173: Mainstream | Adam Bialy, Fiat Republic and Bridging Banks and Crypto

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Hey there, I'm Pete Townsend,
and this is money, never sleeps.

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We look inside the minds of
entrepreneurs, and at the

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crossover of startups,
Enterprise Finance, technology

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and Life.
As We Know It, This episode of

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money, never sleeps is sponsored
by Phillip Lee, one of Ireland's

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fastest growing corporate law
firms in expert, advisors the

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heart of the Dublin in London
startup fintech and crypto

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communities on the show this
week.

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We've got, I'm Adam, bialy, I'm
founder and CEO of fear of

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public the at Republic or
building the compliance, first

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API driven in, highly secure,
and scalable Bridge.

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Between Banks and crypto in this
episode, Adam.

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And I talked through the
experiences that culminated in a

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vision for Fiat Republic, the
current state of play in the

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relationships between Banks, and
crypto platforms that makes Fiat

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Republic such a strong
proposition unique Rudder, that

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is Adams leadership style.
Raising a three and a half

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million dollar seed round for
Fiat, Republican advance of the

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launch of their MVP or minimum
viable product, and the big

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reveal about what Adam might be
doing for Taylor Swift.

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Right now.
If you Wasn't leading Fiat

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Republic.
All right, here on muddy.

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Never sleeps.
But listen, Adam, great to have

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you on the show tonight.
Thanks again for joining.

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This is going to be fun, given
that you and I first started

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talking a few months back and
you called me on a Thursday and

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said, hey Pete.
I got my first investor call

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tomorrow to pitch.
And can you just give me a few

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tips?
So we had a chat.

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I gave a few tips, but I said to
you, I said just be aware that

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95% of the first conversations.
We're going to have for the

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investor ends with nothing.
So here's how to get some value

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out of it and you know, getting
to the know and then perhaps

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finding some, you know, other
things you might be able to do

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on your pitch.
Other investors that they think

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might be interested in what
you're doing.

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And you know, we had a good chat
and then you call me the next

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morning and you're like Pete,
they they offered me an

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investment right away and I got
a term sheet coming.

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I'm like, what?
That doesn't happen.

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It was awesome.
So I think that was a good A

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Bellwether to how, you know,
you're early knock on wood

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progress that you guys have made
with getting Fiat Republic

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going?
Yeah, yeah.

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It's, it's been extraordinary.
I mean, I look back to some of

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those moments and I still, I
still can't believe like how

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fast it all moved.
Yep.

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Totally.
But listen, why don't we dig in

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first to your backstory and just
figure out where this all came

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from first, right?
So why don't you just bring us

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up to speed with how you got to
this point in your life and your

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career?
Yeah.

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Yeah.
So I started 14 years ago,

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pretty much on this journey and
payments, fintech banking.

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I think fintech when I started
that was 2006 even in

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circulation as a term, it was
banking, right?

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Yep.
You like even payments is a

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derivative industry of banking.
So here I was in Poland polish,

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you know, first couple of years
working for immersion acquire,

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called elevon.
That was a My very first sort of

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role in payments.
And I remember the first, the

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first year kind of being in
thrown into this chargeback

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department, right?
Because it's in a choir, you're

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getting into the charge, by the
department.

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That's basically means you're
teaching you everything that can

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go wrong in a car transaction,
and that's how I certainly

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reading those, you know,
thousand-page visa and

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MasterCard chargeback handling
manuals, dispute, resolution and

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delicious you walk you through
like every single bit where and

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then she Or linking Bank, can
raise a challenge, where a

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cardholder.
So the consumer can raise a

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challenge and how you should
handle of this.

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The perfect baptized by fire
spent a year there.

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I mean, bless them, they're
doing well, you know, they're

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global company.
They still have a big office in

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Ireland are part of us Bancorp.
I mean, Global Corporation.

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I think the training that I got
there in just one year was just

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like astonishing.
It was really, you know,

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prepared me for for the worst as
As an in terms of what to expect

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out of the payments industry
after that, I went to a bank

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verifies and bank is a banking
group out of Austria in Vienna

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at their headquarters in Vienna.
But you know, they had a

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subsidiary bank and Poland.
I was originally joined the or

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operation and raiffeisen Bank
looking after crop cards because

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that's where I came from, like,
they were.

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Oh okay.
So you spent, you know, a year

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handling charge backs for a
merchant choir.

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Why don't you help us on the
issuing side, right?

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That was the first gig six
months.

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And they're like, oh no, Adam, I
think you're a bit more than

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what meets the eye.
You know, there's the product

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management department that has
been asking about you, why don't

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you, you know, go and talk to
them, right?

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And, you know, sure enough the
week later, I had an interview

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of the department director of
the transaction Bank department

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and they're like, yeah, we would
love you to join.

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So, I transferred over after six
months from an operations

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Department to a product
management department, which is

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by all means, you know, for all
intents and purposes considered

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as a Business department, right?
And there, you know, like a

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traditional product management
role in Banks, it slightly

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differs from tech product
management is more commercial.

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It's, you know, Reading Writing
T's and C's preparing pricing,

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you know, for the different
offerings as well as tag but,

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you know, tag at the time, you
know, we're talking 2000-2007

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Tech at the time, wasn't, you
know, I wasn't in a good place.

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Yeah, we're still just
Beginnings a cloud really at

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that pigs.
They were they were still

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Mainframe core banking systems
were like, you know, really

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really cumbersome and difficult
to change.

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Right?
But yeah it was it was it was

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that time and it was fascinating
because that was in the bank

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that was considered as a fairly
conservative Bank like a

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Germanic bank right in the
middle of the financial crisis.

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2008 2009, this is literally,
you know, I was still there and

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and Poland.
Also, you know, to everyone's

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surprise Was the only country in
the EU that had positive like

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green GDP growth and that time.
So we were called The Green

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Island.
Okay.

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Over European Union.
No Ireland.

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Yeah.
Yeah, we still got that claim

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here.
Yeah, but I'll share with you

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for a little bit.
Yeah.

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And and yeah, and so basically
spent, you know, three four

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years there helping them was
transaction, Bank International.

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Banking is this obscure
corporate banking division, that

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manages corporates, right?
And smes, and those complex sort

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of products invoice, financing
factoring payments.

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But like International payments.
Like, you know, Mass collections

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Mass payouts that sort of stuff,
right?

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So it was also a very
interesting Learning Journey for

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me, like, in the core banking,
you know, space.

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So this.
Oh yeah.

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Then I had this brilliant idea
of moving to do, okay, fast

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forward to 12.
And I was thinking to myself, I

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always wanted to live in a
English speaking country.

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You know, I studied Linguistics
and focus on English.

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So I was kind of following what
I have had set out to do in my

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life, I guess.
And yeah, and I moved to the UK

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and my first job in the UK was
F, is so another card processing

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company quite like it.
I mean, again, you know, it's a

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big organization and they have
multiple divisions or multiple

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facets to their business.
I was in the debit and prepaid

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management, and I was a it was a
big To step down because I went

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from product manager to a
business analyst, right?

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So it didn't stay long, they're
only only three months and then

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join the cocktail called you
cat, which was essentially a

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alternative payment scheme based
on vouchers that had like 19 or

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16 digit codes.
You would, you know, go to a

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corner shop exchange of cash for
a voucher and then you would pay

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at participating merchants,
right?

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They were that sort of play and
yet they hired me to sort of

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look after cards and start
diversifying away from those

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vouchers and into Prepaid cards,
right?

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So I actually with you guys, I
actually launched one of the

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first travel money cards in the
UK before the era of Revolution.

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And the explosion of similar
propositions in the UK that

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we're talking about 2013-14 have
right.

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And, and it was wildly
successful because we managed

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to, you know, through
leveraging, the distribution

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network of you cash, which was
basically taking in cash and

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different countries in Open and
around the world for a voucher.

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So basically sitting on foreign
currency right?

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Being a UK company having to
bring it back to pound out some

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point.
So we figured why don't we just

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take those millions of Euros or
whatever and just and just sell

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it to British consumers at a
profit via a troll money card.

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They would pre-loaded to travel
money card and then go to France

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and, you know, spend it on wine
and Euros, right?

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Course as you do.
Yeah, you do right?

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So it was, it was wild because
we didn't have any presence in

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trouble money or in that market.
But for some reason, Martin

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Lewis picked up the car, it
started waving it at ITV and

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saying, this is the best car
that you can possibly buy if you

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want to go abroad and looks out
all of a sudden we went from

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zero to, you know, 10,000 or
15,000 cards in like, a matter

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of months.
So yeah.

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It was, it was, it was an
interesting, wow, social

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experiment.
But, but yeah, it was it was

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really, it was really successful
and then, You guys got acquired

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by paysafe in the end.
So this is when I left the

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company and and actually join
Sainsbury's.

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Yeah, I saw that, that was quite
a detour but a very important

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one, you know, for me, and for
my career because it made me

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realize it me, it helped me kind
of gain this vantage point back

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on payments.
Back on banking from the

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perspective of a major retailer,
right?

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That is that, is that a
Sainsbury's?

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And this is when I started
thinking about, you know,

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coalition's consortiums.
Taking on an established player,

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which, you know, at that time,
you know the supermarkets, don't

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necessarily appreciate the
dominant position that some

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players have in the payments
industry and and they wanted to

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do something of their own,
right?

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They wanted to take on the big
guy and there they were a big

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enough right to do that.
So, anyway, the Sainsbury's, it

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was a journey from, you know,
zero to a head of Department

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over three years.
So, go promote a couple of

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times, you know, had my team
made a lot of impact, you know,

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I was I was managing stuff.
From like point-of-sale payments

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like at 20,000 taels that they
had in stores and then online,

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you know, payments accepting
payments on for groceries online

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and stuff like that.
I actually launched the

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contactless so the privilege of
you going to Sainsbury's and

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tapping your cards.
That's me my team as well.

