In this episode, Lex speaks with Jess Houlgrave, CEO of WalletConnect. In this episode Jess explains how WalletConnect bridges wallets and decentralized applications (dApps), simplifying secure blockchain interactions for millions of users. Together, Lex and Jess discuss the platform’s origins, technical innovations, and massive scale - supporting over 700 wallets and 70,000 projects. The conversation covers challenges in integrating traditional finance with Web3, regulatory compliance, and WalletConnect’s decentralized, token-incentivized network. Jess also shares insights on the future of on-chain commerce, global adoption trends, and the evolving relationship between fintech and blockchain infrastructure.

In this episode, Lex speaks Mike Sha - the CEO and co-founder of Tandems (formerly SigFig), a leading provider of AI-powered software for wealth management firms and financial institutions. Together, Lex and Mike discuss the evolution of wealth technology through the lens of Mike’s entrepreneurial journey from founding Wikinvest in 2006 to building Tandems. Wikinvest pivoted to portfolio tracking and then to a B2B model, powering major portals like Yahoo Finance and managing over $500 billion in tracked assets. The team’s insights into poor retail investment behavior led to building SigFig, a B2B robo-advisor, eventually serving banks like UBS and Wells Fargo. Today, rebranded as Tandems, the firm offers AI-powered tools for advisors across three key areas: meetings, asset gathering, and investment management, with AI integrated via a modular “wealth OS” platform. Tandems uses an open architecture for AI, prioritizing trust, configurability, and high accuracy tailored to the specific workflows of financial advisors.

In this episode, Lex speaks with Marcelo Ruiz de Olano, Co-Founder of KPK (Karpatkey), an on-chain asset management firm born out of Gnosis DAO. Marcelo recounts KPK’s evolution from stewarding Gnosis’s $1B treasury to advising on more than $2B for leading protocols like ENS, Balancer, and the Ethereum Foundation. The discussion dives into the mechanics of non-custodial treasury management - balancing governance, security, and risk - along with strategies across lending, liquidity provision, and stablecoin yields. Marcelo also shares why the rise of large Ethereum treasury companies could be a turning point for DeFi, injecting institutional-scale liquidity and potentially making ETH more liquid than Bitcoin.

In this episode, Lex speaks with Ravi Adusumilli - President and GM of the Americas at Airwallex. Ravi and Lex discuss how Airwallex has evolved into a global financial platform by offering businesses an integrated suite of cross-border payments, treasury, and banking services. Founded in 2015, Airwallex now supports 150,000 customers, processes $130 billion in annualized volume (up 73% YoY), and projects a $1 billion revenue run rate by year-end. The company’s success stems from its end-to-end infrastructure, homegrown payment rails, and multi-product strategy, with 80% of revenue now coming from customers using more than one product. Airwallex differentiates itself by focusing on global-first B2B use cases and building regional autonomy alongside centralized infrastructure. While not prioritizing stablecoins today, the company is exploring AI-driven financial operations and aims to reach $1 trillion in transaction volume by 2030.

Lex chats with Matthew Le Merle - CEO of Blockchain Coinvestors, a leading blockchain and AI fund-of-funds. He reflects on the limitations of large institutions in adopting disruptive technologies and why he chose to back innovators over incumbents, using stablecoins as an example of asymmetric value creation. Le Merle explains his evolution from angel investor to institutional LP, highlighting the benefits of leveraging top-tier venture capitalists’ expertise in inefficient early-stage markets. He outlines the psychological challenges of venture investing, where failures appear early and outsized wins often take a decade, contrasting this with the faster liquidity but higher existential risk in token markets. Finally, he critiques institutional allocators for over-relying on efficient markets, under-allocating to venture despite its role in driving future value, and positions his strategy as fully committed to early-stage blockchain and AI as the highest-returning segments. NOTABLE DISCUSSION POINTS: 1. Innovation Threatens Incumbents, Benefits Disruptors: Major technological shifts, from the internet to blockchain and AI, create winners and losers. Incumbents often resist disruptive change because it threatens existing revenue models, while nimble startups and tech-first companies can rapidly capture new market opportunities. 2. Venture Success Requires Navigating High Failure Rates: In early-stage investing, most portfolio companies will fail, often within the first 3–4 years. Returns are driven by a small number of outsized successes, usually via acquisitions rather than IPOs, requiring patience, resilience, and a disciplined investment strategy. 3. Inefficient Markets Offer the Greatest Asymmetric Upside: Early-stage venture and emerging technologies like blockchain and AI are inefficient markets where superior access, insight, and execution can generate returns far above those available in traditional, efficient markets like public equities or bonds.

