Samir @heysamir_ Twitter profile | Pikagi

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Samir

@heysamir_

3,326

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70

Following

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Over-engineered fintech, tech & stratfin tweets. Opinions my own. Now: StratFin, Corp Dev & Strategic Investments @ HRT // Before: Unit, Chime, Sift, JP Morgan

Brooklyn, NY

https://t.co/ot33tpzLnG

Joined May 2011

Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 months

I have a lot of respect for consumer fintechs that make a business out of selling a product for free. The only way to be able to do that successfully is for companies to fully understand the underlying unit economics of the business and what levers there are to increase margins

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

0/ Fintechs get a ton of coverage, but did you know that behind every fintech challenger is an actual bank that powers it? Fintechs use these banks to "rent-a-charter" to access the regulated financial system and park member deposits. But who are the banks behind the fintechs?

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

The recent public market fintech decline gives us a new perspective on private market valuations right now: Stripe $95B vs Square $55B (1.7x) Klarna $46B vs Affirm $18B (2.5x) Revolut $33B vs Nubank $35B (0.9x) FTX $32B vs Coinbase $50B (0.6x) eToro $9B vs Robinhood $11B (0.9x)

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

0/ If you want to build a US challenger bank from scratch, you're not going to be able do it alone (if you want to move fast). To make modern fintech banking happen quickly, here's the 13 most important strategic partnerships you need + common deal unit economics 👇 👇

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

1/24 It's crazy to see how excited people get when they see another fintech cross $1B in volume, like it matters on its own. The secret that they're not telling you is that fintech transaction volume is basically a useless vanity metric, *unless* you also know "net take rate".

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

1/16 Spend enough time in neobanking fintech & you'll inevitably hear somebody talk about the "Durbin Amendment". It's the reason every neobank exists AND the biggest dependency risk to their business model. But what if I told you the downside risk isn't as bad as it seems?

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

Wow at this rate, Microsoft could add Block ($48B), Affirm ($14B) and ($15B) to their cart for not much more than Activision ($70B) and get themselves on their way to building a decent fourth payment network option and a major business fintech roll-up.

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

1/24 I'm a fintech nerd but a web3 noob so I thought the @ConstitutionDAO project was a good opp to learn. I just wanted to contribute 0.01337 ETH ($56) over my lunch break. 6+ hrs, 4 platforms, $88 in fees later, I'm now the holder of 13,370 $PEOPLE tokens?! I learned a lot.

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

1/18 You know what really grinds my gears? When otherwise clever fintech nerds *still* quote "Gross Profit" like it's a metric that matters for a neobank fintech. Every operator knows that "Contribution Profit" is the hidden metric that really drives unit economics.

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

I was talking to my fiancee about how surprised I was that the interchange post became so popular and she was like "well, you actually talked about how interchange worked on our first date and somehow we're still together so I guess you were onto something."

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@heysamir_

Samir

10 months

I'm increasingly convinced the debit card neobanking startup explosion overlooked the punishing power of disputes on unit economics. This, more than not finding PMF or getting destroyed by high CAC, is likely the major driver for the subsequent collapse in '22/'23. 1/3

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@heysamir_

Samir

2 years

I wonder if Brex's retreat from serving SMBs is less about changing focus to enterprise & more about realizing potential for huge default risk from SMBs during a prolonged recession. The suddenness & extremeness of decision makes it seem like more than just a strategy change.

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@heysamir_

Samir

2 years

1/3 Deep diving into BaaS & there are so many layers to the ecosystem. Here's an example - Grasshopper Bank (chartered in '19) offers BaaS platform but powered by TreasuryPrime (also sells BaaS directly) who in turn uses Marqeta (also has BaaS) for issuing. There's levels here!

