Podcasts about broadhaven

School UFO Encounters That Shocked Government Officials: When UFOs appear over schools and are seen by many, the evidence of a profound mass experience with something otherworldly can be overwhelming.This show Covers: Elder Park Primary Sighting in Scotland, 1952Westall High School Mass Sighting in Australia, 1966Hillsdale College Sighting in Michigan, 1966Crestview Elementary School Mass Sighting in Florida, 1967Broad Haven Primary School Encounter in Wales, 1977St. Mark's Primary School Incident in Scotland, 1978North Harringay Primary School in London in 2013To see the VIDEO of this episode, click or copy link -  http://youtu.be/t05nHWU8YUAVisit my website with International UFO News, Articles, Videos, and Podcast direct links -www.ufonews.co❤️ EXCLUSIVE FREE MERCH INCLUDED & BEHIND-THE-SCENES ONLY FOR MY SUPPORTERS ON PATREON ➔ https://www.patreon.com/paradigm_shifts/membership00:00 - Intro 01:42 - Why Kids have UFO Sightings 10:12 - Pre-1950 Cases11:16 - They Didn't Believe Her 14:24 - Kids were Told to Remain Quiet24:56 - Michigan College Has UFO Sighting 30:41 - Milky White UFO Sighting 31:54 - Teachers Freaked Out! 42:15 - Girl Sees Alien44:08 - All Kids Drew the Same Thing 50:43 - Close Up of Small UFO55:25 - UFO Crashed at School01:00:31 - Outro and Credits Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/strange-and-unexplained--5235662/support.

The Ariel and Broadhaven mysteries

This episode is a first of its kind, ‘cos we sat down one of the managers we've decided to back here at eu.vc for a pitch session with one of our good friends in the LP ecosystem. So in this episode, you'll hear two voices from each side of the table: that of Marc Penkala founding GP of Altitude, a 70 M€ early stage fund to close the European SME gap, and Michael Sidgmore, Partner and co-founder of Broadhaven Ventures, a US-based global early-stage financial technology investor that invests principal capital into fintech companies, VC funds, and incubates asset management businesses. Broadhaven's portfolio counts 20 VC funds and 100 early stage companies with notable investments including Carta, Nowports, Republic and Kovi. Michael is also the founder of alternative investments focused podcast Alt Goes Mainstream. Michael is an owner of Angel City FC, the women's soccer team in LA. So with no further ado, let's get pitching.

In this episode we look at the UFO wave of 1977 that took place in Broadhaven, Wells in the UK. From flying saucers to cigar shaped UFO's to aliens on the ground this wave of UFO's was witnessed by over 450 people with some calling Broadhaven the Bermuda Triangle of UFO's!

Welcome to today's roundtable on raising in a bear market. We have some of Europe's best and most active LPs with us to discuss the following three topics: LP views on the state of the current market and when you see the light at the end of the tunnel?The most important considerations the panel sees managers having today and the tactics they employ to be successfulAdvice from the panel to managers thinking about embarking on the raise of their first fund today.Speakers:David Dana - Head of VC Investments at EIFJoe Schorge - Founding Partner of Isomer CapitalChristian Roehle - Head of Investment Management at KFW CapitalMichael Sidgmore - Co-Founder & Partner at Broadhaven Ventures by Broadhaven Capital PartnersAnd finally, we just wanna give a massive shoutout the sponsor of this roundtable: Affinity without whose continued support we couldn't dedicate all our time to create content like this roundtable for you. So if you're not yet a client, our message is clear: do reach out, say thx and consider if they're the platform for you!

With Unexplained Season 7 due to start next Friday, July 28th, we have time for one more episode from the vaults.  This week we return to Broadhaven in Wales, where a series of bizarre events occurred over the course of a few months in 1977.  And it all began in the playground of a local primary school... Go to twitter @unexplainedpod, facebook.com/unexplainedpodcast or unexplainedpodcast.com for more info. Thank you for listening.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Excerpt from one of the many cases featured in tonight's podcast - “From 2009-2013 I acted as curator for the special project that involved the transfer of 210 surviving files from the MoD's archives into the public domain. The striking images in UFO Drawings from The National Archives were sourced from these and an older collection of UFO files, some dating back to the Second World War, that have been opened to public inspection under the 30 year rule.Some of the most remarkable drawings in the book were produced by schoolchildren. For example one lunchtime in October, 1977, ten Cheshire youngsters, aged seven to 11 years, saw an elliptical UFO hovering in trees beside the playground of Upton Primary School in Macclesfield, before it rose into the sky and vanished.Their teacher, Mrs Hindmarsh, ushered the children inside and asked to draw what they had seen, separating them to ensure that no copying took place. The youngsters used pencils and coloured crayons to produce the images that ended up in a MoD file.Their drawings are so clear and striking that I selected them as one the highlights of the book. In this case their teacher passed the dossier to Cheshire Police and the MoD's UFO desk. In his covering letter the police officer said there was ‘a remarkable similarity in these sketches with regard to the UFO and its location between two trees'.But this was just one example from a series of sightings made from schools during 1977. Another file contains drawings and letters sent to the MoD by youngsters and their teacher from North Wales earlier in the year.Audio & Interview - Deborah HatswellVideo Editing & Images - Mark HatswellYou can help to support BBR by liking, sharing and commenting on the video.CHECK OUT OUR OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA SITES. Hear early Podcasts and sighting reports by joining Patreon or become a Youtube Member.To Make a Report: you can contact Deborah at debbiehatswell@gmail.comDebs Email - debbiehatswell@gmail.comFACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063604569253BBR Website - https://wordpress.com/view/debhatswell.wordpress.comTWITTER: https://twitter.com/BbrDeborahPATREON: https://www.patreon.com/DeborahHatswellBigfootReportsYOUTUBE - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYGn8pR90PO_oBzOjiZ23tA/SPREAKER: https://www.spreaker.com/show/british-bigfootAPPLE PODCASTS: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/british-bigfoot-dogman/id1480592906?uo=4MAP OF REPORTS - https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1s1zOmmdM216PMftPUM9K1qqGrFg&usp=sharingAUDIBLE: https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Deborah-Hatswell-Cryptid-Creatures-and-Unexplained-Events-Podcast/B08K5YRHB6?action_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdp&shareTest=TestShare

Can you create impact and profit by investing in your passions?Michael Sidgmore, an early-stage FinTech investor and Partner at Broadhaven Ventures, shares his insights on the future of democratized finance. Tune in to learn more about how you can shape culture through your investments.Michael is the founder of Alt Goes Mainstream and the co-founder of the Community x Capital podcast with Alexis Ohanian. In the podcast, they explore FinTech and the intersection of culture and capital.We discuss the implications of democratized finance: when we give people access, we also provide them with the power to vote with their dollars. Key points discussed - How Michael got started in FinTech (02:05)- The benefits of democratized finance (07:05)- Why you should focus on alternative investments (08:17)- The importance of educating investors (16:39)- How to invest in your passions wisely (24:05)- Why it's essential to invest in underrepresented founders (29:35)- How crypto is democratizing finance (32:40)- Michael's advice for new investors (46:31) Additional resourcesLearn more about Broadhaven Ventures and their work here:https://www.broadhaven.com/To keep in the loop for the latest developments in crowdfund investing, make sure to follow this podcast and listen in every week. Leave a rating and a review, and let's bring profit back to the people together.Ready to start investing in your future? Then head over to www.republic.co and find a startup you're passionate about.Legal Disclaimer: The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has qualified the offering statement that we have filed with the SEC. The information in that offering statement is more complete than the information we are providing now and could differ in important ways. You must read the documents filed with the SEC before investing. The offering is being made only by means of its offering statement. This document shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. An indication of interest involves no obligation or commitment of any kind. Any person interested in investing in any offering of Props Tokens should review our disclosures and the publicly filed offering statement and the final offering circular that is part of that offering statement at http://offeringcircular.propsproject.com. YouNow is not registered, licensed or supervised as a broker-dealer or investment adviser by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), or any other financial regulatory authority or licensed to provide any financial advice or services.

