Untitled Playlist2

Tearsheet's TBBT Conference 2024

Tearsheet is a leading modern media publication, a daily must-read among influencers obsessed with the future of money.

Based in New York City, Tearsheet has deep experience identifying and analyzing existing and future trends, in its coverage of rising startups raising new capital to the digital moves of the largest players in finance and investing.

Tearsheet was launched as Tradestreaming in 2007 and has been an active participant in the rise of the global fintech industry. In 2016, it was acquired and relaunched by Digiday Media. In 2017, it was rebranded to Tearsheet.

Tearsheet Podcast: Exploring financial services together

This week, Daniel Liebau, founding chairman of Lightbulb Capital, a research and advisory firm related to blockchain, joins Wei-Shen on the podcast. They discuss decentralized finance technology, and also Dan’s DeFi 2034 paper, as well as some possible future scenarios for TradFi and DeFi. 

https://www.linkedin.com/company/blockchain-scholars-podcast/?viewAsMember=true
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42521-023-00088-8#:~:text=Decentralized%20Finance%20(DeFi)%20is%20a,relying%20on%20traditional%20centralized%20intermediaries.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11187-021-00539-9

2:30 – Dan joins the podcast and walks through his background and his company 
6:30 – Dan gives a preview of the DeFi 2034 research paper he’s working on
9:30 – Common misunderstandings on how DeFi will impact TradFi
12:30 – Dan explains some of the tools he used to utilize the data for his paper 
14:00 – Possible future scenarios for how DeFi will play out 
22:30 – Sending analog signals into a digital world
31:00 – Changing mindsets on “better, faster, cheaper”
33:00 – Warming up to public blockchains
35:30 – Examples of DeFi experimentation in the capital markets

Episode 280: An exploration of the DeFi world

In 2022, I was asked to contribute to a symposium at Yale Law School on the question, "How can the humanities inform tech policy and design to promote 'healthier' discourse and democracy online?"  The ultimate result was this article, published in the 2023 symposium issue of the Yale Journal of Law and the Humanities.  
A scanned pdf of the article can be found as an attachment here:  https://www.patreon.com/posts/100047377

I also gave a short presentation at the symposium in 2022; since visual evidence is important to the argument of this article, I hope to expand upon the slides that I used in that presentation in order to produce a video with a full-length visual track to accompany the article.

Film of Sumi Jo performing second half of Olympia's aria, "Les Oiseaux dans la Charmille," in Offenbach's "Tales of Hoffmann," at Opera de Lille, 1997:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW2iiZ8MyGI

Thank you to the editors and staff of the Yale Journal of Law and the Humanities and the Justice Collaboratory.

Article: "In the American Tempest: Democracy, Conspiracy, & Machine"

This week, on the Global Research News Hour, first broadcasting on the Ides of March, we are viewing the prospect of war, possibly the ultimate nuclear war, erupting in the wake of current affairs happening in the battle field and in our own movie-going culture. In our first half hour, writer and documentary film Maker Greg Mitchell returns to the show to talk about the ways in which the anti war anti-nuclear movement is betrayed in Chris Nolan’s Oscar Award winning film and how Hollywood itself is a producer of pro-war propaganda. Then in our second half hour, we talk to journalist, and geopolitical and military analyst Drago Bosnic about the slow motion victory by Russia in Ukraine and how NATO’s determination to prevail may force us to endure the reality of what Oppenheimer warned us about decades ago.

March. The Month of War. Could Recent Developments in Ukraine Launch World War III?

How can FIs step in with solutions that alleviate these pain points, allowing SMBs to concentrate on growing their businesses while relegating banking to the background?

“I think there are a few elements of that, but since SMB customers are willing to adopt technology, that's a start,” said Scott Beyer, U.S. Bank’s Head of Business Banking Digital Experiences during Tearsheet’s The Big Bank Theory Conference, held recently in New York.

Beyers noted that a generational change is underway in the SMB landscape, with 77% of small business owners now adopting or planning to adopt technology to enhance their operational efficiency. This trend presents a valuable opportunity for FIs to enter the scene and create engaging digital experiences that resonate with the evolving needs of these businesses.

He identified three key steps banks can employ to seize the opportunity and address existing gaps: 

1. Ensure the availability of products and services
2. Build integrations
3. Focus on data reconciliation and harmonization

Creating a seamless banking + payments + software experience for SMBs ft. U.S. Bank's Scott Beyer

The days when SMBs were tethered to their home markets are long behind us. Today, SMBs are eagerly embracing global opportunities, expanding into new regions, and viewing cross-border sales as a key growth driver. Yet, with this expansion comes a major challenge: navigating the complexities of international payments.

49% of SMBs cite the ease of managing cross-border payments as a top concern. Many have faced friction with traditional banks, which has created a fertile ground for non-bank alternatives to step in. This shift is reflected in the growing trend of SMBs switching providers. While pricing and fees were once the main reasons for switching, today, the search for “better and more convenient” digital solutions is becoming a powerful motivator alongside these operational needs.