Lex chats with Harish Natarajan - Practice Manager, Financial Inclusion and Infrastructure, Finance, Competitiveness & Innovation at the World Bank, and Carlos Brandt - The Senior Advisor for Pix at the Central Bank of Brazil. Together they discuss the remarkable success of Pix, Brazil's real-time payment system, which now sees over 6 billion transactions per month and is used by more than 90% of the adult population and 80% of companies. Lex explores how Pix was created by the Central Bank of Brazil with strong public-private collaboration, backed by regulatory authority and supported by a co-creation model with stakeholders. Key to its adoption were a low-cost centralized infrastructure, clear branding, mandatory participation by large banks, and a robust national communication strategy. Globally, Pix is seen as a leading example of fast payment system deployment, driven by the central bank acting as a neutral coordinator and scheme owner. Lex also examines the technical architecture, built in-house by a surprisingly small team of 55–65 people, and how scalable infrastructure and extensibility have enabled rapid growth and innovation. NOTABLE DISCUSSION POINTS: 1. Pix achieved mass adoption through public-private co-creation and legal mandate: Pix now processes over 6 billion transactions per month, with 90% of Brazil’s adult population and 80% of businesses actively using it. Its success stems from a strategic legal mandate in 2013 granting the Central Bank regulatory and operational authority over retail payments. The Central Bank then led a co-creation process involving both public and private stakeholders through the Pix Forum, fostering alignment, inclusivity, and strong network effects. 2. A lean but powerful team built a nation-scale real-time payments system: The Pix infrastructure was built entirely in-house by a relatively small team, 30-40 people for the technical infrastructure layer and around 25 for the payment scheme layer. It operates 24/7 with real-time settlement and uses centralized infrastructure separate from Brazil’s traditional large-value payment rails. This centralized, purpose-built architecture dramatically lowered costs and enabled rapid rollout. 3. Strategic communication and mandated participation drove adoption at scale: The Central Bank led a national communication campaign to build trust, establish a strong brand identity, and educate the public. Simultaneously, it mandated major banks (with over 500,000 active accounts) to join Pix, triggering widespread voluntary adoption from smaller PSPs. The rollout included a restricted pilot phase and emphasized user-friendly features like QR codes and aliases to boost convenience and usage from day one. TOPICS Pix, Central Bank of Brazil, World Bank, Visa, Citibank, M-Pesa, Alipay, SPI, fintech, payments, PSP, API, Fast Payments, Payments Infrastructure, PayTech 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 1’19: Building Pix from the Ground Up: Carlos Brandt on Modernizing Brazil’s Payment Infrastructure 3’03: Fast Payments for Financial Inclusion: Harish Natarajan on the World Bank’s Role in Modern Payment Infrastructure 4’29: From Cash to 5 Billion Transactions a Month: How Pix Transformed Brazil’s Payment Ecosystem Through Public-Private Collaboration 10’41: Why Pix Succeeded Where Others Struggled: The Power of Neutral Coordination and Public-Private Synergy 12’40: Inside the Pix Forum: How Brazil Built a Collaborative Process for Payment Innovation 15’07: Fast Payments at Scale: Market Coordination, Infrastructure, and Global Lessons from Pix 20’55: Engineering Pix: How a Small Team Built Brazil’s 24/7 National Payments Infrastructure from Scratch 27’28: Driving Nationwide Adoption: How Strategic Communication and Mandates Powered Pix’s Rollout Across Brazil 34’14: Scaling for Success: Why Communication, Extensibility, and API Design Are Key to Evolving Payment Systems 37’23: Building Trust Through Cooperation: How Regulators Can Foster Innovation While Balancing Public and Private Interests 40’06: The channels used to connect with Carlos & learn more about The Central Bank of Brazil. 40’39: The channels used to connect with Harish & learn more about The World Bank

Lex speaks with Ali Niknam, CEO and founder of Bunq, a leading European neobank. Ali shares Bunq’s journey from its founding during the financial crisis to becoming Europe’s second-largest neobank. The conversation explores Bunq’s user-centric philosophy, innovative products, and unique organizational design. Ali discusses overcoming regulatory challenges, prioritizing cultural values, and fostering accountability within teams. The episode also examines the complexities of the European fintech landscape and Bunq’s mission to revolutionize banking by focusing on user needs and continuous improvement. MENTIONED IN THE CONVERSATION Topics: Bunq, ING, Revolut, Betterment, Synapse, TransIP, Fintech, banking, crypto, neobank, challenger bank, culture, Europe, VC 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 1’09: Bunq’s Bold Mission: Ali Niknam on Reinventing Banking for the Modern User 6’27: Building from the Core: Why Bunq Chose the Hard Road to Reinvent Banking 10’08: Bootstrapped Banking: Building Bunq Without External Capital or Compromise 13’56: Launching the Future: Bringing Innovation to Market with Bunq’s First 45-Person Team 17’35: From Payments to Personalization: How Users Drove a Decade of Product Innovation 19’52: Designing for Eva: How Bunq Rebuilt Its Organization Around the User, Not the Org Chart 22’02: Beyond Titles: How Bunq’s Ownership-Driven Culture Redefines Teams, KPIs, and Hierarchy 28’14: Culture Over Compensation: How Bunq Attracts Mission-Aligned Talent Without Relying on Equity 35’06: Europe’s Tech Paradox: Why Innovation Thrives Despite Fragmentation—and What Must Change 39’11: The channels used to connect with Ali & learn more about Bunq 43’07: The channels used to connect with Edward & learn more about Zerohash

