See Modelshop and the rest of the FinDEVr New York speaker lineup on March 21 & 22. Register and save 10% with the promo code FinDEVrBlog.

Interview with Tom Tobin, Modelshop‘s Founder:

Where did you start your career and how did you gain the experience needed to run the tech side of your company?
I started as a rocket scientist. No, literally. I worked for General Dynamics in the late ’80s and wrote flight control software for the Atlas II satellite launch platform. The launches were exciting, but the coding really wasn’t. It took weeks to write 100 lines of code, with hundreds of people double checking your work.

I got out of avionics code and took a role building golf ball flight trackers using machine vision for Callaway golf. Definitely more exciting, but I really wanted to be part of a software company that was solving big problems.

I joined a small company in San Diego called HNC Software (now FICO). They were solving the credit card fraud problem using Neural Networks. Fast forward 25 years and I’m still creating solutions in financial services using data and analytics to solve tough problems such as credit pricing decisions, fraud detection and portfolio optimization. Modelshop is the culmination of what I’ve learned delivering these solutions to some of the largest (and smallest) financial institutions out there, and it has the potential to change how decisions are made in our industry.

From a technologist’s perspective, what’s unique and game-changing about your technology?

At its core, Modelshop is an incredibly flexible ontology engine. It can morph the way organizations leverage information to transparently move between data, logic, policy, analytics and back to data. What’s interesting is that spreadsheets also do a pretty good job of this and can be powerful in the hands of capable business analysts. Our goal with Modelshop was not only to replicate that ease of working with information to produce immediate answers for businesses, but also to deliver that on a more scalable, shareable, real-time and analytically robust platform. Technology aside, our vision is to enable businesses to deliver unique analytic applications and services on a larger scale than with traditional coding. We believe we have successfully delivered a platform that accomplishes that vision.

Tell us about your favorite implementation of your solution/technology.

Blinker.com is an early stage company based in Denver that connects private party auto buyers and sellers and facilitates the purchase transaction, including financing. They have created an incredible user experience and all of the analytic decisioning behind the scenes is powered by Modelshop. I love the product they have built, and I’m proud of the role we’ve played in delivering their solution in an incredibly short time frame.

FinDEVr New York 2017 is partnered with American Banker, BayPay Forum, BiometricUpdate.com, Breaking Banks, Byte Academy, Canadian Trade Commissioner Service, Celent, CIOReview, Cointelegraph, Colloquy, Distributed, Economic Journal, Empire Startups, Femtech Leaders, Finmaps, Fintech Finance, Harrington Starr, Level39, Mercator Advisory Group, The Paypers, SecuritySolutionsWatch.com, Swiss Finance + Technology Association, and Women Who Code.

If FinDEVr is generating a lot of buzz in New York and the media likes buzz, is the media buzzing about FinDEVr New York?

Yes, yes it is. An impressive roster of media organizations have secured passes to FinDEVr New York and will attend the developer event this March 21 & 22. Here’s a sneak peek of the reporters, editors, analysts and producers who will be in the room:

Join us and see what the buzz is about. Register and save 10% with the promo code “FinDEVrBlog” at newyork2017.findevr.com.

FinDEVr New York 2017 is partnered with BayPay Forum, BiometricUpdate.com, Breaking Banks, Byte Academy, Canadian Trade Commissioner Service, Celent, Cointelegraph, Colloquy, Distributed, Empire Startups, Finmaps, Fintech Finance, Harrington Starr, Mercator Advisory Group, The Paypers, SecuritySolutionsWatch.com, Swiss Finance + Technology Association, and Women Who Code.

This March, dozens of startup and established organizations will take the stage with fintech tools in hand at FinDEVr New York. Over two days, their CTOs, VPs of engineering, software architects, and development teams will showcase the APIs, SDKs, platforms, cloud services and other technology dominating the financial and banking industries.

Not only is this conference a chance for you to see what’s new and expand how you’re innovating, it’s also an opportunity to learn from and collaborate with your tech-savvy colleagues and stretch yours skills.

As the only event focused on the tech of fintech, FinDEVr brings together a unique combination of people and ideas. Of the more than 400 technologists who will be in the room, an impressive audience is coming together:

• Software Solutions Architect – Alliant Credit Union
• Sr. Product Manager – Amazon
• VP Software Development – BillTrust
• Reporter – Bloomberg
• Finance Reporter – Business Insider
• Sr. Director, Software Engineering – Capital One
• Analyst – Celent
• VP, Product Development – Deluxe Corp.
• Developer Evangelism – Envestnet/Yodlee
• Sr. Manager – Hitachi Consulting
• Research Director – IDC Financial Insights
• Developer – Mantigma
• CTO – Matrix Applications
• Reporter – Mergermarket
• CTO – Metropolitan Commercial Bank
• Sr. Technology Manager – Mizuho Bank
• Managing IT Director – Mizuho Securities
• Editor – Money Crashers
• Software Developer – Pied Piper
• Senior VP Operations – Polish National Credit Union
• CTO – Prodigy Finance
• Developer Lead – Prudential
• IT Consultant – PwC
• Head of IT Department – QIWI Bank
• CIO – TBC Bank
• COO – TeamBank
• Sr. Writer – The Wall Street Journal
• CTO – Thinking Capital
• CTO – Trade It
• CIO – Zapp Systems

Buy your ticket and join them. Early-bird tickets are on sale through this Friday, January 20, after which prices increase by $200. Save money, save your seat, register today.

FinDEVr New York 2017 is partnered with BayPay Forum, BiometricUpdate.com, Byte Academy, Canadian Trade Commissioner Service, Celent, Cointelegraph, Colloquy, Distributed, Empire Startups, Finmaps, Fintech Finance, Harrington Starr, Mercator Advisory Group, The Paypers, SecuritySolutionsWatch.com, Swiss Finance + Technology Association, and Women Who Code.

