How Mercury's CEO Immad Akhund Changed the Startup Banking Experience And Got Into Investing || Ep. 8 IO Pod

Immad Akhund had the idea for Mercury years before they started. In fact, he'd launched 3 other startups and been through YCombinator twice before even starting initial validation on what would become the beloved neobank of startups everywhere. And opinions were mixed. Immad himself recognized the need for a simpler and more efficient banking service while while operating Heyzap his previous company. But when he shared the concept with other startups, not everyone grasped its potential.

Today, Mercury dominates in the neobank industry. Immad walks hosts Tyler Hogge and Sterling Snow through the early days of Mercury, shares advice on how to operate and his strategies on investing.

Chapters:

00:00:00 Intro

00:01:56 Immad's Entrepreneurial Journey - Previous Companies & Learnings

00:08:27 What Does Mercury Do?

00:11:24 How He Launched Mercury

00:14:35 The Neo Bank Industry and Launch Timing

00:21:50 The SVB Fallout & How That Led To Big Growth For Mercury

00:32:50 Operating Advice: The Six-Year Vesting Plan

00:43:35 Immad's Hot Takes & Predictions: AI Is a Hype Cycle

00:57:17 Rapid Fire & Wrap-up

Things to Check Out:

Immad's Memo - How to Not Be A Bottleneck as a CEO

Immad's Podcast - Curiosity Podcast

Immad's Advice on Operating - @immad on X

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