Today we’re thrilled to bring you a very unique conversation with Michael Sidgmore, Co-Founder of Broadhaven Ventures and host of the Alt Goes mainstream podcast. Broadhaven Ventures is fintech focused and has invested in several platforms that make alternatives more accessible including, Republic, Party Round, iCapital, Alt, and of course our startup Allocate. Michael is also a Venture Partner at Goodwater Capital, one of the top global consumer focused venture capital platforms in the world with over $2 Billion of assets under management.  Get on the email list at ventureunlocked.substack.com

Qué o quien?…merodeaba por esta zona comprendida en el centro de Gales en el año de 1977…principalmente entre los meses de febrero y mayo…

Michael has spent his career as a financial technology investor and operator focused on the financial services infrastructure, wealth management, and specialty finance sectors. Today, he's the Co-Founder and Partner at Broadhaven Ventures, where he focuses on sourcing, investing, and managing investments into early-stage FinTech companies globally. Prior to Broadhaven Ventures, he was a pre-product employee and SVP at iCapital Network, where he helped build the family office and RIA networks of the online investment platform that has over $75 billion in assets and has received $200 million in funding from investors including BlackRock, Blackstone, Carlyle, Goldman Sachs, and WestCap. In his spare time, Michael writes and talks about how and why alternative investments are going mainstream on Alt Goes Mainstream, a content platform he founded. Also, he's the co-founder of another content platform called Community x Capital, where he and Alexis Ohanian share conversations about the collision of community and capital. Michael has an impressive track record, and I could go on introducing him for hours. But now we'll deep dive on his trajectory. In my conversation with Michael we discussed his childhood, his experience as a soccer player, his career pivot to become an investor and more. Here are some of the questions I asked Michael during our conversation:Can you tell us a little about your childhood experience growing up outside of D.C. and your first professional experience playing soccer? Also, can you tell us why you chose to pursue a different path after that at the London School of Economics?; After reading a book called Leaving Microsoft to Change the World by John Wood, you chose not to pursue a soccer career, cold e-mailed the author and started working at his company "Room to Read". Nowadays, how important do you think it is to have an authentic online presence so you can be in a position to generate value like you did by just cold emailing the author? You unfortunately lost your father at a young age, and mainly because you had a good relationship with him, it must have been difficult to deal with it. How did you deal with this important moment of your life?; Over the past decade, we witnessed a groundbreaking era of democratized access to alternative investments.. And, now, we have entered the most exciting wave of democratization of access to alternative investments: democratized access to investing in real things. How do you see the alternative investments market evolving in the next few years and decades? You had extensive experience at iCapital Network, a financial technology company connecting advisors and their high net worth investors to leading alternative investment. What do you think is the ideal percentage of capital allocation for high net worth individuals to alternative investments? When we first connected I shared with you an allocation on an investment because, differently from other VCs, you had that "Rambo" look on your face that made me feel we were very similar in a sense of hustling hard for results. Being on the two sides of the table as an investor and tech executive, how do you think a VC has to help founders make the best out of their businesses?; Maven, from Gagan Biyani, raised $750K from 479 investors on Republic before their $20M Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz. How do you picture the VC landscape changing after on-ramps, equity crowdfunding and companies like Republic democratizes access to the asset class? Thank you very much for an amazing conversation, Michael. If I may, I like to ask rapid fire questions. I'm very interested in a good morning routine. What does yours look like?

Ryan Zauk sits down with fintech investor & frequent Wharton Fintech collaborator, Michael Sidgmore! Michael is a Partner at Broadhaven Ventures, part of Broadhaven Capital Partners, a leading merchant bank focused on financial services. In addition to Broadhaven, Michael runs a media platform called Alt Goes Mainstream, as well as Community x Capital with Reddit Founder Alexis Ohanian. These platforms focus on the emergence of alternative assets, 'culture assets,' investing, and the convergence of community & capital. Michael is ultra-deep in fintech, with years of experience as an investor, operator, advisor, angel, and more in this space. In today’s episode, they discuss: - The evolution of the Alts landscape over the last decade and the major trends that will drive it forward - His investment in and admiration for Republic and its CEO Ken Nguyen - The huge opportunity for wealth managers and alternative assets - The rise of the passion economy with products like sneakers, sports cards, and wine - His collaboration project with Mario Gabriele of the Generalist with Coinbase’s Direct Listing - and much more! Community X Capital: https://comxcap.transistor.fm/ Alt Goes Mainstream: https://altgoesmainstream.substack.com/ -- For more Fintech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/

