FINTECHTALK Show about FINTECH, DeFI, CRYPTO, NFT WEB3.0, and the METAVERSE

Hi FINTECHTALKERS, (These opinions are mine and not of the guests of my show)
It is commonly accepted wisdom in Silicon Valley that venture capital (VC) portfolio, especially early stage, follow the power law and not the normal distribution - a small number of investments make huge returns whereas a large number don’t even return the invested capital. Given this reality, venture capitalists focus on startups with odds of achieving higher-than-average success, a fact they openly acknowledge. It is frequency vs. magnitude of success or the assessment of that at an early stage. This assessment is very subjective as they prioritize specific trends or ideas simply because they're popular within their social circles or if the founding team has connections within their extended network. Simply put, it is group think with a lot of bias which are not signals of business success or any value analysis. To make matters worse they think this is a strength. Vinod Khosla, a prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalists (VCs) and the founder of Khosla Ventures, candidly admitted to Harvard Business Review that the power dynamic swiftly shifts when VCs become enthusiastic about a startup, particularly if it receives offers from other firms. "The best startups with inspiring entrepreneurs face intense competition for funding," he remarked. However, what is seldom said is that minority founders, such as Black or Latino founders, often do not fit the profile of “best startups” or “inspiring entrepreneurs” due to biases inherent within these elitist capital allocators. 1 2 3.
A living example of this bias is Tope Awotona, the now billionaire founder of Calendly. Awotona, a black entrepreneur from Atlanta (originally from Nigeria), bootstrapped Calendly by draining his bank and 401(k) accounts, according to publicly available news articles and Calendly website (see screen shot below). It wasn't until eight years into his journey that he raised venture capital, Calendly now is valued at over $3 billion (he may have got some seed capital from a local Atlanta Ventures). Awotona likely did not meet the “inspiring entrepreneurs” label for Khosla and his Silicon Valley peers. Mr. Awotona persisted but several others don’t and cannot.
Source - Calendly Website
“I raided my bank account and 401(k) to launch Calendly in 2013. Eventually, I ran out of money and started to seek VC funding. I had a working product, and customers using it, and everyone said no. Meanwhile, I watched other people who fit a different “profile” get money thrown at them for shitty ideas. Those VCs were ignorant and shortsighted. The only thing I could attribute it to was that I was black,” he told media. Tope Awotona as quoted in https://peopleofcolorintech.com/ Emphasis added

Moreover, when a startup garners the backing of VCs, these investors often pull out all the stops to ensure its success. They employ various mechanisms, such as venture debt and mutual co-investments at inflated valuations, practices that go unscrutinized in private markets but arguably should be, especially considering that much of the capital originates from pension funds and 401(k)s. In the wake of the SVB collapse, VCs have lost access to tools like venture debt that were once used to amplify leverage and prop up valuations. This shift demands a more value-based approach to portfolio construction. Previously, VC-friendly banks like SVB facilitated venture debt through concentrated deposits, a strategy encouraged by Silicon Valley VCs who insisted their portfolio companies bank there. I explored this issue last year, highlighting concentration risk and the perils of venture debt as key factors in SVB's downfall. Private investments, especially in early-stage ventures, don't get scrutinized much, allowing for big gambles (unreal valuations) and the ability to influence co-investors. However, if factors such as race are influencing investment decisions, aren't we on a slippery s

Hi FINTECHTALKERS, (follow me on Twitter (X)) for real-time discussions on these topics @PADDYRAMANATHAN),
I sat down with Deep Varma, CTO of Alkami (0-41.20) to talk about Digital Banking Solutions and separately with my good friend Booshan Rengachari, CEO of Finzly (41.30-1.13) to talk about Finzly’s BankOS and how he plans to incorporate AI/GenAI.
You don’t want to miss the insights of these technology visionaries building the next generation of technology for financial services.
ICYMI, the two-part series on AI that Elon Musk and Sam Altman appear to be reading and posting about:
FINTECHTALK™ Sculpting the future of fintech, AI, & Crypto is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Enjoy and always be in the know,
Paddy Ramanathan
Follow me on the new Twitter (X) @PaddyRamanathanFounder of iValley (www.ivalley.co) andHost of the FINTECHTALK™ Show (on Substack, Apple Podcast, and Spotify)
(Violin piece in podcast, courtesy of my daughter Ilina)
Check out some of the new episodes of FINTECHTALK podcasts on AI at Apple, Spotify, or YouTube links below


Get full access to FINTECHTALK™ Sculpting the future of fintech, AI, & Crypto at substack.fintechtalk.ivalley.co/subscribe

