On the TechTO stage ×1
First seen on a TechTO stage in 2026. Every TechTO talk is searchable — ask the archive about Wayne ↗
In their words
This is the best time in history to start companies. The tools, the low cost of doing so, the availability of capital — what better time to be alive as an entrepreneur than 2026?
We should have pushed harder, bigger, sooner. There were times where we were too cautious... If we had been thinking bigger sooner, we actually could have been much farther along in the time that we had.
Getting the culture right and getting the operating rhythm right early pays huge dividends as it scales. That sort of cultural DNA of your company echoes in eternity — you want to think a lot about how to get that right in the early going.
Around the web ×6
Quick answers
How did Wayne Pommen get to Affirm?
After consulting and private equity, he found a five-employee point-of-sale lending business inside HealthSmart Financial Services, partnered with its original founders, spun it out, and became CEO and the sixth employee. As PayBright it grew quickly from 2016 to 2021, and Affirm acquired it in January 2021, right before Affirm's IPO. He has stayed five and a half years, most of that time as Chief Revenue Officer.
How big is Affirm in Canada?
About 20,000 merchants and ballpark $2 billion in annual volume, growing quickly year over year — over 8 million Canadian consumers have come through the platform, and Shop Pay Installments launched in Canada a few months before this talk. Penetration still trails the US because e-commerce took hold more slowly and Canadians keep long-standing bank relationships, with what he calls the highest credit card penetration in the world.
What is his advice for Canadian fintech founders?
Start today, not tomorrow, and aim high — you can build a global player from Toronto. Get a co-founder, pick investors with founders or operators on the team, and go to market through partners (the embedded finance playbook) rather than expensive direct-to-consumer, unless you can raise hundreds of millions like Wealthsimple. He sees openings in open banking, stablecoins, and the real-time rail.