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

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👉 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

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.

 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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.