Cool, calm and collected is how we’d describe Chief Operating Officer and co-founder of Fast, Allison Barr Allen. She has the kind of Hollywood coolness that you don’t often see in real life.
We picture this cowgirl peacefully focused on the road ahead, softly humming a little tune in a bubble of calm. Then the camera zooms out, and the wagon she’s steering is actually screaming down the dusty motorway, overtaking a train in an epic chase-scene. Barr Allen is a chilled character, on the road to achieving whip-lash inducing fintech innovation. She’s so insanely speedy, even her company is called “Fast”. Pop William Tell Overture on Spotify and buckle in for the profile of Allison “Pressure? What pressure?” Barr Allen.
High-speed fintech
We asked more about Barr Allen’s proudest career moment, “When we launched Fast for the first time on the BigCommerce platform in September 2020”, she reveals. “This moment had been over a year in the making. We’d raised two rounds of financing, recruited an incredible team from scratch, and built the product and infrastructure from the ground
up. To see the vision we’d pitched thousands of times as a reality and to have buyers experience true one-click checkout was extraordinary”.
Over the past year and a half, we’ve seen Fast zip on by. The one-click-checkout app has raised $102 million in series B funding and opened a new office.
Steely determination
We love Barr Allen’s quiet focus and unshakable drive – it’s something which really characterizes her approach to fintech.
“I have an incredibly long-term focused mindset”, she elaborates. “I’m all about delayed gratification and investing now for gains in the future. I also have a competitive spirit and a lot of grit”.
Staying calm under pressure is Barr Allen’s super power and we couldn’t love her more for it. We couldn’t resist asking this chilled character what advice she would give to young buckaroos out there (Buckaweenies?) who want to follow in her cowgirl footsteps. And we were not disappointed!
“First, I recommend that anyone who’s just starting out in college to major in computer science or a data or engineering-focused field”, she begins. “The career possibilities with these types of degrees are limitless! When you’re just starting out your career, Second, I recommend joining a high-growth startup that’s recently raised a Series A or B financing round. If you join somewhere that’s experiencing hyper-growth, there are almost infinite opportunities to have a big impact and take on increasing responsibility. Third, I encourage you to build relationships with your coworkers and those around you. Don’t be scared to send cold emails. You never know how a coffee meeting may impact you years down the line or where relationships may go. It’s a small world!”
BAM!!! We’re proud to welcome the coolest critter around, Allison “Pressure? What pressure?” Barr Allen to our fintech cowboy town, LegendVille.
This article was published in “Buckaroos 2022”, Page 27
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