The Business Leadership Podcast

You are listening to the Business
Leadership Podcast with Edwin.

Paul: I'm Paul Newton, creative producer
of the Future Narrator miniseries,

and I'm joined by Edwin Fzo, host
of the Business Leadership Podcast.

We're recording live at Web Summit
Vancouver 2025, where we're exploring

how today's leaders shape the future, not
just through strategy, but through story.

We believe that a story, strong
point of view is what inspires

communities, builds movements and cuts
through the noise in uncertain time.

So let's dive into this conversation.

Today's guest is reshaping how Canadian
businesses move money by building the

future of payments from the ground up.

Craig Addiewell is the founder and CEO
of Peloton Technologies, a Canadian

FinTech company revolutionizing
how small and medium sized

businesses manage their payments.

With a career spanning both the public
and private sectors, Craig has held

senior engineering and consulting roles at
organizations like BAE Systems, Deloitte,

Sierra Systems, and CGI, where he built
a reputation for solving complex problems

with smart, scalable tech solutions.

At Peloton, Craig brings a hands-on
systems driven approach to innovation,

developing a unified, secure and
user-friendly payments platform

that's transforming the financial
experience for Canadian SMBs.

Originally from Australia and
now based in Canada since 2005.

Craig continues to lead with a global
mindset and a passion for simplifying

how businesses thrive through technology.

Yeah.

Edwin: Welcome to the Business Leadership
Podcast, Craig, how, how you doing today?

I'm

Craig: doing great.

Thank you, Edwin.

Edwin: Yeah, amazing.

Thank you for taking the time
to stop in here on a busy

day at Web Summit Vancouver.

Um, why don't we just jump right in.

Craig, can you tell us about Peloton
Technologies and the problem?

That you're solving in business
payments and FinTech innovation?

Craig: Yeah, absolutely.

I think that, um, uh, it's, it's no
sort of, um, uncommon knowledge that

small businesses don't get the same
service, uh, related to their payments

that they might get from the, their
banking providers and other providers.

So, uh, it's really a problem where
a business owner will have to go

out and get multiple relationships.

It's very siloed and fractured.

So what we set out to do as a.

Small business owner previously
myself and still today, technically.

Mm-hmm.

Um, I wanted to be able to bring all
of that into one solution so I could

streamline it so I could spend more
of my time and for our customers,

more of their time actually doing
what they set out to do, which is

work on their business and not work
on the payments around their business.

Edwin: Well, it, it's,
it's really interesting.

And I'm curious, you know, as we talk
with many of the founders, the CEOs on

this miniseries, um, you know, what their,
their, and your unique point of view when

it comes to solving this problem, like.

This could come from your experience,
what you've done, um, can you share,

share with you, share us with that?

Craig: Yeah.

It's, it is been an interesting journey.

I think there are, uh, a couple of
things that sort of led me to where

I am and, and why we're one of the
only kind of people tackling this

problem is that it's extremely complex.

There's a lot of history involved
with why payments come to be

the way they are today, being so
fractured and so siloed, right?

Uh, and it takes someone who, first of
all, can look at a really big problem.

Break it all down and then put it back
together in a solution and kind of

flip it on its head and, and, and do
it from the perspective of a business.

Not say, Hey, credit card payments are,
you know, they're not very streamlined.

Let's, let's try and streamline
credit card payments.

Right.

Well, that's great.

That just makes a small business
more efficient at doing that badly.

Right.

So what, what they want to do
is they wanna be more efficient

at doing it holistically.

Right.

And so I looked at the problem as a small
business owner saying, well, that's great.

That might be a bit quicker, but
that doesn't solve the fact that

I still need five to 10 different
relationships to run my business.

Why can't I go and get all of
these services from one provider?

Why isn't it in one tool?

Why can't I see how much
cash I have right now?

On a dashboard, you know, why can't
I pay my employees for the same

tool where my merchant payments
are coming in through credit cards?

All of these sort of things.

Simple questions.

And every business owner asks these,
but no one was tackling the problem.

Edwin: Sounds like a

Craig: dream.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Paul: So, so why were you the guy
that, uh, that could break this down?

Craig: Well, I, I think a background
in engineering, uh, you know,

going back to my, my first job
in Australia, I, I'm electronic

and electrical engineer by trade.

