< Fintech's Most Powerful Dealmakers of 2016

20. Kenneth Marlin
Managing Partner
Marlin & Associates
Last year: 22

In common with Matthew Harris of Bain Capital Ventures (No. 2), Kenneth Marlin draws lessons and inspiration from military history. The founder and managing partner of technology-focused investment banking boutique Marlin & Associates has put his philosophy into a book, The Marine Corps Way to Win on Wall Street, published August 30. He doesn’t miss a chance to drive home the relevance of Marine principles, ranging from “take the long view” to “luck is not a plan.” He asserts: “There’s a better way to run Wall Street. We advise CEOs and boards of directors and see businesses from a lot of different perspectives. Why can’t people run businesses using some basic principles?” All indications are that Marlin’s New York–based firm has thrived on his principles: Since inception in 2002 it has advised on more than 200 transactions in 26 countries. Although it covers health care and other IT-driven sectors, the firm is particularly active in financial services. “We’re in the early phases of technology being a disrupter, and it’s not happening without some bumps,” observes Marlin, a onetime Dun & Bradstreet and Veronis Suhler Stevenson deal maker. For one disruptive fintech client, market-data cloud company Xignite, Marlin & Associates served as strategic and financial adviser on a $20.5 million Series C financing in February, led by Nikkei Group’s QUICK Corp. According to Marlin, Silicon Valley–based Xignite turned to his firm for its ability to help with a partnership arrangement to expand in Asia. In October, Marlin advised Phoenix-based payments software company BillingTree on a recapitalization with private equity firm Parthenon Capital Partners, eliciting a testimonial from BillingTree CEO Edgars Sturans: “Marlin & Associates understood our industry, our company and the myriad of complex issues that must be navigated in order to complete a successful, strategic transaction.” Besides payments — an industry Marlin calls “a spaghetti factory” in need of simplification and rationalization — he is focusing on big data and its potential for business and market intelligence. “It’s about sucking in massive amounts of data from internal and external sources, integrating the data and then trying to understand it,” he says.

 
The 2016 Fintech Finance 35

1. Jonathan Korngold General Atlantic 2. Matthew Harris Bain Capital Ventures 3. Jane Gladstone Evercore Partners Private Markets Investment Outlook Q2 2025: Opportunities Amid Uncertainty Sponsored by Schroders Capital May 1, 2025 4. James Robinson III & James Robinson IV RRE Ventures 5. Steven McLaughlin Financial Technology Partners 6. Amy Nauiokas & Sean Park Anthemis Group

7. Richard Garman & Brad Bernstein FTV Capital 8. Gerard von Dohlen Broadhaven Capital Partners 9. Darren Cohen Goldman Sachs Group 10. Hans Morris Nyca Partners 11. Meyer (Micky) Malka Ribbit Capital 12. Maria Gotsch Partnership Fund for New York City

13. Barry Silbert Digital Currency Group 14. Jay Reinemann Propel Venture Partners 15. Mariano Belinky Santander InnoVentures 16. Justin Brownhill & Neil DeSena SenaHill Partners 17. François Robinet AXA Strategic Ventures 18. Vanessa Colella Citi Ventures

19. Michael Schlein Accion International 20. Kenneth Marlin Marlin & Associates 21. Rumi Morales CME Ventures 22. Alastair (Alex) Rampell Andreessen Horowitz 23. Steve Gibson Euclid Opportunities 24. Fabian Vandenreydt SWIFT

25. Vladislav Solodkiy Life.SREDA 26. Gardiner Garrard III TTV Capital 27. Nektarios Liolios Startupbootcamp Fintech 28. Lawrence Wintermeyer Innovate Finance 29. Bina Kalola Bank of America Merrill Lynch 30. Hyder Jaffrey Fintech Innovation

31. Calvin Choi AMTD Group 32. Janos Barberis FinTech Hong Kong 33. Jalak Jobanputra Future Perfect Ventures 34. Sopnendu Mohanty Monetary Authority of Singapore 35. Oskar Mielczarek de la Miel Rakuten FinTech Fund