Today, we have a guest who's democratizing access to private investing. Ken Nguyen is the co-founder and CEO of Republic, a multi-asset investment platform for private markets. Ken is a pioneer in the private markets investing world and a serial operator who knows how to build businesses. He's helped grow Republic to hundreds of millions of dollars in gross transaction volume over the past three years after Republic spun out of AngelList. After Ken was an instrumental part of building the investment and regulatory infrastructure at AngelList, as their General Counsel, Ken founded Republic to create a leading equity crowdfunding platform for both nonaccredited and accredited investors. While their incredible progress on the retail crowdfunding side is remarkable, Republic's platform and vision is so much more than simply a retail crowdfunding platform. They also have an accredited investor platform and they enable investors to invest into everything from real estate to e-sports and gaming financing to small businesses. Republic has done the hard things first. They built the investment infrastructure for private markets. And they combine that with a Robinhood-like investing experience for private markets, for both retail and high net worth investors alike. They've also been innovative in how they engage consumers by creating a Republic Note, a security token that has created network effects on their platform for users.It's been really fun to watch this team execute at a blistering pace from the time that they started out with the idea of enabling investors to invest in startups at twenty dollar minimums, to building out a comprehensive private markets investment platform. Ken has been instrumental in that success with his infectious energy tireless work ethic and drive to create democratized access to investing for people around the world.This was such a fascinating conversation. We talked about Ken's drive for starting an investment platform that could enable everyone to participate in wealth creation in private markets, how investing and owning equity is part of the American Dream, how Republic has unlocked access to private markets for all investors, “Lean back vs lean forward” framework applied to investing (h/t Rishi Garg of Mayfield Fund for the “lean back vs lean forward” framework), and how community is such a big driver of Republic's growth and success as a business.I hope you enjoy.TranscriptNote: This Transcript was created by an AI software package. It is not an exact translation of every word in the podcast.Michael: [00:02:30] Ken, welcome to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. Ken: Michael, thank you so much for having me. It's such a pleasure to be here. Michael: Oh, it's great to see you. I love that background of New York. Ken: I am in New York. So, art mimics real life or the other way around. THE FOUNDERS STORYMichael: [00:02:46] Well, you've had a busy year, so congrats on everything. But before getting into Republic and all the things that you're doing, I'd love to hear your story. I mean, you've had such an incredible story of how you've gotten to Republic. So what is that story? Ken: [00:03:01] Yeah. Thank you, Michael. I definitely have a bit of an unusual founder story.My family immigrated from Vietnam to the Bay Area in California. And so growing up in the late nineties, early 2000's, you hear these stories of companies going IPO and tech and Google and Facebook. But just because you were smack in the middle of Silicon Valley, it doesn't mean that I or my family had anything to do with it.We definitely weren't accredited, but that fascination early on, I think, ended up, staying with me. I ended up going to law school. Started out as a litigation attorney in New York and went into finance. And along the way, I think the story, the headline news that caught my attention the most was always tech companies. You know, you hear more and more of Facebook and then Airbnb. I had the opportunity to go back to the Bay Area and academia. I spent two years as a Teaching Fellow at Stanford and studying corporate governance. But Stanford happens to be also a tech hub. And so more and more, the different stages in my life just inserted me more and closer into the tech ecosystem and then I had an opportunity to join AngelList when they first launched their first syndication product. So I joined. I think the first non-engineer hired as the General Counsel back in 2013, 2014. Part of that work led to a change in the law, which is regulation crowdfunding in 2016. And I'm sure we're going to go into it. But in short, between the Great Depression in the 1930s, all the way to 2016, you had to be a millionaire to invest privately. In 2016, all of that changed. It's like opening up the flood gates. And that's when the team and I set out to found and launch Republic. DEMOCRATIZING ACCESS TO INVESTINGMichael: [00:05:04] That's fascinating. And it seems like you really have a variety of experiences. Everything from the kind of legal and regulatory side to working in startups, to working in private companies. Was there really a specific moment in your life that has driven you to make it your mission to democratize access to investing? Ken: [00:05:25] I think there were three moments. Thinking back, probably the first moment was when my oldest brother who was 15 years older than I am and was already very established by the time I graduated college and he was an accredited investor – the first one in the family to be accredited.And he was like, Hey Ken, do you know how I can invest in this company called Facebook. And I was probably one of the earlier users, one of the earliest users of Facebook. And I'm like, great question. I'm an Associate at a law firm and I have no idea how you can do that. I asked around - no one knew how. Right in the middle of New York City, every law firm partner is a multi-millionaire and they're like, yeah, this is Silicon Valley stuff.So I think that piqued my curiosity, but also I had a desire to be like, Hey, I want to be in. I use this product. I really like it. And wanting me as a stakeholder to be a shareholder. So, I would say that that was the first moment.The second one was when, after two years of spending my time at AngelList, I realized that the accredited only model could only go so far. AngelList did open up the venture ecosystem to a lot more people, but you still have to be in the know, have to be accredited. And, I think that moment when AngelList shifted their attention to focus more on upstream institutional family offices, that's when I was like, wait, there is this law that's going to be effective very soon. And this is exactly what I, as a teenager growing up in Silicon Valley, wish that it was the case that I could get in. So, I think those two moments, rather than three in combination, probably culminated in the idea and the passion for retail investing. Michael: [00:07:31] Well, you're bringing up a really interesting point, right. And it's been during a time where value creation in private markets has far outpaced value creation in public markets. And yet, so many people really up until the past few years with what you're doing with Republic and others have done opening up access to private companies, is enabling people to access some of this value creation. How do you think about that and why is it important for people to be equity owners in things. Ken: [00:08:00] Well, investing has traditionally been dominated by large financial institutions and ultra-wealthy investors at the earlier stages. Right? And so, when a company matures from inception to raising more and more capital to the point of going IPO, much of the wealth generation, much of the upside is captured during those private stages.And that world - private investing - traditionally has been dominated, if not exclusively, the purview of the ultra-wealthy leaving the vast majority of everyone else on the outside, looking in, and really limiting the diversity of ideas and founders that I think can shape our future generations.So, being able to invest or allowing and encouraging and enabling people to invest earlier, I think that aligns passion with profit. It aligns power with profit. And I think particularly the next generations – Millennials and Gen Z - that's what they're looking for. By the time a company is listed on the NASDAQ, your ten dollars, your hundred dollars, your thousand dollars matter almost nothing to the company. But, when a company is still growing with 10,000 investors or customers, and not a million or a billion, that thousand dollars of investment, of purchases that you make, matters a great deal. So, I think enabling people to align their passion with the desire to generate profit is at the heart of the retail revolution that we see.Michael: [00:09:49] Passion and profit, power and profit. I love that. I love that way of describing this and I think we are seeing this groundswell of interest into private assets or investments where people feel they have some level of kind of interest or passion for them to your point. THE WHAT AND WHY OF REPUBLIC?Michael: [00:10:00] What you're really getting at is equity, right? People are now able to have a share in something that they might not have had a share in before. And that's kind of the underpinnings of Republic and it's really open to everybody. So, what is Republic and what's the vision for the business?Ken: [00:10:24] It's funny that you mentioned, or that you pick up on, how we describe what we do in between power and profit and passion. Our tagline is profits to the people. And what we are is that we are hopefully the leading, or one day the leading, investment platform that empowers people to invest in the future that they believe in. Invest in startups, in real estate, in crypto, in music, in sports, and yes, one day, even public companies. If you are very passionate about Apple and Nike, we want you to be able to do that on Republic one day, as well. Right now, we are focusing on the more rarefied, the more difficult ones, which is early-stage private investing. But yes, our goal is enabling, powering people and catalyzing profits to the people. Michael: [00:11:26] And why offer this comprehensive platform across private markets, across various assets, rather than just a single asset and private markets.Ken: [00:11:36] That's a great question. When the decision of building a business ultimately, a founder or a team has to ask, what is the ultimate goal? Why are we doing what we are doing rather than just the profit or how we are generating revenue? So, if the goal is just to generate revenue and build the easiest business model, focus is easier than distraction from a diversified suite of products.But Michael, our goal is, as I mentioned, to be the go-to investment platform where people can go and invest in whatever they're passionate about. So, how can you roll out any platform with that mission and interest. Enabling healthcare or sustainable companies, they're powerful missions to love, but many people are more passionate about blockchain technology.I'm certain that many of the older generations, in particular, are more passionate about real estate. So, we want to make sure that people can come to Republic and find and match their passion with potentially profitable investment opportunities that speak to them. Because of that, we have no choice. Our mission requires a multi-asset, diversified suite of products so that we can, hopefully, one day have billions and billions of people coming to cast their votes with their investment and their dollars. Michael: [00:13:16] So, you talk about something which is really interesting and a strategic decision to some extent, which is, you want all sorts of people to be able to access different assets based on what they're interested in and passionate about wanting to invest in, and see returns potentially in.When you think about that, how have you thought about constructing the platform in the context of, should this be completely self-directed where investors get to really choose what they want? Or should it be more structured? Because there's a real question, a philosophical question, in the Alt Space of whether or not investors should just access structured products. So, products that are manufactured by these platforms and diversified in and of themselves. And then investors just get exposure to a broad space or completely self-directed where somebody goes onto Republic and can invest in any startup they want to. So how do you think about that balance of self-directed, kind of choose your own adventure, versus a more structured or curated way of building investment products in the platform?Ken: [00:14:19] Mike, when it comes to structuring investment product, rather than types of products or types of industries to offer, we also want to provide a range of options for people, because I think investing, the new world of investing, has three main elements. So, passion is one and experience has to be another one and the third one is convenience. Now everyone's time and attention span is so limited. So those three things are taken into consideration. We all know that hardly anyone is passionate about mutual funds. If you put ten dollars into a mutual fund, you're not thrilled about it. You know that it's going to generate consistent returns over time. So, for those whose interest is low on passion and want upside exposure to a certain asset class, we definitely, we currently, and will build products that enable them to do so in a simple, maybe in a diversified basis. But for some people like myself, getting to know a company, getting to know a technology, getting to know a founder, is much of the value and the fun of private investing. And so, that ability to invest directly and have a conversation with that company, with that team, I think that probably still is going to be the dominant part of Republic as an investment platform for the foreseeable future. But we also will have structured products as you describe, as we continue to grow. LEANING BACK, LEANING FORWARD, AND LEANING DOWNMichael: [00:16:25] What you're getting at is something so fascinating, which I'm going to give credit to Rishi Garg, who's a partner at Mayfield, who was talking about this with me in the context of consumer social apps, like Clubhouse and things like that.He made the contrast between lean back and lean forward apps. Where lean back is totally passive, totally unengaged, but you can do it and maybe benefit from it. But lean forward is like an app where you actually have to spend time engaging on maybe it's Twitter, maybe it's even in-person.I think there's actually a real interesting analogy there in the context of what you just said in investing. So how do you think about that kind of lean back versus lean forward mentality when it comes to private market investing? Ken: [00:17:07] I love it, Mike, with that analogy. I have not heard that before except for I think Sheryl Sandberg's book called Lean In but in an entirely different context. One is about being more proactive, more intentional. And I think obviously intention and proactivity - another way of describing it is passion, right? So, when people want to do something that they really care about, it's leaning forward and caring about maybe, you know, social issues. It may have nothing to do with the core reason why you invest, which is always return on capital. But if you can add on other things that speak to you, that makes you more intentional and proactive, that's leaning forward. Leaning backward is for, you know, let's say you are a retired lawyer or that you're a Goldman MD. And you're like, hey, I just want to have exposure to this asset class known as crypto. I don't understand it yet. I think it's a little crazy. So, I want to have some exposure into it. So, can I just basically invest in some major pieces with a small amount and lean back? I would add a new category which is lean down. There again, you don't have to do anything. And, you know, we are thinking, not thinking, we have already integrated, but we'll definitely even push that product even more - retirement funds, illiquid. Currently, everyone, most people, have tens of thousands of dollars, most professionals, in their IRA deployed in some random mutual fund. So that's our lean down approach, which is you can use money, not from your checking account, not from your savings account, that you can't touch for another 30 years. Leave 5% of that or 2% of that and through Autopilot, diversify into real estate, crypto, female founders, whatever it may be, but you can just lean back and let it generate a return. So, between lean forward, lean back and lean down, we hope to capture them all over time. Michael: [00:19:28] No, that's a really interesting point on the IRA assets because the self-directed IRAs are really a great fit for longer-dated assets, private equity, startups, which may take seven to 10 years to mature or have a liquidity event, so that seems to match really well with the timeframe of an IRA. I do want to touch on one thing that you said around the lean forward part of really getting involved and engaging with the companies, the investments that people make. You've done some really interesting consumer things with Republic, in terms of having people create profiles, sharing with companies where people can help. Talk about how and why you've done that and how the creation of community is maybe different than how we've been experiencing investing in the past. Ken: [00:20:19] I would observe two trends, two technological and social trends in the past four or five years that I think have influenced our product ideation and creation. One trend is the digital community adoption. You even see Facebook now driving or focusing a lot more on Facebook groups. That's how people interact now. Clubhouse is a fantastic example of - we are just at the early days of - new iterations of communities. So that trend - humans by nature will work as community, social creatures, but technology has enabled the formation and the sharing of information in a way that wasn't possible just a half a decade ago.The second trend is the intentionality of generation after generation that Millennial moreso than the generation ahead, in Gen Z even moreso, on wanting impact on and caring about the consequences of their actions to the larger society. My parent's generation, as an example, when they were in their twenties or thirties, recycling wasn't a thing. Buying products that would help the world to be greener was not in anyone's psyche.So over time, in the Seventies and Eighties, people started seeing the impact of what they buy - their purchasing power. And I think when it got to our generation, and now the newer generation, is the shifting of everything that you do, even the clothes that you buy, but more than that, investment, even in public companies, I think the need for, or how much people care about the consequences, the social consequences of their activities are definitely amplifying over time. And that's a great thing. It's really amazing.So the two of the trends in combination, I think led us to focus a lot on building products that have community potential and that can enable people to learn not from a single source of truth, not from a long newsletter or blog that we send out about the value of the Black Swan Theory or the Black-Scholes Model or Black Swan events, but about normal everyday folks sharing maybe even 20 video clips on Twitter and TicTok explaining why they're passionate or why they think an investment opportunity is good for them and learning from that.So I think those two trends definitely dictate or play a heavy role in our product and ideation process.FUNDING ON REPUBLICMichael: [00:23:21] And are companies that come to your platform to raise from the community of Republic investors - Are they finding this valuable or is that one reason why they're actually coming to the platform to raise capital?Ken: [00:23:32] That's a very interesting question, Michael. It goes to the question, it relates to another question that I often get - Are people looking to community funding, retail funding as the last resort and you can't get VC capital. Then you come to us. And that question is related to yours in this way.Any company that is consumer-focused, obviously wants to engage their customer, even more. If you can get a customer who loved you so much to part ways with their $50 that he won't see anything back for a while, why would that be a bad signal ever for any institutional investor or sophisticated investor?That's an excellent signal. So, the type of companies that I think in the early phase of the retail revolution definitely lean heavily on B to C. These are consumer-focused companies and because of that, the customers, their consumers, matter a great deal. So, Republic managed to attract not only companies that have large customer bases, but we get rave reviews for the product and how easy it is to use.And, hopefully, we're going to grow it and maintain that reputation. But I think that's a key part. Republic has two sets of customers - founders, but also investors on our platform. Companies are not going to be happy unless their customers are having an amazing experience on our platform and because of that we focus on building products that seem to be targeting or emphasizing engagement and education or an interaction, just to give everyone a very good inclusive experience. But Michael, if I may make an observation about what you said earlier about how, if you are a shareholder of Apple or Starbucks, that statistics show that you are more likely to buy Apple over Samsung or Starbucks over Pete's coffee.And I think it is so true, but it's even more true when you're an early investor. Let's say there's a small coffee shop owned by a couple down the block from everyone. And it's down the block from where we live. And you're able to invest a hundred dollars into that couple's coffee shop business.And whenever you go back there, you have a little table for investors. I imagine whether you are a student or retiree, whether you're a lawyer or a carpenter, when you go and buy that cup of coffee or a glass of water and hang out with your friend, you're naturally going to go to that coffee shop, right? The same with an early investor in a beer brand, in a vodka brand, in anything that, that we consume.So that psychological alignment is a remarkably powerful value. That's why a lot of companies look at retail fundraising, not for money, not for a source of capital as the primary motive, but as a marketing and engagement force. Michael: [00:27:04] You've now built the infrastructure to enable people to invest into startups, crypto tokens, real estate, even venture funds. So, talk us through both of those things. So, one, quality control and curation, which is key to any marketplace, and then two, the infrastructure that underpins that. Ken: [00:27:23] We are an investment platform, first and foremost, and return on capital is ultimately our customer's number one objective. They can add passion and impact to their investment decisions, but if they don't make money in the long run, we are going to have zero customers. So, because of that we focus heavily on curating what we believe to be credible, high-quality investment products, but venture by one area of return, is just one type.A coffee shop in the example that I just gave you earlier is unlikely to ever be acquired or raise venture financing and go public, but it very likely can generate robust revenue. And, if you enable customers to invest under the form of revenue sharing, out of one hundred dollars the coffee shop generates, it passes back ten dollars to early investors. It is very aligned and still can be a very attractive, compelling investment product, for many. Real estate in the same way. You are never going to see a 10X return, rarely ever. And you very rarely see a one hundred percent loss. In an early-stage tech company, doesn't matter if it's YC or backed by Sequoia, if you invest in one deal in the seed stage, the probability of losing all of your money - doesn't matter if it's on Republic or anywhere else - is exceedingly high. So, all of these things we have to deliver in terms of information, but we want to make sure that what we bring on and curate and present to our community are credible and are, in our best judgment, of high quality. In the long run, I very much believe that there's a thesis as to what we do here, which is the crowd of retail investors. You will have case studies I think in a few years out that show that companies, backed by the retail investor in the earliest of stages that were outside of the venture lens, just in tech, may be just as competitive in terms of viability and how robust of an investment opportunity they are. So, this is a notion of wisdom of the crowd. And I just want to focus in on tech as a vertical first, because that's still the main dominant vertical on Republic.There's a narrative here that you only want to onboard companies that are either already backed by VC or that are venture backable, because those are deemed to be of high quality. There's definitely truth to that. A company backed by you, Michael, or by Alfred Lin at Sequoia is more likely going to succeed. But what about the founders and companies that don't have access to you, don't have access to Alfred Lin. And statistics very much show that mostly female, older, or founders who aren't in Silicon Valley or the two coasts, have very little access to venture capital. So, we do present investment opportunities that we find to be credible and hope that if they speak to a larger retail public, that they may get the capital they need to grow and grow to be of a stage where they can be appealing to you and to Alfred.So we view venture retail investing as additive, contributive in the long run to the ecosystem rather than being competitive, so to speak. It's a long-winded way of answering your question, Michael, but we value very much on traditional indications of quality, as well as testing out models that can speak to people's passion, even if they fall outside of the traditional VC lens of credibility. Michael: [00:31:42] Well, you're hitting on something that I think is so important, which is that early-stage investing, in many respects, is about finding outliers. But in some cases, finding outliers means going outside of the mainstream or what's more traditional or even going outside of different networks.We've talked about community in one sense, which is having people and investors, consumers support companies. But you've also built community around creating a diverse set of people who can help you find the right companies, funds, and assets to put on your platform that may be overlooked by others. So, I'd love to talk about community in that respect because that's something that's so core to what you're doing and so different from what many others have done.Ken: [00:32:29] The notion of inclusion and access I think has to be looked at under both lenses, which is the founder's access to capital, customers, and businesses. You know, it's a crazy statistic, but even when it comes to business loans by the government, apparently female founders representing fifty percent, give or take, of all small businesses comprise less than fifteen percent of small business loans, which are supposed to be pretty much, if you have revenue, you get the loan. So, this lack of information and access permeates all throughout the different forms of capital sources and businesses. But then you also have the customer, the investor base on the lack of opportunities. You know, it's funny, but we noticed, and we hope, that as Republic continues to grow, that we make it easy and comfortable for that high school student, perhaps in Detroit, whose parents are not sophisticated investors, but in a classroom, instead of Fidelity or Apple donating computers, maybe they donate a thousand dollars in grants to the entire high school class.And each student gets a chance to invest ten dollars for fun on a platform like Republic as financial education. I imagine if you do that, even with any sense of life skill, you're going to have a whole new generation that are much more financially sophisticated. Certainly would be more than me. My niece and nephew now are more financially sophisticated than me when I was in college or law school even.And I think that financial equity is very much a solution to social inequities, the many inequities that we see. So, our focus on access and inclusion applies on both sides of our customer base. Michael: [00:34:30] I love that - financial equity is a solution to social inequity. I mean, that really gets to what you're saying here, which is that talent may be evenly distributed, but the opportunity is not so you have to help find that - help people find those opportunities. So, what have you done in terms of building out this community of venture partners and this network of people who've helped you find investments in different places where others may not have been able to look? Ken: [00:35:00] Michael, I can't really take credit on my own because I've been - one of the most fortunate thing about my journey building Republic has been able to convince such a committed, talented, and most importantly, diverse team of colleagues to join. So, my colleague, Cheryl Campos, who heads Venture Growth and Venture Partnerships for Republic, through her work she has launched a Venture Program and now does a Venture Fellow Program for those still in MBA programs.And soon she will do a Venture Associates Program that's meant to go even deeper to undergrad. But the notion here is that in order to attract diverse founders, and to improve access inclusion in the space, you also have to incubate and support diverse venture capitalists as well. And I think that, as when I first started out at a law firm, I may have been the only Asian American law associate in a class of approximately 60. Now, across the board, some 15 years later, it's much more diverse.And I think that with the proliferation of venture capital as a business model, you now have diverse talent in venture as a percentage, much higher than what you saw 10 years ago. So, the Venture Partner Program is to build a community to support, and to also get them to help evangelize for what we are building because the notion of access and inclusion certainly applies to venture as well.I would not be able to do that myself because I'm just one voice, one lens and one experience. And I think that to build a community, you need people with the same mission, but all different backgrounds so that we all can communicate and understand and a different lens and get more to join the mission and the journey.THE REGULATORY ENVIRONMENTMichael: [00:37:12] Interesting. Interesting. And then to some extent, the regulatory environment, which you've actually been leading the charge on - you've been in DC, helping legislators, regulators figure this out. What's been going on from a regulatory perspective that's enabled you to unlock access to private markets to retail non-accredited investors? Ken: [00:37:36] Well, since the great depression in the 1930s, in the infinite wisdom of Congress, someone decided, hey, if you're not a millionaire, you should not invest privately because it's too high risk.I mean, it makes no sense. It stopped making sense a long while ago. In 2010, for example, private investing was legal for most people. Gambling wasn't but buying lottery tickets was highly promoted. So, it obviously is not making sense. But I think that people are truly waking up to the power of that false narrative - this is the example of the Reddit and Game Stop saga that we saw very recently. It used to be that people thought that the public markets were much more low risk or safer for the individual retail investor and it's decidedly not so. Market timing, insider trading, and predatory behavior can result in very, very risky and just pitfalls that you don't see in the private markets. So, I think both in Congress as well as at the SEC regulatory level, people understand that, people see that, and they are taking a close look.And there's no question in my mind, that you're going to see more and more easing of the rules and regulations around allowing retail investors to invest in more asset classes. At the end of the day, you have to make sure, and that's the goal and the rule, and the reason why the SEC exists is to protect investors, first and foremost, but what it means to do so, and how to do so, changes with time. Technology and society change faster than the law, just by the construct of it.But there's no question that laws and regulations will follow. They have been following and I have no doubt that they will continue to follow. So, you are going to see this retail revolution, is really driven in part by a more relaxed regulatory framework around investing. THE REPUBLIC NOTE TOKENMichael: [00:39:51] Well, so retail revolution - I want to extend that point that you're talking about. So, one part of that is fractionalization of assets, which you are in part, along with some others in the Alts Space, kind of a pioneer on, and it's really unlocking opportunities in all sorts of alternative assets. You've done this in a few different ways, but one way you've kind of extended this even further is with the Republic Note. So tell us about this Note, because it's really an innovation in private capital markets. Ken: [00:40:23] Michael, if I may first share a view about blockchain or distributed ledger technology and how it relates to FinTech and to Republic and how it is so core, instrumental to our mission of global adoption of private investing.My ultimate goal, and I think right now we have a community of over a million members, it's not a success until we have a community of like a billion members, but I think it would make me happy, and I definitely would smile when my distant cousin in a small village in Vietnam can invest five dollars into a startup or some investment products on Republic. Currently, that is not possible. To make that investment cross-border, the fee is like 30 bucks and they don't have bank accounts. And most banks in Vietnam don't synch so easily with JP Morgan and Bank of America. Now Vietnam happens to be a very crypto friendly country. Surprisingly, enough people, even in small villages do own a fraction of Bitcoin or Ether. So, the ability to enable global participation at a tiny scale, five dollars may not be a lot for a college student in the US at Columbia or at the University of Michigan, but it's a lot of money for a single mom, middle-class woman living in Hanoi, Vietnam even today. Right? So, how do we enable more investment, more activities, more transactions at scale globally? You cannot do that without blockchain, without this technology. And it has already enabled, to accept investment globally at a far smaller minimum amount than we did before.So the ability to factionalize and automate, factionalize any assets to tiny, tiny pieces, therefore lowering the minimum amount and the ability to automate and streamline the process of confirmation payment settlements are key parts of FinTech and retail adoption. The Republic Note Token, we do have our own token as you mentioned, this currently is the only, as far as I know, revenue sharing digital token in the US and it happens to be available to our entire community.So, the theory behind that, Michael, is that we want it so that even people with just a dollar can somehow share in Republic's success, as we are still a very private company. We have a million members plus. If they want, or they used to be able to, buy or earn some tokens, some Republic Note Tokens. And, as we continue to grow, they're going to earn a little bit of payout potential and dividends.So the goal, the ultimate goal, is this: In the year 2030 or 2028, a company that had raised on Republic in 2017 and now is as large as Uber or Coinbase is going public. And this is the headline news across the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal about company ABC's IPO. You know what Uber did then? About a thousand early investors had a big smile on their faces and about 200,000 Uber users and drivers had a big frown because they got nothing – it was not relevant. We hope that when company ABC that raised on Republic a few years ago, and in eight years goes IPO, that you can have, not only the early investors in that company but 5,000 investors in that company, being very happy, but every Noteholder, hopefully, at that point a hundred million. They may get five dollars back. It's not going to make anyone rich. They may get three dollars per Note, but for once they feel like a part of the story on that front page, in that newspaper. And I think that's what people ultimately want and care about. Money and making profit and investing is not just making money for money's sake. It's about buying happiness and security. And you know what, being a part of something, feeling like you matter in a larger society. Two dollars payback, but yes, you are a part of this narrative. I think that part of our mission of what we are building is that we hope to contribute a little bit to a societal sense of fairness and hopefully, more societal stability, especially compared to the year that we just went through in 2020 and earlier this year.Michael: [00:45:29] And it also sounds like they get access to everything that's on the Republic platform. So, they're getting this diversified access to private markets, which as you continue to build that flywheel of private companies of crypto assets, of real estate projects, of video game financing projects, they're going to get access to everything. Ken: [00:45:46] Yes. I'll give another shot at defining the Republic Note Token a little bit more succinctly. So, the Note is a revenue-sharing digital token. We can share a portion of that upside back to the token holders. So, in many ways, it's like a perpetual bet into this growing basket of companies. And even if a thousand companies fail, if one company succeeds, a little bit will go back to each and every single token. And that's what I meant earlier by saying that we hope that by doing that, and if we truly made sure and become the go-to platform for every and any company that looked to raise and grow, that the Noteholders have broad exposure and would be linked to the success of literally tens of thousands of companies and more down the road.Michael: [00:46:58] That's really cool. Because it just gives people access to all sorts of assets in the private markets that some of which may be very successful, others which may not work out as well. But by having diversified access, then they can benefit from everything on the platform, which I think is such an interesting innovation. Ken: [00:47:18] Michael, it just occurred to me that the Note Token may be the ultimate example of the lie down and lie back example. Michael: [00:47:25] Yes it is. Ken: [00:47:27] You can earn the Notes if you don't want to buy the Note and then have broad exposure to the entire ecosystem and be part of this story without having to do anything. Michael: [00:47:38] Yes, that's fascinating. So that maybe that is the right definition of the lie down part of the lean back-lie down lean-forward, and you can participate in any of those ways. If you want, to your point, to get engaged in and help some of these companies on the Republic platform, you may be able to earn tokens for that.Ken: [00:47:56] I am going to have to give credit to you when we file that lie down-lean back investing trademark application as a description of Republic.Michael: [00:48:06] Oh no. Give credit to Rishi. He was the one who shared that with me. But yes, I'm sure he'll appreciate that as somebody who's worked at Twitter and Square, so he's seen it, he's seen things from kind of the financial services perspective and the consumer social perspective. But, no, that's fascinating. THE ROUND ANNOUNCEMENTMichael: [00:48:22] I think we have to touch on some of the big news that just broke. So, you raised a substantial round to grow your business. People are very excited about what's going on with Republic. Why did you decide to raise capital and what are you going to do with this additional capital?Ken: [00:48:40] Okay. Thank you so much, Michael. It's been four-plus years. And part of the reason why we raised this financing round was to show to the world, and ourselves, that what we are building now is of institutional-grade - is no longer like a fringe, quirky business model. So, we're first of all, so honored and Broadhaven, of course, has been an early supporter and we're delighted to be a portfolio company of Broadhaven, but Galaxy Digital, Nomura, and Naspers are in the round together with Motley Fool Ventures.So these are traditional brands. Nomura, it doesn't get more traditional and institutional than that. Naspers is one of the largest, I think they go by Prosus now, is one of the largest venture firms in the world, and they've never backed a crypto project before. The Republic Note Token is Naspers' very first crypto investment.So, all of these institutional investors involvement, I think not only validates what we do at Republic, but also the industry. That is the retail industry, the blockchain industry as an ecosystem, and this notion of the future of why adoption of retail investing is a model.Michael: [00:50:08] That's fascinating to see the traditional financial services worlds blending with the next gen version of financial services, which is the democratization of access. But that's both in terms of traditional company equity and also the crypto world and the DeFi world, which it seems like you're really with your investor base, but also with what you're building kind of the blending of all of those things as you institutionalize and bring more institutions onto the platform like a Nomura which is fascinating.Finale: Favorite InvestmentMICHAEL: [00:50:39] So to wrap up, I always ask everyone what is their favorite or best investment idea? Ken: [00:50:47] I'm going to share my investment idea that I came up with when I was in college, no first year of law school. I don't think I was of an age to invest in college. Once a week, my recommendation now to my sibling's kids, my nieces and nephews, is that vice that you spend money on once a week, or at least once a month, just cut back on that vice, that one vice. Use that dollar to invest. Buy stock, public stock back then, and now invest in whatever it is that you care about. But be consistent. So, don't one day put it in shoes on StockX and on another day put it in wine. Just pick one thing and be consistent with it. Literally, one cocktail in Manhattan is like eighteen dollars, in a college town maybe like six dollars. These things add up. And if you do that, it's going to be a really fun learning experience. In my case, I can't tell you what I've been reliably putting my money in, but it has done very well for me over the years, but I'm old. MICHAEL: [00:51:59] Well, no, I mean, I think what you're getting at is something really fascinating, which is, and it's ironic that you're drinking a Starbucks right now while we're having this interview. But basically if people, and I saw a statistic on this the other day, that if people had the three or four dollars they're spending a day on coffee, if they had put some of that money into crypto or Bitcoin, or it could be in startups or the Republic Note Token, that capital has the chance to appreciate in a way that those three, four dollars spent on a Starbucks coffee every day may not. So, I think that that's fantastic, fantastic advice. Even as you drink your Starbucks. Ken: [00:52:37] Michael, you asked me a question that you ask everyone. What is their investment idea? May I ask you a question that I've been meaning to ask people that I know, but I have yet to, which is, I think the future is no longer about investing in a given range of options, but the question is what would you want to invest in that you currently are not able to. Because that desire for people to want to invest in new things, I think necessarily will make that happen.So, I would love to hear what is one thing that you have not been able to invest in. For any reason that you really want. MICHAEL: [00:53:22] That's a great question. You know, I think it's actually starting to become true already with some of the infrastructure that's being built. We're just starting to see the early days of this. But I think so many people in the world love sports, me included. I played soccer. I collected football cards, basketball cards, growing up as a kid. And I think the ability to marry - exactly what you said - passion with the ability to invest, is so powerful. Right? And there's so much to learn. For people who've never learned or understood investing in a more traditional sense, because maybe they find it really boring or hard to and inaccessible to learn about stocks. They may be able to do that with something like sports cards if they love LeBron James and they could learn all about LeBron James. So, I think we're starting to see this. Some of the infrastructure is being built in the sports card space, where people are now able to invest in sports cards in either fractional ways or in more, or in larger ways and invest into cards.But I think, I would love to see that happen because, for me, I love sports, but the ability to marry that and combine that with investing, I think is just the kind of perfect collision of those two things. So, it's not something that's not totally possible. It is starting to become possible, but I'm super excited to see that become more of a reality and financialize itself as an asset.Ken: [00:54:52] Michael, I promise you, I will do my very best to bring sports investing to Republic within this year. MICHAEL: [00:54:59] Well, the other one is, is not just cards, but sports teams, as well. I think talk about the kind of combination of community and fandom with the ability to invest in something. And I mean, sports teams are, whether it's English, you know, English football teams, and it doesn't have to be the Premiership teams, it could be the local town teams where people grow up as fans and they love those teams with a passion. They pass that down to their kids and their kids' kids. Imagine if they had the ability to invest in that as well, not just be a spectator on the sidelines, but have the chance to be in the game with the team and the owners and the players.I think that would actually be a really, really cool thesis. Cards are a financial asset or representation of players, but sports teams themselves are proving to be potential good investments as well. I mean, you look at the value of MLS teams have gone up massively. I think we'll see the same in women's soccer with the NWSL.So, that's actually one where if the Republic platform could give the crowd and fans the ability to invest into sports teams, I think that would be super cool as well. Ken: [00:56:10] Maybe we give every investor an NFT that is issued by the sports team. If they hold onto the investment they have that NFT. If they sell the investment the NFT goes with it.  Michael: [00:56:25] All the leagues are going to have to contact you because I think there's absolutely something here that they should be thinking about.Ken: [00:56:32] Send it my way. But yeah, anything that anyone is a distinct holder in - fan of a sports team or a fan of a movie, I think they definitely should, and hopefully one day you can become a shareholder or stakeholder.Michael: [00:56:52] That's a great way to end this podcast because I think you've touched on community, you've touched on passion, you've touched on profit, and it's just also so exciting to see, having known you for the past four years and seeing you when you were just starting out Republic, just to see you build this business into something that really is based on the passion that is associated with investing, the community that's associated with investing.I mean, you're truly democratizing access to financial services, which is such an important piece of what the next wave of financial services looks like. Ken: [00:57:24] Thank you so much, Michael. And thank you for all your encouragement and support along the way, even during days and months, that that was so new and early and no one believed in us just yet and you did. Michael: [00:57:37] Hey, the one thing I've learned is never doubt Ken Nguyen. So …Ken: Thank you, sir. Michael: Awesome. Well, thanks for having you on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. Ken: Thanks for having me.Michael: [01:08:34] Thanks for listening to this episode of Alt Goes Mainstream. I hope you enjoyed it. You can find more episodes of the podcast at any of your favorite podcast sites. And you can read more about Alts on my Substack AltGoesMainstream.substack.com and follow me on Twitter at @MichaelSidgmore and @GoesAlt[01:08:52] Thanks a lot. Have a great day. Republic Disclaimer: With regard to any reference to an issuer reference in this notice that is gauging interest in a potential securities offering pursuant to the Regulation A exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act, including opportunities to “reserve” securities as indications of interest in the potential offering, please note that pursuant to SEC Rule 252 (i) no money or other consideration is being solicited thereby, and if sent in response, will not be accepted, (ii) no sales will be made or commitments to purchase accepted until the offering statement for the potential offering is qualified by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, (iii) any such offer may be withdrawn or revoked, without obligation or commitment of any kind, at any time before notice of its acceptance is given after the qualification date, and (iv) an indication of interest is non-binding and involves no obligation or commitment of any kind.  