Lex chats with Edward Woodford - CEO of Zerohash. They discuss Zerohash’s growth, the rise of stablecoins, and the evolving fintech landscape. Edward explains how stablecoins now make up half of Zerohash’s volume, highlights regulatory shifts in the U.S. and abroad, and explores the distinction between crypto and stablecoins. The conversation covers usability challenges, emerging payment use cases, and the future of embedded finance, emphasizing the need for regulatory clarity and collaboration between fintechs and traditional financial institutions. Notable discussion points: 1. Stablecoins Overtake Crypto in Volume: Stablecoins now make up over 50% of Zerohash’s volume, driven by regulatory clarity and real-world use cases like payments and treasury. Institutions prefer them for their centralized control and ease of integration. 2. Brokerage and Payments Are Converging: Zerohash sees strong demand across brokerage and payment rails, with banks and fintechs embedding stablecoin infrastructure. Global payouts, account funding, and subscriptions are key growth areas despite UX friction. 3. Regulatory Climate Is Rapidly Improving: U.S. policy has shifted from regulatory overreach to bipartisan support for stablecoin legislation. This change is unlocking institutional adoption, with banks now moving aggressively into crypto and digital assets. MENTIONED IN THE CONVERSATION Topics: Zerohash, MoonPay, Transak, Ramp, Stripe, BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, Hamilton Lane, Morgan Stanley, Charles Schwab, SoFi, Uniswap, fintech, web3, digital assets, blockchain, tokenization, rwas, stablecoin, crypto, regulation 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 1’51: From Crisis to Convergence: Edward Woodford on Scaling Zerohash and the Future of Embedded Crypto Infrastructure 5’06: Scaling the Pie, Not Stealing Slices: Rethinking Volume, Margins, and Meaningful Growth in Digital Asset Infrastructure 10’02: The Great Rebrand: How Stablecoins Are Shedding the 'Crypto' Label and Reshaping Digital Finance 15’22: From Overreach to Opportunity: How Regulatory Pushback in the U.S. Sparked a Global Shift Toward Stablecoin Adoption 20’31: The Semantics of Trust: Why ‘Stablecoin’ Sells and ‘Crypto’ Scares - and Why the Framing Now Matters More Than Ever 22’36: Unlocking Real Utility: Why Stablecoin Payments Are Finally Poised to Scale Across Commerce and Subscriptions 30’50: Disrupting the Rails: How Stablecoins Are Reshaping the Power Dynamics of Global Payments 34’49: The New Brokerage Mandate: Why Every Platform Is Racing to Add Crypto - and What’s Unlocking the Shift 39’03: Rewiring Financial Infrastructure: How Stablecoins and Super Apps Are Forcing Banks to Rethink Risk and Relevance 43’07: The channels used to connect with Edward & learn more about Zerohash

Lex chats with Yuval Rooz, CEO and co-founder of Digital Asset, about the company’s transformation from its early institutional blockchain experiments to launching the Canton Network - a purpose-built, privacy-enabled smart contract platform designed for financial markets. Rooz shares insights into why Digital Asset was inspired by Bitcoin’s financial principles rather than its technical assumptions, highlighting the importance of rethinking blockchain infrastructure rather than replicating flawed legacy models. He also unpacks the hard lessons from high-stakes projects like the Australian Stock Exchange overhaul, emphasizing why large-scale financial infrastructure must evolve incrementally to succeed. Finally, the conversation dives into Canton’s unique tokenomics, where 70% of block rewards go to the developers and users who create economic activity on the network, challenging traditional validator-centric models and aligning incentives more fairly for long-term ecosystem growth. Notable discussion points: 1. Canton’s innovative tokenomics: Unlike Ethereum, where validators capture most of the rewards, Canton allocates 70% of block rewards to developers and applications, creating sustainable alignment. 2. Lessons from ASX: Rooz reflects on the failed ASX blockchain migration, advocating for iterative upgrades rather than “big bang” infrastructure transformations. 3. True tokenization: Rooz critiques superficial on-chain IOU models, asserting that real tokenization must place the asset’s books and records natively on-chain to unlock the benefits of DeFi and composability. MENTIONED IN THE CONVERSATION Topics: Digital Asset, Canton Network, DRW, ASX, Ethereum, Bitcoin, Plaid, DAML, fintech, web3, tokenization, digital assets, financial infrastructure, DeFi, onchain 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 1’28: From Wall Street to Web3: Yuval Rooz on Founding Digital Asset and the Birth of the Canton Network 4’29: Rethinking Blockchain: Rejecting Ethereum’s Assumptions to Build a Better Financial Infrastructure 8’18: Getting Banks to Say Yes: Bridging Blockchain Innovation with Regulatory Reality 12’43: Blockchain at Scale: Lessons from the ASX Project and Why Incremental Innovation Beats Big Bang Deployments 21’27: Agile by Design: How Canton Aims to Bring Continuous Delivery to Decentralized Blockchain Networks 23’50: Beyond the Hype: Why Crypto Needs Pragmatism, Not Just Vision, to Integrate with Financial Institutions 27’08: From DAML to Canton: Building Scalable, Privacy-First Infrastructure for Real-World Finance 30’52: Redefining Tokenization: Real On-Chain Finance at Scale with Trillions in Assets on Canton 35’34: Solving the Tokenization Gap: Bridging Legacy Infrastructure with Decentralized Architecture 39’13: Seeding Web3 with Real Assets: Canton’s Strategy to Power DeFi with Institutional-Grade Infrastructure 41’33: Custom Rules, Shared Rails: How Canton Balances Decentralization with Regulatory Flexibility 44’30: Aligning Incentives: How Canton’s Tokenomics and Fair Launch Redefine Value Creation on Chain 49’35: The channels used to connect with Yuval & learn more about Digital Asset and Canton Network

