Podcast appearances and mentions of Simon Taylor

In this episode, Adam Maarec sits down with fintech thought leader Simon Taylor for a lively fireside chat focused on the rapidly evolving world of fintech, payments, and banking innovation. Adam, an experienced legal and regulatory advisor in financial services, and Simon, widely recognized for his writing, podcasts, and advisory work with fintechs, banks, VCs, and regulators, delve into some of the most relevant challenges and opportunities shaping the industry today. Together, they unpack the rise of agentic commerce and the impact of AI-driven financial tools, exploring how personal finance agents and large language models are beginning to reshape shopping, payments, and financial management. The conversation covers the complexities of liability and authentication when using AI agents, the evolving regulatory landscape in the US compared to the UK and EU, and the ongoing battle with AML (Anti-Money Laundering) risks, particularly in relation to stablecoins and open banking. Listeners will hear candid takes on the tension between innovation and risk management, the evolving payments ecosystem (including A2A and stablecoins), and the real-world implications for merchants, consumers, and regulators as the industry pushes into new territory. The episode also highlights real use cases and experiments currently unfolding in the market, such as the integration of platforms like Perplexity and Plaid for next-generation personal financial management, and the adoption of stablecoins in B2B payments across global markets. Adam and Simon provide a balanced view, separating hype from genuine progress, and invite listeners to stay attuned to the early signals that are likely to shape the future of digital finance. Consumer Finance Monitor is hosted by Alan Kaplinsky, Senior Counsel at Ballard Spahr, and the founder and former chair of the firm's Consumer Financial Services Group. We encourage listeners to subscribe to the podcast on their preferred platform for weekly insights into developments in the consumer finance industry. 

#295Do you get frustrated, spending hour upon hour trawling through property portals ooking for a deal, only to find there's lots of other investors chasing the same lead?Wouldn't it be nice if you could find deals that have little or no competition?In this episode, we're plugging another gap in the archives as we tackle long-term empty homes.Simon Taylor is founder of Empty Property Hunters, a business that finds long‑term empty homes across the UK, tracks down the owners, and helps bring those properties back into use through quick, off‑market sales.Download and listen to see how you can do it too.Check out our shorts on YouTubeOur WhatsApp  groupProperty Engine discounts (Code: EXPAT)Starter: 30 day trialPro: 30 day trial/3 mths 1/2 price, Ultimate: 1/2 price 3 monthsGoalsettingLeave a review37 Question Due Diligence Checklist / Auction GuideOur Sponsors: Finnigan McNeill Property GroupWe discuss:How to Find Off-Market UK Property DealsChallenges of UK Property Portals for InvestorsUnderstanding Long-Term Empty Homes in the UKUK Property Expert Simon Taylor's BackgroundBusiness Model for Sourcing UK Empty PropertiesIncentivising Lead Submission in UK Property MarketMethods to Track UK Property OwnersUsing Genealogy for UK Property Owner TracingCommon Reasons Homes Become Empty in the UKProbate and UK Property Investment ChallengesTechniques for Detecting Vacant UK PropertiesRole of Delivery Drivers in UK Property SourcingConversion Rates for UK Property LeadsJoint Ventures in UK Property InvestmentExit Strategies for UK Property InvestmentsPricing Model for UK Property AcquisitionFast Exchange Process in UK Property DealsDIY Tips for UK Property Investors OverseasCompliance and Data Protection in UK Property DealsImportance of Follow-Up for UK Property InvestmentKeywordsUK property, UK property investment, UK property market, UK real estate, UK property deals, UK property sourcing, Buying property in the UK, UK property investors, UK vacant homes, UK empty homes, UK property strategies, UK direct to vendor, Remote property investment UK, UK property refurbishment, How to find off-market property deals in the UK, Investing in long term empty homes UK, Bringing empty homes back to market UK, Step-by-step guide to sourcing UK property remotely, Tips for overseas investors in UK property, UK property finder services for expats, How to contact owners of empty homes in the UK, UK property joint ventures for remote investors, Tools for identifying empty properties in the UK, How to do due diligence on UK property deals remotelyCheck out our new YouTube Channel @ExpatPropertyStory

Simon Taylor explains how Stablecoins are the WhatsApp for money.Simon Taylor is Founder of Fintech Brainfood, a leading digital finance newsletter.The Rollup is where the leaders of digital assets and finance converge. Live from the financial capital of the world.Timestamps00:00 Intro And Simon's Background01:08 Ten Years In Banking01:37 Head Of Crypto At Barclays 201503:10 Western Union Stablecoin Thesis04:02 Kill Bank Holidays06:33 Stablecoins Rail Above Rails08:19 WhatsApp For Money Thesis09:55 Stablecoin Supercycle Confirmed10:30 Distribution Wins The Race13:14 Genius Act Watershed Moment13:35 Mercury $5.2B Valuation Breakdown19:03 Tempo Machine Payments Protocol20:29 Gas Fee Consistency As Key Feature24:02 Tokenized Deposits Vs Stablecoins24:43 New Weekend Fee Revenue For Banks25:44 Business Case For Banks ComingGuest Socials:Simon Taylor X: https://x.com/sytaylorTempo X: https://x.com/tempoTempo Website: https://tempo.xyz/Partners:Better than Banks. Transparent capital efficiency earning the highest yields in DeFi. Learn more here: https://infinifi.xyz/---APYX - Enhanced Digital Credit Yield, Onchain | On Track to Become the Largest Holder of STRC. https://apyx.fi/---Dinari - Over 230 1:1 backed tokenized stocks, ETFs & more with dividends. US-based SEC transfer agent. Available on 5+ chains & via API. https://dinari.com/---Relay is the fastest and most reliable way to swap any token on any chain. Learn more here: https://relay.link/bridge---Zama is an open source cryptography company that builds state-of-the-art Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) solutions for blockchain.Learn more here: https://www.zama.org/---Trezor is the creator of the first-ever hardware wallet. Securing crypto for 2M+ users worldwide. 100% open source. Learn more here: https://affil.trezor.io/aff_c?offer_id=133&aff_id=36664---

