@samdblond I love the semi-novelty.
Your sight is very ICP focused, as it should be.
The plane ad is surely reaching some of your ICP, but also a lot of non-ICP π.
Any thoughts on it being an untargeted motion?
@igorhansachat@imkylelambert Homeowner's Association.
Typical with planned neighborhoods.
Enforces common rules across all homes.
Ex. Types of fencing that can/can't be used.
Meant to ensure property values aren't impacted by bad actors.
Starting a neobank is easier than ever...less two things.
1) Partner banks are under increased scrutiny.
2) When the barriers to entry are reduced and competition swells it's hard to stand out.
GTM strategies are the final moat.
How strong are yours?
"neobank" became a popular term last year and the concept is pretty awesome: high yield checking, instant settlement, cheap cross-border payments, self custody.
however, like everything in crypto, the competition is already very stiff.
TLDR:
- the barriers for building a neobank have shrunk, and the space is now very competitive (cards, vaults, and trading are all easy to spin up)
- the market favors teams with large distribution networks or incumbents with lots of capital (eg. Coinbase, Robinhood)
- emerging neobanks survive by either finding a niche with a reasonable TAM or leveraging partnerships to improve their products
- I'm putting together a neobank playbook, so hit me up if you're building in the space or want to chat :)
the cost of spinning up cards, integrating yield vaults, and creating a trading venue has decreased significantly, and basically become table stakes.
current neobanks aren't differentiating themselves through there products, but instead through their distribution and partnerships.
first you need to focus on winning your sector, then expanding to more markets. take off more than you can chew and you will lose.
then there's the problem of navigating multiple jurisdictions. the major economies are still making changes to stablecoin regulations and some of the smaller ones havent even started.
take brazil for example: neobanks there were building for the last couple years, then the government mandated that neobanks needed a VASP license to custody assets, now the cost to operate is way higher.
the US, EU, China, Latam all have different frameworks and sub-frameworks that teams need to take into account
lastly, distribution takes a good deal of marketing, product development, legal, and investor support to get right. this favors institutions like @coinbase, who already rakes in millions, has 1000s of employees, over 100 million users, and is building out neobanking products as a subsidiary of its core business.
I hate to sound so bearish up until this point, so i'll end this on a positive note. like i said before, neobanks arent creating a moat through tech (that's too easy to replicate), but instead through partnerships and specificity. If a team can find either an untouched niche with decent TAM, or grab distribution through strategic partnerships, the op is actually quite big.
2 examples come to mind:
1. @slashapp is building (and has been building) virtual cards and accounts for businesses. think of it as a @tryramp competitor, but with higher APY's, international payments, and fast settlement through stablecoins. when they started, this was totally uncharted territory with few competitors, and they were able to carve a significant amount of business. today, ~$10B has been spent on Slash cards, and they service 10,000+ businesses
2. @ethena recently partnered with @coinbase to integrate their product into Coinbase's already existing userbase. Additionally, Ethena just partnered with @Anchorage to serve as the collateral manager for Ethena's assets. these partnerships provide Ethena with instant distribution and regulatory compliance without having to bootstrap both independently.
All I'm saying is there is hope for neobanks, regardless of the obstacles, and it is about time there was a solid playbook for how to do it right.
if you couldn't guess by this point in the post, i'm currently writing a report on neobanks. Hit me up if you're working in the space or want to tell me about your product.
DMs always open!
The 7.6M job opening print isn't just a signal for a hot employment market.
It's a signal that SaaS needs to back off the "efficiency gain by cutting" pitch and switch to "efficiency gains by amplification."
Ensure your GTM strategy is about π not βοΈ.
Even Google dilutes their equity when it's of strategic importance.
By issuing $80B in new equity, Google is willingly diluting itself.
The use? Data centers.
If you are a founder, don't fear dilution when the capital is leveraged for the right strategic intent.
Well, kiss the hopes of rate reductions goodbye.
May payroll beat projections at 122k against a 110k estimate.
In fact, a rate increase has a 40% probability now.
The most dangerous number in B2B sales isn't your price β it's your prospect's status quo
I call it CODN (The Cost of Doing Nothing).
You've planned for that, right?