Rishi Kumar

Founder and CEO, Coral Capital Solutions, Kashable

40 Under 40 Category: Operations

Biography:

Rishi is founder and CEO of Coral Capital Solutions LLC, a commercial finance operation that has provided over $1 billion in financing to small businesses since its inception. Rishi manages the underwriting, financing and operations of the business.

Rishi is also founder of Kashable, a financial wellness benefit technology company. As an MIT computer scientist and former derivatives trader on Wall Street, Rishi combined his engineering techniques in analyzing big data with cutting-edge financing and underwriting to create a cloud solution that enables instant access to affordable on-demand credit available to every American worker. Kashable is deployed nationwide by private exchanges, ben-admin systems, PEOs, benefit brokers and HSA/401(k) plan sponsors and administrators.

Previously, Rishi was an executive at a New York real estate development firm, responsible for acquisitions, structuring, financing and management of real estate transactions. He was also a Fixed Income derivatives trader at a bulge bracket investment bank.

Rishi earned his MS degrees in electrical engineering and computer science, and his BS degrees in management science (finance track), computer science and electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

How do you think the commercial finance industry can attract more young professionals?

Young people are looking for companies that will help them create a foundation for a successful career (much like generations past), but will also give them a sense of personal fulfilment in the pursuit of a greater mission beyond profits, empowering them to learn and grow in a way that will ensure their longevity even in the face of automation and AI.

We can attract new talent to the business by encouraging innovation, embracing technology, adapting our workplace culture, providing meaningful continuing education and training, mentoring upcoming leaders, and emphasizing the mission-driven nature of our business in powering the entrepreneurial growth engine of America.

How did you wind up in the industry?

I was at a point in my life where I was looking to start an entrepreneurial venture that played to my strengths in finance and technology. I was presented with an opportunity of a lifetime in the form of the credit crisis, and was able to jump into the commercial finance industry at a time when many others were running for the exits. I felt that the mix of short duration assets with high quality obligors, and relatively high yields on offer in the factoring space was a compelling trade that would weather the downturn well. The thesis worked out and I was able gain a toehold in an otherwise mature industry and build a high growth company with a strong team and portfolio.

What is the best professional advice you have been given and how have you implemented it?

A lot of the best guidance I’ve received that has helped me scale new heights in my life, whether professional or personal, can be summarized into a pithy aphorism from Thomas Jefferson: “If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.” In my development, I’ve translated this to mean a willingness not just to put in a greater quantum of labor than I’ve put in before, but also to mean a willingness to learn and grow by boldly and frequently stepping outside my comfort zone. My first day in the commercial finance industry was as a founder of Coral Capital Solutions, and my first day in the consumer lending industry was as a founder of Kashable. Creating each of these enterprises as an upstart, coming at it from the outside, and yet shaping each into a successful player in its respective industry, needed an immense of amount of work, education, and an acceptance of the uncertainty that comes with being on unfamiliar turf. Every measure of success you achieve puts you in a more rarefied field of similar achievers, where ongoing success requires a commitment to creativity and effort.

What role has mentoring played in your career?

I came to the US as an immigrant, and stepped into the world of finance armed with a good education, but little by way of capital and relationships. My path to a successful career has been paved with the consistent support of family, friends, colleagues, and investors that have together played the roles of champions, mentors, and coaches. All my professional achievements rest squarely on the foundation of their abiding faith in my abilities.