ON TODAYS PROGRAM… MIAMI IS THE REAL 2026 SEASON OPENER!! TURKEY GP RETURNS FOR 2027! JEAN ALESI CRASHES HIS 1969 312 FERRARI AT THE MONACO HISTORIQUES! TOTO KEEPING HIS CARDS CLOSE TO HIS CHEST! BYD ARE TALKING WITH DOMINICALI!!…..AND…. FERNANDO'S VICTORY OVER THE RED BARRON WAS 20 YEARS AGO! AND… THIS WEEK'S NASIR HAMEED CORNER WE HAVE: JEROME D'AMBROSIO AND LANDO NORRIS AT DONINGTON 2015!! On 24 April 2005, the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola became one of the defining races of Fernando Alonso's first championship season. He won for Renault, but the result is remembered above all for the final laps, when Michael Schumacher brought the Ferrari close enough to make every corner matter. Alonso had started second. Schumacher had started 13th on the grid after a difficult qualifying session, yet as his pace came alive, it transformed the afternoon. Kimi Räikkönen had led early for McLaren before retiring with a driveshaft problem, and Alonso inherited a race that soon became a test of control as much as speed. In the closing phase, Schumacher was the faster driver. He had the Ferrari underneath him, the experience of seven world titles behind him, and a circuit where passing was difficult. Alonso had track position, a Renault R25 to protect, and no margin for error. For lap after lap, he placed the car exactly where it needed to be. Alonso crossed the line just 0.215 seconds ahead of Schumacher. After the later BAR-Honda disqualifications, Alexander Wurz was classified third for McLaren Mercedes. Imola 2005 remains a clean piece of Formula 1 memory: pressure, restraint, and two drivers at different points of their stories meeting at the edge of a changing era. Machismo! We spoke with former World Drivers' Champion Nigel Mansell after the regulation refinements were announced and he shared his views. Here's a summary of what he said: It's fabulous that everyone's talking and this is a massive change "I think the fabulous thing is that everyone's talking. It's been a massive change in regulations, both with the car and the engine. I think there's going to be improvements with the harvesting of power. Hopefully, they won't be slowing down too much into some of the corners now.” "I think it is so vitally important for the drivers to be able to drive the cars to the maximum, as opposed to having a computer telling them when they can brake or can't brake. Fernando Alonso made us all laugh by saying that his chef could drive the car better than he could at the moment.” "We have to get back to normality. Formula One is the grand stallion of all racing worldwide and we mustn't lose sight of that. And as technology gathers pace, they can do these other tweaks to do 50/50 later but they just need to give more power to the cars at the moment to go racing.” I'd like to see more power to the elbows of the drivers "In engineering terms, if it's not broken, you don't try to fix it. People don't understand that there's major changes which have been in place for some time. It takes a lot of time for all the teams and manufacturers to put it all together.”   "So the complexity of the rules is enormous and if you don't get it right, along with the combination of the power units, harvesting of electrical power, and so on and so forth. It's a minefield.”   "Drivers can fall foul of so many regulations and yet it's the computers doing it all. I'd just like to see more power to the elbow of the drivers, as opposed to computers doing it.”   "Going back to the 70s and 80s, 90+ percent of the engines were Cosworth DFV. Everyone had the same engines pretty much and we had fantastic racing. You knew the cars, the drivers, the tyres, the mechanics and the engineers made a huge difference.”   "Yes we're in the computer age but racing should be as stable as it can be, for everyone to be able to catch up to compete. Everyone's mooting it would be great to have the V10s back for the noise. If you're a purist, the answer is yes. Everybody makes their own V10 and it'll sound fantastic because it's the pinnacle of motorsport.” Challenge for F1 is to balance technological advancement and "racing" "I have tremendous sympathy, and support the drivers one hundred percent with what they're saying. They need to be listened to. They've got a job to do and they do a fantastic job, all of them.”   "It's all well and good, coming up with new ideas and regulations. All I'd say to the powers that be is that they've done a fantastic job but they have to work and they have to be able to be implemented safely and properly.”   "When they've tweaked it enough that it works, it's fantastic. But until it does work properly for everybody, we need to keep tweaking it, I think urgently now so that we get the show on the road.”   "As long as it doesn't carry on for much longer they'll be fine. They're all doing a great job. What the manufacturers have done, the FIA, the governing body and Liberty Media themselves.”   "They mustn't lose sight of the fact that the cars need to race properly. It has some growing pains but it has been the most difficult start of any year because they've had three races and then this month or so off. And now we've got Miami so I think everyone's excited about that at the end of next week as we can get racing again.” Mercedes still have the advantage despite regulation refinements "If you're Mercedes you must be incredibly frustrated because you could have gotten a big lead in the championship.”   "The people who are struggling, they'd go 'oh, thank you!'. They get a bit more time to sort things out and get ready for the next race.”   "It's on both ends of the spectrum. Some people are going to feel very comfortable with it and some will feel frustrated. It's racing anyway. There's always something going on.”   "I don't think so (Mercedes and Toto Wolff being disappointed) because we haven't had a proper race yet, if you're a purist. Mercedes have done such a fantastic job, they'll have an advantage all through the year. Their engine is better than anybody else's.”   "We're talking purely here about harvesting power and drivers being able to race the cars on the track and at every corner as much as they can. So it's a different thing altogether".   "I still think Mercedes will have an advantage all through the year but it's a big development. It's a big development with the cars, with the engines. A month is a very long time and we could see a lot of changes in Miami. Once we get racing properly, everything can stay stable again. It's just that everybody is not racing properly at the moment".   These regulation refinements make Miami GP the first pivotal race of the season   "I hope everything settles down and we have a great race in Miami.”   "I think Miami, because the focus is on it, could be one of the pivotal races this year with all the new tweaks. I think Miami's got hype because obviously without going into the negativity of what's happening in the war, with this month off, everybody's hungry to go racing again. So Miami's going to be under the microscope, and I think it's going to be a fantastic race down there.”   "Well, I'll let you know firsthand I'm gonna be there this year for one of the days, so I'm gonna go and have a look. This is my first time in Miami. I haven't been there but Miami is a great spectacle. I think every year when any race returns, there's improvements.”   "I'm very optimistic that Miami will be a much better presentation.” Stovebolt Special Returns to Pebble Beach Decades after Historic Run in Last Road Race   PEBBLE BEACH, CALIFORNIA (April 22, 2026) — At the drop of the green flag, in what was to be the very last road race at Pebble Beach although no one knew that then, two-time past winner Bill Pollack jumped into the lead in a much-modified car that would come to be known as the “Stovebolt Special”—a 1950 HWM fitted with experimental disc brakes and the very first Chevy V8 to be used in road racing. The date was April 22, 1956. For a brief time, the car led the Ferraris of Phil Hill, Carroll Shelby, and Ernie McAfee as well as every other car in the race. It was powered to win—and might have done so but for the many tight corners of the tree-lined course, which the just-completed special struggled to navigate since its handling was not yet dialed in. Ultimately it finished sixth overall—a fine achievement in a field comprising the top sports racing cars and drivers of the day.  Although the Stovebolt Special now resides in England with renowned auto journalist and current owner Simon Taylor, it will return to Pebble Beach this August for the 75th celebration of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, an event that began in tandem with the Pebble Beach Road Races in 1950.  The HWM had already lived a long and storied life when it raced at Pebble Beach. In original form, as a works race car bearing a four-cylinder two-liter Alta engine, it served as the steed for Stirling Moss in his first paid competition. He raced the car for HWM throughout much of the 1950 season, recording several fine results including a third-place finish behind the Alfas of Giuseppe Farina and Juan Manuel Fangio in the Bari Grand Prix. With Johnny Claes at the wheel, the HWM won the Grand Prix des Frontieres. It was also driven by Rudi Fischer and Raymond Sommer.  A few years later, the car was sold to 20th Century Fox to be used in the film “The Racers,” starring Kirk Douglas—and was crashed in accord with the script.  It was Tom Carstens who bought the wreck and resurrected it for Pebble Beach, not simply rebuilding it, but doing all that he could to improve the chassis, transmission, and body. The new Chevy V8 engine was bored and stroked to just under five liters by Bobby Meeks at Vic Edelbrock's shop and then was fitted in the car by Eddie Kuzma, who managed that task by repositioning the firewall and fabricating new rear bodywork. Ted Halibrand's shop added a quick-change rear axle and the disc brakes.  The finished creation was called the Stovebolt Special by “Sports Cars Illustrated” magazine—and the name stuck. The return of the Stovebolt Special to Pebble Beach is made possible thanks to Simon Taylor as well as the American Hot Rod Foundation (ahrf.com), particularly founder Steve Memishian and foundation manager David Steele.The “Stovebolt Special” among several race cars in competition at the very last road race through the tree-lined course in Pebble Beach. Photo Credit: Julian P. Graham / Pebble Beach Company Lagorio ArchivesThe 75th Concours will pay tribute to its historic ties in racing as well as the many “first-ever” gatherings of cars that have made it famous. The former road racers will be showcased in two special classes, one focusing on cars that raced in close-to-original form as made by their manufacturers and the other focusing on specials that were much modified. The event will also feature cars ranging from early American Speedsters to Ferraris and Japanese race cars, and the latest new creations and dream cars will be displayed on the Concept Lawn.  ZHENRUI CHI JOINS THE ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO FORMULA ONE™ TEAM DRIVER ACADEMY 22 April 2026, AMRTC, Silverstone, UK: The Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team is pleased to announce that Zhenrui Chi has joined its Driver Academy. The 17-year-old, regarded as one of China's most promising young drivers, becomes the latest addition to the Academy's expanding roster as the team continues to strengthen its long-term pathway for developing emerging talent from across the global motorsport landscape. As a member of the team's Driver Academy, Zhenrui will race in an Aston Martin Aramco-liveried car, introducing the marque's iconic green to the Formula Regional grid. Zhenrui's signing follows a comprehensive selection process carried out by the team's Driver Academy programme, which first saw him driving at its evaluation day in Mugello before tracking his impressive 2025 campaign. Over the course of the season, he demonstrated consistent front-running pace and racecraft across European and Middle East F4 categories, delivering a series of standout performances that underlined his talent. As part of the Aston Martin Aramco Driver Academy, Zhenrui will take part in a tailored development programme designed to support every aspect of his motorsport progression. The programme includes racecraft mentorship from experienced team personnel both trackside and at the AMR Technology Campus, physical conditioning, and a dedicated media and communications training to prepare him for the demands of professional motorsport. Zhenrui Chi, Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team Driver Academy: “Joining the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team family is a huge honour for me. It's a great responsibility, but also an incredible opportunity and motivation to keep pushing myself to the next level. Knowing that I have the support of such an iconic team, with all its experience and expertise, gives me a lot of confidence for the journey ahead. I know the road will require hard work and dedication, and I'm fully aware that I have to continue to prove I deserve this opportunity. I'm ready to give everything I have and I can't wait to start this journey with Aston Martin Aramco.” Nuno Pinto, Racing Director, Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team Driver Academy: “Zhenrui is exactly the kind of talent our Academy exists to find. We first saw him at an evaluation test in Mugello and were immediately impressed by his ability and approach. We then followed his progress through the rest of the 2025 season, where he showed not only pace but also strong consistency in one of the most competitive junior categories in racing, Italian F4. We are delighted to welcome him to the Academy and to support his development through our programme at Silverstone. With the resources of the AMR Technology Campus and the environment we have built around our drivers, we believe we can help him to continue to grow. This is a long-term partnership, and we are looking forward to the journey ahead together.”