Lex chats with Stani Kulechov - founder and CEO of Aave, a leading decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol. They explore the evolution of DeFi, Aave’s growth, and its architectural shift from a peer-to-peer model to pooled liquidity. Stani reflects on the early days of DeFi, the impact of the FTX collapse, and the increasing adoption of DeFi over centralized exchanges. They discuss Aave’s strategies for attracting assets, the importance of capital efficiency, and future innovations, including the tokenization of real-world assets and the role of stablecoins. Notable discussion points: 1. Aave Reaches $40 Billion in Net Deposits: Stani Kulechov shared that Aave has achieved a record-breaking $40 billion in net deposits and $25 billion in active liquidity, making it the largest DeFi lending protocol ever by total value locked (TVL). 2. DeFi’s Evolution from Peer-to-Peer to Liquidity Hubs: The conversation detailed Aave’s architectural shift from early peer-to-peer lending models to pooled liquidity and now to a hub-and-spoke model with Aave V4 — designed to balance capital efficiency and risk segregation for both native crypto and real-world assets (RWAs). 3. The Rise of Real-World Assets and Stablecoins in DeFi: Kulechov emphasized that tokenized real-world assets (like treasuries) and decentralized stablecoins (such as Aave's GHO) are reshaping the DeFi landscape, predicting RWAs will outgrow both stablecoins and native crypto assets in total value locked within five years. MENTIONED IN THE CONVERSATION Topics: Aave, Lens Protocol, GHO, Horizon, FTX, Project Guardian, AaveDAO, MakerDAO, Web3, DeFi, Lending, stablecoins, tokens, RWA, decentralized finance, capital markets, DAO, Digital Assets 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 1’11: DeFi at $40B: How a Lending Protocol Redefined Blockchain Finance 9’06: From Peer-to-Peer to Liquidity Hubs: Evolving the Architecture of DeFi Lending 15’01: DeFi's Growth Curve: From Airdrops to Institutional Adoption After FTX 20’49: Scaling Safely: How a Lending Protocol Outpaced Rivals Through Capital Efficiency and Brand Trust 24’34: Beyond Infrastructure: Why Token Issuers Need Capital Markets, Not Just DeFi Hype 28’33: Building Beyond Lending: How a Stablecoin and Institutional Arm Power DeFi Profitability 31’33: From JPMorgan to BlackRock: How Horizon Bridges Institutions to On-Chain Finance 35’18: Tokenized Treasuries and the Future of DeFi: Why RWAs Will Eclipse Stablecoins by 2030 39’36: From Fragmentation to Focus: Why DeFi’s Future Depends on Application Layers, Not More Chains 41’47: The channels used to connect with Stani & learn more about Aave and Avara

Lex chats with Avlok Kohli - the CEO of AngelList, about the company's significant evolution. Initially a platform for startups to connect with venture capitalists, AngelList has transformed into a comprehensive fintech entity encompassing private equity and cryptocurrency. Avlok discusses the strategic pivots, including the introduction of syndicates and rolling funds, that have redefined the company's business model. The episode also explores the broader implications of crowdfunding and the unique challenges in the crypto space, offering a deep dive into AngelList's impact on the financial services industry. Notable discussion points: 1. AngelList’s Second Founding: Reinvention as a Fintech Platform: Since 2019, AngelList has transformed from a mixed-use startup platform into a focused fintech infrastructure business for fund managers. Avlok Kohli spun out the syndicates arm and built a scalable product offering that includes SPVs, venture funds, and innovative structures like Rolling Funds and Roll Up Vehicles. This pivot catalyzed explosive growth—from ~$1B in AUM in 2019 to $171B+ today—by enabling fund creation and deployment at scale. 2. Product Innovation as a Strategic Advantage: Instead of competing with well-capitalized incumbents like Carta on sales and marketing, AngelList focused on building category-defining products. The launch of Rolling Funds—allowing fund managers to raise publicly and continuously—was a breakout moment. It created viral word-of-mouth growth and redefined how emerging fund managers could access capital, illustrating the principle: “You can’t win by playing someone else’s game.” 3. AI and the Future of Private Markets Infrastructure: AngelList is embedding AI across three strategic layers: (1) Back-office automation, replacing manual workflows, (2) Customer service enhancement, enabling agents to respond to LPs with real-time data, and (3) Data reasoning products, like Fin, which analyzes anonymized fund and secondary data to deliver actionable private market insightsThis positions AngelList not only as an admin platform but as a data intelligence layer over the private capital markets. MENTIONED IN THE CONVERSATION Topics: Fintech, Web3, Venture, VC, Venture capital, private markets, fundraising, crowdfunding, crypto, web3, AI, Angellist, Coinlist, Carta, Gumroad 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 1’09: AngelList Reimagined: How Avlok Kohli Transformed a Startup Directory into a Fintech Powerhouse 6’43: Syndicates vs. Crowdfunding: Solving the Signal Problem in Startup Investing 11’43: From Community to Capital: Rebuilding AngelList Through Business Model Reinvention and Rolling Fund Innovation 16’49: Playing a Different Game: How AngelList Scaled by Redefining the Category Through Product Innovation 21’59: Creating the Category: How Rolling Funds Sparked a Movement and Redefined Venture Fundraising 28’51: From $1 Billion to $125 Billion: How AngelList Scaled by Saying No Before Saying Yes 32’56: The Liquidity Mirage: Why Private Market Access Remains Elusive for Most Investors 37’57: AI Meets Private Markets: Automating Back Offices, Enhancing Customer Touchpoints, and Powering Intelligent Fund Infrastructure 42’26: The channels used to connect with Avlok & learn more about Angellist