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@heysamir_

Samir

6 months

Matt Newcomb, CFO at Chime, my longtime mentor and former boss, delivered an incredible primer on consumer fintechs and what it takes to be a CFO on @cjgustafson222 's Run The Numbers podcast. Link: This is a must-listen - here's some key themes: 1/8

E28: The Economics of Consumer Fintech Businesses with Matthew Newcomb, CFO of Chime

Listen to this episode from "Turpentine Finance" with Sasha Orloff | Startup Finance, Leadership, CFO Strategy on Spotify. Matthew Newcomb, the CFO of Chime, joins host CJ Gustafson to delve into the...

open.spotify.com

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@heysamir_

Samir

9 months

If you're in fintech and treat your infrastructure partners like vendors, you're going to have a bad time. In fintech, you need your partners as much as they need you. You will integrate so deeply and have such a customized flow that you vs them will be fully entangled. 1/9

@9to5mac

9to5Mac

9 months

Apple and Goldman Sachs: A timeline of the messy partnership that might soon fall apart [Updated] by @ChanceHMiller

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@heysamir_

Samir

11 months

1/22 It's like every time I tell people I left @unit_co_ to join HRT, they're ready to bash BaaS & write off the entire industry. They couldn't be further from the truth. BaaS still represents huge opportunity and Unit is the only one positioned to win. I'll tell you why.

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@heysamir_

Samir

6 months

This is, by far, the best primer on BaaS and a current state of the union on the ecosystem. 10/10 no notes. If you're in this space, tired of hearing about it or highly interested in it, this is a must read from @AlexH_Johnson :

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Can Anyone Win BaaS? - Fintech Takes

For the last few years, banking-as-a-service (BaaS) has been one of the more interesting, drama-laden corners of fintech (BTW, that Jaws-esque music you hear in the background right now is Jason...

fintechtakes.com

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@heysamir_

Samir

2 years

1/20 Everyone has tips on negotiating, but when's the last time you heard a fresh new (furry) framework for contract negotiation? I'm back at it with a weekend 🧵 Fun fact: I would present a version of this Contract Negotiation 101 at Chime all-hands in the early days. Enjoy!

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@heysamir_

Samir

2 years

My way too early call on buyer: Apple. Like Square + Afterpay, it supercharges Apple's nascent BNPL efforts, provides direct ecommerce integrations for Apple Pay-based checkout tech & adds POS payment option for business Tap-to-Pay feature. At 50% premium it's <1% market cap.

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

1/21 Ever wonder why consumer fintech S-1 mission statements are all so general & unspecific they're basically interchangeable? It's because nowadays every consumer fintech has practically the same 10-year product roadmap and the only thing that differs is the product order.

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 months

What does the modern consumer fintech stack look like for high earners? Trying to build a list: @mercury , @M1Finance for personal banking @RobinhoodApp , @Public for investing @Robinhood Credit Card for spending @AngelList for angel investing @joinrepublic for crypto investments

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@heysamir_

Samir

1 year

1/10 It's like every fintech nerd is dunking on Robinhood for a bad acquisition of @x1creditcard for $95M. I think this was a no-brainer for @RobinhoodApp & I can *prove* it w/ deal economics. It's all about the combo of Platform, Partnerships, People & Performance.

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@heysamir_

Samir

2 years

1/4 One of the many things I've taken away from my time at Chime was that from the very beginning, company strategy was powered by data. Intuition, gut feelings and subject matter expertise could start the conversation but metrics drove ultimate decision-making.

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@heysamir_

Samir

2 years

Not sure how I feel about the rise of all these fintechs with random first names as their company names. Who started this? Marcus? Maybe I'll change my mind when someone launches a fintech named Samir.

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@heysamir_

Samir

2 years

Strong opinion, weakly held: Fintechs that offer FDIC insurance as a way to increase trust are marketing an empty promise. As we saw w/ recent fintech bankruptcies, insurance doesn't protect users from collapse of fintech but rather their sponsor bank. So it doesn't really help.

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

If you've liked my recent over-engineered fintech *tweets* 💬, you might enjoy my over-engineered fintech *threads* 🧵. I try to write a thread for fintech nerds whenever inspiration strikes. I'll keep this thread of threads updated with the latest and greatest!

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@heysamir_

Samir

2 years

The first time in a long time that a fintech can say from day one "We are a financial technology company AND a bank." This launch definitely shakes up the BaaS space.

@williamhockey

William Hockey

2 years

1) Today I'm publicly announcing @columnbank , the company I've been quietly building for almost three years. We're the first chartered bank built from the ground up for developers.