Welcome back to Not Fintech Investment Advice, where Simon Taylor and I do what we do best: talk about fintech startups we're absolutely not giving investment advice on. First up is monk, an accounts receivable AI that helps small businesses get paid faster. Accounts payable has been well-served by spend management tools. Accounts receivable for small businesses is still stupidly hard. We dig into the power dynamics of getting paid, the channel partnership question, and why community banks might be the unexpected distribution answer. Next we turn to MKIII (pronounced Mark 3), embedded AI underwriting with model insurance for banks and credit unions. Drop the model into your lending workflow, approve more borrowers, and if the model drifts and causes losses, reinsurers on the backend cover it. Lending insurance isn't new. But as for insuring the underwriting model itself? We've never seen that before.  Then there's Wealth Architect, an AI financial planner that lets you share your goals in natural language and builds out a full plan, Monte Carlo stress tests included. Great concept. We argue about who actually owns the long-term financial planning conversation, and whether any standalone tool can establish that center of gravity against Revolut, Cash App, and Plaid-plus-Perplexity all showing up at once. We close with CloutScore, which goes directly to the platforms where digital earners make their money (like Uber, Etsy, Shopify), rather than just reading what shows up in their bank account. CloutScore's website cites 76 million Americans earning outside traditional employment, but their income is fragmented and irregular in ways traditional underwriting has no framework for. Plus, Simon's manifesting an end to being the disappointed dad of crypto (and this time, there's reason for cautious optimism).  This episode is brought to you by Persona.  Persona is the identity verification platform trusted by fintech's fastest-growing teams, from YC-backed startups to publicly traded companies. Build your identity program with enterprise-grade tools, starting at $0 with Persona's Startup Program. Fintech Takes listeners can get a full free year through Persona's Startup Program at withpersona.com/ftt Sign up for Alex's Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday and Thursday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/ And for more exclusive insider content, don't forget to check out my YouTube page. Follow Simon: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sytaylor/ Substack: https://sytaylor.substack.com   Follow Alex:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson Companies featured: https://monk.com/ https://mkiii.ai/ https://www.wealtharchitect.ai/  https://www.cloutscore.us/

Will stablecoins replace cards — or is that narrative missing how payments actually work?In this episode, Reggie Young sits down with Simon Taylor, founder of Fintech Brainfood and Head of Market Development at Tempo, to unpack one of the most debated topics in fintech: agentic commerce. Simon challenges the idea that stablecoins will displace card networks, explaining why cards don't move money, how stablecoins actually fit into the stack, and why virtual cards may be the first real payment primitive for AI agents. The conversation explores machine-native payments, the rise of agents as customers, and Tempo's Machine Payments Protocol — a new attempt to rebuild payments infrastructure for the internet era. Simon also shares where adoption will come from, why most narratives get the timing wrong, and what the next battleground in fintech will be.

Welcome back to Not Fintech Investment Advice, where Simon Taylor and I do what we do best: talk about fintech startups we're absolutely not giving investment advice on. First up is Rhythmic, stablecoin-powered embedded wallets for brands (think Ansa but stablecoins). We unpack why payments nerds are now building in stablecoins, what OCC guidance means for yield on stored balances, and why this may be one of the clearest domestic stablecoin use cases yet. Next up is AgentCard, prepaid virtual cards for AI agents. Simon's framing: if Stripe was built for developers, AgentCard is built for agents. We talk about what it means to build for agents as customers, and whether virtual cards are already good enough for a large share of agentic commerce. Then there's Rowspace, which uses AI to codify institutional knowledge for bespoke risk decisions inside private credit and private equity firms. The pitch is a virtual partner sitting on a junior analyst's shoulder, guiding deal decisions in real time. But when AI starts nudging high-stakes decisions, how do you know when it's wrong? Could this become the Harvey of financial services? And will firms trust an outsider to live inside their secret sauce? Finally, we close with Burst, an API layer for HSA and FSA reimbursement. Simon's analogy: if Honey and Plaid had a healthcare baby, it would be Burst. We discuss why FSA dollars usually sit there unspent, why the merchant integration is the piece nobody else has cracked, and how consumer permissioning can retrain people to think of that money as theirs. Plus, Simon's manifestation to the universe: simplicity. You've got a new customer. Are you building for them? This episode is brought to you by Plaid.  Most lenders see the value of cash flow data. The hard part is getting started—and knowing what to do with it once you have it. Plaid makes it easy to access real-time cash flow and behavioral insights in seconds, through a familiar experience borrowers already trust. No heavy lift. No added friction. Learn more at www.plaid.com/ftt Sign up for Alex's Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday and Thursday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/ And for more exclusive insider content, don't forget to check out my YouTube page. Follow Simon: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sytaylor/ Substack: https://sytaylor.substack.com   Follow Alex:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson Companies featured: https://rhythmic.io/ https://agentcard.sh/ https://www.rowspace.ai/ https://getburst.com/

In this episode Simon Taylor, GTM @ Tempo sits down with Increase CEO, Darragh Buckley to discuss DeFi earn products, consumer redemption risk, vault liquidity management and more!Timestamps:00:00 Introduction01:19 The motivation for Increase: addressing payment disbursement failures03:04 Technical and business challenges in international financial expansion05:00 Viewing compliance as an engineering problem to be solved07:31 Admiration for legacy financial systems built with constraints09:10 The simplicity curve: abstraction, complexity, and underlying simplicity12:45 The philosophy of building "lovingly boring" financial infrastructure14:30 The necessity of early partnerships and gatekept features in fintech16:50 Stablecoins as parallel infrastructure versus replacement for traditional systems19:58 The existing strengths of US deposit rails and last-mile delivery

Welcome back to Not Fintech Investment Advice, where Simon Taylor and I do what we do best: talk about fintech startups we're absolutely not giving investment advice on. First up is Kairos, a multi-prediction market trading platform giving traders a single terminal to buy and sell event contracts across Kalshi, Polymarket, and all the other emerging platforms. Their pitch: what the Bloomberg terminal did for Wall Street, Kairos does for prediction market traders. That tees up our bigger idea: as prediction markets expand, how they get liquidity (especially through sports betting) shapes what these markets can become. Next is Vault, which takes a different angle on crypto-collateralized lending. Instead of the usual over-collateralized “borrow to buy more crypto” model, Vault's idea is infrastructure that lets lenders use crypto as collateral to improve pricing or unlock access for other loans. Banks may want this, but they have no ability to take custody of that crypto asset as a part of the collateral process, and monitor the value of it – all of the infrastructure is missing there. Then there's Vennre, a wealth platform for high earners (HENRYs), offering private market exposure across real estate, credit, private equity, and venture through a mobile app with 1:1 financial coaches working with AI. Simon points out they're registered in the UK and Saudi Arabia, Sharia-compliant, and targeting a growing cross-border audience tied to migration and real estate purchases. Finally, we close with Buy Now Pay Maybe, an on-chain “buy now pay later” send-up (more product idea than actual company), where you can pay more for higher odds of getting the item for free, or lose and overpay. Simon frames it as performance art that points at something ugly, which we explore. This episode is brought to you by Plaid.  Plaid helps lenders approve more creditworthy borrowers without taking on more risk, combining real-time cash flow data with behavioral insights. It's a fast, familiar experience people trust, and that actually converts. Learn more at www.plaid.com/ftt Sign up for Alex's Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday and Thursday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/ And for more exclusive insider content, don't forget to check out my YouTube page. Follow Simon: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sytaylor/ Substack: https://sytaylor.substack.com   Follow Alex:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson Companies featured: https://kairos.trade/ https://www.collateralvault.com/ https://vennre.com/ https://merch.smallbrain.xyz/

In this Tech Barometer podcast, HYCU CEO Simon Taylor takes listeners into the mind of a creative, disruptive entrepreneur who's...

Welcome back to Not Fintech Investment Advice, where Simon Taylor and I do what we do best: talk about fintech startups we're absolutely not giving investment advice on. First up is stablecoin banking startup Kontigo, whose founder declared: “Kontigo is not a bank. Banking services are provided by the freaking blockchain.” We unpack the very fast arc that followed: getting deplatformed through its partner stack, the Venezuela and sanctions questions that can come with being “global by default,” and then the hack (Kontigo promised to reimburse affected users). Next up is Givefront, corporate card and spend management software built for nonprofits. We get specific about what “built for nonprofits” means in practice: IRS 990 reporting, grant restrictions, donor policies, and the go-to-market riddle of reaching over 1.5 million organizations that rarely rip and replace systems.  Then there's Beycome, which promises an AI-assisted home buying journey. They charge sellers a flat fee to list their home and close (including a $399 package, marketed as saving sellers an average of $13,185 in fees). We talk about why real estate fees are such a durable profit pool, and why distribution's the hardest part of this business. Finally, we close with Cash App. Okay, not quite a startup at the same level, but there's been a real vibe shift – as evidenced by a slew of new feature releases and capabilities inside Cash App (which we run through!).  Plus,closing manifestations (manifesting some good outcomes for Cash App, and more episodes of Not Fintech Investment Advice for 2026). This episode is brought to you by Plaid.  Plaid helps lenders approve more creditworthy borrowers without taking on more risk, combining real-time cash flow data with behavioral insights. It's a fast, familiar experience people trust, and that actually converts. Learn more at www.plaid.com/ftt Sign up for Alex's Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday and Thursday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/ And for more exclusive insider content, don't forget to check out my YouTube page. Follow Simon: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sytaylor/ Substack: https://sytaylor.substack.com   Follow Alex:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson Companies featured: https://www.kontigo.com/en https://www.givefront.com/ https://www.beycome.com/ https://cash.app/

