Chaz Englander - 3x founder looking to build $1T company, FT Partners leading the $75m round, learnings and mistakes that others should learn from

Chaz Englander is the Co-founder of Model ML an agentic AI platform used by 8 of the top 10 European banks, 3 of the big 4 consultancies, and tier-1 asset managers across Europe and the US.

He's previously built and exited two companies: Fat Lama (peer-to-peer rental marketplace) and Fancy (sold to goPuff).

Model ML has raised $100M+ from Y Combinator, LocalGlobe and QED and the last round was led by by Steve McLaughlin of FT Partners - arguably the most influential dealmaker in fintech.

Chaz Englander is the Co-founder of Model ML an agentic AI platform used by 8 of the top 10 European banks, 3 of the big 4 consultancies, and tier-1 asset managers across Europe and the US.

He's previously built and exited two companies: Fat Lama (peer-to-peer rental marketplace) and Fancy (sold to goPuff). Model ML has raised $100M+ from Y Combinator, LocalGlobe and QED and the last round was led by by Steve McLaughlin of FT Partners — the most influential dealmaker in fintech.

This conversation covers how AI is dismantling the analyst function in investment banking, why escape velocity is the only real moat in 2026 and why ARR is a vanity metric.

Enjoy!