In this episode, I sit down with Jason Gardner, founder and CEO of Marqeta. Jason shares his journey from the early days of San Francisco's tech scene through building a modern card issuing platform that serves companies like Cash App, DoorDash, and Affirm. We dive into the big pivot that almost broke the company, how DoorDash became their defining customer, and the challenges of scaling a fintech business. Jason also discusses his decision to go public in 2021, his biggest repeated mistake as a founder, and why he believes the future of fintech lies in the Middle East.

Jason Gardner:  

 / jasonmatthewgardner  

00:00:00 - Introduction to Jason and Marqeta's Success

00:00:27 - The Big Pivot That Almost Broke the Company

00:01:02 - Why Oakland? Building in the Bay Area

00:02:21 - San Francisco's Early Tech Scene in the 90s

00:04:37 - Starting Marqeta: Why Nobody Believed in 2010

00:06:03 - Building Card Issuing Infrastructure from Scratch

00:06:56 - Facebook's Gift Card Challenge Changes Everything

00:08:00 - Finding the First Big Customer That Defined Marqeta

00:09:00 - DoorDash: From Veterinarian Office to Partnership

00:10:18 - How Marqeta Solved the Prepaid Card Fraud Problem

00:11:19 - Cash App: The Consumer Bet That Made or Broke Us

00:13:10 - How Do You Know When to Bet on a Customer?

00:14:56 - The Hardest Part: Scaling Without Dying

00:17:26 - Going Public in 2021: Timing the Perfect Window

00:19:43 - Picking Ideas: When an Idea Picks You

00:23:13 - Overcoming Imposter Syndrome as a Founder

00:25:21 - Why I Chose to Be a Solo Founder

00:27:45 - The One Mistake I've Made Twice: People Don't Change

00:31:23 - Why the Future of Fintech is in the Middle East

00:36:18 - Life After CEO: Aviation and What's Next

00:37:12 - AI's Impact on Financial Services and Fraud

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