Mike Nabavi
CEO & Chief Growth Officer
"Creating opportunities to change trajectory of lives."
Mike Nabavi
CEO & Chief Growth Officer
Mike Nabavi is the CEO and Chief Growth Officer of BankLink, bringing decades of entrepreneurial and leadership experience to the forefront of financial innovation. As a three-time tech CEO and two-time solutions architect, Mike launched his first business during his undergraduate studies, scaling it to a team of over 35 employees before exiting to pursue opportunities in technology.
Mike’s journey in tech began during the pre-dotcom era, with early success in leading high-value technology sales to asset management firms in the southern United States. He later played a pivotal role in drafting a business plan that helped secure $30.75M on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
His career includes building and scaling innovative technology ventures, such as a fiat and crypto PayTech company, and founding and exiting a tech accelerator. Mike has also advised, mentored, and invested as an Angel in numerous advanced technology firms. Before focusing on tech entrepreneurship, Mike worked with Deloitte and his own consultancy, advising financial institutions and other clients on strategy, execution, and organizational development.
Mike’s passion for entrepreneurship stems from his belief in its transformative potential to create value and give back. Mike is well recognized for his expertise in designing financial and legal frameworks that foster collaboration and mutual benefit.
At BankLink, Mike provides visionary leadership, spearheading the creation of a resilient, regulated, decentralized banking ecosystem designed to empower FinTechs and drive their success.
My more serious entrepreneurial journey began during my first year of undergrade university studies when I launched my first business with a $2,500 loan from the Alberta Opportunity Company, a government initiative to support youth entrepreneurship. I grew the company during my university years while also I owned and managed a small but lucrative events management company. Within a year after completing my bachelor’s degree at the University of Calgary, I had scaled the business to over 35 employees.
Drawn to new challenges, I transitioned to help expand Guest-Tek’s presence among major asset management firms in the southern U.S., selling high-price technology. While pursuing my executive MBA from Queen’s University and working at Guest-Tek, I drafted the early business plan for Guest-Tek’s IPO that raised $30.75 million.
After Guest-Tek, I consulted for a telecom, Deloitte and my own clients on issues of strategy and operations before launching my own tech startup, a 10-year endeavor that laid the foundation for starting and scaling tech ventures. Along the way, I founded and sold an accelerator to a Vancouver-based venture capital firm, advised and invested in various tech companies, and spun off a PayTech venture—a precursor to BankLink.
At my core, I’m an entrepreneur first, an advisor second, and an investor third. I find the greatest satisfaction in engineering creative financial and legal structures and agreements that bring people together to tackle challenging problems.
My vision for myself, BankLink, and Baraka Foundation—the not-for-profit I founded—is deeply interwoven, drawn from the same thread of purpose – enable people create openings and change the trajectory of lives.
At BankLink, our ultimate intent is building a thriving banking ecosystem that creates opportunities for all. This ecosystem aims to reshape the financial sector, fostering a competitive environment where the industry eliminates inefficiencies and tempers excessive profit margins. The end result? A better deal for the end user.
Together with my colleagues at BankLink, I envision a future where BankLink becomes the most trusted technology company with banking licenses around the world, propelling FinTechs toward success. These FinTechs will deliver faster, more affordable, and better services to their customers. We foresee a world where the increased competition within BankLink’s ecosystem drives down interest rates on mortgages and other credit products, drastically reduces payment fees like the exorbitant 3-5% on credit card transactions, and effectively eliminates the need for predatory payday loans.
This future also includes the widespread adoption of hyper-personalized banking products and services, readily accessible through BankLink’s marketplace. Additionally, regulators will gain visibility into financial transactions obscured to them because of the technological limitations of traditional deposit-taking institutions.
The most pervasive barrier I see in people’s lives is the weight of financial burdens and the ripple effects on them and their families. BankLink’s competitive ecosystem will help alleviate this burden. By driving down inefficiencies and excessive profit margins, we aim to reduce payment obligations, potentially saving individuals 5–10 years on their mortgages and other credit products.
