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Jessica Riolfi

Co-Founder and CEO at Uprise

Jessica Chen Riolfi is the Co-Founder and CEO of Uprise, a fintech startup that builds personalized financial plans for young professionals.12 She has extensive experience in product management, growth, and international expansion, particularly in the fintech industry.1

Career Highlights

  • Current Role: Co-Founder and CEO at Uprise (2021 - Present)1
  • Previous Positions:
    • Product Consultant at Robinhood (2019)
    • Head of Product at Earnin (2018 - 2019)
    • Head of Asia at TransferWise (now Wise) (2016 - 2018)
    • Sr Product Manager, Globalization at TransferWise (2015 - 2016)
    • Sr Manager, Geographic Expansion at eBay (2013 - 2015)
    • Manager, Corporate Development at eBay (2010 - 2011)
    • Investment Banking at J.P. Morgan (2007 - 2010)1

Education

  • MBA from Harvard Business School (2011 - 2013)
  • A.B. from Dartmouth College (2003 - 2007)1

Uprise

Uprise is a VC-backed startup that aims to democratize financial optimization for everyone.4 The company provides personalized financial plans for young professionals at no cost and is trusted by employees at major tech companies like Google, Microsoft, and Deloitte.2 Uprise's long-term goal is to make high-quality private wealth management accessible to a broader audience.3

Expertise and Skills

Jessica has deep knowledge of the fintech landscape, having worked at several prominent companies in the sector. Her experience spans product management, growth strategies, and international expansion.1 She emphasizes the importance of customer-centric approaches, lean methodology, and the ability to navigate ambiguity in the fast-paced fintech environment.3

Personal

Based in Las Vegas, Nevada, Jessica is fluent in Portuguese, Mandarin Chinese, and English.1 She is known for sharing insights on career growth, breaking into fintech, and personal finance management.23

Highlights

Jul 19 · linkedin

In the VC-backed startup world, there’s stigma associated with pivots.

Didn’t rocket to success and IPO in record time? Cue whispers of defeat.

I get that, as founders, we set sky-high expectations for ourselves. A narrative that is reinforced by VCs and media who prize fast, flashy returns.

Time for trial, error, and evolution? Not so much.

But here’s the open secret - every founder pivots. Openly or quietly, with a shifted launch date or not.

Remember Robinhood's genesis as a feed of crowdsourced stock tips?

Or PayPal’s journey from security software to beaming IOUs between PalmPilots before landing on email money transfers?

In our pursuit, we can’t let expectations or narratives blind us when the path needs changing.

The first time Uprise had an enterprise inbound, I said no. We’re not a B2B company (and never will be), I thought.

Then we had a second. And a third.

I spent an agonizing week wrestling with our (my) identity. The whole team did.

Several months in, the answer is obvious.

A strong market pull.

A natural founder-market fit, given our deep backgrounds in fintech and finance, partnering with former colleagues and connections feels incredibly instinctive.

But what sealed the deal was the realization that embedding financial advisory into fintechs and financial institutions makes for a 10x better experience for end-customers.

We meet them in the moment financial questions arise and decisions are made. And we enable them to act on recommendations with a single click. This is now possible.

And while these seem like really good things, embracing that requires admitting first that the previous approach was NOT those things. We were wrong.

So here’s my conclusion. The real measure of success? Courage. Even, and especially, when it feels like stumbling.

Check out Uprise's fresh new website and join us on our journey as a B2B company.

#changethenarrative #founderstories #fintech #embeddedfinance

Apr 20 · linkedin

I’m pretty sure I’m in the bottom 1% of my class.

In a month and a half, I’m headed back to Boston for my Harvard Business School reunion.

This impressive class now counts amongst its members CEOs, CFOs, Managing Directors, VPs of some of the most well-known companies out there.

I’m sure they’re all super rich now.

I make $1 a year and am burning through savings.

And that’s cool with me.

In a conversation with some alumni friends last weekend, we realized that one of the nice things that comes with age and experience is a sense of self that we didn’t have in our insecure, overachieving years. (Recognizing we probably STILL have a long way to go!)

So here’s to putting aside insecurities. 😬

Thanks so much to Andrew Rea for the tough questions and incredible convo. Check it out in the latest edition of How much do you make?

https://lnkd.in/eBPkiRuC

Related Questions

What inspired Jessica Chen Riolfi to start Uprise?
How did her experience at TransferWise influence her career path?
What challenges did she face while leading product at Robinhood?
How does Uprise's approach to financial planning differ from traditional wealth management?
What advice does she give to young professionals looking to break into fintech?
Jessica Riolfi
Jessica Riolfi, photo 1
Jessica Riolfi, photo 2
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Location

Mountain View, California, United States