Hi FINTECHTALKERS, (follow me on Twitter (X)) for lively discussions on these topics @PADDYRAMANATHAN),
I sat down with Ram Palaniappan, CEO of Earnin, a company that allows workers to access their pay instantly. Lot of folks in the industry like to talk about financial inclusion as it is good for the brand, Palaniappan and Earnin are the real deal.
Palaniappan has built a very sucessfull main street fintech and raised around $200 million from prominent VCs like Andreessen Horowitz, Matrix Partners, Ribbit Capital. He talks passionately about how how his company’s product have impacted real customers. Seems like a simple concept but a huge deal for someone who lives paycheck to paycheck.
We cover a wide variety of topics including solving for medical debt, overdraft fees or its avoidnance, increasing savings and overall improving the financial health. Can Earnin be the financial AI co-pilot - the killer GenAI app in consumer finance? Tune in to find out.
Enjoy and always be in the know,
Paddy Ramanathan
Follow me on the new Twitter (X) @PaddyRamanathanFounder of iValley (www.ivalley.co) andHost of the FINTECHTALK™ Show (on Substack, Apple Podcast, and Spotify)
(Violin piece in podcast, courtesy of my daughter Ilina)


Get full access to FINTECHTALK™ Sculpting the future of fintech, AI, & Crypto at substack.fintechtalk.ivalley.co/subscribe

HI FINTECHTALKERS, (follow me on Twitter (X) for lively discussions on these topics @PADDYRAMANATHAN),
Happy New Year! I sat down with Zor Gorelov, CEO of Kasisto, a pioneer in AI. We cover a lot of topics from Artificial Financial Intelligence (AFI before AGI) that Zor passionately talks about, how domain-specific models can win over general-purpose LLMs, and how those capabilities will provide a competitive advantage for future enterprises.
Here is the table of timestamps for easy navigation of the conversation
0.-4.40 - Intro of the episode, Zor’s background, and what got him to build Kasisto
4.41- 8.04 - Kasisto’s history, how it came to be from SRI, democratize and everyone to have a digital advisor
8.05-13.36 - Banking-specific model KAI-GPT and how will AI can be a differentiation in FS
13.37 -18.57 - AGI, AFI et al - AI-based financial advisor that is like human advisors
18.58- 23.33 - How should FI’s adopt LLMs - Augment LLMs, domain-specific model or build from the ground up
23.34 -26.0 - The design principle or pillars for Kasisto and KAI-GPT
26.01-27.46 - AI becoming the Enterprise Information and Intelligence (Human + Machine)
27.46- 33.30 AI Middleware or Middle GPT Ware and AI for structured Data
33.30-36.50 - Closing - how to connect with Gor
Enjoy and always be in the know,
Paddy Ramanathan Follow me on the new Twitter (X) @PaddyRamanathanFounder of iValley (www.ivalley.co) andHost of the FINTECHTALK™ Show (on Substack, Apple Podcast, and Spotify)
(Violin piece in podcast, courtesy of my daughter Ilina)


Get full access to FINTECHTALK™ Sculpting the future of fintech, AI, & Crypto at substack.fintechtalk.ivalley.co/subscribe

HI FINTECHTALKERS, (follow me on Twitter (X) for lively discussions on these topics @PADDYRAMANATHAN),
I sat down with David Nohe, CEO of Fingoal, a Fintel Startup creating hyperpersonalization, and Leslie Gillin, Chief Growth Officer at Pagaya another innovative company applying AI in financial services in credit decisions and financial inclusion.
Subscribe to tune into my conversation with Zor Gorelov, CEO of Kasisto, and Deep Varma CTO of Alkami coming up next.
Enjoy and always be in the know,
Paddy Ramanathan Follow me on the new X @PaddyRamanathanFounder of iValley (www.ivalley.co) andHost of the FINTECHTALK™ Show (on Substack, Apple Podcast, and Spotify)
(Violin piece in podcast, courtesy of my daughter Ilina)


Get full access to FINTECHTALK™ Sculpting the future of fintech, AI, & Crypto at substack.fintechtalk.ivalley.co/subscribe

HI FINTECHTALKERS, (follow me on Twitter (X) for lively discussions on these topics @PADDYRAMANATHAN),
I sat down with Ian Horne, author of Why DeFI Matters to discuss his book. This was recorded on the sidelines of Money2020.
We talk about how DeFI changes to the financial system factor whereas fintech is essentially a distribution innovation, and how Web3 fundamentally changes the business model of the internet. Ian talks about successful projects in DefI/Crypto that don’t get much attention and what he is most excited about.
Enjoy and always be in the know,
Paddy Ramanathan Follow me on the new Twitter (X) @PaddyRamanathanFounder of iValley (www.ivalley.co) andHost of the FINTECHTALK™ Show (on Substack, Apple Podcast, and Spotify)
(Violin piece in podcast, courtesy of my daughter Ilina)


Get full access to FINTECHTALK™ Sculpting the future of fintech, AI, & Crypto at substack.fintechtalk.ivalley.co/subscribe