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But yeah it was it was like
obviously Sainsbury's was a bit

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late to the party but - well I
mean considering the

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circumstances and there was a
lot of innovation happening

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within the They were trying to
sort of, you know, virtualize

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the check out, right, digitalize
the check out, put it into the

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phone and and they started doing
those experiments are still

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doing them with Smart Shop.
They have this proprietary

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technology that allows you to
scan items and then check out

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virtually without even having to
visit at.

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Oh, so I was I was part of that
and you know helping them with

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with payments.
Also, one other interesting

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project.
There was a chop shop.

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It's basically a 60-minute
grocery delivery app before the

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ear of gets her.
Her and the, you know, the

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others gorillas and, and yet
still running, it's available in

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London only.
But it allows you to basically

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order up to 25 items and have it
delivered to your doorstep and

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60 minutes and is understood as
saying this brand, the my role

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was there, like, I was one of
the sort of co-leads looking

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after payments and the payment,
end-to-end payment solution for

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00:12:09,800 --> 00:12:14,000
it, trying to eliminate have,
you know, the tale from the

227
00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:17,700
equation having, you know,
having to integrate the payment.

228
00:12:17,900 --> 00:12:22,000
To tell and we managed to do it
which was, which was quite quite

229
00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:23,100
nice.
So yeah.

230
00:12:23,100 --> 00:12:27,200
After Sainsbury's I went to I
went on to help a couple of

231
00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:31,200
london-based context, hyper jar,
help them, build their MVP.

232
00:12:31,300 --> 00:12:34,000
It's like a digital wallet.
Proposition After High Bridge or

233
00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:37,800
Wi-Fi or now on V.
Which is basically a QR code

234
00:12:37,800 --> 00:12:40,900
based pay at Table Restaurant
payment app.

235
00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:44,100
So, something that became
popular, especially after covid

236
00:12:44,100 --> 00:12:46,200
ordering the ear of covid.
Yeah.

237
00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:50,000
Because Boris Johnson will see
Scanning those on BBC.

238
00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:52,900
So, so, help them also build
build their MVP.

239
00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:58,600
And then, actually, in 2019
landed in YC / project to, you

240
00:12:58,608 --> 00:13:01,800
know, bring together
supermarkets into a coalition.

241
00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:03,200
Yeah.
That was quite an experience.

242
00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:06,000
A lot of learnings, you know,
they brainwash through there.

243
00:13:06,800 --> 00:13:08,300
Yeah.
Just for just for those who

244
00:13:08,300 --> 00:13:10,700
don't know why C is Y
combinator, which is an

245
00:13:10,700 --> 00:13:12,300
accelerator program little one
though.

246
00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:19,100
Yeah, very small, very small.
Yeah, but like the start the

247
00:13:19,108 --> 00:13:22,800
stuff that I learned in, you
know it's they teach you how to

248
00:13:22,800 --> 00:13:26,200
build stuff from scratch with
like two hundred thousand

249
00:13:26,400 --> 00:13:30,100
dollars, two people and two
months, you know and then you

250
00:13:30,100 --> 00:13:33,400
know attentively talking to your
users and making sure that you

251
00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:37,500
stay in touch with what your
customer wants and you build up

252
00:13:37,500 --> 00:13:39,900
your volleyball.
It's really like it's a proper

253
00:13:39,900 --> 00:13:42,200
brainwashed.
Got a very useful one.

254
00:13:42,200 --> 00:13:45,400
So after that I joined a company
called open paid and this was

255
00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:48,400
like my first foray into bank.
Use the service.

256
00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:51,300
And yeah, that was at the time
when I joined open paid, they

257
00:13:51,300 --> 00:13:54,900
were looking at multiple
different verticals and the

258
00:13:54,900 --> 00:13:57,800
entire banking service platform
or the entire banking, service

259
00:13:57,800 --> 00:14:00,900
industry was sort of trying to
figure out area to focus on and

260
00:14:00,900 --> 00:14:02,600
where are the biggest problems,
right?

261
00:14:02,600 --> 00:14:06,100
You know, I remember, you know,
we're talking about e-commerce,

262
00:14:06,100 --> 00:14:11,300
you know, lending Neo Banks and
all the different fintech areas

263
00:14:11,400 --> 00:14:14,700
as well as crypto, right?
And, you know, having been a

264
00:14:14,800 --> 00:14:19,200
Trader myself since the second
Boom in 2017.

265
00:14:19,200 --> 00:14:23,100
I was a big proponent will still
at open bait of tackling the

266
00:14:23,100 --> 00:14:26,800
crypto use case, right?
But after two years in the

267
00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:31,500
company decided to set up my own
Venture and essentially incepted

268
00:14:31,500 --> 00:14:36,000
an idea to just do banking
service and compliances service

269
00:14:36,300 --> 00:14:39,900
for cryptocurrency platforms and
this is when we see a republic

270
00:14:39,900 --> 00:14:41,700
comes into existence and that's
the origin.

271
00:14:41,700 --> 00:14:45,000
Okay, it's amazing.
And it's like you're talking me

272
00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:47,800
through this Adam.
And I like see this full All

273
00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:51,000
payments stack historical
Evolution.

274
00:14:51,600 --> 00:14:55,000
You know basically coming out
through your story right?

275
00:14:55,100 --> 00:15:01,600
And you know, 2007 feeling the
beginnings of it with elavon and

276
00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:05,200
then kind of moving through Ops
into product management as a

277
00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:07,200
technology and industry was
developing.

278
00:15:07,700 --> 00:15:11,300
And then getting really hardcore
into the consumer side with you

279
00:15:11,300 --> 00:15:15,700
cash and with sainsbury.
And that around about the time,

280
00:15:15,700 --> 00:15:19,500
you know, 2014, 15 16.
Team were some of these ideals

281
00:15:19,500 --> 00:15:23,500
around the Challenger Banks and
let's figure out this job to be

282
00:15:23,500 --> 00:15:27,700
done for the consumer.
And let's develop a proposition

283
00:15:27,700 --> 00:15:29,500
for them and you being right in
the middle of all that.

284
00:15:29,500 --> 00:15:31,600
And then I've heard you say,
Consortium a couple of times

285
00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:34,100
through this, through the rest
of that experience and it just

286
00:15:34,700 --> 00:15:37,300
it's uncanny.
Now we're talking about this,

287
00:15:37,300 --> 00:15:41,300
obviously the lead up to Fiat
Republic and so naturally that

288
00:15:41,300 --> 00:15:43,600
story is going to go in that
direction, but it just seems

289
00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:47,600
like this has been building up
and is such a natural step.

290
00:15:47,700 --> 00:15:49,700
For you to take forward?
Yeah, yeah.

291
00:15:49,700 --> 00:15:52,200
It's been.
It's been just Gathering all of

292
00:15:52,200 --> 00:15:55,300
those experiences, the different
Vantage points, right along the

293
00:15:55,300 --> 00:15:57,700
way.
And, and I'm always about the

294
00:15:57,708 --> 00:16:00,700
journey, I'm not just about the
destination, right?

295
00:16:00,700 --> 00:16:04,300
So, like the journey that got me
to where I'm at right now and

296
00:16:04,300 --> 00:16:09,300
the journey that we you know,
now as a team, as a republic

297
00:16:09,500 --> 00:16:13,400
continue on, right, that is what
matters right and in this is the

298
00:16:13,900 --> 00:16:17,300
you know, they're in a way, the
destination is important because

299
00:16:17,300 --> 00:16:20,800
it's the That's the vision.
But, but the journey is, you

300
00:16:20,808 --> 00:16:23,400
know, and experience that you
get and the different Vantage

301
00:16:23,400 --> 00:16:27,400
points are or observations.
You make are as important as

302
00:16:27,500 --> 00:16:30,800
whatever is your destination,
absolutely, okay.

303
00:16:30,800 --> 00:16:33,600
So, tell us you've given us a
little hint into a little look

304
00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:36,400
into it with, but tell us what
Fiat Republic is.

305
00:16:36,900 --> 00:16:40,300
And you've talked about the idea
a little bit where it came from,

306
00:16:40,300 --> 00:16:43,300
but maybe explore that a bit.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

307
00:16:43,300 --> 00:16:49,400
Sophie Republic is a true High.
Hybrid and I like, I always like

308
00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:52,700
to sort of pull different pieces
of different potentially,

309
00:16:52,700 --> 00:16:54,700
Divergent value, propositions
together.

310
00:16:54,900 --> 00:16:59,100
This is like a tendency that I,
you know, that I that I had even

311
00:16:59,100 --> 00:17:01,700
when I was at Sainsbury's, you
know, I started learning this

312
00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:05,599
broadly, you know, different
industry which was retail, you

313
00:17:05,599 --> 00:17:09,099
know, anecdotally my first week.
I remember the first technology

314
00:17:09,099 --> 00:17:12,500
team huddle at Sainsbury's and
we're talking about what is

315
00:17:12,500 --> 00:17:17,000
topping the sales, which is
obviously bananas, Jack Daniels

316
00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:20,800
and some Organic chicken, right?
And of course, and everyone was

317
00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:24,300
so proud about that, right?
Like, whoa, this is a totally

318
00:17:24,300 --> 00:17:26,900
different world, right?
This is like the guys here.

319
00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:31,300
Deep, this is retail, right?
This is where we're consumers.

