Aidan McCarty

Co-Founder @ Verified, @Join_the_Heard
Forbes 30 Under 30 | Top 25, Stanford '19

[Aidan McCarty @aidan_mccarty_]

This week I've typed over a dozen OTPs.

💰 bank login
🥘 food delivery
⚕️ doctor's office
💻 work login

They're everywhere, and I hate them. Insecure and high friction.

The proof it in the data. Across millions of sessions, our clients see up to 25% (!!) of users abandon just because of an OTP.

But my carrier already knows me. The network already knows me. So we can eliminate the code and verify your phone... silently!

No code. No keyboard. No switching to messages.

Welcome to the future of trust on the internet. Shoot me a message and I'll send you a demo you can try yourself.

[Aidan McCarty @aidan_mccarty_]

@nathanspielberg @build617 Totally incredible! Build617 is easily the most vibrant coworking space I've ever worked from. And I've worked from quite a few 😅

[Aidan McCarty @aidan_mccarty_]

@hthieblot The best founders are masochists

[Aidan McCarty @aidan_mccarty_]

@nikunj You forgot about preaching platitudes about how to build a great company even though you've never been an operator.

Not specifically you, but the royal you.

[Aidan McCarty @aidan_mccarty_]

@garrytan Technology is also a multiplier on culture. Trends move faster and faster.

[Aidan McCarty @aidan_mccarty_]

@karrisaarinen 100% -- founders that build a platform early have a massive edge in distribution and recruiting, but only if it's organic traffic.

Did you focus on this when building Linear?

[Aidan McCarty @aidan_mccarty_]

@money2020 Two quotes guide everything we do:

Charlie Munger: "Take a simple idea and take it seriously."

Robert Caro: "Turn every page."

Next time someone pitches you something "similar" to what exists, don't ask what's new.

Ask what's BETTER.

The details are worth billions.

[Aidan McCarty @aidan_mccarty_]

At @money2020 last week, a bank exec scoffed at our startup:

"I already know 3 other companies that do something similar."

I wanted to say: "I know 1,000 banks that do something similar to you. Guess which one's JPMorgan Chase?"

A thread on the most expensive misunderstanding in business 🧵

[Aidan McCarty @aidan_mccarty_]

@money2020 At Verified, we didn't invent identity verification.

We perfected ONE moment: the first 3 seconds of onboarding.

That "minor" innovation? 31% median conversion lift.

For a $10M business, that's $3.1M in pure profit. From 3 seconds.

[Aidan McCarty @aidan_mccarty_]

@money2020 Innovation isn't about inventing. It's about executing.
The winners took existing ideas and made them 10x better through obsessive attention to detail.
Pattern: Second movers who executed perfectly beat first movers who invented.

[Aidan McCarty @aidan_mccarty_]

@money2020 The mistake that kills companies:

Believing innovation means being first.
It doesn't.

💾Microsoft wasn't first (CP/M was)
🍔McDonald's wasn't first (White Castle was)
💳Costco wasn't first (Price Club was)

They won anyway.

[Aidan McCarty @aidan_mccarty_]

@TimDraper @mappa_ai Sounds like a very cool product!

[Aidan McCarty @aidan_mccarty_]

Kalshi ( @Kalshi ) just hit a $2B+ valuation.

They're also our client.

Prediction markets are exploding. User onboarding is critical. Every friction point costs millions in lost users.

We helped them turn a 3-minute signup into a 10-second experience.

But here's what I'm really proud of:

We didn't just improve their conversion rate. We helped them scale to handle election betting volume.

When your client's success makes national news, you know you picked the right market.

Fintech isn't just growing. It's reshaping how money works.

We're just making sure people can actually sign up for the future.

[Aidan McCarty @aidan_mccarty_]

@troyhunt It's why we strive so hard to keep information secure.

[Aidan McCarty @aidan_mccarty_]

@TimDraper Looking forward to visiting the new office one day!

[Aidan McCarty @aidan_mccarty_]

@dakshgup That's awesome! I'm sure your clients are very grateful for you and the team.

[Aidan McCarty @aidan_mccarty_]

"We usually see about 30% improvement in end-to-end conversion."

That one sentence changes the entire sales conversation.

Here's the math:
→ 1,000 people start your signup flow
→ 230 complete it (23% average)
→ 30% improvement: 300 complete it
→ 70 more customers from the same traffic

For a fintech with $200 LTV per customer, that's $14,000 more revenue per 1,000 visitors.

Scale that across millions of users...

The PM's eyes light up.

The CEO starts calculating ROI.

Your product needs a number that makes spreadsheet people excited.

[Aidan McCarty @aidan_mccarty_]

Our first healthcare client generated 15 qualified leads.

Not through referrals or through case studies.

Just other healthcare companies seeing them use our solution and thinking "we need that too."

Industries move in herds.

When one major company system adopts new technology, others pay attention.

"If they trust this solution and can create such a magical signup experience, maybe we should look at it."

What industry has the strongest "follow the leader" mentality in your space?

[Aidan McCarty @aidan_mccarty_]

We created a public leaderboard ranking companies' signup flows.

Great idea until one company exec got really pissed about their low score.

But... their PM reached out to learn more.

The best marketing ruffles feathers.

Bland content gets ignored.

Controversial content gets conversations.

Just make sure you can defend your position.

Who should we rank next?

[Aidan McCarty @aidan_mccarty_]

@DKThomp How are you confident this isn't just pandemic learning loss? What else changed dramatically right around 2020?