The ramblings of a 25+ year FinTech Veteran
I find myself apologizing once again for being so delinquent in my posts and it feels like what I imagine good Catholics go through in the Confessional Booth (which is funny because I’m Jewish). “Forgive me Twitter for I have been busy. It’s been four months since my last post…” With that off my back, I did want to share […]
Like most children who were growing up in the early 1980s (I’m dating myself fiercely), one of my life’s goals was to be able to solve the Rubik’s Cube. Sure, I could have easily bought a book that mapped out the various solution methods (a book was required since YouTube wasn’t around then!), but I wasn’t that type of kid. […]
I have to admit that I was surprised by the reception to my last post. It was shared and discussed literally 10X more than my typical posts. It spread through the core Banking ecosystem as well as the startup community and was being used by Executives, Entrepreneurs and Investors as a framework to discuss a critical and age-old topic —- […]
As difficult as it’s been, I’ve tried to beg borrow and steal time from my schedule about once a year to pull together a thought piece on something I find interesting that’s happening in the Fintech ecosystem. The first was a pretty long piece on the history and evolution of the Personal Loans space (The Hourglass Effect). The second was […]
One of the most common questions that people get asked regularly from friends, family and co-workers is: “How was your day?” The question is about as basic as a question can be but because it requires context to answer our typical response is rarely “good” or “bad”. Instead, the question becomes code for “tell me about your day” and usually […]
If you were to spend enough time with me you’d very quickly realize that I’m a bit of a broken record when it comes to giving advice. I’ve found that some of the concepts that I’ve been able to crystallize into simple phrases over the years seem to apply very broadly in the business world. I’ve shared most of these […]
Rabbit holes and parentheticals can be quite annoying and I know I’m guilty of one here. Part III of my “Ramblings About VC Investing” will be coming out next week but I thought it would be worth sharing a few observations about the LendIt Conference given it just ended and is fresh in everyone’s mind. To be very clear, I’m […]
Every Investor eventually finds his or her sweet spot in terms of sector, stage and traction and typically does best by sticking to a personal strategy and process for investing. For instance, I’m an early stage Fintech Investor and love backing companies that still have a lot to figure out. It’s where I can be differentially helpful to companies and […]
Believe it or not, one of the most profound pieces of advice that I’ve given over the years when someone I know and like is facing adversity is to “go ahead and quit”. Taken out of context, this might sound like a horrible piece of advice, but I truly believe that presenting the option of quitting is almost always better […]
Have you ever gone to a party and “that guy” showed up who everyone wanted to be around because of their fascinating stories and charisma? To be clear, I’m not that guy. Not even close. My cocktail conversation go-tos include topics like how to fix the federal student lending program, the emerging opportunity to invest in back-office technology companies that […]
I’m broken. Broken with a capital B. The type of broken that can’t be fixed. Humpty Dumpty had it easy compared to my type of broken. I’m FUBAR broken (look it up) and it’s taken me decades to come to terms that there’s nothing I can do about it. But instead of starting with the conclusion, I’ll do my best […]
For those of you who had the privilege of growing up in the ‘70s, you’re probably familiar with the amazing Schoolhouse Rock videos that were sandwiched in-between various cartoon and TV shows on Saturday mornings. These videos taught kids of the ‘70s about grammar (Conjunction Junction), science (Interplanet Janet), history (I’m Just a Bill) and math (My Hero, Zero). But […]
My name is Frank and I have a problem. I like to put fancy titles on papers and presentations that I write as a way of luring in unsuspecting readers. It seems to have worked with The Hourglass Effect and with The Brave 100, so I’ve decided now isn’t the time to break my habit. My newest piece is called […]
Please don’t laugh at me. I’m about to share an embarrassing secret and would like to do so without the fear of judgment or ridicule. Want to know my secret? I have a long and sad history of trying to solve problems with the wrong technology. And guess what happened each and every time? I failed just about as badly […]
I don’t think this is a very profound insight, but having been around the business building block for two and a half decades I can truly say that building a wildly successful business is difficult. Building a so-so business is equally difficult. And what’s sad is that building an unsuccessful one might be even more difficult than building a successful […]
A year in the life of an Entrepreneur often feels like being on an eternal roller-coaster. Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes (no I’m not channeling a song from “Rent”). And every one of them a chance for the up feeling that comes with good news or the depression and panic that inevitably accompanies bad news. A year ago […]
Confessions of a FinTech Junkie 