Welcome back to our Team Spotlight Series, where we continue to introduce the remarkable individuals who make Fiat Ventures thrive. This month, we are excited to feature Alex Harris, one of our Co-Founders and GPs at Fiat Ventures. Alex is also a Co-Founding Partner at Fiat Growth, the market leading growth consultancy.
Background
Born and raised in Stockton, California, Alex Harris is proud of his Central Valley roots. A fifth generation Stocktonian, Alex grew up with a strong sense of community, family and making an impact. Throughout his upbringing, the Harris family served the community of Stockton as Board members of Su Salud, providing medical care, health screenings and educational materials to thousands, Hospice, The Family Service Agency, The Emergency Food Bank, the local school district and the PTSA. In the 70’s and 80’s the family began assisting with the support, education and care of refugee families and to this day continues to support families in need.
“I am grateful everyday for my upbringing. Stockton is a place of both immense wealth and immense poverty” Alex shares. “Time after time, I have seen the power education, community and lending a hand can have. I was fortunate to be provided with personal opportunity while also having first hand visibility into the power of making a difference.”
That opportunity led to UC Berkeley. UC Berkeley was Alex’s dream school and somewhat of a family tradition. Alex’s grandparents met as undergraduate students there in the 1930’s. As it turns out, UC Berkeley also introduced Alex to his wife Kristin and his Co-Founder Drew Glover in 2004. Alex and Drew grew close while he served as an equipment manager for the school’s football program.
Driven by their reputation for Social Justice, Alex then attended Seattle University School of Law and the Albers School of business where he graduated with a Juris Doctorate and Masters in Business Administration in 2012. There, Alex wrote for the Seattle Journal for Environmental Law while working with tech startups for the first time. He also got his first experiences in investing in early stage companies while interning at Point B Capital.
Growth Foundation
“I have been in growth roles my whole career” Alex likes to say. Serving in marketing, growth, strategy and business development roles at Cluster/Launchkit (Acquired by Google), Frankly (IPO on TSX in 2015) among other roles, Alex found the intersection of passion, purpose and opportunity at Chime in 2016.
Joining Chime, right after they raised their Series A, Alex led Paid Growth for Chime as they pivoted to become a full feature bank account. There, Alex built the growth playbook and foundation for Chime, taking it from one growth channel to over 10, and from 10,000 customers to over 15 million today. He later served as Head of Partnerships, building out both growth and revenue opportunities for the organization that led to Chime officially becoming a Unicorn as they raised their Series D. Today, Chime has become the largest digital bank in the United States with a valuation of $25B and an imminent IPO.
“At Chime, I saw for the first time the power of financial technology to truly impact millions of people. Countless Chime members were able to stop paying bank fees and build a savings account for the first time ever. The stories we heard of the impact this had on education, upward mobility, empowerment, entrepreneurship, caring for family and overall well-being lit a passion for me that I intend to spend the rest of my life cultivating.” Alex shares. These early learnings stay close to Alex today and helped build a foundation for his next venture, Fiat Growth.
The success of Chime, the deep industry connections made, and the passion discovered led to the founding of Fiat Growth in late 2018 alongside his longtime friend and Co-Founder, Drew Glover. Today, Fiat Growth has become the market’s leading consultancy rooted in Fintech but expanding to other verticals like healthcare, ecommerce and other adjacent verticals. By listening to the market, fostering connection and community, and attracting top talent, Alex and Drew have organically built a growth engine like no other.
Through conversations with longtime advisor Marcos Fernandez and with the encouragement of numerous Founders, Fiat Ventures was born in early 2021. The opportunity to “reverse engineer” Venture Capital by working with companies first to conduct “the ultimate due diligence” created a unique advantage in a competitive investing landscape. The team announced its first institutional fund in 2022, and has been ranked among the top performing funds in its vintage. With the ability to not just pick winners, but to also grow them, Fiat Ventures stands as a model for the future of growth. Focused on the power of financial technology to make an impact for consumers while generating elite returns for investors, Alex has found another tool in the growth arsenal.
Looking forward, Alex and the Fiat team hope to continue to work hand in hand with founders to reimagine how companies are grown, how investors source, evaluate and support companies and create a large impact through empowering better financial lives around the world.
Outside of Fiat Ventures
Did you have a hero growing up? My Dad, without a doubt, is and will always be my hero. To me, he is the pinnacle of success and a life well lived. He has been successful professionally, but equally importantly, he is respected as an honest, moral and giving person. Personally, he showed me what a husband and father should be, what a community member should be, and along with my Mom serves as my moral compass in all that I do.
Favorite sports teams?
The San Francisco Giants (my oldest daughter is named after Madison Bumgarner)
Cal Athletics
San Francisco 49ers
Swansea City AFC
Other hobbies?
Poker
Anything my daughters want to do (including letting them paint my nails)
Gardening
Golf
Writing
Animal Rescue
Favorite local restaurants?
Bun Mee
Senor Sisig
Tlaloc Sabor Mexicano
Three things that are always in your fridge or kitchen?
Salad stuff
Carrots (for my dog….no seriously)
Peanut Butter
Dream dinner guest? My late cousin, Michael Harris. He is the inspiration for so much in my life and also the funniest person I have ever met.
What was your first car? A Mitsubishi Montero Sport. I earned $5.65 an hour for many many hours to buy it.
Alex’s journey is a testament to resilience, the power of meaningful relationships, and the impact of innovative thinking. We are proud to have him as a driving force behind Fiat Ventures, Fiat Growth and everything that is next for the Fiat ecosystem.
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