Patrick MacKay

COO/CFO - Perm & Fractional | Startup Advisor I Scaled Orgs 20x | $18M+ Raised | Ops & Strategy Leader | Fintech, web3, SaaS | Opinion are my own

[Patrick MacKay @PatrickMackay]

Late last month I had the chance to reconnect with several persons who I met years ago when I was the Founding Site Director for @CapitalOne's Illinois Digital Campus Lab (iDCL) at the @UIResearchPark

The purpose of this post is to share my experience building the iDCL in the hope that others might find it useful as they open up similar corporate innovation centers.

A fun fact before we get started, did you know that the Association of University Research Parks (@AURP) represents over 1,000 global university-based institutions and innovation districts? Yep, that’s darn impressive.

First, some background numbers for the iDCL during my tenure as its first “zero-to-one” site director.

✅ Founded in 2015
✅ Located in the University of Illinois Research Park
✅ 115 interns hired (undergraduate, graduate, doctoral) + 9 full time engineers
✅ 80+ projects sourced from across the bank
✅ 60% of projects accepted for further development

My thoughts / notes/ observations:

🔷 Create a sticky workplace that combines top notch student talent with full time staff. The latter will allow your company to create a production ready facility as opposed to one that is largely focused on filling a leadership development pipeline.

🔷 The pursuit of sponsored research is a no-brainer, yes. But don’t limit your attention to just the obvious candidates like the College of Engineering. Tier 1 universities are chock full of world leading colleges and departments. Get to know all of them.

🔷 Participate in campus wide initiatives. By doing this, you will get to engage with students in a non-traditional setting that may be less intimidating than a classroom or office.

🔷 Make sure to assign projects that represent real value to the company because that will not only reduce intern churn but also attract new candidates. You want all student water cooler gossip to be about how your projects are pushing and breaking boundaries.

🔷 Try your utmost to truly connect your research park operation to the parent office. This can come in the form of face time with leadership and access to mentorship. We’ve seen companies that didn’t make this a priority and the result was an operation that was disconnected, transient, and ultimately short-lived because it lost all momentum to continue.

🔷 To give ourselves the best chance at recruiting the best and brightest, we eschewed the common wisdom that you should only recruit upperclassman. Instead, we prioritized first and second year students that were disenfranchised from internship opportunities because they were deemed young and inexperienced. We saw their age as an opportunity to train and mold young people to become valuable contributors to the bank, first as students and then later as full time employees. An added benefit was the bank engendered strong loyalty amongst its interns because it took a chance when others did not.

[Patrick MacKay @PatrickMackay]

@kanishkkhurana @AcrossProtocol Alright, they're open.

[Patrick MacKay @PatrickMackay]

I recently received an email from @AcrossProtocol announcing the release of its Swap API.

Here’s the simple and powerful hook... “Integrate crosschain swaps directly into your applications with a single contract call. It’s frictionless, deployable in minutes, and invisible to your users”.   --- Super cool. Super simple. Super powerful.

The email was timely because earlier that morning I chatted with Theo Fields from @bloccelerate about how API accessibility could help unlock the nascent integration of web3 and traditional finance that we all anticipate.

So that got me thinking about a take that I don’t find too spicy:

✨ The key to integrating web3 with traditional finance isn’t better UX, new L2s, or regulatory clarity. It’s APIs. APIs are how banks and fintechs talk. If your web3 product or service isn’t accessible via a clean and secure APIs it’s unlikely to even get even a trial run at integration. If you play your cards right, your clean and secure API opens the opportunity for you to nurture that commercial relationship so it evolves from vendor-client to partnership. ✨

[Patrick MacKay @PatrickMackay]

The Check Is Just the Beginning: Why Investor Engagement Matters Long After the Round Closes

One of the most under-leveraged tools in venture-backed startups? Proactive investor engagement.

I’ve had the privilege of supporting investor communications and operations across two meaningful early-stage rounds:

🔷 Runtime Verification: raised a $5.2M seed round (June 2021)
🔷 Pi Squared: raised a $12.5M seed round (May 2024)

I’ve seen how the approach to investor relations can shape future fundraising, strategic guidance, and even the stability of the company during uncertain times.

Here’s what I’ve learned:

✅ If you don’t keep investors updated, they’ll shift focus to portfolio companies that do.
✅ If you don’t build relationships early, they won’t be ready to help when things get messy, and they always do.
✅ If you don’t keep them close, you can’t expect them to champion your next round with introductions, syndicate support, or lead referrals.

A short monthly meeting with individual investors will keep them close and engaged. They won't just be your financial backers, they'll become your amplifiers, your advisors, and sometimes your lifelines.

Let's connect if you're navigating these challenges and want a second set of eyes on your investor strategy.

📷5

[Patrick MacKay @PatrickMackay]

@kanishkkhurana @AcrossProtocol Fixed. How embarrassing.

[Patrick MacKay @PatrickMackay]

@kanishkkhurana @AcrossProtocol Let me get those fixed.

[Patrick MacKay @PatrickMackay]

Congratulations to the whole team and the best of luck ahead. xMoney will hopefully position itself to take advantage of the regulatory daylight and credibility / acceptance in the US that will surely influence global markets in the months ahead. Onwards!
@lucianmincu @beniaminmincu

[Patrick MacKay @PatrickMackay]

I'm curious, as web3 gets closer to traditional finance, or vice versa for that matter, do you think we will see less anonymity in web3?

[Patrick MacKay @PatrickMackay]

@kanishkkhurana @AcrossProtocol @kanishkkhurana - would love to connect and learn more about what you're building, if and when you're available to do so, of course.

