Lex interviews Jayendra Jog - co-founder of Sei Labs, about his professional journey and the innovative Sei protocol—a high-performance parallel blockchain. Jay shares insights from his time at Robinhood, emphasizing the importance of distribution over technology and the challenges of scaling a fintech company. He discusses the limitations of Ethereum's transaction processing and how Sei Labs aims to address these through parallelization. The conversation also covers the future of blockchain in finance, the need for regulatory clarity, and the potential of high-performance blockchains to support emerging industries like AI and decentralized science.

Notable discussion points:

Impact Over Paychecks – Jog’s career leap from SAP to Facebook, Pinterest, Robinhood, and Sei Labs was driven by impact, not salary. He thrived in small, high-talent teams where he could truly move the needle.

Robinhood’s Growing Pains – Early Robinhood was fast and scrappy, but as it scaled, bureaucracy slowed innovation. The shift from “missionary” to “mercenary” employees hurt culture and velocity.

Tech Doesn’t Win—Distribution Does – The best crypto projects don’t just have great tech; they win by getting users. Sei Labs focuses on real-world adoption, not just engineering breakthroughs.

Sei’s Parallelized EVM: A Game Changer – Ethereum is slow. Sei Labs fixes this by parallelizing transactions, enabling high-speed trading and complex on-chain applications. It’s Ethereum’s power with Solana’s speed.

MENTIONED IN THE CONVERSATION

Topics: fintech, blockchain, Sei Labs, Sei protocol, Ethereum Virtual Machine, EVM, Robinhood, decentralized applications, DeFi protocols, DePIN

ABOUT THE FINTECH BLUEPRINT

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👉 Twitter: https://twitter.com/LexSokolin

TIMESTAMPS

1’29: From Silicon Valley Roots to Startup Hustle: Jayendra Jog’s Journey Through Tech’s Elite Ranks

7’53: Scaling Robinhood: From Scrappy Startup to Corporate Bureaucracy

12’56: Why Robinhood Won: Distribution Over Technology in Fintech and Crypto

17’38: Sei and the Parallelized EVM: Scaling Blockchain for High-Performance Trading

25’18: Parallelization in Blockchain: Unlocking Scalability Without Breaking the System

28’03: Building Sei: Solving the Blockchain Adoption Puzzle for Finance and Developers

33’50: The Blockchain Race: Competing for Killer Apps and Market Dominance

38’02: The Next Wave: Sei’s Vision for AI, DePIN, and High-Performance Blockchain Applications

41’34: The channels used to connect with Jay & learn more about Sei

Disclaimer here — this newsletter does not provide investment advice and represents solely the views and opinions of FINTECH BLUEPRINT LTD.

Contributors: Lex, Laurence, Matt, Farhad, Mike, Daniella

Want to discuss? Stop by our Discord and reach out here with questions.

Lex interviews Arun Kumar, the CTO of Socure, an identity management and risk assessment company. In this exciting episode, Arun touches on: (1) his experience building large-scale, high-throughput, and low-latency systems at companies like Amazon and Citadel, and how he applies that expertise to the identity verification and fraud detection challenges at Socure. (2) Socure's rapid growth, serving over 2,700 customers including 9 of the top 10 U.S. banks and over 30 state agencies, processing hundreds of millions of transactions per month. (3) Socure's approach to building a real-time identity graph by aggregating signals from devices, phone numbers, IPs, and other data points to detect and prevent sophisticated fraud tactics like deepfakes and fraud GPTs. (4) The company's recent acquisition of Effectiv to simplify the integration process for customers and improve efficiency, as well as its use of Generative AI to automate various tasks. Lastly, (5) Socure's future plans to expand beyond account opening and login into transaction monitoring, as well as exploring opportunities in the growing embedded finance and digital identity spaces.