320
00:17:31,300 --> 00:17:34,300
Like on a day-to-day basis,
massive amounts of them, like

321
00:17:34,300 --> 00:17:37,900
huge amounts of them are
interacting with brand, so that

322
00:17:37,900 --> 00:17:42,000
thinking basically looking at
the multiple value propositions

323
00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:45,400
from different angles and
combining them into one.

324
00:17:45,900 --> 00:17:48,400
It is very much the core of Fear
public.

325
00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:51,600
So this is basically three value
props in one.

326
00:17:52,200 --> 00:17:54,900
So the first one being back in
service, right?

327
00:17:54,900 --> 00:17:58,700
Thank you the service sometimes
it's still misunderstood is

328
00:17:58,700 --> 00:18:01,000
like, what does that mean?
Okay, so you're doing banking

329
00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:03,700
through apis, like, what is that
right?

330
00:18:03,700 --> 00:18:08,400
What does that solve like?
What is the problem in our world

331
00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:12,800
or in, in our view it amounts to
aggregation of banking rails?

332
00:18:12,900 --> 00:18:17,200
Okay, and providing them through
one single access point one API,

333
00:18:17,300 --> 00:18:19,700
right?
You only have to connect once to

334
00:18:19,700 --> 00:18:22,500
get access to.
I don't know, seven, eight

335
00:18:22,500 --> 00:18:26,100
different currencies that are
actually provided by AIDS

336
00:18:26,100 --> 00:18:28,100
different banks behind the
scenes.

337
00:18:28,100 --> 00:18:31,100
But you as a customer as a
business customer you don't see

338
00:18:31,100 --> 00:18:33,700
this.
All you have you know all you

339
00:18:33,700 --> 00:18:38,700
see is the republic or another
bank is a player who gives you a

340
00:18:38,700 --> 00:18:42,100
one API to connect to and then
allows you to send money through

341
00:18:42,100 --> 00:18:44,800
those or keep money on those
rails, right?

342
00:18:44,800 --> 00:18:46,300
That is back in the service at
its core.

343
00:18:46,300 --> 00:18:48,900
So aggregation of Inking and
payment rails.

344
00:18:48,900 --> 00:18:52,900
Second value proposition is
given that we are essentially A

345
00:18:52,900 --> 00:18:55,600
specialized banking of the
service player.

346
00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:59,100
Specifically specializing on
crypto, because there is a

347
00:18:59,100 --> 00:19:01,000
massive issue with crypto,
right?

348
00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:04,900
And I'll expand on on it a
little bit more, it is, it is to

349
00:19:04,900 --> 00:19:06,600
mostly to do with compliance,
right?

350
00:19:06,600 --> 00:19:09,700
And lack of understanding world,
you know, a crypto platform

351
00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:13,800
should be doing to satisfy
requirements of banking

352
00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:17,300
partners.
And now in crypto, you know

353
00:19:17,300 --> 00:19:20,400
where This inflection point
where feet out.

354
00:19:20,600 --> 00:19:24,800
So you know traditional currency
is absolutely necessary for

355
00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:27,900
crypto to take off in any
meaningful manner, right because

356
00:19:28,100 --> 00:19:29,600
this is where customers come
from.

357
00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:32,600
They come from dollars, the only
way in the only way that that's

358
00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:34,500
the only way and it's an entry
Port.

359
00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:37,500
I keep saying to some of our
partners.

360
00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:41,600
So without it you really can't
do web 3.

361
00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:44,100
It is like it doesn't it?
We have three doesn't exist

362
00:19:44,100 --> 00:19:46,400
without this is not what to, by
the way.

363
00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:48,100
This is Traditional Bank.
King, right?

364
00:19:48,100 --> 00:19:50,700
It's, you know managing your
money as it bends as been

365
00:19:50,700 --> 00:19:55,100
managed for hundreds of years.
So that that Clash of Two

366
00:19:55,100 --> 00:19:57,800
Worlds.
The world of banking or fintech

367
00:19:57,800 --> 00:20:02,600
or payments with the world of
crypto is creating so much

368
00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:05,200
friction.
Right now that on the crypto

369
00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:09,100
side, it is literally preventing
the growth of the industry,

370
00:20:09,300 --> 00:20:11,700
right?
Because it's this handicap that

371
00:20:11,700 --> 00:20:15,000
is put on top of, you know, on
top of the biggest Platforms in

372
00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:17,500
the world and their growth right
there.

373
00:20:17,700 --> 00:20:21,100
An old surpass that sort of
ceiling if you like because

374
00:20:21,100 --> 00:20:24,500
because the traditional world of
Finance is it doesn't want to

375
00:20:24,500 --> 00:20:27,100
play, right?
That is about is the main

376
00:20:27,100 --> 00:20:29,200
conflict here.
And what that means on the

377
00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:33,200
ground for a crypto platform, is
they, you know, they cannot

378
00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:36,300
connect to Just One banking
provider just to cover their

379
00:20:36,300 --> 00:20:37,800
basic needs.
They would need to connect at

380
00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:39,200
least two two or three.
Right?

381
00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:42,000
Because you know we've got GBP
Euro dollars.

382
00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:43,900
Typically that means two or
three Banks.

383
00:20:43,900 --> 00:20:45,400
Right?
Because there's no one bank that

384
00:20:45,400 --> 00:20:48,900
offers one you know, one one
Connection to all of all three

385
00:20:48,900 --> 00:20:53,000
of those.
Then the other one is banks are

386
00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:56,800
really, you know, just looking
double double clicking on the

387
00:20:56,800 --> 00:20:59,600
banks for a moment.
Thanks for really scared.

388
00:20:59,700 --> 00:21:02,400
Okay, this is a very specific
type of fear.

389
00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:06,300
It's a fear of unknown, if
they're scared of something that

390
00:21:06,300 --> 00:21:09,700
they cannot understand.
The problem, is that, on the

391
00:21:09,700 --> 00:21:13,700
crypto side, the conditions are
not favorable to making the

392
00:21:13,700 --> 00:21:16,900
bank's understand, what is
actually happening in crypto,

393
00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:19,800
right?
The entire crypto movement comes

394
00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:21,900
from all, Let's Take on the
banks.

395
00:21:22,300 --> 00:21:25,900
Let's revolutionize financial
services, this adversary, and

396
00:21:25,900 --> 00:21:28,400
what we're seeing.
Now, this adversarial tone and

397
00:21:28,400 --> 00:21:31,900
this sort of adversarial or or,
you know, a confrontational

398
00:21:31,900 --> 00:21:34,600
approach is really losing,
right.

399
00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:38,400
It's really something that is
subsiding and and you know, big

400
00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:41,100
crypto platforms are all waking
up to the fact that they have to

401
00:21:41,100 --> 00:21:46,000
play by the rules, to be able to
innovate and to be able to grow

402
00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:48,600
the industry.
So, with that problem and

403
00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:51,600
expanded on it a bit more.
But basically, if you're a

404
00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:56,000
public is taking that problem
and applying, which we believe

405
00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:59,400
is a systemic problem, that
handicaps grow from the grape

406
00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:02,800
industry, we're addressing it
with a systemic solution.

407
00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:08,500
Okay, the solution being were
trying to put pool those biggest

408
00:22:08,500 --> 00:22:12,000
crypto players where, you know,
because those are the

409
00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:13,900
trendsetters, right?
Those are the guys that you

410
00:22:13,908 --> 00:22:16,000
know, everyone looks up to
coinbase everyone.

411
00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:19,100
Everyone looks up to crackin.
In a way, they're the first ones

412
00:22:19,100 --> 00:22:22,300
there are the Trailblazers
there, the first movers in many,

413
00:22:22,500 --> 00:22:25,500
you know, in many respects.
So we want to gather them into

414
00:22:25,500 --> 00:22:27,500
this code.
We Coalition this Consortium,

415
00:22:27,500 --> 00:22:32,200
right and apply, you know, apply
almost like a carrot and stick

416
00:22:32,200 --> 00:22:35,400
approach, right?
You've got some benefits but we

417
00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:39,600
really need your collaboration.
We need you to play with us in

418
00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:44,900
terms of compliance in terms of
am l so that we can help you and

419
00:22:44,900 --> 00:22:49,800
help the industry change the
Option of you and your services

420
00:22:49,900 --> 00:22:53,000
with the bank's, okay?
And the regulatory Community

421
00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:57,000
because that conflict is so big
that it is it's like on the bank

422
00:22:57,000 --> 00:22:59,200
side, there's often based on
misconceptions.

423
00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:03,700
I think crypto is this right?
Or I think crypto is that and

424
00:23:03,700 --> 00:23:06,600
then CEO says that and all of a
sudden, the entire department

425
00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:10,200
says that and then that results
in the internal risk policy that

426
00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:12,100
is just Banning crypto, you
know?

427
00:23:12,100 --> 00:23:15,300
Completely, yeah.
I feel like I'm quoting Chris

428
00:23:15,300 --> 00:23:19,400
Dixon from a 16z once a day.
He's days where he said.

429
00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:23,000
I've never met anyone in this
space who is both skeptical, and

430
00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:26,700
informed.
Yeah, exactly.

431
00:23:27,600 --> 00:23:30,200
But it's like, it's not, you
know, you look at the banks and

432
00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:32,500
depending upon which bank it is,
you're talking about which tier,

433
00:23:32,500 --> 00:23:34,000
which level you're talking
about.

434
00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:37,000
Yeah, I almost start quoting
Robin Williams from Good Will

435
00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:39,300
Hunting, when he's giving, Matt
Damon a hug and saying, it's not

436
00:23:39,300 --> 00:23:42,400
your fault, it's not your fault,
it's not your fault.

437
00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:45,800
It's that these are the, where
they've come from, and it's up

438
00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:49,800
to folks, like, Like you and me
and others that are in this

439
00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:51,500
space to inform.
Yeah.

