Thoughts on Fintech, Startups, and Building Better Products
Ideas, lessons, and honest takes from 20+ years in banking, product strategy, and the startup world.
AI CEOs: Please Slow Down AI (Before Someone Else Builds It Better)
AI safety concerns can be real. But regulation can also be very useful when you are already leading the race. Something strange is happening in AI. Some of the people spending the most money to build more powerful AI are also telling us that AI may become too...
When the Tool Starts Using the Worker
In Talking to My Daughter About the Economy, Yanis Varoufakis asks whether machines really work for us, or whether we increasingly work to serve and maintain them. Before AI, this question already existed, but the line was easier to see. Imagine a graphic designer...
Cheap Intelligence, Expensive Trust
How AI is changing work, career entry, trust, and everyday life by 2030 The usual AI question is still the wrong one. People keep asking when AGI will arrive, as if the whole story depends on one dramatic date. It probably does not. A much more useful question is...
You all love new tech, as long as it is not after what you do
I have read too many texts where people use Luddites as the perfect parallel for today’s AI fear. It started around 1811 in England. Workers were scared of textille machines replacing them so they broke the machines, and the state response was not a Linked in post....
Stop comparing AI vs AI, companies buy ecosystems. (Yes, even when they shouldn’t.)
Every week someone asks, or actually try to give an answer to the same question: "Is Gemini better than ChatGPT?", or: "Copilot vs NotebookLM?" But here’s what usually happens in real companies, especially non-tech ones. They don’t build a perfect AI stack. They buy...
Hype vs Responsibility in Building Fintech Products with AI
Key takeaways AI speeds up fintech work. It can also blur who owns the outcome. The risk is not AI mistakes. The risk is unclear ownership when mistakes happen. Make AI durable by designing for handoffs, exceptions, and double-checking. I work in fintech product, and...
How I Overcame Pitch Anxiety, And How You Can Too
If you're building a startup, at some point you're going to have to pitch, whether to investors, accelerators, or even your first team member. For many of us, especially introverts, this is terrifying. I know, because I’ve been there. In 2024, my startup Colsia was...
How to Validate a Fintech Startup Idea in the Early Stage, Lessons Beyond Checklists
If you’ve ever Googled “how to validate a startup idea,” you’ve likely been buried under endless checklists. They all look slightly different enough to avoid Google penalties, but are essentially the same. And they’re not wrong. Follow them and you’ll avoid many...
How Early-Stage Fintech Startups Can Prepare for Fundraising
Raising your first round of funding as a fintech founder can feel overwhelming. The competition is intense, and investors are more cautious when regulation, compliance, and trust are involved. But here's the good news: You don’t need a finished product or thousands of...
Fintech Pitch Deck: Common Mistakes and How to Fix Them
Getting your fintech pitch deck right is critical, especially if you're raising your first round. Investors often decide within minutes whether to keep listening or move on. As a fintech advisor, I’ve reviewed dozens of early-stage decks. Most founders make the same...
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