The Next Episode - MoneyNeverSleeps 300: One Story Ends, Another Begins

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Money never sleeps, pal.
Hey there, I'm Pete Townsend,

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and This is Money Never Sleeps.
We look inside the minds of

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entrepreneurs and at the
crossover of startups,

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enterprise, finance, technology
and life as we know it this

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week.
Well, this one's a bit

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different.
We're coming to you live from

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the podcast studios that head
stuff HQ in Dublin, the

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legendary former Westland
studios where legends like U2

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and Hozier once laid down
tracks.

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And tonight we made our own
history.

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This is episode 307 years, 300
episodes.

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Hundreds of conversations with
founders, operators, investors,

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technologists and dreamers
building what doesn't exist yet.

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It's the end of an era and the
start of a new one.

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We celebrated the journey with a
live audience and two of the

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voices who helped carry the show
forward, my Santa Maria and

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Alejandro Gutierrez.
We visited our bold 2025

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predictions, talked through how
they've actually played out, and

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shared a look ahead to the next
chapter from When He Never

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Sleeps, Sharper, faster and
video first.

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This night was pure magic, a
feel good moment of the year, a

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full circle reminder of how a
scrappy little curiosity project

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between two mics became a global
conversation.

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Big thanks to Search for Les and
Barry Darmody for sponsoring

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this episode, to Conan Brophy
for seven years of production

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magic, and to every single one
of you who's ever tuned in,

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shared an episode, or stepped up
to the mic.

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So let's get into it live from
Dublin with my Santa Maria

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Alejandro Gutierrez, and an
incredible room of friends and

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founders.
All right here on Money Never

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Sleeps.
Money never sleeps, pal.

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Live from Dublin, This is Money
never sleeps.

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Thank you everybody welcome to
episode 300 of money never

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sleeps.
It's been a long time coming,

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seven years, 299 episodes up
until last month, and I'd like

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to welcome my Santa Maria and
Alejandro Gutierrez to the

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podcast with me.
So welcome to you both my.

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Thanks, Pete.
It's an absolute honor being

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here.
Alejandro, thank you very much,

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Sir.
Wonderful.

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So this is an important
occasion.

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This is something that we've
been building up to for a while.

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We are live here at the podcast
studios at Head Stuff HQ here in

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Dublin.
This is a former site of

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Westland Studios, OK.
It's a location where bands like

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U2, Dropkick Murphy's Hozier,
Christy Moore, a bunch of others

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either recorded or produce their
music here.

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So we're in good company with a
name like Pete Townsend, I feel

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like, OK.
Or it's appropriate that we're

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here.
Always a rock star in my own

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lunchtime.
But, you know, hopefully we can

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we can make that true tonight.
OK, so this was supposed to be

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the final episode, but a
gentleman by the name of Conan

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Brophy, who has been our
producer since 2018, he and I

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caught out back in June and we
talked about doing something a

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little bit different.
So I wanted to do the capper on

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this era because it has been a
very important era.

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Before we move on to the next
format, give us some head space

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to be able to move forward to
the next era and we'll talk

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about how we do that.
Content is the engine that keeps

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Nario Ventures going.
Nario Ventures, the name I of my

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business that I started in 2016
and during the Techstars years

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where I worked with Techstars
from 2021 to 2025 and investing

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in 40 companies along with Hugh
Mcgurr back there.

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He's just joined us now thanking
Hugh.

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He was the investor principal
with me with Techstars.

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It was absolutely critical
keeping this, what we call a

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content flywheel going.
So the more content you produce,

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the more people you reach, the
more people that come to you in

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terms of recognizing what you're
up to and perhaps generating

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some deal flow.
That deal flow then generates

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more interesting people to talk
to.

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You produce more content, and
the wheel goes around and around

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and around.
And that's the whole idea.

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Now, I didn't do tech stars just
to get that content flywheel

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going, but it was certainly one
big benefit of it.

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OK, so I'd like to thank a few
people before we get started

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Search for less.
So Barry Darmody is here.

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He's the CEO of search for less
Barry's good friend known him

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for over for 25 years now nearly
25 years.

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And he was also the star of
episode 130.

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OK, and part of our all time top
20.

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I'm not sure if you knew that
Barry, but you were you are one

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of our local heroes.
OK, so we'll get into that in a

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bit.
And also the thank you to the

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team at the podcast studios at
Head Stuff HQ here.

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Connor, Patty, Claudia, the
whole team here.

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Thank you to all of you.
Thank you for coming right.

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And be ready because one or two
you may be invited up for a

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short segment to share a few
words.

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And I just wanted to acknowledge
my and Alejandro and also Laura

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Walsh, who isn't here with us
today.

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She has been one of the rocks of
the post Owen era and I'll get

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to that in a minute.
We miss you, Owen Fitzgerald.

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OK.
The whole reason that we're here

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today, that any of us are here
today is because Owen came up to

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me in 2018 and said, hey, Pete,
I heard you on that Fintech

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Insider podcast with 11 FSI want
to do a podcast, You want to

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help me?
And so it began.

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OK, So he has six kids.
And as I always say with Owen,

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there's six kids and five days
in a week.

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Something is going to happen
each one of those days per week

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with one of his kids where he's
not going to be able to get to

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where he was going to be.
So he was supposed to be here

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tonight with us, but couldn't be
here because two of his kids

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have strep throat.
So hopefully those kids are

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doing OK and getting better
soon.

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Also, Thank you.
I've mentioned Conan a couple of

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times.
Conan Brophy from Great Sound,

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seven years of production magic,
right from lugging gear around

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Dublin to saving dodgy auto
audio tracks and also his

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partner in crime, Gav Timlin.
Thank you for all the invoices.

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You know, really appreciate
that.

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And also, you know, for the the
the thoughtful gifts at episode

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5100 and 200 that you guys
provided.

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So thank you so much for that.
So back in the early days, like

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I said with Owen, this was a
curiosity project.

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It was 2 mics, 2 founders,
endless questions.

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We started in Dog Patch Labs in
a room with Brian Norton one

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day.
He was a founder of future

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finance student lending
business.

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And the second episode was a guy
called Barry Brennan, who was an

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Angel investor at the time.
He's now with Elk Stone

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Ventures.
And we got through episode 345

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and 5 was my Santa Maria just
off here to the left.

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And then it took until we got to
2021 for Alejandro and I to

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meet.
But those early episodes were on

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Irish founders, right?
If you look at the first fifty,

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6070 episodes, it was highly
populated with Irish founders.

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And that we could record
wherever we could set up.

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Like I said, Dogpatch, we're
also at the Bank of Ireland

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startup hub for a few episodes.
Gene Murphy got that set up for

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us here.
He's a startup ecosystem legend

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here in Ireland.
And we also did we work with

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Paul Smith and Laura Smith from
top tier recruitment where when

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they were sponsoring, we did
whatever we could until the

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COVID era came along and that
changed things.

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But before we get into that,
Conan, do you want to come on up

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and take the hot seat here?
And we'll we'll ask you a couple

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questions about that.
I'm.

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A bit insulted that you take
until the very last episode to

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talk to me.
What do you remember?

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I was in New York for an episode
that I was trying to get out in

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November of 2018, I think.
And I said, listen, I can't do

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the intro.
Can you record the intro?

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Oh.
Yeah, right.

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Yep, Yep.
So you recorded the intro and

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the outro and you got to say see
you right, It being like the

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kind of the the sign off of the
podcast, but.

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Is that the only time someone
other than you has done?

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Yes, that was it.
Just you.

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Just you and only you.
Highly privileged?

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Yes.
Absolutely claim to fame.

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So anything that you remember
from the early days that you

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think is worth sharing that
people.

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Were sharing worth sharing?
I'm not sure but I remember the

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very first one was it was like a
it was an empty unit in CHQ.

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Is that?
Yeah, at Dogpatch Labs.

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Yeah, it was like about to be a
sandwich shopper.

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So I don't know what it was
about to be, but it was.

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It was.
It had been a suit shop, like a

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men's clothing shop.
And what was Louis Copeland?

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All right.
Yeah.

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And they then turned that into
one of their innovation rooms

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that they were starting at the
time.

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That was back in 2018.
Yeah, I.

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Thought that was the, the very
first one and trying to set up a

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studio in the, in the, in the
CHQ, lots of people walking past

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glass windows.
Yeah, sort of glass wall, which

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is the last thing you want when
you're trying to record

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microphones, you know, and
there's 2 problems is the

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reflections.
It sounds like you're, you know,

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echoes everywhere.
And then also there's all the

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people just walking through the
mall outside.

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So we could hear both, but but
we managed to to sort of shimmy

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something together and and make
it sound good.

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So it was, it worked out well.
It was great, great.

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Fun.
Yeah, it was a lot of fun.

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And I remember you just looking
at me during the first

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recording.
Maybe God did as well and kind

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of give me that thumbs up, like,
OK, yeah, your your voice sounds

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fine, Just keep going.
But I remember in interviewing

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Brian Norton that first time,
like, I didn't know what I was

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doing right.
He worked through probably A5 to

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8 minute story about something
and then when I when he was

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finished, I went back to like
minute 2 and said OK, so that

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business failed then, right?
And just had no clue about how

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to keep a story going and how to
keep asking questions and all

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that type.
Of stuff you were kind of a

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natural.
At the same time, though, you

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were very easy on the mic and
you had no problem kind of being

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in that uncomfortable place of,
of what what the hell am I

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doing?
You know, you still just rolled

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with it.
And, and, and that's a, that's a

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talent.
I think there's a lot of people

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who can just freeze, You know,
people talk about fight or

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flight.
There's also freeze this fight

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or flight freeze.
And, and you know, you, you have

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a natural ability to just kind
of roll with it.

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And that was that was really
important at the start to keep

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it, you know, keeping the guests
talking and keeping it going

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and.
And then when we did move on to

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the COVID era, you know, and
where we stopped asking you to

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traipse around Dublin.
With big plastic bins full of

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laptops.
Exactly.

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With towels to put on the
tables.

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Towels to dampen.
The sound, all that type of

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stuff did did, did.
Were you hopeful that we might

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end up going back on location at
any point soon?

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Until I.
Know actually I didn't miss it.

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Yeah, it's a lot.
It's a lot.

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Obviously it's a lot more
isolated when you're just

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sitting in the studio getting
sound files and putting them

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together.
It was a lot.

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It was a lot more fun yeah.
Being in the room with people

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and, and, and seeing people's
faces and stuff like that.

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So yeah, it was, it was a, it
was a pity that it went the way

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it did before, you know, it was,
it was a pain in the whole, it

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was a pain in the arse for
everyone at the time.

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But, but it was great that we
kept it going.

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That was the main thing that we
found.

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Just adapted and didn't miss a
beat really.

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And since then, you've kind of
grown things a bit on your side

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in terms of your music career,
haven't you?

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Have I, I've always been doing
lots of different things.

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So yeah, there's, there's been
always been either bands going

227
00:11:06,240 --> 00:11:08,760
or, or solo projects or
whatever.

228
00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:10,480
I've always been been doing,
yeah.

229
00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:13,080
Bits and pieces, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, it's really cool

230
00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:14,480
stuff.
I went went up to the Blue Light

231
00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:17,200
Pub over the summer to see Conan
play with his band.

232
00:11:17,560 --> 00:11:19,520
Oh yes, my Blues band.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

233
00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:21,120
That was very cool.
So we're in the blue light a

234
00:11:21,120 --> 00:11:24,480
lot, and so if you ever have the
mountains, they're practically

235
00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:26,200
the house band over the blue
light.

236
00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:29,640
But we do play other places as
well, down in Rough Minds and

237
00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:32,040
Mother Riley's and a bunch of
other places.

238
00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:34,920
So Super Saiyan Blues, there's
the plug for the band.

239
00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:37,560
Well, Conan, listen, we couldn't
have done any of this without

240
00:11:37,560 --> 00:11:39,160
you and Gav.
So thank you.

241
00:11:39,360 --> 00:11:41,080
Really appreciate everything
you've done for us over the

242
00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:42,280
years.
It's been a privilege and a

243
00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:44,800
pleasure and I can't believe how
much I've learned about

244
00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:47,120
something I don't get care about
it all.

245
00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:52,000
I know so much about, you know,
NFTS and crypto and you know,

246
00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:54,440
all this stuff that would not be
on my radar at all.

247
00:11:54,680 --> 00:11:58,160
And I was and also it was just
amazing to get an insight into

248
00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:01,000
the kind of people that you have
on because it's again, that's

249
00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:02,840
something that's not in my
wheelhouse, some musician

250
00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:05,120
mostly.
And so I meet those kinds of

251
00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:07,520
people a lot.
And so that sort of financial

252
00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:10,360
side of things would be alien
territory to me.

253
00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:13,320
And so to meet some of it was
some some really amazing people

254
00:12:13,320 --> 00:12:16,720
to that you had that you've had
on and guests an amazing

255
00:12:16,720 --> 00:12:20,080
stories, an amazing energy.
I don't know how some of these

256
00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:23,920
people have the energy to do the
things that they do, but that

257
00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:28,040
was that was always inspiring
and and and interesting to to be

258
00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:29,520
a part of.
So So thank you.

259
00:12:29,960 --> 00:12:31,600
Oh, absolutely.
You know, it's pretty

260
00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:36,320
interesting, right?
Because we have been, oh, having

261
00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:38,920
part of the podcast since 2021,
right?

262
00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:40,880
Yeah.
We're always talking about

263
00:12:40,880 --> 00:12:41,920
Conan.
Yeah.

264
00:12:41,920 --> 00:12:43,280
And Conan is going to be doing
this.

265
00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:47,200
Conan is going to be doing that,
and we would've crossed paths we

266
00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:48,800
never met before, right?
No, never.

267
00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:50,480
No.
Which is interesting because

268
00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:52,640
when I say Conan is like a who's
Conan?

269
00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:55,360
I just assume everybody knows
Conan.

270
00:12:56,840 --> 00:12:58,320
Which is really pretty cool,
yeah.

271
00:12:58,680 --> 00:13:00,080
Absolutely.
Conan the Beat Berrien.

272
00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:02,520
We we did live once.
Yes, we did in person.

273
00:13:02,520 --> 00:13:05,600
Maybe twice, I think it was.
It was when it was a fifth

274
00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:09,280
podcast, but it was in the Bank
of Ireland's Innovation Centre,

275
00:13:09,320 --> 00:13:12,400
which is very tiny loop, hokey
room and obviously open and

276
00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:14,160
yeah.
More, more glass walls.

277
00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:16,640
Yes, we seem to love them.
I mean, banks and financialist

278
00:13:17,280 --> 00:13:18,600
glass walls are here, but you
know.

279
00:13:19,040 --> 00:13:20,360
Now we have padded walls
outside.

280
00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:22,840
That's this is this is more,
much more my, my, my

281
00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:23,840
environment.
Yeah, yeah.

282
00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:25,320
Cool.
All right.

283
00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:26,920
Well, thank you, Conan.
Thanks very much.

284
00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:29,120
All right, Thank you.
Thanks, Conan.

285
00:13:33,440 --> 00:13:38,600
So with that, you know, after we
moved into the COVID era, we

286
00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:41,040
came up with a new segment
called Money Talks.

287
00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:45,120
And that was because we were at
a point where interviews were

288
00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:48,560
something that during the COVID
era, just for some reason, one

289
00:13:48,560 --> 00:13:51,360
reason or another didn't seem
that accessible for us.

290
00:13:51,840 --> 00:13:53,600
And so we wanted to mix it up a
bit.

291
00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:57,200
And we came up with this Money
Talk segment, which was now I

292
00:13:57,200 --> 00:14:00,600
have to be fair that I did model
it a bit after the fintech

293
00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:04,240
insider that I've been on back
in 2017 where you take 5 or 6

294
00:14:04,240 --> 00:14:06,400
news stories, you get a few
people together and you just

295
00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:09,200
talk about them.
And we, we had just one person

296
00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:13,120
on to talk about that, sometimes
2 if it was myself and Owen and

297
00:14:13,120 --> 00:14:15,480
perhaps one other, but it was
usually just myself and one

298
00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:18,200
other.
And as I mentioned with Owen

299
00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:21,120
Fitzgerald, this was back and I
think 2019 when we started doing

300
00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:24,480
it, sorry, 2020 we started doing
this, that on the very first

301
00:14:24,480 --> 00:14:27,440
segment we were recording for
Money Talks, Owen couldn't make

302
00:14:27,440 --> 00:14:28,640
it because one of his kids were
sick.

303
00:14:29,960 --> 00:14:32,800
So who stepped in?
Paul Smith, right?

304
00:14:32,800 --> 00:14:36,240
So he stepped in to do the first
Money Talks segment with me way

305
00:14:36,240 --> 00:14:41,440
back when We talked about Anne
Boden, I think we talked about

306
00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:45,000
Chris Skinner, and we put those
two names on to the episode

307
00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:48,120
title and it got a lot of
downloads because people thought

308
00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:51,120
that Anne Boden and Chris
Skinner were on the podcast.

309
00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:53,800
So it was a great little trick.
So thank you.

310
00:14:54,040 --> 00:14:55,600
So Paul stepped in to do that
with me.

311
00:14:55,600 --> 00:14:58,680
That was like episode 67 or
something like that way back

312
00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:01,400
when.
And we went deeper and we, you

313
00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:04,520
know, Owen really dug into this
with me and we came up with some

314
00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:07,200
really interesting concepts.
And that's where this whole

315
00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:10,560
fintech flywheel concept that I,
he and I have been working on

316
00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:12,160
for years really started to
emerge.

317
00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:13,760
And that was really important to
my learning.

318
00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:17,640
We got on some early global
guests like Bradley Tusk in that

319
00:15:17,640 --> 00:15:20,720
era from an international
perspective, he was a political

320
00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:23,760
advisor turned advisor in VC to
Uber.

321
00:15:23,920 --> 00:15:29,720
He got in at Uber at 1% of their
equity in their Series A right

322
00:15:30,040 --> 00:15:33,200
minted now at this stage for
that because he would look at

323
00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:37,400
regulatory hurdles to get over
that startups needed to clear in

324
00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:39,920
order for their business to
scale in new jurisdictions.

325
00:15:39,920 --> 00:15:42,040
And he did that in a number of
different jurisdictions with

326
00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:46,240
taxi companies looking at online
gaming, looking at crypto being

327
00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:48,600
one of them as well.
And you know, as as different

328
00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:51,920
industries for him to explore.
Mihailizzi, one of the Ethereum

329
00:15:51,920 --> 00:15:55,480
Co founders, having him on the
show back in episode 44 was

330
00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:57,480
really important.
Kind of gave us one of the big

331
00:15:57,480 --> 00:16:02,000
first names in web 3IN crypto
that we had on the show.

