PitchIt Podcast #44: Samantha Ettus of Park Place Payments

On episode 44, I talk with Samantha Ettus of Park Place Payments. Park Place is a women-owned company fundamentally changing the experience businesses have with their payment processor.

Payment processing and the payments industry overall are seeing a lot of innovation and change. Most innovations and new technologies focus on 20% of the market. Park Place is different in that they focus on the other 80%, Main Street.

Samantha Ettus
Samantha Ettus

Many founders focus so much on the technology, but in talking with Samantha, you can understand Park Place is so much more, especially with customer service.

Samantha and I discuss some of the most significant pain points in payments today, why technology is not always the answer for many Main Street businesses, the continued lack of diversity in payments, broader fintech and venture capital, finding time to read, raising capital, and a whole lot more.

So without further ado, I present Samantha Ettus of Park Place Payments. I hope you all enjoy the show and be prepared to learn:

  • Samantha’s founder story
  • The Monopoly connection to Park Place Payments
  • Main Street matters
  • Scaling while keeping a difference-making customer service team
  • The competitive landscape in payments
  • Where the biggest pain points are in payments and payments infrastructure
  • The importance of partnerships with Payroc and Clover
  • The future of payments technology 
  • Why saying they’re women-owned is important
  • The lack of progress made on diversity, especially in Venture Capital
  • What more can be done to advance diversity in fintech
  • Biggest lesson learned about Park Place Payments
  • Best piece of advice received 
  • Advice for fellow founders
  • The trick to read a book a week
  • Recommended books include An Ugly Truth, Empire of Pain, and Beautiful World, Where are You
  • And much more…

Download a PDF transcription of No. 44 Samantha Ettus

  • Todd Anderson

    Todd is the host of PitchIt: the fintech startups podcast, a weekly interview show featuring emerging fintech founders and leading venture capitalists. He is responsible for leading the content team which covers fintech through daily & weekly email newsletters, editorial, virtual events, and in-person conferences. He has been covering fintech, banking, and venture capital for more than 15 years, including speaking regularly at industry events.