The Fintech Blueprint

In this conversation, we chat with Will Beeson, who currently works at Standard Chartered Ventures. Previously, Will was the Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer at digital bank BELLA, as well as, a Principal at Rebank, a fintech advisory firm. Will’s banking entrepreneurship streak doesn’t end there, he co-founded Allica, a digital bank for businesses in the UK. We discuss the evolution of the banking-as-a-service sector, and in particular the challenges of infrastructure providers when their fintech clients fail due to market pressure. What’s next for embedded finance? MENTIONED IN THE CONVERSATIONRebank: https://rebank.cc/Will Beeson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/willbeeson/ and https://twitter.com/will_beesonTopics: Embedded finance, fintech, neobank, banking, payments, finance, banking-as-a-service, API, RegTech, RegulationCompanies: Plaid, Onfido, Stripe, Socure, Green Dot Bank, Cross River Bank, FIS, Fiserv, BlockFi, BBVAABOUT THE FINTECH BLUEPRINT🔥Subscribe to the Fintech Blueprint newsletter to stay at the forefront of Fintech and DeFi: https://bit.ly/3hyhlC2🤝 Partner with Fintech Blueprint through sponsorships: https://bit.ly/3UZllsV👉 Twitter: https://twitter.com/LexSokolin TIMESTAMPS1’01”: Setting the scene in Fintech 2022 & what are the symptoms of things going wrong in the Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) space10’01”: The recipe for success in the BaaS space and the opportunities over the next coming years13’19”: The dialectic between infrastructure and application and their phases of innovation19’32”: Optimising the operating model for maximum efficiency & where/how regulatory influence plays a part24’27”: The tangible impact of regulation & how this may help alleviate the current state of affairs28’04”: The cost impact of fintech solutions on the value chain & what these costs may look like31’31”: The optimal outcome for fintech infrastructure: embedded & bundled, or independent development, or acquisition of leading providers of services34’00”: The optimal outcome for fintech applications: build a full service neobank or build a revenue generating component and grow from there37’13”: Channels to use to connect with Will & Lex 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, DaniellaWant to discuss? Stop by our Discord and reach out here with questions.

In this conversation, we chat with David Shuttleworth, the managing director of token engineering at Binance. Prior to this, David was a Senior DeFi Economist at ConsenSys, where he focused on mechanism design, tokenomics, and protocol design. David’s experience is extensive and includes leading the development of the Medical Advanced Analytics team at GlaxoSmithKline and was a data scientist at various stage startups in FinTech and predictive analytics.  David also conducted research in behavioral economics and health outcomes at the University of Pennsylvania and has published his work in peer-reviewed scientific journals such as JAMA, the Annals of Internal Medicine, and the Lancet. ABOUT THE FINTECH BLUEPRINT🔥Subscribe to the Fintech Blueprint newsletter to stay at the forefront of Fintech and DeFi: https://bit.ly/3hyhlC2🤝 Partner with Fintech Blueprint through sponsorships: https://bit.ly/3UZllsV👉 Twitter: https://twitter.com/LexSokolin TIMESTAMPS:2’21”: A high level overview of what happened to FTX and the bizarre coverage of Sam Bankman-Fried6’56”: How BitMEX fits into the equation11’34”: Addressing the relevance of the conspiracy theories surrounding FTX16’19”: Tokenomics of FTT (FTX’s token) overview - explaining trading on the margin, how this differs from buying at spot rates, and liquidation machanics20’24”: Crypto holding attacks and why this is profitable for the attacker22’59”: FTX and Alameda Research’s Balance sheet - collateralization, strategy, and leverage27’16”: The collapse of Terra LUNA and Three Arrows Capital, how this impacted FTX, and who is likely to fall next35’02”: Remediation strategies: The Binance Billion Dollar Recovery Fund and Proof of Reserves39’12”: Channels to use to connect with David 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, DaniellaWant to discuss? Stop by our Discord and reach out here with questions.

In this conversation, we chat with Adam Nash, the co-founder & CEO of Daffy – a new fintech platform focused on charitable giving. Adam has served as an executive, angel investor, and advisor to some of the most successful technology companies to come out of Silicon Valley. He is currently on the Board of Directors for Acorns, the country’s fastest-growing financial wellness system, and Shift Technologies (Ticker: SFT).  Adam has previously served as President & CEO of Wealthfront. He has held executive and technical roles at Dropbox, LinkedIn, eBay, and Apple. Adam also serves as an Adjunct Lecturer at Stanford University, where he teaches “Personal Finance for Engineers.” As an angel investor, Nash is well known for being an early investor in Firebase (sold to Google), Opendoor (Ticker: OPEN), Figma, Gusto, and over 90 other startups. Adam holds BS and MS degrees in Computer Science from Stanford University, as well as an MBA from Harvard. ABOUT THE FINTECH BLUEPRINT🔥Subscribe to the Fintech Blueprint newsletter to stay at the forefront of Fintech and DeFi: https://bit.ly/3hyhlC2🤝 Partner with Fintech Blueprint through sponsorships: https://bit.ly/3UZllsV👉 Twitter: https://twitter.com/LexSokolin Timestamp1’30”: The formative experience behind Adam’s career & starting at Apple in its heyday9’59”: The building experience during the internet boom that lead to roles at eBay and other leading Web2.0 companies13’22”: The evolution of consumer sentiment towards E-commerce at eBay18’43”: Embedding software in Web1.0 to initiate the possibility for engagement & what this meant for product at LinkedIn25’21”: The Web2.0 approach to building software & the initial hypotheses around extending the Silicon Valley method to financial services32’36”: Daffy – the idea, what drove its inception, and what the future looks like37’40”: The art of giving via a Fintech app – the methodology of how to make generosity a major driver of Daffy’s user journey41’37”: Channels to use to connect with Adam and/or to learn more about Daffy 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, DaniellaWant to discuss? Stop by our Discord and reach out here with questions.