Welcome back to Not Fintech Investment Advice, where Simon Taylor and I do what we do best: talk about fintech startups we're absolutely not giving investment advice on. First up is Trudenty, a fraud intelligence network tackling first-party fraud. It uses federated learning to let issuers, PSPs, and merchants identify repeat abusers without sharing raw data. They're starting with Worldline, JPMorgan Chase, and Mastercard, and keeping the pitch simple: they only sell one thing, and that one thing works. The stat that stuck with us? 80% of chargebacks are fraudulent. Next is TidalWave, agentic AI for mortgage point-of-sale. Instead of replacing loan officers, it works like a 24/7 assistant (one that handles follow-ups, corrects docs, and chases data). They've raised $22M, with the largest homebuilder in the U.S. on the cap table. It's mortgage tech that avoids the loan origination system entirely, steering clear of regulated decisions while cleaning up the messy front-end workflow that still kills conversion.  Then there's Kaaj, which is aimed at the part of small business lending that no software platform has ever fully cracked. Think about a business applying for a government-guaranteed loan or financing a new piece of equipment; lenders have to parse tax returns, bank statements, and identity documents that never look the same twice. The loans are too small for a credit team, but too complex for automation. Kaaj trains AI agents to read those documents and create the first draft of a credit memo that a human can review. The product solves a real problem, but the question is: can they win the category? Finally, FinReach Solutions in India tackles the gap between micro and small business credit. Lenders have money. Credit guarantors are willing to share risk. What's missing is the infrastructure between them. Every guarantee program runs on bespoke rules and manual forms. FinReach standardizes that process, automates the guarantees, and makes collateral-free lending possible at scale. Think of the US SBA, but rebuilt as actual software instead of paperwork. Plus, some closing manifestations: AI for mortgage POS should fix the front-end friction that causes borrowers to drop out; SMB lending needs an actual platform between public money and private lenders; and rising chargebacks might say less about fraud and more about good customers who are tired of being treated like suspects. Thanks for listening!  This episode was brought to you by Marqeta. Don't sacrifice agility for stability. With Marqeta, launch payments experiences that perform at scale and flex with your business. Learn more at https://marqeta.com/ftt  Sign up for Alex's Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday and Thursday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/ And for more exclusive insider content, don't forget to check out my YouTube page. Follow Simon: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sytaylor/ Substack: https://sytaylor.substack.com   Follow Alex:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson Companies featured: https://trudenty.com/ https://www.tidalwave.ai/ https://kaaj.ai/ https://www.finreach.in/

The science of plant nutrition is moving fast, and it is reshaping everything from peat-free compost to profit margins on the shop floor. In this Glee 2025 special, Phil and Kate sit down with Steve Harper, MD of Grass Gains and Chair of the Responsible Sourcing Scheme, and then with Simon Taylor and Helen Thomas from Empathy, Plantworks, to explore what comes next for lawn care, plant feeds and bio-fertilisers in garden retail. Steve explains how Grass Gains is bringing professional-grade lawn products and a new peat-free specific plant food, Bloom, into the consumer market, why excess potassium is sabotaging plant performance in peat-free, and how challenger brands can use social media and TikTok lives to build demand and push back against “blocked out” categories on the shelves. Simon and Helen then lift the lid on Empathy's latest bio-fertilisers and plant-specific feeds, from RootGrow to the new Green Room houseplant range, all designed with soil biology and peat-free compost in mind. They share how mycorrhizal fungi and beneficial bacteria are moving from agriculture into home gardening, how their virtual advice assistant Emily uses AI to support staff and consumers, and why clever attachment selling on the till can meaningfully lift basket spend without cannibalising other lines. In this episode, we cover:Why soil health, not just NPK, is the real foundation of resilient plants in a peat-free worldHow Grass Gains is positioning as a challenger brand through product quality, format and social media, rather than big-budget advertisingThe peat-free transition: where the Responsible Sourcing Scheme is now, and what a new quality mark could mean for retailers and consumersThe rise of bio-fertilisers: mycorrhizal fungi, beneficial bacteria and what they can do for garden centre customersEmpathy's new product development, packaging and in-store attachment strategies that increase average basket valueHow AI advice tools like Emily can support, not replace, expert staff on the shop floor If you work in the garden sector and want to understand where plant nutrition, soil health and attachment selling are heading next, this episode is for you. Subscribe to The Underground and visit theunderground.fm to get new episodes and sector insights straight to your inbox.

On this week's episode of the The Work Hates Podcast we are joined by Comedian, Ex-magician and Father(?) Simon Taylor! You've seen Simon on the stage (or did he disappear in a puff of magic smoke), you've seen him on Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, you've heard his joke on Jay Leno's Tonight Show, you seen him on Netflix (Magic For Human he makes a little cameo), you've read his books, you've read his children book to your child, he might have even been to your house to care for you child! Simon has done everything and now he can die happy knowing he has done the Work Hates Podcast.Simon Taylor Social Media HereSimon Taylor (@simontaylorfunnyboy) • Instagram photos and videos BUY TICKETS TO OUR CHRISTMAS PARTY HEREWork hates Christmas Party Tickets, Coopers Inn, Melbourne | TryBooking AustraliaSign up to our Patreonpatreon.com/WorkHatesSubscribe and watch full episodes on our YoutubeWork Hates - YouTubeDad's Comedy SpecialBrett Blake | Go Hard Or Go Home | FULL COMEDY SPECIALMum's Brand New Comedy SpecialBron Lewis — Who's Talking? (Full Comedy Special) 2025Mum's Almost New Comedy SpecialBron Lewis — Obviously (Full Comedy Special) 2025 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm joined by the hilarious Simon Taylor: Melbourne-born comedian, author and the man who went from open-mic gigs to writing for Jay Leno and performing on Jimmy Fallon.We chat about:Cancelling his honeymoon to do The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy FallonThe time he thought he was about to become a dad after a one-night standWeird DMs, foot fetishes and the return of the bushHow AI, dating apps and disappearing community are changing the way we connect.From dating in LA, to comedy madness in New York, this episode is chaotic, clever and completely unfiltered.

Today, I'm excited to welcome Colton Pond and Simon Taylor, the visionary co-founders of Fintech NerdCon to the Banking Transformed podcast. Fintech NerdCon is an event with no meetings, no sales booths … just top-tier networking with fintech operators and builders. It's what happens when a fintech passion, Comic-Con energy, and genuine community building come together. In this conversation, we'll explore why they believe the fintech conference circuit needs disruption, how they're creating a different kind of community experience, and what banks, fintechs, and ecosystem builders should focus on to succeed in the industry's next phase. In addition, they provide an inside look into what will make this event different from any the banking industry has ever experienced.

Welcome back to Not Fintech Investment Advice, where Simon Taylor and I do what we do best: talk about fintech startups we're absolutely not giving investment advice on. First up is EtherFi Cash, a DeFi-native credit card (from Ether.fi) that flips banking math. You load stablecoins onto the card as collateral. From there, you can either spend them directly or lock them up to borrow cash against them (earning interest on the coins you park, while borrowing at a lower rate). It's non-custodial, meaning you're fully responsible for your crypto, and the card itself runs on Visa through a partner. It's over-collateralized lending dressed up as a card, and maybe regulators will end up treating it that way. Next up is Lunos AI, an AI agent that collects invoices like a polite but relentless coworker. It reads emails, remembers context, negotiates, and learns. Today it automates AR (accounts receivable); tomorrow, it'll be talking to AP (accounts payable) bots on the other side. Think of it as the first step toward self-driving cash flow. Then, there's the evocatively named Circuit & Chisel. Their XTP protocol lets AI agents pay each other per use instead of signing up for endless subscriptions. Imagine a digital assistant renting a data tool for ten seconds. It's built by ex-Stripe and Chainlink folks who see where this is going: a future where software pays software.  Finally, there's Figure. Mike Cagney (of SoFi fame) successfully took his blockchain lending company public. Figure started with home-equity loans and now runs one of the largest on-chain real-world asset markets (outside of U.S. Treasuries). Its innovation lies in using blockchain to automate the costly back-office work of loan origination and trading. It's faster, cheaper, and fully traceable (and it's rated by the same agencies that review traditional securities). Plus, some closing manifestations: whoever builds the MCP or the protocol that lets AR and AP AI agents talk to each other is sitting on a billion-dollar startup. Banks should treat stablecoin yield as the next interchange moment, and as for anyone touching DeFi lending … remember, the same consumer-protection laws still apply. Sign up for Alex's Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday and Thursday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/ And for more exclusive insider content, don't forget to check out my YouTube page. Follow Simon: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sytaylor/ Substack: https://sytaylor.substack.com   Follow Alex:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson Companies featured: https://www.ether.fi/ https://www.lunos.aI https://circuitandchisel.com/ https://www.figure.com/

