FINTECHTALK

Welcome FINTECHTALKERS! I was able to get a few minutes with Dušan Stojanović , Founding Partner at True Global Ventures (TGV) Plus , as a preview for the upcoming 74th TGV Conference, to unpack a major shift unfolding at the intersection of stablecoins, AI, and financial infrastructure. FINTECHTALK™ Sculpting the future of fintech, AI, & Crypto is a reader-supported publication. To receive new po...

Welcome FINTECHTALKERS! Embedded finance is still one of the most powerful distribution models in financial services. But it’s no longer as simple as it once looked. There was a time when the playbook felt straightforward: add payments, add lending, add a wallet—and you were in the game. Today, that model is breaking down under the weight of compliance friction, weaker economics, shallow integrati...

Welcome FINTECHTALKERS! Today’s conversation is about something much bigger than fintech innovation. It is about a change in the operating conditions of the entire financial system. The AWS of WealthTech My guest is Bill Capuzzi, CEO of Apex Fintech Solutions, one of the most important infrastructure companies in modern investing. This is Bill’s second time on FINTECHTALK. The first time, I descri...

A macro walk-through of why energy is the new moat, chips are sovereign assets, infrastructure is being rebuilt, and apps are collapsing into models as workflows get redesigned for an agentic future. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit substack.fintechtalk.ivalley.co/subscribe

Welcome FINTECHTALKERS! Money is having a history moment again. Stablecoins, tariffs, reshoring, central bank independence, “Global South” monetary narratives—these aren’t disconnected headlines. They’re signals that the rules, rails, and power centers of money are being contested in real time. Money’s Long Arc, Stablecoins’ Next Level: Adam Braus on History, Hayek, and Innovation In this episode,...

Welcome FINTECHTALKERS! This episode is a forward-looking roundtable on the 2025 → 2026 transition in financial services and fintech—where the arc from digital → mobile → embedded is now bending toward what comes next: agentic commerce and agentic banking , alongside the renewed momentum in stablecoins, tokenization, and programmable money . To get past the noise, Paddy sits down with three greats...

Welcome FINTECHTALKERS! In this episode, I sat down with Brandon Card , Founder & CEO of Terzo , to explore one of the most overlooked foundations of enterprise value: contracts . FINTECHTALK’s view: the future enterprise won’t be run by today’s ERP, CRM, or core banking stacks—it’ll be run by an AI orchestrator that coordinates value flows across agent-based suppliers, partners, customers, and in...

Welcome FINTECHTALKERS! Our thesis from our piece earlier - “We’re moving from “features on legacy rails” to programmable, money on increasingly on-chain infrastructure. Tokenization is a means; infrastructure is the story. Eventually, programmable money can think and choose with Agents.” If you’re building any piece of this on-chain financial fabric—stablecoins, RWA rails, prediction markets, tre...

Welcome FINTECHTALKERS! In this episode, I sat down with Toby Brown , who leads regulated industries at Google Cloud , to explore how AI in financial services has evolved from pilot projects to real deployments driving measurable ROI. Last year, the conversation was about proofs of concept. This year, it’s about deployment, integration, and scale . Toby explains how banks, fintechs, and exchanges...

Welcome FINTECHTALKERS! In this episode, I sat down with Nick Christian , Head of National Fintech and Specialty Finance at Silicon Valley Bank , to break down the bank’s freshly released Future of Fintech Report 2025 —a data-packed field guide to what’s real and what’s next in fintech. SVB has long been the industry’s early-warning radar and reality check for fintech. With decades of category foc...

Welcome FINTECHTALKERS! The greatest show in financial services—Money20/20—raises the curtain in Las Vegas in less than a week. For over a decade—and still today—it’s the byword for the industry’s future. In this episode, I sat down with Zach Anderson Pettet , VP of Fintech Strategy at Money20/20 . Zach curates the storylines, steers the content, and keeps a finger on the pulse of what’s real vs....

Welcome FINTECHTALKERS! In this episode, I sat down with Han Park , Founder & CEO of Payment Labs , to explore how payments innovation is reshaping the worlds of sports, Esports, and the creator economy. From paying athletes across 180+ countries and 150+ currencies to handling compliance, KYC, and taxes seamlessly, Payment Labs is solving one of the hardest challenges in global finance: frictionl...

Welcome FINTECHTALKERS! In this episode, I sat down with Beatrice Lion , CEO and General Partner at True Global Ventures (TGV) , to explore how they are part of bigger trend in venture capital of is evolving into a full services financial services platform - multi-stage, multi-instrument, global, services platform with thesis based funds. TGV now operates with RIA-like flexibility , much like lead...

