The Fintech Blueprint

In this conversation, we chat with Yenwen Feng, co-founder of Perpetual Protocol, a decentralized perpetual contract protocol for every asset, made possible by a Virtual Automated Market Maker, with an aim to create an accessible and secure decentralized derivatives trading platform. Yenwen has over 17 years of various expertise and experience in the financial and tech industry, co-founding businesses like Cubie Inc. and Cinch Network. Yenwen also holds an MS degree in computer science from National Chiao Tung University. More specifically, we touch on the idea of "perpetual trading" on top of AMMs. He explains how the idea is similar to traditional spot trading of the self custody assets on AMMs and how it's really capital efficient. He also talks about how he and his co-founder fell in the crypto rabbit hole in 2017 and how they joined Binance, and so so much more!Disclaimer here — this newsletter does not provide investment advice and represents solely the views and opinions of FINTECH BLUEPRINT LTD. Contributors: Lex, Laurence, Matt, Farhad, Mike, Daniella Want to discuss? Stop by our Discord and reach out here with questions.

In this conversation, we chat with Edward Woodford, Co-Founder and CEO of Zero Hash. Zero Hash’s mission is to empower innovators by delivering access to the financial system 2.0. Zero Hash provides the complete turnkey solution to allow platforms to launch digital assets and own the client experience, without any regulatory overhead and a light technical lift. Zero Hash’s clients include Neo-banks, broker dealers and payment groups. Prior to founding Zero Hash, he gained experience at a series of hedge funds and start ups including founder a US-based CFTC-registered derivatives execution venue. Edward holds a B.A. in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from University of Warwick (United Kingdom) and a Master of Finance from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US). He was named in Forbes' 30 Under 30 in 2018. More specifically, we touch on CFTC regulated marketplaces for Hemp, launching a digital asset trading business, Embedded finance and API-driven businesses, the US regulatory patchwork for traditional financial service companies vs new banking-as-a-service companies, third-part crypto wallet providers and so so much more!Disclaimer here — this newsletter does not provide investment advice and represents solely the views and opinions of FINTECH BLUEPRINT LTD. Contributors: Lex, Laurence, Matt, Farhad, Mike, Daniella Want to discuss? Stop by our Discord and reach out here with questions.

In this conversation, we chat with Urvashi Barooah, a Principal at Redpoint Ventures. Urvashi holds a B.A. from Middlebury College, has 3 years experience in Mergers & Acquisitions consulting at Ernst & Young’s New York office. Since then she has worked at BCG, Primary Venture Partners, and Redpoint Ventures - where she has been an integral part to investing in high growth startups across Web3 and Fintech. More specifically, we touch on the journey to becoming a venture capitalist, the essential tools and mental models used to become an effective VC such as the CFO tech stack, the modernisation of financial platforms, the transition to investing in crypto companies, and so so much more!Disclaimer here — this newsletter does not provide investment advice and represents solely the views and opinions of FINTECH BLUEPRINT LTD. Contributors: Lex, Laurence, Matt, Farhad, Mike, Daniella Want to discuss? Stop by our Discord and reach out here with questions.

In this conversation, we chat with John MacIlwaine, Founder and CEO at HighNote. The former general manager at Paypal Holdings Inc-owned Braintree. Highnote improves embedded payments experiences, reducing speed to market while supporting customer loyalty and engagement. John is a senior business and technology professional with 25 years of experience in executive level GM/CEO and CTO/CPO roles, primarily within the financial services industry, with expertise in technology innovation, strategic vision, implementation execution, and operational excellence in both early stage and mature companies. He is a seasoned general manager with significant people leadership (1,500 staff) and P&L responsibility ($195 Million). He has a reputation for building high performing global teams (India, Singapore, Philippines, US) and operating effectively in diverse corporate cultures across industries and geographies. More specifically, we touch on the journey of leadership through Morgan Stanely, Envestnet, SunGard, GreenDot, Visa, Lending Club, Braintree/PayPal and HighNote. Touching on the progress of technology influencing embedded finance through each of these entities, and so so much more!Disclaimer here — this newsletter does not provide investment advice and represents solely the views and opinions of FINTECH BLUEPRINT LTD. Contributors: Lex, Laurence, Matt, Farhad, Mike, Daniella Want to discuss? Stop by our Discord and reach out here with questions.

In this conversation, we chat with Trevor Marshall, The Chief Technology Officer at Current, a leading U.S. financial technology company serving Americans working to create a better future for themselves. A graduate of Columbia University with degrees in math and computer science, Trevor worked on automating trading strategies at Morgan Stanley and built applications on distributed ledger technology before creating the foundation for Current. In 2015, he began building the Current Core, Current’s proprietary banking technology, which provides stability, faster money and cost savings that are passed onto customers, and allows Current to provide experiences that cannot exist on traditional banking infrastructures. More specifically, we touch on cryptography, bitcoin arbitrage trading strategies, Web3, Dollar Ledgering, ACH transactions, Influencer marketing, and so so much more!Disclaimer here — this newsletter does not provide investment advice and represents solely the views and opinions of FINTECH BLUEPRINT LTD. Contributors: Lex, Laurence, Matt, Farhad, Mike, Daniella Want to discuss? Stop by our Discord and reach out here with questions.