On today’s episode, WFT covers one of the two certainties of life…and no, we’re not talking about taxes. Ryan Zauk is joined by Dan Garrett, Founder & CEO of Farewill, the UK fintech radically changing the way we deal with death (from the financial side, of course). You might be asking, what does death have to do with fintech? Well, 1 Trillion Pounds of assets will be transferred intergenerationally in the next decade in the UK alone. And wills are the primary method of transfer. Farewill is the first company offering a friendly, simple, D2C website to set up wills, probates, funerals measures, and more for a fraction of the cost of your local lawyer. Farewill has become the largest will-writer in the UK while maintaining an astounding NPS of 85. Last year, Farewill raised 20 million pounds from a top list of investors including Highland Europe, the CEOs of Transferwise and Headspace, and former Wharton FinTech guests Tim Levene of Augmentum Fintech and Michael Sidgmore of Broadhaven. In this fun episode, Dan and Ryan discuss: - Dan’s inspiring mission to change the way we handle death - The funniest things he’s seen in a will...it involves a Karen (Starts at about 13:30) - Farewill’s core products and why they have been so successful - Marketing a product nobody wants to think about (with the help of rugby legend Gareth Thomas) - Why ‘death tech’ was so ripe for disruption thanks to private equity and a lack of innovation - And the absolutely stunning canary in a coalmine he saw at the start of COVID. For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/

