Scott Smith

PASSION MEETS PURPOSE. Scott Smith’s path to co-founding Fizz is marked by a deep-seated empathy for others and a relentless drive to solve real-world problems. From a young age, Scott displayed an insatiable curiosity and a drive to push boundaries. Growing up in Metro, Detroit with parents who were both accomplished business owners, Scott was immersed in the entrepreneurial world from the start. “I got a mini MBA just by being around my parents,” he jokes.

As a child, Scott was academically advanced, so much so that he petitioned to skip from third grade to ninth grade—a request that was approved by his school but ultimately vetoed by his parents. “I was always a bit hungry for more,” he reflects. This thirst for knowledge led him to spend countless hours outside of school, exploring labs, libraries, and different languages. It was this early drive that would later fuel his ambition to create something meaningful.

Scott’s path wasn’t always straightforward. He initially attended the University of Michigan, studying economics, but soon realized it wasn’t the right fit. However, his time there exposed him to the world of VC-backed tech startups, sparking his interest in the tech ecosystem. Seeking a more people-centric approach to business, Scott transferred to the Nolan School of Hotel Administration—a move that would deepen his understanding of the human connection side of business. “I learned a lot about service and how to be in service to others,” Scott explains. “Ultimately, a business is all about the people.”

It was during an internship while at Cornell that Scott met Carlo Kobe, who would become his co-founder. When the pandemic hit, Scott made a bold decision to move to Berlin, where Carlo was based, and they began working on various tech projects. This period was transformative for Scott, both personally and professionally. “There was a huge cultural contrast between the Midwest and Berlin, but I’ve always been curious about cultural immersion,” he says.

Fizz, a financial adulting platform designed to help college students build credit responsibly, emerged from Scott and his co-founders’ realization that they needed to work on something they were truly passionate about. “We were students building a financial product for students,” Scott says. The mission behind Fizz is deeply personal to Scott, who understands the challenges college students face when entering the financial world. “It’s really difficult to build credit, and if you mess it up, you end up ruining your first years of adulthood,” he explains. Fizz aims to simplify this process, helping students make informed financial decisions from the start.

Launching Fizz wasn’t easy. “It’s very, very hard to launch a financial product from scratch,” Scott admits. What was supposed to take a few months ended up taking years, with countless sleepless nights and millions of dollars invested. But the challenges were worth it. Today, Fizz is beloved by students at over 300 universities and has been named the best credit builder product by Business Insider. The company’s success is a testament to the strong team Scott and his co-founders have built—a team driven by a shared mission to make financial adulting easier for college students.

A NEW PERSPECTIVE. Scott’s LGBTQIA+ identity has also played a significant role in shaping Fizz. “It allows me to bring a different lens to the business,” he says. This empathetic perspective has been crucial in developing a financial product that truly meets the needs of its users. Looking ahead, Scott is excited about the future of Fizz. “We want to become the go-to financial solution for the more than 22 million college students in the U.S.,” he says