Send us a textIn this episode, Matt Brown sits down with Simon Taylor, CEO and founder of HYCU, the world's fastest growing SaaS data protection company. Together, they unpack the findings of The State of SaaS Report 2025, a groundbreaking study surveying over 500 IT leaders on how prepared or unprepared businesses truly are when it comes to protecting their SaaS data.Simon reveals the shocking reality of how many SaaS applications organizations now rely on, why most of that data goes unprotected, and how the shared responsibility model leaves companies dangerously exposed. From ransomware threats and supply chain attacks to real world examples that show the human impact of cyber incidents.Support the show

What if payment chains are the “AWS moment for money”? Simon Taylor — fintech veteran, ex-Barclays crypto lead, and author of FinTech Brainfood — joins Bankless to map the convergence of fintech and crypto. From stablecoins serving as the Trojan horse for tokenisation to Tempo's push for a payments chain, Simon explains why finance is on the brink of its biggest infrastructure shift since Visa. We cover the rise of payments L1s, the regulatory roulette of stablecoins, and whether neutrality and permissionlessness can survive in corporate-led networks. Plus, Simon breaks down the differences between stablecoins, tokenized deposits, and CBDCs — and explains why the future of finance is already being rebuilt on-chain. ---

Welcome back to Not Fintech Investment Advice, where Simon Taylor and I riff about fintech companies we're absolutely not giving investment advice on. (Speaking of Simon, he's got a new day job: he's joining Tempo, a payments-first blockchain incubated by Stripe and Paradigm. Will this lead to spicier payment takes? We shall see!) We kick things off with Welcome Tech, an operating system for immigrants. It's US-based, all-in-one: education, job placement, embedded healthcare (telemed, dental, vision, Rx), plus financial services (wallet, debit). After big 2020–21 rounds, a recent $7.5M caught Alex's eye. As for the real wedge? It may be “Help me not only survive but thrive” (that is, paperwork precision, employer integrations, and AI agents as the lawyer you can't afford. In this category, trust and timing decide outcomes… Next up is Bumper, a UK startup bringing BNPL to car repairs. With 5,000 dealerships already on board, they let customers split repair costs interest-free. Niche BNPL providers like this can thrive by embedding in industries big players overlook, giving businesses a way to keep their customer relationships while solving a very real pain point (not to mention, BNPL has rewired Gen Y and Z's expectations). Then there's Scalar Field (which Simon wrote about recently); an AI-powered trading tool that helps traders run strategies on live data and breaking new. By “living in the stream,” its models continuously adapt as it gives traders the ability to backtest in real time (instead of the traditional loop of training, validating, and hoping a model still works once deployed). The real unlock is backtesting against messy, real-world conditions, long an Achilles' heel in model development…that is, until now or soon?! Finally, Structify tackles the messy prep work before decisions get made. Think PDFs, screenshots, and scattered APIs, all cleaned and structured by an AI data assistant. If the last few decades were about faster decision making, the next decade is about fixing the data pipelines that feed… aforementioned decision making. Plus, some closing manifestations: banks and fintechs need to start treating gambling and speculative investing apps as a genuine competitive threat to deposits! U.S. banks should copy the UK's strategy of opt-in gambling blocks with cool-off periods to protect customers (and keep deposits from drifting). We'll be fans of whoever ships it first. Sign up for Alex's Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday and Thursday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/ And for more exclusive insider content, don't forget to check out my YouTube page. Follow Simon: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sytaylor/ Substack: https://sytaylor.substack.com   Follow Alex:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson Companies featured: https://www.welcome.tech/ https://www.bumper.co/ https://www.scalarfield.io/ https://www.structify.ai/

Send us a textIn this episode of The AI Advantage Series on The Matt Brown Show, Matt sits down with Simon Taylor, CEO of HYCU, the world's fastest-growing SaaS data protection company. Simon unpacks how AI is reshaping the cybersecurity landscape, not only as a powerful defensive tool but also as a force that dramatically accelerates the scale and sophistication of attacks.He explains why the rise of agentic AI compounds the risks of SaaS sprawl and data silos, bringing us closer to what he calls the “SaaS Data Apocalypse.” Simon also shares how HYCU has reimagined data protection by building an AI-powered, low-code marketplace that enables SaaS vendors to integrate in weeks rather than years. The conversation moves beyond technology to consider the ethical and regulatory challenges of AI, the importance of transparency, and the human responsibility that comes with deploying powerful new systems.Matt and Simon also explore the cultural and economic shifts that AI is creating, from the loss of apprenticeship models in traditional careers to the ways elder care may be transformed in the future. Simon introduces his leadership framework of Humanity, Exceptionalism, and Resourcefulness, emphasizing why empathy and purpose still matter as organizations embrace automation. He reflects on the speed of adoption that has surprised even him and offers a candid perspective on how CEOs can navigate this new AI-driven economy.Support the show

Fraud just had its AI upgrade.It's faster than your payments and industrialised at a global scale. Welcome to the Scamdemic — a global wave of scams and financial crime growing faster than almost any asset class.We're joined by Simon Taylor, Head of Strategy at Sardine and Co-Founder of 11:FS. Together, we unpack how fraud has evolved, why it's so hard to stop, and what financial institutions, fintechs, and regulators must do now.Inside the episode:- Why faster payments = faster fraud- Deepfakes, fraud-as-a-service, and industrialised scam call centres- Why liability shifts and reimbursements can fuel crime instead of stopping it- The missed open banking opportunity: building a global “fraud utility”- Stablecoins, AI agents, and the next wave of attack surfaces- How to protect customers without killing innovationWhether you work in banking, fintech, payments, or policy, this episode will change how you think about fraud prevention in the age of AI and real-time payments.

Welcome back to Not Fintech Investment Advice, where Simon Taylor and I riff about fintech companies we're absolutely not giving investment advice on (though this one may test our willpower). We kick things off with Alix, which tackles one of the most bureaucratically brutal processes most people will ever face: settling a loved one's estate. It's admin + grief = chaos. Alix offers a $249 flat-fee concierge service that uses AI (plus humans) to cancel subscriptions, close accounts, and chase down deeds. It's DTC in a space no one wants to think about until they have to (think: Chime-level brand softness meets probate-level emotional complexity). Next up is Narrative, an AI-for-compliance startup that's not trying to do everything (just the very specific, painful thing of parsing and resolving consumer complaints). What stood out? It's not just trained on your written policies. It learns from how your best people make decisions. In a post-CFPB, state-by-state enforcement era, that nuance might be the difference between surviving a compliance audit … or hiring 300 more people to do what one model can. Then there's Ogment AI, which wants to be Shopify for agentic commerce. It builds MCP servers (think: APIs for LLMs) that let merchants make their products shoppable in ChatGPT, Claude, and co. But the big question isn't tech; it's trust. Can LLMs represent your brand voice in a way that doesn't reduce you to “cheap and ships fast”? TBD, but Ogment is skating where the puck might go. Finally, there's SOLO, which is kind of like a new school credit bureau. One that's trying to standardize, store, and reuse the messy contextual data that lives outside traditional credit files. Plus, it flips the economics: lenders get paid when others reuse their verified data. It's a trust layer disguised as underwriting tech, and its success may hinge more on old-school, squishy human partnerships than the tech. Plus, manifestations: We want the Timothée Chalamet of fintech; the operators who give a damn about striving to be the best at their craft. Often, the most profitable companies started that way and the monies followed as a byproduct of obsession with doing it right. Now that's worth spotlighting. Sign up for Alex's Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday and Thursday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/ And for more exclusive insider content, don't forget to check out my YouTube page. Follow Simon: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sytaylor/ Substack: https://sytaylor.substack.com   Follow Alex:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson Companies featured: https://www.meetalix.com/ https://thenarrative.dev/ https://www.ogment.ai/ https://solo.one/

Laurie writes in, wanting to know whether the nuclear reactions which power Mars rovers means small nuclear reactors could power our towns and cities. Diving into this atomic adventure, James Tytko sought help from research associate at the energy policy group at Cambridge University, Simon Taylor... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Send us a textIn this premiere episode of The AI Advantage series on The Matt Brown Show, Matt sits down with Simon Taylor, Founder and CEO of HYCU—the world's fastest-growing SaaS data protection company. Together, they explore the double-edged nature of AI in cybersecurity, the looming “SaaS Data Apocalypse,” and why regulation, humanity, and leadership are more critical than ever.Simon reveals how HYCU is leveraging AI to scale integrations from years to weeks, why AI is accelerating cyber risk at an unprecedented rate, and the ethical dilemmas businesses now face as automation reshapes every industry. From the importance of apprenticeships in an AI-driven workforce to how elder care could be transformed, this conversation is packed with insight, foresight, and practical wisdom for leaders navigating the AI era.Everyday AI: Your daily guide to grown with Generative AICan't keep up with AI? We've got you. Everyday AI helps you keep up and get ahead.Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the show