In our latest episode, Hinal Shah (WG’20) is joined by Michael Sidgmore, a Partner at Broadhaven Ventures. Broadhaven is a venture capital firm focused on early-stage investment opportunities at the intersection of financial services and technology. Broadhaven Ventures is a VC fund affiliated with Broadhaven Capital Partners, an independent fintech investment bank that has done over $50 billion in transaction volume. Broadhaven Ventures has investments in companies like Liveoak (acquired by DocuSign), Credijusto, Kyash, MoneyLion, Starship, BioCatch, Harvest Wealth, Kovi, and Nowports. Michael Sidgmore is also a Venture Partner at Goodwater Capital, a consumer tech VC that has invested in fintech companies including Toss, Monzo, Stash, Kyash, and Tide, amongst others. Prior to Broadhaven, Michael was an operator at two different fintech startups, where he helped build their sales teams. He was employee #8 at iCapital Network and was the first sales hire at Mosaic. Michael started his career on Goldman Sachs' Principal Strategic Investments Group in London. Michael holds a BSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics. In this interview, Michael shares: - Broadhaven’s approach to fintech investing globally - The types of business they seek out - Fintech opportunities in emerging markets and future trends to watch - The impact of COVID-19 and the opportunities it may bring for fintech and non-fintech players - Advice for those looking to enter venture capital or start/join fintech companies And much more…

