On The Margin | Boaz Sobrado & Ivan Patriki

On The Margin | Boaz Sobrado & Ivan Patriki
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  • Investing
  • Updated Semimonthly

Hosted by Boaz Sobrado & Ivan Patriki. We speak to the elite of the business, political, and media world. www.on-the-margin.com

  1. 1d ago

    He Left JP Morgan to Let AI Move $Trillions For You | T54 Founder Chandler Fung & Ivan Patriki

    A JP Morgan quant trader walked away from Wall Street to build the trust layer that lets AI agents spend your money.Chandler Fung went from the JP Morgan trading floor to Onyx, the bank's blockchain and AI payments team, to years at Ripple building cross border stablecoin rails. In early 2025 he founded T54, a company solving one problem almost nobody is: how do you trust an AI agent to touch your money?Backed from day zero by Ripple, Franklin Templeton and others, Chandler and Ivan Patriki dig into what happens when 30% of your daily transactions get delegated to agents, why finance is the one sector you cannot waltz into, and what it actually takes to earn a seat check from a company worth billions.We cover:Why an AI agent booking your cheeseburger is a bigger risk problem than it soundsThe moment you ask GPT to buy something and everything that can silently go wrongHow a day zero startup lands Ripple and Franklin Templeton as seed investors"Idea is cheap" and why execution and a real moat matter moreIs trading on Elliott Waves and ICT legit, or just momentum vs sentiment fishing?What quant traders actually do (and why everyone using the same strategy breaks)Why he left a lucrative quant seat to build products for humans instead of numbersThe three pillars before you start a company: team, execution, moatWhy 90% of successful startups end up doing something other than their original ideaWhy he feels safe putting $2M in Chase but nervous moving it to a cold walletCan a startup become the "Chase-level trust" of the agentic economy?When do you stop chasing money and start chasing impact?Marathon vs sprint: the patience trap almost every young founder falls intoMORE OF CHANDLER FUNG:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/znfangTwitter: https://x.com/chandler_agiCompany (T54): https://www.t54.ai/MORE OF ON THE MARGIN:Website: https://www.themargin.tv Spotify: Main Site: https://www.on-the-margin.comMORE OF BOAZ SOBRADO: Twitter: https://x.com/sobradobInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/sobradobWebsite: https://themargin.tv/boaz-sobradoMORE OF IVAN PATRIKI: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/artiztSubstack: https://substack.com/@artiztTwitter: https://x.com/Ivan_patrikiInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/artizt/?hl=enTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ascendedTelegram: https://t.me/ivanpatrikiTimestamps00:00 - From JP Morgan quant to building the trust layer for AI money.02:31 - Landing Ripple and Franklin Templeton from day zero.05:05 - The cheeseburger problem: what breaks when an agent spends for you.08:18 - Is quant trading better than day trading on waves and sentiment?11:26 - Momentum vs sentiment, and whether trading courses are legit.13:10 - Why he left a lucrative quant seat to build for humans.16:20 - How to build long term connections that get you funded.20:23 - Why finance is the one sector you cannot rush into.23:00 - The three pillars: team, execution, moat.26:38 - Why 90% of winning startups pivot.27:26 - The Chase Bank vision for the agentic economy.31:39 - Rich moment or not: when money stops being the point.37:01 - The advice nobody gives you: patience over the short game.Subscribe & leave a comment if you made it this far! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.on-the-margin.com

  2. Aug 19

    "I Move $7 Billion for People Who Hate Index Funds" | IRA Financial's Adam Bergman & Ivan Patriki