Lex chats with Jamie Burke - founder of Outlier Ventures, about the current state and future of Web3, decentralized finance, and the metaverse. Jamie highlights Outlier Ventures' impressive growth, with a portfolio of around 400 startups, and discusses successful projects like IOTA and Fetch.ai. The conversation delves into the open metaverse, emphasizing the importance of infrastructure and middleware in blending physical and digital realities. Jamie also explores the transformative role of AI in the metaverse and offers practical advice for entrepreneurs navigating this rapidly evolving landscape. Notable discussion points: 1.The “Post-Web” Is an Intent-Led Internet: Jamie Burke outlines a shift from today’s attention-based web to an intent-driven internet, powered by AI agents, Web3 infrastructure, and DePIN. In this model, agents act on user intent, radically streamlining interactions and replacing much of today’s web interface. 2. Web3 Will Be Run by Machines, Not People: Burke predicts that autonomous agents—not humans—will become the primary users of blockchains, making crypto “machine money.” As a result, products, brands, and processes matter less, while incentive systems and on-chain automation take center stage. 3. Founders Must Embrace Systems Thinking: In the Post-Web era, survival depends on designing self-optimizing systems, not just building products. Burke stresses that token engineering, incentive design, and value flow mapping will define the next generation of durable startups. MENTIONED IN THE CONVERSATION Topics: Web3, decentralized finance, metaverse, Open metaverse, Post web, Outlier Ventures, IOTA, Fetch.ai, accelerator program, AI, artificial intelligence, Agentic AI, agents, Web3, post-web, digital economy, blockchain technology 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 1’18: Outlier Ventures in 2025: From IOTA to Fetch.ai, Backing the Infrastructure Behind Intelligent Web3 10’24: The Open Metaverse Revisited: Outlier’s Long-Game Bet on Augmented Reality, Middleware, and AI-Driven Agents 26’01: FThe Post-Web Era: How AI Agents, Web3 Infrastructure, and Delegation Will Redefine the Internet 35’57: From Attention to Intention: How AI Agents and Web3 Are Flipping the Internet on Its Head 49’39: Surviving the Post-Web Paradigm: Why Founders Must Shift from Startup Thinking to Systems Design 57’49: The channels used to connect with Jamie & learn more about Outlier Ventures

Lex interviews Josh Reeves, co-founder of Gusto, a company specializing in payroll, HR, and benefits solutions for small businesses. Josh shares his journey from academia to entrepreneurship, highlighting the challenges and strategies involved in building Gusto. The discussion covers the evolution of technology from Web 2.0, the importance of understanding customer needs, and maintaining strong unit economics. Josh emphasizes Gusto's mission to simplify payroll and HR tasks for small businesses, aiming to improve their survival rates and overall efficiency. The episode underscores the significance of product quality and customer satisfaction in navigating industry competition. Notable discussion points: 1. Solving Payroll as a Massive, Underserved SMB Pain Point: Reeves highlighted how in 2011, 40% of small businesses were fined annually due to manual payroll errors. Gusto addressed this pain using cloud and mobile tech, making payroll fast, accurate, and accessible—especially for non-experts. 2. Product Sequencing and the Power of a Payroll-Centric Ecosystem: Starting with payroll, Gusto built a sticky, horizontal product with strong retention. From there, they expanded into benefits, time tracking, and more—adding products based on customer pull and reinforcing their ecosystem. 3. Organizational Evolution: From Founder-Led to Functional and Matrixed: Gusto grew from 3 co-founders to 2,600+ employees by evolving from a hands-on team to a matrix structure. Reeves emphasized hiring leaders suited to each stage and giving small, focused teams autonomy to drive new product development. MENTIONED IN THE CONVERSATION Topics: Fintech, Gusto, Payroll, HR, Zazzle, SMB, CAC, Customer, Scaling, Growth, Web2.0 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 1’13: From PhD Dropouts to Payroll Pioneers: Joshua Reeves on Building Gusto and Solving Real Problems with Technology 4’21: The Web2 Reawakening: Democratizing Creation and Commerce Through the Internet 8’14: From Pen and Paper to the Cloud: Tackling Payroll Pain and Modernizing SMB Operations 11’15: Is Gusto a Fintech?: Ignoring Labels, Solving Problems, and Building for Small Business from Day One 16’07: Cracking the SMB Code: Building Scalable Products with Strong Unit Economics and Organic Growth 19’39: The Fundamentals of Scaling: Navigating CAC, LTV, and Retention in Subscription Businesses 22’49: Building Beyond Payroll: How Customer Demand and Smart Sequencing Shaped a Scalable Product Organization 27’16: Scaling with Intention: Evolving Leadership, Structure, and Talent from 10 to 2,600 People 33’00: Structuring for Scale: Balancing Autonomy, Focus, and Flexibility in a Multi-Product Organization 36’22: From Traction to Tenure: Scaling Impact, Navigating Competition, and Building for the Next Decade 41’12: The channels used to connect with Joshua & learn more about Gusto