Timestamp1’24”: From the US Secret Service to fraud control at Visa - what kickstarted this journey?3’58”: Transitioning from the public to the private sector and building an electronic crimes task force6’15”: The goals of payment network VISA relative to the e-commerce in which it participated9’15”: Dispelling the myths around risk in e-commerce and how these narratives evolved into crypto14’15”: The definition of a security engineer and how hackathons are used to counter vulnerabilities16’16”: DocuSign and how it compares to the fundamental structure of a blockchain, as well as, how it works20’07”: Joining crypto-custodian BitGo and how that lead to joining Prime Trust21’47”: Prime Trust – what it is and how it has grown over the years24’01”: The differences between a trust company or a trust custodian versus a depository institution like a bank versus a brokerage custodian like BNY Mellon29’18”: The archetypes of the customers and clients of Prime Trust31’27”: Prime Trust’s go-to-market strategy and how APIs as a product feature and distribution mechanism are used34’53”: The vision and mechanisms for growth for Prime Trust over the next year, given the current market state38’17”: The view on where American regulation will land with regards to the crypto industry40’29”: Channels to use to connect with Tom and/or to learn more about Prime Trust 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, DaniellaWant to discuss? Stop by our Discord and reach out here with questions.

In this conversation, we chat with David Beiner, Co-Founder and CEO of Hume – a web3 entertainment company pioneering music in the metaverse. David’s background is in media strategy working with companies like Comcast/NBC and MGM. In 2017 he went down the Ethereum rabbit hole and never looked back. Hume’s community-building approach blends music, digital identity, and storytelling to develop virtual artists, or metastars. Hume goes beyond just the music and production of their virtual artist like ‘angelbaby’ — originally from the popular NFT collection FLUF WORLD— they thoroughly craft a rich backstory that embodies and humanizes their Metastars.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 David McFarland, co-founder and CEO of Coterie Insurance – a US- based insurance entity focused on making risk transfer efficient for the small commercial P&C insurance space. Coterie uses industry-leading tech, deep insurance expertise, and product innovation to embed insurance into their partners’ existing products and workflows, leveraging data from multiple sources to turn small commercial accounts from an unprofitable obligation to a profitable opportunity. Prior to founding Coterie, David served as Chief Actuary and Head of Insurance Product & Pricing at Clearcover, a personal auto insurtech. David is a Fellow in the Casualty Actuarial Society and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries.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 have a special episode where Lex Sokolin - Chief Editor of The Fintech Blueprint - walks us through some strong mental models for how FinTech works, how financial services is evolving, how technology is spreading into and out of financial services, and also how we consumers, people are getting reprogrammed or used to different modes of engagement entirely. Additionally, Lex touches on how the interactions between some of the largest tech, finance, regulatory, and government players is leading to some really weird stuff. He will integrate some of the recent long takes that we've done on the FinTech Blueprint in the written newsletter and try to weave them together into a cohesive story, a story that's bigger than any particular look at the issues.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 Shamir Karkal, CEO and Co-Founder of Sila - a banking and payment platform for software teams building the next generation of financial products & services in regulated and unregulated industries. A true FinTech pioneer, Shamir played a crucial part in building the infrastructure that would pave the way for online banking. In 2009, he co-founded Simple, the first bank of its kind in the United States, and later headed the Open Platform at BBVA. Shamir was drawn to serve smaller companies, co-founding Sila in 2018 with the goal of empowering financial innovations. Shamir studied physics and computer science at Bangalore University and is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business. He lives with his family in Portland, Oregon, and enjoys jiu-jitsu, long-range target shooting, and studying history whenever possible.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 Gwendolyn Regina, Investment Director at BNB Chain. Her main responsibilities include streamlining processes around deal sourcing, investment strategy, portfolio management and growth. As a part of her role she invests in promising projects in the web3 and MetaFi space (GameFi, SocialFi, NFTs etc.), and leads the MVB incubation program, which she set up. Gwen was the head of venture capital partnerships at Meta and built its startup fast-track growth program. Before that, she was Entrepreneur-in-Residence at deep tech investment fund, Entrepreneur First, based in Paris. Prior to that, Gwen built and sold the tech media startup, SGEntrepreneurs to Tech in Asia. Gwen also spearheaded Mashable's expansion into Asia and as a professional host, she hosted a TV documentary on the Internet of Things for ChannelNewsAsia.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 Jeff Keltner, the SVP Business Development at AI-powered digital lending fintech, Upstart. Jeff joined Upstart in 2012 after spending 6 years at Google. He launched and built the Google Apps for Education business, growing market share from zero to almost 70% in its first four years. Jeff spearheaded marketing efforts for Google Apps in Global 2000 accounts and led sales, business development, and go-to-market strategy for the launch of Chrome devices in the education and enterprise sectors. Jeff spent several years in direct sales at IBM, always exceeding quota, and was a founding engineer and lead UI developer at SSB Technologies. Jeff holds a BS in Computer Systems Engineering from Stanford University.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.