So, how can FIs respond to this shift?

Chris Ward, Head of Enterprise Payments at Truist Financial Corporation, addresses this question and its potential solutions at Tearsheet's The Big Bank Theory Conference, recently held in New York.

How to differentiate in the changing world of SMB payments ft. Truist's Chris Ward

SMBs need more from their FIs, and data echoes this demand. 62% of SMB owners have reported feeling like their business banking options don't go any further than the services already available in their personal accounts. 

So banks have to find a way to not only differentiate their business banking products from fintech and platform competitors but their own personal banking products as well. 

One bank that is leading the way is Citizens, which has a three-pronged strategy for SMBs, according to its President & Head of Business Banking, Mark Valentino.

Valentino talks about how Citizens is getting closer to the needs and wants of SMB owners by focusing on gathering feedback through surveys and its bankers.

How to get the most out of partnerships in serving SMBs ft. Citizens' Mark Valentino

SMBs face critical challenges such as lack of access to credit, barriers for women entrepreneurs, and lower levels of digital enablement, which have limited their growth and success globally.

Salah Goss takes us through the Mastercard's SMB strategy,  which through initiatives like Strive, focuses on easing credit access, providing digital tools, and building networks, with a particular emphasis on empowering women-led enterprises and fostering community-driven growth.

How supporting SMBs creates a thriving economy & community

Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast. I’m Zack Miller.

SMBs have taken it on the chin during this crisis.

Nicole Jass, senior vice president of small business and fraud products at FIS joins us to discuss how small business needs have changed and how FIS has responded with product and an evolving product roadmap. The payments technology firm has rolled out upgrades and new products for customers in the past couple of months and Nicole checks in to describe how they’re using them.

Nicole Jass is my guest today on the Tearsheet Podcast.

FIS' Nicole Jass on helping SMBs with new products during this crisis

Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast. I’m Zack Miller.

Artificial intelligence in finance has long been overhyped, but AI is making an impact in lending decisions. Online lender Upstart exemplifies how the set of technologies can expand lenders’ inclusiveness without necessarily taking on any more risk.

Paul Gu, a co-founder at Upstart, joins us on the podcast to talk about his firm’s new AI-powered credit decisioning API that’s letting banks and other lenders deliver instant credit decisions for auto, personal, and student loans. We discuss Upstart’s performance during COVID as well.

Paul Gu is my guest today on the Tearsheet Podcast

Upstart's Paul Gu: 'AI is a mindboggling change in the economics of lending'

Welcome to Tearsheet’s Outlier Briefing. This subscriber-only content is exclusive for our Outlier members. We go deeper with subject matter experts, to take actionable steps that can impact your business and practice.

Rina Plapler has been working in brand strategy for over 20 years. That means she’s worked with many of today’s top financial brands with market positioning, messaging, and their product portfolios. As a partner at MBLM, she was instrumental in creating her firm’s research on brand intimacy — the emotional science that measures the bonds we form with the brands we use and love. She’s applied this research to the financial industry in an effort to rank the companies and characteristics that make for today’s strongest brands.

Rina joins to discuss what makes up brand intimacy and how emotional people feel around financial services. We look at her rankings and the attributes of today’s strongest financial brands. Lastly, she provides advice to companies to make themselves into more intimate brands.

To hear the full audio and to access all of our exclusive, member-only material, head on over to Tearsheet.co/outlier

Outlier Briefing: MBLM's Rina Plapler on improving brand intimacy in financial services

Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast. I’m Zack Miller.

Student lending is undergoing a significant transformation. Earnest 

Earnest has refinanced over $10 billion for over 124,000 people, helping them pay off their debt and giving them the financial capital to reach their goals.

The company combines design and data to build an innovative model for consumer lending, available through a simple, easy to use mobile application. David Green, chief product officer at Earnest, joins us on the podcast to talk about lending in our economic environment, as well as the firm’s relatively new product, in-school student loans. Lastly, we talk about the lender’s product pipeline.

David Green is my guest today on the Tearsheet Podcast.

Earnest's David Green on student lending in the current economic environment

A few weeks back, payments API firm, Galileo launched Instant, which dramatically simplifies and accelerates launching a debit card — taking what can be a multi-month process and turning it into a couple of weeks. Galileo claims it had hundreds of companies signed up for a beta when it went live and the interest is still very strong. Founder and CEO Clay Wilkes talked about Instant when he addressed Tearsheet’s Resilience Conference a couple of weeks ago. 

Galileo Managing Director Cole Wilkes joins us on the podcast today to talk more about Instant.

Galileo's Clay Wilkes on launching Galileo Instant

Tearsheet is news, opinion, and analysis on the business of finance.

Candid conversations with senior executives, fintech entrepreneurs, investors, industry experts -- all weigh in on the trends impacting the industry and the disruptive impact technology is having on the business.

Where social media, technology and finance intersect.