440
00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:54,800
And to educate and you can and
it's a lot easier to do that

441
00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:56,900
when you're doing that when
you're talking too many at the

442
00:23:56,900 --> 00:23:58,000
same time.
You know?

443
00:23:58,000 --> 00:23:59,900
Yes.
It sounds like that's what what?

444
00:23:59,900 --> 00:24:00,700
You've got.
Your head around.

445
00:24:00,700 --> 00:24:03,500
Yeah, yeah.
It's a unified front.

446
00:24:03,500 --> 00:24:06,200
So this, this could there's
compliance as a service as well,

447
00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:10,000
which is where we're getting
into really hard difficult

448
00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:12,600
stuff.
Okay, this is like at a level of

449
00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:15,500
hey coin bitches got a rejection
from a bank that they were

450
00:24:15,500 --> 00:24:19,000
trying to put a payment through.
They're asking who is Pete,

451
00:24:19,400 --> 00:24:23,400
where is it 50,000 like why all
of a sudden 50,000 Euros on this

452
00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:26,800
iban?
I want Phi D Pete's addressed

453
00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:29,900
Pizza, you know, utility bill
Pete starts of funds.

454
00:24:30,100 --> 00:24:32,700
Give me, give me give me, right?
And then p, in the meantime is

455
00:24:32,700 --> 00:24:34,500
waiting, what is happening?
Why money?

456
00:24:34,500 --> 00:24:37,400
Like, why am I waiting that?
Is that is the, the sort of

457
00:24:37,700 --> 00:24:41,100
stuff that we are, you know,
double-clicking on unpacking.

458
00:24:41,100 --> 00:24:43,600
And it's like, what are?
Actually those clothes, those

459
00:24:43,600 --> 00:24:47,400
processes that are taking place
and where is the disconnect?

460
00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:52,000
And it tends to be lack of data
lack of any sort of information

461
00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:54,600
because the bank, like just put
yourself in the bank shoes for a

462
00:24:54,608 --> 00:24:56,100
moment, the back don't see
anything.

463
00:24:56,300 --> 00:25:00,500
They just see the name and
whatever sepa or or you know

464
00:25:00,500 --> 00:25:03,700
Swift or faster payments
participant puts and the payment

465
00:25:03,700 --> 00:25:07,100
message right, which sometimes
is address but not much more,

466
00:25:07,300 --> 00:25:10,000
right?
So you know what are they to,

467
00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:13,700
you know, to deduct or to to
conclude from on the basis of

468
00:25:13,700 --> 00:25:15,900
the data that are getting not
much, right?

469
00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:18,800
So what we're trying to do And
this is this, let's say

470
00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:21,900
compliance as a service with
Bobby proposition or part of our

471
00:25:21,900 --> 00:25:26,900
value proposition is to inject
more data, more information.

472
00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:30,400
Like who is Pete?
Why is he trying to buy crypto

473
00:25:30,500 --> 00:25:33,400
and then once he buys crypto,
what is happening with that

474
00:25:33,400 --> 00:25:35,300
crypto right.
Yep.

475
00:25:35,500 --> 00:25:37,700
What is he doing with it?
Is he sending it from one moment

476
00:25:37,700 --> 00:25:39,700
to another may be too cold
storage.

477
00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:42,500
Maybe he's selling it on another
platform.

478
00:25:42,500 --> 00:25:44,400
It's all visible.
It's blushing.

479
00:25:44,700 --> 00:25:48,900
Her face is you can see Pete.
Just need to know that it's Pete

480
00:25:48,900 --> 00:25:50,800
with this token, right?
Yep.

481
00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:52,400
That that someone someone gives
you.

482
00:25:52,408 --> 00:25:57,000
So we're trying to open the bank
size to kind of disinformation

483
00:25:57,000 --> 00:25:58,600
is there.
It's available.

484
00:25:58,700 --> 00:26:01,000
We can we can act as a broker,
right?

485
00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:03,800
We can teach them how to ingest
that data.

486
00:26:04,300 --> 00:26:07,600
And then and then, you know,
over time make them a bit more

487
00:26:07,600 --> 00:26:10,900
comfortable with a banking
crypto and hopefully change the

488
00:26:10,900 --> 00:26:12,800
perception of the crypto
industry in the process.

489
00:26:13,100 --> 00:26:15,900
That is the play in the same
middle value proposition.

490
00:26:19,600 --> 00:26:22,100
Hey everyone, this is Pete.
Let me tell you about the folks

491
00:26:22,100 --> 00:26:23,900
at Phillip.
Lee few years ago.

492
00:26:23,900 --> 00:26:26,600
Is that my first Venture Capital
industry dinner in Dublin and

493
00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:30,100
honestly I felt a bit lost.
I bumped into Andrews is Ali.

494
00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:31,800
One of the partners at Phillip
Lee.

495
00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:35,200
He bought me a pint introduced
me to the team and they took me

496
00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:37,400
under their wing.
That take you under their wing

497
00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:40,100
approach has been what I've
heard consistently from fintech.

498
00:26:40,100 --> 00:26:43,000
And crypto startups who I know
have worked with Phillip, Lee,

499
00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:44,800
and Dublin and London to help
them.

500
00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:47,900
Wrap the right legal framework
around their Fundraising and

501
00:26:47,900 --> 00:26:50,600
Regulatory needs and I can't
recommend them enough.

502
00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:52,800
Get in touch with a team at
Philip lead.

503
00:26:52,800 --> 00:26:54,400
IE or on money.
Never sleeps.

504
00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:56,700
That IE /, Phillip Lee to learn
more.

505
00:27:02,100 --> 00:27:05,600
Aha, so so you would know your
way around ether scan.

506
00:27:05,700 --> 00:27:09,500
Yes, yeah, yes, yes.
And and for those that don't

507
00:27:09,500 --> 00:27:12,700
know out there, either scan when
you are in your crypto wallet

508
00:27:12,700 --> 00:27:16,900
and you can end up going to The
Ether scan website, to basically

509
00:27:16,900 --> 00:27:19,500
see the transaction, where it
came from, where it went to.

510
00:27:19,700 --> 00:27:23,000
As Adam said, it's all open
public record when you're

511
00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:26,200
dealing with crypto addresses.
Yeah, really, really

512
00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:28,100
interesting.
And then the final bid that is

513
00:27:28,100 --> 00:27:30,500
tying it all together.
There is the Consortium, right?

514
00:27:30,500 --> 00:27:33,900
But beyond just a compliance
play or, you know, making it

515
00:27:33,900 --> 00:27:36,100
more pop palatable for the
banks.

516
00:27:36,500 --> 00:27:39,600
It is also trying to give the
crypto industry, a voice, a

517
00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:42,700
voice that has been lacking.
Because, you know, naturally

518
00:27:42,700 --> 00:27:46,600
this is a nascent industry.
It's just in its infancy and and

519
00:27:46,600 --> 00:27:48,800
in this stage, there's a lot of
competition.

520
00:27:48,900 --> 00:27:50,600
Right?
There's, you know, the Krakens

521
00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:53,300
the B times, they're all vying
for the same type of customer,

522
00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:58,200
so that doesn't help in most
importantly, that doesn't help

523
00:27:58,500 --> 00:28:00,100
the poor.
Perception of the industry as a

524
00:28:00,100 --> 00:28:04,500
whole because it makes it look
unpredictable to the banks and

525
00:28:04,500 --> 00:28:07,500
to fast to the banks and Devon
faster.

526
00:28:07,500 --> 00:28:10,300
The Regulators, right?
So what we're trying to do is

527
00:28:10,300 --> 00:28:12,700
we're trying to, you know,
bridge that Gap, you know,

528
00:28:12,700 --> 00:28:16,200
gather them together, give them
a voice, represent them advocate

529
00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:19,900
for them, right?
With the FCA with, you know, you

530
00:28:19,900 --> 00:28:22,600
Regulators whatever little bit
groups, we can join and

531
00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:26,000
represent the, you know, our
membership, our, you know,

532
00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:27,700
Consortium.
That's what we're going to do.

533
00:28:27,700 --> 00:28:30,000
And we're going to Leverage The
The standing that we have from

534
00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:33,400
the data that we obtained, by
being in the middle of this, to

535
00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:36,800
inform the parties that are not
necessarily involved in crypto

536
00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:39,400
on a day-to-day basis, there are
trying to regulate crypto but

537
00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:41,500
they don't know how like The
Regulators, right?

538
00:28:41,500 --> 00:28:46,700
So, that's the coolest approach
or the the systemic solution

539
00:28:46,700 --> 00:28:50,500
that we're building to address a
very systemic problem that is

540
00:28:50,500 --> 00:28:52,300
Banks and crypto don't really
get along.

541
00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:54,600
Yeah.
Yeah, they don't.

542
00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:57,300
And, I mean, just if just even a
couple years ago here in

543
00:28:57,300 --> 00:29:00,400
Ireland, I went to go visit one
of Of the bank's just to talk to

544
00:29:00,400 --> 00:29:02,300
there because it's someone said
Pete, you know, a bit about

545
00:29:02,300 --> 00:29:03,900
crypto, can you come talk to us
about that?

546
00:29:03,900 --> 00:29:06,800
I just met their onboarding team
and they said that they couldn't

547
00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:09,500
actually, I won't name the bank,
but they said they couldn't

548
00:29:09,500 --> 00:29:14,400
actually Bank any crypto
players, because the Central

549
00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:16,800
Bank of Ireland didn't say it
was okay yet.

550
00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:18,500
Yeah.
I'm like the Central Bank of

551
00:29:18,500 --> 00:29:19,800
Ireland is never going to tell
you.

