Perfectly Boring Will Coffield & Jason Black

Today Jason and Will are joined by the Co-Founder and President of CoinTracker, Chandan Lodha. “In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes,” wrote Ben Franklin in 1789. These 233 years later, that remains true albeit far more complex than in that era. Today the breakneck-pace of crypto has left users and regulators confused and reactive to the changing landscape. CoinTracker’s focus is making crypto tax compliance user-friendly. Founded in the 2017-2018 market frenzy around crypto, CoinTracker used the subsequent “crypto winter” to run lean and refine their product. This persistence through the highs and especially the lows in crypto markets has set them up for tremendous success in this new era of mainstream adoption of crypto technologies.

Jason and Will are joined by Bharath Krishnamoorthy Founder/CEO of Axle to talk about the perfectly boring world of freight intermediaries and invoice factoring. Jason has some background in the business, and has worked with “B” before, which lends to a conversation with more credence and depth. The industry is a multi-trillion dollar industry that, for all intent and purposes, essentially exists in pen, and on paper. Bharath and his company are changing that, and bringing this literally rusty industry into the digital space.

Bharath discusses his background as a lawyer and what led to the beginnings of partnership with his co-founder. They saw in something as simple as a commute via bus that there was an entire world that needed to change. They started providing a bus company a custom built revenue optimization solution, and once they had identified the niche they could fill, they pivoted into the intersection of transportation and finance. Now Axle has solidified their business within that space. Check out the conversation for more!

Jason and Will are joined by Andrew Wang, CEO of Valon, who leads us through the intricate inner-workings of mortgage servicing industry. Home ownership and therefore mortgages are a staple of American life. The average homeowner in the US has nearly 80% of their net worth tied to their home’s value. While much attention is paid to mortgage origination—the initial loan—mortgage payments need to be collected over 10, 20, and 30 years. That is the role of mortgage servicing—a surprisingly critical role in the stability of the US economy as the Great Financial Crisis pulled into sharp relief.

In this episode, Andrew breaks down the evolution of mortgaging services over the years, from its origins in the post-depression era, to the impact of the 2008 financial crisis. We also discuss the industry’s structural composition and incumbent players who have been unable or unwilling to keep up with the pace of modern innovation. Valon taken a holistic and homeowner-centric view of the world, leading them to new and exciting opportunities to not only improve the mortgage servicing experience but also homeownership itself.

For this episode Jason and Will are joined by Steve Tuck, CEO and Co-founder at Oxide Computer. Steve and his company’s mission to transform the private cloud and on premise data centers are innovating ways to make scalable cloud infrastructure accessible across a wide spectrum of companies. Steve takes the deep dive on how Oxide is bringing forth these changes, and the details are exceedingly exciting about the direction that Oxide, and the cloud, is going. Check out the conversation for all the details!

Steve discusses his history at Dell during its heyday, the eventual shift from hardware to software, and the rise of demand for a different kind of computer. Steve’s multifaceted career has led him to co-found Oxide and their work to innovate what exactly the server currently is, what it was, and their future. Steve’s deep insights are invaluable in regard to the intersection of hardware and software. He also speaks to the space that Oxide is operating in and the cloud and software offerings they are bringing to a wide range of companies no matter their size, tune in for this and more.

Jason and Will are joined by Luke Schoenfelder, CEO of Latch, to discuss the role of Latch, and how they found innovations in something as seemingly unimportant as—locks. Luke breaks down the origin of Latch and their innovative eye for how to revolutionize a common household item. Luke and his team started with taking a look at the next steps for infrastructure, and they ended with Latch. Tune in for the full story!

Luke’s upbringing in Pennsylvania set him up for a non-linear path to Latch. He has worked in a range of companies and areas of expertise, from modular housing in Haiti, to time spent at Apple. He discusses the origins of building out his team at Latch and their inspiration to focus on the hospitality industry. By going straight to the customer Latch brought in a business model innovation that set them apart, one of many that aligns with Latch’s vision.

Welcome to the Perfectly Boring Podcast, a show where we talk to the people transforming the world's most boring industries. On each podcast, we will be sitting down with executives, investors, and entrepreneurs to talk about the boring industries they operate in and the exciting businesses they’ve built.

Strap in for the most marvelously mundane ride of your life.