Welcome back to Not Fintech Investment Advice, where Simon Taylor and I talk about fintech companies that we're definitely not giving investment advice on. We kick things off with Polar (think Stripe Billing but for LLMs). Polar tracks things like token usage, execution time, and even GitHub access to handle metered billing for AI-native products. It's not even payments; it's pre-payments, too. Polar helps you charge for the thing before the thing happens. Hey, as AI agents start shopping for themselves, someone has to keep the receipts… Next up is Multiply Mortgage. “Mortgage-as-a-benefit” sounds cursed, but here we are. Multiply partners with employers to offer discounted mortgages (plus human advisors) to employees with zero cost to the company. Their bet is housing is the new healthcare: too broken to fix individually, but too big for employers to ignore. Especially useful in tech, where compensation is equity-heavy and underwriting gets weird. But it's also a bet on this macro moment in time; if rates drop or unemployment spikes, the model may crack. Then there's OpenTrade. Yield-as-a-service for stablecoins. Most stablecoins can't offer interest directly (thanks, regulators), but OpenTrade does the regulatory gymnastics to plug stablecoins into money market funds via tokenized swaps. But I wonder what's more disruptive: the yield or the regulatory workarounds? You can't stop yield from sneaking in the side door (and honestly, why try?). Last up is Spinwheel (think Plaid, but for liabilities). While Plaid figured out the asset side of your balance sheet, Spinwheel builds pipes for the other half: credit cards, BNPL, student loans, and more. They started with embedded debt repayment and found their niche by giving lenders the kind of granular, real-time liability data that credit bureaus can't (or won't) offer. With Section 1033 on life support, is Spinwheel poised to become the only player with coverage that actually matters? Plus, manifestations: can someone please build a public credit bureau (kind of like a USPS for liabilities)? And while we're at it, a stablecoin for the unbanked/underbanked that isn't built on Tron? Sign up for Alex's Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday and Thursday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/ And for more exclusive insider content, don't forget to check out my YouTube page. Follow Simon: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sytaylor/ Substack: https://sytaylor.substack.com   Follow Alex:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson Companies featured: https://polar.sh/ https://www.multiplymortgage.com/ https://www.opentrade.io/ https://spinwheel.io/

Welcome back to Not Fintech Investment Advice, where Simon Taylor and I talk about fintech companies that we're definitely not giving investment advice on!  We kick things off with Nekuda. Human-not-present is the new card-not-present. Nekuda's building SDKs (software development kits) for agentic checkout, so your AI assistant can securely store and inject payment credentials at just the right moment. This is Visa's “agent on file” era. We've spent a decade trying to keep bots out of commerce. Now we're figuring out how to let the right ones in (without blowing up the fraud model). What happens to trust, attribution, and liability when no human's at the checkout? Next is Vontive. Call them embedded mortgage lending for investment properties (basically, BNPL for real estate investors).They raised $135M in 2022, just added fresh equity from Citi, and secured a $150M revolving securitization shelf. They connect proptech platforms, banks, and marketplaces with private credit, so those platforms can embed short-term bridge loans or long-term rental mortgages directly into their UX. They don't hold the loans, but they do centralize underwriting across a very regionally variable asset class. And that can get risky fast. Then, there's Atticus, a stablecoin neobank in extreme stealth mode (with Palmer Luckey reportedly leading a new round at a $2B valuation). So naturally, we speculated: is Atticus a stablecoin bank with Fed access? A defense-industrial banking layer with regulatory immunity? If the GENIUS Act passes, this could be the first stablecoin issuer with full access to traditional rails. Finally, there's Affiniti. Embedded, vertical-specific SMB credit cards. Affiniti partners with trade associations (pharmacists, HVAC techs, auto dealers) to co-brand its SMB credit cards and distribute to pre-qualified member bases. They hit $5.5M ARR in year one and are on pace for $1B in transaction volume this year. Their edge is twofold: tailored underwriting based on industry norms, and an AI-powered CFO agent that flags anomalies, forecasts bills, and suggests vendor strategies. It's Ramp-as-a-service for the parts of the market that Ramp and Brex won't touch. The scaling question then becomes: choose depth (more products) or breadth (more industries)? We'll be watching. Plus, a manifestation: can someone please build a model that uses cashflow data to detect early signs of gambling addiction? It's doable, valuable, and might just save lives. This episode is brought to you by: Newline™ by Fifth Third is an innovative, API-first platform that enables fintechs to launch embedded payment, card and deposit solutions directly with Fifth Third Bank. Visit Newline53.com to see how Newline can elevate your business. Sign up for Alex's Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday and Thursday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/ And for more exclusive insider content, don't forget to check out my YouTube page. Follow Simon: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sytaylor/ Substack: https://sytaylor.substack.com   Follow Alex:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson Companies featured: https://nekuda.ai/ https://www.vontive.com/ Atticus (extreme stealth mode is right) https://affiniti.finance/

SummaryIn this episode, Simon Taylor, Senior Director of Talent and Organizational Effectiveness at GAP, shares insights on building high-performing teams through the lens of his experiences in competitive rowing. He emphasizes the importance of having a clear vision, a strong mindset, and the balance between performance and human connection. Simon discusses the necessity of clarity in leadership and how fundamental elements like mission, vision, and values drive organizational success. He also shares personal anecdotes and practical advice for leaders looking to enhance their team's performance.TakeawaysHaving a clear vision is crucial for success.Mindset is key to achieving high performance.Clarity in roles and goals drives team effectiveness.Engagement and morale are linked to performance.Leadership sets the tone for organizational culture.High performance doesn't exclude the human side of work.Winning can unite and motivate teams.Fundamentals like mission and values are essential.Clarity is a form of kindness to your team.Sleep is vital for effective leadership.Chapters00:00 Introduction to High Performance Leadership02:58 The Connection Between Sports and Organizational Success06:08 Mindset: The Key to High Performance09:04 Balancing Performance and Human Connection12:12 The Importance of Clarity in Leadership15:01 Building a High Performing Organization17:46 Rapid Fire Insights and Conclusion   

This week Tom & Dan are joined by Melbourne comedian Simon Taylor! Follow the cabin on Instagram and TikTok @flogcabin or get around the flogs individually @danmuggleton, @andrewhamiltoncomedy and @tomwitcombecomedy. Also full episodes of Flog Cabin are now live on YouTube! And introducing FONE-A-FLOG, leave the flogs a voicemail that they might play on the show! Flog Cabin finally has a Patreon! For more floggery (in the form of extra and exclusive flogcasts, free tickets to live events and the ability to write your own Pilots ads for the flogs to read on the show, early access to episode and more) join the Flogtreon!Follow Simon (@simontaylorfunnyboy) and watch his sketches @unawarehouse.tv! Sponsored by Pilot, Men's Health Treatments Online www.pilot.com.auSave $20 on your first order with promo code FLOGGERS20See the flogs live in 2025:Andrew Hamilton in New Zealand, Victoria & NSWDaniel Muggleton in New Zealand, Newcastle & SydneyEdited by JCAL Media Group Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Not Fintech Investment Advice, the podcast where Simon Taylor and I (Alex Johnson) talk through fintech companies we're intrigued by, puzzled by, and occasionally want to manifest into existence (but definitely not invest in). First up is Cardamon, the cozy-sounding AI copilot tackling the cold, hard world of compliance. They're building a regulatory assistant to speed up product launches (a direct threat to $500/hr law firms and a clever way to navigate the compliance iceberg). Their bet is that if you structure regulatory knowledge right, it can accelerate innovation. Which brings us to this question: What if compliance is actually the best place to start when designing financial products? Next is Sprive, a UK app helping homeowners pay off their mortgage faster by redirecting cashback and round-ups toward debt repayment. It's clever. It's elegant. But it also risks falling into what Simon calls the “PFM ditch” (the only people who use the tool are the ones already inclined to do the behavior anyway). But is mortgage payoff the product, or a feature? And if the real value is in rerouting savings wherever they matter most, maybe Sprive isn't a mortgage app at all? Then comes Figg Wealth, the most complete “dashboard of dashboards” net-worth tracker we've seen in the UK. It pulls in everything (cars, property, crypto, stocks, bank accounts) and auto-values it all. The real unlock may be pairing that aggregation with AI-driven advice. If AI can widen both the top and bottom of the funnel, Figg might just make wealth management scalable. Last is Glide, which began life as a neobank but pivoted to selling onboarding and lending infrastructure to community banks and credit unions.Now they sit in the middleware layer. But here's the big question: what can vendors build beyond table stakes that offers these smaller institutions a real shot at differentiation? No end-of-show manifestation this time, unless you count my dream of having agentic private bankers before we have agentic commerce! 00:02:30 – Cardamon  00:17:43 – Sprive 00:29:03 – Figg Wealth 00:40:43 – Glide This episode is brought to you by: Newline™ by Fifth Third is an innovative, API-first platform that enables fintechs to launch embedded payment, card and deposit solutions directly with Fifth Third Bank. Visit Newline53.com to see how Newline can elevate your business. The world needs MoR. With Paddle as your Merchant of Record (MoR), the global growth is yours. The risk, compliance and accountability are ours. Simple. Paddle offers all the benefits of an enterprise-grade billing system but with MoR flexibility, MoR control, and MoR focus on your core product. Visit paddle.com to learn more. Sign up for Alex's Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday and Thursday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/ And for more exclusive insider content, don't forget to check out my YouTube page. Follow Simon: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sytaylor/ Substack: https://sytaylor.substack.com   Follow Alex:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson Companies featured: https://cardamon.ai/ https://sprive.com/ https://figgwealth.com/ https://withglide.com/ 