332
00:16:02,240 --> 00:16:05,160
Graham Rodford, who I've known
for years now from arch acts,

333
00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:07,960
one of the first ones to get
their crypto asset service

334
00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:10,280
provider license in UK back in
2020.

335
00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:13,680
I think having him on all of
those were kind of turning

336
00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:16,400
points, right.
And I'd like to ask both.

337
00:16:16,800 --> 00:16:20,480
You know, my first probably
because you were, we were

338
00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:23,840
connected at that era and you
did that episode with us and any

339
00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:26,040
moments from the early years
that still kind of make you

340
00:16:26,040 --> 00:16:31,760
cringe of the podcast that we
recorded or that I recorded.

341
00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:34,120
This yeah still makes me cringe.
Yes.

342
00:16:35,400 --> 00:16:37,120
Yeah, made me cringe until the
very last.

343
00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:41,240
Well, in my naivety in podcast,
I thought nobody would listen to

344
00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:42,360
it.
So there you go.

345
00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:46,360
It's that's probably the most
cringe worth part of us.

346
00:16:46,360 --> 00:16:49,800
Well, we did ask our famous last
question that we ask everybody

347
00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:52,120
on the podcast, which is one
thing that people wouldn't

348
00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:53,440
expect to know about you.
Yes.

349
00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:56,560
And he told a very true story.
Complete complete, which I'm

350
00:16:56,560 --> 00:16:58,800
happy to repeat for those who
haven't listened to to make it

351
00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:04,319
double cringe if that's OK.
But I don't want to spoil it, I

352
00:17:04,319 --> 00:17:06,440
suppose.
But actually that links to the

353
00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:10,880
fact that through this podcast
and whiskey, bizarrely, we've

354
00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:14,040
been linked and takes me until
they're very crinch worth very

355
00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:19,640
crinch moment in the middle of
COVID where through you and this

356
00:17:19,839 --> 00:17:22,520
somehow we were doing an online
wine tasting.

357
00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:27,000
Online whiskey tasting.
And my kids are going to bed.

358
00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:29,520
They're coming into the office,
they knock on the door and

359
00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:32,640
Mommy's sitting there in front
of the laptop surrounded by

360
00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:37,240
small whiskey bottles.
And I'm telling them go to bed.

361
00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:39,520
Mommy's working.
And they're like, doesn't?

362
00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:44,360
Look like you are.
So anyway, yeah, so the cringe

363
00:17:44,360 --> 00:17:46,760
were some of the cringe moments
seem to have been linked up.

364
00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:50,000
There was some whiskey involved.
There was this was this was a

365
00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:54,040
Reg tech who asked me to do a
couple of things with them.

366
00:17:54,040 --> 00:17:57,360
And one of them was can you host
this online whiskey tasting they

367
00:17:57,360 --> 00:17:59,520
were doing during COVID?
They would come over to Ireland

368
00:17:59,520 --> 00:18:02,520
to get these roundtables of
fintechs together and banks to

369
00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:04,480
try to get people interested in
their product.

370
00:18:04,880 --> 00:18:06,200
And they couldn't do that during
COVID.

371
00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:07,960
So they said, let's do something
online.

372
00:18:08,560 --> 00:18:11,640
And they were able to get the
whiskey shipped over to Ireland

373
00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:14,000
in small bottles.
I think they came down to the

374
00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:17,160
north perhaps.
But then so we assembled, you

375
00:18:17,160 --> 00:18:22,880
know, 1520 people from notable
folks and finance and fintech

376
00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:26,000
and in tech and just had a bit
of a round table discussion

377
00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:29,040
while this guy took us through
this whiskey tasting.

378
00:18:29,160 --> 00:18:31,920
Yeah, and there was even a
whiskey glass in the box, which,

379
00:18:31,960 --> 00:18:33,560
as you'll have like it was
pretty impressive.

380
00:18:33,680 --> 00:18:36,200
Yep, Yep.
The DRAM, the guy was Scottish.

381
00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:38,720
He was.
And following on from that, he

382
00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:41,560
said to me, Pete, do you think
we could do something bigger?

383
00:18:42,520 --> 00:18:44,520
And I said, what do you mean?
He said, well, maybe we'd like,

384
00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:47,960
you know, some entertainer
magician.

385
00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:50,040
I'm like, we're not doing a
magician over Zoom.

386
00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:52,640
He said, what about a comedian?
Do you know anybody?

387
00:18:52,960 --> 00:18:58,960
And I said, Ding, OK, So I once
I was in Sister Sadie's up off

388
00:18:59,040 --> 00:19:02,720
the end of Harcourt there years
ago, only one in there.

389
00:19:02,720 --> 00:19:05,480
I'd go in there sometimes have a
cup of coffee or some porridge.

390
00:19:05,640 --> 00:19:09,360
I'd sit there and get some work
done before meetings, and I'm

391
00:19:09,360 --> 00:19:11,760
sitting there and I'd see
someone else across the room.

392
00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:13,240
He's the only one in there
besides me.

393
00:19:13,240 --> 00:19:16,120
I look and I look, I'm like, I
think I know that guy, That's

394
00:19:16,120 --> 00:19:21,120
Dez Bishop.
So I go up to him.

395
00:19:21,120 --> 00:19:23,720
I'd seen him a couple of times.
I said, hey, I'm Pete Townsend,

396
00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:26,080
I love your work.
And he shook my hand.

397
00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:28,320
He's like, what do you do?
I said, I'm adventure.

398
00:19:28,640 --> 00:19:31,000
And he said, oh, great.
And blah, blah, blah.

399
00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:34,080
That was the end of it.
About a year later, I saw him at

400
00:19:34,080 --> 00:19:37,560
3 Fe, another good coffee joint
close enough to where Stripe was

401
00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:38,800
at the time.
The Stripe were in there as

402
00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:41,480
well.
And I went up to him again and

403
00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:44,320
said, hey, I saw you and we
started talking about something.

404
00:19:44,360 --> 00:19:45,920
Oh, I love those crossover
stories.

405
00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:48,600
So when this guy asked me, do
you know any comedians?

406
00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:54,840
I'm like, I know Des Bishop.
So they actually reached out to

407
00:19:54,840 --> 00:19:58,680
the guy through an agent and
they found him and he agreed to

408
00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:02,480
do this again, pull a bunch of
people together on this, you

409
00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:06,640
know, 1520 people.
And Dez came and did it right?

410
00:20:06,680 --> 00:20:10,200
And that was, and we go around
the room at the around the

411
00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:12,720
virtual room at the beginning,
and everyone tells a little

412
00:20:12,720 --> 00:20:15,840
story about how they know me.
And then we get to Dez.

413
00:20:16,280 --> 00:20:20,240
And Dez says, yeah, listen, Pete
is just some stalker who tells

414
00:20:20,240 --> 00:20:24,000
people he's my best friend and
then he gets me to do this.

415
00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:29,040
That's how I know, Pete.
All right, so that that bit of

416
00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:31,120
cringe bit of cringe bit of
cringe bit.

417
00:20:31,120 --> 00:20:34,080
Absolutely, Alejandro.
This was before your time, but

418
00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:37,080
you know, any of the things that
you've looked back on in the

419
00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:39,960
podcast, you know, looking back
at the early years that you know

420
00:20:40,040 --> 00:20:42,680
that you've reflected on.
I remember, I remember when you

421
00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:45,760
wrote Mihai, I think that was
the first time that actually I

422
00:20:45,760 --> 00:20:50,840
realized that the podcast
because I was getting deeper

423
00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:56,680
into the whole crypto yeah space
and knowing about Mihai and

424
00:20:56,800 --> 00:20:59,120
knowing that someone from
Ireland actually had a chance to

425
00:20:59,120 --> 00:21:02,320
have him as podcast after coming
to.

426
00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:05,280
The Dublin Tech Summit the.
Dublin Tech Summit.

427
00:21:05,360 --> 00:21:07,560
So I was like, OK, wow, who is
this man?

428
00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:13,000
Who is this mysterious man
called Pete Townsend and finding

429
00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:17,040
of well have a chance to cross
paths soon after that.

430
00:21:17,120 --> 00:21:19,960
Yeah, it, it was.
That was 2020 when we had Mihai

431
00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:22,160
on, actually, 2019 and then
2021.

432
00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:24,440
Brian Elders introduced you and
me.

433
00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:28,440
Yeah.
And Alejandro and I, as you do

434
00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:32,200
on a first date.
We met Don Leary and we went for

435
00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:34,120
a walk down the pier, down the
pier of.

436
00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:36,280
Course Petty's ice.
Cream holding pinkies.

437
00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:40,880
And we're like, all right, we
just got to figure out a way to

438
00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:43,720
do something together, right?
And we have been ever since.

439
00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:48,680
So, you know, it's just these
relationships, when you're in

440
00:21:48,680 --> 00:21:52,440
this space, the introductions,
that flywheel of relationships

441
00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:55,760
is just so critically important.
And you just open these things

442
00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:58,600
up and to the point where when I
had my 50th birthday a couple of

443
00:21:58,600 --> 00:22:00,280
years ago, I said, you know
what?

444
00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:01,600
There's a bunch of people I work
with.

445
00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:04,680
Then I got a bunch of friends.
Let's just invite everybody, you

446
00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:08,000
know, bring everybody along.
And it's all just life to me at

447
00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:09,040
this stage.
So thank you.

448
00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:13,720
So like Peter, on those early
episodes, you pretty much

449
00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:17,760
invited people you personally
knew and you need their stories,

450
00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:19,840
which I think it was very
powerful at the start.

451
00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:23,800
Like when did you start going
away from just the people that

452
00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:27,120
you know to reaching out to
people that were interesting but

453
00:22:27,120 --> 00:22:30,280
maybe you didn't know directly?
Owen had some good connections.

454
00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:32,880
Owen had some good connections
through Enterprise Ireland to

455
00:22:32,880 --> 00:22:36,880
find some interesting people
that were Enterprise Ireland

456
00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:39,800
clients that they had been
investing in and just other

457
00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:41,640
people that he knew from the
ecosystem.

458
00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:43,960
And so he was bringing in a few
folks.

459
00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:47,400
And then it was just as I went
through my journey and I met

460
00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:51,080
people along the way, I'd have
an introductory call with them

461
00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:54,480
for a business purpose and then
would say, wait a second, you've

462
00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:57,800
got a pretty cool story.
Can we turn this into something

463
00:22:57,800 --> 00:23:00,880
that could be a podcast episode?
And that was where things

464
00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:04,440
started to really take off,
where I started to listen more

465
00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:07,360
to people's stories.
And that helped from a business

466
00:23:07,360 --> 00:23:11,280
perspective, but it also helped
me identify who to talk to from

467
00:23:11,280 --> 00:23:12,320
a podcast.
Interesting.

468
00:23:13,200 --> 00:23:16,160
Again, it's all part of the part
of the modus operandi.

469
00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:19,360
What about like, because as you
said, like in the beginning you

470
00:23:19,360 --> 00:23:22,840
were guys doing a lot of OASA,
Irish base, right?

471
00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:26,560
Like entrepreneurs, etcetera.
Like at what point you realize

472
00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:28,960
like, OK, we're ready, we're
mature enough.

473
00:23:29,120 --> 00:23:32,960
We need to just look outside
Ireland just to grow the base.

474
00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:36,600
I, there were points in time
where I didn't, I, and it was

475
00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:39,800
kind of creeping up around COVID
where I couldn't find a guest

476
00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:43,680
and we couldn't get people to go
to Wework to record.

477
00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:46,520
And that where I'm like, all
right, I'm going to need to get

478
00:23:46,520 --> 00:23:50,680
someone in to record over Zoom
or over this transistor what

479
00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:52,720
Riverside platform that we were
using.

480
00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:56,480
And it would be anybody that I
had just met.

481
00:23:56,480 --> 00:23:59,840
So Colin Platt, I had done a lot
of work with him at Blockchain

482
00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:02,600
Insider and Fintech Insider in
the past, and he's a blockchain

483
00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:05,840
expert.
And we said, Colin, can I

484
00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:08,400
interview you for the podcast?
And it was just, sometimes it

485
00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:10,920
was just filling in to make sure
I got an episode done that week

486
00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:15,960
and that it just naturally
started to evolve to my network

487
00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:18,280
all over the world.
And I was just getting

488
00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:22,760
introductions to people.
I think it was COVID that really

489
00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:26,400
pushed it outside of the
boundaries of Ireland, but also

490
00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:29,920
just out of need of being able
to, you know, there's only what,

491
00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:32,560
7 million people on the island
of Ireland, right?

492
00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:36,640
And back of the time, I remember
counting their 750 startups, you

493
00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:39,640
know, so if you talk to 10% of
them, that's 75.

494
00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:43,840
And we were pretty much at that
point, you know, so that that's

495
00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:47,720
kind of how it rolled.
Then we hit 2023.

496
00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:51,680
Owen went to work for the
Central Bank of Ireland and

497
00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:54,600
because he went to work for the
Central Bank of Ireland, that it

498
00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:58,600
would be perhaps we needed to be
super careful about the

499
00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:00,920
companies that he was talking
about because we talked about

500
00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:03,920
fintech all the time.
And if he was going to be

501
00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:07,640
talking about a fintech company
that perhaps, whether he knew it

502
00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:10,480
or not, was applying to the
Central Bank of Ireland for

503
00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:14,440
authorization, that could be
perceived to be some type of

504
00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:17,440
conflict of interest, right?
So Owen had to step away.

505
00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:22,120
And that was unfortunate.
And I was going to shut it down

506
00:25:22,120 --> 00:25:24,760
at the time, but I had a
conversation with a guy called

507
00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:28,120
Kurt Pittman who had gone
through Techstars with us, a

508
00:25:28,120 --> 00:25:31,640
Kiwi who was living here in
Dublin for a number of years.

509
00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:36,640
And he said, Pete, wait a
second, just cause Owen's gone

510
00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:38,160
doesn't mean you need to stop
this.

511
00:25:38,760 --> 00:25:42,320
Why don't you get this rotating
panel of guest Co host to do

512
00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:45,080
these episodes with you when
you're not doing interviews?

513
00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:47,960
And they'll keep it going.
He said, what about people like

514
00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:51,240
my Santa Maria?
What about people like Alejandro

515
00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:53,360
Gutierrez?
What about people like Laura

516
00:25:53,360 --> 00:25:56,640
Walsh, shoes and tech stars with
us as our entrepreneur in

517
00:25:56,640 --> 00:25:58,520
residence?
What about people like Paul

518
00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:00,920
Smith who had done a couple of
episodes with us?

519
00:26:01,320 --> 00:26:03,000
Right.
And so it all made a heck of a

520
00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:05,120
lot of sense and it gave us some
new perspectives.

521
00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:07,000
OK.
So with that, Paul, would you

522
00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:08,840
like to come up and join us for
a minute?

523
00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:14,560
I thought for a second, you're
going to the Kiwi accent.

524
00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:17,120
I think you should.
Fuss and.

525
00:26:17,120 --> 00:26:19,880
Chucks.
A friend of mine said it once,

526
00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:22,200
fuss and chucks, that's all I
can do.

527
00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:23,760
I don't even know that makes any
sense.

528
00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:26,560
Paul, thank you for joining us.
Thanks for having me.

529
00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:30,840
Yes so Paul one of the founders
of top tier recruitment also

530
00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:36,080
possible coaching also Nexus
executive search right, which is

531
00:26:36,080 --> 00:26:40,960
your main pillar right now of
what you're working on yes with

532
00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:44,080
a couple of other things mixed
in yeah always a man wearing men

533
00:26:44,080 --> 00:26:45,160
I.
Was a bit bubbling up there.

534
00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:48,360
Yeah, yes.
Yes, yes, and with a son with

535
00:26:48,360 --> 00:26:50,360
some very interesting school.
Reports.

536
00:26:50,600 --> 00:26:52,480
Yes, Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Always keep me entertained.

537
00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:55,440
So Paul sends me pictures of as
his kid is coming home with

538
00:26:55,440 --> 00:26:58,120
reports that his crush teachers
write for him.

539
00:26:58,120 --> 00:26:59,800
He sends it to me and they're
very entertaining.

540
00:26:59,800 --> 00:27:05,600
So his son Alex, if I could say
that on air is one of the ones

541
00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:10,480
who received a money never
sleeps onesie when he was born

542
00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:14,400
along with Conan's daughter as
well.

543
00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:17,040
Yeah, yeah.
So Phoebe got one as well.

544
00:27:17,080 --> 00:27:19,800
So the only two, whoever got
them.

545
00:27:19,800 --> 00:27:23,440
So, but Paul, listen, being with
us from the early days where you

546
00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:26,680
stepped in to do a few episodes
with us, we did an episode with

547
00:27:26,680 --> 00:27:28,920
you and Laura.
And when Laura commented on a

548
00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:31,800
LinkedIn post yesterday, I said
I still remember, I think it was

549
00:27:31,800 --> 00:27:36,520
episode 16 where we did that in
your old office before you move

550
00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:37,800
to Wework.
That was on.

551
00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:42,480
I was going to see Mount Joy,
but yeah, yeah, yeah.

552
00:27:43,280 --> 00:27:46,920
And not Mount Joy.
A different place, different.

553
00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:49,400
Part of the world.
And I remember finishing that

554
00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:53,000
episode with you guys thinking
now there's a long term

555
00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:56,200
relationship waiting to happen.
And things have definitely

556
00:27:56,200 --> 00:28:00,600
evolved, Yeah, from that point.
I I met you probably when you

557
00:28:00,600 --> 00:28:05,160
started an Oreo and the Fintech
50 was on in UCD and I was

558
00:28:05,160 --> 00:28:07,040
looking for someone to join a
panel I was hosting because she

559
00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:07,960
sponsored.
Yeah.

560
00:28:07,960 --> 00:28:09,320
And you're already on a panel, I
think.

561
00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:12,040
And then it turns out you knew
own and I knew Own from way

562
00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:14,000
back.
And then it just kind of grew

563
00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:16,120
from there.
And I think we gave you space to

564
00:28:16,120 --> 00:28:19,720
record in our office initially,
and then we came on as sponsors.

565
00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:20,520
Yeah.
How long?

566
00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:21,640
Long time?
Yeah.

567
00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:22,640
It was 2 years.
Yeah.

568
00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:24,040
Yeah.
Yeah, go two years.

569
00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:26,720
It was great for us, like we
mess everyone that you mess

570
00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:28,560
because you recorded in our
office most of the time.

