Embedded Finance Review Podcast, episode 36. Published 30 October 2025. Guest: Morten Laufer, fintech recruiter. Host: Lars Markull.
Lars Markull: You have decided to build a fintech product, but now comes the hard part: hiring the right team. Should your first hire be a product manager or a compliance expert? Do you need dedicated fintech developers, or can your existing tech team handle it? How do you actually convince top fintech talent to join a non-financial brand?
Today I'm joined by Morten Laufer, a fintech recruiter based in Hamburg who works with fintech companies and non-financial brands to build their fintech teams. We discuss why product managers with fintech experience should be a first hire, why compliance is your critical third hire that most companies overlook, and how to position your opportunity to attract talent from the fintech world.
My name is Lars Markull, and this is the Embedded Finance Review Podcast. Every two weeks I interview the builders and shapers of embedded finance. And a quick reminder from my side. At Embedded Finance Review I publish weekly newsletters, a biweekly podcast, and host in-person and virtual industry events. You can find all of this on my website, embeddedfinancereview.com. In addition, I also work with non-financial brands, infrastructure providers, and banks in understanding, designing and launching their embedded finance products. If you are interested in working with me, visit my website and reach out. And now let's dive in.
Welcome
Lars Markull: Hey Morten, welcome to the podcast. It's great to finally have you. How are you doing today, and in what part of the world are you actually located right now?
Morten Laufer: Hi, happy to be here finally. Where am I? I'm in Hamburg, Germany, and I am in my office.
Lars Markull: Amazing. I think, Morten, you just moved from Berlin to Hamburg, so you're still sitting in the new home.
Morten Laufer: Yes, indeed. I miss Berlin, indeed, a little. However, I got settled in very well here. I am originally from Hamburg, back to family and back to the roots. And I have to say it is not as cool as Berlin, but perhaps a little prettier.
Lars Markull: I'm also from that area, and it's not that far, so you can easily combine the two cities.
Fintechs versus non-financial brands as clients
Lars Markull: But Morten, today we want to dive into the whole topic of recruiting, team building, in the world of embedded finance. And what we want to focus on is non-financial brands. When they venture into the fintech space, how should they deal with hiring and all of that?
Maybe first thing. You as a fintech recruiter also started fintech recruiting for fintech companies initially, and then ventured more into the embedded finance world and help non-financial brands hire their fintech talent. From your perspective, do you have a preference for working with one of the two? Is there any difference for you?
Morten Laufer: It's definitely different. I started off working primarily for fintech companies, and the upside of that is, and was, it's more about fit and timing, because they know the context. So it is well encapsulated in the first call you have. They tell you, they describe the job descriptions, some behind the scenes key insights, and then I do my job. And that's fun, that's pretty straightforward, a great way to learn.
But what happens with non-financial brands, it's a lot more about translation. So helping them understand why fintech hires think differently about, for example, risk, regulation, iteration. And it's a bit more bridging two cultures. I could imagine, maybe you have that as well, right? You're often the one coming in knowing fintech with non-financial brands. And the part I really like about it is that I feel I'm a bit more of a consultant, like they want my insights a bit more. And obviously I'm not necessarily the right person to draw up your new fintech top line generating product. But it needs more translation, it needs more knowledge, and that's fun.