In this episode, Dan and Brandon cover:

• Brandon’s founder journey: from building software in college to multiple exits and now leading Forward
• The pain points of legacy acquiring and why funds-held and outdated tech nearly cost him a business
• The three 20-year “eras” of payments and why embedded software is just getting started
• Why most vertical SaaS companies vastly under-monetize payments, and how to move from ~20% attach to 50–70%
• How Forward pairs modern infrastructure with hands-on program design instead of a DIY “here are the APIs” approach
• Forward’s growth (800%+ this year) and what makes their integration experience so fast for CTOs
• A nuanced take on AI: where it’s already transforming risk, operations, and interchange optimization
• Why Brandon is skeptical that true agentic commerce (autonomous agents completing purchases) will reach scale soon
• The vision for continuous, 365-day settlement without leaning on expensive credit or warehouse lines
• Leadership, family, and sports: what Brandon learned from his Military-officer dad, college basketball, and parenting four kids
• Real-world founder advice on surviving outages, hard days, and the long grind of company building