FINTECHTALK

HI FINTECHTALKERS,

I sat down with Ram Subramaniam (CEO of Guardianlink.io), Prakash Somosundram (CEO of Enjinstarter.com), and Matthew Gunnin (CEO of eSports.one) to talk about all things Metaverse, the rise of the immersive web, NFTs, Digital Assets and more. We covered a lot of ground and in order to make it easy to navigate the podcast, I have included a table of timestamps.

Metaverse represents the evolution of the Web, where you are in the Web not just connected to it through a device like a mobile phone - the convergence of digital and physical realities. It will become part and parcel of our lifestyle becoming the experience portal for entertainment, education, and more. With technologies like AR/VR and upcoming tech like Elon Musk’s Neurallink which is aiming to connect the human neocortex (the decision-making center of our brain) directly to computing devices (thereby to the metaverse and AI), our lives and even what is an experience are in for a profound change.

The current web is built on websites, mobile apps, and APIs and gave us e-commerce, search, social media, digital advertisement, and the sharing economy as applications. The foundation of the Metaverse is being built on Crypto, NFTs (the framework for new digital asset class), DAOs (how firms, people, and even governments may organize in the future) giving us hyper-personalized convergent and immersive experiences, convergent commerce (commerce initiated in physical and fulfilled in digital and vice-versa), and experiences APIs that drive interoperability across the Metaverse. Fasten your seat straps as belts are not going to cut it this time.

0.10-9.10 Introduction - what led them to their current focus

9.10-22.10 What is Metaverse, Web3.0 and why are NFT and Blockchain important?

22.10-29.15 How big is this? The TAM for Metaverse, NFT, eSports, and Gaming

29.15-31.30 Which geographies around the world are most active?

31.30-48.00 What are you building and how do you fit into the ecosystem?

48.00 -54.40 Why should Enterprise care about Metaverse and when /how should you build your metaverse strategy?

54.40-1.01 The projects you are excited about - DAO, Inter-operability, and more

1.01-1.04 - What are your priorities and who are you looking to connect with?

To connect with my guests and their companies go to https://enjinstarter.com/, https://www.guardianlink.io/, and https://esportsone.com/ and use any of the social media like their Discord channel.

Included in this edition is the fintech elder recap below.

Enjoy and always Be in the Know!

Paddy RamanathanFounder of iValley (www.ivalley.co) andHost of the FINTECHTALK™ Show (www.fintechtalk.co)

(Violin piece in podcast courtesy of my daughter Ilina)

The Beginning of the Beginning–Metaverse’s Promise of Infinite Possibilities

By the Fintech Elder

“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”

You know where that came from. The pen of the great science-fiction novelist Lewis Carroll.

Oh, he wasn’t a science fiction writer, did you just say? Indulge me for a minute. Maybe he was a kind of prophet. Maybe he thought that one day we would have these virtual experiences and drift in and out of digital worlds.

I sat quietly in a corner of the digital world and listened to a fascinating podcast steered beautifully by Paddy Ramanathan, CEO of iValley, who’s made quite a name for himself as a great networker and influencer in the Fintech world. He weaved together a fascinating tapestry involving guests Ramkumar Subramaniam, Prakash Somosundram, and Matthew Gunnin who are extremely knowledgeable about NFT, e-sports and Metaverse respectively. As it turns out Metaverse was the ultimate glue that made NFT and e-sports so much more intense. So, I’ll just talk about that.

This article isn’t intended to be a primer on Metaverse. In any case, the definition is evolving constantly. We could perhaps get away by calling it a growing convergence between the real world and a virtual one. One day, perhaps the two will be indistinguishable.

To begin with, you can live a digital life on various Metaverse platforms. This is not quite the same as a game. In Metaverse, we exist (digitally) and actually buy assets and conduct ourselves as we might in the real world. We may buy digital NFT assets with the currency in that particular metaverse, we may play games, and we can do practically everything. Some may require us to use special devices for an enhanced experience, which I believe will become commodities very soon.

With the metaverse nudging forcefully into our lives, we may soon have to rethink … well, everything.

Is there a philosophical objection to the Metaverse? Could one say that it confuses reality and fantasy and could cause an identity crisis at the very least?

Well, it doesn’t matter at this point. For a generation that has grown up consuming information and living lives on social media, the Metaverse represents a natural progression. While many of us struggled to understand NFTs, the digital generation had no problem comprehending it and leveraging it. Buying, selling, renting – and even scamming – NFTs seem perfectly reasonable.

At this time, there are quite a number of Metaverse platforms and a struggle for dominance is underway. In anticipation, the panelists foresaw interoperability and the pervasive influence of DAO to reduce the dependence on platform-specific digital currency.

While we jump back and forth between Metaverse, the more obvious attraction of the virtual-physical diffusion continues to throw up exciting possibilities.

Imagine going to a Pizza store in the Metaverse and ordering a pizza and having it delivered to you in the real world. And in the other direction, imagine going to a Starbucks and getting a loyalty NFT pass to get premium access to Metaverse locations.