Liz Pelly has been closely following the evolution of Spotify and other music streaming services and the effect they have had on the music sector and musicians themselves for several years. Her book, Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist (Atria, 2025), paints a depressing picture of how the company has exploited the popularity of playlists to grab a larger share of the money we spend on recorded music. Along with the record companies, Spotify has done this at the expense of musicians themselves and especially those is less popular areas like jazz and classical. I spoke to Liz at an event in Brussels organised by music venue Ancienne Belgique. Later we were joined by Jozefien Vanharpe of Leuven university, professor of intellectual property law, and Nick Yule of AEPO Artis, an association for collecting societies for performing artists. This is Simon Taylor with a podcast for New Books Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/politics-and-polemics

In this episode of FinTech Layer Cake, host Reggie Young welcomes back Simon Taylor—fintech thought leader, writer of Fintech Brainfood, and Head of Strategy & Content at Sardine.They explore the rapidly emerging world of agentic payments and what Visa's new tokenization framework means for AI-driven commerce. Simon also unpacks real-world use cases, from “vibe shopping” to automated business purchasing, and what hurdles—like consumer trust and fraud—still stand in the way.The conversation then shifts to Sardine's groundbreaking Agentic Oversight Framework, which shows how AI agents can safely handle complex compliance tasks like KYC.Whether you're building AI tools, working in compliance, or just curious about the next frontier in payments—this is an essential listen.

Liz Pelly has been closely following the evolution of Spotify and other music streaming services and the effect they have had on the music sector and musicians themselves for several years. Her book, Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist (Atria, 2025), paints a depressing picture of how the company has exploited the popularity of playlists to grab a larger share of the money we spend on recorded music. Along with the record companies, Spotify has done this at the expense of musicians themselves and especially those is less popular areas like jazz and classical. I spoke to Liz at an event in Brussels organised by music venue Ancienne Belgique. Later we were joined by Jozefien Vanharpe of Leuven university, professor of intellectual property law, and Nick Yule of AEPO Artis, an association for collecting societies for performing artists. This is Simon Taylor with a podcast for New Books Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/economics

Liz Pelly has been closely following the evolution of Spotify and other music streaming services and the effect they have had on the music sector and musicians themselves for several years. Her book, Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist (Atria, 2025), paints a depressing picture of how the company has exploited the popularity of playlists to grab a larger share of the money we spend on recorded music. Along with the record companies, Spotify has done this at the expense of musicians themselves and especially those is less popular areas like jazz and classical. I spoke to Liz at an event in Brussels organised by music venue Ancienne Belgique. Later we were joined by Jozefien Vanharpe of Leuven university, professor of intellectual property law, and Nick Yule of AEPO Artis, an association for collecting societies for performing artists. This is Simon Taylor with a podcast for New Books Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/performing-arts

Liz Pelly has been closely following the evolution of Spotify and other music streaming services and the effect they have had on the music sector and musicians themselves for several years. Her book, Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist (Atria, 2025), paints a depressing picture of how the company has exploited the popularity of playlists to grab a larger share of the money we spend on recorded music. Along with the record companies, Spotify has done this at the expense of musicians themselves and especially those is less popular areas like jazz and classical. I spoke to Liz at an event in Brussels organised by music venue Ancienne Belgique. Later we were joined by Jozefien Vanharpe of Leuven university, professor of intellectual property law, and Nick Yule of AEPO Artis, an association for collecting societies for performing artists. This is Simon Taylor with a podcast for New Books Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/music

Mixing the spirit and energy of punk with synths. electronic body music (or EBM) took off in the early 80s in Germany, Belgium, and the UK – with bands like DAF, Front 242 and Nitzer Ebb. In their new book - Electronic Body Music (published by Mionaetti) - Yuma Hampejs and Marcel Schulze chronicle how this hybrid of heavy beats and basslines, shouted vocals, and militaristic imagery developed. They talked to me in late April at a live event at Tropicall Records in Brussels. I'm Simon Taylor and this is a podcast for the New Books Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Mixing the spirit and energy of punk with synths. electronic body music (or EBM) took off in the early 80s in Germany, Belgium, and the UK – with bands like DAF, Front 242 and Nitzer Ebb. In their new book - Electronic Body Music (published by Mionaetti) - Yuma Hampejs and Marcel Schulze chronicle how this hybrid of heavy beats and basslines, shouted vocals, and militaristic imagery developed. They talked to me in late April at a live event at Tropicall Records in Brussels. I'm Simon Taylor and this is a podcast for the New Books Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/performing-arts

Mixing the spirit and energy of punk with synths. electronic body music (or EBM) took off in the early 80s in Germany, Belgium, and the UK – with bands like DAF, Front 242 and Nitzer Ebb. In their new book - Electronic Body Music (published by Mionaetti) - Yuma Hampejs and Marcel Schulze chronicle how this hybrid of heavy beats and basslines, shouted vocals, and militaristic imagery developed. They talked to me in late April at a live event at Tropicall Records in Brussels. I'm Simon Taylor and this is a podcast for the New Books Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/music

Welcome back to Not Fintech Investment Advice, where Simon Taylor and I talk about fintech companies that we're definitely not giving investment advice on! The theme of this episode is infrastructure galore. We kick things off with Ubyx, who are essentially building the Visa for stablecoins–a network of merchants, issuers, and acquirers with a standardized incentive and legal structure that could help stablecoins finally qualify as cash equivalents. We're not yet at the Visa moment of mass merchant adoption and real interoperability pain (all pain points are still mostly theoretical), but Ubyx is betting that moment's coming fast. They're one to watch, especially if you love good nerdy whitepaper... Next up, Codex. They recently raised a seed round (with participation from Coinbase and Circle, among others) to build a layer 2 blockchain network specifically for stablecoins. Codex wants to be the sleek payments rail for stablecoins, and while “just another blockchain” fatigue is real, there's logic in going vertical. They're also pitching themselves as a liquidity hub, which, if it works, could be a major edge in reducing fragmentation. Then, there's Agent AV, which is basically Shopify for AI agents. They're tackling the wild west of agentic commerce, where bots now shop on our behalf. E-commerce was built to keep bots out—but now, humans are deploying bots on their behalf. The challenge, then, is separating the good bots (authorized agents) from the bad. That's why a two-sided mode, building for both agents and merchants, makes a lot of sense. It's early days, but they might be laying rails for a whole new kind of shopping experience. And finally, the dark horse of the episode: Experian. Yes, that Experian. They just launched a new cashflow-based credit score and, in a twist, are skipping the bottom of the data stack to go full-FICO. In an open banking world, they don't want to be the bureau—they want to be the scorer. No end-of-show manifestations on this go-around; Simon already manifested the biggest fintech nerd gathering ever, Fintech NerdCon, so Alex is manifesting an excellent inaugural NerdCon in Miami come November.  00:02:36 - UBYX 00:16:25 - Codex 00:30:05 - Agent AV 00:41:14 - Experian Newline™ by Fifth Third is an innovative, API-first platform that enables fintechs to launch embedded payment, card and deposit solutions directly with Fifth Third Bank. Visit Newline53.com to see how Newline can elevate your business. The world needs MoR. With Paddle as your Merchant of Record (MoR), the global growth is yours. The risk, compliance and accountability are ours. Simple. Paddle offers all the benefits of an enterprise-grade billing system but with MoR flexibility, MoR control, and MoR focus on your core product. Visit paddle.com to learn more. Sign up for Alex's Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday and Thursday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/ And for more exclusive insider content, don't forget to check out my YouTube page. Follow Simon: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sytaylor/ Substack: https://sytaylor.substack.com   Follow Alex:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson Companies featured: https://www.ubyx.xyz/ https://www.codex.xyz/ https://www.experian.com/

Most of us have heard the term "AI agent" but it is only the minority of banks and fintechs that have done any kind of implementation. This is partly because it is not a trivial task and there are real risks to getting this wrong. What is needed is some kind of framework that helps reduce these risks and provides best practices for implementing AI agents in financial services.My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Simon Taylor, the Head of Strategy and Content for Sardine and the author of the Fintech Brainfood newsletter. Today, Sardine has released a white paper, titled The Agentic Oversight Framework - Procedures, Accountability, and Best Practices for Agentic AI Use in Regulated Financial Services. It is a how-to document for implementing AI Agents into your bank, credit union or fintech. We unpack the white paper in this podcast, with as little jargon as possible, making it approachable for any risk or compliance executive.In this podcast you will learn:Simon's background and why he joined Sardine in 2022.How banks are approaching BSA/AML compliance today.What Sardine is trying to achieve with this new white paper.What concerns people in financial services have about hiring an AI agent.How AI agents interact with humans in compliance departments.How much more effective AI agents can be.The six different processes in the Agentic Oversight Framework (AOF).How you manage the risk of hallucination in your LLMs.How you can scale the AOF beyond BSA/AML into other areas.Some examples of the AOF in action.If you are starting at zero how you start working with AI agents.Why you should jump in now even though the models will continue to get better.Why data security is such a critical component of the implementation of AI agents.Connect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