Episode 66 of the Paranormal Mysteries Podcast:In 2019, the United States Navy finally admitted that UFOs not only exist, but that they have been tracking and studying them for years and they are now referring to them as UAPs; also known as Unidentified Aerial Phenomena. While this admission came as no surprise to many of us, it was validation for thousands of people across the country who had been previously told by authorities that UFOs aren’t real.But for many people around the world, the painfully slow pace at which many governments divulge declassified information is too little too late and the stories in today’s episode are in my opinion, striking examples of blatant cover ups involving some very bizarre incidents. Some of which are becoming more well known because of information that has surfaced within the last couple of decades, which leads me to our first story known most prominently as the Westall UFO Incident.Podcast Source:https://www.spreaker.com/show/paranormal-mysteries-podcastReference Sources:Alien UFO Research (alien-ufo-research.com) / BBC1 John Craven’s Newsround / BBC (bbc.com) / Best of Wales (bestofwales.co.uk) / Mysterious Universe (mysteriousuniverse.org) / News.com.au / Queensland UFO Sightings and Research (youtube.com/channel/UCMUzTnkxjPfLyaJNfsQxMTg) / Studio 10 (10play.com.au/studio-10) / Swansea UFO Network (sufon.co.uk) “David Davies speaks at the Broad Haven Conference” (youtube.com/watch?v=vDYMFX4vbIA)Contact:Email: paranormalmysteriespodcast@gmail.comWebsite: http://paranormalmysteriespodcast.comSupport The Podcast:Patreon Membership:https://www.patreon.com/join/paranormalmysteries?One-Time Donation:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/paranormalSocial Media:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paranormalmysteriespodcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/paranormalmysteriespodcastTwitter: https://twitter.com/ParaMysteryPodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/paranormalmysteriespodcastSpecial Thanks to All of Our Wonderful Supporters:Trista, Robin, Marjorie, Clyde, Cassandra, Jan, Skyler, Courtney, Worsenary, Dave, Kathy, Brett, Kortnie, Juli, Tiffany, Tom, Stephen, Alysa, Mystica, Carley, Kyriakos, Eunecka, Mary, Andrew, Sarah, Angie, Nick, James S, Molybdenum, Mattie, KA, Collin, James P, Chris, Christy, Buster, Michael, Kim, Amanda, Ivonne, Santiago, Angelo, Jordan, Andrea, Colt, Annalyssa, Kasey, Sonia, Kadee, Pam, Christina, Seth, Lisa, Kevin, Breeann, Raymond, Florencia, Katie, Arely, Haze, Stella