The Metaverse will be in a constant state of churn and turmoil. Perhaps experiences could be bundled and dropped into the Metaverse or even removed.

There are perfectly plausible and practical reasons why organizations are investing in the Metaverse. For one, it needs to do so to keep its brand relevant for the “metaverse generation”. For another, this is the place for converged commerce in the manner I just wrote about. This is where commerce, customer engagement, entertainment, sports, and education will “exist”; yes, the irony of that word has not escaped me.

NFTs in the Metaverse, buying land in the Metaverse, renting, watching a game in a stadium – all of this has quickly become “normal”.  We are talking about billions of dollars of economic activity, not just a passing fad. The Metaverse will be included in the Annual Reports of all enterprises. There is no doubt about that in my mind.

The portable experience the Metaverse offers, slipping into any available virtual world at will, is a mind-bending notion that will soon become commonplace.

Are you ready for it?

Where do I exist? In the real world or in a Metaverse? You tell me.

The Fintech Elder

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iValley Innovation Center11040 Bollinger Canyon Rd, E-909San Ramon, CA 94582,The United States.

HI FINTECHTALKERS,

I sat down with Morgan McKenney, the CEO of Provenance Blockchain Foundation to talk about all things Blockchain, the future of DeFI, and how Provenance and Figure are driving innovation in all domains of financial services - Lending, Payments, Capital Markets. We covered a lot of ground and in order to make it easy to navigate the podcast here is a table of timestamps.

0.10-0.55 - Introduction

1.00-4.45 - Morgan’s background across the years

4.45-5.45 - What made Morgan join Provenance as CEO and promise of DeFI

6.00-9.00 - Blockchain is disintermediating financial services and changing the Factory

9.00-15.30 - The innovation process and platform in financial services

15.40-24.15 - What is Proof of Stake, Stable coins, Hash, Digital Money, programmatic money?

24.30-30.40 - Mission and Vision of the Provenance Blockchain Foundation- Transforming financial services with digital assets

30.40-32.00 - Provenance Blockchain, Figure the fintech and Mike Cagney’s Modernization of the Financial Services Infrastructure with Blockchain Vision

32.00-35.00 - The ecosystem: MERS, Figure Loans, Hash

35.00-38.50 - USDF and how can banks benefit from being part of the USDF Consortium

38.50-40.20 - Collaboration between banks in USDF; new avenues of NFT/Gaming

40.20-45.00 - Access of Provenance to startups and developer community

45.00-45.30 - Inclusive innovation and opportunities for underrepresented founders

45.40-47.10 - Website and Discord to stay tuned to announcements

46.10-52.00 - Inter-operability, regulatory and policy considerations

52.00-54.00 - Web 3.0 and the Digital Economy and the rail the enables transfer of value

54.00-59.30 - Crystal balling: Digital Assets, NFTs, Metaverse

59.45- 1.01.10 -Closing thoughts: How to get in touch with Morgan (LinkedIn) and Provenance. Employment opportunities and co-creation opportunities for startups

Included in this edition is our editorial infographic.

Enjoy and always Be in the Know!

Paddy RamanathanFounder of iValley (www.ivalley.co) andHost of the FINTECHTALK™ Show (www.fintechtalk.co)

(Violin piece in podcast courtesy of my daughter Ilina)

EPILOGUE

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iValley Innovation Center11040 Bollinger Canyon Rd, E-909San Ramon, CA 94582,The United States.

Recording of The FINTECHTALK™ Show on Clubhouse on Nov 18th, 2021.

EPILOGUE

To join iValley as it sculpts (build, write, and talk) the future of fintech and crypto economy click here.

Connect with us!

iValley Innovation Center11040 Bollinger Canyon Rd, E-909San Ramon, CA 94582,The United States.

Recording of The FINTECHTALK™ Show on Clubhouse on Oct 13th, 2021.

Connect with us!

iValley Innovation Center11040 Bollinger Canyon Rd, E-909San Ramon, CA 94582,The United States.

Phone: +1 925-575-7832

Recording of the FINTECHTALK(TM) Show on Clubhouse on Aug 25th, 2021.

Connect with us!

iValley Innovation Center11040 Bollinger Canyon Rd, E-909San Ramon, CA 94582,The United States.

Phone: +1 925-575-7832

Small is Beautiful: Where Challenger Banks and Fintechs Really Score

I was in a philosophical mood when I checked in to a Fintechtalk session on Clubhouse on July 28. 

Why, I asked no one in particular, did the word “success” seem to invariably suggest terms like “large deal”, “double digit growth”, “enterprise solutions” and so on. “Does that imply that to be small is somehow not as cool?” I wondered, as I sat in the digital shadows and looked on silently, and a bit crabby, sipping on a below-average Pina Colada, waiting for the session to begin.

As I learned quickly during the session, that’s not true at all. 

There is something very beautiful and inspiring about being small and successful. And you can make a huge difference in your Fintech efforts if you focus on small enterprises.

These FINTECHTALK sessions are so addictive. Paddy Ramanathan, the CEO of iValley, a Fintech incubator, conducts a couple of arresting sessions every month and attracts a lot of movers and shakers to his speaker’s panel. Thereafter he engages them in very interesting ways. You owe it to yourself to attend.