571
00:28:28,920 --> 00:28:31,280
So from a business development
perspective, we were in the room

572
00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:34,040
of people and we were getting
exposure on the podcast and all

573
00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:35,600
of that stuff.
So it like it made complete

574
00:28:35,600 --> 00:28:38,720
sense.
But yeah, go to I can't.

575
00:28:38,720 --> 00:28:39,960
She's one of my friends now,
which is great.

576
00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:41,360
Absolutely.
Yeah, yeah, from.

577
00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:43,840
Way more than that, absolutely.
And I'm so sorry about the mugs.

578
00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:48,880
Remember the mugs?
No, don't.

579
00:28:48,880 --> 00:28:50,640
Maybe don't open?
An old, old food.

580
00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:54,000
No, no, no, no.
It's harmless, it's harmless.

581
00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:58,240
So Owen had an idea that we'd
get these Money Never Sleeps

582
00:28:58,240 --> 00:29:04,520
coffee mugs made OK, and that we
would give one of them to each

583
00:29:04,520 --> 00:29:07,000
guest as kind of a memento of
their recording.

584
00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:10,400
And this was the early, early
days and we needed a sponsor for

585
00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:12,880
that.
So thankfully, Top Tier

586
00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:16,120
Recruitment sponsored and on one
side was the old Money Never

587
00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:19,680
Sleeps logo, which was a bed of
$100 bills.

588
00:29:20,120 --> 00:29:23,520
And then on the back was Top
Tier Recruitment, OK.

589
00:29:23,920 --> 00:29:30,120
And unfortunately, those mugs
kind of went the way of that

590
00:29:30,160 --> 00:29:32,400
hard drive with Bitcoin you hear
about.

591
00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:35,680
That's in the dump somewhere
that nobody can find because

592
00:29:35,720 --> 00:29:39,240
Owen never sent them out.
And when he left Enterprise

593
00:29:39,240 --> 00:29:40,840
Ireland, I think he left them in
the office.

594
00:29:40,840 --> 00:29:43,400
So they may still be there and
we could still recover them.

595
00:29:44,160 --> 00:29:47,800
And as these vintage items,
vintage collectors items.

596
00:29:47,800 --> 00:29:49,640
OK.
I think you need every phone,

597
00:29:49,640 --> 00:29:51,120
Paul.
This could be a Jim Gavin.

598
00:29:51,120 --> 00:29:54,320
Moment here.
I may be looking for a.

599
00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:58,440
Refund piece.
Well, we'll.

600
00:29:58,440 --> 00:30:00,120
We'll figure out a.
Way to take care of that later.

601
00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:02,240
And and I'm I'm not running for
any political office.

602
00:30:02,400 --> 00:30:03,960
So it's just fine.
It's just fine.

603
00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:07,920
But no.
And, and you know, Paul, you

604
00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:10,800
were able to step in in so many
different moments with a unique

605
00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:13,280
perspective.
And I think it's your, you know,

606
00:30:13,320 --> 00:30:17,080
your business focus on this
space that we shared in fintech

607
00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:20,080
and in crypto that allowed you
to kind of step in with some

608
00:30:20,080 --> 00:30:24,880
really unique views on things.
So thank you for, you know, for,

609
00:30:24,920 --> 00:30:28,000
for jumping in whenever we
needed you to do this over the

610
00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:29,320
years.
Really appreciate many many

611
00:30:29,320 --> 00:30:30,760
early morning texts.
To say yeah.

612
00:30:30,880 --> 00:30:33,920
Any chance?
This is what we're talking

613
00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:36,160
about.
I got one of those calls once.

614
00:30:36,160 --> 00:30:40,080
Myself from Lex Auckland from
the Fintech blueprint through a

615
00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:43,240
friend who said Pete Lex needs
to do an episode this week.

616
00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:44,480
Someone just cancelled.
Can you do it?

617
00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:47,720
I'm like absolutely, I'll do it
because you never know where

618
00:30:47,720 --> 00:30:51,400
these things will go Yeah.
So yeah, I was it your. 100th

619
00:30:51,480 --> 00:30:54,360
episode, I think, where you
asked a load of former guests,

620
00:30:54,680 --> 00:30:57,800
what's one thing you'd tell
yourself back then?

621
00:30:57,800 --> 00:31:00,480
Yeah, yeah.
And you got me on off guard with

622
00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:01,960
us.
But I still just.

623
00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:03,760
They remember the answer.
Not that it was perfect or

624
00:31:03,760 --> 00:31:05,200
anything, but it was to be
yourself.

625
00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:08,880
Yes, and it's something I always
carry with me today still.

626
00:31:08,920 --> 00:31:11,640
So I've actually learned a lot
doing it, not just from

627
00:31:11,640 --> 00:31:14,880
listening to other people, plus
in that kind of self reflective

628
00:31:14,880 --> 00:31:16,240
type of mode as well.
Absolutely.

629
00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:17,880
So really, really enjoyed us.
Lovely and part of us.

630
00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:19,240
Absolutely.
Thank you Paul.

631
00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:19,880
Welcome.
Well done.

632
00:31:25,840 --> 00:31:28,800
So.
Looking at the data quickly,

633
00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:32,560
what it told us, the peak
engagement that we had was the

634
00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:34,520
fintech and crypto crossover
stories.

635
00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:38,400
And that was from 2020 to 2022.
And that was just showing people

636
00:31:38,400 --> 00:31:41,040
that, listen, you're coming from
the crypto side, you're coming

637
00:31:41,040 --> 00:31:43,040
from the fintech side.
It's not all that different,

638
00:31:43,280 --> 00:31:45,360
right?
And we're crossing over here and

639
00:31:45,360 --> 00:31:47,120
I've always loved the crossover
stories.

640
00:31:47,400 --> 00:31:50,000
And that was one of the big
points that we got out of

641
00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:52,840
looking at the data, took all of
the data in the last couple of

642
00:31:52,840 --> 00:31:55,000
days that downloaded off of the
platform.

643
00:31:55,480 --> 00:31:57,920
And it's wonderful what this
little thing called Chachi PT

644
00:31:57,920 --> 00:32:01,400
can do now where it gives you
all of these kind of findings

645
00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:04,280
from churning through the data
in 2023.

646
00:32:04,280 --> 00:32:06,840
Post 2023, we had a bit of
fragmentation.

647
00:32:07,240 --> 00:32:09,040
So we had a bit of Web 3
fatigue.

648
00:32:09,440 --> 00:32:13,320
And Hugh, you'll remember this,
that we did 2 cohorts in a row

649
00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:19,000
where we did an episode for
every single founder in the

650
00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:21,800
spring of 22 and the spring of
23.

651
00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:24,920
And that was a bit overkill.
And we probably took it a bit

652
00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:28,080
too far with all of these
stories, specifically on Web

653
00:32:28,080 --> 00:32:33,160
three at a time where that was
post FTX and where people just

654
00:32:33,160 --> 00:32:36,280
weren't that interested anymore.
And so there was an impact on

655
00:32:36,280 --> 00:32:38,200
the on the download numbers and
it went down.

656
00:32:38,200 --> 00:32:41,320
It came back after a while, but
it was something that, you know,

657
00:32:41,320 --> 00:32:43,080
was a real learning point for
me.

658
00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:46,600
It was a niche that was
interesting to explore, but for

659
00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:49,400
the listeners, probably not that
interesting, right.

660
00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:51,720
So that was one of the last a
lot of hard people as.

661
00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:55,600
Well, there were.
So that impacted across the

662
00:32:55,600 --> 00:32:56,960
board.
Yeah, it's hard to tell the

663
00:32:56,960 --> 00:32:58,480
story when.
You're down that much on your

664
00:32:58,480 --> 00:33:00,360
crypto?
Yeah, it's also true.

665
00:33:00,960 --> 00:33:02,720
You know so.
That was a big lesson.

666
00:33:02,720 --> 00:33:05,240
Learned the Money Talks
episodes.

667
00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:06,840
Some of those really
outperformed.

668
00:33:06,840 --> 00:33:09,360
They were really some that were
linked to macro stories or bold

669
00:33:09,360 --> 00:33:12,520
predictions.
Those really outperformed and

670
00:33:12,520 --> 00:33:15,760
there was one where we talked
about Visa taking their first

671
00:33:15,760 --> 00:33:19,000
steps into crypto and that kind
of open people's eyes a bit.

672
00:33:19,520 --> 00:33:22,800
Some of the investor LED
conversations, Matthew Graham

673
00:33:22,800 --> 00:33:26,680
from Sino Global Capital now
called Rise, Joey Krug from

674
00:33:26,680 --> 00:33:28,880
Pantera Capital, those drove big
spikes.

675
00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:32,440
But when we got into some overly
technical or policy heavy

676
00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:35,440
episodes, some of those
struggled because that had less

677
00:33:35,440 --> 00:33:37,240
of a So what moment at the end
of it, right.

678
00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:38,840
There were interesting
discussions that I really

679
00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:42,240
enjoyed with a guest, but they
were sometimes difficult for the

680
00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:44,120
listener.
Looking at the most frequent

681
00:33:44,120 --> 00:33:48,120
guests over here to my right,
Alejandro Gutierrez, he's been

682
00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:51,760
on 10 episodes, so I he couldn't
believe it when I told him.

683
00:33:52,680 --> 00:33:55,400
Didn't know that.
Yeah, Paul, you've done 8.

684
00:33:55,800 --> 00:33:57,280
Right.
So that's quite a bit.

685
00:33:57,560 --> 00:33:59,240
Laura Walsh.
Hello, Laura.

686
00:33:59,240 --> 00:34:01,840
I know you'll be listening.
You were at 7.

687
00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:05,560
My you did 6 Wow.
I know.

688
00:34:05,560 --> 00:34:09,280
Ollie Walsh, who was the CEO and
Co founder of Pipit, now

689
00:34:09,280 --> 00:34:12,520
acquired by KENTA out in Galway,
Kenta's AUS company.

690
00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:15,880
Ollie's done for Ollie was going
to be here tonight, but his

691
00:34:15,880 --> 00:34:19,159
brother's just home from Canada
and this is her last night out.

692
00:34:19,480 --> 00:34:21,679
Do you want to come here to hang
out with us or do you want to be

693
00:34:22,239 --> 00:34:23,920
in Galway for dinner with your
brother?

694
00:34:23,920 --> 00:34:26,199
What do you think right.
So I can't blame and then Sean

695
00:34:26,199 --> 00:34:30,000
Lee, he's a former CEO of
Algorand now Hong Kong

696
00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:32,600
stablecoin project that he's
working on out there.

697
00:34:33,159 --> 00:34:36,000
He's fantastic.
He does some of his own content

698
00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:37,120
as well.
He's been on four.

699
00:34:37,560 --> 00:34:39,800
What we found is that
consistency of these different

700
00:34:39,800 --> 00:34:43,360
type of Co hosts and guest
builds trust.

701
00:34:43,480 --> 00:34:48,000
OK, biggest spikes, Joey Krug,
Matthew Graham, Sam Williams

702
00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:50,560
from our weave.
Having those big, big, huge

703
00:34:50,560 --> 00:34:53,840
names on from crypto on web
three really pushed the audience

704
00:34:53,840 --> 00:34:56,600
numbers.
Some of our local heroes, Colum

705
00:34:56,600 --> 00:34:59,680
Lyon from fire and reelects
payments going back through the

706
00:34:59,680 --> 00:35:01,160
years that drove a lot of
numbers.

707
00:35:01,160 --> 00:35:04,280
Connor Murphy, even though he
hasn't been in Ireland that much

708
00:35:04,280 --> 00:35:07,280
for the last 10 years or so,
there's a lot of listenership

709
00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:09,320
there.
He's a former tech stars, MD,

710
00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:13,520
former CEO and founder of Data
hug now the founder and CEO of

711
00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:18,200
Bridge, which not the company
acquired by Stripe, but an intro

712
00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:20,800
app.
And then Barry Darmody, he had,

713
00:35:20,840 --> 00:35:22,920
he was our top 20, as I
mentioned.

714
00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:25,360
Barry, if you want to join us
for a couple of minutes, it'd be

715
00:35:25,360 --> 00:35:26,720
great to have you up here.
OK.

716
00:35:26,760 --> 00:35:32,680
Thank you, Barry.
So Barry Darmody.

717
00:35:33,400 --> 00:35:38,120
Founder and CEO of Search for
Less and Enki and a couple of

718
00:35:38,120 --> 00:35:41,240
other businesses behind that
starts starts for less as well.

719
00:35:41,720 --> 00:35:46,640
Yes and also a good friend.
His wife married my wife and

720
00:35:46,640 --> 00:35:48,640
they used to work together.
They didn't question marry each

721
00:35:48,720 --> 00:35:49,760
other.
Sorry, they didn't.

722
00:35:54,600 --> 00:35:56,880
His wife and my.
Wife are very good friends.

723
00:35:58,440 --> 00:36:02,080
Thank you.
They work together in Dunn's and

724
00:36:02,080 --> 00:36:06,680
Tala back in, you know, I don't
know, 30 years ago probably.

725
00:36:06,680 --> 00:36:08,280
I was only 20.
They're young, Yeah.

726
00:36:08,320 --> 00:36:10,280
It's only 20 years ago, yes.
Yes, they are young.

727
00:36:10,280 --> 00:36:15,400
We did well, didn't we?
So one of the things about our

728
00:36:15,400 --> 00:36:20,000
conversation, Barry, that we had
your episode 130 and I remember

729
00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:24,200
that well and that we said, all
right, Barry's business search

730
00:36:24,200 --> 00:36:25,920
for less.
I've always been really

731
00:36:25,920 --> 00:36:28,960
intrigued by that and Anki as
well and and start for less.

732
00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:33,680
And I wanted to get inside your
head a bit and outside of out

733
00:36:33,680 --> 00:36:36,160
when we're having dinner or out
when we're having a few pints

734
00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:40,280
and be able to do this in a
interview style discussion just

735
00:36:40,280 --> 00:36:43,040
so I could really try to figure
you out and get inside your head

736
00:36:43,040 --> 00:36:44,520
a bit.
It was a lot of fun doing that.

737
00:36:44,720 --> 00:36:49,920
So I think that that 20 years
that we had under our belts

738
00:36:49,920 --> 00:36:53,640
before we did that, that builds
trust and that built an ability

739
00:36:53,640 --> 00:36:56,680
to have more of kind of a, you
know, an honest conversation

740
00:36:56,680 --> 00:36:59,280
about things.
And I know that that was

741
00:36:59,280 --> 00:37:02,080
something that was very popular
with a listener base.

742
00:37:02,080 --> 00:37:04,960
And I, I know that you've said a
few folks have come up to you

743
00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:07,480
and said, Hey, listen, heard
your episode of Money Never

744
00:37:07,480 --> 00:37:08,320
Sleeps.
That was pretty good.

745
00:37:08,400 --> 00:37:11,640
I have a big family though so.
That could have I.

746
00:37:11,640 --> 00:37:14,560
Can for the downloads.
But yeah, it's not something

747
00:37:14,560 --> 00:37:17,600
I've done.
It's you know, and I guess the

748
00:37:17,600 --> 00:37:20,600
trust was a big thing for me
because I'd be fairly I'd be

749
00:37:20,600 --> 00:37:23,120
fairly private in my in my
dealings.

750
00:37:23,120 --> 00:37:26,160
As you know, I don't talk about
business and and in private

751
00:37:26,160 --> 00:37:27,720
settings.
So yeah, it was an interesting

752
00:37:27,720 --> 00:37:30,160
experience.
I was interested though, tonight

753
00:37:30,160 --> 00:37:32,720
to hear I was 130.
I thought I'd be up the list of

754
00:37:32,720 --> 00:37:34,640
it, but then I realized I was at
the 50th.

755
00:37:34,640 --> 00:37:37,160
I was at The Reg tech there's
Bishop thing.

756
00:37:37,160 --> 00:37:39,280
So that made me feel a little
bit better.

757
00:37:39,320 --> 00:37:41,320
Absolutely Yeah, yeah, yeah,
episode 130.

758
00:37:41,320 --> 00:37:42,920
But in the.
Top 20 all time down.

759
00:37:44,560 --> 00:37:46,920
There.
So you've expanded now

760
00:37:46,920 --> 00:37:49,320
internationally, right?
You, you've got the business

761
00:37:49,320 --> 00:37:52,160
down in the UK and expanding
over Europe a bit as well.

762
00:37:52,160 --> 00:37:53,240
Is that, is that what's
happening?

763
00:37:53,280 --> 00:37:54,640
Yeah, we've, we very much have a
a.

764
00:37:54,920 --> 00:37:58,920
Start up mindset, but in, in
recent years we've kind of had

765
00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:01,040
to grow up a little bit.
We've had to realize, OK, we're

766
00:38:01,040 --> 00:38:04,200
at a, we're at a certain size
where being a start up mindset

767
00:38:04,200 --> 00:38:07,040
doesn't really work anymore.
We've developed a lot in terms

768
00:38:07,040 --> 00:38:10,720
of the insights that we're
getting from our customer base

769
00:38:11,240 --> 00:38:14,720
and we're working a lot with our
customers internationally now,

770
00:38:14,720 --> 00:38:17,040
not just in Ireland.
So it's growing.

771
00:38:17,240 --> 00:38:19,760
We've kind of focused in the
last five years on our Anki

772
00:38:19,760 --> 00:38:21,560
business, which is a property
based business.

773
00:38:22,120 --> 00:38:25,160
And I suppose that the link to
to crypto and blockchain and in

774
00:38:25,160 --> 00:38:28,600
that business was we've done a
lot of research in utilizing

775
00:38:28,600 --> 00:38:30,600
blockchain for property
transactions.

776
00:38:31,120 --> 00:38:35,400
And we've seen in places like
Australia where there's a bit of

777
00:38:35,400 --> 00:38:39,000
a movement towards that type of
solution that the chain of

778
00:38:39,000 --> 00:38:43,200
custody is is far superior to
any sort of database systems

779
00:38:43,200 --> 00:38:44,960
that we have in this side of the
world.

780
00:38:44,960 --> 00:38:47,760
So that's something we were very
interested in early on.

781
00:38:47,800 --> 00:38:52,040
And we've developed our own
technology with one eye on that.

782
00:38:52,800 --> 00:38:55,840
And the proposition we have in
the property business leans into

783
00:38:55,840 --> 00:38:59,360
that technology a little bit
more than the data service,

784
00:38:59,360 --> 00:39:02,080
which is search for less, which
is this is a growing kind of

785
00:39:02,080 --> 00:39:05,760
beyond our own belief because as
that we, we never really

786
00:39:05,760 --> 00:39:07,920
marketed the service.
Yeah, it tells itself we're

787
00:39:07,920 --> 00:39:10,160
starting to do all of that good
stuff now.