Episode 66 of the Paranormal Mysteries Podcast:In 2019, the United States Navy finally admitted that UFOs not only exist, but that they have been tracking and studying them for years and they are now referring to them as UAPs; also known as Unidentified Aerial Phenomena. While this admission came as no surprise to many of us, it was validation for thousands of people across the country who had been previously told by authorities that UFOs aren’t real.But for many people around the world, the painfully slow pace at which many governments divulge declassified information is too little too late and the stories in today’s episode are in my opinion, striking examples of blatant cover ups involving some very bizarre incidents. Some of which are becoming more well known because of information that has surfaced within the last couple of decades, which leads me to our first story known most prominently as the Westall UFO Incident.Podcast Source:https://www.spreaker.com/show/paranormal-mysteries-podcastReference Sources:Alien UFO Research (alien-ufo-research.com) / BBC1 John Craven’s Newsround / BBC (bbc.com) / Best of Wales (bestofwales.co.uk) / Mysterious Universe (mysteriousuniverse.org) / News.com.au / Queensland UFO Sightings and Research (youtube.com/channel/UCMUzTnkxjPfLyaJNfsQxMTg) / Studio 10 (10play.com.au/studio-10) / Swansea UFO Network (sufon.co.uk) “David Davies speaks at the Broad Haven Conference” (youtube.com/watch?v=vDYMFX4vbIA)Contact:Email: paranormalmysteriespodcast@gmail.comWebsite: http://paranormalmysteriespodcast.comSupport The Podcast:Patreon Membership:https://www.patreon.com/join/paranormalmysteries?One-Time Donation:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/paranormalSocial Media:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paranormalmysteriespodcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/paranormalmysteriespodcastTwitter: https://twitter.com/ParaMysteryPodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/paranormalmysteriespodcastSpecial Thanks to All of Our Wonderful Supporters:Trista, Robin, Marjorie, Clyde, Cassandra, Jan, Skyler, Courtney, Worsenary, Dave, Kathy, Brett, Kortnie, Juli, Tiffany, Tom, Stephen, Alysa, Mystica, Carley, Kyriakos, Eunecka, Mary, Andrew, Sarah, Angie, Nick, James S, Molybdenum, Mattie, KA, Collin, James P, Chris, Christy, Buster, Michael, Kim, Amanda, Ivonne, Santiago, Angelo, Jordan, Andrea, Colt, Annalyssa, Kasey, Sonia, Kadee, Pam, Christina, Seth, Lisa, Kevin, Breeann, Raymond, Florencia, Katie, Arely, Haze, Stella

A global perspective on fintech helps Broadhaven Ventures cross-pollinate customer experience best practices from the U.S., Europe, Latin America and Asia. Today’s guest is Michael Sidgmore, who is a partner at Broadhaven Ventures, a venture capital fund affiliated with Broadhaven Capital Partners, an independent fintech investment bank. Broadhaven Ventures has investments in known fintechs like Credijusto, Kyash, MoneyLion, Starship, Liveoak (recently acquired by DocuSign), BioCatch, Harvest Wealth, Kovi and Nowports. Michael is also a venture partner at Goodwater Capital, a consumer tech venture capital firm that’s invested in Toss, Monzo, Stash, Kyash and Tide, among others. Michael joins us to discuss the diversity of pain points fintech companies are solving for globally and the evolution of the embedded finance paradigms among its portfolio companies and beyond.

Mike Packer, Partner at QED, and Michael Sidgmore, Partner at Broadhaven Ventures, are active investors in Latin America, with collective portfolio companies including Credijusto, Loft, Nubank and many more. In this conversation, we discuss market dynamics, nuances and opportunities in Latin American fintech and much more. For all of our past episodes and to sign up for our newsletter, please visit www.bankingthefuture.com. Thank you very much for joining us today. Please welcome, Mike Packer and Michael Sidgmore.

Beidh cruinniú in óstán an Broadhaven i mBéal an Mhuirthead san oíche amárach mar gheall ar dhrochstaid an bhóthair idir Bhéal an Mhuirthead agus an Fód Dubh i Maigh Eo.

When Michael Sidgmore thinks about investing, he thinks about making the biggest impact possible in people’s lives. His passion for economic development and financial inclusion has led him to build a career as a fintech investor and entrepreneur focused on financial infrastructure, wealth management, and financial inclusion. Today, he is a Partner and cofounder of Broadhaven Ventures, a Silicon Valley based fintech venture capital firm that has invested in 5 startups in Latin America.   Broadhaven Ventures invests globally in early-stage fintech startups but largely focuses on Latin America and the US. The fund was built out of a market leading fintech investment bank called Broadhaven Capital Partners to start to invest directly into some of the best companies they were seeing on the investment banking side of the business.  In this episode, I sit down with Michael in Mexico City to talk about his background in soccer, then in tech banking, and how an NGO inspired him to kickstart his investing career. We discuss what led him to do venture capital in Latin America, and also cover some of the biggest trends in Latin American fintechs and how these compare to Asia and the US. “It was fascinating to see a non profit be run like a business” While Michael studied International Relations at the LSE, he worked at Room to Read, a non-profit that focuses on improving literacy and gender equality in education in the developing world. He was not only amazed at how they built economic development in different countries, but also by the business side of the organization.  Listen to this episode of Crossing Borders to learn more about how Michael realized he could build companies with positive financial return that could also create a huge social impact in people’s lives.  Thinking about Investing in a cash-based economy Michael stresses the importance of spending time in an ecosystem in order to fully understand it. When he started investing in Latin America, he would come down once a quarter for meetings and immerse himself in the environment. There are a number of cultural differences in the way that people think about their financial lives in Latin America that need to be understood before investing, such as the heavy dependance on cash or the lack of trust in banks. Learn more about the different ways in which people think about money in LatAm in this episode of Crossing Borders. The Rise of the Stealth Fintechs According to Michael, an interesting theme in LatAm and Asia is that non fintechs are becoming fintechs. Several high frequency usage models like Rappi, Grow, and Kovi are getting into financial services by releasing their own payments platforms like Rappipay or Grin wallet. Michael considers these new players will be a defining feature in LatAm’s future fintech ecosystem. Listen to this episode to find out what are the current trends in LatAm’s fintech ecosystem.  Michael Sidgmore is passionate about combining business with social impact. Through his work at Broadhaven Ventures he is driving financial inclusion and economic development in Latin America and the US. Show Notes: [1:04] - About Broadhaven Ventures [2:11] - From Middlebury to London [2:49] - Working on both sides of the table [4:25] - Lessons learned from the entrepreneur side [5:47] - Why is FinTech part of the investment thesis [7:30] - A subconscious interest in LatAm [10:08] - Biggest surprises that you ran into looking at the fintech ecosystem? [11:37] - Doing business in Brazil [14:16] - Comparing LatAm to Southeast Asia and the US [23:25] - What’s next for Michael and Broadhaven Ventures? [27:10] - Books, blogs, or podcasts Michael recommends [29:20] - Advice for founder’s in LatAm pitching a VC [34:20] - Advice for Michael’s younger self Resources mentioned: Room to Read Mosaic iCapital Credijusto Kovi Grow Pipefy Psafe Gympass Nowports Hope in the Unseen - Ron Suskind Leaving Microsoft to Change the World - John Wood Betting it All - Michael S. Malone The Twenty Minute VC  Y Combinator

A New Gig for Financial Services: Delivering Financial Stability to a Changing Workforce Shayne Mullen, Qwil Matthias Halimi, house of gigs Loni Mahanta, Lyft Jamil Poonja, Stride Moderator: Michael Sidgmore, Broadhaven Ventures

Michael Sidgmore is a Partner at Broadhaven, a market leading fintech investment bank and venture firm, with clients including ICE and the CBOE and investments including MoneyLion and ScaleFactor. Prior to joining Broadhaven, Michael built the sales team at iCapital, now a multi-billion dollar platform giving investors access to leading alternative investment funds at low minimums. Michael is close to the ground when it comes to US fintech, with an interest in Latin American as well. In this conversation, Michael shares his views on SMB plays, opportunities in Latin America, platform trends, solutions for the gig economy and more. Thank you very much for joining us today. Please welcome, Michael Sidgmore.

