Speaking
I give a room language for what it is carrying. And something to do about it.
Keynotes and panels on two subjects: financial literacy, and founder life. For banks, credit unions, universities, companies, and accelerators. Forty-five minutes that people quote back to you months later.
Fintech Meetup, on the panel.
43North finals, Buffalo. Eight founders, four thousand people, one million dollars on the line. I won the money and the room.
That is a pitch, not a keynote.
Different job, different room. Nine minutes to convince five judges, not forty-five to move a few hundred people. It is the closest thing I have on tape to what happens when I have the stage, and I would rather tell you that now than let you find out on the day. Keynote footage is coming.
The signature keynote
What’s your life credit score?
FICO is easy to dunk on. It is reductive, it is opaque, and it makes decisions about people it has never met. And still, it works. It took something complicated and turned it into a number a person can hold in their head. Nobody ever did that for the rest of a life.
So I built the version that does. Six factors, taken straight off the credit report and pointed at how someone is actually living. Payment history becomes whether you keep your word when keeping it costs you something. Utilization becomes how much of your capacity is already spoken for. Collections becomes the thing you are still carrying and have not said out loud.
I read my own report while I do it. The score that started with a four. The businesses that did not work. The debt at eighteen that started all of it. Not for the confession. A room does not move until somebody goes first.
What your audience leaves with
- Their own six factors, scored, before they leave the room.
- One account to work on, named specifically. Not a resolution.
- Language for the thing they have been carrying quietly.
- A way to talk about money at work that does not shame anybody.
Lengths
25 to 30 minutes. The argument only.
45 minutes. The argument and the six factors.
60 minutes plus Q&A. The full talk, and the questions are the best part.
90 minutes. Workshop, where everyone scores themselves.
What I speak about
Two subjects. I do not pretend to a third.
Track 01
Financial literacy.
For rooms where money is the subject. Banks, credit unions, universities, and company programs.
What’s your life credit score?
The signature keynote. Six factors off the credit report, pointed at how a person is actually living. Everyone scores themselves and leaves with one account to work on.
Financial literacy, without the shame.
The fundamentals for a room that wants them straight, no framework required. Credit, debt, and the difference between a bad season and a bad person. Built for members and students rather than for professionals.
Track 02
Founder life.
For accelerators, incubators, demo days, and founder communities.
Nine businesses.
The founder journey told by someone still in it. Eight of them taught me what the ninth one needed to be. What it costs, what it pays, and which of the two arrives first.
The power of a good pitch.
How to build one, how to deliver it, and what judges are actually deciding while you talk. I have done this in front of five judges and in front of four thousand people.
Why the pitch talk exists
The power of storytelling.
A pitch is a story told under pressure, to people deciding whether to believe you. I have done it enough times to know what works and what only sounds good in rehearsal.
One segment per win. The largest was 43North, in front of four thousand people.
How it runs
Formats.
Keynote.
The signature talk, scaled to your slot. Works from a room of fifty to a room of five thousand.
45–60minutesWorkshop.
Everyone scores their own six factors and leaves with one account to work on.
90minutesFireside chat.
You bring the questions. I do not need slides for this one.
25–40minutesHalf-day intensive.
Keynote, workshop, and working time with your team afterward.
4hours
The rooms
Who I speak to.
Banks and credit unions.
You serve members who are often working to improve their financial footing. I give them content that respects rather than patronizes that work.
Universities, HBCUs, and youth-serving organizations.
Your students are being handed a financial system they did not design. I give them a framework for navigating it with dignity.
Corporate L&D and financial wellness programs.
Your employees are stretched. I give them language for what they are carrying, and a way to start putting some of it down.
Entrepreneurs and founder communities.
I have built nine businesses. I know what it costs. I talk to your people as an operator who survived, not a guru who ascended.
Accelerators and incubators.
Your cohort has ten weeks and one demo day at the end of it. I won a million dollars on a pitch stage, and I lost on a few others. I tell your founders the difference honestly.
Pitch competitions and demo days.
I have been the founder at the microphone and the person on the judging side. A keynote to open the day, or coaching with your founders before they go up.
The record
Four thousand people watched eight founders pitch. They voted for mine.
43North, Buffalo, November 2023. Eight founders pitched. Five of us were selected by the judges at a million dollars each. Then the room voted, and I took People’s Choice and another twenty-five thousand. Kredit Academy moved to Buffalo the following year.
Before that, in 2019, Miami gave me a key to the city for community building. That was the year I co-founded the Black Men Talk Tech conference there, while running Kredit Academy.
Rooms I have spoken in
Among others.
The room, after a panel.
Partners
My companies have partnered over the years with: Equifax, Edward Jones, M&T Bank, Morgan Stanley, Discover and more.
Contributing author, CUInsight
I write for the credit union trade press. If your team is at a credit union, they already read me.
The practical part
Logistics.
Travel
I travel from Miami, Florida.
Domestic anywhere. International on request.
Travel and lodging booked by the host, or billed at cost.
Lead time
Four to six weeks is comfortable.
Shorter notice is worth asking about. Say so in the form.
What I need in the room
Handheld or lavalier microphone.
A screen and HDMI. I bring the deck and a clicker.
A confidence monitor, if you have one.
Virtual
Yes, and priced differently.
Zoom, Teams, or your platform. I run my own camera and lighting.
What I provide
Deck, one-sheet, bio, and headshot ahead of the date.
Promotional copy and images for your channels.
Fee
There is no number on this page. What it costs depends on the format, the travel, and how much of the day you need, and I would rather price the actual event than publish a figure that fits nobody.
The form asks for a budget range. Tell me what you have. If it works I will say so, and if it does not I will tell you that too instead of leaving you waiting.
For your files
The one-sheet.
Topics, formats, lengths, logistics, and the record on a single page. Everything your committee needs to make a decision without emailing me first.
Booking
Book Evan to speak.
Six required fields. It comes to me, not to an assistant, and you will hear back within two business days.
If you would rather write a normal email, iam@evanleaphart.com reaches the same place.