Nominee Name/Nominee Company NameOutstanding Tech CEO Award: Brian Barnes, M1 Finance
Finalist for the:Outstanding Tech CEO
About the Nominee:M1 Finance founder Brian Barnes began investing in the fifth grade. When his teacher assigned the class a mock-investing project, his parents gave him a small amount to invest in actual markets and taught him the ins and outs of buying and selling stocks. Brian's overall curiosity skyrocketed through his teenage and college years at Stanford University. After gaining his bachelor's degree in economics, he began his career at an equity hedge fund and management consulting firm. He quickly realized that current in-market investing tools hadn't evolved from when he was 10. Seeing an opening to help others and create his own path, Brian got to work. From the start, Brian's vision was to create a free and simple app that empowered users to manage and automate several aspects of their finances – a finance super app. At M1, Brian believes that real innovation comes from an open and transparent culture, as opposed to any one initiative. He sets a high bar for everything we put out to the world; encouraging our teams to share ideas and feedback openly, without fear of judgment. This helps us maintain these standards when it comes to innovating. Like his experiences growing up, he's proud of the fact that M1 caters to beginners investing their first $100 but also seasoned investors managing $10M+ portfolios on our platform. He finds this universal appeal, regardless of investment amount or sophistication, exists because the principles of investing are the same for all people. Brian is focused on empowering his employees and users to choose their own adventures. Through his transparency and dedication to culture, he continues to push boundaries and lead M1 to new heights.
Why they should win:Although Brian is a successful founder and CEO, he never shies away from being open, approachable and transparent in his leadership style. He considers himself to be just like any other team member and when asked a question whether it's at our all-company meeting (Demo Day) or crossing paths in the office kitchen, he makes it a priority to provide an honest and detailed answer.