Simultaneously, BankLink will open doors to credit for those traditionally excluded, fueling demand for new financial services and generating more jobs. Moreover, by reducing hidden banking fees embedded in merchants’ prices, the ecosystem will effectively return the equivalent of one to two weeks’ extra income—or an additional holiday—per year to the average person.
These tangible financial impacts create a positive ripple effect, empowering people to focus on what truly matters in their lives. By cleansing this financial burden, BankLink enables individuals to unlock new opportunities, ultimately fostering the conditions for more fulfilling lives.
With BankLink, I envision a future where banking is more equitable, secure, and empowering—offering freedom, safety, and personalized solutions for everyone.
Life is too short to invest in ventures or projects that lack inspiration or to work with people whose values don’t align with your own. I believe a small, focused team of passionate experts will always achieve more than a large group of competent individuals working without purpose. Success comes from assembling the right people and placing them in the right roles. When a team is driven by purpose rather than incentives alone, excellence becomes the natural outcome.
To maintain clarity and focus, I emphasize regular alignment between actions and overarching goals. I believe in linking short-, medium-, and long-term compensation to the company’s objectives, ensuring every team member is moving in the same direction. For BankLink, this means focusing on two key metrics for ourselves and our FinTech partners: the leading metric, Product-Market Fit (PMF = LTV/CAC), and the lagging metric, risk-adjusted value.
Innovation is the cornerstone of growth, and it often emerges from unexpected places—particularly from our most dissatisfied customers or frustrated prospects. These challenges present opportunities to innovate, iterate, and improve. While innovation carries the risk of failure, I embrace a “fail fast” approach to minimize risks and continuously validate our direction.
Ultimately, success is driven by disciplined execution and unwavering grit. Ideas and plans are only as valuable as the effort and resilience behind bringing them to life.
There are five people, five organizations, and five events that have profoundly shaped who I am and altered the trajectory of my life. Among the people, the late Dennis McKerlie, my moral philosophy professor at the University of Calgary, and the late Connie Warner, my executive coach and dear friend, stand out as pivotal influences. Queen’s University, where I completed my MBA, and Deloitte, where I built a strong foundation in business strategy, are two organizations that played key roles in my personal and professional growth. On the personal front, the day my wife said “yes” to marrying me and the births of my children were moments that forever changed my life.
Most significantly, starting in early 2022, I embarked on a series of profound spiritual awakenings that redefined my understanding of purpose and life itself. These transformative experiences aligned me with a deeper source of meaning, profoundly influencing not only my personal life but also the way I lead, build companies, and collaborate with people.
Rooted in this awakening, my commitment to family, community, and business flows from a deep sense of reverence and gratitude for something far greater than myself that also includes me—God. This guiding source fuels every aspect of my life, from my vision for BankLink to the way I inspire trust, foster growth, and empower others to drive meaningful change.
To summarize: “Everything I am, have, and do is because of and for God.” It is from this state of being that I move forward, building a future for BankLink that is as purposeful as it is impactful.
Values, beliefs, and qualities that I’ve recognize in myself and inject into my businesses and my personal life include:
Resilience & Perseverance. “The obstacle is the way.” –Marcus Aurelius
Courage. “If it is important enough, do it, even if the odds are not in your favor.” –Elon Musk
Resourcefulness. “In a storm, build windmills, not walls.” –Dutch proverb
Risk Taking. “Ships are built to sail and explore, not to be anchored in the safety of the harbor” — John A. Shedd
Innovation. “Kits rise highest against the wind.” –Winston Churchill
Integrity. Integrity. Without it, nothing else matters.” — John C. Maxwell
Flexibility. “Be formless, shapeless, like water” –Bruce Lee.
Fairness. “A sword is only as powerful as the hand that wields it, and the wisdom that sheathe it.” –Unknown
Empowerment. “Almost always, people stand taller when you ask them to rise.” –Unknown
Hard Work. There is no substitute for hard work for achieving goals.
Gratitude. It is all a gift.
