How do you navigate the tide turn when your competitor collapses during one of the biggest banking crises in recent history? In this conversation, Sasha Orloff sits down with Immad Akhund, founder and CEO of Mercury*. Immad pulls back the curtain on the chaos and critical decisions made when Silicon Valley Bank fell. From mobilizing an all-hands effort to rapidly onboard new customers to developing new product features virtually overnight to instill confidence, Immad provides an unvarnished look at crisis management and steadfast leadership during turbulent times. He also shares insights on Mercury's customer-first approach to building, how rising interest rates transformed their business model, and how he thinks about investing in new product initiatives by allocating internal resources like venture investments.

*Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group and Evolve Bank & Trust, Members FDIC.

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This show is produced by Turpentine: a network of podcasts, newsletters, and more, covering technology, business, and culture — all from the perspective of industry insiders and experts. We’re launching new shows every week, and we’re looking for industry-leading sponsors — if you think that might be you and your company, email us at erik@turpentine.co.

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LINKS:

https://mercury.com/

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X/SOCIAL:

@sashaorloff (Sasha)

@Immad (Immad)

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TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Preview

(01:15) Intro

(02:23) Immad’s Journey to founding Mercury and being a serial entrepreneur

(02:37) Immad’s learnings after founding three startups

(06:54) Learnings from being a YC partner and angel investor

(08:54) What gets Immad excited about investing

(10:17) Why Series A vs seed stage investing

(12:18) Building the banking solution

(13:49) The moment when Immad knew Mercury was the right thing

(16:12) How interest rates affect Mercury

(18:48) Silicon Valley Bank collapse and what was happening at Mercury

(23:50) SVB failed, why is Mercury safe?

(24:00) Mercury Vault’s inception and increasing FDIC insurance to 3 million

(25:56) Would Immad do anything differently going back to the SVB collapse?

(27:41) How Mercury’s team was able to remain calm and adapt

(29:21) Launching new products within a startup: product innovation

(31:12) Having a longterm mindset when launching new products

(33:49) Thinking about product launches internally like they’re startups

(36:37) Breadth vs depth in a market

(40:30) Something about Mercury a lot of people don’t know today

(43:50) Number one piece of advice for founders

(44:26) Wrap