552
00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:23,900
It's okay what you need to do is
demonstrate that you understand

553
00:29:23,900 --> 00:29:27,000
the risks of onboarding, a
crypto player and show them your

554
00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:31,000
procedures and your policies is
to You identify those businesses

555
00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:34,100
and what their risk may be and
how you actually talked about it

556
00:29:34,100 --> 00:29:36,400
in your risk committee and how
you then actually, what is the

557
00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:38,200
approval process.
Absolutely.

558
00:29:38,300 --> 00:29:41,000
And then you need to submit that
Central Bank of Ireland.

559
00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:44,400
If you think it is a material
change to how you do business in

560
00:29:44,400 --> 00:29:46,900
your operating model, and give
them a heads-up that it's

561
00:29:46,900 --> 00:29:48,300
happening.
And if they have something to

562
00:29:48,300 --> 00:29:50,600
say about it, great, and if not
wonderful.

563
00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:55,900
So, you know, I think that now,
I put my hand up and said,

564
00:29:55,900 --> 00:29:57,700
listen, I could I could help you
guys change your onboarding

565
00:29:57,700 --> 00:29:59,500
checklist, but I think You
could.

566
00:29:59,500 --> 00:30:02,800
So, yeah, it's funny.
You say that because actually

567
00:30:02,800 --> 00:30:08,000
their minds me of a trip, we did
to one of the EU countries on

568
00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:11,900
name the country, but basically,
that regulator in that country,

569
00:30:11,900 --> 00:30:15,400
we went there, we went to talk
to them and we said, hey, we're

570
00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:17,500
you want to, you know, set up
shop here.

571
00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:20,600
We're bringing potentially, you
know, big cryptocurrency

572
00:30:20,600 --> 00:30:23,900
platforms into your country, but
do you like this?

573
00:30:23,900 --> 00:30:26,300
Like what do you say to this?
Like what's your comment?

574
00:30:26,300 --> 00:30:27,800
And they were like, that's
amazing.

575
00:30:27,800 --> 00:30:30,800
It sounds great more.
Isn't this, you know, more taxes

576
00:30:31,100 --> 00:30:34,900
for us to charge you know they
were like very positive about it

577
00:30:34,900 --> 00:30:39,400
but and then they added like in
the end they're like we would

578
00:30:39,400 --> 00:30:44,300
wish that our member banks would
come to us first as opposed to

579
00:30:44,300 --> 00:30:48,300
some Foreigner coming and and
you know, obviously opening up

580
00:30:48,300 --> 00:30:53,300
to opening us our eyes to the
prospect or the opportunity, but

581
00:30:53,300 --> 00:30:57,000
it would be great for the bank
to come to me and Pitch this.

582
00:30:57,400 --> 00:31:00,400
Yeah, absolutely.
It's interesting how those

583
00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:03,300
Dynamics, you know, between the
regulators and the bank's play

584
00:31:03,300 --> 00:31:05,800
out in the end.
And, you know, it's a bit of a

585
00:31:05,900 --> 00:31:09,400
like if one party doesn't move
the other one moment, but the

586
00:31:09,400 --> 00:31:11,700
other one won't move without the
other and this is chicken and

587
00:31:11,700 --> 00:31:13,200
egg, right?
Yeah.

588
00:31:13,300 --> 00:31:17,600
It's gonna be a move, you know.
It's like they The Wallflowers

589
00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:19,900
at the teenage dance sitting
there waiting to go up and ask

590
00:31:19,900 --> 00:31:24,300
somebody for dance.
They just they do but listen

591
00:31:24,400 --> 00:31:27,300
they got Republic name was going
to ask you how you came up with

592
00:31:27,300 --> 00:31:31,700
that and I could Is based upon
what I've learned so far

593
00:31:31,700 --> 00:31:33,300
tonight.
But why don't you tell us how

594
00:31:33,300 --> 00:31:37,000
you came up, with Fiat Republic?
It seems kind of obvious, but

595
00:31:37,200 --> 00:31:41,300
either confirm or dispel my
assumptions here.

596
00:31:41,900 --> 00:31:44,200
I was like, it didn't require
much.

597
00:31:44,200 --> 00:31:48,500
I was just trying to, you know,
as a consumer, send money to,

598
00:31:48,500 --> 00:31:51,400
you know, to, to bitstamp.
Okay, bless them.

599
00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:54,700
They're a very good platform but
it just took ages for me just to

600
00:31:54,700 --> 00:31:58,700
get representation or allocation
of of my own money.

601
00:31:58,900 --> 00:32:03,100
Any right or to see my own money
in on bitstamp and start

602
00:32:03,100 --> 00:32:06,000
trading, right?
And that, you know, that was one

603
00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:10,000
day that I would like, oh, okay,
this is, you know, it's like and

604
00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:12,600
then because this number
actually, very responsible, with

605
00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:14,000
their compliance framework,
okay?

606
00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:17,200
They check everything that, you
know, they kyc.

607
00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:20,200
And I was like this can be done
better.

608
00:32:20,200 --> 00:32:23,100
I mean, this can be literally
more theme with but it's not

609
00:32:23,100 --> 00:32:25,900
miss Tom's fault.
It is the fault of the banking

610
00:32:25,900 --> 00:32:28,600
partners and the banking
ecosystem that they have to

611
00:32:28,600 --> 00:32:31,100
work.
And that made me realize that

612
00:32:31,100 --> 00:32:34,500
it's actually not that, you
know, it's not the reputable,

613
00:32:34,500 --> 00:32:37,700
the biggest banks in the world,
that's your ones.

614
00:32:37,800 --> 00:32:40,600
Let's put it this way.
That engage with those sort of

615
00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:44,400
flows right now they don't want
to touch this, right?

616
00:32:44,500 --> 00:32:46,900
And they don't want to play
ball, they don't want to kind of

617
00:32:46,900 --> 00:32:48,400
be involved in those money
flows.

618
00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:51,700
And, and that's why the ultimate
user experience suffers.

619
00:32:51,900 --> 00:32:56,000
Right, me, sort of waiting for
my own money to start trading

620
00:32:56,100 --> 00:32:58,700
for a couple of days in the
enzyme Bitcoin goes.

621
00:32:58,900 --> 00:33:01,800
Up and down, you know, and
present here, 20% there.

622
00:33:02,100 --> 00:33:04,300
And I'm, you know, I'm pissed,
right?

623
00:33:04,300 --> 00:33:07,100
Yeah, yeah.
Can participate in the market

624
00:33:07,100 --> 00:33:10,300
and that was, that was when I
really like it just dawned on

625
00:33:10,300 --> 00:33:12,000
me.
This is, you know, this needs to

626
00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:14,500
be fixed and, and I'm a big
believer in crypto.

627
00:33:14,500 --> 00:33:16,000
I'm a supporter of a couple of
projects.

628
00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:19,800
I'm a big fan of polygons as
well, mattock, you know, I think

629
00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:23,700
it's going to go places and
there's so many projects, you

630
00:33:23,700 --> 00:33:27,400
know that are already hinging on
polygon, it's absolutely

631
00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:30,000
amazing.
It came from a Am I right?

632
00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:30,700
Yes.
Like, yeah.

633
00:33:30,900 --> 00:33:34,500
You know, it's a it's an
offshoot from from a theorem and

634
00:33:34,500 --> 00:33:37,900
that just it's a testament to a
theorem sort of foresight and

635
00:33:37,900 --> 00:33:41,400
the vision of italic button.
But yeah, I'm, you know, I'm a

636
00:33:41,400 --> 00:33:44,900
big supporter of crypto so you
know, like as I started learning

637
00:33:44,900 --> 00:33:48,700
more about bankers and service,
it just became a natural thing

638
00:33:48,700 --> 00:33:52,100
to do, just connecting the dots.
So, you know, put a specific

639
00:33:52,100 --> 00:33:55,300
bank is service Play Just for
crypto but also make sure that

640
00:33:55,300 --> 00:33:56,800
it's addressing the systemic
problem.

641
00:33:56,800 --> 00:34:01,500
It is hard, it is harder.
Than just providing an API, but

642
00:34:01,500 --> 00:34:04,200
it is what is what needs to be
done because otherwise nothing

643
00:34:04,200 --> 00:34:07,600
is going to change in this
industry or in this intersection

644
00:34:07,600 --> 00:34:11,199
of the two industries.
Absolutely, absolutely kind of

645
00:34:11,207 --> 00:34:14,600
Shifting Gears a little bit when
you and I last chatted Adam you

646
00:34:14,600 --> 00:34:17,000
talked about your leadership
style and you mentioned

647
00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:21,500
Fellowship of the Rings, right?
Which which really stuck with me

648
00:34:21,500 --> 00:34:24,900
and I you know, just my
imagination starts going wild

649
00:34:24,900 --> 00:34:27,199
around that.
Can you share more about that

650
00:34:27,199 --> 00:34:29,600
and and tell me how that works.
And why it's working.

651
00:34:30,699 --> 00:34:34,100
It's a very silly story, but I
actually ended up working quite

652
00:34:34,100 --> 00:34:37,600
well for me as like as I was
advancing in my path of being

653
00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:40,400
just a people manager or, you
know, I guess editor

654
00:34:40,400 --> 00:34:44,400
establishing myself as a leader.
I you know, watched Lord of the

655
00:34:44,400 --> 00:34:47,699
Rings, right?
And I just you know, tried to

656
00:34:47,699 --> 00:34:51,500
look at you know, the different
relationships that the members

657
00:34:51,500 --> 00:34:55,400
of The Fellowship of the Rings
had with one another and it just

658
00:34:55,400 --> 00:34:59,700
dawned on me that like this is
this it's almost like a Utopian

659
00:34:59,700 --> 00:35:02,700
leadership style where you're
taking into account, the

660
00:35:02,700 --> 00:35:04,900
complete like completely
different personalities,

661
00:35:04,900 --> 00:35:08,000
completely different skill sets
and giving them their own space

662
00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:09,700
and empowering them.
Right?