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@heysamir_

Samir

1 year

Who has written the fintech primer on closed loop payment networks? It feels like there's so much opportunity to do what Fleetcor and WEX have done for fuel cards but for other industries. And who is behind OMNY? The unit economics of these networks is fascinating.

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

0/ I've seen a ton of great threads covering fintech trends and product innovation lately. This is not that thread. Instead, I went down a rabbit hole to find what fintechs and FIs use as the default cardholder name on their cards. Erase the Sunday Scaries with this🧵 👇👇

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

Probably the cheapest CAC hack to acquire Direct Depositors as a neobank. Most users are likely going to get a tax refund which will be deposited into primary bank account and this value prop makes switching bank acct to @CashApp a no brainer.

@chiseltoooth

chisel tooth

3 years

surprise! you can now file your taxes FOR FREE with @CashApp 🤑

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@heysamir_

Samir

2 years

1/3 I'm curious how many business fintechs actually use their own product as their primary vendor. Do business banks bank themselves? Do corporate cards carry their own balances? Do billpay startups pay bills on platform? Great way to test product & understand user needs if so.

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

1/ I went down another rabbit hole through Ts&Cs and fine print to find the sponsor banks behind fintechs. Turns out who you're banking on says a lot about what kind of fintech you are. Push off your Sunday Scaries with this nerdy fintech🧵 and read on.

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@heysamir_

Samir

2 years

Got irrationally excited when I tracked down a discrepancy in our cash reconciliations by mapping it back to a faulty bank statement, and our bookkeeper said "Great detective work!" I guess I shouldn't be surprised that I'm just another fintech nerd geeking out on funds flows.

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 months

When I first read Jevgenijs Kazanins's very excellent fintech take on why Cash App Pay could be the next major driver of Block’s growth, I was floored by his initially compelling case that if Cash App can incentivize more payments payments volume to go through Cash App Pay, they

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

2/ First up: @thebancorp - the OG sponsor bank. Young for a bank but they made white label banking a thing and are top 10 in PV. You bank on Bancorp b/c you started early or you're migrating and need it done right. Notables - @PayPal , @Venmo , @Chime , @Oxygenbanking @NorthOneApp

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 months

Just realized gift cards are the anti-BNPL. Buy Later, Pay Now.

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@heysamir_

Samir

4 months

Chime recently launched a new feature known as Chime Deals, powered by a strategic partnership with Upside, aiming to offer cashback on member purchases. If the feature feels oddly familiar, it’s because on the surface it seems similar to the the cashback offers from major banks

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@heysamir_

Samir

2 years

1/4 Huge news for @itaidamti and @somdoron and the Unit team - awesome to see this milestone hit the press. Also a good time to mention that I'll actually be joining the Unit team to rethink how businesses easily add financial services to their products.

@bayareawriter

Mary Ann Azevedo

2 years

. @unit_co_ 's $100M raise at a $1.2B valuation is further evidence of how hot the BaaS sector remains. Last week, I also wrote about Brazilian infra startup Dock raising $110M at a valuation of over $1.5B. @insightpartners led Unit's latest round.

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@heysamir_

Samir

9 months

BaaS does a lot to simplify banking but one thing I've never seen is simplified pricing. Term sheets & invoices are so complicated and it's awful. I know it's tough with all the vendors but BaaS needs to do better - pricing transparency & comprehensibility is essential. 1/4

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@heysamir_

Samir

2 years

Nice to finally see an implementation of Visa/MC cashback rewards where the fintech proactively toggles the offers for every merchant so consumers don't have to manually click to activate each one.

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@heysamir_

Samir

10 months

Every time I did Wordle for the last few years, I always used the same word in the off-chance it would be right. It wasn't necessarily the best word out there or the most optimized but I knew it would eventually pay off. One thing has always been true. Never bet against Chime.

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

0/ (Fixed the thread #s ) Back again w/ another fintech 101. And since it's Money 2020, let's talk money movement. You run a fintech & your users want money in/out fast. You could use *instant transfers*. But what are these txns & how are they used? Read on in this Monday 🧵!

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@heysamir_

Samir

1 month

Wait did the former CFO of Brex not use Brex for expense management, bill payment and travel reimbursement?