Lex interviews David Snider - founder and CEO of Harness Wealth. David shares his extensive fintech journey, including his pivotal role at Compass, a real estate technology firm. He discusses the challenges of aligning agents with new technology and the evolution of Compass's business model to empower agents with better tools and incentives. Transitioning to Harness Wealth, David explains his vision to enhance tax advisory services through a modern platform, addressing complex financial needs. The episode underscores the importance of innovation and human expertise in fintech and real estate. Notable discussion points: Empowering Advisors in Complex Industries: David Snider has built platforms that enhance human advisors rather than replace them—first in real estate with Compass - a technology-powered real estate brokerage, now in tax with Harness Wealth. In industries with high complexity and large transaction sizes, like wealth management and real estate, human expertise remains essential. His approach emphasizes that technology should enable, not displace, trusted advisors. Compass Pivoted to Power Top Agents: Compass began with a plan to disrupt real estate agents but pivoted to support top performers with better tech and economics. This shift—paired with smart execution—enabled rapid growth and market leadership by focusing on high-value agents and transactions, rather than cutting them out of the process. Harness Wealth Modernizes Complex Tax Advisory: Harness Wealth applies a Compass-like model to tax, serving clients with equity comp, crypto, and private investments by connecting them to top advisors through a modern, tech-enabled experience. The platform improves both advisor workflows and client usability, targeting a large, underserved market that DIY tools can’t effectively serve. MENTIONED IN THE CONVERSATION Topics: Fintech, Harness Wealth, Compass, AI, RealEstate, Platform-As-A-Service, Advisory, Data, Tax, WealthTech, TaxTech, CryptoTax, PersonalFinance, FinancialAdvisors 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 1’06: From Bain to Compass: David Snider on Navigating Finance, Real Estate, and the Rise of Advisor-Enabled Tech 5’42: Evolving Real Estate Through Tech: Market Levers, Rollups, and Building Compass's Super Agent Model 13’20: Digital vs. Human: Why Tech Wins in Some Industries—and Advisors Thrive in Others 17’16: Scaling Compass: How Tech, Economics, and a New Go-to-Market Strategy Fuelled Rapid Agent Growth 22’20: Overcoming Resistance: The Grind Behind Compass’s Data Integration and Agent Tech Adoption 26’13: From Compass to Harness: Building a Tech-Driven Platform to Simplify Complex Tax and Financial Advice 31’05: Serving the Underserved: How Harness Wealth Empowers Advisors and Clients Navigating Complex Tax Needs 34’16: Building Smarter Tax Tech: Harness’s Curated Approach to Streamlined Data, Insights, and Advisor Collaboration 36’02: Scaling with Purpose: Harnessing Data, Advisor Value, and a Massive Market Opportunity in Tax 37’46: The channels used to connect with David & learn more about Harness Wealth

Lex interviews Scott Woody, CEO and founder of Metronome, a usage-based billing platform. Scott shares his journey from academia to entrepreneurship, detailing his experiences at UC Berkeley, D.E. Shaw, and Stanford, where he studied biophysics. His tenure at Dropbox, where he tackled billing system challenges, inspired the creation of Metronome. The discussion highlights Metronome's real-time billing data capabilities, which aim to improve business efficiency and customer experience. Scott also explores the broader implications of AI in fintech, emphasizing the shift towards usage-based business models and the importance of real-time data. Notable discussion points: Metronome emerged from firsthand frustrations at Dropbox, where Scott Woody experienced how rigid billing systems slowed growth, confused customers, and blocked real-time insights. He built Metronome as a flexible, real-time billing engine that merges usage data with pricing logic—powering the monetization infrastructure for top AI companies today. Real-time billing isn’t just about invoices—it's a strategic revenue lever. For AI and SaaS businesses alike, Metronome enables teams to run dynamic experiments, optimize GPU allocation, and make last-minute decisions to hit quarterly targets—turning billing into a core growth engine. The rise of AI is accelerating a shift to usage-based models. As AI becomes specialized labor across verticals (from loan collection to customer service), companies are rapidly replatforming, and entire industries may flip from seat-based to outcome-based pricing within quarters—Metronome is positioned as the "payment processor" for this AI economy. MENTIONED IN THE CONVERSATION Topics: Metronome, Dropbox, Datadog, OpenAI, AI, AGI, machine learning, pricing models, financial services, business optimization, operational frameworks, analytics, financial modeling 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 1’05: Talent Spotting and Swag Strategy: How Scott Woody Recruited the Brightest Minds at Berkeley 7’27: From Biophysics to Startups: How Stanford and Protein Folding Led Scott into Tech 9’28: Lessons from Dropbox: Why Talent Density Beats Perks in Building Scalable Tech Teams 14’09: Solving the Billing Bottleneck: How Metronome Powers Real-Time Monetization for Modern Tech 19’45: Real-Time Revenue Intelligence: How Metronome Helps Teams Optimize Pricing, Experiments, and GPU Allocation 24’55: Optimizing AI Economics: Metronome’s Real-Time Matching of Model Usage, Customer Spend, and GPU Allocation 29’03: The Rise of Usage-Based AI: Why Real-Time Monetization Is Reshaping Business Models Across Tech 34’25: Specialized AI as Labor: Why Purpose-Built Agents Are Shaping the Future of Work and Software Integration 40’46: The Tipping Point for AI Adoption: Why Clear ROI and Competitive Pressure Are Rewriting Entire Industries 48’39: The channels used to connect with Scott & learn more about Metronome