663
00:35:09,700 --> 00:35:13,100
And and somehow as a unit the
team just works brilliantly

664
00:35:13,100 --> 00:35:15,200
right?
And then ultimately manages to

665
00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:19,300
deliver the you know the goal or
the objective that that was that

666
00:35:19,300 --> 00:35:22,600
was put in front of them.
I think you know so this style

667
00:35:22,600 --> 00:35:28,200
of pay your a autonomous being
that has it's like his own

668
00:35:28,900 --> 00:35:32,200
Active its own skill, set your
own style, right of

669
00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:35,900
communication, you just need to
be put in an environment where

670
00:35:35,900 --> 00:35:39,800
your complimentary to the people
that are beside you, right?

671
00:35:39,900 --> 00:35:43,600
And then and then as a unit, you
know, there's there's that are

672
00:35:43,600 --> 00:35:45,800
Gorn, right?
That is the kind of leader,

673
00:35:45,800 --> 00:35:49,000
right?
There's the elf that is quick

674
00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:52,700
and Nimble and agile, right?
There's the dwarf that is a bit

675
00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:56,200
rough, but also a very sturdy
character, right?

676
00:35:56,200 --> 00:35:58,700
The protector.
There's this photo, right.

677
00:35:58,800 --> 00:36:02,500
Write this courageous something
that you wouldn't expect from

678
00:36:02,700 --> 00:36:05,800
Hobart, right?
So yeah, I'm just taking that

679
00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:07,200
framework and applying it.
Okay.

680
00:36:07,200 --> 00:36:10,000
So who's the elf?
Who's we are gone.

681
00:36:10,400 --> 00:36:11,600
That's what I was going to ask
you.

682
00:36:11,600 --> 00:36:13,700
Which one.
Which one are you?

683
00:36:14,700 --> 00:36:19,400
I think I think in this In this
case or in the case of Sierra

684
00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:22,600
public on the are Gorn I
wouldn't go as far as kind of

685
00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:25,600
trying to name the individual
co-founders or team members.

686
00:36:25,600 --> 00:36:27,000
Yeah.
I know I wouldn't ask you to do

687
00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:29,900
that because I know who some of
them are and they may not like

688
00:36:29,900 --> 00:36:37,300
that but it's just it's it's a,
it's a metaphor for, you know,

689
00:36:37,300 --> 00:36:40,800
appreciating what the
differences and how diverse, you

690
00:36:40,800 --> 00:36:43,700
know, perspectives people have
and what are their experiences

691
00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:47,100
and also giving them space to
just just shine, right?

692
00:36:47,200 --> 00:36:49,000
Right.
And putting it together or

693
00:36:49,000 --> 00:36:52,900
moving it together as this
highly diverse, you know,

694
00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:56,500
differentiated team that it that
can lean on one another.

695
00:36:56,600 --> 00:37:00,000
And I found in my experience,
those also are building teams

696
00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:04,200
that this tends to work when you
have, you know, a Peter's,

697
00:37:04,300 --> 00:37:07,000
right?
Where the hierarchy is not

698
00:37:07,000 --> 00:37:10,600
perhaps as established as you
know, in, you know, massive.

699
00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:14,300
Seems it kind of works with
founder teams now that I, you

700
00:37:14,300 --> 00:37:17,100
know, I have the benefit of the
hindsight, it does it.

701
00:37:17,200 --> 00:37:20,500
The founder themes because it's,
you know, it's this balancing

702
00:37:20,500 --> 00:37:24,300
act that needs to be you know,
going on all the time and it and

703
00:37:24,300 --> 00:37:27,000
if you can appreciate those
those those processes and

704
00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:30,500
between different team members,
then you're more likely to be

705
00:37:30,500 --> 00:37:33,200
the inspiring guy.
The, you know, and they're gonna

706
00:37:33,500 --> 00:37:36,500
just naturally follow you
because they think it's there's

707
00:37:36,800 --> 00:37:38,800
right.
It is, that's the beauty of

708
00:37:38,800 --> 00:37:42,300
leadership, you know, if you
manage to, you know, create

709
00:37:42,300 --> 00:37:45,600
imitation of what you're doing,
and then they just take it and

710
00:37:45,600 --> 00:37:48,000
run with it.
That is the The most beautiful

711
00:37:48,000 --> 00:37:51,300
outcome that you can achieve as
a leader and I think yeah that's

712
00:37:51,300 --> 00:37:52,800
at least.
That's that's that's where I'm

713
00:37:52,800 --> 00:37:55,000
coming from.
This is the you know let's say

714
00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:58,200
Genesis of that framework.
Yeah it's a great.

715
00:37:58,200 --> 00:38:01,000
It's a great grounding idea,
right?

716
00:38:01,000 --> 00:38:03,600
And if you keep just thinking
back to that when you're in a

717
00:38:03,600 --> 00:38:06,300
situation where like oh God how
we going to get through this?

718
00:38:06,300 --> 00:38:09,200
Yeah and it you know leveraging
everybody's strengths and

719
00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:11,600
leaning on each other.
It's just absolutely critical

720
00:38:11,700 --> 00:38:14,800
and it's no, I'm glad we talked
about this because it's giving

721
00:38:14,800 --> 00:38:17,400
me some some new thoughts as
well for some of the things Up

722
00:38:17,400 --> 00:38:20,500
to these days, which, which is
pretty cool.

723
00:38:21,600 --> 00:38:25,500
You guys, recently raised a big
seed round and it's pretty

724
00:38:25,500 --> 00:38:27,600
impressive to see that.
It was 3 million.

725
00:38:27,700 --> 00:38:29,300
Was it?
Three and a half million

726
00:38:29,300 --> 00:38:30,600
dollars.
Yeah.

727
00:38:30,600 --> 00:38:33,100
So three and a half million
dollars and you've got more that

728
00:38:33,100 --> 00:38:36,500
you're working on.
So can you tell us how you went

729
00:38:36,500 --> 00:38:39,300
about putting together that seed
round and how you thought about

730
00:38:39,300 --> 00:38:40,900
the investors when you were
doing that?

731
00:38:41,400 --> 00:38:45,800
Yeah, so originally because of
the, you know, we already went

732
00:38:45,800 --> 00:38:48,600
through the the let's say, The
Consortium and the community

733
00:38:48,800 --> 00:38:51,500
play that we were trying to put
together.

734
00:38:51,700 --> 00:38:54,400
Originally my idea was to just
take money from potential

735
00:38:54,400 --> 00:38:57,100
customers or members of this
Consortium, right?

736
00:38:57,100 --> 00:39:00,700
I was even thinking about VCS,
there was an advisor that came

737
00:39:00,700 --> 00:39:04,600
to me, you know, good friend of
mine and and he basically said,

738
00:39:04,600 --> 00:39:07,400
look these these are just going
to look at this.

739
00:39:07,400 --> 00:39:11,400
This space is hot might as well
just preach to them and and yeah

740
00:39:11,400 --> 00:39:15,400
and I just sure enough.
I went and pitched to the first

741
00:39:15,400 --> 00:39:20,000
one that I had on my LinkedIn.
Profile, as as a first degree

742
00:39:20,000 --> 00:39:23,200
contact, you replied.
And they ended up making us an

743
00:39:23,200 --> 00:39:25,600
offer, literally a couple of
days later.

744
00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:28,900
Yeah, yeah.
Now that doesn't happen if space

745
00:39:28,900 --> 00:39:33,500
is so hot but you guys are good.
So, you know, and that's so sad

746
00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:37,000
that's to get kick-started.
The like there's someone like a

747
00:39:37,008 --> 00:39:39,300
snowball.
That it just started with that

748
00:39:39,400 --> 00:39:42,000
with that firm that first sort
of fund.

749
00:39:42,400 --> 00:39:44,500
They started spreading the word,
we started spreading the word

750
00:39:44,500 --> 00:39:47,200
that they're, you know, they are
interested because all of A

751
00:39:47,200 --> 00:39:48,800
sudden.
Now we're talking about a

752
00:39:48,800 --> 00:39:50,300
Syndicate, right?
It's not them.

753
00:39:50,300 --> 00:39:51,800
Yeah, they might be just
reading.

754
00:39:52,300 --> 00:39:55,300
So now, okay, so we're looking
for another investor and and

755
00:39:55,300 --> 00:39:59,600
yeah and then you know, in a
couple of weeks, I was talking

756
00:39:59,600 --> 00:40:05,700
to 30 VC firms, once it just at
some point, it just spiraled out

757
00:40:05,700 --> 00:40:07,100
of control, to be honest with
you.

758
00:40:07,600 --> 00:40:11,000
I actually went back to the
month when I was actually

759
00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:15,700
actively fundraising obviously
on behalf of the team and, and

760
00:40:15,700 --> 00:40:21,600
the company I Add hundred and
I'm not exaggerating this even a

761
00:40:21,600 --> 00:40:29,500
tiny bit. 110 meetings with
investors over over eight weeks

762
00:40:30,300 --> 00:40:33,600
and each meal at least 30
minutes that's a lot.

763
00:40:34,000 --> 00:40:36,800
That's a lot and out of those
hundred and ten.

764
00:40:37,400 --> 00:40:43,300
Yeah five invested.
The ring funds invested and

765
00:40:43,300 --> 00:40:47,100
we've got 13 angels that have
joined K the party.

766
00:40:47,100 --> 00:40:49,700
So essentially, yeah.
So 16 investors.

767
00:40:50,300 --> 00:40:53,500
Yeah.
So roughly you know what?