That's my degree.

And so I, I worked on some complex, um,
hardware solutions and then software

solutions and did enterprise architecture,
a lot of red tape, a lot of review.

Um, so that was really
interesting background.

And then when I immigrated to.

To Canada.

I started working for kind of startups,
which was push the code out as

quickly as possible and then fix the
bugs as quickly as possible, right?

So it was very interesting to go
from one extreme to the other.

Uh, so that gave me a
bit of business acumen.

You know, I got options.

I started to look at the, uh, the
stock price and go, this is great.

You know, I really feel
a part of this company.

And I think that was really a key
moment in my career where I was like,

one day I think that maybe I, I'd like
to be in control of this and have a

team of people working towards this.

It took a while.

I went into consulting, so I learned
how to work with a bunch of different,

um, large organizations and businesses
and then go through and the whole

process of being a consultant and
understanding that, you know, there's a

time to talk, there's a time to listen.

You've gotta solve the problems
in the way that makes sense

for them as your client, right?

You can't just.

Go off and do the thing you want to do.

Um, so I went through that kind of journey
and then, and then, you know, you take

baby steps towards putting your own
money in and saying, okay, am I gonna

give up this, you know, this income that
I have, and start to work on something

at nights that I'm not getting paid
for and off the side of my desk, right?

Until finally it becomes a
reality and it's a real business.

And then you jump into that and then
you're in it, and then you're just

putting out fires left, right, and center.

Right.

Uh, but you've started this journey.

Uh, you've got the background
to solve the problem.

And so all of those things came
together and I just love, I

love working with cool people.

So, um, myself and, and, and
I considered, uh, Daryl, LCO,

uh, one of the co-founders.

Um.

We worked together on many projects
and we just love working with high

performing teams, so putting 'em
together, doing fun stuff, doing,

solving complicated problems, and so it
was really technology focused early on.

And then I.

Sadly now I do far less technology.

I still get in there and I, I work
with the product teams and I do some

architecture and I do some of the,
uh, business development meetings.

But, uh, for the most part, as, as
the role of CEO of a growing company,

you get, I wouldn't say distracted.

Your focus has to, has to be
on other items of the business.

Yeah.

Paul: What is it about you
that, uh, you know, that really.

Makes, creates this passion
around the high performing teams.

Craig: Um, I, I guess I, I just like
seeing innovation and, and seeing,

um, people make big steps forward
and being proud of what they build.

And, you know, you know, even
back to my engineering, I.

Roots.

It was like building something and
then watching it work and then then

giving it to somebody and watching
it be useful for them to use it.

That's kind of like the
best feeling in the world.

My problem is, is that, you
know, I would build these things,

I'd give 'em away for free.

So that's why, that's why we
have a sales department, right?

That's right.

Uhhuh.

Paul: And, and so your experience and
the baby steps you took along the way,

what, what do you think, uh, that's done
to create a really unique point of view?

Craig: Oh wow.

Unique point of view.

I think that, um, what's different, and
it might sound a bit like a brokerage,

I feel that a lot of companies in North
America have a very toxic workplace.

Um, and my unique point of view was that
recognizing that and exiting from it, and

as a consultant, I saw it all the time.

And, and so we really focus in on
the people that we have, the staff we

have, creating an environment where
everyone just enjoys getting up and

coming to work every single day.

Right?

Um, and, you know, our customers are
first, but I don't know if it's a

draw, but our, our employees are really
close behind that if they're not right

up there with our customers as well.

Yeah.

Paul: Um, and okay, so the, making it
a great place for people to work and to

develop this, um, again, like back to
the problem that you're deconstructing

and putting back together like.

I mean, I guess you're making
everyone love doing that.

Craig: Yeah.

And uh, mentoring is another big thing.

So, you know, talking about, you
know what, there's a lot of history.

So a lot of developers get
into our code base and they're

completely overwhelmed, right?

Mm-hmm.

Like, it's, it's, it's massive, right?

Uh, so it's great to be able to get
that new co-op student that comes in.

And a lot of our, um, uh,
developers today have come from

our co-op program that we develop.

Um, and, uh, and they just,
they just love working for us.

