Shattering Fintech’s Glass Ceiling: Ann Nguyen’s Vision as a Female Founder

In the world of fintech, where men overwhelmingly dominate leadership positions, Ann Nguyen stands out as a trailblazing entrepreneur and a passionate advocate for client service.

As the founder, executive director and Chief Operations Officer of XCEND, Ann Nguyen is leading the charge to revolutionise the share and unit registry landscape.

Navigating Challenges and Building Resilience

Ann’s journey began when her twin sister introduced her to the world of share registries by telling her about a job opening at a registry company. Starting in their mail room her job was to open the envelopes before delivering the documents to the relevant departments.

After a few years, Ann left to focus on finishing her business degree and returned to the family business. Unexpectedly, her parents decided to buy another business on top of their already thriving newsagency— a diner takeaway shop.

It was her parents’ ventures where she had her first exposure to entrepreneurship and working early and endless hours. It was during this time that Ann also had her daughter.

Leaving the family business after a few years to explore other opportunities, Ann started managing a team in the call centre of a new entrant in the registry space. Eventually promoted to head up the client services team, as that company grew Ann noticed cultural changes and a blame game mentality and as a single mother, was seen as a limitation.

That company was ultimately acquired and Ann moved to another registry where she was provided with an opportunity to build a registry through people and technology. This was at a time where she was navigating the challenges of raising a teenage daughter.

When COVID hit, it marked a significant turning point for Ann. Gender discrimination hit its peak and new white male leaders were brought in at higher salaries than what Ann and her female colleagues were earning and during a discussion with an executive manager about Ann’s career aspirations, he dismissively advised her to be “content with her achievements”.

As the direction of the registry was changing, Ann no longer felt aligned with its goals or values and after six years, she had reached her limit.

The Birth of XCEND: A Vision for Change

After years of witnessing the shortcomings of traditional registries, Ann knew there had to be a better way. A chance encounter with a former client sparked an idea and soon, XCEND was born. “I realised I couldn’t face managing another company only to feel unsupported, unappreciated and undervalued again,”. With a focus on innovation, personalised service and a commitment to building a truly inclusive workplace, XCEND is poised to revolutionise the industry.

“At XCEND, we ensure that women receive the same opportunities and have the same voice as men.”

Let’s dive a little deeper – here’s our Q &A with Ann Nguyen.

What gaps in the registry landscape did XCEND aim to bridge?

For us, the opportunity was all service and product fit related. The problem in our industry is clients have a choice of registry service provider but that is about as far as it goes for them. On selecting a provider, they receive access to an investor management platform that in all cases, no matter who they go with, is a one size fits all solution that the client typically adapts to their own needs to best use the functionality presented to them. Then this is coupled with a, to put it politely, impersonal “transactional” style relationship, which delivers administration rather than expert hands. This historically is how the registry administration providers have been able to scale up admin heavy businesses in Australia.

Our big opportunity is to take a completely different approach to this and swim proudly but definitely up stream. Phase one of our business has been to provide a fix to the immediate problem and provide to the industry a team of passionate, true industry experts, who our clients can come to with challenges and they can rely on our expert ability to navigate them through issues such as a complex capital markets transactions or to efficiently provide great client servicing.

Our industry is going through a significant phase of consolidation and resale. This has meant that all the boutique registry providers have been bought out and no longer exist coupled resales to offshore enterprises at the large end of town. All of this is only placing more customer strain on what I have described above. I believe Blake Stelzer and I, with the expertise we possess, are uniquely placed to fix this with XCEND and give back to our market what they are screaming out for.

What are the biggest opportunities you see as a female founder?

As a female founder, I can drive success and meaningful change by leveraging key opportunities. My unique viewpoint can lead to innovative solutions and embracing diversity and inclusion I can create a positive cycle of empowerment and boost brand loyalty.

I have learnt that building a strong network is essential for emotional support and encouragement, especially when facing challenges. This network is crucial in navigating the complexities of starting and growing a business, while also offering essential emotional support. Additionally, connect with other female founders and professionals to exchange advice, experiences, and insights.

Lastly, sharing my journey and values through authentic storytelling can strongly resonate with others.

What is a piece of advice you wish you had been told before starting your entrepreneurial journey?

Prepare to embrace vulnerability. In a book, “Daring Greatly”, Brené Brown describes vulnerability as “uncertainty, risk and emotional exposure.” I resonated with this.

Based on my past personal and professional experiences, I found myself constantly seeking validation, or looking for evidence that I wasn’t enough, rather than embracing vulnerability and accepting that I am enough. I’ve learned that this behaviour only holds me back and it’s something I’m actively working on improving.

How do you succeed in a male dominated environment?

Being a founder in the fintech space is tough, and being a female founder presents additional challenges. I don’t have superpowers or a magic wand to instantly resolve gender inequality or exclusion. It’s a work in progress. Therefore, achieving success in a male-dominated environment involves understanding ways to navigate challenges, leveraging opportunities, making small, positive contributions throughout the journey.

By embracing my unique strengths, perspective and leadership style, I am creating an inclusive team environment that drives innovation and performance. I use setbacks as opportunities to build resilience and I believe that balance and well-being are key, so I promote self-care and personal balance that supports long-term success. Finally, I remain persistent and patient, keeping long-term goals in focus and celebrating every achievement as a significant milestone on my journey.

My advice to women is to persistently and confidently voice your opinions, find inspiration in connecting with other women and hearing their stories. The choices and limits are yours to define.

How have you navigated translating your vision into disruptive innovation?

Starting a new business certainly comes with plenty of challenges and is not for the faint hearted. But in saying that, one of the biggest advantages it comes with is that we have a long laundry list of learnings from previous businesses we have built in this industry over the last 20+ years but none of the heavy limitations of system legacy. This has given us the privilege of having an exceptionally talented team of technologists, industry practitioners and other supporting stakeholders and our innovation can go as far as all our knowledge and creativity allows, which is pretty exciting for us.

A Journey of Perseverance and Impact

Ann’s journey is a testament to the power of hard work, resilience and a commitment to creating positive change. XCEND is more than just a registry; it’s a reflection of her values and her vision for a more inclusive and innovative future.