MENTIONED IN THE CONVERSATION

Topics: Socure, Effectiv, Citadel, Amazon, Identity management, digital identity, generative AI, deepfakes, fraud prevention, machine learning, identity verification

ABOUT THE FINTECH BLUEPRINT

🔥Subscribe to the Fintech Blueprint newsletter to stay at the forefront of Fintech and DeFi: https://bit.ly/3hyhlC2

🤝 Partner with Fintech Blueprint through sponsorships: https://bit.ly/3UZllsV

👉 Twitter: https://twitter.com/LexSokolin

TIMESTAMPS

1’02: Scaling Innovation: Exploring High-Performance Systems and Real-Time Technology

4’04: From Financial Data to Machine Learning: Scaling Systems and Solving Edge Cases

8’49: Bridging Big Tech and Quant Finance: Exploring Technology Overlaps and Ultra-Low Latency Systems

11’12: Protecting Digital Identity at Scale: The Journey to Socure and Solving Real-Time Fraud Challenges

15’50: Building the Network Effect: How Socure Became a Leader in Identity Verification and Fraud Prevention

21’00: Battling Modern Fraud: Deepfakes, Generative AI, and the Evolving Landscape of Digital Security

26’30: Revolutionizing Customer Success: Simplifying Integrations with No-Code Solutions and Real-Time Performance Insights

29’57: Scaling Customer Integration: Fixed Costs, POCs, and Generative AI-Driven Value Propositions

34’00: Driving Efficiency and Scale: Socure's Evolving Product Roadmap and Future Vision

36’14: Learning from Customization: Standardizing for Scalability and Long-Term Growth

38’58: Expanding Horizons: Growing Market Share and Addressable Markets in Digital Transactions

41’00: The channels used to connect with Arun & learn more about Socure

Disclaimer here — this newsletter does not provide investment advice and represents solely the views and opinions of FINTECH BLUEPRINT LTD.

Contributors: Lex, Laurence, Matt, Farhad, Mike, Daniella

Want to discuss? Stop by our Discord and reach out here with questions.

Lex interviews Shachar Bialick, the founder and CEO of Curve, a fintech mobile wallet. In this exciting episode, Shachar touches on: (1) his background as a serial entrepreneur and his experience in the Israeli military shaped his ability to solve problems and work in high-stress environments, which are key traits for a successful founder. (2) The initial idea behind Curve was to create a "wallet to rule them all" - a single interface that could consolidate and manage multiple payment cards and accounts, providing more value and convenience to customers. (3) Building Curve involved navigating complex challenges, such as convincing payment networks like Mastercard and Visa to change their rules to allow Curve's back-to-back wallet technology. This required a resilient, innovative, and persistence approach. (4) Shachar emphasizes the importance of building a company culture that fosters curiosity, adaptability, and a belief that "everything is possible" rather than focusing on perceived limitations. (5) Lastly, Shachar discusses the evolution of the fintech landscape, including the challenges faced by neobanks in creating true financial marketplaces, and the ongoing issues with the implementation of open banking standards.

MENTIONED IN THE CONVERSATION

Topics: Curve, ApplePay, Google Wallet, PayPal, Tink, neobank, fintech, wallets, payments, paytech, NFC, Open Banking

ABOUT THE FINTECH BLUEPRINT

🔥Subscribe to the Fintech Blueprint newsletter to stay at the forefront of Fintech and DeFi: https://bit.ly/3hyhlC2

🤝 Partner with Fintech Blueprint through sponsorships: https://bit.ly/3UZllsV

👉 Twitter: https://twitter.com/LexSokolin

TIMESTAMPS

1’02: From Military Service to Fintech Success: Shachar Bialick on Founding Curve and Redefining Payments

9’10: The Resilient Founder: Risk-Taking, Leadership, and the Cultural Mindset Behind Entrepreneurship

14’59: From Unbundling to Rebundling: Building Curve to Solve Financial Fragmentation

20’50: Revolutionizing Payments: Curve's Ambition to Unite Financial Ecosystems

24’26: Trailblazing Curve: Overcoming Challenges to Redefine Payments and Build a Global Fintech Ecosystem

30’23: Project Elah: How Curve Challenged Apple’s NFC Restrictions to Redefine Digital Wallets

34’50: Shaving the Lion: How Curve Built a Culture to Overcome Industry Challenges and Innovate

39’05: Challenging Apple Pay: Curve’s Strategy to Deliver Tangible Customer Benefits

42’01: The Evolution of Fintech Infrastructure: Challenges, Opportunities, and the Role of Open Banking

51’54: The channels used to connect with Shachar & learn more about Curve

Disclaimer here — this newsletter does not provide investment advice and represents solely the views and opinions of FINTECH BLUEPRINT LTD.

Contributors: Lex, Laurence, Matt, Farhad, Mike, Daniella

Want to discuss? Stop by our Discord and reach out here with questions.