The Future of Private Markets with Ryan Eisenman, Co-Founder of Arch
This week my guest is Ryan Eisenman, Co-Founder and CEO of Arch, the platform automating private market investment management. Ryan shares the fascinating origin story of how a dinner conversation in New York City led to building what he calls "one-click alt" - the Schwab for private markets. We explore how Arch has grown from a scrappy three-person team surviving on $500K to serving 180+ family offices and major financial institutions.
Key Takeaways:
- Private markets are 30-50 years behind public markets in terms of user experience and automation
- It takes 5,500 clicks to manage a single private market investment - Arch has automated 84% of those clicks
- 44% of Arch's clients come through referrals, showing strong product-market fit in the tight-knit financial services industry
- The wealth management world needs better experiences as more retail investors seek access to private markets
- Building in fintech infrastructure requires extreme patience and long-term relationship building
Ryan's journey from consultant to CEO offers valuable insights into building B2B fintech infrastructure, selling to family offices, and the unique challenges of serving the private markets ecosystem. His vision for making private markets more accessible while maintaining their unique value proposition provides a compelling look at the future of alternative investments.