It’s not every day there’s an opportunity for a fintech developer to share how they’re innovating from stage. CEO? Sure. VP of Sales? You betcha. Head of Marketing? No doubt. But Software Engineer? Only at FinDEVr.

FinDEVr is the only event that brings together the people behind fintech: the developers, CTOs, VPs of engineering, software engineers and architects, UX designers and programmers creating financial innovations, not just selling them.

Don’t get us wrong, FinDEVr’s audience is interested in the end product and how it works, but it also wants to see the guts: API, SDK, HTML5, Javascript, SQL, NoSQL, SaaS, microservices, and cloud services. And attendees want the experience with those who create it, make decisions driving it, and will show them how to use it. They want you, your development team, your expertise.

If you’re working on solutions for the fintech, finance and banking industries, the upcoming FinDEVr New York on March 21 & 22 is for you. FinDEVr offers a powerful opportunity for technologists to reach 400+ peers in order to:

• Drive product adoption of APIs/platforms/SDKs
• Showcase new and trending technology and the inspiration behind it
• Establish technical leadership of the industry while educating the market
• Garner press recognition and gather feedback on innovations

Through 15-minute, TED style presentations, companies showcase their latest innovations, case studies, tutorials and best practices through demos, live coding, slides, and videos. During interspersed networking in an exhibition area, presenters have the chance to connect one-on-one with attendees for a deeper dive. With a limited number of companies selected to participate (a max of 30 each day), the presenter to attendee ratio is excellent.

It’s not every day there’s an opportunity for a developer to present how their technology came to be and what it does. Today is the day. Apply to speak at FinDEVr New York and reach 400+ developers this March.

For more information on speaking, please review the brochure here: newyork2017.findevr.com/presenterpdf. And then fill out the online application here: newyork2017.findevr.com/application.

If you have any questions, please email newyork@findevr.com. And remember, the final deadline to apply to speak is this Friday, January 13.

FinDEVr New York 2017 is partnered with BayPay Forum, BiometricUpdate.com, Byte Academy, Canadian Trade Commissioner Service, Cointelegraph, Colloquy, Distributed, Empire Startups, Finmaps, Fintech Finance, Harrington Starr, Mercator Advisory Group, The Paypers, SecuritySolutionsWatch.com, Swiss Finance + Technology Association, and Women Who Code.

The second deadline to apply to speak at FinDEVr New York is this Friday, 16 Dec. If you’re interested, here are a few things worth considerating: Is FinDEVr the right fit for your company? What will you show on stage? Is the timing right?

FinDEVr events focus on the tech side of financial, banking and payments technology. Companies showcase new and trending tools, APIs, and platforms, explore use-cases, and walk through tutorials of best practices, implementation, etc.

FinDEVr is a good fit if you’re active in these areas and want to reach a technical audience (CTOs, software architects and engineers, developers, etc.) to do the following:

• Drive product adoption of APIs/platforms/SDKs (like Stratumn and Streamdata.io)
• Showcase new and trending technology and the inspiration behind it (like DigiByte)
• Establish technical leadership of the industry while educating the market (like Braintree and Google)
• Garner press recognition and gather feedback on innovations

With 15 minutes on stage, speakers balance live coding, slides, video and demos. Check out DriveWealth’s presentation from our most recent FinDEVr event to see what a presentation looks like:

If you like what you see, then apply ASAP. The second deadline to apply to speak is this Friday, 16 Dec. Submissions are reviewed and presenters selected on an ongoing basis, so although the final application deadline is not until January, applying early is advantageous (early-bird discounts on the speaker fee are also available).

For more information on speaking, please review the brochure for prospective presenting companies here: newyork2017.findevr.com/presenterpdf. Fill out the online application here: newyork2017.findevr.com/application.

If you have any questions, please email newyork@findevr.com.

FinDEVr New York 2017 is partnered with BiometricUpdate.com, Byte Academy, Canadian Trade Commissioner Service, Cointelegraph, Empire Startups, Finmaps, Fintech Finance, Harrington Starr, Mercator Advisory Group, SecuritySolutionsWatch.com and Women Who Code.

The year is winding down, but FinDEVr New York is gearing up. With the first speaker deadline days away, we’re receiving applications from dozens of organizations eager to showcase their new and trending tools, APIs, and platforms for the financial services industry. If this describes your company and technology, then consider adding FinDEVr New York to your 2017 schedule.

For presenters, FinDEVr is a powerful platform to:

• Drive product adoption of APIs/platforms/SDKs
• Showcase new technology and the inspiration behind it
• Establish technical leadership of the industry while educating the market
• Garner press recognition and gather feedback on innovations

Since its launch in 2014, FinDEVr has experienced great momentum. The series outgrew its San Francisco venue in two years and recently wrapped its best event yet in Silicon Valley. The record-breaking launch of the East Coast event this year reinforced New York as a hub for financial and banking technology development.

After outgrowing its venue in a single year, FinDEVr New York is moving to the Metropolitan Pavilion. This venue is not only a great escape from vanilla hotels, but also will hold a bigger event with 50+ presenting companies and 400+ CTOs, developers, software architects, UX designers, engineers, and product managers.

For more information on speaking, please review the brochure for prospective presenting companies here: newyork2017.findevr.com/presenterpdf. And then fill out the online application here: newyork2017.findevr.com/application.

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Apply by the first speaker deadline on Friday, November 11, and an early-bird discount will be applied to the presenter fee if you’re selected for the event. If you have any questions, please email newyork@findevr.com.

FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2016 is partnered with Finmaps, Government of Canada, Harrington Starr, and SecuritySolutionsWatch.com.