788
00:39:10,160 --> 00:39:13,640
So it's it's kind of say, I'm
not, I'm not a guy that likes

789
00:39:13,640 --> 00:39:16,280
the limelight.
So it's kind of beyond my

790
00:39:16,560 --> 00:39:17,960
reckoning that we should be
doing this.

791
00:39:17,960 --> 00:39:19,760
But this is what I'm told.
This is the point we're at.

792
00:39:19,760 --> 00:39:22,280
We're no longer a startup.
We need to, we need to get out

793
00:39:22,280 --> 00:39:24,440
there.
So it's exciting and I say we're

794
00:39:24,440 --> 00:39:26,440
growing.
So yeah, it's good.

795
00:39:26,640 --> 00:39:30,320
All right, All right now and.
And the platform I used quite a

796
00:39:30,320 --> 00:39:33,320
bit myself back and then, you
know, before Techstars, when I

797
00:39:33,320 --> 00:39:36,320
was doing a lot more
investigation into people,

798
00:39:36,480 --> 00:39:38,400
right, and seeing their
businesses and where they came

799
00:39:38,400 --> 00:39:40,640
from and directors and
beneficial owners and all that

800
00:39:40,640 --> 00:39:42,480
type of stuff.
I'll be doing a lot more of that

801
00:39:42,480 --> 00:39:45,520
going forward.
So KYB, looking forward to

802
00:39:45,520 --> 00:39:48,080
seeing where you are, you know,
four years on down the road.

803
00:39:48,080 --> 00:39:49,760
So thank you.
Appreciate it.

804
00:39:50,080 --> 00:39:56,000
Thanks, Barry.
So.

805
00:39:56,080 --> 00:39:59,080
Alejandro, what do you think,
based upon everything you've

806
00:39:59,080 --> 00:40:02,040
heard so far, what do you think
makes a great guest you know,

807
00:40:02,080 --> 00:40:04,640
and how do they change?
How do they impact the quality

808
00:40:04,640 --> 00:40:07,120
of the conversation?
I think a story, it's always.

809
00:40:07,120 --> 00:40:10,160
Really important, like people
always buy good stories.

810
00:40:10,760 --> 00:40:12,960
Like we know the path is never
stray.

811
00:40:12,960 --> 00:40:16,760
There is always a lot of sick
sagging for people to succeed.

812
00:40:16,760 --> 00:40:19,040
I think that's always really
interesting.

813
00:40:19,840 --> 00:40:23,120
Authenticity for me is the key.
I think people will realize

814
00:40:23,120 --> 00:40:25,360
straight away when when you are
not authentic.

815
00:40:26,600 --> 00:40:28,600
And if you don't?
Have that, there's no

816
00:40:28,600 --> 00:40:31,120
credibility and then people
don't buy it.

817
00:40:31,120 --> 00:40:34,360
So yeah, absolutely.
And, and I think we, you know,

818
00:40:34,360 --> 00:40:37,120
we tried to stay away from the
sales type conversations as much

819
00:40:37,120 --> 00:40:39,400
as we could.
And I was always, you know,

820
00:40:39,400 --> 00:40:41,600
people would approach us and
say, Hey, can we come talk about

821
00:40:41,600 --> 00:40:44,040
this on the podcast?
And we got a new product that

822
00:40:44,040 --> 00:40:45,120
we're launching that type of
stuff.

823
00:40:45,120 --> 00:40:47,360
And I'm like, well, listen, we
can have a conversation, but I'm

824
00:40:47,360 --> 00:40:49,760
going to steer clear of that.
And I want to find this thread

825
00:40:49,760 --> 00:40:52,160
about your personality that
makes sense and why it's

826
00:40:52,160 --> 00:40:54,240
relevant to your business, those
types of things, right.

827
00:40:55,080 --> 00:40:57,520
So my, what do you think?
What do you think makes a great

828
00:40:57,520 --> 00:40:59,480
guest?
A second what Alejandra?

829
00:40:59,480 --> 00:41:04,480
Says, I think it needs to be
true, real, original, but there

830
00:41:04,480 --> 00:41:09,560
has to be, I think a little bit
of vulnerability to the to the

831
00:41:09,560 --> 00:41:11,840
guest.
It's you're not just talking to

832
00:41:11,840 --> 00:41:14,320
the audience.
You know, I, I, I think, but

833
00:41:14,320 --> 00:41:16,680
certainly I have and I'm, I'm
totally speaking from personal

834
00:41:16,680 --> 00:41:19,560
experience.
I have appreciated those that

835
00:41:20,040 --> 00:41:23,400
whilst talking to you, they've
thought of something or

836
00:41:23,400 --> 00:41:26,920
something's come new or they
they've they've shown a

837
00:41:27,600 --> 00:41:30,200
unguarded side of them And
that's why I mean they haven't

838
00:41:30,200 --> 00:41:32,800
come prepared with a briefing
reading out and it's just like

839
00:41:33,280 --> 00:41:35,240
all guards off, you know, this
one, I'm telling you, and that's

840
00:41:35,240 --> 00:41:37,800
just the end of it.
So I have really appreciate that

841
00:41:38,240 --> 00:41:41,360
that human that not, not because
it has to be vulnerable, but

842
00:41:41,360 --> 00:41:45,320
certainly real insight into
someone, which happens only when

843
00:41:45,320 --> 00:41:47,680
you're talking and it's on the
spot and then you manage to

844
00:41:47,680 --> 00:41:49,120
capture that.
And that's what I've

845
00:41:49,120 --> 00:41:51,720
appreciated.
But I have to say though, this

846
00:41:51,720 --> 00:41:57,240
kind of magic only happens
because of the work that you put

847
00:41:57,240 --> 00:42:00,920
behind Pete, Because and I've
been on the podcast 6 times.

848
00:42:01,360 --> 00:42:05,760
I didn't realize that, but every
time you've approached me, I can

849
00:42:05,760 --> 00:42:09,760
see the effort and time you've
spent to know me, but also the

850
00:42:09,760 --> 00:42:13,960
topics that would click when we,
the two of us talk.

851
00:42:13,960 --> 00:42:17,080
So at the start with Owen, there
was a lot of like the founder

852
00:42:17,080 --> 00:42:20,640
and their journey and those
stories that would inspire

853
00:42:20,640 --> 00:42:23,280
others.
But as we moved away and Owen

854
00:42:23,280 --> 00:42:27,160
stop, stop being there, you put
in so much effort to the

855
00:42:27,160 --> 00:42:30,560
research and the stories and the
topic, and then you were match

856
00:42:30,560 --> 00:42:32,200
making that with the right
guest.

857
00:42:32,640 --> 00:42:35,560
So I'm not sure we have that
experience as well, Alejandro.

858
00:42:35,840 --> 00:42:39,320
I think that matching of the
topic and the guest is what

859
00:42:39,320 --> 00:42:40,880
really makes magic on the
podcast.

860
00:42:40,880 --> 00:42:43,920
Yeah, full agree I think.
Did you have something that is

861
00:42:44,560 --> 00:42:46,600
like, I don't know how to
describe it, but it's, you have

862
00:42:46,600 --> 00:42:51,440
that quality of making people
feel really comfortable in there

863
00:42:51,520 --> 00:42:53,760
that they are safe.
It's like they're a safe space

864
00:42:54,200 --> 00:42:56,280
and they, they know that they
can open, right?

865
00:42:56,280 --> 00:42:59,160
Like, and not everybody has has
that capability.

866
00:42:59,640 --> 00:43:01,160
And that's something you need
for these, right?

867
00:43:01,160 --> 00:43:04,480
Because I think as, as Maya was
saying, you want people to be a

868
00:43:04,480 --> 00:43:06,040
little bit relaxed and off
guard.

869
00:43:06,040 --> 00:43:09,040
Like you want that old question
that that is not a script,

870
00:43:09,160 --> 00:43:10,640
right?
They know it's like a look

871
00:43:10,720 --> 00:43:12,800
uncomfortable.
I know here that I can just

872
00:43:12,800 --> 00:43:15,360
answer with it and I know I'm
going to be fine and it's going

873
00:43:15,360 --> 00:43:17,840
to be safe.
So that's I think that's

874
00:43:17,840 --> 00:43:21,280
probably one of the keep pieces
out of this podcast and why it

875
00:43:21,280 --> 00:43:23,640
was so successful.
It's amazing how it.

876
00:43:23,640 --> 00:43:28,240
Got people to share stories
right with knowing that it's

877
00:43:28,240 --> 00:43:33,040
being recorded but you forget.
And that's where you were such,

878
00:43:33,040 --> 00:43:38,360
so tricky cuz particularly over
COVID time, I remember we were

879
00:43:38,360 --> 00:43:41,960
doing this, sorry, this software
you mentioned Riverside.

880
00:43:43,520 --> 00:43:45,920
And I remember.
Perfectly being at home in the

881
00:43:45,920 --> 00:43:49,320
desk all virtually and we're
chatting away and I'm just like

882
00:43:49,440 --> 00:43:52,960
completely forgot we were
recording for our podcast.

883
00:43:52,960 --> 00:43:55,840
It was like we're just having a
chat and I was like, what did I

884
00:43:55,840 --> 00:43:57,600
just say?
Will he edit that house, you

885
00:43:57,600 --> 00:44:00,320
know?
Yeah, Well, I.

886
00:44:00,360 --> 00:44:01,880
Do.
You know something?

887
00:44:01,880 --> 00:44:03,920
No.
And there's a Conan is there,

888
00:44:03,920 --> 00:44:05,920
probably laughing about it
because there were a lot of

889
00:44:05,920 --> 00:44:08,520
things that he knows, right?
Never win this.

890
00:44:08,920 --> 00:44:12,600
He gets all of it, Conan.
Would get the raw files before I

891
00:44:12,600 --> 00:44:14,960
did the final edit, so he knows
and he.

892
00:44:15,240 --> 00:44:16,280
Knows all the.
Awful.

893
00:44:16,280 --> 00:44:17,720
All the cuttings.
I know, I've always.

894
00:44:17,720 --> 00:44:19,360
Been worried that he's holding
all that.

895
00:44:20,960 --> 00:44:25,320
You did delete it, didn't you?
Well, I mean, how could you?

896
00:44:25,320 --> 00:44:27,480
Forget you're actually, you're
literally like you was, you

897
00:44:27,480 --> 00:44:30,720
know, it was not even a mic.
You're literally in front of the

898
00:44:30,720 --> 00:44:32,840
laptop in your own home and you
was just chatting just

899
00:44:32,840 --> 00:44:36,240
completely in the conversation,
exchanging ideas, thinking about

900
00:44:36,240 --> 00:44:37,960
what you're saying.
You know, it's like you just

901
00:44:37,960 --> 00:44:40,480
forgot.
And that was that was unique,

902
00:44:40,520 --> 00:44:43,320
you know, particularly when for
two years where it lived life

903
00:44:43,320 --> 00:44:45,680
virtually.
Yeah, totally, totally.

904
00:44:45,680 --> 00:44:47,920
And I've, I've said this to
friends and family before.

905
00:44:47,920 --> 00:44:50,840
It's like, listen, I feel bad.
I have these more meaningful,

906
00:44:50,840 --> 00:44:53,200
deep conversations with people
that are not in my family

907
00:44:53,840 --> 00:44:58,280
because of all of this, right?
And I said my best man in my

908
00:44:58,280 --> 00:45:01,320
wedding, I talked to him in
about first time in about a

909
00:45:01,320 --> 00:45:02,960
year.
I talked to him two weeks ago.

910
00:45:02,960 --> 00:45:04,920
And I'm like, dude, we just need
to talk more.

911
00:45:05,240 --> 00:45:08,280
I spend more time talking to all
of these folks that I'm close

912
00:45:08,280 --> 00:45:11,240
with from a, you know, a network
perspective that I do with the

913
00:45:11,240 --> 00:45:13,160
people who, you know, I've known
for 40 years.

914
00:45:13,480 --> 00:45:17,080
So let's put some time into the
calendar to make sure that we do

915
00:45:17,080 --> 00:45:19,200
just that.
So, you know, one of the life

916
00:45:19,200 --> 00:45:22,200
lessons learned.
So listen, what I wanted to do

917
00:45:22,200 --> 00:45:27,680
next was that, you know, on the
the topic of trying to speak the

918
00:45:27,680 --> 00:45:30,360
truth and trying to get people
comfortable, we made some

919
00:45:30,360 --> 00:45:33,800
predictions, didn't we, back in
the beginning of 2025.

920
00:45:35,080 --> 00:45:38,480
And I wanted to look at, you
know, these 10 bold predictions

921
00:45:38,480 --> 00:45:40,600
that we did.
Some were right on the money,

922
00:45:40,600 --> 00:45:43,680
some are still evolving, but and
if you might have been a little

923
00:45:43,680 --> 00:45:47,200
too far ahead of their time, but
I wanted to take these one by

924
00:45:47,200 --> 00:45:48,960
one.
We might skip over a couple of

925
00:45:48,960 --> 00:45:51,880
them.
And but the first one that we

926
00:45:51,880 --> 00:45:56,640
said is that tokenization would
take center stage and that

927
00:45:57,040 --> 00:46:01,200
traditional finance would
embrace tokenization and 2025

928
00:46:01,200 --> 00:46:05,560
has been the tipping point.
Do you think that that one has

929
00:46:05,560 --> 00:46:12,400
come out to be true 100% like?
Happening now is over achieving

930
00:46:12,440 --> 00:46:14,120
anything that we said in that
episode.

931
00:46:14,760 --> 00:46:16,760
Yeah, it's just.
Front and center.

932
00:46:16,760 --> 00:46:20,880
I just came back from talking
2049 and that's the main topic

933
00:46:20,880 --> 00:46:25,680
in every single one of the
different the stages that I saw.

934
00:46:25,680 --> 00:46:28,240
So yeah, it's just you can't
keep up you.

935
00:46:28,240 --> 00:46:30,200
Can't keep up in terms like
there's not, it's not news

936
00:46:30,200 --> 00:46:32,000
anymore because there's always
something.

937
00:46:32,080 --> 00:46:33,440
Yeah.
Do you guys remember in 2000

938
00:46:33,440 --> 00:46:35,680
and.
Sixteen 2017 right that there

939
00:46:35,680 --> 00:46:38,760
was one outlet yeah and you will
cover absolutely every single

940
00:46:38,760 --> 00:46:42,200
news right and you are fine now
it's just impossible even in the

941
00:46:42,200 --> 00:46:46,400
RWS space are like a 50
different news every single day

942
00:46:46,640 --> 00:46:50,560
It's just it is it it's.
Everywhere I've been keeping

943
00:46:50,560 --> 00:46:55,120
track over the last probably
month or so, I've got a new

944
00:46:55,120 --> 00:46:58,720
Notion page called News Tracker
where I am keeping.

945
00:46:58,720 --> 00:47:02,360
I did this like 5678 years ago
where I'm keeping track of these

946
00:47:02,360 --> 00:47:06,800
one by one because for my new
adventure with, with Noreo

947
00:47:06,800 --> 00:47:09,200
Ventures, you need to have these
proof points.

948
00:47:09,200 --> 00:47:11,960
You need to be prepared to tell
stories when you're talking to

949
00:47:12,000 --> 00:47:14,880
investors, to limited partners.
You need to be able to say, oh,

950
00:47:14,880 --> 00:47:17,200
look, look, look, look, look,
here's these 5 or 6 different

951
00:47:17,200 --> 00:47:19,600
things, right?
And there's just, and I've got

952
00:47:19,600 --> 00:47:22,040
the tokenization tag in that
column and there's so many

953
00:47:22,040 --> 00:47:24,600
stories that's coming up about
this every single day.

954
00:47:25,000 --> 00:47:28,840
I think there's still and on the
concept of tokenization for

955
00:47:28,840 --> 00:47:32,160
those that may not be familiar,
it's taking the same technology

956
00:47:32,160 --> 00:47:36,560
that is made crypto assets
possible and it's applying that

957
00:47:36,560 --> 00:47:39,640
to traditional securities like
equities, bonds, cash.

958
00:47:39,880 --> 00:47:43,680
The biggest asset class for that
so far is cash or stable coins

959
00:47:43,680 --> 00:47:46,840
as they're called, which are
crypto assets that are pegged to

960
00:47:46,840 --> 00:47:50,880
primarily the US dollar 99%.
I'd love to see some euro stable

961
00:47:50,880 --> 00:47:53,640
coins take flight, but we're
going to need a little bit more

962
00:47:53,640 --> 00:47:55,200
to happen on the Mika front
before.

963
00:47:56,080 --> 00:48:00,600
Well, there's a good source from
now in in in Europe that is

964
00:48:00,920 --> 00:48:03,280
reportedly going to pull
together their own stablecoin

965
00:48:03,280 --> 00:48:09,080
buy yeah yeah, that prediction
towards the end of the.

966
00:48:09,080 --> 00:48:10,360
Prediction.
Yes, we'll.

967
00:48:10,360 --> 00:48:11,800
We'll look at that one and see
where that one goes.

968
00:48:11,800 --> 00:48:13,000
Yeah, of course.
It'll be like, you know?

969
00:48:13,160 --> 00:48:16,760
A good mandate that we use your
stable coins for cash legs or

970
00:48:16,760 --> 00:48:18,640
certain things.
That would be a a nice pull.

971
00:48:18,640 --> 00:48:20,240
Maybe it it absolutely will, who
knows.

972
00:48:20,240 --> 00:48:21,000
It absolutely will.
I'm not.

973
00:48:21,000 --> 00:48:23,720
Saying it's a prediction.
But skepticism there, no.

974
00:48:23,920 --> 00:48:27,840
No, OK, just.
Yes.

975
00:48:28,600 --> 00:48:30,280
I I think the direction is.
Clear.

976
00:48:30,320 --> 00:48:33,280
I've been using the term on
chain and just calling it on

977
00:48:33,280 --> 00:48:37,440
chain for the last few months
and that finance is moving on

978
00:48:37,440 --> 00:48:39,120
chain.
And that's why I started this

979
00:48:39,120 --> 00:48:44,760
back in 2016 was that I for me
with how disgusted I was at the

980
00:48:44,760 --> 00:48:48,560
state of financial plumbing
after an occurrence in 2014 that

981
00:48:48,560 --> 00:48:51,920
I won't get into that.
I said there has to be a better

982
00:48:51,920 --> 00:48:55,560
way And the Bitcoin white paper
fell in my lap and I saw page 2

983
00:48:55,560 --> 00:48:57,040
and the rest is history and here
we are.

