Bryan Leach took an unorthodox path to becoming the founder and CEO of Denver-based Ibotta, beginning his career as a lawyer. After a lightbulb moment and swift career change, Leach has led the cashback technology company for a decade, guiding it to more than 40 million downloads and delivering over $1.1 billion in cash rewards to its users. And, with nearly 750 total employees, Ibotta has been named one of the fastest-growing companies in America by Inc. Magazine in each of the past four years. Leach joined the VOE Podcast to chat about his unique career path, what he's learned at the helm of Ibotta and where Denver stands as a technology hub.
The VOE Podcast is an extension of Voices of Experience, the signature speaker series at the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business. Keep tuning in each month for more business insights from Daniels’ alumni voices of experience.
Transcript
Nick Greenhalgh:
Hello and welcome to the VOE Podcast,
Kristal Griffith:
An extension of Voices of Experience,
Lorne Fultonberg:
The signature speaker series at the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business.
Nick Greenhalgh:
We’re your hosts, Nick Greenhalgh
Kristal Griffith:
Kristal Griffith
Lorne Fultonberg:
And I’m Lorne Fultonberg from the Daniels Office of Communications and Marketing.
Nick Greenhalgh:
We’ll be unpacking topics at the intersection of business and the public good with CEOs and other business leaders from the Daniels community.­ Let’s dive in.
Nick Greenhalgh:
As the founder and CEO of one Denver’s fastest-growing technology companies, the last two years have been a whirlwind for Bryan Leach. When Covid-19 struck, the longtime Ibotta leader organized weekly calls with area business leaders to discuss how they were navigating the choppy waters of a never before experienced pandemic. Now, after a decade at the helm of the cashback technology company, Leach joined the VOE podcast to share his wisdom on building culture at a fast-growing firm, how Ibotta attracts and retains key employees and what Denver needs to do to remain relevant as a tech hub. Welcome, Bryan, to the VOE Podcast.
Bryan Leach:
Thanks for having me.
Nick Greenhalgh:
Great to have you here. Before we sort of get into where Ibotta is today, I want to take a step back and talk a little bit about your background. You sort of have an unorthodox path to tech founder and CEO, with a full-fledged career in law, prior to landing at Ibotta. What led you away from law and into tech?
Bryan Leach:
I loved many aspects of being a lawyer. I thought it would be just like it was on television, like it was in A Few Good Men. It turned out that there were fewer fence line shootings in Cuba that I got to investigate and fewer cross examinations in swashbuckling form, and a little bit more research and writing. And I enjoy research and writing, but I'm really an extrovert, and I like interacting with people more often. And the trials were great, but they weren't very frequent, compared to the writing portion.

So I started to sort of find entrepreneurial things to do within the law. So I started by helping to build an international arbitration practice at my firm, which meant dreaming up our different approach to international arbitration, going and learning about it, getting the credentials, traveling to conferences. And I realized that I was not super well suited for international arbitration when I went to a conference in Rio and I was the only person there who was monolingual. I was from a city that no one had really heard of in the international arbitration world, and a firm that really didn't do any of this work. I also realized that I was enjoying pitching my business so much more than practicing the actual business. So I would win the business, and then what I won was a chance to write 250 pages of briefs. So I realized that the sales element was actually what I loved, and that being a trial lawyer is really telling stories and s...