Columbia University, thinking an MBA program would be my next step. Later that fall, I made a decision that would forever change the course of my life.
One of my good friends, Tyler McIntyre, and I had been talking about building a banking startup focused on small businesses, and the idea was something I couldn’t take my mind off. So, in December 2015, I decided against spending my savings on an MBA. Instead, I partnered up with Tyler to pool our savings as the capital to begin building Novo, a community banking platform for small businesses and the self-employed. We started building Novo in 2016, launched the platform in 2018, and are now working with more than 250,000 small businesses across the US.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
When Tyler and I officially started Novo in December 2015, we had extraordinarily high expectations for what we could achieve. What makes startup life so interesting in the early days is that often, the scope of your expectations is the polar opposite of the size of your budget.
We knew that our savings would have to last us until we built a beta version of the platform. For nearly two years, we lived out of suitcases, working and sleeping in various small apartments, friends’ and families’ houses, and even in a garage, as we hired a small team and built out our platform. Every ounce of our time, energy, and resources were put into turning an idea of “powerfully simple banking for small businesses” into a reality.
Now, nearly nine years after our humble beginnings, and six years after the launch of our platform in 2018, Novo is the top 100 fastest-growing companies in the US according to the 2024 Inc. 5000. We have more than 250,000 customers, and are growing rapidly.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Novo is a banking platform purpose-built for solopreneurs, self-employed professionals, and small business owners.
Today, the vast majority of small business owners see their checking account as a safe holding place for their money — one that often comes with clunky user interfaces and countless fees. At Novo, we’ve built a banking platform tailored to the unique needs of small business owners and self-employed professionals. Specifically, Novo puts the checking account at the center of our customers’ financial universe, and allows them to access an ecosystem of products for bookkeeping, invoicing, payroll, credit, and more directly through their Novo accounts.
Small business owners who switch to Novo quickly see that we help them save time, streamline their finances, and improve their cash flow. And we do all of this without charging “maintenance” or other hidden fees.
But what sets Novo apart isn’t just its product and technology. Everything we do at Novo is focused on helping people start and grow successful businesses. With this in mind, our team does a lot to support our small business customers — helping them connect with each other, get more work, and raise their visibility. We’ve worked on a number of initiatives in this area, from billboard campaigns in Miami featuring small businesses to hosting small business events in cities across the US.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
The biggest thing that has worked for me throughout the Novo journey, whether for finding mentors/advisors, building the Novo network of industry professionals, or forming relationships with investors, has been to lead with humility.
It’s a game of persistence and shots on goal. Leave your ego behind, aim to learn from every encounter, and you’ll be surprised with how far you get.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.novo.co/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getnovo/?hl=en