984
00:48:57,200 --> 00:49:01,240
OK, So it's not a side project
anymore, It's a strategic

985
00:49:01,240 --> 00:49:03,320
priority.
I talked to a big asset manager,

986
00:49:03,920 --> 00:49:06,960
it well known international
asset manager was talking to

987
00:49:06,960 --> 00:49:10,440
their someone from their
innovation team in Hong Kong and

988
00:49:10,440 --> 00:49:14,040
said, listen, I don't want to do
any pilot projects or beta

989
00:49:14,040 --> 00:49:18,120
projects on tokenization.
This is live now, so don't try

990
00:49:18,120 --> 00:49:19,840
to sell me any of that.
Pilots are done.

991
00:49:19,960 --> 00:49:21,120
Yeah.
Yeah, so.

992
00:49:22,200 --> 00:49:27,400
Next one, stable coins big yes,
but in e-commerce, all right, So

993
00:49:27,400 --> 00:49:31,640
we expected stable coins again
crypto assets peg to real world

994
00:49:31,640 --> 00:49:34,720
currencies to become mainstream
and online payments.

995
00:49:35,080 --> 00:49:37,680
While consumer facing adoption
is slower than predicted, the

996
00:49:37,720 --> 00:49:42,120
infrastructure is forming OK,
PayPal, Stripe, Shopify now

997
00:49:42,120 --> 00:49:46,040
support stable coin settlement.
What are you seeing on this,

998
00:49:46,040 --> 00:49:47,840
Alejandro?
Yeah.

999
00:49:48,000 --> 00:49:50,920
I, I, I think we, we.
Maybe overestimated this one a

1000
00:49:50,920 --> 00:49:53,520
little bit and we thought it was
going to be just that really one

1001
00:49:53,520 --> 00:49:56,080
in commerce.
We're seeing a lot happening

1002
00:49:56,080 --> 00:49:59,200
right now in cross-border
payments probably a bit more

1003
00:49:59,200 --> 00:50:03,600
than e-commerce, but like at
bulk, it's used at bulk actually

1004
00:50:03,600 --> 00:50:05,560
in commerce.
But the one that probably we

1005
00:50:05,560 --> 00:50:09,120
never thought about it was
agentic payments that are

1006
00:50:09,120 --> 00:50:11,720
extremely related to a commerce
side.

1007
00:50:11,720 --> 00:50:14,920
And that's what we're seeing
every single day happening now,

1008
00:50:14,920 --> 00:50:18,320
news about it from every single
one of the big players,

1009
00:50:18,320 --> 00:50:19,840
including open AI.
Yep.

1010
00:50:20,440 --> 00:50:24,360
So yeah, it does the move.
So AI agents that are.

1011
00:50:24,360 --> 00:50:27,760
Conducting your financial life
for you yeah OK and we're seeing

1012
00:50:27,920 --> 00:50:30,600
that happen and I heard someone
this morning talking about

1013
00:50:30,600 --> 00:50:34,920
different classifications of it.
Agent to merchant, right?

1014
00:50:34,920 --> 00:50:39,120
So instead of your Visa or
MasterCard being used at the

1015
00:50:39,120 --> 00:50:42,320
merchant, you have an agent who
is communicating with a merchant

1016
00:50:42,320 --> 00:50:45,200
for you to do just that based
upon the intents that you had

1017
00:50:45,200 --> 00:50:47,960
expressed to them.
Then you have merchant back to

1018
00:50:48,000 --> 00:50:49,840
agent.
There's all these different

1019
00:50:49,840 --> 00:50:52,000
classifications.
It's a bit inside baseball, but

1020
00:50:52,240 --> 00:50:54,880
it's, you know, it is moving so
fast.

1021
00:50:55,120 --> 00:50:59,480
OK, decentralized identity is
still early.

1022
00:50:59,960 --> 00:51:02,480
We thought that self sovereign
identity and verifiable

1023
00:51:02,480 --> 00:51:05,120
credentials would go mainstream.
We're not there yet.

1024
00:51:05,120 --> 00:51:06,960
No, the groundwork is being
laid.

1025
00:51:07,160 --> 00:51:08,920
Maya, I know you've looked at
this before.

1026
00:51:09,760 --> 00:51:11,920
Yeah, well, I, I.
Think it hasn't been laid

1027
00:51:11,920 --> 00:51:18,320
because we haven't, we haven't
set or decided the use case that

1028
00:51:18,320 --> 00:51:22,680
it needs to latch on to because
everything else is moving so

1029
00:51:22,680 --> 00:51:25,680
fast.
So when particularly even just

1030
00:51:25,680 --> 00:51:28,640
the payments fee starts moving
then I think might happen.

1031
00:51:29,400 --> 00:51:32,760
Otherwise, yeah, it's it would
be not usable.

1032
00:51:33,120 --> 00:51:35,840
Yeah, I I think we have.
A We have a ways to go.

1033
00:51:35,880 --> 00:51:38,120
There's a lot of frameworks out
there right now on what should

1034
00:51:38,120 --> 00:51:41,760
be the right way to do
decentralized ID where you don't

1035
00:51:41,760 --> 00:51:46,360
actually have to go in and show
an ID to prove that you're 21 in

1036
00:51:46,360 --> 00:51:48,920
the USA to buy a six pack of
beer.

1037
00:51:49,760 --> 00:51:54,480
All you need to do is tap your
phone and it knows that you are

1038
00:51:54,680 --> 00:51:56,960
of the right age to buy that
certain product.

1039
00:51:57,280 --> 00:51:59,040
OK.
And you don't have to expose

1040
00:51:59,040 --> 00:52:00,960
anything about your identity.
All right.

1041
00:52:01,000 --> 00:52:04,400
And there are, you know, had
enough conversations with people

1042
00:52:04,400 --> 00:52:08,320
that about this concept called 0
knowledge proofs and KYC

1043
00:52:08,320 --> 00:52:10,240
together to see that that is a
reality.

1044
00:52:10,240 --> 00:52:11,920
And we know a couple of startups
working on that.

1045
00:52:11,960 --> 00:52:14,880
So I think there's a there's a
ways to go to get there.

1046
00:52:15,240 --> 00:52:18,960
Blockchain and gaming was the
next one, slow but inevitable.

1047
00:52:19,600 --> 00:52:21,720
So we predicted that large
studios would integrate

1048
00:52:21,720 --> 00:52:25,480
blockchain into mainstream IP.
Progress has been slower but

1049
00:52:25,480 --> 00:52:27,880
steady.
Ubisoft, Square Enix, and

1050
00:52:27,880 --> 00:52:30,160
Crafton have launched asset
ownership pilots.

1051
00:52:30,480 --> 00:52:34,880
So this is where you go into a
game, a video game, and that

1052
00:52:34,880 --> 00:52:37,600
instead of getting points, you
still get points, but you can

1053
00:52:37,600 --> 00:52:40,560
take those points and you can
off board them into a crypto

1054
00:52:40,560 --> 00:52:43,600
wallet and then off board that
into actual real cash.

1055
00:52:43,880 --> 00:52:48,120
OK, so you're playing it, I mean
it the term is E sports.

1056
00:52:48,120 --> 00:52:50,080
So you know, shout out again to
Kirk Pittman for that.

1057
00:52:50,080 --> 00:52:53,920
But this is something that where
the major blockchain studios

1058
00:52:53,960 --> 00:52:55,200
need to integrate with
blockchain.

1059
00:52:55,400 --> 00:52:58,960
One of the companies we invested
in back in 2023, Nemus, I've

1060
00:52:58,960 --> 00:53:00,400
been working on this for a
while.

1061
00:53:00,560 --> 00:53:03,640
But what they found is that it's
more of the indie studios, the

1062
00:53:04,000 --> 00:53:07,720
kind of AA level or A level game
studios that are more working on

1063
00:53:07,720 --> 00:53:10,960
this integration.
So we still have a little bit of

1064
00:53:10,960 --> 00:53:12,960
a ways to go with that.
Now, we only made this

1065
00:53:12,960 --> 00:53:15,280
prediction in January of 2025,
right?

1066
00:53:15,280 --> 00:53:18,240
But I think it's a much longer
lifespan on this one.

1067
00:53:18,560 --> 00:53:20,000
Yeah, I don't think it's
happening.

1068
00:53:20,000 --> 00:53:22,000
Anytime soon?
Yeah.

1069
00:53:22,000 --> 00:53:24,920
Not this year.
AI meets blockchain was the next

1070
00:53:24,920 --> 00:53:26,640
one.
We said that AI agents would

1071
00:53:26,640 --> 00:53:29,520
become a core part of Web 3 and
blockchain and that's exactly

1072
00:53:29,520 --> 00:53:33,040
what's happening as we were
talking about you love it,

1073
00:53:33,040 --> 00:53:34,480
don't.
I love this one because.

1074
00:53:35,120 --> 00:53:38,240
A lot of people told me I was
crazy when I was saying this a

1075
00:53:38,280 --> 00:53:41,920
year ago, so it's great to see
it happening.

1076
00:53:42,840 --> 00:53:46,400
You know what, it was great when
when we had Vitaliki in Dublin

1077
00:53:46,640 --> 00:53:51,200
in May and he gave his his
speech as a closing in the

1078
00:53:51,200 --> 00:53:55,960
closing day and his topic was
just about how thou governance

1079
00:53:55,960 --> 00:53:59,400
is going to be impacted
dramatically by AIS and how all

1080
00:53:59,400 --> 00:54:03,840
that is going to be used managed
by agents is there is going to

1081
00:54:03,840 --> 00:54:07,880
happen fairly soon.
So yeah, now it is.

1082
00:54:07,960 --> 00:54:10,240
It is.
Moving very fast and one of the

1083
00:54:10,240 --> 00:54:12,720
best parts about this I've been
talking about this with folks

1084
00:54:12,720 --> 00:54:16,080
with Ian Ian Mitchell's here is
from from Belfast and we've

1085
00:54:16,080 --> 00:54:19,040
been, you know, partnering
crimes on the crypto Mondays

1086
00:54:19,160 --> 00:54:23,440
Ireland and you know that we
have an opportunity at the

1087
00:54:23,440 --> 00:54:25,400
university level and at the
grassroots level.

1088
00:54:25,400 --> 00:54:27,840
And Alejandro, you're working on
a lot of this with Solana super

1089
00:54:27,840 --> 00:54:31,120
team to get out there into the
universities and talk to them

1090
00:54:31,120 --> 00:54:34,400
about building on chain.
And people that are building in

1091
00:54:34,480 --> 00:54:38,800
other verticals of tech that may
not be aware that if they build

1092
00:54:38,840 --> 00:54:41,960
on chain that that will help
them to deliver their value

1093
00:54:41,960 --> 00:54:44,680
proposition in a different way
and make new things possible

1094
00:54:44,680 --> 00:54:48,120
that they can't yet do.
Building off chain means that

1095
00:54:48,120 --> 00:54:50,960
hey, look at integrating.
Look at integrating with a

1096
00:54:51,040 --> 00:54:54,160
specific blockchain protocol
that is the right fit for what

1097
00:54:54,160 --> 00:54:56,880
it is that you're building and
talking to university students

1098
00:54:56,880 --> 00:55:00,440
about this and creating that
groundswell of new projects here

1099
00:55:00,440 --> 00:55:02,720
on the ground in Ireland, which
is something that's super

1100
00:55:02,720 --> 00:55:04,800
interesting.
Well, we did it with Latinum.

1101
00:55:04,800 --> 00:55:08,120
Right, amazing.
That was one amazing story from

1102
00:55:08,120 --> 00:55:13,680
this year was they got some
Latin coming from NDRC full on

1103
00:55:13,680 --> 00:55:18,320
Web 2 AI company bringing them
to Web 3 and suddenly just

1104
00:55:18,320 --> 00:55:21,720
explosion they had after winning
Coliseum hackathons.

1105
00:55:22,200 --> 00:55:25,680
Just that's proving that point.
Yep, Yep, Yep, absolutely.

1106
00:55:25,880 --> 00:55:31,080
So that one, you know, it's a
big, big, it's development and

1107
00:55:31,080 --> 00:55:33,600
it's something that tons of
people are talking about because

1108
00:55:33,600 --> 00:55:35,360
it's just a really such an
interesting space.

1109
00:55:35,360 --> 00:55:36,960
We haven't even started touching
on data.

1110
00:55:36,960 --> 00:55:39,000
Provenance yet?
Yeah, so.

1111
00:55:39,680 --> 00:55:43,440
The concept is blockchain needs
AI and AI needs blockchain.

1112
00:55:43,760 --> 00:55:47,800
AI needs blockchain for
provenance to say who actually

1113
00:55:47,800 --> 00:55:50,320
created what was this human
created?

1114
00:55:50,320 --> 00:55:52,560
Was this AI created?
When it was AI created?

1115
00:55:52,560 --> 00:55:57,080
What model created it and having
this indelible trail of all of

1116
00:55:57,080 --> 00:56:00,840
this, OK, So that we have this
provenance back to the original

1117
00:56:00,840 --> 00:56:04,320
creation point.
OK, Next one up, regulatory

1118
00:56:04,320 --> 00:56:06,960
milestones.
We said that the FIT 21 Act,

1119
00:56:07,080 --> 00:56:10,440
which is now had its name change
in the US would create clarity.

1120
00:56:11,000 --> 00:56:13,160
While the name change, the
outcome has been even more

1121
00:56:13,160 --> 00:56:16,360
significant.
So the Fit 21 Act was the market

1122
00:56:16,680 --> 00:56:20,560
infrastructure bill that was
going through the US legislative

1123
00:56:20,560 --> 00:56:23,320
process.
It's now become the Clarity Act,

1124
00:56:23,720 --> 00:56:27,520
and that is going right down
into the very bowels of

1125
00:56:28,160 --> 00:56:33,960
regulation that was built in the
1930s in the USA to define what

1126
00:56:34,080 --> 00:56:36,600
finance was all about.
And it's changing those

1127
00:56:36,600 --> 00:56:39,560
definitions and saying these
things are securities.

1128
00:56:39,560 --> 00:56:42,160
These things are not securities,
which has always been the

1129
00:56:42,160 --> 00:56:45,280
biggest question mark in crypto,
where Gary Gensler will sit up

1130
00:56:45,280 --> 00:56:48,920
there in front of the Senate and
say, well, I'm not sure.

1131
00:56:48,920 --> 00:56:53,200
We haven't looked at it enough.
It's Ethereum, a commodity.

1132
00:56:53,200 --> 00:56:55,640
Is it a security all?
Well, we've got the rules now

1133
00:56:55,920 --> 00:56:59,360
that's making its way through
and then the Genius Act, the

1134
00:56:59,400 --> 00:57:02,360
stable coin legislation that's
already gone through and you see

1135
00:57:02,360 --> 00:57:04,120
tons of activity stemming from
that.

1136
00:57:04,120 --> 00:57:05,560
What do you think about that,
Mike?

1137
00:57:06,200 --> 00:57:09,720
I think it's been great.
Because it's been fast, it's

1138
00:57:09,720 --> 00:57:13,120
been clearer, it's workable.
It's yeah.

1139
00:57:13,240 --> 00:57:15,400
It's just literally does
everything that says on the

1140
00:57:15,400 --> 00:57:18,840
team, which is what the market
was demanding for so long.

1141
00:57:19,240 --> 00:57:22,040
And it's like literally it's hit
the, the, the ground running,

1142
00:57:22,040 --> 00:57:25,680
you know, it's just, there
hasn't been any wait time

1143
00:57:25,680 --> 00:57:29,080
period, the transition period.
So we're waiting for guidelines

1144
00:57:29,080 --> 00:57:31,960
and trans and, and explanations.
It's been clear.

1145
00:57:31,960 --> 00:57:34,560
It's perfectly English.
It's workable.

1146
00:57:34,560 --> 00:57:38,200
It fits with the, the current
framework and the banking

1147
00:57:38,200 --> 00:57:40,360
framework they have over there
and the regulations.

1148
00:57:40,720 --> 00:57:44,360
Yeah, they waited long enough
and they had us all in years

1149
00:57:44,680 --> 00:57:47,000
waiting for it.
But when they finally put that

1150
00:57:47,000 --> 00:57:49,880
through, it's just been amazing
to watch actually.

1151
00:57:50,480 --> 00:57:51,760
And the you know the other
comment.

1152
00:57:51,760 --> 00:57:53,520
We had on.
This is that Mika is fully

1153
00:57:53,520 --> 00:57:57,520
implemented, yeah.
It is, yes.

1154
00:57:57,520 --> 00:58:00,200
Well, in terms of, yeah, in
terms of we're in the middle of

1155
00:58:00,200 --> 00:58:03,000
the of the about to finish
hopefully the transition period

1156
00:58:03,000 --> 00:58:05,280
to the end of December 20.
Yeah, you have to get through

1157
00:58:05,280 --> 00:58:06,080
December.
That's right.

1158
00:58:06,520 --> 00:58:10,160
And we have.
I mean, from the original 166

1159
00:58:10,160 --> 00:58:13,320
pages of regulation, I think
when you Add all the guidance

1160
00:58:13,320 --> 00:58:16,680
and the RTSS where like 1200
pages now is something of

1161
00:58:16,680 --> 00:58:20,000
regulation.
So something that maybe chat

1162
00:58:20,000 --> 00:58:22,480
should be too good to summarize.
Yeah, yeah.

1163
00:58:22,720 --> 00:58:26,320
No, it's it's it's the.
You know, like it's wow.

1164
00:58:26,680 --> 00:58:28,040
Back, back last year, I was
saying.

1165
00:58:28,040 --> 00:58:32,520
That, you know, stable coins
were a $230 billion asset class

1166
00:58:32,520 --> 00:58:35,880
back then and it grew to that
point without any regulatory

1167
00:58:35,880 --> 00:58:39,200
frameworks around it.
And now it's at 290, now

1168
00:58:39,200 --> 00:58:41,680
approaching 300 billion.
And now that we have the

1169
00:58:41,680 --> 00:58:44,880
regulatory framework around it,
it just seeing what's happening

1170
00:58:45,040 --> 00:58:48,440
in the US and that all these
different types of entities

1171
00:58:48,480 --> 00:58:51,520
launching stable coins or stable
coin frameworks, it's

1172
00:58:51,720 --> 00:58:55,920
fascinating and it needs.
Mika needs to find its global

1173
00:58:55,920 --> 00:58:59,800
place alongside Genius Acts.
You've got Hong Kong as well

1174
00:58:59,800 --> 00:59:01,920
with their own stable go in
Japan, where one of the first

1175
00:59:01,960 --> 00:59:04,640
ones also was actually inspired
by Mika.