    A tax lawyer quit his big-law job to bet everything on an idea Wall Street had buried for 50 years, and now he moves $7 billion for clients who invest their retirement money in Bitcoin, real estate, and private deals instead of index funds.Adam Bergman is the founder of IRA Financial. He started with zero clients, zero assets, and one phone line in his apartment, bootstrapped it on Google Ads, took no salary for five years, and built a regulated trust company custodying over $7 billion for 30,000 clients. In this episode Adam and Ivan Patriki dig into the retirement loophole most Americans have never heard of, why the truly wealthy hold 60 to 70% of their money in alternative assets, and what it actually takes to survive the decade it takes to build a real business.We cover:The retirement rule almost nobody knows: only THREE things you cannot buy in an IRAWhy owning the S&P 500 means you basically own seven companies (and that is not diversification)How the rich actually got rich (hint: it was not stocks and bonds)$39 trillion in US retirement money and why the big banks wall you off from itAdam's first client story: going live on Google Ads with no office and no idea what to do next"Make mistakes with other people's money" and other advice from his entrepreneur fatherThe 5-year stretch where he and his wife "did literally nothing" while friends got richHis biggest CEO mistake: not hiring people smarter than himselfBitcoin in 2015, a friend told him it was a scam, and the risk/reward math he used anywayWhy he almost took the company public 7 years too early (and dodged a disaster)"If you're not gonna quit, just shut up and fight"No Adderall, no ketamine, no McLaren: water, coffee, and a morning runThe one platform in the country to trade stocks, crypto, and alt assets in a retirement account for one flat feeWhat every young person who "wants to be successful" is getting wrongRESOURCES & LINKS:IRA Financial: https://www.irafinancial.comMORE OF ADAM BERGMAN:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adambergman1/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adambergmanesqMORE OF ON THE MARGIN:Website: https://www.themargin.tv Spotify: Main Site: https://www.on-the-margin.comMORE OF BOAZ SOBRADO: Twitter: https://x.com/sobradobInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/sobradobWebsite: https://themargin.tv/boaz-sobradoMORE OF IVAN PATRIKI: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/artiztSubstack: https://substack.com/@artiztTwitter: https://x.com/Ivan_patrikiInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/artizt/?hl=enTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ascendedTelegram: https://t.me/ivanpatrikiTimestamps:00:00 - The retirement money nobody tells you how to use.00:38 - The only three things you can't buy in an IRA.02:45 - Why IRA Financial doesn't sell you investments.04:00 - Owning seven companies and calling it diversified.04:47 - From tax lawyer to founder: the accidental discovery.09:28 - Starting at 35 and five years with no salary.12:00 - Zero to seven billion, fully bootstrapped.13:31 - How do you get strangers to trust you with their money.15:09 - The famous clients he can't name.16:32 - Bad investments, and why your IRA gives you time to recover.18:07 - Is running billions actually relaxing.20:01 - The morning solitude ritual and "three wins a day."25:51 - The 80% of businesses nobody thinks to start.28:57 - The first Google Ads client and figuring it out live.30:50 - Stop perfecting the business plan and just start.39:49 - What liquidity actually buys you: long-term thinking.40:46 - Peptides, ketamine, Adderall? Just water and a run.43:51 - What the billionaires actually hold in their portfolios.49:42 - One man sells his house for Bitcoin, another retires middle class.51:06 - The one platform for stocks, crypto, and alt assets.54:03 - Why taking a percentage of your gains is "criminal."56:39 - Advice for the young person who wants to be successful.01:01:18 - Why buying a course won't make you rich.Make sure to like, comment, and share, and I'll see you in the next one. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.on-the-margin.com

  3. Aug 15

    He Runs the Blockchain That Moved $2.5 Trillion | Polygon CEO Marc Boiron & Ivan Patriki

