In this Business Blast podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews fintech recruiting founder Nako Mbelle. The conversation covers her 15‑year tech career, a pivotal story of being fired for refusing to make an unnecessary software change—highlighting the importance of integrity—and her perspective that cryptocurrency, especially Bitcoin, is still in a nascent, "1996‑for‑the‑Internet" stage, with most infrastructure work just beginning. Mbelle shares core business advice: prioritize win‑win collaborations over win‑lose competition, recognize that everyone is "winging it" and avoid over‑preparation, and define happiness as peace of mind achieved by aligning actions with personal values. She recommends the book Spiral Dynamics by Don Beck for understanding how people make decisions, and emphasizes choosing respect over being liked. The episode concludes with her contact details (fintechrecruiters.com, Twitter @NakoMbele and @fintechcareers).
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Welcome to the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
¡Hola! ¿Cómo estás? All right, everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. Today I have Nako Mbele with us. She started her career in the marketing analytics space. She has over 15 years of experience in the technology sector and has held roles in business development, strategy, sales, marketing, sales and marketing analytics. And as the founder and CEO of FinTech Recruiters, she started the firm to meet the growing demand for experienced financial technology professionals with specialized knowledge complementary to fintech. She enjoys connecting job seekers with careers at disruptive fintech, blockchain, and crypto startups and is equally passionate about promoting Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies as a tool for financial independence and self-empowerment. So welcome to the show.
Thank you for having me.
Of course. Grateful to have you here. Well, we'll dive into the first one, Naka. The first question I have for you is, what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Well, this is one of the best stories. I don't think it's the best, but it's a professional experience story. I was fired from one of my sales jobs. And you know what they say, one door closes, another door opens. This firing was very, like most sales jobs, right? It was quite dramatic. And, you know, they took me off the floor, packed my boxes, and escorted me out with security. It was one of those firings, right? Not discreet at all. And the reason I was fired is I was fired for insubordination, believe it or not. And that was based on me going against the wishes of my boss. And anybody who's sold software will understand this story. And, you know, when you're selling complicated software where some clients are asking for custom work and customizations, sometimes you can't really do what they're asking you to do. But there's so many iterations to software and what we do and how we do it. That my boss thought there was one detail the client requested that really wasn't necessary. And because this client wasn't technical enough, he probably wouldn't even notice. Yeah, that was his logic. And so I went back to the client and I said, you know, I'm just going to be straight with you. We're not going to make this change. And this is why we're not going to make it, because it's just going to cost too much. And I don't think you're willing to spend this kind of money to get this change, but you know, you don't really need it. Anyways, regardless to say, client hung up, called my boss, was furious. And but I felt good that I was being honest and I was being straightforward. So I got fired for that because, you know, that, that's not what my boss wanted. The moral of the story is do what's right. Regardless of what the consequences are, in the end, you're going to feel better about yourself. Um, it's go— you're going to develop character and you'll have a reputation. I mean, I have a name that's, you know, very unusual. There are not a lot of people with my name, so it was really important for me to keep my reputation intact. You know, years later, 2 years later, that client happened to meet up with him again. He thanked me so much for doing what I did. And he understood that I, you know, I lost my job because of it. So, so that's probably one of the best stories that I have. And yeah, so, you know, stick to your values, make decisions based on your values. And, you know, if you happen to suffer consequence, you know, at least you can sleep at night.
I could not agree more. The next one I have for you, Naco, is what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that is within your expertise or industry?
Okay, so I do a lot of crypto recruiting, and I'm sure many of your listeners have heard of Bitcoin. And I think the most valuable information I could share is that it's still very early. People think that, you know, Bitcoin's been around for almost 10 years. About 9 years. Crypto has had, you know, a lot of news lately. Uh, we're in a bear market right now, but I think a lot of people who are on the upside think that they're late, and nothing could be further from the truth. I'm recruiting developers and other people who are working on the infrastructure, and I literally mean working on the infrastructure. That's how early it is. There are very— there are practically no apps that are built. So we're in, I would say, 1996 for the internet. That's how early it is.
Awesome. So yeah, very cool. That's very good to know. Um, and what would— what is your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry-specific.
Go for the win-win. Really avoid the win-lose, the lose-win. Obviously, that's kind of, you know, apparent, but really try and cooperate with people more than compete. I can't stress that enough. And if you can find the— in your interests that align with, with whomever you're dealing with, even if it's a competitor, you know, you'll be better off. You really will, because it's a small world. Especially if you're in a niche market, you're going to keep meeting people over and over again. And if you're, quote unquote, screwing people, it'll come back to haunt you.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Everyone is winging it. Oh man, I only knew that when I was younger because I think there's this impression that people have of people who are very successful, whether it be the Zuckerbergs of the world or, you know, the Sergues of Google. They don't realize that these people, when they started, did not know what they were doing. I guarantee it. I speak to founders and people are usually flying by the seat of their pants. So don't over-prepare. It's not— you're just passing opportunities by. Most people are literally learning as they go. And so don't feel that you're not prepared. You're not really sure, should you do it? Don't stop second-guessing yourself and just take the chance and learn as you go.
And kind of go on a little bit of a different path. In your opinion, what's the key to happiness?
Peace of mind. That's, to me, that is happiness. It really is just, you know, being true to yourself. It's, there's a term that I've heard. What's, what's the expression? It's, it's better to be respected by making decisions that are in alignment with your values, you know. So, um, if you're gonna ruffle a few feathers, so be it, you know. It's just better to do the right thing than to do the popular thing.
And what is the best book that you've read, and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
Yeah, this one was a tough one. Um, I think there's a book called Spiral Dynamics And it's by Don Beck. And it's, it's a theory book. It's a book about pretty much the way people, the frameworks that different people use to come up with its decisions. As you can see, I'm kind of on a decision-making kick. I really like, and I like to learn how people analyze things and why they do what they do, right? It's sort of psychological. And this book really helps you understand where people are coming from, whether it be, you know, they're in a different part of the world, different language, different culture. It gives you a framework to better understand how people make decisions and how that impacts what will happen to you when you meet them. I don't know if that's too complicated, but—
No, no, it sounds awesome. I'm very interested. The next one is, what's your favorite quote and why?
Yeah, this is linked back to my, my story. If you have a choice between being liked and respect, always choose respect.
I like that a lot. Thank you so much for coming on. The last question I have for you before we let you go is, where is the best place for people to find and connect with you online?
Sure. So the best place to find me is on my website, which is fintechrecruiters.com. So that's www. F as in Frank, I as in India, N as in Nancy, tech, T-E-C-H, recruiters, which is plural. So www.fintechrecruiters.com. And you can also reach me @NakoMbele, which is my first and last name on Twitter. And I also have a company Twitter too, @fintechcareers.
Awesome. Thank you again for joining us.
Thank you so much. That was great.
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