@Jason

@jason

1 month

Rippling is really good at sales…

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@heysamir_

Samir

2 years

@brextonpham Maybe it's just one of those features that was actually low hanging fruit implementation that got enough external product market fit validation that it became an easy thing to add to product roadmap? Kinda like how TikTok caused everyone to launch short video clones very quickly.

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@heysamir_

Samir

1 year

1/5 Can't decide if fintechs will view this as a blessing or a curse. Obviously this will improve conversions by reducing friction. But that works both ways. With fungible IDV, if it's just as easy to sign up for one fintech as another, does that also increase churn?

@Plaid

Plaid

1 year

Verify once, verify everywhere 🪄 Plaid Identity Verification now allows consumers to fast track verifications across the Plaid Network.

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@heysamir_

Samir

2 years

One of the hallmarks of all great early stage startups I've joined so far - comprehensive self-serve onboarding. Folks might say hypergrowth startups have no time for onboarding, but it's actually one of the highest ROI initiatives to ramp up teams quickly.

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@heysamir_

Samir

11 months

Fintech is going purple and I'm a fan.

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@heysamir_

Samir

2 years

Pretty impressive to see this speed of innovation come from one of the newer teams that's building in this space. Excited to see more come from @OnJunoHQ !

@thebitsian

Varun Deshpande

2 years

We officially became the first checking account that lets you spend crypto with a @Mastercard debit card. You can toggle between spending cash or crypto with 1-click @OnJunoHQ

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@heysamir_

Samir

2 years

Is inflation actually a tailwind for interchange-driven fintechs, since it raises nominal price of goods (so higher TPV on same basket of goods)? Will see how it plays out in Visa's earnings tomorrow. And higher swipe fees go live in April so next quarter could benefit too.

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

7/18 Here's how real neobank P&Ls should read: + Interchange + Other (ATM fees, Partnerships, Subs) Total Revenue - Processor - Network + Incentives - Bank - ATM network Total COGS Gross Profit - Txn Losses - Dispute Ops - Customer Support Total Variable OpEx Contribution Profit

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@heysamir_

Samir

5 months

What's it called when your fintech's userbase overlaps so much w/ another that their earnings are a leading indicator for yours? That's what CashApp is for Dave. When CashApp reported strong earnings (12 days prior), Dave was 100% gonna beat earnings. Riskless arbitrage opp?

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@heysamir_

Samir

11 months

Square and CashApp have had a major outage for the last 12+ hrs with no root cause assessed yet. Godspeed to those working on a fix. Doesn't seem like this has hit stock market yet but tomorrow may be bloody. Meanwhile every neobank is secretly thrilled about new user influx.

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

So either Chime has an unbelievably good promo going on, or Hulu seems to be paying ME a subscription right now. Probably nothing.

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

@pk_iv Like most startups, Chime's cash was at SVB and we didn't want to switch banks. @teampay works on top of SVB which was great for us. From the Finance side, they have awesome integrations with QBO & NetSuite. And their Slack integration makes it easy to request virtual cards.

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@heysamir_

Samir

2 years

1/24 When's the last time you heard a vaguely named Finance / Strategy (F&S) function (like "Strategic Finance") & asked - WTF does that team actually do? It's time to clear things up. For the very first time ever - the unofficial F&S Function Overview 101.

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

0/ These days everyone talks about "neobanks" like they're all the same. It turns out that how you get the charter & run your service has BIG consequences for your neobank. Recover from your Halloween Scaries 🎃 with this fintech🧵 on the 4 operating frameworks for neobanks 👇🏾

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@heysamir_

Samir

7 months

My over-engineered 2024 fintech predictions: 1/ Stripe IPO mid 2024 with mid-teens IPO pop 2/ Fintech AI use case finally launches - generative AI CX chatbots to replace IVR & email 3/ Varo runs out of cash and is acquired by regional bank or fintech looking to buy charter 1/2

@brunoswerneck

Bruno Werneck de Almeida (⏸️)

8 months

@AlexH_Johnson Hey @AlexH_Johnson -- Shall we put out the annual call for best fintech resources + predictions? Making my list for some holiday reading cc' @ay_o @CharleyMa @dbkahn @franciscojarceo @fintechgtm @heysamir_ @jsfranklin221 @LexSokolin @NikMilanovic @mikulaja @sytaylor @truptinatu

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

One of the web2 / web3 firms I'm excited about. KYC / AML onboarding for new users for access to FDIC bank acct & fraud protection. Combine that with access to buy / sell crypto & DeFi yields from web3. All with recognition that UX is a necessary focus to get true on-ramp.

