A Day In The Life Of A Brokerage Disruptor

To get you prepared for the 2017 Benzinga Global Fintech Awards, Benzinga will profile the daily schedules of select fintech leaders whose companies have applied. For this installment, we spoke with DriveWealth CEO Robert Cortright (answers have been edited for length and clarity).

DriveWealth

Robert Cortright is the CEO of DriveWealth, an online brokerage offering investors on a budget the opportunity to invest in fractional shares. The company's mission is to make investing easier and offer a "frictionless" mobile experience for its users.

Robert Cortright:

• 5–7 a.m. — Always an early start to my work days! I start off my day by checking emails. There are always a lot of moving parts, especially having globally based partners. When I wake up, their work day is finishing; so, it’s a good time to check in with not only my partners but traveling DriveWealth team members. I also spend that time checking on LinkedIn for any updates and industry-wide news.
• 7–8 — I spend this time watching CNBC & Fox Business News to keep updated on what’s going on in the stock market for the day. Fox Business News is huge for me and is always on in the morning.
• 8–9:30 — I spend this hour processing all the information I just read/watched, get ready and head off to work.

• 9:30–noon — I start off by checking my email again when I first step in. I also frequently schedule meetings during this time.
• Noon–1 p.m. — I sit down to my desk to have lunch and catch up on emails.
• 1–2 — I schedule more meetings after 2 p.m. My afternoon meetings are sometimes longer than my early morning meetings.
• 2–5 — Meetings take place!
• 6 — I take care of any outbound emails until I leave for the day.
• 7:30–8 — I generally wrap up my day and head home!

How many meetings do you have a day?

I generally stick to three to five meetings/day, two or three of which will be heavy/important topics. I like to space them out so I can wrap my head around the information and creatively think up solutions.

What gets you excited about what you're doing?

What’s exciting to me is not thinking of a new concept, but rather having the ability to support and distribute services in an affordable way to emerging markets and the everyday consumers. Through this fintech revolution, I believe true fintech distribution is the digital delivery of a service that makes it frictionless, accessible and affordable to all smartphone users.

What do you do to relax?

Weekends are my time to detox and spend time with my family! _______ Check more articles in this series:

• How Does A Bank Exec Turned Fintech CEO Plan Out A Workday?
• A Day In The Life Of A Fintech Executive: Acorns Chief Commercial Officer Manning Field