768
00:40:53,600 --> 00:40:55,600
15?
14 percent.

769
00:40:55,600 --> 00:40:57,300
Yeah.
A little bit, little bit little

770
00:40:57,300 --> 00:41:00,000
bit less than that.
But that's that's impressive.

771
00:41:00,000 --> 00:41:02,200
What I think.
That's what you have to do, you

772
00:41:02,200 --> 00:41:04,300
know?
I don't founders of years that

773
00:41:04,500 --> 00:41:07,100
that T200 conversations.
Yeah.

774
00:41:07,100 --> 00:41:09,600
Before they before they got
there, put together, you know,

775
00:41:09,600 --> 00:41:12,800
the first few million And it all
depends on what's happening in

776
00:41:12,800 --> 00:41:15,500
the market cycle time in the
market, and obviously, how good

777
00:41:15,500 --> 00:41:18,500
you are at telling the story and
getting the point across so,

778
00:41:19,300 --> 00:41:22,500
well done.
And we think about, when you

779
00:41:22,500 --> 00:41:25,400
think about, you know, where
this is going next.

780
00:41:25,500 --> 00:41:28,100
A lot of work ahead of you guys
to get to get this done and to

781
00:41:28,100 --> 00:41:29,900
get this in place.
Yeah, yeah.

782
00:41:30,300 --> 00:41:34,400
It's a very unique play what
we're doing or what we're trying

783
00:41:34,400 --> 00:41:37,900
to put together, and it needs a
little Firepower, and he's up

784
00:41:37,900 --> 00:41:39,400
Fire part of front.
Okay.

785
00:41:39,400 --> 00:41:42,600
Where we believe.
If we have a window of

786
00:41:42,600 --> 00:41:46,500
opportunity and that window is
likely to close at some point

787
00:41:46,500 --> 00:41:49,200
later this year and we want to
make the most out of it.

788
00:41:49,200 --> 00:41:54,000
So that's why our value in the
company right now is speed.

789
00:41:54,500 --> 00:41:58,700
It's number one and like that
literally is a leadership

790
00:41:58,700 --> 00:42:01,300
principle, you know, value,
whatever.

791
00:42:01,300 --> 00:42:03,100
Whatever you call it.
It is.

792
00:42:03,100 --> 00:42:06,400
The Guiding Light for everything
that we do, every single process

793
00:42:06,400 --> 00:42:09,600
that we put together it.
We're optimizing for we're

794
00:42:09,600 --> 00:42:12,700
trying to make You know, take
shortcuts but responsible

795
00:42:12,700 --> 00:42:15,600
shortcuts not Reckless
shortcuts, you know, we're even

796
00:42:15,600 --> 00:42:19,900
going as far as buying companies
to advance our agenda.

797
00:42:20,500 --> 00:42:24,100
So so, yeah, I would say that
we're pretty obsessed with

798
00:42:24,100 --> 00:42:26,700
speed, okay?
And this is part of the part of

799
00:42:26,700 --> 00:42:29,800
the pitch as well, right?
It's, you know, even to stand up

800
00:42:29,800 --> 00:42:31,900
because this is an intersection
of two worlds.

801
00:42:32,200 --> 00:42:35,800
You need to stand up some kind
of a protocol that is going to

802
00:42:35,800 --> 00:42:38,800
wedge itself in between those
two worlds, right?

803
00:42:38,800 --> 00:42:41,800
This is, this is beyond just
being A supplier to business

804
00:42:41,800 --> 00:42:43,600
customer.
This is trying to become a

805
00:42:43,607 --> 00:42:46,100
standard Setter.
That's a lot of heaviest heavy

806
00:42:46,100 --> 00:42:47,300
lifting.
That's a lot of, you know,

807
00:42:47,300 --> 00:42:51,600
movement, making even right.
This is a social experiment in

808
00:42:51,600 --> 00:42:54,300
many, in many ways.
So, although this social aspect

809
00:42:54,300 --> 00:42:56,500
is more on the that's a business
side, right?

810
00:42:56,500 --> 00:42:59,900
It's it, and that's why it's
more nuanced, because like each

811
00:42:59,900 --> 00:43:02,100
business, stakeholder in each
organization, will have a

812
00:43:02,107 --> 00:43:04,600
different agenda and then
stakeholders within the

813
00:43:04,600 --> 00:43:07,700
organization will have a
different point of view, or, you

814
00:43:07,700 --> 00:43:10,100
know, different experience.
Different, exposure to different

815
00:43:10,100 --> 00:43:11,400
decisions.
The organization.

816
00:43:11,400 --> 00:43:14,200
So it's a bit more Nuance, is a
bit more complicated.

817
00:43:14,200 --> 00:43:17,200
But ultimately, those guys are
all pulling in the same

818
00:43:17,200 --> 00:43:20,200
direction.
It is very important to kind of

819
00:43:20,200 --> 00:43:22,400
understand.
They're all trying to make

820
00:43:22,400 --> 00:43:25,200
crypto maintain go mainstream,
right?

821
00:43:25,300 --> 00:43:27,900
I listen to Brian Armstrong,
right?

822
00:43:28,000 --> 00:43:30,700
And his vision of unlocking
economic freedom.

823
00:43:30,700 --> 00:43:32,200
I'm hundred percent with that,
right?

824
00:43:32,200 --> 00:43:36,800
This, this needs to happen, but
for that to happen, they there

825
00:43:36,800 --> 00:43:39,500
needs to be more dialogue with
the sort of establishment with

826
00:43:39,500 --> 00:43:43,700
the sort of Status quote, the
current way of moving money

827
00:43:43,700 --> 00:43:46,900
around of investing, right?
Like the current treatment of

828
00:43:46,900 --> 00:43:49,800
asset classes.
There needs to be this dialogue.

829
00:43:50,300 --> 00:43:53,300
And, and that's why, you know,
everything that we do, our from

830
00:43:53,300 --> 00:43:55,500
our technology, from our
proposed, to compliance our

831
00:43:55,500 --> 00:43:58,700
processes, the community that
we're building, we're all sort

832
00:43:58,700 --> 00:44:02,000
of always mindful that, you
know, we need to be able to

833
00:44:02,000 --> 00:44:05,600
Foster dialogue, to kind of,
make the two sides, talk to one

834
00:44:05,600 --> 00:44:10,200
another, if we are to if we're
necessary in the middle.

835
00:44:10,400 --> 00:44:12,800
So Be it and obviously we're
going to make a business out of

836
00:44:12,800 --> 00:44:15,400
that.
But ultimately it is, you know,

837
00:44:15,400 --> 00:44:18,900
the industry that that will
benefit and and it's an entire

838
00:44:18,900 --> 00:44:21,400
crypto industry that you know
that we're taking on.

839
00:44:21,400 --> 00:44:24,200
So so yeah, there's a lot of
work to be done on the platform,

840
00:44:24,200 --> 00:44:27,800
you know, wherever we've got a
plant MVP launch.

841
00:44:27,800 --> 00:44:30,800
So, we're almost there.
Well, starting with with two

842
00:44:30,800 --> 00:44:34,500
currencies and with a couple of
members, we call the members,

843
00:44:34,500 --> 00:44:38,100
not customers, and varying, of
course, and a few Banks as well,

844
00:44:38,100 --> 00:44:40,500
right?
So we've got this gives like you

845
00:44:40,600 --> 00:44:43,200
You can look at this and say oh
this is a two-sided Network.

846
00:44:43,200 --> 00:44:44,600
It's always going to have that
pitiful.

847
00:44:44,600 --> 00:44:48,700
But if you have traction on both
sides actually, quite well

848
00:44:48,700 --> 00:44:52,900
positions to to start brokering
right to being this this this

849
00:44:52,900 --> 00:44:55,400
middle man.
Well yeah, you know, if you were

850
00:44:55,400 --> 00:44:58,200
always in your career if you
were always that translator,

851
00:44:58,300 --> 00:44:59,200
right?
Yeah.

852
00:44:59,700 --> 00:45:06,000
Between the consumer needs and
the development side and then

853
00:45:06,000 --> 00:45:09,200
you've kind of made that your
thing.

854
00:45:09,300 --> 00:45:15,100
And now that Fiat Republic and
with your approach to Leading

855
00:45:15,100 --> 00:45:18,000
the team and everybody playing
to their strengths.

856
00:45:18,000 --> 00:45:20,800
It feels like you've got to go
whole team of translators there

857
00:45:20,800 --> 00:45:23,100
or facilitators.
There's another word,

858
00:45:23,100 --> 00:45:27,700
translator, facilitator, enters
one word interpreter know

859
00:45:27,700 --> 00:45:30,600
there's a fourth one I can't
think of it right now but it

860
00:45:30,600 --> 00:45:33,800
does that is that is the word.
If I think of it I will I will

861
00:45:33,800 --> 00:45:35,300
share it with you and put into
the show notes.

862
00:45:35,300 --> 00:45:41,300
But looking at the, you know, at
all of this in totality, T Adam,

863
00:45:41,300 --> 00:45:44,500
what you guys have done is
really impressive you moved,

864
00:45:44,500 --> 00:45:47,900
really quick, and Joey crude
from Pintura Capital.

865
00:45:47,900 --> 00:45:51,200
When I talked to him last year,
he talked about identifying

866
00:45:51,200 --> 00:45:53,900
speed, right?
And saying you just, you gotta

867
00:45:53,900 --> 00:45:55,700
be fast.
It's not just because he thinks

868
00:45:55,700 --> 00:45:58,300
it's cool that a developer can
move fast, but that's what you

869
00:45:58,300 --> 00:46:00,800
need to be able to do in this
space and to be fair.