So they stayed on after they finished
their degrees, uh, and yeah, mentoring

them and, and then teaching them about
enterprise architecture and the way

we do things, the way we solve bugs,
you know, figuring out all of that.

That's a passion for me.

I love teaching people these skills
and then watching them use them

and solve their, and grow up and
solve their own problems, right?

And so if they can do that in an
environment they're happy for,

and they're solving problems
that maybe I haven't even.

Thought of in the same space to
make our whole product better.

That that's just awesome.

I love hearing about it.

Paul: Yeah.

And how do, how do you think that
translates into your solution and

then say our experience of it?

Um, you, your experience.

I don't know.

I mean like the kind customers
or whatever, like could

just say, you know, just.

Craig: Well, I think that, um,
you know, you need passion in

what you do every single day.

Um, and there is, you know, that's an
interesting question because there is a

big divide between a developer in a box
coding something and actually, you know,

a, a user in a company that's in a finance
department actually using it, right?

They couldn't be any
more different scenarios.

So we have to bridge that gap
and we do a lot of training,

um, and we have our own, we, we.

You know, the old expression, we
dog food our own product, right?

Mm-hmm.

So, uh, there's a lot of
communication between our teams.

So we have our own finance team
and talk to our developers and they

use their own tool and say, it'd be
great if it did this, and this is

why we love it when it does this.

Uh, we also have some of our
customers come in to our town halls

and speak about it and how they use
the product and what they love about

it in front of our entire team.

Yeah.

Right?

Okay.

Yeah.

So that's, that's, it's super
cool they get that feedback

straight from the customer.

Paul: And so the, the customers having
all these capabilities, uh, in one,

uh, one product, in one solution, what.

Uh, what does that change for them?

How is life different?

Craig: Life's remarkably different
for them when they discover that

they can do all of their payments
and see all of the ins and outs of

their entire business in one place.

Um, and you know, even for other CEOs
where they've got a CFO or they've

got, um, accounting people doing
that, and they can get a report the

next day instead of like five weeks
later about what happened yesterday.

Like, they're amazed.

Um, and, uh, just the, just the
ease of the use and, and, uh, the

feedback they get from their a
RP teams about using the product.

And like, you know, um, there's some
products out there with some of our

banking partners, so I'll be very careful
when I say this that, um, they, they

often say it's kind of like taking a jet
plane versus taking a pack meal, right?

Yeah, yeah.

Um, using our product against the, uh.

The standard banking
products that are out there.

And,

Paul: and so have, uh, have any of
your customers told you what they're

capable of now because of you?

Craig: Yeah, we, we did a little bit of
market research into that and, um, we've

discovered that they're about 40% more
efficient in their whole payment cycle.

Um, so that allows them to do a
bunch of other things that are more

valuable to drive more business.

And so yeah, we we're gonna keep
tabs on that stat and we're gonna do

that every single year, if not more.

And, um, and ensure that it's,
uh, it, it's still occurring for

every business that we take on.

Paul: So it's, it's really, uh, it's
quite trans transformative in, uh, in

companies to use this type of product.

Craig: Extremely transformative.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So, and, and it, and it makes me smile.

It's proud because I remember back in
the days where I owned a, um, a pet

food, uh, supply, uh, business, I.

And, uh, you know, we put light speed
in there and, uh, the staff used to have

to key in the amount and the terminal
and in the machine, and the, I was up

at night, and so were the other owners,
you know, figuring out keying errors and

finding out why discrepancies were there.

And it's like.

This is part of my journey.

It was like, why doesn't this
thing just talk to this thing?

Yeah.

Right.

Now that problem's mostly been solved,
but you could still go into business

today and you'll still see that, right?

Yeah.

Um, and, and down, down south of
the border, it's even worse, right?

Mm-hmm.

Um, you know, so.

There's a lot of room for growth in this
industry and it's very complicated for

why this thing doesn't talk to that thing.

Mm-hmm.

And, um, we could spend five
hours talking about that, but I

don't wanna bore you to death.

Yeah.

I'd just like to say that, um,
we've got solutions around that.

Uh, a lot of the other.

People in the business have, have figured
that problem out, but it doesn't mean that

you can still pay your employees with this
hardware terminal that's sitting, right.

Uh, so it's just one piece of the puzzle.