My journey into community work began more intentionally in my 30s when I joined the Rotary Club of Edmonton. The Rotary’s four-way test and its guiding motto–Service Above Self– left a profound and lasting impression on me. Through Rotary, I had the privilege of contributing to meaningful initiatives that impacted both local and global communities. Since then, I’ve sought opportunities to serve whenever and wherever I can add value. Although, the volume of work has helped me get focused on a few initiatives that I care more about.
This commitment to service eventually inspired me to found the Baraka Foundation, a not-for-profit organization with a mission “To alleviate suffering by elevating consciousness through immersive programs and activities that support spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical growth and healing.” Although Baraka has been registered for several years, its full launch is still ahead.
My vision for Baraka includes fostering healing and integration for veterans and individuals transitioning from incarceration, helping them reintegrate into society through a private-public partnership program. By addressing core challenges and supporting holistic growth, Baraka aims to create more successful outcomes for its clients and generate a ripple effect of positive impact on the people they touch, their communities, and society as a whole.
Looking to the future, Baraka aspires to serve as a model for similar programs across North America or to scale into multiple centers across the continent, broadening its reach and deepening its impact.
There are also several synergies that I foresee between Baraka Foundation and BankLink:
Corporate Support: BankLink will serve as one of Baraka’s key corporate donors.
Personal Commitment: I plan to donate most of my wealth from BankLink to fund Baraka’s initiatives.
Innovative Solutions: BankLink, in collaboration with its FinTech partners, will deliver tailored financial products and services designed to benefit both FinTech collaborators and Baraka’s clients.
Together, these linkages create a bridge between economic empowerment and personal transformation, allowing Baraka to fulfill its mission while amplifying the values that BankLink stands for. Through this intertwined approach, I aim to contribute to a future where service, innovation, and healing come together to create lasting change.
I’ve stumbled, failed, lost love, friends, and money, and made choices that leave me shaking my head. But looking back, I only carry two real regrets: spending too much time chasing pursuits that didn’t truly fulfill me and not having more kids.
My greatest joy comes from the two incredible people I get to call my children. They are, without question, My Biggest Love and My Most Incredible Love. Raising teenagers feels a lot like enjoying a bowl of Chinese sweet and sour soup—sometimes sweet, sometimes sour, but always a perfect balance of complexity and flavor. Since they came into my life, they’ve been its brightest light. I just wish I’d started earlier and had the chance to welcome even more into the family.
Since moving to West Vancouver, I’ve been finding inspiration by walking through the breathtaking forests that surround my home. These walks have become more than just a pastime—they’re a source of reflection and a wellspring of inspiration. During these quiet moments in nature, I often find clarity and direction, blending meditation with movement. Remarkably, some of BankLink’s most pivotal ideas—its structure, governance model, and key business strategies—were born during these walks under the canopy of trees.
When I’m not immersed in nature, my focus shifts to time with family and a small circle of close friends. These connections ground me, balancing the intensity of my professional pursuits. And speaking of work, I genuinely love what I do. By no means it is a walk in the park, but I love every bi of it. From navigating challenges to exploring opportunities, my day-to-day feels as fulfilling and stimulating as any activity could be. Work, in its way, has become an extension of my passions—where creativity, problem-solving, and ambition converge.
There are so many to choose from, but here are a few that I come back to often.
“All big things start small.” — Lao Tzu
“Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” –Geoffrey Chaucer
“It always seems impossible till it’s done.” –Nelson Mandela
“Amor Fati.” (means love of fate”) –Epictetus
“Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” –Mike Tyson
“Every setback is a setup for a comeback.” –Joel Osteen
“It is what it is.” –a common idiom
“If you don’t ask, you don’t get.” –Mahatma Gandhi
“This too shall pass.” –Abraham Lincoln
“The obstacle is the way.” –Marcus Aurelius
“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; and optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” –Winston Churchill
I fell on rocks and shattered my elbow, and nearly my head, during a safety inspection on a renovation project on my own home. You could say I was committed to diving into the process 😉
Meet BankLink's other executives
Frank Chong
Chief Regulatory Officer (CRO)
Yves Messy
Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
Cam John
Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Eric Nielsen
Chief Marketing Officer