    He slept three to four hours a night for two years straight, and he says he'd do it again for the payoff.Marc Boiron went from a self described "accidental lawyer" to running roughly 70 to 80% of all DeFi legal work, to becoming CEO of Polygon, the blockchain that has moved over 2.5 trillion dollars. In this episode Marc and Ivan Patriki get into how he actually got the job, why Polygon bet everything on payments, the Meta, Cash App and Deel deals, and a blunt philosophy on sleep, suffering, and happiness that Ivan clearly did not expect.We cover:From no homework kid to CEO of a company that moved 2.5 trillion dollarsWhy betting on crypto when everyone said it was dead in 2019 was the whole game"There's basically no lawyers doing this crypto thing" and how that became 80% of DeFiGeneralist vs specialist in the age of AI (Marc picks a side)Why being a great CEO comes down to just one thing: peopleBeing genuinely happy when your best employee leaves for more moneyThe interview question Marc asks everyone: "what makes you want to be successful?"Why he'll fire a top performer who treats people like garbageWhy Polygon stopped chasing gaming, RWAs and DeFi to become a payments only chainAn off-ramp in Turkey, a remittance app vibe coded in five hoursHow you actually land a deal with Meta (and why the CEO is the wrong person to pitch)The salesman who bought a game ticket to corner a basketball team owner who ignored his emailsShould Polygon care what people spend their money on? Permissionless vs regulated"Who enjoys their life when they're ninety anyways?"Sleep six hours a night in your twenties or you're crazyTwo years of torture for 35 years of happiness: how easy is that decision?MORE OF MARC BOIRON:Twitter/X: https://x.com/0xMarcBLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcboironRESOURCES & LINKS:Polygon: https://polygon.technologyMORE OF ON THE MARGIN:Website: https://www.themargin.tv Spotify: Main Site: https://www.on-the-margin.comMORE OF BOAZ SOBRADO: Twitter: https://x.com/sobradobInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/sobradobWebsite: https://themargin.tv/boaz-sobradoMORE OF IVAN PATRIKI: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/artiztSubstack: https://substack.com/@artiztTwitter: https://x.com/Ivan_patrikiInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/artizt/?hl=enTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ascendedTelegram: https://t.me/ivanpatrikiTimestamps:00:00 - How a kid who did no homework becomes CEO of Polygon.02:48 - Doubling down on crypto when everyone said it was dead.04:54 - Specialist vs generalist and why depth wins.06:08 - There is no training to become a CEO.08:16 - Why Polygon is unique and the 2.5 trillion dollar number.11:05 - Going all in on payments and the open money stack.12:47 - Building the culture that keeps people from getting poached.16:23 - Feeling good when your best people leave.18:50 - The archetype of the employee Marc actually hires.21:26 - Hungry but decent: firing people who treat others badly.24:45 - Permissionless blockchain vs regulated money movement.28:50 - The hardest part of the job: nobody outside understands what you do.33:25 - How Polygon landed the Meta deal.35:20 - How an entrepreneur actually gets in front of a giant company.40:31 - Follow up five, six, seven times, and build the real friendship.47:15 - The Cash App and Deel stablecoin deals explained.51:50 - Lobbying governments and why most countries open up eventually.55:17 - What a Polygon CEO does in his free time.56:37 - Don't think too hard about your life, just be happy.59:44 - Win because it makes you happy, not the other way around.01:00:37 - Advice for anyone who wants to run a huge company.01:04:35 - Two of four burners, dying ten years early, and the MMs.01:06:24 - The two years of sleeping three to four hours a night.01:12:39 - Sleep six hours in your twenties or you're crazy.01:14:35 - Two years of torture for 35 years of happiness.Subscribe & leave a comment if you made it this far! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.on-the-margin.com

  4. Aug 12

    The Man Behind Variety & Billboard Reveals How Media Controls You | Penske Media Founder Lee Caplin & Ivan Patriki