@thebitsian

Varun Deshpande

3 years

1/ The only criticism of crypto and Web3 that both crypto maximalists and skeptics agree on is its UX. In 2021, we silently shipped some path-breaking products that laid the groundwork for bringing crypto and Web3 directly into a bank account. 🧵

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

References: 1. SF Fed Payments Diary - 2. ATL Fed Payments Diary - 3. Fed Payments Study - 4. @unit_co_ Interchange Guide - 5. Visa Interchange Rates -

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Unit | Ultimate guide to interchange revenue

Transaction fees are generated when your customers make purchases with branded cards. Learn how interchange revenue works and see how much you could earn.

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

2/24 So what is a net take rate in fintech anyway? It's the revenue that a fintech gets for every dollar in transaction volume, net of reimbursements / discounts / cash back. You'll see it as a percent (or in bps if you tryna be fancy) of volume.

@tristanhcole

Tristan Cole

3 years

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

7/ @BlueRidgeBank in VA is a bank w/ a startup partner. You bank on Blue Ridge Bank b/c you use @unit_co_ BaaS for your embedded finance play. Notables - @wethosco @hellomeetlance @movesfinance and... You heard it here first (aka unconfirmed speculation) @Angellist Stack

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@heysamir_

Samir

1 year

I guess this is one way to avoid the CEO / company hit piece.

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

All the fintech companies in the world right now are desperately looking for their name on @CBinsights #Fintech250 like a fintech nerd's version of "Where's Waldo"

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@heysamir_

Samir

5 months

Wow @Chime , the 2 day early paycheck OGs, back at it with 6 days early tax refunds & free tax filings.

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

3/ Next up: @GreenDotBank . They'd been dominating prepaid but got into BaaS with a more full-stack platform than Bancorp. You bank on GreenDot b/c you're a large retailer or non-bank fintech who wants banking but doesn't know how. Notables - @Walmart , @Uber @Wealthfront @Stash

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

Wow - solo 401(k) market is completely untapped by modern fintechs & it's a travesty. Dedicated players are low tech, expensive w/ awful UI. Among few big FIs with offering, there's no way to onboard or even deposit online. Feels like a huge opportunity to serve freelancers.

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@heysamir_

Samir

2 years

@anothercohen They are technically SaaS - Salads as a service

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@heysamir_

Samir

2 years

Another great guide from the folks at @unit_co_ with helpful visuals to help folks understand KYC / KYB flow. The comprehensiveness of these guides is pretty unreal. Won't be surprised if their next product release starts mentioning Unitpedia 😂.

@itaidamti

Itai Damti

2 years

01/ Let's talk about KYC! We've just released a complete guide that breaks KYC/KYB in fintech into 3 layers, and explains two really interesting shifts we're seeing in the market:

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

8/ And finally the long tail: @MyMetaBank (SD) is cool with crypto: @coinbase @MoneyLion @BankWithChoice (ND) likes influencers: @current @hellofromLili CFSB (NY) is kid-friendly: @gohenry @GreenlightCard @LendingClubBank (MA) for the new new: @bankonfound @AskZetaApp

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@heysamir_

Samir

1 year

The number of *fintech* startups with the same name is out of control. - Is it Miami-based @Novo_HQ bank or @novopayment ? - Are you talking @tryramp corp cards or @RampNetwork crypto? - Was that @Chime banking or Chime remittance (dba @sendwaveapp ) What else??

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@heysamir_

Samir

11 months

1/ A🌶️ take to spice up your week Among fintech writers: - Good ones write blogs - Great ones write newsletters - But incredible ones write threads It's hard enough to explain fintech. Try it in 280 chars w/ every tweet a standalone masterpiece Here are the🐐 fintech threads:

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@heysamir_

Samir

4 months

We make fun of @nikitabier for selling the same app twice but what about @Yahoo buying the same app twice?

