What drives a man with PayPal and Visa on his resume to take a job at a smaller startup? According to Andrew Lanthier, newly-appointed CTO at PaySimple, the answer is simple: a commitment to small business. PYMNTS.com spoke with Lanthier to discuss his attraction to the company, his first 100 days on the job and why helping small businesses is so important.

When PaySimple named Andrew Lanthier as its new Chief Technology Officer on October 10, its message was clear: we’re getting serious about scale.

A veteran of Visa and PayPal, as well as an experienced contributor to startups, Lanthier will aim to use his diverse background to help PaySimple grow as it expands its role in the SMB payments processing industry. PYMNTS.com spoke with Lanthier about his history in the payments industry, his attraction to PaySimple and what his first hundred days on the job will entail.

PaySimple is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider that aims to simplify back end payments processing for businesses through a cloud-based, receivable solution. It’s available both as a direct and white-label service, and is targeted primarily at small-to-medium sized merchants.  

“Generally we offer billing and receivable services, invoicing, and schedule processing, as well as the transactional side of business, which is really targeted at small to medium-sized businesses,” Lanthier summarized.

“We’re really focused on services that allow [SMBs] to spend less time in the back office and more time dealing with their customers.”

Lanthier has extensive experience in the payments space. He “cut his teeth,” as he put it, working for startups providing payments services “when commerce wasn’t so fluid.” Next, he moved on to Visa, where he said he learned about scale, before spending seven years at PayPal as it transformed into the payments giant it is today.

How does someone with that level of experience under his belt become attracted to a startup like PaySimple? According to Lanthier, it’s the company’s dedication to small businesses that set it apart.

“The notion of taking this technology and enabling small businesses, to some extent leveling the playing field so these people can be successful … they can chase their businesses wherever that takes them, without having to worry about the complexity of payments processing and invoicing and schedule management and PCI. I just had to join, I couldn’t walk away,” Lanthier explained.

“This company really loves working with small businesses. They really do. The energy is palpable in this place.”

So what will Lanthier’s first hundred days on the job look like? He says three projects he’ll be especially focused on are a mobile platform for merchants, retooling PaySimple’s website interface and hiring new workers as the company expands.

But Lanthier said his main duty is to focus on PaySimple’s technology, and to ensure the company can continue to grow in the face of the industry’s ever-changing demands.

“For the first one hundred days, my fundamental job is to make sure that our platform and our technology is in place, to make sure we can grow, which means that we’re nimble enough to change with the market, and we can scale this thing with the demand we’re starting to see,.” Lanthier said.

“That’s my first set of priorities.”

To hear more from Lanthier on his new role as CTO, PaySimple’s upcoming projects and more, listen to the full podcast below.

Andrew Lanthier

Chief Technology Officer, PaySimple

Andrew Lanthier, PaySimple’s Chief Technology Officer, oversees the company’s technology platform and is responsible for delivering innovative solutions to small businesses. He has over 20 years experience in the information technology industry, delivering solutions in both online and offline markets. Before joining PaySimple, he spent over 7 years at PayPal leading both software development and operations teams. Most recently he served as a Technology Fellow, leading Architecture & Strategy for the company’s global infrastructure. Mr. Lanthier is based in the San Francisco Bay Area, and holds a Bachelor of Science from University of Maryland, Baltimore County.