    He was alone in the Oval Office with JFK at fifteen years old, and that was just the beginning.Lee Caplin has lived several lives: Justice Department lawyer protecting free speech, co-founder of the company that became Penske Media (Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Billboard), arts administrator, and now the architect of the journalism and media school at Florida International University. He sat down with Ivan Patriki to talk about how media quietly molds public opinion, the difference between reporting and news entertainment, and why he never lets anyone in the room who's expecting a "yes" for the wrong reasons.From subwoofers that raise your tension on cable news to Chinese military money and the Paramount deal, this is a conversation about who really shapes what you think, and how AI, robotics, and rare earth mining fit into what comes next.We cover:Being alone in the Oval Office with JFK at fifteen (and the tie clip story)Why FIU is "the third world rim" gateway for immigrants chasing the American dreamProtecting free speech and wetlands as a fresh law grad inside the US governmentHow Velocity Services became Penske Media and swallowed Variety, Billboard and Hollywood ReporterThe real difference between journalism, media, and mass communications"News entertainment" vs. news: how sound design puts you on edge without you noticingHemingway and Joan Didion as journalists first, novelists secondDo governments quietly pay media to promote an ideology? (and why it's technically lobbying)Chinese military money, Larry Ellison, and the Paramount/CBS ownership questionFake news and deepfakes as an actual FIU courseWhy you still need to physically go to college in the ChatGPT eraSecret societies, Skull and Bones, and the Raven Society sold on eBayWhy he's not afraid of AI (and why it won't be Terminator)AI-controlled robots collecting samples from the sea floor off FloridaRare earth mining with a scalpel instead of a broadswordHis advice for building a "new elite": consistency, reliability, and no class consciousnessMORE OF LEE CAPLIN:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lee-caplin-89981666/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leecaplin/MORE OF ON THE MARGIN:Website: https://www.themargin.tv Spotify: Main Site: https://www.on-the-margin.comMORE OF BOAZ SOBRADO: Twitter: https://x.com/sobradobInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/sobradobWebsite: https://themargin.tv/boaz-sobradoMORE OF IVAN PATRIKI: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/artiztSubstack: https://substack.com/@artiztTwitter: https://x.com/Ivan_patrikiInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/artizt/?hl=enTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ascendedTelegram: https://t.me/ivanpatrikiTimestamps:00:00 - Overseeing FIU, the gateway to the "third world rim."02:21 - From Duke and UVA law to protecting free speech inside government.04:14 - Camelot, Cronkite, and growing up around journalists.07:00 - The secret to staying present: let someone else take the credit.08:31 - Building the media empire that became Penske Media.09:43 - How media molds public opinion without you realizing.10:01 - Journalism vs. media vs. mass communications.12:56 - Short attention spans, sound design, and news entertainment.14:34 - Do governments quietly pay to push an ideology? The Paramount problem.16:21 - Teaching fake news and deepfakes at FIU.16:41 - The bridge from LA media to Florida education.18:19 - Alone in the Oval Office with JFK at fifteen.20:33 - Helping campaigns instead of running for office.21:21 - Why you still need to physically go to college.23:00 - Secret societies, Skull and Bones, and the Raven Society.26:01 - Vision for the future: AI, robots, and no Terminator.27:42 - AI, rare earth mining, and robots on the sea floor.30:27 - Advice for building a new elite.Subscribe & leave a comment if you made it this far! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.on-the-margin.com

  5. Aug 9

    The Crypto $Billionaire Building Governments From Scratch | Sign CEO Xin Yan & Ivan Patriki

    What if AI ran the government, and a private company built the digital money and IDs to make it possible? Xin Yan is doing exactly that, for over a dozen countries.Xin Yan started as a crypto mining engineer and built Token Table into 40% market share of token distribution before pivoting his company into something almost no one else in crypto is doing: building sovereign digital infrastructure (stablecoins, CBDCs, and digital ID) directly for governments. He is now working with UAE, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Bhutan, Barbados, Sierra Leone, and more, with backing from the UAE government and Binance.In this episode Xin Yan and Ivan Patriki get into digital sovereignty, why governments (not Google or Palantir) might be the safer place for your data, UBI paid out like an airdrop, and the case for an AI Prime Minister.We cover:Building digital money and digital ID for over a dozen governmentsWhy crypto adoption failed: nobody worked with the gatekeeper"If an entity has all your data, better the government than Palantir"UBI distributed like claiming an airdrop straight from the TreasuryA selfie to prove you had a baby, then the government sends money?Is centralizing everything into one digital ID dystopian?How the world's payment rails are controlled by just two countriesGetting endorsed by the UAE government and Binance (sometimes CZ directly)Why governments don't get "high" on Bitcoin, they just want the problem solvedHis prediction: how soon until an AI Prime Minister existsHis crypto portfolio (mostly Bitcoin) and why his mom out-traded him on DogeReal free time: walks, smoking, and people-watching to resetWhy you should "trust blockchain more" (POW) and fear centralized AIThe yin-yang of centralization and decentralization, and why Bitcoin was born in 2008How to actually use Bitcoin privately when KYC is everywhereMORE OF XIN YAN:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/xin-yan-658545172/Twitter: https://x.com/realyanxinMORE OF ON THE MARGIN:Website: https://www.themargin.tv Spotify: Main Site: https://www.on-the-margin.comMORE OF BOAZ SOBRADO: Twitter: https://x.com/sobradobInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/sobradobWebsite: https://themargin.tv/boaz-sobradoMORE OF IVAN PATRIKI: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/artiztSubstack: https://substack.com/@artiztTwitter: https://x.com/Ivan_patrikiInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/artizt/?hl=enTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ascendedTelegram: https://t.me/ivanpatrikiTimestamps:00:00 - Building sovereign digital money and ID for governments.01:03 - The dozen countries he already works with.02:06 - From crypto mining geek to B2G, why crypto needed the government.05:25 - Is a government digital ID a privacy nightmare?07:22 - Digital ID and digital money: the two pillars of a digitized state.09:30 - UBI paid out like an airdrop straight from the Treasury.11:45 - "Isn't this dystopian?" Centralized control vs Palantir.15:41 - His first government contract and how trust gets built.18:43 - Getting backed by the UAE and Binance (sometimes CZ himself).22:34 - Digital sovereignty, war, and who can debank a whole country.24:05 - National stablecoins vs USDT, and why the Fed is weird.26:50 - His portfolio: mostly Bitcoin, and mom's Doge bag.27:31 - His mindset, sleep schedule, and thinking about the future.29:45 - The case for an AI Prime Minister.33:35 - Why the day-to-day is small problems, not grand ideation.35:04 - Free time: walks, smoking, and people-watching.37:12 - The future: real-time, multi-currency, P2P global payments.40:40 - Advice: travel and talk to enough people.41:31 - Trust blockchain, fear centralized AI, and the yin-yang of power.43:53 - Monero, and how to actually use Bitcoin privately.Subscribe & leave a comment if you made it this far! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.on-the-margin.com