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@heysamir_

Samir

2 years

For all the fintech nerds - time is a flat circle. Fun Chime lore (h/t @KyleDaley ) - before @Chime was "Chime", it started as a debit card w/ rewards. Their first name: Qoin. But it became clear that people cared more about accessible bank accounts than they did about rewards.

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@heysamir_

Samir

2 years

Question for fintech nerds: Why are business / commercial debit interchange rates higher than consumer debit interchange rates? In general, risk & spend thresholds guide interchange rates. I know businesses spend more, but also are lower risk so why doesn't that offset more?

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

4/ Onward to Sutton Bank (too cool for Twitter) and they're a gem. This Ohio-based regional bank is all about "old-fashioned innovation" (incl. their website). You bank on Sutton Bank b/c you already have investing and want to add banking. Notables - @CashApp , @RobinhoodApp

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

9/ If you like this thread go back up to the top and give it a like 💙, comment 💬, or retweet 🔁 and ideally I'll fall down another rabbit hole some time soon.

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

3/24 Note: though this is "net" take rate, it's not a profitability / margin metric. We only remove direct costs of revenue to reflect revenue fairly. More on the best fintech margin metric (which remove direct costs of service (COGS) & variable OpEx) -

@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

1/18 You know what really grinds my gears? When otherwise clever fintech nerds *still* quote "Gross Profit" like it's a metric that matters for a neobank fintech. Every operator knows that "Contribution Profit" is the hidden metric that really drives unit economics.

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

@jkwade Honestly always found it surprising that app called Cash App couldn't do this until recently. Green Dot, PayNearMe, Incomm have been allowing fintechs to do this for a long while.

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18

@heysamir_

Samir

2 years

If only they had called themselves the National Automated Clearing House Organization I guess it's too cheesy.

@rohitdotmittal

Rohit Mittal

@rohitdotmittal

2 years

So you say you want to be in fintech and want to build a payments company. Here’s the NACHA guide for payments.

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

So, the next trillion dollar fintech will be a full-service banking super app that shows you how many trees it planted to offset your BNPL purchase of crypto. (cc @AlexH_Johnson )

@AlexH_Johnson

Alex Johnson

3 years

New @FintechTakes : What Do Customers Actually Want Out of Fintech? Fintech product development is becoming a bit like the Spider-Man pointing meme — everyone is doing what everyone else is doing. But what do customers actually want?

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@heysamir_

Samir

2 years

Unpopular opinion: as an angel investor AND StratFin operator, I LOVE this shift away from "growth at any cost" & hype driven thinking of '21 to sustainable growth & profitability mindset of '22. More focus, better prioritization of KPIs that quantify PMF, increased creativity.

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

16/16 And that's a wrap! If you like this thread go back up to the top and give it a like, comment, or retweet. I try to write over-engineered fintech and crypto threads every 1-2 weeks so follow me @heysamir_ for more nerdery coming soon!

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@heysamir_

Samir

6 months

That moment when you post about a fintech company's metrics and their (now departed) COO responds in the comments to correct your math. Fintech hits (back) different.

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@heysamir_

Samir

2 years

1/4 Can confirm that @mercury is the real deal. After truly awful basic banking experiences with a major regional bank that's a favorite in the West coast for individuals in tech, I helped a company I advise switch to Mercury over the course of a week.

@jamesjho_

James Ho

2 years

Mercury experience - responsive customer support - free wires (both US / abroad) - excellent mobile app - 2FA that is both secure and usable - great admin controls (e.g. for dual approval)

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@heysamir_

Samir

2 years

Crypto math.

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@heysamir_

Samir

10 months

There are so many threads about how to use AI to do big things. This is not that thread. Instead, I fed ChatGPT 11 fintech company names and their mission statements and had it come up with their logos. Old and new side by side. Let's just say AI really can get creative. 1/13

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@heysamir_

Samir

2 years

Sitting at this Duke game at Chase Center in seats that are not ours (but empty) and thinking there's got to be a fintech startup that enables fractional seat rentals for ticketing services. At least 50% of our row is doing exactly what we're doing - likely a huge opportunity.