Hello FINTECHTALKERS! In this episode, I sat down with Sharon Rodriguez, CEO of HighPeak AI and venture partner at 1843 Capital, to explore how data, AI, and deep insurance insight are transforming long-term care planning. Backed by Prudential and built on three decades of claims and underwriting data, HighPeak is rethinking how Americans plan for healthcare, retirement, and the silver economy. Sh...

HELLO FINTECHTALKERS! In this episode, I sat down with Sebastien Borget , the visionary co-founder and COO of The Sandbox , a platform that has redefined gaming by turning players into creators, users into owners, and digital assets into economies. Sebastien shares his journey from a teenage gamer to a serial entrepreneur who pioneered one of the most active decentralized gaming platforms in Web 3...

HELLO FINTECHTALKERS, In this episode, I sat down with Ram Palaniappan , CEO of EarnIn , to discuss something that touches all of us — getting paid . But not in the old way. Ram and his team are flipping the script on payday with Early Pay, a new feature that gets users access to their paycheck two days ahead of time , with zero hassle and maximum flexibility. And what made this episode extra spec...

HELLO FINTECHTALKERS, In this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Veer Gidwaney , founder and CEO of Ansel . With a strong entrepreneurial background and a successful exit from Maxwell Health to Sun Life, Veer’s passion for solving healthcare challenges is evident. Ansel is redefining the world of supplemental insurance by covering 13,000 conditions —far more than traditional offerings—an...

HELLO FINTECHTALKERS, In this episode, I sat down with Chandini Jain , CEO of Auquan , to explore the real-world application of agentic AI in financial services. Auquan is an enterprise AI platform that builds domain-specific agents for capital markets, automating time-consuming workflows like deal screening , credit analysis , due diligence , and compliance reporting . Chandini walks us through h...

HELLO FINTECHTALKERS, In this episode, I sat down with an all-star panel featuring Amy Oldenburg , Managing Director at Morgan Stanley , Lex Sokolin , Managing Partner & Co-Founder of Generative Ventures , Rana Gujaral , CEO of Behavioral Signals , and Dr. Riad Hartani , AI and infrastructure expert, to unpack the rapidly evolving AI landscape. From the rise of DeepSeek and the almost trillion-dol...

Welcome FINTECHTALKERS! In this episode, I sat down with Rob Straathof , CEO of Liberis , to explore how embedded finance is reshaping the lending landscape for small businesses. From instant capital access to AI-driven analytics, Liberis is building a small business co-pilot for SMEs worldwide. Rob shares his journey from being raised in a small business family to investment banking to fintech di...

Welcome back and a BIG thank you FINTECHTALKERS! FINTECHTALK: A Top 10% Global Podcast Shaping the Future of Fintech, AI, and Crypto Ranked by ListenNotes Looking to amplify your brand's reach? Partner with our podcast and connect with an engaged and loyal audience. Contact us today to explore sponsorship opportunities and elevate your brand! fintechtalk@substack.com In this episode, I sat down wi...

Welcome back and a big Thank you FINTECHTALKERS! FINTECHTALK: A Top 10% Global Podcast Shaping the Future of Fintech, AI, and Crypto Since its inception, FINTECHTALK has organically risen to rank among the top 10% of podcasts worldwide. It's become the go-to platform for startup CEOs, visionary venture capitalists, and forward-thinking bank innovators to share their stories and insights. With a fo...

Hi FINTECHTALKERS, This year’s Money 20/20 was all about AI and generative AI. Last year, I wrote about the shift from "FINTECH" to "FINTEL" —a fusion of financial technology with AI—and, in just a year, we’re seeing that vision come to life. From startup funding trends to major incumbents rolling out AI-driven solutions, the transformation is well underway. On the sidelines of the event, I had th...

Hi FINTECHTALKERS, I sat down with Garnet Heraman Co-founder and Managing Partner at Aperture Venture Capital, and Dave Anderson Founding General Partner at Beat Ventures to talk about the rise of emerging managers and how they differentiate in an increasing crowded venture capitalist space. Garnet and Dave represent a dynamic new breed of emerging managers, bringing a personalized, niche, and hig...

HI FINTECHTALKERS , (opinion below are my own not necessarily of my guests) I sat down with Tom Brown , partner and general counsel at NYCA Partners , and Luke Voiles , a trailblazer in small business fintech and now CEO of Pipe . We explored the evolving landscape of fintech, diving into the shift from traditional financial services to embedded finance, to support vertical SaaS solutions, and the...