And then if you get into exporting
and importing, then you've got

foreign exchange and wires and
uh, you know, people are like.

They, they're going, they're getting money
off their line of credit from their bank.

They're taking those funds.

They're then transferring 'em to a third
party FX provider to get the rate because

they don't like their banking rate.

They bring that back.

They then take those, uh, instructions
into the bank and they stand there.

I don't know if you've ever done that.

Yeah.

And you read it out to the teller.

Oh yeah.

The teller then reads it out back, yeah.

They then print it out for you.

You then sign, because if.

If they've typed something in wrong and
you didn't review it, it's on you signed.

Signed and that, and, and then
you drive back to your business.

That could be a two hour journey.

Oh

Paul: my God.

Yeah.

And then they charge you $30
or something like you got it.

Craig: So we, we have one of the
solutions of products and we've been

working with American Express and
we'll be adding a Visa and a MasterCard

soon is, uh, bill paid by card.

So we literally.

They send us the invoice, we
charge their card, we do the

fx, and we make the payment.

Wow.

Right.

And, and it's, it's literally
done in two minutes.

Paul: Like yeah.

Okay.

That's transformative.

Craig: Yeah.

Edwin: Yeah.

That's a dream.

I said it's definitely a dream.

Um, um, Craig, this is amazing.

I mean, I'm just, as you speak,
I'm thinking about this admin

as a small business owner.

Things that you just don't
even ever want to get to.

Especially for those people who are
listening and entrepreneurs and, you know,

they're focused on marketing or they're
focused on delivery of the service.

They're never focused on
this, uh, even this end.

Not, not to say it's that, but it's
just, just having that dashboard

there and just making you, it, it
just, I think that there's a peace

of mind is what comes to mind for me.

In terms of just understanding
the health of your business.

Yeah.

On a, on a daily basis on a.

On a moment by moment, I'm, I'm, I'm
assuming almost if you wanted it to.

Craig: Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, you can talk to any accounting
firm and I think they'll tell you

that most businesses run about 60 to
90 days behind their actual position.

Yeah, that's right.

And, and the larger you get,
generally the worse it gets.

Um, there are some, obviously, large
businesses that have done a lot of work.

Um, but once you get involved, you
start implementing massive scale ERPs.

Things just get more complicated.

You've got more teams.

The data's got more review points.

It just seems to take
longer to get through the.

Process.

Right?

Um, there may be reasons for
that, but when you're a small

business, there isn't, it's you.

Right?

Um, so you've gotta do all of those tasks.

Why, why isn't it all
just there in one place?

Edwin: So, yeah.

This is amazing, Craig.

We we're really, we're
really, um, rooting for you.

Um, you're the Peloton.

Name brand that I like and the
technologies, 'cause they had it first.

And you're making changes as well,
not only in the health of people,

but in the health of the businesses.

But before, before we let you go, uh,
Craig, I'd love it if you could share any

final thoughts, recommendations, advice.

It could be to founders, CEOs,
or even any business leaders

who may be listening today.

Craig: Oh wow.

Um, don't give up.

Maybe.

I mean, uh, payments is by far one
of the most complicated industries

that I could have chosen to, and I
think that's what attracted me to it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's your engineering, that's
your engineering background.

Exactly.

Um, and then you get into the
regulations associated with it.

Yeah.

Um, and then you get into the fact
that you're in Canada and there's a,

you know, there's a high degree of, of
barriers put up by, uh, select group

of financial institutions, right.

That have the market share.

Mm-hmm.

Uh, and uh, I can just say
get over those roadblocks.

Don't give up.

And, um, just keep the dream alive.

Edwin: That's amazing, Craig.

Um.

We want to present you a book that me
and Paul actually just written in the

last month it produced in the last month.

It's uh, it was inspired
by founders like yourself.

We went to Collision in Toronto last year
and we interviewed everyone just to get

their story, how they're communicating
themselves, how they're creating community

and doing things, and we want to.

You know, you inspire us and what you're
building and what you're doing and you

know, we're hoping that you could also
continue to grow and inspire as well.

So that book is for you, and I'd
like to thank you for joining us

on the Business Leadership Podcast.

Craig: Absolutely.

Thank you very

Edwin: much for having me.

You are listening to the Business
Leadership Podcast with Edwin.