The Restive Perspective

Cameron Peake

As a female founder/ CEO-turned-investor, I have a personal passion to invest in more women in the top seat of companies. More women leading companies means that there are more products and teams that have a fundamentally different perspective, which leads to better social, economic, and financial outcomes. So we're excited to share The Restive Perspective, where I tell the stories of female CEOs and the journeys they took to launch their companies. This isn’t your typical business profile series. My goal here is not only to turn the spotlight on some incredible leaders, but also to talk about the challenges, fear, and doubts they had before starting their companies- and importantly, the tactics they used to actually make the leap. After transitioning to the VC seat, I’ve had the opportunity to meet so many amazing female operators who are contemplating founding a company- but I see them frequently self-selecting into the #2 or #3 role because they don’t think that they have what it takes. This dynamic only exacerbates the problem that within fintech, less than 5% of CEOs are women. My motivation in telling the stories of other women who have made this transition previously is that everyone has these doubts, and that no one is fully “qualified” for this role - it is a constant state of learning. There are many reasons to not start a company - but a lack of conviction in your own potential should not be one of them.

  1. May 19

    The Restive Perspective | AI enabled tax with Dominic Vitucci of Onshore

    Meet Dominic Vitucci, the founder/CEO of Onshore. Onshore makes corporate tax credits faster, more affordable, and more accessible. Restive backed Dominic in 2023, back when his pitch ("I'm going to use AI to do the work the Big Accounting firms charge millions for") was still controversial. Three years and three straight 4x revenue years later, Onshore is on pace for $100M this year with a team of 60. Highlights include: - Onshore turns R&D tax credit studies from 9–12 months to 2–4 weeks at a fraction of legacy fees. It doesn't get much cheaper and faster than that. - Dominic doesn't think the Big 4 have a right to exist if they refuse to adopt AI. He's not subtle about it. - On building: "Find people better than you at their domain, convince them to make an asymmetric bet on themselves and on you, and then convince them everything they're doing is critical." That's the founder job description in one sentence. Check it out if you're thinking about AI × services, the future of legacy industries, or what it actually looks like to rebuild a company on top of foundation models. About Onshore: We built Onshore to fix a problem we saw everywhere: months of manual work, fragmented evidence, and reports that left incentives on the table or created risk when scrutiny arrived. Our founder, Dominic Vitucci, started his career on Grant Thornton’s Tax Innovation team, where he saw how outdated, effort-based processes produced slow timelines and unclear ownership. In 2020, he left to rebuild the system around outcomes instead of hours. Today, the Onshore team brings together tax experts, engineers, and product builders to deliver results that are structured, defensible, and owned from start to finish. We are backed by FPV, Y Combinator, Vertex Ventures, Restive, and PruVen. More importantly, we are committed to helping companies claim what they are entitled to with clarity, accountability, and confidence. www.onshore.com About Restive: Restive is a seed stage fintech venture capital fund. We are former founders and operators and we aim to be your most helpful investor. We help you bridge the seed to A with capital and key industry partners in financial services to give you what you need to grow. About The Restive Perspective: The Restive Perspective is a series from Restive Ventures about our views on the market. We share founder interviews, commentary on the tech and VC industries, and other timely content to advance the discussion about the state of technology and fintech today. To learn more about Restive and get in touch with us, please visit us at https://www.restive.com/. fintech, venture, investing, Ryan Falvey, Cameron Peake, Tyler Griffin, VC, podcast, story, personal, background, founder story, founder origins Learn more about The Restive Perspective and Restive Ventures at www.restive.com.