But I digress. Back to the session.

The panellists were an impressive and erudite bunch. Take a look:

* Paul Loberman, Chief Product Officer at untied

* Adi Engel, CMO at vcita

* Nir Netzer, FinTech Innovation Strategist and Founding Partner of Equitech Group

* Araminta Robertson, Marketing Consultant at Mintcstudios

* Nathan Baumeister, CEO at ZSuite Technologies

* Derik Sutton, Marketing at Autobooks

They first spent a little time talking about what they do.

Adi spoke about their focus on digitizing business operations. Simplifying and automating the day-to-day activities is a huge relief for SMBs for whom time is the most precious commodity.

Paul, with an impressive background in banking, focuses on personal tax at untied.  “No one likes to pay tax,” he remarked. He helps SMBs by collecting tax data automatically and submitting forms to the authorities. Again, saving SMB owners lots of time and aggravation.

Nathan works with Banks to get them more small business clients. ZSuite deploys niche technologies to help with different kinds of deposits that have different rules that apply to them, for which compliance can be vexing. Time is saved.

Are you seeing a repeated theme?

At Autobooks, Derek offers reporting tools in digital environments. He helps financial institutions recapture their relationships with clients. Araminta too assists fintech companies acquire and retain clients and develops case studies. And Nir helps create strategies for Fintech, who, he said, are trying to solve unprecedented problems. 

These are motivated individuals!

Paddy asked the panel for their view on the current challenges that small businesses face. Was there really a case for digital transformation and innovation for SMBs, he inquired.

The collective opinion of the group was that the technologies and digital initiatives do exist but the really crushing problem is that SMB owners have no time and resources and often no capital to leverage these initiatives! 

Lack of good valuable advice on appropriate systems is something SMBs face.  In fact, most cannot even articulate what they need. Thus, Fintechs need to find these SMBs and clear the fog, instead of expecting them to ask for help.

When 81% of SMBs have no employees, they are consumed by basic challenges such as how to accept payments through various vehicles. These owners want to spend time in their businesses, but they end up being forced to address non-core activities, getting paid, controlling costs, and staying compliant – all of which eat into their time and make them sub-optimal. Almost all face cash flow problems. Putting companies back in control may be a fundamental solution they need!

Nir highlighted a unique issue: many young companies are trying to solve problems that did not exist before. Even helping them articulate the problem helps in a big way. Sales and Marketing challenges are also significant.

What a thought! And so, if Fintechs can do a deep dive into these new challenges, they can be successful.

For instance, SMBs are being forced to deal with bewildering new regulations.  Araminta spoke about how SMBs in Europe are having to learn about PSD2 (customer authentication), SCA, and 3DS2 and ensure they are compliant. Do SMBs have the bandwidth for all this? Well, they don’t have much of a choice, because studies show a possible authentication loss of 21%.  In essence this is a new hurdle and requires education. This problem presents a great opportunity for a Fintech.

Further, 90% of SMBs are service providers who work with excel, WhatsApp, pen and paper. Digitizing their operations is a huge and rewarding proposition. 

The complexities of an SMB’s business can be intense. As Adi observed, even a Yoga studio has a staggeringly large set of possibilities in terms of processes and payment options. Ultimately it is the triangle of Time, Money and Clients is what needs to be addressed by Fintechs that want to be make an impact in the SMB segment.

A lot of interesting points came up:

* From a Sales and Marketing perspective, new approaches will need to be considered by CBs and Fintechs. The customer must be caught in the right channel.

* Fintechs who serve SMBs have the challenge of raising enough capital to compete with Square or PayPal, to then reach out to massively underserved markets.

* Paul hypothesized that we will soon witness the next level of “downtech”, such as Square extending into Shopify. There is a growing market for tech giants, and they can find opportunities to partner with SMB oriented Fintechs. 

* The new wave of Challenger Banks is attractive because of significantly lower fees, an easier onboarding process and so on. And many Fintechs that have no banking license can do payment facilitation. That’s actually pretty smart!

* But something to keep in mind: there is only so much profitability for Fintechs while dealing with SMBs, even though there are plenty to go around.  Partnering with banks has obvious advantages for Fintechs including interchange fees, deposits, and such. 

At the end, SMB merchants will use Fintechs for better customer experience, with the easiest on-ramps being more successful. SuperApps (which combine multiple services within an app) and the thirst for simplicity will prevail.

It all just goes to show that in the banking world, small can be beautiful in stimulating innovation. Fintechs can become unbeatable if they make efforts to solve the issues that resource starved SMBs face in terms of time and capital. 

Will banks, big tech, super fintechs (Square, Stripe etc), and these other fintechs all converge into an SMB SuperApp, which does Operational, Financial, Sales/Marketing and Regulations stuff? Imagine!

The Pina Colada suddenly seemed excellent! I felt good!

Connect with us!

iValley Innovation Center11040 Bollinger Canyon Rd, E-909San Ramon, CA 94582,The United States.

Phone: +1 925-575-7832