How is an early-stage VC a lot like Shane Battier or Andre Iguodala? When they are on the court, they make the players around them better. That's how Michael Sidgmore sees his role as a pre-seed and seed round FinTech investor: He's the sixth man, coming off the bench to serve as the glue that helps his team get to the next level. He may not be in the trenches on a daily basis, but when he does get in the game, good things happen. Michael is a Partner at Broadhaven Ventures, an independent investment bank serving the financial services industry. In his role at Broadhaven, Michael focuses on sourcing, investing and managing investments in early-stage FinTech startups. Prior to joining the firm, he served as a pre-product employee at iCapital Network and the first sales hire at Mosaic. Michael is also the founder of Let's Humanize Finance, an interview series with FinTech entrepreneurs and innovators who are changing the way we interact with money. Today, Michael joins us to share his unique path from semi-pro soccer player to Broadhaven Ventures, explaining how reading Leaving Microsoft to Change the World changed his life. He offers insight around how to measure impact in a nonprofit organization and how FinTech companies can make both a profit and an impact. Michael also gives us his take on the evolution of FinTech and the way cryptocurrency might fit into the larger picture of financial services in general. Listen in for Michael's top four opportunities in the FinTech space and learn how he sees the role of an early-stage VC as that of the sixth man. Topics Covered Michael's path from semi-pro soccer to Broadhaven Ventures Interned for Room to Read during accidental gap year in UK Transfer from Middlebury to London School of Economics Work at Goldman Sachs before shift to FinTech startups The key to running a successful conference Engaging content (e.g.: Shark Tank for trade ideas) Interesting people How to measure impact as a nonprofit organization KPIs specific to goals (i.e.: # of students with library access) View donors as investors expecting social return Michael's definition of success in business Do something you love, doesn't feel like work Help entrepreneurs realize dreams + make impact FinTech's ability to make a profit AND an impact Access to credit for unbanked individuals, small businesses Facilitate growth of middle class in emerging markets Michael's take on the evolution of FinTech From $3B of VC in 2012 to $16B in 2016 Challenge for disruptors to create standalone brand Bring enabling tech to traditional financial institutions Michael's insight around the opportunities in FinTech Emerging markets (Asia, Latin America) Big brands become FinTech companies Banking the SMB Collaborations (e.g.: Goldman + Apple) Michael's thoughts on how crypto fits into the FinTech picture Irony of centralized organizations in decentralized framework Interesting use cases in tokenization of assets How Michael sees his role as an early-stage VC Serve as sixth man (critical player off bench) Get companies ready to graduate to series A How Broadhaven is building out their team Institutionalizing processes Adding skill sets like culture, HR Connect with Michael Broadhaven Ventures https://www.broadhaven.com/ Broadhaven on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/broadhaven/ Michael on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelsidgmore/ Michael on Twitter https://twitter.com/michaelsidgmore Let's Humanize Finance http://www.letshumanizefinance.com/ Resources Leaving Microsoft to Change the World by John Wood http://www.leavingmicrosoftbook.com/ Room to Read https://www.roomtoread.org/ LSE Alternative Investments Conference https://www.lseaic.com/ David Rubenstein at The Carlyle Group https://www.carlyle.com/about-carlyle/team/david-m-rubenstein Silver Lake https://www.silverlake.com/ Glenn Hutchins http://www.hamiltonproject.org/people/glenn_h._hutchins Man Group https://www.man.com/ Lord Stanley Fink https://www.crunchbase.com/person/stanley-fink#section-overview Mosaic https://www.joinmosaic.com/ iCapital https://www.icapitalnetwork.com/ QED Investors https://qedinvestors.com/ Gusto https://gusto.com/ Chime https://www.chimebank.com/ MoneyLion https://www.moneylion.com/ SoFi https://www.sofi.com/ Michael Gilroy https://www.canaan.com/team/michael-gilroy Canaan Partners https://www.canaan.com/ ScaleFactor https://scalefactor.com/ Greg Phillips https://www.broadhaven.com/greg-phillips Guissu Raafat Baier https://www.linkedin.com/in/guissu/ The Third Door by Alex Banayan https://thirddoorbook.com/ Keith Rabois on Boost VC EP090 https://theboostvcpodcast.simplecast.fm/rabois Connect with Boost VC Boost VC Website https://www.boost.vc/ Boost VC on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/boostvc/ Boost VC on Twitter https://twitter.com/BoostVC

An interview Michael Sidgmore, Partner at Broadhaven VenturesHelpful/Interesting links from the show: Michael's LinkedinMichael's TwitterBroadhaven BeamScale FactorMoney LionCredijusto

News: • Introducing the Gemini Mobile App — Crypto on the Go! • US CFTC Asks for Comments to Improve Understanding of Ethereum Blockchain, Altcoin • Bitcoin Friendly Square Tops iOS Store: Can Coinbase Reclaim Its Throne? (Start Time 01:58 sec) Interesting Video of the Day: Hold On To Your Private Keys (Start Time 06:05 sec) Coin Talk: Thriller Car discusses the shake down to 3K and the final pump. (Start Time 18:15 sec) Main Topic: Ethereum Explained | Tim and Alasdair of Broadhaven (Start Time 37:55 sec) Cards of Crypto: https://www.cardsofcrypto.com Broadhaven Website: https://broadhaven.tech Broadhaven Twitter: https://twitter.com/BroadhavenTech Broadhaven Medium Blog: https://medium.com/@broadhaven.tech Important: • Thriller Studio "T-Shirt" Campaign: https://www.bonfire.com/thrillerstudio • Thriller Studio Donation: https://www.thrillerpodcast.club/thrillerstudio Free Stuff: • Free $25 of Bitcoin just for signing up to Voyager Exchange: http://bit.ly/VoyagerBTC • Brave Browser Free BAT tokens: https://bit.ly/ThrillerBRAVE • Square Cash Free $5 Bucks: http://bit.ly/sqrcashThriller • Newsletter!! #ThrillerArmy Monthly Free Crypto Giveaway: http://eepurl.com/duyoZL Support the Show: • Thriller Studio "T-Shirt" Campaign: https://www.bonfire.com/thrillerstudio • Patreon: http://bit.ly/patreonThriller • Crypto Donations: http://bit.ly/donateThriller • Square Cash Car: https://cash.me/$thrillerCar Social: • Telegram Group: http://bit.ly/telegramThriller • Twitter: http://bit.ly/twitterThriller • Instagram: http://bit.ly/instagramThriller • Discord: https://discord.gg/EheTHJv • Facebook: http://bit.ly/facebookThriller • SnapChat: http://bit.ly/ThrillerSnap Credits: • Host: Car Gonzalez • Thriller Crypto: https://www.thrillercrypto.com for News • Be Guest on Thriller Podcast: http://Bit.ly/GuestOnThriller

So many popular culture misconceptions abound with stories of UFO sightings; that it's always some farmer, alone in his fields when an unidentified flying object appears. The "hayseed farmer" is an easy target to dismiss with ridicule and hubris. Sure, sometimes it is a farm, as it was in 1977 at the Coombs family farm in southern Wales, but it is far from the norm. And it wasn't a singular farmer who witnessed a UFO then, prominent townsfolk and a group of schoolchildren also saw bizarre craft and phenomena during a series of events that would become known as the Broad Haven incident. The Coombs family would also go on to experience High Strangeness that would rival the happenings at Skinwalker Ranch. If you still think that remote farms are still the most likely places for such incredible tales to emerge, you might be surprised that schoolyards also seem to be just as common for alien interactions, with notable cases happening all over the world, in countries like Australia, Zimbabwe, and Russia. Decades later, questions about these cases emerge: Were the goings on in Broadhaven, this "Flap," connected to the incident at Berwyn Mountain, three years prior? Does a "Welsh Triangle" exist? Why do otherworldly visitors want to communicate with our children? Is it because they are more likely to learn lessons we adults are too proud or stubborn to heed? Join us tonight as we examine these cases with a friend and fellow podcaster, Rob Kristofferson, host of Our Strange Skies, as we go in search of answers to these fascinating questions. Visit our website for a lot more information on this episode: http://www.astonishinglegends.com/al-podcasts/2018/08/11/ep-114-strange-tales-from-wales-ufo-school-days

The team head to Broadhaven to explore the site where 14 children saw a UFO land near their school playground in February 1977. What exactly was the craft? Why did it visit an isolated Welsh village? Are the numerous military bases in the area the real answer to this decades old enigma? 

The team head to Broadhaven to explore the site where 14 children saw a UFO land near their school playground in February 1977. What exactly was the craft? Why did it visit an isolated Welsh village? Are the numerous military bases in the area the real answer to this decades old enigma?