  6. Aug 4

    The $Trillion Gambling Empire Run by Crime | YieldSec's Ismail Vali & Ivan Patriki

    The number that roulette wheel lands on isn't random, it's the one you didn't bet on.Ismail Vali runs YieldSec and GCI, the intelligence platforms that map how illegal online gambling actually operates. He calls it the third largest economic flow on earth, and most of it is controlled by transnational criminal organizations that didn't come to give you good odds. They came to steal from you. In this conversation with Ivan Patriki, Ismail breaks down why "black market" is a name crime gave itself, how the pandemic turned fake amateur sports into a clickbait machine, and why the games are rigged whether you can see it or not.We cover:"Who am I harming if I place this bet?" (the answer is you)Why unregulated gambling actively avoids being regulated, audited, or checkedIllegal streaming as a window into your digital soul for 90 minutes"You are the product" and how crime uses your data to steal, not to sellThe iceberg: legal gambling is the visible tip, crime is the sea below the waterlineHow the UK went from 0% to 9% illegal share by targeting children and self-excluded gamblersHuman trafficking farms in Cambodia and Myanmar running live dealer casinos and scamsHow the pandemic killed sports and illegal gambling invented snail racing and fake cricket matchesWhy casino is the product everyone wants you in (10-50% margins vs 10% on sports)Brazil regulated gambling, then handed 60% of the market back to crime in monthsAttractive influencers flown to Miami cribs so they can't be arrested back homeThe Charlamagne tha God gambling scandal in the hip-hop communityFC Barcelona's sponsor is illegal in most markets it takes money fromWhy VPNs are a complete myth (latency kills live betting)Polymarket, Kalshi, and "it's not gambling, it's trading"How prediction markets are tanking voter turnout and getting people investigated for insider tradingWhy the "gray market" doesn't exist and Malta passed a law so you can't claw your money backRESOURCES & LINKS:YieldSec: https://www.yieldsec.com/Campaign for Fairer Gambling (Derek Webb): https://www.fairergambling.com/MORE OF ISMAIL VALI:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ismailvali/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ismailvali_/MORE OF ON THE MARGIN:Website: https://www.themargin.tv Spotify: Main Site: https://www.on-the-margin.comMORE OF BOAZ SOBRADO: Twitter: https://x.com/sobradobInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/sobradobWebsite: https://themargin.tv/boaz-sobradoMORE OF IVAN PATRIKI: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/artiztSubstack: https://substack.com/@artiztTwitter: https://x.com/Ivan_patrikiInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/artizt/?hl=enTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ascendedTelegram: https://t.me/ivanpatrikiTimestamps00:00 - How does illegal gambling actually affect you.02:37 - Illegal streaming, and why you are the product.05:38 - What Ismail's platforms actually do to fight back.06:05 - The iceberg: the visible market vs the sea of crime below.07:00 - The UK went from 0% to 9% illegal by targeting kids and self-excluded players.09:32 - Human trafficking, live dealer farms, and how crime banks its money.11:00 - How the pandemic killed sports and crime invented fake amateur events.14:54 - Just put your logo on everything: porn, kids content, celebrities.17:11 - How do you know it's trafficking and not just paid humiliation.18:14 - Why Ismail refuses to name a single illegal gambling brand.20:14 - The Batman cave: giving governments intelligence, not policing.23:51 - Are influencers the enemy, or another victim of crime.25:00 - Brazil regulated, then gave 60% of the market back to crime.28:19 - Flown to Miami cribs: how crime owns the influencers' souls.32:05 - At what point is gambling just too much for society.37:43 - The celebrities and FC Barcelona quietly taking illegal money.41:46 - Why VPNs are a complete myth that kills live betting.47:57 - The next ten years: prediction markets and "it's not gambling, it's trading."53:43 - What it means to say consumers shouldn't be able to make certain choices.57:18 - White, gray, and black markets don't exist, there's only your jurisdiction.01:02:23 - Can you sue an offshore company that won't pay out.01:07:06 - Human beings have always bet, so control the market instead.Subscribe & leave a comment if you made it this far This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.on-the-margin.com