In 1994, Fuse opened its doors on the Rue Blaes in downtown Brussels. From early on, this nightclub attracted Detroit techno pioneers Carl Craig, Jeff Mills, and Juan Atkins and cutting-edge French innovators like Laurent Garnier and Daft Punk. Over time, Fuse became one of the most important clubs on the European techno scene and, to celebrate its 30th birthday last year, Koen Galle published Fuse: 30yrs Of Making Noise (AfterClub, 2024). In this recording of a live event, Galle talks to Simon Taylor about the glory days of Fuse and what has made it one of the longest-surviving clubs in Europe – outlasting and predating more famous venues like Trezor and Bergheim in Berlin. Formerly a DJ, Koen Galle founded publishing house AfterClub to uncover stories about Belgium's rich electronic music culture and nightlife.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

In 1994, Fuse opened its doors on the Rue Blaes in downtown Brussels. From early on, this nightclub attracted Detroit techno pioneers Carl Craig, Jeff Mills, and Juan Atkins and cutting-edge French innovators like Laurent Garnier and Daft Punk. Over time, Fuse became one of the most important clubs on the European techno scene and, to celebrate its 30th birthday last year, Koen Galle published Fuse: 30yrs Of Making Noise (AfterClub, 2024). In this recording of a live event, Galle talks to Simon Taylor about the glory days of Fuse and what has made it one of the longest-surviving clubs in Europe – outlasting and predating more famous venues like Trezor and Bergheim in Berlin. Formerly a DJ, Koen Galle founded publishing house AfterClub to uncover stories about Belgium's rich electronic music culture and nightlife.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/performing-arts

In 1994, Fuse opened its doors on the Rue Blaes in downtown Brussels. From early on, this nightclub attracted Detroit techno pioneers Carl Craig, Jeff Mills, and Juan Atkins and cutting-edge French innovators like Laurent Garnier and Daft Punk. Over time, Fuse became one of the most important clubs on the European techno scene and, to celebrate its 30th birthday last year, Koen Galle published Fuse: 30yrs Of Making Noise (AfterClub, 2024). In this recording of a live event, Galle talks to Simon Taylor about the glory days of Fuse and what has made it one of the longest-surviving clubs in Europe – outlasting and predating more famous venues like Trezor and Bergheim in Berlin. Formerly a DJ, Koen Galle founded publishing house AfterClub to uncover stories about Belgium's rich electronic music culture and nightlife.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/music

In This Episode Powered by U.S. Bank and recorded live at Fintech Xchange hosted by the Stena Center for Financial Technology, this episode dives into the most pressing issues shaping financial services today. In our first segment, Jason Henrichs chats with Sima Ghandi, Sr Advisor FS Vector, Co-Founder of Coalition of Financial Ecosystem Standards (CFES) and Phil Goldfeder, CEO American Fintech Council (AFC). AFC, a standards-based organization representing large financial technology (Fintech) companies and innovative banks, promotes a transparent, inclusive, and customer-centric financial system supporting innovation and access to responsible financial products. CFES is a new (2024) industry-led organization with the goal of developing standards that promote safety and soundness for non-banks participating in financial services. They cover: ·  The growing role of bank-fintech partnerships in innovation and growth, and expanding access to financial services.·  The importance of clear risk management and compliance standards in maintaining operational and business viability in the fast-moving world of financial services Then, the conversation shifts to AI and fraud prevention as Jason speaks with John Sun, CEO of Spring Labs, and Simon Taylor, Head of Content & Strategy at Sardine. Sardine offers an AI risk platform for fraud, credit and compliance, and Spring Labs provides an AI-Native conversational intelligence platform that turns chatter into actionable insight. Together, they explore: ·  The future of financial services in a world increasingly reliant on automation and robots·  The broader implications of AI and Generative AI in shaping the future of financial services From standards setting in banking and fintech to AI and fraud this episode delivers hot takes and expert insights on the opportunities, risks, and evolving landscape of financial technology. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBdMjPG1rvE

As we navigate the challenges of 2025, building a resilient workforce is crucial. This throwback episode of HR Works podcast emphasizes the enduring value and power of organizational effectiveness. Learn how to build a thriving workforce that can adapt and succeed in any environment. Simon Taylor, a globally recognized organizational leadership thought leader and Head of Organizational Effectiveness at Gap Inc., joins to discuss the importance of maintaining a dedicated workforce strategy built to withstand challenges and ultimately lead to long-term success.

Episode 358 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Simon Taylor, Founder & CEO of HYCU. One of the things that I love about this podcast is hearing the stories of entrepreneurs and the ambitious moves they make to build their companies. For example, last week's interview with Brian Liu was a great example where he and his Co-Founder cold called and got the most recognizable lawyer on the planet - that being Robert Shapiro - involved with LegalZoom in the early days of the company. Simon's story is also legendary. At the point of having an MVP, they wanted to partner with a fast growing company called Nutanix. He flew out to the company's offices in California and unannounced, he asked to speak to the CEO. After pitching his company and convincing team members during that initial unannounced call, the CEO did finally sit with him and after building a backup solution for Nutanix, a partnership was established and they were off and running. HYCU is a leader in the multi-cloud and SaaS data protection as a service industry. The company has raised $140M in VC funding to date. In this podcast, we cover: * A discussion around leveraging a partnership model for a company's GTM strategy and how to build it with the right mindset and approach. * Simon's background story, including receiving a signed book from legendary computer entrepreneur An Wang, the founder of Wang Laboratories, when his family moved to the U.S. * Starting his career in cubicle jobs and how he learned the importance of rigor like his experience as a 401K rep answering phones and how it helped shape him as an entrepreneur. * Building his first company in Prague, an IT outsourcing company which was acquired by Comtrade and then his next company, a monitoring tools company that was acquired by Citrix. * The full lifecycle story of HYCU and all the details about their platform. * The benefits of raising capital from corporate VCs. * And so much more. Episode Sponsor: As a longtime champion of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank supports innovative companies with the solutions and financing they need through every stage of growth. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors, and $42B in loans as of Q2 2024 – SVB delivers the right people, service and resources to support your entire financial journey. Learn more at SVB.com.

Simon Taylor, CEO of HYCU discusses the state of SaaS resilience and the critical need for SaaS data protection. We discuss insights from a recent report surveying over 417 IT decision-makers worldwide. Simon shares the shocking statistic that 61% of ransomware attacks occur through SaaS services, challenging the assumption that SaaS data is inherently protected. He stresses the importance of backing up SaaS data and highlights the shared responsibility model, where SaaS providers back up their infrastructure but not the customer's data.

Simon Taylor jumps into the Phacktory to hack it up with the guys. A real humdinger. Watch the full ep on YOUTUBE Join the Patreon here: www.patreon.com/thephonehacks Just $7 (AUD) for bonus eps and content - get tons of behind the scenes hacks and pranks and help keep this podcast going! Buy tickets to MIKE and CAPPER's shows Follow CAPPER and MIKE on Instagram Subscribe where you're listening and leave a review to get the word out there.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Fintech Layer Cake, host Reggie Young sits down with Simon Taylor, Head of Strategy and Content at Sardine, renowned author of the Fintech Brainfood newsletter, and host of the Fintech Brainfood podcast. Dubbed the "Ghost of Fintech Future," Simon shares his insights on the evolving landscape of fintech, lessons learned from the UK's fintech scene, and the growing threat of fraud in financial services. They discuss how Sardine is tackling these challenges with innovative fraud detection techniques and the personal story that drives Simon's passion for financial security. This episode is packed with forward-thinking perspectives, practical strategies, and a look into the future of fintech.

Fraudology is presented by Sardine.In this episode of Fraudology, host Karisse Hendrick sits down with Simon Taylor, head of content at Sardine and a recognized expert in fintech and fraud prevention. They dive deep into the evolving landscape of e-commerce fraud prevention, discussing Simon's term "revenue attachment," and the importance of differentiating between "revenue prevention" and "fraud prevention." Simon shares insights from his journey into fraud prevention, his role at Sardine, and the significance of lifelong learning. The conversation emphasizes the need for effective marketing, collaboration among fraud, marketing, and product teams, and a data-driven approach to optimizing KPIs for better customer retention and bottom-line profitability.To Follow Simon Taylor on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/sytaylor/Fraudology is hosted by Karisse Hendrick, a fraud fighter with decades of experience advising hundreds of the biggest ecommerce companies in the world on fraud, chargebacks, and other forms of abuse impacting a company's bottom line. Connect with her on LinkedIn She brings her experience, expertise, and extensive network of experts to this podcast semi weekly, on Tuesdays and Thursdays.