In this conversation, we chat with Aaron Klein, the co-founder and CEO at Riskalyze. Aaron’s career has largely been at the intersection of finance and technology. As co-founder and CEO at Riskalyze, he led the company to twice being named one of the world’s top 10 most innovative companies in finance by Fast Company Magazine. Today, over 200 Riskalyzers serve thousands of advisors who have aligned the world's investments with millions of investors' Risk Numbers®. Aaron has served as a Sierra College Trustee, and in his spare time, he co-founded a school project for orphans and vulnerable kids in Ethiopia. Investment News has honored him as one of the industry’s top 40 Under 40 executives. More specifically, we touch on the journey of entrepreneurship, Political campaign fintech and website development, roboadvisors vs. automated trading rebalancing, the future of wealth management and financial advice, and so so much more!!Disclaimer here — this newsletter does not provide investment advice and represents solely the views and opinions of FINTECH BLUEPRINT LTD. Contributors: Lex, Laurence, Matt, Farhad, Mike, Daniella Want to discuss? Stop by our Discord and reach out here with questions.

In this conversation, we chat with Dimitri Dadiomov, the CEO and co-founder of San Francisco-based Modern Treasury which is among the Bay Area’s up-and-coming fintech entrepreneurs reshaping how business is done. Modern Treasury’s software automates the processes companies use to move money, from initiating payment, getting approvals and reconciling it all. The company reconciles more than $2 billion in payments every month, up from $1 billion in April 2021. It helps that Modern Treasury has a client roster filled with fast-growing companies, including Marqeta, Side and Gusto — all based in the Bay Area. Modern Treasury’s growth also will be juiced by Plaid, which selected the company as one of about 50 partners globally for its recently created payments ecosystem. More specifically, we touch on the mind and application of a product manager in tech, the journey of how a mortgage business lead Dimitri to founding Modern Treasury, Embedded Finance, and so so much more!Disclaimer here — this newsletter does not provide investment advice and represents solely the views and opinions of FINTECH BLUEPRINT LTD. Contributors: Lex, Laurence, Matt, Farhad, Mike, Daniella Want to discuss? Stop by our Discord and reach out here with questions.

In this conversation, we chat with Ruben Nieto, the managing director at Allfunds Blockchain S.L.U., who has more than 15 years applying technology to the financial services industry. Ruben has been intrumental in building solutions for the institutional fund distribution leading platform in Europe, Allfunds Bank. More specifically, we touch on all things digital asset management, wealth management, Ruben’s, blockchain journey around digital assets in the enterprise space, and so so much more!Disclaimer here — this newsletter does not provide investment advice and represents solely the views and opinions of FINTECH BLUEPRINT LTD. Contributors: Lex, Laurence, Matt, Farhad, Mike, Daniella Want to discuss? Stop by our Discord and reach out here with questions.

In this conversation, we chat with Aaron Schumm, the Founder and CEO of Vestwell, an entirely new kind of digital retirement platform transforming the way plans are offered and administered — for the benefit of advisors, employers, and employees alike. Prior to founding Vestwell, Aaron was a co-founder of FolioDynamix, a wealth management and advisory services company that powered $800 billion in assets for over 100,000 advisors. At FolioDynamix, which was sold to Envestnet in 2017, Aaron oversaw the strategy, revenue, marketing, customers and product. Aaron holds a B.S. degree in finance from the University of Illinois and an M.B.A. degree from Duke University, The Fuqua School of Business. He was named as one of 40-under-40 by InvestmentNews and WealthManagement.com’s “10 to Watch” More specifically, we touch on all things 401ks, IRAs, Portfolio Balancing, Roboadvice in portfolio management, and so so much more!Disclaimer here — this newsletter does not provide investment advice and represents solely the views and opinions of FINTECH BLUEPRINT LTD. Contributors: Lex, Laurence, Matt, Farhad, Mike, Daniella Want to discuss? Stop by our Discord and reach out here with questions.

In this conversation, we chat with Carson Cook – the founder of Tokemak and Fractal. Carson holds his PhD in Physics and Master’s in Electrical Engineering. After completing his PhD, Carson worked at McKinsey for several years, focused on fintech, financial services, and wealth management. He got into the blockchain/crypto space in 2016 and founded Fractal in 2018, focused on market making and providing liquidity. Tokemak is a new product Carson designed based on opportunities he saw in the space. Tokemak is a decentralized liquidity/market making primitive. More specifically, we touch on how decentralized finance has evolved as well as the different threads that have brought all of it together, as well as, magnetohydrodynamics, the similarities between the finance world and theoretical physics, early crypto exchange arbitrage trading, 0x market making, liquidity aggregation, and so so much more!Disclaimer here — this newsletter does not provide investment advice and represents solely the views and opinions of FINTECH BLUEPRINT LTD. Contributors: Lex, Laurence, Matt, Farhad, Mike, Daniella Want to discuss? Stop by our Discord and reach out here with questions.