Lex interviews Sam Williams - founder of Arweave. This episode delves into the innovative aspects of Arweave, a protocol designed for permanent data storage and computation within the Web3 ecosystem. The discussion covers a range of topics, from the economic models underpinning Arweave to its potential applications in decentralized finance (DeFi) and beyond. Notable discussion points: The Founding of Arweave and its Mission – Sam Williams’ interest in distributed computing and concerns about authoritarianism led him to create Arweave in 2017. Inspired by the Snowden leaks, he saw the need for a blockchain-based permanent storage solution to protect journalism, historical records, and digital assets from censorship. Decentralized vs. Distributed Storage – Williams explained how Arweave differs from alternatives like IPFS and Filecoin. Unlike traditional storage, which requires ongoing payments, Arweave uses a one-time payment model. This storage endowment leverages declining storage costs to ensure long-term data persistence without relying on centralized infrastructure. Arweave’s Expansion into Decentralized Compute – Arweave has evolved beyond storage to develop decentralized computing through "Arweave IO." This enables parallelized smart contract execution, making it possible to run AI models, financial automation, and decentralized apps on-chain—aligning with Web3’s shift toward autonomous, intelligent systems. MENTIONED IN THE CONVERSATION Topics: Arweave, permanent data storage, Web3, decentralized systems, distributed systems, blockchain, economic models, IPFS, Filecoin, decentralized computing, decentralized finance, compute 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 1’06: From Distributed Computing to Decentralized Truth Preservation: A Journey into Web3 4’31: Decentralization vs. Distribution: Defining the Future of Web3 Infrastructure 9’41: Building a Decentralized Archive: Arweave’s Journey from Vision to Adoption 16’28: Web3 Storage Economics: Arweave vs. IPFS and the NFT Data Dilemma 22’42: Arweave’s Endowment Model: A Blockchain-Native Approach to Permanent Storage 27’13: Arweave’s Next Chapter: From Permanent Storage to Decentralized Supercomputing 31’36: Decentralized AI and Agent Finance: Expanding Arweave’s Computational Power 36’26: Decentralized AI and Blockchain: Overcoming Computation and Consensus Challenges 41’34: The Future of Decentralized Intelligence: Trustless Finance and Digital Immortality 44’59: The channels used to connect with Sam & learn more about Arweave

Lex interviews Andrew Jamison - CEO and Co-founder of Extend - a financial infrastructure platform that helps banks innovate financial product development with capabilities while working with their existing systems, starting with virtual cards. Andrew shares his journey into fintech, detailing his experiences at American Express and the evolution of virtual cards. He discusses the challenges and opportunities in the virtual card space, the founding of Extend, and its innovative approach to simplifying spend management. The episode highlights Extend's rapid growth, unique market position, and the future of financial management, emphasizing real-time transactions and integrated solutions for businesses. Notable discussion points: Virtual Cards = Smarter Spend ManagementVirtual credit cards revolutionize payments by enabling real-time reconciliation, reducing fraud, and improving financial control—especially for SaaS, digital ads, and legal expenses. Extend’s Edge: Partnering with Banks, Not Disrupting ThemUnlike Brex and Ramp, Extend powers virtual cards on existing bank-issued cards, making adoption seamless for businesses while strengthening bank relationships. B2B Payments Go EmbeddedThe future of finance is embedding payments directly into platforms like SAP Concur - letting CFOs manage expenses within the tools they already use. From Enterprise-Only to Instant AccessVirtual cards once took months to implement. Extend’s API-first approach makes them deployable in minutes, bridging the gap between legacy banking and modern finance. MENTIONED IN THE CONVERSATION Topics: Extend, American Express, AMEX, SAP, fintech, credit cards, spend management, virtual cards, B2B, API, banking infrastructure, embedded payments 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 1’10: From Green Screens to the Cloud: How Early Tech Shaped Andrew Jamison’s Approach to Business and Automation 5’12: Scaling Amex: Expanding Beyond Travel to B2B Payments and Virtual Cards 10’27: Virtual Cards in Travel: Solving Payments but Struggling with Scale 15’19: Virtual Cards and On-Demand Growth: How APIs Unlocked a New Payments Model 19’17: From Amex to Extend: Reinventing Virtual Cards for Everyday Business 26’00: Scaling Smart Payments: How Extend is Reshaping B2B Credit Cards 29’33: Rethinking Spend Management: How Extend Partners with Banks Instead of Replacing Them 31’47: Built for CFOs: How Extend Streamlines Payments and Expense Management 35’08: The Future of Finance: How Embedded Payments and APIs Are Reshaping the CFO’s Role 40’34: The channels used to connect with Andrew & learn more about Extend

Lex interviews Jayendra Jog - co-founder of Sei Labs, about his professional journey and the innovative Sei protocol—a high-performance parallel blockchain. Jay shares insights from his time at Robinhood, emphasizing the importance of distribution over technology and the challenges of scaling a fintech company. He discusses the limitations of Ethereum's transaction processing and how Sei Labs aims to address these through parallelization. The conversation also covers the future of blockchain in finance, the need for regulatory clarity, and the potential of high-performance blockchains to support emerging industries like AI and decentralized science. Notable discussion points: Impact Over Paychecks – Jog’s career leap from SAP to Facebook, Pinterest, Robinhood, and Sei Labs was driven by impact, not salary. He thrived in small, high-talent teams where he could truly move the needle. Robinhood’s Growing Pains – Early Robinhood was fast and scrappy, but as it scaled, bureaucracy slowed innovation. The shift from “missionary” to “mercenary” employees hurt culture and velocity. Tech Doesn’t Win—Distribution Does – The best crypto projects don’t just have great tech; they win by getting users. Sei Labs focuses on real-world adoption, not just engineering breakthroughs. Sei’s Parallelized EVM: A Game Changer – Ethereum is slow. Sei Labs fixes this by parallelizing transactions, enabling high-speed trading and complex on-chain applications. It’s Ethereum’s power with Solana’s speed. MENTIONED IN THE CONVERSATION Topics: fintech, blockchain, Sei Labs, Sei protocol, Ethereum Virtual Machine, EVM, Robinhood, decentralized applications, DeFi protocols, DePIN 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 1’29: From Silicon Valley Roots to Startup Hustle: Jayendra Jog’s Journey Through Tech’s Elite Ranks 7’53: Scaling Robinhood: From Scrappy Startup to Corporate Bureaucracy 12’56: Why Robinhood Won: Distribution Over Technology in Fintech and Crypto 17’38: Sei and the Parallelized EVM: Scaling Blockchain for High-Performance Trading 25’18: Parallelization in Blockchain: Unlocking Scalability Without Breaking the System 28’03: Building Sei: Solving the Blockchain Adoption Puzzle for Finance and Developers 33’50: The Blockchain Race: Competing for Killer Apps and Market Dominance 38’02: The Next Wave: Sei’s Vision for AI, DePIN, and High-Performance Blockchain Applications 41’34: The channels used to connect with Jay & learn more about Sei