    33 min
  2. 09/03/2025

    Jason Wilk on Dave’s Rise, Collapse & AI Comeback | Restive Perspective Podcast

    On this episode of The Restive Perspective, Ryan Falvey sits down with Jason Wilk, founder & CEO of Dave — the fintech that went public faster than almost anyone before it. Jason shares how his personal challenges led directly to the company's origin, why people actually love overdraft (but hate the fees), and how the company turned overdraft protection into a technological breakthrough. He opens up about the highs and lows of going public, the clarity that losing 90% of the company’s value brought, and how the company's transformation into an AI leader is powering its meteoric growth. We cover everything from raising capital when VCs said his customers were “too poor,” to building Dave into an AI-first fintech that serves millions, all while staying lean (albeit with ~300 employees). Topics include: -The pain point that led to founding Dave -Raising capital when no one believed in neobanks -The rollercoaster of going public, collapse, and comeback -How AI transformed credit underwriting & customer growth -Lessons in resilience, product velocity, and trust This is a candid, insightful conversation about fintech disruption, resilience, and the future of AI in financial services. 👉 Don’t forget to subscribe for more conversations with leaders shaping the future of finance. About Dave: Dave is on a mission to build products that level the financial playing field. The app launched in 2017 to help Americans take control of their finances. Since then, Dave has brought its 13M members the products other banks won’t: ExtraCash™ up to $500, goal tracking, and simple ways to find Side Hustles when they’re behind on their budget. About Restive: Restive is a seed stage fintech venture capital fund. We are former founders and operators and we aim to be your most helpful investor. We help you bridge the seed to A with capital and key industry partners in financial services to give you what you need to grow. About The Restive Perspective: The Restive Perspective is a series from Restive Ventures about our views on the market. We share founder interviews, commentary on the tech and VC industries, and other timely content to advance the discussion about the state of technology and fintech today. To learn more about Restive and get in touch with us, please visit us at https://www.restive.com/. fintech, venture, investing, Ryan Falvey, Cameron Peake, Tyler Griffin, VC, podcast, story, personal, background, founder story, founder origins Learn more about The Restive Perspective and Restive Ventures at www.restive.com. ⏱️ YouTube Chapters 00:00 – Why people actually love overdraft 00:36 – Ryan welcomes Jason Wilk (CEO of Dave) 01:23 – Dave’s founding story 03:00 – Fighting overdraft fees: “Dave vs. Goliath” 04:20 – Launching “Extra Cash” — no-fee advances 06:00 – How Dave grew faster than other neobanks 07:45 – Consumers knowingly using overdraft as credit 09:10 – Early validation & ultra-low acquisition costs 12:25 – Struggles raising capital: 120 investor meetings 15:40 – Investors didn’t understand the customer base 17:00 – Going public early & capitalizing the company 19:00 – Stock collapse and rebound story 21:30 – Market cap swings: $4B to $59M to $3B 24:30 – Why being public helped long-term strategy 27:25 – Becoming an AI-first company 29:05 – AI underwriting: lowering losses to ~1% 32:00 – Competition: Big banks vs. neobanks 33:30 – Expanding credit, longer durations & new products 35:00 – Building a small but elite team (300 employees) 36:08 – Jason’s five- to ten-year vision for Dave 37:36 – CEOs Jason models himself after (Coinbase, Robinhood) 40:00 – Trust, brand, and customer adoption 43:00 – Lessons from the rise, fall, and comeback 44:23 – Closing reflections

    44 min
  3. 08/15/2025

    The Restive Perspective | B2B sales with Alloy, Ascend, and Sardine

    Scaling an enterprise fintech from 0–1 might look easy from the outside—but sustaining growth and building a market leader is another story. In this Go Restive panel, Alloy’s Laura Spiekerman, Ascend’s Andrew Wynn, and Sardine’s Soups Ranjan share exactly how they’ve done it: from founder-led selling and the first sales hire, to dinner series that convert and swag that sparks conversations. Moderated by Restive Ventures Partner Cameron Peake, this is a myth-busting, detail-rich look at the strategies, habits, and mindset that turn ambitious startups into enduring enterprise companies. B2B sales is always one of the top 3 topics that founders ask us about at Restive Ventures. Well, we heard you loud and clear! Earlier this year we held a panel at our Go Restive event with Andrew Wynn of Ascend, Laura Spiekerman of Alloy, and Soups Ranjan of Sardine about their experiences with sales and growing that part of the org. We got super granular, and it shows that you never stop learning how to sell- even the panelists were swapping techniques! Some tidbits: - Founders should stay in the lead sales role until at least $1M ARR - define your repeatable processes - Avoid “short-term greed” - don’t try to introduce a second product into a sales cycle just because primary sales process is going well - All of our panelists started with an SMB product before going to enterprise- this helped to refine the product and have cash to navigate the long sales cycle. All of our panelists said they wished they could have heard this conversation as they were starting their companies. Give it a listen! This is an audio session that was recorded as part of a Go Restive event in February 2025. As a lead up to the session, Cameron and Ryan discuss the conversation and their takeaways and highlights. About Restive: Restive is a seed stage fintech venture capital fund. We are former founders and operators and we aim to be your most helpful investor. We help you bridge the seed to A with capital and key industry partners in financial services to give you what you need to grow. About The Restive Perspective: The Restive Perspective is a series from Restive Ventures about our views on the market. We share founder interviews, commentary on the tech and VC industries, and other timely content to advance the discussion about the state of technology and fintech today. To learn more about Restive and get in touch with us, please visit us at https://www.restive.com/. fintech, venture, investing, Ryan Falvey, Cameron Peake, Tyler Griffin, VC, podcast, story, personal, background, founder story, founder origins