870
00:46:00,800 --> 00:46:05,600
Like the the team is a big part
of this right of why were even

871
00:46:05,700 --> 00:46:08,300
able to go as fast as we are
going.

872
00:46:08,300 --> 00:46:12,000
And, you know, they all come
from from You know, different

873
00:46:12,000 --> 00:46:15,500
backgrounds and they all they
all are very skilled and very

874
00:46:15,500 --> 00:46:17,700
experienced and they're in their
respective areas.

875
00:46:17,700 --> 00:46:22,000
So it is a combination of like
what has allowed us to go.

876
00:46:22,100 --> 00:46:25,400
So fast is a combination of
talent, you know, alignment

877
00:46:26,300 --> 00:46:30,600
under one sort of vision or one
overarching objective to kind of

878
00:46:30,600 --> 00:46:32,500
help cooked of get mainstream,
right?

879
00:46:32,500 --> 00:46:35,800
And and yeah just just giving it
our best shot, right?

880
00:46:35,800 --> 00:46:39,600
Like individually but also as a
collective and I think you know

881
00:46:39,600 --> 00:46:42,100
a lot of what my My conversation
with investors was basically

882
00:46:42,100 --> 00:46:45,800
selling the team, right?
It was basically like, how are

883
00:46:45,800 --> 00:46:48,200
we this Fellowship of the Ring
already?

884
00:46:49,200 --> 00:46:51,700
Right?
And, and, and, and we're just,

885
00:46:51,700 --> 00:46:53,300
you know, we're just going to go
places.

886
00:46:53,300 --> 00:46:58,300
If we only get the backing, if
we only get the support, well,

887
00:46:58,500 --> 00:47:01,900
that we really deserve II will
like, this, this, this team

888
00:47:01,900 --> 00:47:04,100
deserves any support that we
know.

889
00:47:04,100 --> 00:47:06,000
Were, we're getting so, but
yeah.

890
00:47:06,000 --> 00:47:09,100
But the task at hand is, is
hard.

891
00:47:09,100 --> 00:47:11,700
It's difficult.
And it's It's going to take us a

892
00:47:11,700 --> 00:47:15,900
while to sort of build out the
full extent of that vision, and

893
00:47:15,900 --> 00:47:18,100
we might need to change stuff.
We might need to tweak.

894
00:47:18,100 --> 00:47:21,300
I mean, we remain open-minded
with regards to that but but

895
00:47:21,300 --> 00:47:24,000
yeah, I think we're.
Yeah, we're on the right course.

896
00:47:24,000 --> 00:47:26,900
Absolutely absolutely.
All right, well last question

897
00:47:26,900 --> 00:47:29,900
here this is a final question.
We asked everybody on this show

898
00:47:29,900 --> 00:47:32,800
Adam what is one thing that
people wouldn't expect to know

899
00:47:32,800 --> 00:47:34,800
about you?
I gotta think about that because

900
00:47:34,800 --> 00:47:40,300
I wanted to say something but is
that barrier?

901
00:47:40,300 --> 00:47:43,700
So Soul bare, your soul.
I shared a story last week about

902
00:47:43,700 --> 00:47:46,500
donkey Bolognese which I'm not
going to repeat.

903
00:47:46,500 --> 00:47:49,000
Well it did it was on the but
you'll have to listen to It's on

904
00:47:49,000 --> 00:47:51,100
the episode with Matt larbi from
realm.

905
00:47:51,100 --> 00:47:54,600
But what's what do you think?
What's one thing that people

906
00:47:54,600 --> 00:47:57,000
wouldn't expect to know about?
You probably would have been the

907
00:47:57,000 --> 00:48:01,000
fact that I almost became a
professional musician.

908
00:48:01,600 --> 00:48:05,100
Oh, really?
Yeah, I can see that.

909
00:48:06,100 --> 00:48:08,500
I was supposed to write songs
for Taylor Swift.

910
00:48:08,500 --> 00:48:11,400
Okay.
I was, that was the You know,

911
00:48:12,100 --> 00:48:14,400
what does the ambition of the
20?

912
00:48:14,400 --> 00:48:17,400
20, 20 something-year-old.
It didn't go.

913
00:48:17,400 --> 00:48:19,500
It didn't quite go.
That way ended up in finance.

914
00:48:19,500 --> 00:48:24,500
But yeah, I had, I have music
education, I played cello, I

915
00:48:24,500 --> 00:48:28,700
play guitar.
I that's my main instrument.

916
00:48:28,700 --> 00:48:31,400
Wow.
So yeah, I went to Berklee

917
00:48:31,400 --> 00:48:35,300
College of Music, hey, which is
by far considered as this

918
00:48:35,300 --> 00:48:40,800
Factory of producers, so that
was supposed to be me and Okay,

919
00:48:40,800 --> 00:48:44,100
it didn't quite go that way.
I don't regret it that it but I

920
00:48:44,100 --> 00:48:46,200
still let.
This is music is very much a

921
00:48:46,207 --> 00:48:49,500
second part of my life.
I mean, I rehearse, I used to

922
00:48:49,508 --> 00:48:51,400
have a band when I moved to
London.

923
00:48:51,400 --> 00:48:54,600
I stopped playing in a band, but
I still say, you know, kept

924
00:48:54,600 --> 00:48:57,400
going to gigs and, you know,
singing on stage going to jam

925
00:48:57,400 --> 00:49:01,900
sessions, you know, just have
that release from, you know,

926
00:49:01,900 --> 00:49:04,400
audiences listening to you and
you just on stage.

927
00:49:04,700 --> 00:49:07,700
So yeah.
Wow, that's the stuff that

928
00:49:07,700 --> 00:49:11,800
people wouldn't probably expect.
Well, What there's going to be

929
00:49:11,800 --> 00:49:15,300
some point where you going to
get back up on stage and, you

930
00:49:15,300 --> 00:49:19,500
know, I can't wait to see that
because it's gonna be awesome.

931
00:49:19,800 --> 00:49:23,500
What, what is, what would be the
style, you know, in terms of

932
00:49:23,500 --> 00:49:25,800
what you would still play?
Yeah.

933
00:49:25,800 --> 00:49:28,400
You were to do it, and if it's
not Taylor Swift, right?

934
00:49:28,700 --> 00:49:33,900
No, it is great.
I mean, producers in the

935
00:49:33,900 --> 00:49:36,300
composer's actually has behind
her are amazing.

936
00:49:36,300 --> 00:49:40,300
I mean, you got to respect that
that sort of the, the craft of

937
00:49:40,600 --> 00:49:43,800
You know, fellow musicians
there, but my style, you know,

938
00:49:43,800 --> 00:49:47,500
I'm a bit stuck in the 70s.
I like so funk, you know.

939
00:49:47,500 --> 00:49:51,200
Cool also Blues.
Because like, my dad raised me

940
00:49:51,200 --> 00:49:52,400
like that.
He's a math.

941
00:49:52,400 --> 00:49:54,500
Okay.
You know, I used to be a

942
00:49:54,500 --> 00:49:58,700
guitarist, a blues guitarist as
well, so I love it.

943
00:49:58,900 --> 00:50:01,400
So those are, those are my like
jazz a little bit as well.

944
00:50:01,400 --> 00:50:04,700
I mean, if I'm in the mood but
yeah, mostly those the three

945
00:50:04,700 --> 00:50:08,700
genres, so fun.
Yeah, loose yeah, you need to be

946
00:50:08,700 --> 00:50:12,000
a pretty good musician to keep.
Keep your bones up with that

947
00:50:12,000 --> 00:50:14,800
with, with those genres.
So, yeah, I get it.

948
00:50:14,900 --> 00:50:17,200
We'll listen, Adam, it's been a
fantastic chat.

949
00:50:17,200 --> 00:50:19,100
Thanks so much for coming on the
show tonight.

950
00:50:19,300 --> 00:50:22,100
Just absolutely love what you
guys are doing and just keep

951
00:50:22,100 --> 00:50:23,900
doing it, right?
You guys are gonna you guys

952
00:50:23,900 --> 00:50:26,000
going to go for.
Thank you so much Pete.

953
00:50:26,000 --> 00:50:34,300
Thanks for having me.
That does it for this week,

954
00:50:34,300 --> 00:50:36,700
folks, thanks to Adam, be a lie
for opening up, his mind to help

955
00:50:36,700 --> 00:50:39,100
us figure out why he does.
What he does links to get in

956
00:50:39,100 --> 00:50:41,300
touch with Adam and learn more
about Fiat Republic or in the

957
00:50:41,300 --> 00:50:43,700
show notes on our website money
never sleeps daei.

958
00:50:43,900 --> 00:50:45,800
So check us out online and
subscribe to our money.

959
00:50:45,800 --> 00:50:48,700
Never sleeps newsletter as well.
Also, thanks to Conan Brophy,

960
00:50:48,700 --> 00:50:50,300
from create sound for mixing and
editing.

961
00:50:50,300 --> 00:50:53,000
This episode Conan is an
excellent medium and get in

962
00:50:53,000 --> 00:50:54,500
touch with when you're thinking
about launching your own

963
00:50:54,500 --> 00:50:56,900
podcast.
As for me, I'm an early stage,

964
00:50:56,900 --> 00:50:59,700
startup investor and advisor
focused on where fintech meets

965
00:50:59,700 --> 00:51:02,300
crypto and crypto meets web
three, if you'd like to talk to

966
00:51:02,308 --> 00:51:04,600
me about your business.
Is drop me a line on info at

967
00:51:04,600 --> 00:51:06,400
money.
Never sleeps that I eat finally

968
00:51:06,400 --> 00:51:08,200
till next time.
Thanks for listening.

969
00:51:08,300 --> 00:51:08,700
See you