Lex interviews Arun Kumar, the CTO of Socure, an identity management and risk assessment company. In this exciting episode, Arun touches on: (1) his experience building large-scale, high-throughput, and low-latency systems at companies like Amazon and Citadel, and how he applies that expertise to the identity verification and fraud detection challenges at Socure. (2) Socure's rapid growth, serving over 2,700 customers including 9 of the top 10 U.S. banks and over 30 state agencies, processing hundreds of millions of transactions per month. (3) Socure's approach to building a real-time identity graph by aggregating signals from devices, phone numbers, IPs, and other data points to detect and prevent sophisticated fraud tactics like deepfakes and fraud GPTs. (4) The company's recent acquisition of Effectiv to simplify the integration process for customers and improve efficiency, as well as its use of Generative AI to automate various tasks. Lastly, (5) Socure's future plans to expand beyond account opening and login into transaction monitoring, as well as exploring opportunities in the growing embedded finance and digital identity spaces. MENTIONED IN THE CONVERSATION Topics: Socure, Effectiv, Citadel, Amazon, Identity management, digital identity, generative AI, deepfakes, fraud prevention, machine learning, identity verification 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 1’02: Scaling Innovation: Exploring High-Performance Systems and Real-Time Technology 4’04: From Financial Data to Machine Learning: Scaling Systems and Solving Edge Cases 8’49: Bridging Big Tech and Quant Finance: Exploring Technology Overlaps and Ultra-Low Latency Systems 11’12: Protecting Digital Identity at Scale: The Journey to Socure and Solving Real-Time Fraud Challenges 15’50: Building the Network Effect: How Socure Became a Leader in Identity Verification and Fraud Prevention 21’00: Battling Modern Fraud: Deepfakes, Generative AI, and the Evolving Landscape of Digital Security 26’30: Revolutionizing Customer Success: Simplifying Integrations with No-Code Solutions and Real-Time Performance Insights 29’57: Scaling Customer Integration: Fixed Costs, POCs, and Generative AI-Driven Value Propositions 34’00: Driving Efficiency and Scale: Socure's Evolving Product Roadmap and Future Vision 36’14: Learning from Customization: Standardizing for Scalability and Long-Term Growth 38’58: Expanding Horizons: Growing Market Share and Addressable Markets in Digital Transactions 41’00: The channels used to connect with Arun & learn more about Socure

Lex interviews Shachar Bialick, the founder and CEO of Curve, a fintech mobile wallet. In this exciting episode, Shachar touches on: (1) his background as a serial entrepreneur and his experience in the Israeli military shaped his ability to solve problems and work in high-stress environments, which are key traits for a successful founder. (2) The initial idea behind Curve was to create a "wallet to rule them all" - a single interface that could consolidate and manage multiple payment cards and accounts, providing more value and convenience to customers. (3) Building Curve involved navigating complex challenges, such as convincing payment networks like Mastercard and Visa to change their rules to allow Curve's back-to-back wallet technology. This required a resilient, innovative, and persistence approach. (4) Shachar emphasizes the importance of building a company culture that fosters curiosity, adaptability, and a belief that "everything is possible" rather than focusing on perceived limitations. (5) Lastly, Shachar discusses the evolution of the fintech landscape, including the challenges faced by neobanks in creating true financial marketplaces, and the ongoing issues with the implementation of open banking standards. MENTIONED IN THE CONVERSATION Topics: Curve, ApplePay, Google Wallet, PayPal, Tink, neobank, fintech, wallets, payments, paytech, NFC, Open Banking 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 1’02: From Military Service to Fintech Success: Shachar Bialick on Founding Curve and Redefining Payments 9’10: The Resilient Founder: Risk-Taking, Leadership, and the Cultural Mindset Behind Entrepreneurship 14’59: From Unbundling to Rebundling: Building Curve to Solve Financial Fragmentation 20’50: Revolutionizing Payments: Curve's Ambition to Unite Financial Ecosystems 24’26: Trailblazing Curve: Overcoming Challenges to Redefine Payments and Build a Global Fintech Ecosystem 30’23: Project Elah: How Curve Challenged Apple’s NFC Restrictions to Redefine Digital Wallets 34’50: Shaving the Lion: How Curve Built a Culture to Overcome Industry Challenges and Innovate 39’05: Challenging Apple Pay: Curve’s Strategy to Deliver Tangible Customer Benefits 42’01: The Evolution of Fintech Infrastructure: Challenges, Opportunities, and the Role of Open Banking 51’54: The channels used to connect with Shachar & learn more about Curve