    51 min
  4. 04/18/2025

    In conversation with Rashmi Melgiri | Functional Finance

    Meet Rashmi Melgiri. After a successful run as the #2 at Coverwallet, Rashmi saw a problem she was uniquely fit to solve– and she was driven to do it from the CEO seat herself. In this episode we feature:  Her company Functional FinanceHer leadership journey and what it took to establish her own, authentic voiceHow she stepped off the consultant trajectory and became a founderHow she was uniquely positioned to identify and act on a problem she saw in the marketLessons from running a company for a second time aroundA surprise puppetAnd much more! About Functional Finance: Our mission is to empower insurance companies with innovative financial software. By making billing, payments, and reconciliation work together in one easy-to-use platform, our clients can focus on delivering exceptional service and growing their business. https://www.functionalfi.com/ About Restive: Restive is a seed stage fintech venture capital fund. We are former founders and operators and we aim to be your most helpful investor. We help you bridge the seed to A with capital and key industry partners in financial services to give you what you need to grow. About The Restive Perspective The Restive Perspective is a series from Restive Ventures about our views on the market. We share founder interviews, commentary on the tech and VC industries, and other timely content to advance the discussion about the state of technology and fintech today. To learn more about Restive and get in touch with us, please visit us at https://www.restive.com/. fintech, venture, investing, Ryan Falvey, Cameron Peake, Tyler Griffin, VC, podcast, story, personal, background, founder story, founder origins

    30 min
  5. 12/12/2024

    In conversation with Ximena Aleman of Prometeo (Episode 9)

    Meet Ximena Aleman, the co-founder & CEO of Prometeo. After realizing the potential of open banking in Latin America, Ximena went on a journey of learning the importance of "market" fit in the "product market fit" equation. Hear that story and much more!   In this episode, we discuss: Ximena's transition from journalism to tech, which was driven by her fascination with entrepreneurial stories.How it took multiple pivots to arrive at Prometeo.Going from No, no, no to yes, yes, yes: Her journey of product-market fit was more like market-product fit. Building a strong network was crucial for securing funding and support. About Prometeo: We are the leading fintech infrastructure company connecting global corporations with financial institutions in Latin America and the United States. We create innovative technological infrastructure, specializing in banking APIs. About Restive: Restive is a seed stage fintech venture capital fund. We are former founders and operators and we aim to be your most helpful investor. We help you bridge the seed to A with capital and key industry partners in financial services to give you what you need to grow. About The Restive Perspective The Restive Perspective is a series from Restive Ventures about our views on the market. We share founder interviews, commentary on the tech and VC industries, and other timely content to advance the discussion about the state of technology and fintech today. To learn more about Restive and get in touch with us, please visit us at https://www.restive.com/. fintech, venture, investing, Ryan Falvey, Cameron Peake, Tyler Griffin, VC, podcast, story, personal, background, founder story, founder origins Learn more about The Restive Perspective and Restive Ventures at www.restive.com.

    26 min
  6. 10/07/2024

    In conversation with Natasha Vernier of Cable (Episode 5)

    Meet Natasha Vernier, co-founder and CEO of Cable. A compliance leader within banking, she never harbored aspirations about being an entrepreneur- until she came across a glaringly obvious problem she couldn't turn away from. And from there Cable was born. In this episode we dive into: Natasha's early journey and what compelled her to start CableHow she started her fundraise, and why she pushed for a higher initial salaryCompiling a diverse cap tableHer role as an LGBTQ+ leader in techCable's operating system and how she managed to refine their principles And much more! About Cable: Cable is the all-in-one effectiveness testing platform that helps you comply with your financial crime requirements. Whether you add 1 control or add 1,000 accounts, Cable is your central hub for complete automated controls monitoring as your business scales — and you won’t need to add more headcount. Say goodbye to manual dip sampling; say yes to growth with confidence in your compliance. Learn more at cable.tech. About Restive: Restive is a seed stage fintech venture capital fund organized around speed. We are former founders and operators and we aim to be your most helpful investor. We help you bridge the seed to A with capital and key industry partners in financial services to give you what you need to grow. To learn more about Restive and get in touch with us, please visit us at https://www.restive.com/. About The Restive Perspective The Restive Perspective is a series from Restive Ventures about our views on the market. We share founder interviews, commentary on the tech and VC industries, and other timely content to advance the discussion about the state of technology and fintech today. Follow us on Twitter:    / restivevc   Follow us on LinkedIn:    / restiveventures   fintech, venture, investing, Ryan Falvey, Cameron Peake, Tyler Griffin, VC, podcast, story, personal, background, founder story, founder origins

    24 min

About

As a female founder/ CEO-turned-investor, I have a personal passion to invest in more women in the top seat of companies. More women leading companies means that there are more products and teams that have a fundamentally different perspective, which leads to better social, economic, and financial outcomes. So we're excited to share The Restive Perspective, where I tell the stories of female CEOs and the journeys they took to launch their companies. This isn’t your typical business profile series. My goal here is not only to turn the spotlight on some incredible leaders, but also to talk about the challenges, fear, and doubts they had before starting their companies- and importantly, the tactics they used to actually make the leap. After transitioning to the VC seat, I’ve had the opportunity to meet so many amazing female operators who are contemplating founding a company- but I see them frequently self-selecting into the #2 or #3 role because they don’t think that they have what it takes. This dynamic only exacerbates the problem that within fintech, less than 5% of CEOs are women. My motivation in telling the stories of other women who have made this transition previously is that everyone has these doubts, and that no one is fully “qualified” for this role - it is a constant state of learning. There are many reasons to not start a company - but a lack of conviction in your own potential should not be one of them.