Crowdfunding the fintech revolution, with Leonard Burger
How to Lend Money to Strangers
Brendan le Grange
4.9 • 43 Ratings
🗓️ 21 May 2026
⏱️ 61 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Crowdfunding has always been an interesting option, but now, with AI changing how quickly and cheaply ideas can become startups, we're standing on the brink of a new golden age. I'm chatting to a crowdfunding veteran, go-to-market expert, startup advisor, and all-around fintech geek, Leonard Burger.
You can find Leonard on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonardburger/
But he has too many advisory roles to add here, so just go to https://lift.bio/burger if you want to reach out with something specific in mind
I'm on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanlegrange/
Please also follow, share, and talk about the show using https://www.linkedin.com/company/how-to-lend-money-to-strangers/
And if you want to get a sneak peek at some of what I'm working on, my website is currently being refreshed (even as some of the projects it mentions lag behind): https://www.brendanlegrange.com/
Other friends of the show include:
https://www.ogmara.com/ (customised risk management and analytic consulting)
https://www.ontap.co.za/pages/hoedspruit-store-details (for all your Hoedspruit-based bathroom needs)
https://flatwhiteorfoff.com/ (ask for anything other than a flat white, the answer is in the name)
https://www.joinhumoni.com/ (helping international students find accommodation, work, and financial services on day one)
https://www.haboomoney.com/ (making collections personalised, flexible and intelligent)
https://beetlesense.ai (AI-powered day one pest detection for forestry)
And since you like podcasts, I'm also co-create hAIghtened senses with Christo van Zyl, which looks at the intersection between human senses and technology (and this week, flying cars)
Keep well, Brendan
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I don't know if you've ever heard of this book, but it's humankind, hopeful history by Rutgers Bregman. I read it years ago. The essence of the book is essentially 99 people are good at heart. Let's say that the 1% psychopaths there may be at the top layer of society. That might be, but I believe that everyone wants their family to be healthy. Everyone wants their friends to be doing well. And everyone has these kind of basic principles in life of you want to be kind |
| 0:21.6 | to each other. I think what we're talking about, especially in this investment and democratizing |
| 0:25.3 | access to investment, democratizing access to capital to financial management. Do I have any money |
| 0:29.7 | anywhere in an account and that I could potentially deploy there and make it better? I will have |
| 0:34.3 | this financial assistance set up. And I'm sure so people already have this set up to an extent. But now everyone can have this access. And then you can see this true |
| 0:41.3 | democratization to come to life. And that's the utopia that my brain is aiming towards. By no |
| 0:46.7 | means am I expecting. I always expect the worst, but I hope for the best. |
| 0:55.8 | Welcome to Had to Lin Man Learn Money to Strangers with myself, Brenda LaGrange. |
| 1:00.7 | Today's guest might just be the most prolific fintech investor you've never heard of, |
| 1:05.7 | because the majority of Leonard Berger's 200 plus investments to date have been at the |
| 1:10.6 | crowdfunding scale. |
| 1:12.1 | That said, he's also a fintech community builder, |
| 1:14.1 | so maybe you have heard of him. |
| 1:15.2 | But in this episode, we'll chat about lending startups, |
| 1:18.4 | fintech startups more generally, |
| 1:20.3 | and how someone of limited means can still invest in |
| 1:23.5 | and thereby shape the fintech industry. |
| 1:37.3 | Thank you. and thereby shape the fintech industry. Leonard Berger, product marketing and go-to-market expert. |
| 1:41.2 | You're an advisor to startups. |
| 1:43.5 | You're a community builder in the fintech space as well. So a lot for us to cover today. You're an advisor to startups. You're a community builder in the fintech |
| 1:45.1 | space as well. So a lot for us to cover today. Welcome to the show. I'm really looking forward to. Thank you for the welcome. And obviously, yeah, a lot to cover, a lot to cover on lending as well. I've seen a lot of innovation go to market. So it will be an interesting chat, I'm sure. Awesome. And yeah, I mean, you're in the UK with me as well. But like me, you come here from abroad. I see you've worked in Turkey. You've worked in the Netherlands, quite a global community. So lots of different angles to take this discussion in. So maybe we'll start right there with a bit of your background. As I said, it's international and it spanned different niches of the industry. |
| 2:17.9 | So talk to me about your early years, kind of what your early interest was and how the work |
... |
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