  7. Jul 31

    The Mr Beast Deal That Built a $3 Billion Company | Surfshark CMO Regimantas Urbanas & Ivan Patriki

    How a company from a country of 3 million built a brand everybody knows, and paid Mr Beast seven figures to do it. Regimantas Urbanas is one of the first employees and now CMO of Surfshark, the Lithuanian cybersecurity company that launched into a saturated VPN market in 2018 and turned into part of a $3 billion group. He joined three months after the product went live, gave the brand its meaning, and helped scale it from the first 10,000 users to millions through Google Ads, affiliates, creator marketing, and full on guerrilla campaigns. In this conversation with Ivan Patriki, recorded inside the Surfshark office, Regimantas breaks down how you actually grow a global brand out of a tiny domestic market, why creator marketing beat traditional advertising, and how AI is quietly making everyday people the new scam targets. We cover: Why everybody and their grandma knows a company from a country of 3 million people “Why do you need curtains if you’re not doing anything shady?” (the case for a VPN) How Surfshark made cybersecurity human when every competitor looked corporate and techy Why they deliberately kept “VPN” out of the brand name from day one The seven figure Mr Beast deal, basketballs included, and how they justified it Why that Mr Beast video is still converting three years later Working WITH data brokers? What Incogni actually does (and why it’s US focused) Free VPNs and the “if you don’t pay, you’re the product” trap From demand capture to growing the pie: the full playbook for 10K to 1M+ users Who Surfshark is NOT for, and why enterprise goes to Nord The Surfshark and Nord merger, and Lithuania’s quiet takeover of the VPN market Why AI powered scams are now catching younger people, not just grandmas No logs, external audits, and why they’re legally a Dutch company Why the CMO still works customer support shifts RESOURCES & LINKS: Surfshark: https://surfshark.com MORE OF REGIMANTAS URBANAS: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/regimantasurbanas/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/regimantasu/ MORE OF ON THE MARGIN: Website: https://www.themargin.tv Spotify: Main Site: https://www.on-the-margin.com MORE OF BOAZ SOBRADO: Twitter: https://x.com/sobradob Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sobradob Website: https://themargin.tv/boaz-sobrado MORE OF IVAN PATRIKI: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/artizt Substack: https://substack.com/@artizt Twitter: https://x.com/Ivan_patriki Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artizt/?hl=en TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ascended Telegram: https://t.me/ivanpatriki Timestamps: 00:00 - A brand everybody knows from a country of 3 million. 00:24 - Joining an early stage startup after Google. 02:20 - Entering a saturated VPN market in 2018. 03:41 - Making cybersecurity human and accessible. 05:17 - Why you need a VPN even with nothing to hide. 07:20 - Why your favorite YouTuber suddenly mentions Surfshark. 11:30 - Who Surfshark is not for, and where a VPN stops protecting you. 13:14 - Working with data brokers and what Incogni does. 15:44 - Free VPNs and the “you are the product” trap. 16:44 - The growth playbook: from 10K to a million users. 19:20 - The seven figure Mr Beast deal (with basketballs). 25:00 - How a bootstrapped company afforded huge creators. 28:30 - What comes after dominating every marketing channel. 30:04 - How AI scams now catch young people too. 32:36 - The $3 billion group and the Surfshark and Nord merger. 36:40 - No logs, audits, and why they are legally a Dutch company. 38:41 - The five year vision and staying close to your users.Subscribe & leave a comment if you made it this far! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.on-the-margin.com