1176
00:59:04,640 --> 00:59:08,400
So I mean, there's no point in
stable because really unless

1177
00:59:08,400 --> 00:59:11,240
they have a global reach.
So it would make no sense to

1178
00:59:11,240 --> 00:59:14,200
actually have a fragmented
regulatory regime.

1179
00:59:14,240 --> 00:59:18,440
It needs to be complementary.
So I think I would, if I had to

1180
00:59:18,440 --> 00:59:23,840
make a prediction now about this
prediction in 2025 into 2026, it

1181
00:59:23,840 --> 00:59:26,480
would be, I would hope that Mika
actually finds and the others,

1182
00:59:26,520 --> 00:59:30,560
they all find these hard puzzle
slots together globally.

1183
00:59:30,560 --> 00:59:32,640
Yep, Yep.
Sorry.

1184
00:59:32,640 --> 00:59:35,040
And that's before I.
Come to Latin America, by the

1185
00:59:35,040 --> 00:59:40,120
way, because yeah, that's.
The different base like El.

1186
00:59:40,120 --> 00:59:42,200
Salvador, now we'll leave you as
well.

1187
00:59:42,200 --> 00:59:45,400
Literally writing everything
from from square to Argentina.

1188
00:59:45,720 --> 00:59:47,080
Colombia was starting pretty
soon.

1189
00:59:47,080 --> 00:59:50,520
As well just and it's a big
opportunity.

1190
00:59:50,520 --> 00:59:55,000
With a dollarization of the
world that that's happening, I

1191
00:59:55,040 --> 01:00:01,000
think that if stable coins it
were a country because what's

1192
01:00:01,000 --> 01:00:03,080
backing stable coins are U.S.
Treasuries.

1193
01:00:03,840 --> 01:00:07,440
You meant stable coin.
Behind that, a tiny sliver of

1194
01:00:07,440 --> 01:00:11,680
AUS treasury gets bought that
that's the 10th largest issuer.

1195
01:00:12,120 --> 01:00:15,680
Of treasuries of sovereign debt
in the world it's now grown to

1196
01:00:15,680 --> 01:00:17,840
that point.
So the 300 billion puts it up

1197
01:00:17,840 --> 01:00:20,960
there with, you know ahead of
the Netherlands in terms of

1198
01:00:20,960 --> 01:00:23,320
issuance of treasury type
securities.

1199
01:00:23,720 --> 01:00:26,480
So it's, it's gone big.
It's gone very.

1200
01:00:26,480 --> 01:00:28,200
Big I was.
I was trying to explain to my.

1201
01:00:28,200 --> 01:00:32,480
Kids stable coin or dollar
stable coins of why important

1202
01:00:33,200 --> 01:00:35,320
and I didn't know how to.
And that was over at Christmas

1203
01:00:35,320 --> 01:00:36,880
last year.
And we've been watching some

1204
01:00:36,880 --> 01:00:39,680
James Bond movies.
And if you remember the original

1205
01:00:39,680 --> 01:00:43,840
James Bond movies, the bad guys
always out for gold because I

1206
01:00:43,840 --> 01:00:45,520
was that was during the gold
standard.

1207
01:00:45,520 --> 01:00:49,160
And then when the gold standard
gold standard was dropped, then

1208
01:00:49,440 --> 01:00:51,920
the James Bond stories kind of
lose a little bit.

1209
01:00:51,920 --> 01:00:55,800
Yeah, there's all these crazy
ones about satellites and

1210
01:00:55,800 --> 01:00:59,640
technology and other stuff.
So I was trying to explain to

1211
01:00:59,640 --> 01:01:02,960
them, imagine it was James Bond
and the bad guy comes in and

1212
01:01:02,960 --> 01:01:07,240
says if you don't pay me that I
need 2 billion.

1213
01:01:07,240 --> 01:01:08,160
Tether and.
They.

1214
01:01:08,640 --> 01:01:11,880
Go Oh, OK, so they got it.
They totally got it.

1215
01:01:12,240 --> 01:01:17,280
So, yeah, it just, to me, it was
just like in their minds, they

1216
01:01:17,280 --> 01:01:21,160
understood the importance of
gold globally, that a bad guy in

1217
01:01:21,160 --> 01:01:23,200
that James Bond movie could
could get it.

1218
01:01:24,320 --> 01:01:27,400
And it would make sense for him
to ask for tether, not Euro,

1219
01:01:27,400 --> 01:01:28,960
which I thought it was quite
interesting as well.

1220
01:01:28,960 --> 01:01:30,800
Yeah, they got it.
You know, I was having this.

1221
01:01:30,800 --> 01:01:33,520
Chat not long ago with someone
that was 20 something years old

1222
01:01:33,520 --> 01:01:37,560
right and they couldn't remember
the time of course because the

1223
01:01:37,560 --> 01:01:40,880
time went pounds actually was
the stable currency remember

1224
01:01:40,880 --> 01:01:44,080
that yeah, yeah, everything was
betting in pounds brick coin and

1225
01:01:44,680 --> 01:01:45,600
then.
Disappear.

1226
01:01:46,000 --> 01:01:48,800
I know it's.
Things are moving so fast in

1227
01:01:48,800 --> 01:01:51,840
this space.
So fast some of the other things

1228
01:01:51,920 --> 01:01:54,920
by the way, that one for.
Me regulatory milestones that's

1229
01:01:54,920 --> 01:01:59,160
the one that over exceeded by
far yeah any prediction we never

1230
01:01:59,160 --> 01:02:02,480
thought that America in four
months after coming from Gary

1231
01:02:02,480 --> 01:02:07,560
Gensler was going to be doing
this change implemented and just

1232
01:02:08,320 --> 01:02:11,760
pushing forward with it like I I
asked ChatGPT.

1233
01:02:11,760 --> 01:02:15,160
About this yesterday and trying
to say that because the UK are

1234
01:02:15,160 --> 01:02:18,720
trying to do a few things now
and but it's moving very slowly,

1235
01:02:19,000 --> 01:02:21,480
the US is doing things.
I'm like, does that have

1236
01:02:21,480 --> 01:02:24,200
anything to do with the amount
of political constituents and

1237
01:02:24,200 --> 01:02:27,480
the size of the population?
It's like, no, what we have in

1238
01:02:27,480 --> 01:02:29,560
the US, there's a lot more money
in lobbying.

1239
01:02:29,760 --> 01:02:33,160
There's a lot more money in
things like we are raising money

1240
01:02:33,480 --> 01:02:35,720
to, you know, make some
contributions to political

1241
01:02:35,720 --> 01:02:39,920
campaigns and that that is
leading to the push and push and

1242
01:02:39,920 --> 01:02:42,520
push of the legislative process,
which is actually a big.

1243
01:02:42,520 --> 01:02:44,600
Large donation political
willingness as well.

1244
01:02:44,600 --> 01:02:48,160
Right, like they understood like
this could be really important

1245
01:02:48,160 --> 01:02:51,640
for for maintaining dollar
leadership or Yep.

1246
01:02:52,000 --> 01:02:53,480
And and they they took.
It see.

1247
01:02:54,680 --> 01:02:57,480
You we forget.
Sometimes that in the US there

1248
01:02:57,480 --> 01:03:01,360
was one person making decisions
and for example, in Europe we

1249
01:03:01,360 --> 01:03:05,640
need to have 27 people to agree.
So I mean like that's what I

1250
01:03:05,640 --> 01:03:07,640
completely agree.
It took me by surprise how

1251
01:03:07,640 --> 01:03:13,160
quickly things moved to the US
and the first batch of E OS of

1252
01:03:13,160 --> 01:03:15,080
executive orders.
I don't know if you guys read

1253
01:03:15,080 --> 01:03:16,880
any of them.
I read some of them.

1254
01:03:16,880 --> 01:03:20,480
A fascinating read.
They are written exactly like

1255
01:03:20,480 --> 01:03:23,080
Trump speaks.
I am not.

1256
01:03:23,280 --> 01:03:27,440
I am not joking.
I mean, I was reading one.

1257
01:03:27,440 --> 01:03:29,800
The title was People Before
Fish.

1258
01:03:30,560 --> 01:03:32,400
Just like it is.
Yeah.

1259
01:03:32,400 --> 01:03:35,120
It's like, you know, about
making sure that people in

1260
01:03:35,120 --> 01:03:37,480
California have water.
But like, just like that, like

1261
01:03:37,800 --> 01:03:42,240
when you read like it felt first
of all, someone had drafted that

1262
01:03:42,240 --> 01:03:44,520
and had in a draw for a long
time and they were so eager to

1263
01:03:44,520 --> 01:03:48,080
get it out and get it signed
because, you know, it was it was

1264
01:03:48,160 --> 01:03:50,800
there was nothing wrong with it.
Like someone had been looking at

1265
01:03:50,800 --> 01:03:54,600
this draft for years, you know,
and that's why.

1266
01:03:54,600 --> 01:03:58,160
But it's somehow the reality is
there's one person making a

1267
01:03:58,160 --> 01:04:01,640
decision and yes, it has a
political will gone boom, done.

1268
01:04:02,320 --> 01:04:03,760
But we've never had that
benefit.

1269
01:04:03,760 --> 01:04:07,200
I think in Europe there's a lot
more people to to convince and

1270
01:04:07,200 --> 01:04:08,560
lot of different cultures.
A.

1271
01:04:08,640 --> 01:04:12,400
Lot of different traits, trend
lines, everything that are hard

1272
01:04:12,400 --> 01:04:16,320
to bring together.
Moving through some of the rest

1273
01:04:16,320 --> 01:04:18,520
of these, it pays the US Bitcoin
reserve.

1274
01:04:18,520 --> 01:04:21,200
We said that would become a
thing as a strategic reserve of

1275
01:04:21,200 --> 01:04:23,240
Bitcoin.
Hasn't happened yet, but the

1276
01:04:23,240 --> 01:04:26,800
conversation is moving fast.
Still a stretch we just had,

1277
01:04:26,800 --> 01:04:30,040
Senator Loomis said today the
acquisition of funds for a

1278
01:04:30,040 --> 01:04:32,480
strategic Bitcoin reserve can
start anytime time.

1279
01:04:32,960 --> 01:04:37,600
Deutsche Bank also said today
that by 2030, central bank

1280
01:04:37,600 --> 01:04:41,960
balance sheets expect to see on
them both Bitcoin and gold.

1281
01:04:42,520 --> 01:04:46,760
OK, citing fading skepticism,
declining volatility, and US-led

1282
01:04:46,760 --> 01:04:50,080
adoption.
The last one, meme coins and AI

1283
01:04:50,080 --> 01:04:52,120
agents.
Weirdly true.

1284
01:04:52,640 --> 01:04:55,600
We speculated that AI agents
could fuel a new meme coin

1285
01:04:55,600 --> 01:04:59,120
cycle, and it's happening.
So AI is now speculating on our

1286
01:04:59,120 --> 01:05:01,240
behalf.
We don't have to speculate

1287
01:05:01,240 --> 01:05:04,800
ourselves anymore.
And so this will always be part

1288
01:05:04,840 --> 01:05:07,960
of this whole ecosystem.
It's that with every single

1289
01:05:07,960 --> 01:05:10,880
innovation in new technology, we
see speculation.

1290
01:05:11,080 --> 01:05:15,120
Last little segment here before
we move to close, just some

1291
01:05:15,120 --> 01:05:17,200
quick thoughts on Ireland,
Alejandro.

1292
01:05:17,200 --> 01:05:20,280
My, you and I were meeting in
coffee and BlackRock to talk

1293
01:05:20,280 --> 01:05:22,960
about these types of things.
You know, what can we do more of

1294
01:05:22,960 --> 01:05:25,520
here in Ireland to help move
Ireland on chain?

1295
01:05:25,800 --> 01:05:28,400
We did a payments innovation
roundtable on stablecoins a

1296
01:05:28,400 --> 01:05:31,400
couple of weeks ago where we had
a few folks there to talk about

1297
01:05:31,400 --> 01:05:34,480
the opportunity in Ireland to
bring payment firms, electronic

1298
01:05:34,480 --> 01:05:38,040
money institutions, domestic
banks into the circle of

1299
01:05:38,040 --> 01:05:40,600
stablecoins and we had some
really good outcomes there.

1300
01:05:40,960 --> 01:05:42,680
Alejandro.
There was big news coming out of

1301
01:05:42,680 --> 01:05:45,880
the Solana ecosystem with, you
know, Irish founder Keene

1302
01:05:45,880 --> 01:05:47,840
Brannock, who is debuting with
Keel.

1303
01:05:48,240 --> 01:05:50,480
And you wanted me to give the
give the story on that.

1304
01:05:50,480 --> 01:05:52,400
Yeah, yeah.
It was fantastic actually.

1305
01:05:52,400 --> 01:05:57,320
I was in in Singapore to to see
the launch of Keel and went

1306
01:05:57,320 --> 01:05:58,720
extremely well.
It was pretty well received.

1307
01:05:58,720 --> 01:06:01,800
Just to give you some context of
what they're doing, they are the

1308
01:06:01,800 --> 01:06:05,800
third start of Sky, the sky
ecosystem, what it used to be

1309
01:06:05,800 --> 01:06:10,200
maker doll before.
So this star is focusing just on

1310
01:06:10,200 --> 01:06:15,240
Solana and it's going to be
doing mainly capital allocation,

1311
01:06:15,240 --> 01:06:22,400
liquidity for lending Rwas,
defy, ETC, stablecoins, so on.

1312
01:06:22,960 --> 01:06:27,520
So the road map is for them to
use allocate $2.5 billion in

1313
01:06:27,520 --> 01:06:29,120
liquidity in the solar
ecosystem.

1314
01:06:29,280 --> 01:06:31,560
Yeah, which is amazing.
That's because I think.

1315
01:06:31,560 --> 01:06:33,720
That's big.
I think from the Iris

1316
01:06:33,760 --> 01:06:38,040
perspective, having someone
leading a project like this, it

1317
01:06:38,040 --> 01:06:42,240
never happened like from like,
well, we cannot call that a

1318
01:06:42,240 --> 01:06:44,000
start up anymore, right?
Of course, yeah.

1319
01:06:44,960 --> 01:06:48,200
But it's great like because.
Having a founder like that that

1320
01:06:48,200 --> 01:06:52,400
is so well tagged connected now
into a default space into solar

1321
01:06:52,400 --> 01:06:56,000
ecosystem, but it's so tight as
well into what is happening at

1322
01:06:56,000 --> 01:06:58,880
the grassroots level here with
Solana specifically has been one

1323
01:06:58,880 --> 01:07:01,360
of the OG's in the Super Team
Island.

1324
01:07:01,800 --> 01:07:04,440
I think we're going to see a lot
of benefit for the for the Irish

1325
01:07:04,440 --> 01:07:06,880
ecosystem with it, absolutely
any green.

1326
01:07:06,880 --> 01:07:09,520
Shoots that you're seeing my for
the growth of Ireland on chain

1327
01:07:09,680 --> 01:07:11,160
Always have green shoots in
Ireland.

1328
01:07:11,280 --> 01:07:14,120
Yes, Green's always.
Green's are colour.

1329
01:07:14,120 --> 01:07:16,480
Green's are colour.
I think the the important thing

1330
01:07:16,480 --> 01:07:21,520
is I I see change in terms of
it's not a side crazy different

1331
01:07:21,840 --> 01:07:24,920
thing anymore to talk about.
Like it's cannot be ignored

1332
01:07:24,920 --> 01:07:27,080
anymore Thing I was mentioning
to you.

1333
01:07:27,080 --> 01:07:30,040
It's like the amount of times
the topic comes up from

1334
01:07:30,040 --> 01:07:32,960
different angles.
It's not just a niche discussion

1335
01:07:32,960 --> 01:07:36,200
for a particular team and either
be in government or or in

1336
01:07:36,200 --> 01:07:38,480
business business.
So I think the fact that it kind

1337
01:07:38,480 --> 01:07:42,160
of be ignored anymore, it's a
green shoe because you just

1338
01:07:42,160 --> 01:07:44,360
can't afford to ignore it
anymore.

1339
01:07:44,520 --> 01:07:47,880
It's just like, and it starts
with AC suite and all the way

1340
01:07:47,880 --> 01:07:52,800
down how different companies are
gonna deal with it, say very

1341
01:07:52,800 --> 01:07:57,000
similar, I suppose with AI,
particularly on the financial

1342
01:07:57,000 --> 01:08:00,160
institution side.
I don't think you can continue

1343
01:08:00,160 --> 01:08:02,840
to fake it until everyone's make
it and then you just join in.

1344
01:08:03,240 --> 01:08:05,800
I think you, you know, if you
want to continue in business,

1345
01:08:05,800 --> 01:08:07,440
you really have to mean
something.

1346
01:08:08,360 --> 01:08:12,200
So like, I see a lot more, I see
a lot more discussions, I see a

1347
01:08:12,200 --> 01:08:14,280
lot more engagement.
Yeah, the green shoots are

1348
01:08:14,280 --> 01:08:15,160
there.
Good.

1349
01:08:15,160 --> 01:08:20,040
Absolutely good.
Well, I think our crystal ball

1350
01:08:20,200 --> 01:08:23,040
has been pretty good in terms of
what we saw happening.

1351
01:08:23,200 --> 01:08:24,600
Pretty scary, I can tell you
about that.

1352
01:08:24,600 --> 01:08:26,600
Episode because there's other
things that can come back and

1353
01:08:26,600 --> 01:08:27,479
buy you.
You know where?

1354
01:08:27,640 --> 01:08:32,160
Yeah.
Well, I, I, I think, I think it

1355
01:08:32,160 --> 01:08:34,880
was probably about six weeks
after we, that came out, Brian

1356
01:08:34,880 --> 01:08:38,040
Armstrong was making a similar
prediction to one of the things

1357
01:08:38,040 --> 01:08:41,840
that we said is and you're like,
look, we, you know, he's saying

1358
01:08:41,840 --> 01:08:43,240
it too.
We must be on.

1359
01:08:43,240 --> 01:08:45,560
We're covered now.
We're listening to us.

1360
01:08:45,560 --> 01:08:47,680
We're covered.
But you know, I thought it was

1361
01:08:47,680 --> 01:08:50,200
important to touch on those
things just to kind of, you

1362
01:08:50,200 --> 01:08:52,640
know, say, all right, listen,
give us some context about where

1363
01:08:52,640 --> 01:08:54,439
we think things are headed now
as well.

