Some friends and I were discussing ways to stay in the loop without our regular conference schedule to expose us to new technologies and the output was V-Sum. It's taken a while to come together but the first event is finally on Oct 14th. It's completely virtual and distributed. There is no cost to attend.… Continue reading V-Sum: A Distributed FinTech Conference
Category: written-words
Why Iowa
After many years of the question "Why Iowa?" being the opening haha of countless meetings when it is regularly confused with Idaho, this question largely fell out of my life until very recently. These days, I hear it most from startup founders. It's not a customer, partner, or investors. During COVID I started being more… Continue reading Why Iowa
Harvesting Humanity
This is a really incredible project in red rural America by artist b.Robert Moore. Here is the artist statement: Inspired by many national and global protests demanding reform in policy and government to address the racial and civil injustices against humanity, specifically Black American citizens in America. Motivated by the various voices fighting human rights, Robert curated a small… Continue reading Harvesting Humanity
It’s not ok
Systemic racism is not ok. Unequal treatment of Black people is not ok. Killing a Black man in the street is not ok. Generational oppression of a race is not ok. This shouldn't need to be said but in the context of today's America it needs to be said. Black lives matter. We as human… Continue reading It’s not ok
What’s a dollar on deposit worth?
I've been building FinTech products for the better part of 10 years and this is at the heart of every bank conversation I've ever had. The discussion always goes in different directions. I asked this question on Twitter and at the time the question was somewhat rhetorical. I thought the answers would be more consistent… Continue reading What’s a dollar on deposit worth?
Hiring a new CEO
I told the Dwolla team this morning that we are hiring a new CEO, whom I and the rest of the board are going to recruit. I've replaced myself in every role I've ever had in this company and this will be no different. Change is a required part of growth. I'll stay involved but… Continue reading Hiring a new CEO
20 20
Jami sent me a text yesterday about it being the last day of the decade and I didn't really think about it that way until I read it. The day itself is not that different than most other days. I said my goodbye's to my family, had a nice black coffee, and came to the… Continue reading 20 20
Capital Pool Conundrums
When money moves, en masse, there are typically collateral requirements somewhere. To oversimplify it, that's basically money (cash) one party has to give someone else in case something goes wrong. Sophisticated organizations might be able to use a bond, letter of credit, debt vehicle, or some other type of asset but most of us get… Continue reading Capital Pool Conundrums
Teaching Iowa Students to Code
I recently attended an interesting group discussion about getting students in Iowa, specifically rural Iowa, access to computer science skills. The state has a desire to do something and the resources to match but one of the challenges has been getting the right teachers in the schools to teach technology classes. It's not a problem… Continue reading Teaching Iowa Students to Code
A Simple OKR Template
Goals are normally driven on a company strategy that is informed by company vision. This could be as vague or sharp as it makes sense for your organization. Ideally vision looks out 10 years, strategy is a 1-3 year thing, and goals are a quarterly thing which can be measured on a daily basis, ideally.… Continue reading A Simple OKR Template