  8. Jul 28

    A $25M Deepfake Scam Fooled This Accountant | NordVPN CTO Marijus Briedis & Ivan Patriki

    Your Social Security number, credit card, and passport can be bought online for about 19 dollars. The CTO of NordVPN explains how. Marijus Briedis has spent nearly 10 years at Nord Security, starting as a DevOps engineer and rising to CTO of a company with over 2,000 employees and a whole suite of cybersecurity products behind the flagship VPN. In this episode, Marijus and Ivan Patriki go deep on how the dark web identity market actually works, why Nord deletes entire servers rather than hand data to governments, and what AI scams are going to look like next. We cover: Why NordVPN runs a no logs audit every year (and whether that’s normal or rare) How a full identity (email, working credit card, ID) sells for around 19 dollars on the dark web Why Nord pulled its servers out of India instead of complying with a data law “Do free VPNs sell your data?” The economics that make it likely The three pillars of the NordVPN app: connect, protect, monitor Leaked cookies: the unsolved cybersecurity problem nobody talks about Disinformation as a service, and how bot armies get built for 10 minutes of work The 25 million dollar Zoom deepfake scam that fooled a Singapore accountant Vishing: attackers calling your relatives to clone your voice How to know if the girlfriend calling for a thousand dollars is really her Why Marijus’s mom is NordVPN’s best QA tester The “human firewall” and why tools alone won’t save you Building a unicorn: why product and marketing have to go hand in hand RESOURCES & LINKS: NordVPN: https://nordvpn.com MORE OF MARIJUS BRIEDIS: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marijusbriedis/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marijusbriedis/ MORE OF ON THE MARGIN: Website: https://www.themargin.tv Spotify: Main Site: https://www.on-the-margin.com MORE OF BOAZ SOBRADO: Twitter: https://x.com/sobradob Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sobradob Website: https://themargin.tv/boaz-sobrado MORE OF IVAN PATRIKI: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/artizt Substack: https://substack.com/@artizt Twitter: https://x.com/Ivan_patriki Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artizt/?hl=en TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ascended Telegram: https://t.me/ivanpatriki Timestamps: 00:00 - Inside the NordVPN headquarters. 00:40 - 10 years at Nord, from DevOps to CTO. 01:26 - More than a VPN: the full Nord Security suite. 04:16 - Does Nord sell your data? The no logs audit explained. 07:45 - When governments came knocking, Nord deleted the servers. 09:36 - Why a VPN alone won’t hide you online. 12:01 - What the dark web really is and how Nord monitors it. 14:09 - A full identity for 19 dollars: the leaked data market. 18:30 - Disinformation as a service and AI bot armies. 21:00 - Scam websites, fake bags, and the Black Friday spike. 24:17 - What scams look like in 10 years: voice, video, deepfakes. 26:54 - Is the girlfriend calling for money actually your girlfriend? 28:52 - What Nord is building to fight AI scams. 29:35 - Managing 1,000 engineers as CTO. 32:05 - Biggest lesson: product and marketing go hand in hand. Make sure to like, comment, and share, and I’ll see you in the next one. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.on-the-margin.com

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Hosted by Boaz Sobrado & Ivan Patriki. We speak to the elite of the business, political, and media world. www.on-the-margin.com

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