1364
01:08:54,439 --> 01:08:57,000
Looking into the future, looking
into the future as well.

1365
01:08:57,000 --> 01:08:58,720
The next era of money never
sleeps.

1366
01:08:58,720 --> 01:09:00,720
As I said, this was going to be
all over.

1367
01:09:00,960 --> 01:09:03,880
Conan saved it.
And then also, in fairness, a

1368
01:09:03,880 --> 01:09:06,040
couple of chats I had in New
York, like I said, where people

1369
01:09:06,040 --> 01:09:07,880
are like you need to keep this
going.

1370
01:09:08,279 --> 01:09:11,040
The content is something that
that can be so important.

1371
01:09:11,040 --> 01:09:13,439
Content can be king here in
creating.

1372
01:09:13,439 --> 01:09:16,319
Like I said, this content
flywheel of keeping people

1373
01:09:16,319 --> 01:09:18,920
coming back to you.
And whether that be startup

1374
01:09:18,920 --> 01:09:22,760
founders, investors, mentors,
operators, builders, developers,

1375
01:09:22,760 --> 01:09:25,040
whoever, it's important.
So keep it going.

1376
01:09:25,040 --> 01:09:28,800
So what we're doing, we're going
to be doing weekly 10 to 15

1377
01:09:28,800 --> 01:09:31,680
minute riffs.
OK, So take that money talk

1378
01:09:31,680 --> 01:09:36,240
segment that we do where I have
my or Alejandro or Paul or Laura

1379
01:09:36,240 --> 01:09:38,800
Walsh on.
It was Owen in the past where we

1380
01:09:38,800 --> 01:09:41,399
said here's four or five news
stories that happened in the

1381
01:09:41,399 --> 01:09:43,720
last week or two.
Let's pick them apart.

1382
01:09:44,040 --> 01:09:46,120
We're going to do that with just
one now.

1383
01:09:46,120 --> 01:09:48,640
We're going to do it on YouTube
on video, OK?

1384
01:09:48,920 --> 01:09:52,520
YouTube will be the main channel
for this because YouTube drives

1385
01:09:52,520 --> 01:09:55,400
algorithms.
You YouTube can drive the

1386
01:09:55,400 --> 01:09:59,760
flywheel, OK, And we also get to
then push it out to Spotify

1387
01:09:59,760 --> 01:10:03,320
because Spotify has a new
feature which is they take video

1388
01:10:03,840 --> 01:10:08,720
that are original video and they
say you can turn off the video

1389
01:10:08,720 --> 01:10:11,200
and just listen to audio.
So people can still, when

1390
01:10:11,200 --> 01:10:14,080
they're out walking the dog can
have a listen to this 10 or 15

1391
01:10:14,080 --> 01:10:15,600
minutes.
I've been doing that, yes.

1392
01:10:16,040 --> 01:10:18,680
And it's going to be.
Sharp, it's going to be fast,

1393
01:10:18,720 --> 01:10:20,560
it's going to be Bing, Bing,
Bing.

1394
01:10:21,200 --> 01:10:25,120
And just to keep this going and
it what it will mean is because

1395
01:10:25,640 --> 01:10:28,840
we're going to be doing this on
Zoom, it's very simple to take

1396
01:10:28,840 --> 01:10:32,400
those videos, post it right up
to YouTube, no editing, Conan

1397
01:10:32,400 --> 01:10:35,640
said to me, if you do it that
way, you will get better and you

1398
01:10:35,640 --> 01:10:37,560
won't need that editor's pen
anymore.

1399
01:10:37,880 --> 01:10:42,160
I would spend every Friday
morning I would.

1400
01:10:42,160 --> 01:10:46,440
Spend every Friday morning.
With this podcast, from 8:00 to

1401
01:10:46,440 --> 01:10:51,480
2:00, OK, to get this out, and
it would usually take for a 45

1402
01:10:51,480 --> 01:10:54,360
minute recorded content, it
would take 4 hours to do the

1403
01:10:54,400 --> 01:10:57,200
editing just right.
Even with the tools that go

1404
01:10:57,200 --> 01:11:00,680
through upfront and take out all
the UMS and ahs and to take out

1405
01:11:00,680 --> 01:11:03,320
some of the repetitive words,
you still have to go back and

1406
01:11:03,320 --> 01:11:07,560
listen to it and craft it.
Because I want Alejandro and my

1407
01:11:07,560 --> 01:11:10,080
and Paul and Laura and whatever
guests that I have on.

1408
01:11:10,360 --> 01:11:13,880
I want them to sound so good for
everything to come out just

1409
01:11:13,880 --> 01:11:15,400
right.
Because I want them to share

1410
01:11:15,400 --> 01:11:17,600
that and I want them to be proud
of it, right?

1411
01:11:17,600 --> 01:11:20,440
Because that helps.
So we're not going to be, we're

1412
01:11:20,480 --> 01:11:23,040
going to be doing these 10 to 15
minute riffs because there's

1413
01:11:23,040 --> 01:11:25,280
going to be less blips and bumps
in the road.

1414
01:11:25,280 --> 01:11:26,560
So we're going to be saying that
we're not.

1415
01:11:26,560 --> 01:11:29,840
For real is.
That right, so you know.

1416
01:11:30,360 --> 01:11:32,560
All the stuff and you are
disclosing that.

1417
01:11:32,560 --> 01:11:33,360
Oh yeah.
Yeah.

1418
01:11:33,840 --> 01:11:36,560
Well, well, well.
I I, you know, it was always the

1419
01:11:36,560 --> 01:11:38,000
good stuff.
It was always a good sign

1420
01:11:38,600 --> 01:11:42,200
because there were some things
like that we cut out that were

1421
01:11:42,200 --> 01:11:47,480
like, you know, I'm on the board
of specific companies and I

1422
01:11:47,480 --> 01:11:49,680
can't talk about things
publicly.

1423
01:11:49,680 --> 01:11:51,360
So I had to be super careful
about what I said.

1424
01:11:51,360 --> 01:11:53,320
All right?
So that's where a lot of the

1425
01:11:53,320 --> 01:11:56,280
editing came from.
OK, so looking forward to

1426
01:11:56,280 --> 01:11:58,560
getting this started.
I've got the first one lined up

1427
01:11:58,560 --> 01:12:03,240
already, OK, But you know what I
wanted to do now was just give

1428
01:12:03,240 --> 01:12:05,480
folks the opportunity if there's
any questions.

1429
01:12:05,520 --> 01:12:08,360
We have an open mic if anybody
wanted to come up and ask any

1430
01:12:08,360 --> 01:12:09,600
questions before we move to
close.

1431
01:12:09,600 --> 01:12:13,880
What's your favorite of?
All time my favorite.

1432
01:12:13,880 --> 01:12:17,480
Of all time.
So that's Igor Marchetti.

1433
01:12:17,800 --> 01:12:21,880
So thank you, Igor.
I do have a Top 14 my favorite

1434
01:12:22,480 --> 01:12:26,200
will be and it's because of how
this all came together was the

1435
01:12:26,200 --> 01:12:29,400
episode that I did with Arabian
Prince from N.W.A.

1436
01:12:30,200 --> 01:12:34,840
OK he is one of the Co founders
of the rap legends N.W.A.

1437
01:12:35,280 --> 01:12:38,400
And where this came from was
that I was at a conference in

1438
01:12:38,400 --> 01:12:43,840
London last year and I saw
someone, Kenny, who I, Hugh and

1439
01:12:43,840 --> 01:12:45,360
I invested in through tech
stars.

1440
01:12:45,680 --> 01:12:47,840
Kenny was the founder of a
business called Millicent at the

1441
01:12:47,840 --> 01:12:51,480
time, and he came up to me and
he's wearing this cap that

1442
01:12:51,480 --> 01:12:57,960
looked like it was the script,
the font for the N.W.A logo that

1443
01:12:58,000 --> 01:13:01,280
I've had burned into my head
since the 80s as a rap child of

1444
01:13:01,280 --> 01:13:04,480
the 80s.
And it wasn't N.W.A.

1445
01:13:04,480 --> 01:13:08,600
It's an RWA, which is the
blockchain crypto moniker for

1446
01:13:08,600 --> 01:13:11,960
real world Assets are moving
equities and bonds on chain,

1447
01:13:11,960 --> 01:13:15,000
right?
So he's wearing this crypto old

1448
01:13:15,000 --> 01:13:18,240
school cap that says RWA on it.
I'm like, dude, where'd you get

1449
01:13:18,240 --> 01:13:21,360
that?
So he pointed to the woman who

1450
01:13:21,360 --> 01:13:24,760
was giving them away, but you
had to, you know, do a quick

1451
01:13:24,760 --> 01:13:27,120
video with her to answer a
couple of questions.

1452
01:13:27,360 --> 01:13:29,680
So she gave me that cap and she
was with a business called

1453
01:13:29,680 --> 01:13:33,360
Swarm.
Swarm are putting real world

1454
01:13:33,360 --> 01:13:34,800
assets on chain.
OK.

1455
01:13:34,800 --> 01:13:37,000
And that's their business.
So they thought, let's create

1456
01:13:37,000 --> 01:13:40,440
these hats as a bit of merch to
keep the story going on the

1457
01:13:40,440 --> 01:13:42,400
other side.
I had the two Co founders of

1458
01:13:42,400 --> 01:13:46,320
Swarm on the podcast, Philip
Piper and Timoleas and then I

1459
01:13:46,320 --> 01:13:50,480
showed the cap or I told the
story of the cap to Amor Sexton

1460
01:13:50,760 --> 01:13:54,040
from Block team and who's one of
our tech stars mentors and also

1461
01:13:54,040 --> 01:13:56,640
lives here in Dublin.
She's like wait a second, is

1462
01:13:56,640 --> 01:13:59,520
that NWAI said Yep.
She's like I know one of the

1463
01:13:59,520 --> 01:14:05,680
original members like what?
Her cousin is close with Arabian

1464
01:14:05,680 --> 01:14:11,040
Prince, so she connected me with
him and we told the story of

1465
01:14:11,040 --> 01:14:14,400
Arabian Prince and him leaving
N.W.A and everything that went

1466
01:14:14,400 --> 01:14:17,400
into that, but also all the work
that he's been doing since.

1467
01:14:17,400 --> 01:14:21,720
He started being kind of a
technical animator 25 years ago

1468
01:14:21,720 --> 01:14:25,920
and then started doing well in
music as a music producer.

1469
01:14:26,280 --> 01:14:29,600
Always bringing technology to
the forefront of all that and

1470
01:14:29,600 --> 01:14:31,840
then starting to teach kids how
to use all this stuff.

1471
01:14:31,840 --> 01:14:33,560
Much like what you guys were
doing.

1472
01:14:33,560 --> 01:14:38,600
Kona We create sound and Gav and
then from that he started doing

1473
01:14:38,600 --> 01:14:41,920
more and more and more investing
and just has a fascinating story

1474
01:14:42,080 --> 01:14:43,960
and to me that was like worlds
colliding.

1475
01:14:44,240 --> 01:14:48,760
That was OK, my tech stars years
and getting to know more as well

1476
01:14:48,760 --> 01:14:53,200
as I did and that she's inviting
me to gatherings that is being

1477
01:14:53,200 --> 01:14:55,920
out there on the front foot on
conferences, investing in

1478
01:14:55,920 --> 01:14:57,480
businesses like Kenny from
Millicent.

1479
01:14:57,480 --> 01:15:00,000
If it wasn't for that and him
wearing that cap, none of this

1480
01:15:00,000 --> 01:15:02,480
would have happened.
And then the story that we had

1481
01:15:02,480 --> 01:15:06,600
about Philip Piper from Swarm,
one of the Co CEO's, he went to

1482
01:15:06,600 --> 01:15:10,600
school 1/2 hour from where I
grew up when he was there at the

1483
01:15:10,600 --> 01:15:13,840
same time I was in high school
and he said it was like Dead

1484
01:15:13,840 --> 01:15:15,640
Poets Society is where he went
to school.

1485
01:15:15,680 --> 01:15:18,040
And I'm like I that was the, you
know, big movie in high school.

1486
01:15:18,280 --> 01:15:21,440
So all these things coming
together, I get a real buzz over

1487
01:15:21,440 --> 01:15:23,080
that.
I get chills down my spine just

1488
01:15:23,080 --> 01:15:25,120
telling the story.
So synchronicity.

1489
01:15:25,200 --> 01:15:26,360
I've got a ton.
Of favorite.

1490
01:15:26,360 --> 01:15:29,040
Episodes, There's 14 that I put
together and I'll publish that

1491
01:15:29,040 --> 01:15:31,120
in a newsletter, but that's one
of them.

1492
01:15:31,120 --> 01:15:31,480
Igor.
OK.

1493
01:15:32,480 --> 01:15:37,240
Thank you very much.
Other questions, I have a

1494
01:15:37,240 --> 01:15:43,680
question based on all the
experiences and as you confirm

1495
01:15:43,720 --> 01:15:46,080
already, the money talks will
continue.

1496
01:15:46,760 --> 01:15:51,520
How to bring the average person
who doesn't know anything about

1497
01:15:51,520 --> 01:15:56,920
it, how to embrace all those
day-to-day folks who maybe not

1498
01:15:56,920 --> 01:16:01,320
even interested in the news of
their sceptical who are not in

1499
01:16:01,320 --> 01:16:03,960
the space, they are nowhere
close.

1500
01:16:04,680 --> 01:16:06,000
Yeah.
So just in case the.

1501
01:16:06,000 --> 01:16:08,760
Mic doesn't pick this up.
The, the, the question was, how

1502
01:16:08,760 --> 01:16:10,120
do how do we make this
accessible?

1503
01:16:10,120 --> 01:16:13,600
How do we make these more inside
baseball topics accessible to

1504
01:16:13,600 --> 01:16:16,760
the greater masses?
And the first response is, well,

1505
01:16:16,760 --> 01:16:19,000
just try not to be too inside
baseball.

1506
01:16:19,000 --> 01:16:22,280
And what that means is like, you
know, I'm recanting a story

1507
01:16:22,280 --> 01:16:24,720
about someone, you know, the
Boston Red Sox playing the New

1508
01:16:24,720 --> 01:16:26,120
York Yankees.
And I get into the very

1509
01:16:26,120 --> 01:16:28,160
technical aspects of what
happened during the game.

1510
01:16:28,160 --> 01:16:30,520
And like, no, Pete, just tell me
who won, right?

1511
01:16:30,880 --> 01:16:32,840
You noticed, you might have
noticed what I was doing a

1512
01:16:32,840 --> 01:16:36,320
little bit where when Alejandro
said RWA, I'm then thinking, OK,

1513
01:16:36,320 --> 01:16:39,080
I need to say real world assets
a little bit later, I need to

1514
01:16:39,080 --> 01:16:42,240
give, OK, stable coins are
primarily backed by the US

1515
01:16:42,240 --> 01:16:44,360
dollar and what they are and so
on and so on and so on.

1516
01:16:44,560 --> 01:16:47,520
So try to make it accessible to
people so that they will listen

1517
01:16:47,520 --> 01:16:49,920
to that, but also acknowledging
at the same time that you can't

1518
01:16:49,920 --> 01:16:52,480
reach everybody.
And that this is meant to be a

1519
01:16:52,480 --> 01:16:56,000
podcast that inspires people and
inspires them to pick up and do

1520
01:16:56,000 --> 01:16:59,040
new things and to try to
discover and to try to learn new

1521
01:16:59,040 --> 01:17:00,480
things.
And hopefully just one of the

1522
01:17:00,480 --> 01:17:03,600
things that we talk about will
inspire them to do that, and

1523
01:17:03,600 --> 01:17:06,360
we'll get them to go do the next
big thing that drives them

1524
01:17:06,360 --> 01:17:08,000
forward with their career, with
their life.

1525
01:17:08,320 --> 01:17:11,120
That's kind of how we do it.
So you can't reach everybody,

1526
01:17:11,120 --> 01:17:15,480
but just try to tell the stories
that turn on people's curiosity

1527
01:17:15,480 --> 01:17:17,240
a bit.
Other questions.

1528
01:17:17,320 --> 01:17:20,000
Yeah.
What inspired you to get into

1529
01:17:20,000 --> 01:17:22,840
blockchain?
Yeah.

1530
01:17:22,840 --> 01:17:25,320
So the, again, in case the Mic
didn't pick this up, it was what

1531
01:17:25,320 --> 01:17:26,720
inspired me to get into
blockchain.

1532
01:17:26,720 --> 01:17:31,840
Very simple.
Had just finished a big deal, a

1533
01:17:31,840 --> 01:17:36,640
big acquisition for a piece of
one bank being acquired by

1534
01:17:36,640 --> 01:17:38,920
another bank, the bank that I
was working for at the time.

1535
01:17:39,200 --> 01:17:42,560
And when I looked under the
hood, and I won't get into how

1536
01:17:42,560 --> 01:17:47,680
it took that long to get to that
point, but it was that, OK, I

1537
01:17:47,680 --> 01:17:49,160
didn't see anything
revolutionary.

1538
01:17:49,240 --> 01:17:51,840
I didn't see anything that we
thought we were getting there

1539
01:17:51,840 --> 01:17:55,080
that was going to be, you know,
magnanimously different than

1540
01:17:55,080 --> 01:17:58,640
what we had already.
And at the same time, the

1541
01:17:58,640 --> 01:18:00,400
Bitcoin white paper had been
dropped in my lap.

1542
01:18:00,640 --> 01:18:04,440
And I saw page 2 where it talks
about the transaction flow or

1543
01:18:04,440 --> 01:18:06,840
where there's a diagram and it
still burned into my head like

1544
01:18:06,840 --> 01:18:10,440
the flux capacitor and, you
know, from from back to the

1545
01:18:10,440 --> 01:18:12,320
future.
And I can still see that.

1546
01:18:12,640 --> 01:18:15,160
And I started explaining to
people that I worked with,

1547
01:18:15,160 --> 01:18:16,920
here's how it works, but I
didn't have a damn clue.

1548
01:18:17,320 --> 01:18:19,800
But then I just started digging
and digging and digging and

1549
01:18:19,800 --> 01:18:23,600
keeping track of it and learning
about it and then seeing, OK, if

1550
01:18:23,600 --> 01:18:26,280
this is what we can do with
Internet money, what can we do

1551
01:18:26,280 --> 01:18:27,960
for financial market plumbing as
a whole?

1552
01:18:27,960 --> 01:18:29,240
And that's been the journey I've
been on.