[Patrick MacKay @PatrickMackay]

@via_marketing_ @pisquared @rv_inc @via_marketing_ - thank you. I'd love to connect if and when you're free to do so. Thanks!

[Patrick MacKay @PatrickMackay]

After an incredible chapter as COO at @pisquared and before that as COO at @rv_inc, I’m excited to share the next chapter of my journey.

I’m now serving as a ✨ Fractional COO/CFO & Strategic Growth Advisor ✨, partnering with founders and leadership teams in banking, financial services, fintech, blockchain, and technology‑enabled services to scale operations, accelerate revenue, and drive clarity so teams can grow without breaking. I’m also open to the right full‑time operational leadership role where my experience in scaling high‑growth companies can make an immediate impact.

Let’s connect — I’d love to hear what you’re building.

📩 [email protected]

[Patrick MacKay @PatrickMackay]

@num85rules @FintechTakes @khaslett To be clear, my response concerns the adoption of tokenized deposits, not blockchain in general. The adoption train for the latter has left the station. As my Mom says, "people like crypto so its here to stay".

[Patrick MacKay @PatrickMackay]

I just listened to the latest episode of Bank Nerd Corner by @FintechTakes with Alex Johnson and @khaslett and very much enjoyed all the stories covered. Thank you!

With respect to tokenized deposits, Alex mentioned that a possible reason for their use would be to provide visibility into large transactions by commercial customers who are participating in a variety of activities as parties and counterparties.

I’m curious what sort of documentation or disclosure requirements and expectations don’t already exist that make “visibility” a solid benefit of tokenized deposits. Moreover, would a commercial customer want said documentation be available for all to see on a permissionless blockchain?

On a side note, I'm interested to see if traditional finance’s “newish” interest in blockchain will survive the next downturn / bear market or if it will be fleeting and ephemeral. There is an argument that the integration of stablecoins and blockchain payment rails will result in a sort of sticky permanence but time will tell.

[Patrick MacKay @PatrickMackay]

@num85rules @FintechTakes @khaslett Thanks for your response! I think it sticks too in some form or another but it won't be necessary for most banks, IMO, because they already offer "digital dollars" and huge swaths of their customers are generally fearful and intimidated by digital assets.

[Patrick MacKay @PatrickMackay]

I’ve always been drawn to moments of transformation — the messy, high-stakes inflection points where clarity unlocks scale.
In my work with zero-to-one startups and enterprise innovation labs, one pattern always emerges:

⚠️ When CEOs are trapped in the weeds, the mission loses momentum.
My next chapter is focused on fixing that.

As a fractional operator, I work with visionary founders to cut through gridlock, align execution with strategy, and build the systems that power sustainable growth.

That means freeing up the CEO to focus on what matters most — narrative, vision, strategy, and fundraising.
It giving the CTO and CCO the space to execute against the product roadmap and drive toward product-market fit.

Why? Because leaders deserve to lead.

If you're building something bold and need clarity, structure, and momentum — let's talk.

[Patrick MacKay @PatrickMackay]

@kanishkkhurana @AcrossProtocol Thank you for the reply, not expected but much appreciated. Best of luck!

[Patrick MacKay @PatrickMackay]

What happens when your firm's competition morphs to include not only your well funded web3 peers but also "tradfi" banks and services providers who have both deep pockets and a deep bench of talent? Your deep moat starts to look like shallow stream.

[Patrick MacKay @PatrickMackay]

There’s been a noticeable uptick in applications for new federal bank charters with many of those applications submitted by digital asset companies.
With the change we’ve seen come out of Washington, it’s not hard to see why.

⁉️ But first, what is a federal bank charter? ⁉️

A federal bank charter is an official license granted by a U.S. federal banking regulator 🏦 that allows an institution to operate as a national bank under federal law. It’s essentially the legal authority for a bank to exist and offer core banking services. 💪

Let’s go back the “it’s hard not see why” angle.

Regulatory clarity is taking shape in Congress. Stablecoins are maturing from an experimental product into a critical part of payment infrastructure. And with this shift, the advantages of having a bank charter; direct fed access, clearer compliance frameworks, credibility with counterparties become even more obvious. 🔥

[Patrick MacKay @PatrickMackay]

To date, Web3 companies have competed mostly with each other. The challenge was to build unique IP, ship fast, and create a moat before your competitor beat you to it.

But the game has changed.

With meaningful legislation finally passing through Congress, Web3 is entering the regulatory daylight — and with it comes a new kind of competition:

💪 Traditional industry 💪

Banks 💰 , fintechs 💻 , asset managers 📈 , and global brands 🌍 — all with multi-million dollar innovation budgets and real shipping muscle — are moving in fast.

The new question for Web3 builders isn’t just:

“How do we outmaneuver the next crypto-native entrant?”

It’s:

“How do we hold ground against the best product, compliance, and distribution teams in the world — coming from outside our space?”

Regulatory clarity doesn’t just unlock opportunity, it invites competition at a whole new scale.

[Patrick MacKay @PatrickMackay]

💪 Vulnerability 💪 is necessary for good planning. Predictions are always wrong. Maybe not wildly, but wrong enough to need adjusting. And yet, planning still matters. You do it to get less wrong over time. But that only happens when people feel safe enough to say:

“I don’t know for sure, but here’s my take.”
“This might challenge how we’ve always done it.”
“This could be wrong — but it’s worth exploring.”

If your culture rewards certainty, you get silence. If it supports vulnerability, you get progress.

What do you think? 🤔