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

I've got to say - very surreal to see Chime being called an "incumbent" here but I guess that means we made it to the big leagues?

@AlexH_Johnson

Alex Johnson

3 years

Credit builder products are the new, hottest product in fintech. Incumbents like Chime, Varo & Brigit have added them. And they are increasingly the chosen wedge of new startups like Sequin & TomoCredit. Tomo, in particular, fascinates me.

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@heysamir_

Samir

11 months

. @matt_levine wrote the best story of crypto the world has ever seen and I'm sure 95% of you didn't read it. Why? It felt too damn long. 1 magazine = 40K words = 133 pages. This thing was a novel. But as a podcast? 5 hrs = ~1 week of commutes. And I found every episode. 1/12

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@heysamir_

Samir

5 months

We've finally got a late-stage private market multiple for neobanks (UK-based but still). $5bn valuation on $635mm in run-rate revenue (as of Apr-23) so 8x revenue multiple. Where would that put other big private neobanks? Ref:

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Monzo secures $5bn valuation as it prepares return to US

London-based digital bank raises $430mn from investors including CapitalG and HongShan

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

I think @Chime gets to take out the one page ad on changing the industry landscape for unnecessary fees on this one (a la @RobinhoodApp for stock trading fees). SpotMe has been the real gamechanger and I'm glad to see the big banks make big changes.

@AlexH_Johnson

Alex Johnson

3 years

You just don't see publicly traded companies voluntarily give back $150 million a year in revenue. Say what you will about the impact of neobanks, but they did that.

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@heysamir_

Samir

2 years

@CharleyMa I think @unit_co_ goes out of its way to make docs, guides and posts a huge part of how we operate. And we build in public so everything out in the open re: product roadmap and focus areas

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@heysamir_

Samir

2 years

Thankful to the folks at @Compound for letting me do an over-engineered interview about what it's like to be an operator at a startup that goes through hypergrowth. I'm so proud of our team's ability to make Strategic Finance & unit economics a core part of how @Chime succeeded.

@Compound

compound

2 years

New conversation with @heysamir_ , early finance hire at @Chime We talked about: - Building the unit economics framework at Chime - Collaborative decision making - A framework to evaluate company equity - And more

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@heysamir_

Samir

6 months

Despite renewed focus on the Finance OS for Strategic Finance folks, I haven't seen an honest guide to how to build the startup finance software for operators. Here's my over-engineered take on the finance software stack. Strong opinions, weakly held & open to feedback. 1/13

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

6/ Another regional bank that puts community right into the name @BankCcbx out of Washington. You bank on CCB because you're a vertical fintech front and center and community is part of your focus. Notables - @Aspiration @bankgreenwood @bankwithfair

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@heysamir_

Samir

2 years

They need a @SiliconHBO reboot but with their misadventures in running fintech / web3 startups.

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@heysamir_

Samir

3 years

5/ Here's a regional bank of note - @getevolved1925 (evolved enough to get a Twitter). This Tennessee-based bank has gotten meta with their focus. You bank your business on Evolve Bank if you've got a business bank. Notables - @RelayFinancial , @BankMercury , @rhobusiness

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@heysamir_

Samir

1 year

Please tell me someone already built the app to send me real-time pre-notifications for which card I should use for purchases to maximize points and then analyze statements to help me optimize existing spend. Bonus points if it auto-switches to that card in Apple Pay / GPay

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@heysamir_

Samir

8 months

Fintech giving AI a run for its money on the drama front: - The angry breakup of Apple & GS - The missing funds w/ Synapse & Evolve & Mercury departure - The fake revenue feud between Solid & FTV - The mysterious case of Prashant Bhardwaj h/t to @mikulaja for bringing the heat

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@heysamir_

Samir

1 year

CDs need a rebrand. They're so useful for users (>5.25% APY) & great for banks (enable contractual liability on deposits), but not enough people use them b/c "certificates of deposit" sounds scary. What would you rename them to? I'll go first: "Super High Yield Vaults"

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