Pete Donat, Founder of Commerce Technology Partners

Pete's Bio:

Pete Donat is Founder of Commerce Technology Partners, a consultancy advising Banking and FinTech clients in growth, M&A, partnership, expansion, litigation and regulatory issues. He is also a part time Head of Partnerships at Earnest Research, a data and analytics firm focused on monetizing payment industry data. He was SVP of New Ventures and Business Development at First Data from 2013 to 2017, with responsibility for establishing and managing the company's most disruptive partnerships - such as enablement of ApplePay, partnership with PayPal and dozens of investments, acquisitions and partnerships with early stage FinTech startups. Prior roles at First Data, included roles in Network Innovation, eCommerce and chair of First Data's Durbin and Regulatory response teams. Prior to FDC, he was VP of Corporate Strategy at Visa. Earlier, he held a variety of senior management roles at MasterCard, including leadership roles in Product Management, Change Management, e-Business Development, and Corporate Strategy. He has served as Board Advisor to several payment and security startups. He and his wife have real world small business experience operating one of Silicon Valley's leading Fitness Studios.