1553
01:18:29,840 --> 01:18:31,040
I have a question.
Yes.

1554
01:18:31,400 --> 01:18:36,120
Will the next phase of the
podcast be on YouTube?

1555
01:18:36,600 --> 01:18:41,920
Will it involved drinking a pint
of Guinness or whiskey it it?

1556
01:18:41,920 --> 01:18:45,120
Could the cheeky pint that the
Collision Brothers around doing

1557
01:18:45,120 --> 01:18:48,920
on YouTube and where apparently
they had originally had a keg of

1558
01:18:48,920 --> 01:18:52,560
Guinness in that bar that they
were in and it was somebody's I

1559
01:18:52,560 --> 01:18:55,720
don't know if it's in a real bar
or somebody's house, but they

1560
01:18:55,720 --> 01:18:56,640
weren't going through enough of
it.

1561
01:18:56,720 --> 01:18:59,600
So the Guinness was going off so
they had to replace it with a

1562
01:18:59,600 --> 01:19:01,000
can.
So now they're doing the draft

1563
01:19:01,000 --> 01:19:03,640
cans of Guinness for these
cheeky pints.

1564
01:19:04,040 --> 01:19:09,720
And John Collison had to explain
to Marc Andreessen what a cheeky

1565
01:19:09,720 --> 01:19:12,600
pint was, which is, you know,
you have one when you're not

1566
01:19:12,600 --> 01:19:14,720
really supposed to be having
yes, OK for.

1567
01:19:15,120 --> 01:19:17,640
You, you know and so.
Maybe you know, when I when we

1568
01:19:17,640 --> 01:19:20,200
started the Fintech Insider or
when I was doing the Fintech

1569
01:19:20,200 --> 01:19:23,360
Insider podcast, there was
always beer and that loosens

1570
01:19:23,360 --> 01:19:26,520
people's tongues a bit.
Cormac, I've got 1.

1571
01:19:26,560 --> 01:19:29,320
So I don't know, a lot of people
might not know this in the room,

1572
01:19:29,320 --> 01:19:31,840
but I was one of the first
people to actually interview

1573
01:19:31,840 --> 01:19:35,400
Pete about blockchain.
So going back, we did, we did a

1574
01:19:35,440 --> 01:19:39,160
panel discussion in I think it
was 20/18/2018 in London.

1575
01:19:39,160 --> 01:19:41,160
There was about 5 people in the
room.

1576
01:19:41,200 --> 01:19:42,560
Wow.
Yeah, everyone else was off on.

1577
01:19:42,560 --> 01:19:44,160
Other phones things I.
Can't remember but.

1578
01:19:44,760 --> 01:19:46,480
It was good crack.
I, I, I, I interviewed you

1579
01:19:46,720 --> 01:19:47,880
badly.
I was saying the day.

1580
01:19:48,120 --> 01:19:50,280
So I'm going to ask you one
question today that I probably

1581
01:19:50,560 --> 01:19:53,880
never thought of anyone asking,
or just one thing about you that

1582
01:19:53,880 --> 01:19:58,760
nobody knows.
I love it all right, so for love

1583
01:19:58,800 --> 01:20:00,560
it, love it.
So if the mic didn't pick that

1584
01:20:00,560 --> 01:20:03,680
up, then this is Cormac Dining
who interviewed me, I think it

1585
01:20:03,680 --> 01:20:06,160
was back in 2016, actually.
Oh God yeah.

1586
01:20:06,800 --> 01:20:10,200
At an Irish Funds event and
where we were both excited about

1587
01:20:10,200 --> 01:20:13,040
the potential of blockchain in
the financial markets and asked

1588
01:20:13,040 --> 01:20:16,240
me a few questions and.
What, what Cormac just asked me

1589
01:20:16,240 --> 01:20:18,320
was what is one thing that
people wouldn't expect to know

1590
01:20:18,320 --> 01:20:21,160
about me?
I've shared a bit on the show,

1591
01:20:21,720 --> 01:20:23,600
right?
I've talked about how I can talk

1592
01:20:23,600 --> 01:20:26,520
backwards.
And that's just from reading the

1593
01:20:26,720 --> 01:20:30,720
book titles in the bookshelf at
the end of my bed when there was

1594
01:20:30,720 --> 01:20:34,800
no air conditioning in my house
growing up in Springfield, MA,

1595
01:20:34,800 --> 01:20:36,920
in the hot, humid summers that
we used to have.

1596
01:20:37,200 --> 01:20:39,120
And I couldn't sleep.
So I just read the book titles

1597
01:20:39,120 --> 01:20:42,720
and try to get myself to sleep
by reading them from my pillow.

1598
01:20:43,080 --> 01:20:45,880
And then I got to the point
where, OK, I made my way all the

1599
01:20:45,880 --> 01:20:48,480
way through them and I went back
again and say, well, let's see

1600
01:20:48,480 --> 01:20:53,640
if I can read them backwards and
sound out the words as if it was

1601
01:20:53,800 --> 01:20:55,600
the letters were turned the
other way.

1602
01:20:56,160 --> 01:20:59,240
And so I now Klatz, the draw
cap, which is I can talk

1603
01:20:59,240 --> 01:21:02,360
backwards.
So that is something that I've,

1604
01:21:02,400 --> 01:21:04,760
I've shared.
I will, you know, I'm not going

1605
01:21:04,760 --> 01:21:07,520
to completely shut it off, but I
absolutely love living in here

1606
01:21:07,520 --> 01:21:09,720
in Ireland.
It, it was, you know, it just

1607
01:21:09,720 --> 01:21:12,760
feels like this was the place I
was meant to be, you know, And

1608
01:21:12,760 --> 01:21:14,640
so I, I don't see myself going
anywhere.

1609
01:21:14,760 --> 01:21:17,240
Where else?
How long did it take?

1610
01:21:17,240 --> 01:21:21,200
For you to just feel that this
was the place that you were

1611
01:21:21,200 --> 01:21:24,680
meant to be when I got off the
plane in 19. 94 Wow.

1612
01:21:24,800 --> 01:21:25,320
Really.
Yeah.

1613
01:21:25,680 --> 01:21:28,720
Yeah, and looked up at.
The sky and said the sky is blue

1614
01:21:28,720 --> 01:21:31,080
in this world as well, right?
And just.

1615
01:21:31,440 --> 01:21:34,120
And I remember I was there in
Galway for an exchange program

1616
01:21:34,120 --> 01:21:37,680
in 1994.
And I remember feeling that I

1617
01:21:37,680 --> 01:21:41,160
wish I was in the same state of
mind when I left as I was when I

1618
01:21:41,160 --> 01:21:44,800
got there because I would have
embraced a lot more while I was

1619
01:21:44,800 --> 01:21:46,240
here for those initial six
months.

1620
01:21:46,440 --> 01:21:50,720
But by the time I left in June
of 94, I was so dying to come

1621
01:21:50,720 --> 01:21:53,200
back.
Well, I eventually got back.

1622
01:21:53,600 --> 01:21:58,600
I had to leave Boston to go to
Bermuda for a job and then met

1623
01:21:58,600 --> 01:22:01,680
my wife in Bermuda and when we
left Bermuda in 2005 we came

1624
01:22:01,680 --> 01:22:02,960
here.
She's from Dublin.

1625
01:22:02,960 --> 01:22:04,320
Interesting.
I have a question to.

1626
01:22:04,920 --> 01:22:08,040
To three of you.
But what is your magic family?

1627
01:22:08,080 --> 01:22:10,440
Me.
Anything similar?

1628
01:22:10,720 --> 01:22:12,560
So my Santa Maria's magic.
Power.

1629
01:22:12,560 --> 01:22:16,160
I don't have any magic power.
Trust me, you know how to

1630
01:22:16,160 --> 01:22:18,600
explain blockchain.
To your.

1631
01:22:19,280 --> 01:22:20,680
Children, that's a big power.
Actually.

1632
01:22:21,880 --> 01:22:23,640
It's a.
It's a, you know, it's just the

1633
01:22:23,640 --> 01:22:26,320
power of finding something that
you can use to keep them quiet

1634
01:22:27,040 --> 01:22:31,280
for a long time.
So like telling someone we drove

1635
01:22:31,280 --> 01:22:34,080
to West of Ireland the last mid
term break.

1636
01:22:34,080 --> 01:22:38,240
It was meant to be 5 hours drive
and I was like, how am I going

1637
01:22:38,240 --> 01:22:42,280
to get them quiet?
So I remembered the The Crypto

1638
01:22:42,280 --> 01:22:45,880
Queen podcast finished off and
they actually added over the

1639
01:22:45,880 --> 01:22:48,760
last three years about it, three
more episodes.

1640
01:22:49,080 --> 01:22:51,720
We listened to it all the way
over there and all the way back.

1641
01:22:51,720 --> 01:22:55,520
So I just, I don't have a magic
power, but I would say it's the

1642
01:22:55,520 --> 01:22:57,920
opposite.
I get my power from talking to

1643
01:22:57,920 --> 01:23:02,600
people and that's why being and
doing things like this, being at

1644
01:23:02,600 --> 01:23:06,640
events, being on the podcast,
listening to the podcast and

1645
01:23:06,640 --> 01:23:09,680
then reaching out to or I need
to, I really like that story.

1646
01:23:09,680 --> 01:23:10,840
I need to reach out to this
person.

1647
01:23:10,840 --> 01:23:14,480
I need to get to know them or go
and meet them at the next event.

1648
01:23:14,600 --> 01:23:17,040
That's what's giving me the
power, I suppose to certainly

1649
01:23:17,040 --> 01:23:20,000
have the the energy to keep on
going, doing what I've been

1650
01:23:20,000 --> 01:23:23,000
doing for the last 8 years.
I would say I have a superpower

1651
01:23:23,000 --> 01:23:26,120
for you.
Superpower is actually explain

1652
01:23:26,120 --> 01:23:29,720
really complex matters to people
without making them feel stupid,

1653
01:23:30,800 --> 01:23:32,760
and that's a superpower.
That's a superpower.

1654
01:23:33,000 --> 01:23:34,680
Absolutely.
I wouldn't think about that.

1655
01:23:36,080 --> 01:23:40,480
But yeah, I, I really, I've seen
what Mai's done for the startup

1656
01:23:40,480 --> 01:23:43,280
founders that she's mentored
through Techstars and it's, it's

1657
01:23:43,280 --> 01:23:44,680
fascinating.
So thank you.

1658
01:23:44,920 --> 01:23:46,400
Yeah.
Like on senior really.

1659
01:23:46,400 --> 01:23:49,000
Senior people as well, right?
That you could make feel like

1660
01:23:49,240 --> 01:23:53,320
completely imbeciles.
I have always a way that you're

1661
01:23:53,320 --> 01:23:56,480
making them feel like, OK, yeah,
that's it.

1662
01:23:56,560 --> 01:23:57,920
Thank you.
Absolutely.

1663
01:23:57,920 --> 01:23:59,800
That's a massive superpower.
Absolutely.

1664
01:24:00,120 --> 01:24:01,480
OK, I'll break that down.
Thanks.

1665
01:24:01,480 --> 01:24:03,200
For your question, what about
you all there, Alejandro?

1666
01:24:04,160 --> 01:24:05,560
I think it's people.
For me, it's people.

1667
01:24:06,240 --> 01:24:08,840
My superpower, I think it's
understanding people understand

1668
01:24:08,840 --> 01:24:13,840
what the needs from people are.
Then I see how I can how I can

1669
01:24:13,840 --> 01:24:15,840
help them.
I think that's, that's, that's

1670
01:24:15,840 --> 01:24:17,640
my thing.
You always, you always make.

1671
01:24:17,640 --> 01:24:19,640
People feel like they're the
most important person in the

1672
01:24:19,640 --> 01:24:21,040
room.
That's so true, yeah.

1673
01:24:21,320 --> 01:24:22,760
And they are, yeah.
They are.

1674
01:24:23,080 --> 01:24:24,240
They absolutely are.
Give a.

1675
01:24:24,360 --> 01:24:25,880
Break here as well.
Thank you.

1676
01:24:27,680 --> 01:24:30,680
What about the accent?
And a pair of runners.

1677
01:24:31,400 --> 01:24:35,120
Always with the runners, yeah.
Well, listen, we've gone on

1678
01:24:35,120 --> 01:24:37,360
longer than I anticipated and
we're going to bring this to a

1679
01:24:37,360 --> 01:24:39,160
close.
But before we close, thank you.

1680
01:24:39,160 --> 01:24:43,000
My thank you.
Thank you, Alejandro Conan,

1681
01:24:43,080 --> 01:24:45,800
thank you.
Barry Darmody, search for less.

1682
01:24:45,880 --> 01:24:50,120
Thank you so much, Paul Smith.
Thank you, all of our past

1683
01:24:50,120 --> 01:24:53,080
sponsors, all of you.
Thank you for joining us

1684
01:24:53,080 --> 01:24:55,240
tonight.
Most importantly, though, thank

1685
01:24:55,240 --> 01:24:58,040
you to all the listeners out
there all over the world in over

1686
01:24:58,040 --> 01:25:00,360
200 countries, Yes, over 200
countries.

1687
01:25:01,000 --> 01:25:03,120
I won't say how many downloads
in each one of those countries,

1688
01:25:03,120 --> 01:25:08,800
but there is over 200 countries.
And thank you to everybody for

1689
01:25:08,800 --> 01:25:11,520
keeping this alive and also to
Owen Fitzgerald, primarily

1690
01:25:11,520 --> 01:25:13,880
because without him, none of us
would be here tonight.

1691
01:25:14,440 --> 01:25:16,080
And I'll leave you with this,
OK?

1692
01:25:16,360 --> 01:25:18,640
Being a founder is hard.
I've been a founder.

1693
01:25:18,640 --> 01:25:20,240
I've gone back to being a
founder again.

1694
01:25:20,840 --> 01:25:24,640
Every conversation, every
introduction, every ounce of

1695
01:25:24,640 --> 01:25:26,960
belief we offer makes a huge
difference.

1696
01:25:27,440 --> 01:25:29,920
That's what Money Never Sleeps
has always been about belief,

1697
01:25:30,000 --> 01:25:32,240
about believing.
This vision that I started on in

1698
01:25:32,240 --> 01:25:34,200
2014 was going to become a
reality.

1699
01:25:34,520 --> 01:25:38,000
Now it's just such joyful time
for me seeing all of this

1700
01:25:38,000 --> 01:25:41,240
happen.
So this community that we have,

1701
01:25:41,240 --> 01:25:45,200
whether you're listening,
reading, watching, mentoring,

1702
01:25:45,200 --> 01:25:48,080
building, whatever, it's what
makes all of this possible.

1703
01:25:49,080 --> 01:25:51,640
It's the reason we kept showing
up week after week, sometimes

1704
01:25:51,640 --> 01:25:53,920
not every week, but most for
seven years.

1705
01:25:54,640 --> 01:25:56,480
It's a reason that this is not
the end.

1706
01:25:56,480 --> 01:25:59,800
It is just a pivot.
It's the people behind the show.

1707
01:26:00,040 --> 01:26:03,440
Founders, operators, investors,
regulators, engineers,

1708
01:26:03,440 --> 01:26:06,480
academics, artists, believers,
everyone.

1709
01:26:06,480 --> 01:26:08,080
We're all part of something
bigger, OK?

1710
01:26:08,480 --> 01:26:11,760
And it's a living, evolving
conversation about how money

1711
01:26:11,760 --> 01:26:15,440
moves, about how technology
transforms and how people adapt.

1712
01:26:15,440 --> 01:26:18,040
Because this is all about people
is what it comes down to.

1713
01:26:18,720 --> 01:26:23,240
OK, so as Money Never Sleeps
enters its next era video first,

1714
01:26:23,240 --> 01:26:26,320
faster, sharper, moving ahead
with the new kids.

1715
01:26:26,880 --> 01:26:31,000
The mission is the same.
Keep learning out loud together.

1716
01:26:31,880 --> 01:26:37,680
Stay curious, humans.
That is my last request and say

1717
01:26:37,680 --> 01:26:41,360
it with me one more time.
The tagline of Gordon Gekko.

1718
01:26:41,880 --> 01:26:44,000
Does anyone know what it is at
the beginning and end of the

1719
01:26:44,000 --> 01:26:45,600
podcast?
I know Conan does.

1720
01:26:46,600 --> 01:26:49,520
OK.
Money never sleeps, pal.

1721
01:26:50,120 --> 01:26:55,160
Say it with me 123.
Money never sleeps, pal.

1722
01:26:55,280 --> 01:26:57,160
All right.
Thank you everybody.

1723
01:27:07,520 --> 01:27:11,000
That does it for this.
Seven-year run folks, and for a

1724
01:27:11,000 --> 01:27:14,800
pretty special one at that.
You can find links to everything

1725
01:27:14,800 --> 01:27:17,480
we talked about tonight,
including our 2025 prediction

1726
01:27:17,480 --> 01:27:20,800
recap and all the good stuff
from the past 300 episodes in

1727
01:27:20,800 --> 01:27:22,840
the show notes at Money Never
Sleeps That IE.

1728
01:27:23,560 --> 01:27:26,800
Huge thanks to my Santa Maria
and Alejandro Gutierrez for Co

1729
01:27:26,800 --> 01:27:29,840
hosting this live milestone with
me and to bury Darmody and

1730
01:27:29,840 --> 01:27:32,240
search for Les for sponsoring
episode 300.

1731
01:27:32,960 --> 01:27:35,200
And of course, none of this
would be possible without Conan

1732
01:27:35,200 --> 01:27:38,120
Brophy from Create Sound, who's
been making this show sound

1733
01:27:38,120 --> 01:27:40,680
great since day one.
Conan's your guy if you're

1734
01:27:40,680 --> 01:27:42,600
thinking about launching a
podcast of your own.

1735
01:27:43,080 --> 01:27:46,080
As for me, I'm Pete Townshend,
general partner at Nario

1736
01:27:46,080 --> 01:27:49,360
Ventures backing unstoppable
founders building the future of

1737
01:27:49,360 --> 01:27:51,640
on chain finance.
You'll find plenty of links in

1738
01:27:51,640 --> 01:27:53,840
the show notes that money never
sleeps that IE on how to get in

1739
01:27:53,840 --> 01:27:57,680
touch. 300 episodes in and the
story doesn't end here is just

1740
01:27:57,680 --> 01:28:00,200
changing shape.
Thanks so much for listening and

1741
01:28:00,200 --> 01:28:03,960
for being part of this journey.
Till next time, see ya money.

1742
01:28:06,160 --> 01:28:07,200
Never sleeps, pal.