Podcasts about svb

North Korea takes $387 million from Bitget and moves it through THORChain while NEAR's Shield freezes what it can, a Consensys validator hack tests whether staking was ever the risk-free rate, a quant named Benny shows Kalshi's perps volume was cooked, and Apollo warns that AI agents are coming for your checking account. Welcome to The Chopping Block, where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest in crypto. This week the three of them record from a self-serve podcast studio in Amsterdam. Bitget loses 387 million dollars to North Korea's Lazarus Group and pays every claim from its user protection fund, but the stolen funds raise a harder question: THORChain lets them through while NEAR's Shield freezes them, so which one is actually decentralized? (Dragonfly is an investor in Bitget and NEAR.) Then a Consensys validator compromise tests staking as the risk-free rate, Robert prices insurance on US Treasuries at 35 basis points, a quant named Benny exposes Kalshi's perps volume, and the crew takes apart Apollo's warning about agentic bank runs, from Robert's one basis point checking account to Tarun's agent filing his insurance claims. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights

Episode 446 of The VentureFizz Podcast features today's guest is Jack O'Brien, Co-Founder & CEO of Subconscious. AI agents are rapidly transforming knowledge work, especially in sectors like software engineering, law, and finance. However, inference costs for AI agents present a massive challenge, as agentic workloads love chewing up tokens which in return ends up costing companies lots and lots of money. And context limits or rate limits are not the answer either. Subconscious was built to solve this exact challenge. Based on research out of MIT, Subconscious has built a specialized inference platform designed specifically for long-horizon AI agents. Using dynamic context compression and efficient caching, the platform allows developers and enterprises to run open-weight models faster, longer, and up to 80% cheaper. It reminds me of another company that was based on research out of MIT back in 1997: local tech giant Akamai, who helped speed up the internet based on distributed computing and intelligent routing. Subconscious recently announced $5.1 million in funding led by MassVentures, with participation from Foothill Ventures, Underscore VC, E14 Fund, Oakseed Ventures, and the Agent Fund. In this episode, we cover: * Jack's background story, including being the nation's top-ranked face-off specialist in lacrosse, his career in D1 lacrosse at Princeton, and his early entrepreneurial experience running Tiger Bed Rentals as a student through its acquisition. * His time as a software engineer at Google and what this experience taught him. * His serial startup journey, including building OnePager and its acquisition by Stonks. * The origin story of Subconscious and meeting his co-founder, Hongyin Luo. * How Subconscious's inference runtime uses dynamic context compression to slash token costs while maintaining or even improving model performance. * Details on their newly announced $5.1M round of funding. * The rise of open source LLM's versus closed frontier models. * His personal passions outside of work, including kite surfing. Podcast Sponsor: This podcast is brought to you by one of the strongest longtime supporters of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors and $44B in loans as of Q4 2025 – SVB delivers expert guidance, specialized products and a team that knows the innovation economy inside and out. Learn more at SVB.com.

Tomer London is the Co-founder and Chief Product Officer of Gusto.We go deep on how Gusto builds product, from obsessing over customers to shipping Gusto Cofounder with AI in eight weeks. We also get into what AI is doing to small businesses, surviving COVID, the manual world of payroll before software, what his dad's 40-year clothing store taught him, starting Gusto out of YC, and how Gusto thinks about making acquisitions now that it's crossed $1B ARR.Thanks to this episode's sponsors:Numeral: Sales tax on autopilot https://numeral.comFlex: Premium banking, 60-day credit, 0% APR https://home.flex.one/referral/bananacapitalAmplitude: AI analytics https://amplitude.comMonaco: The revenue engine for startups https://monaco.comTimestamps:(0:00) Obsessing over small businesses(10:09) Building Gusto Cofounder in 8 weeks(13:57) What AI is actually doing to small businesses(19:52) COVID and "the end of small business"(27:42) Why running a small business is so hard(32:21) SVB and why payroll can't be late(36:29) How GTM changes after 500,000 customers(39:27) Running payroll manually before Gusto(46:19) Why payroll and compliance are so hard(49:14) What his dad's clothing store taught him(54:00) Are we regulating small business out of existence?(58:04) Starting as ZenPayroll in 2012(1:05:02) Getting the first customers(1:07:28) Minimum Lovable Product vs MVP(1:11:28) How AI changed the way Gusto builds(1:15:58) Gusto's M&A playbook(1:22:52) Shimon Peres and "no room for small dreams"ReferencedGusto: https://gusto.comGuideline: https://www.guideline.comY Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.comSam Blond on The Peel: https://www.thespl.it/p/the-ai-native-gtm-playbook-sam-blondNo Room for Small Dreams, by Shimon Peres: https://www.amazon.com/No-Room-Small-Dreams-Imagination/dp/1538412209Follow TomerTwitter: https://x.com/tomerlondonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomerlondonFollow TurnerTwitter: https://twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/

Bloomberg reported a deepening bond selloff as traders increased bets on additional Federal Reserve tightening. Rising U.S. Treasury yields lifted discount rates and pressured valuation-sensitive equities in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite. Borrowing costs for small businesses climbed as lines of credit and SBA 7(a) loans tied to SOFR and Prime reset higher at banks such as JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo. Venture debt from lenders including Hercules Capital, TriplePoint Capital, and First Citizens Bank's SVB unit repriced to higher all-in coupons with tighter terms. A stronger dollar against the euro and yen added currency risk for importers and exporters. Operators responded by laddering short-term Treasuries, using money market funds from Vanguard and Fidelity, and updating budgets to reflect higher interest expense.Learn more on this news by visiting us at: https://greyjournal.net/news/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Zac Prince is the Managing Director at Galaxy Digital and the co-founder and former CEO of BlockFi. In this conversation, we break down what really happened at BlockFi's collapse, the fraud behind FTX and Alameda that he witnessed firsthand, and the lessons he's applying to risk management today. We also discuss Galaxy One's banking, crypto, and yield products, and what the future of investing and AI-powered finance looks like.=======================The views expressed by the speakers are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Galaxy or its affiliates. Yield is variable and may change with 30 days' notice. Galaxy Premium Yield is available only to U.S. accredited investors, is not a bank deposit, and is not FDIC insured. The note is unsecured and may result in loss of principal. Guaranteed by Galaxy Digital Holdings LP, a subsidiary of Galaxy Digital Inc. Staking involves risks, including validator downtime, slash, loss of rewards, and Galaxy cannot guarantee validator performance.=======================Arch Public is an agentic trading platform that automates investment strategies across Stocks, Commodities, ETFs and Crypto. Whether you're rotating into AI & Gold, allocating to the S&P 500, or accumulating Bitcoin, Arch Public executes your plan 24/7 without ever taking custody of your assets or funds. Sign up today at https://www.archpublic.com, and start your FREE automated trading strategy! =======================TOKEN2049 returns to Singapore on October 7–8 at Marina Bay Sands. The world's largest crypto event. 25,000 attendees, 300 speakers, 1,000 side events and the whole industry in one place for two days, into the F1 weekend. Get 10% off your ticket with code POMP10 at https://token2049.com/singapore=======================Uphold is the easiest way to buy and sell crypto unlike any other platform allowing you to trade in just one step between any supported asset. Check them out at https://www.uphold.com/pomp/ This video includes a paid sponsorship with Uphold. I'm compensated by Uphold for promoting its products and services and may receive commissions from referrals. Terms apply. Not available in all jurisdictions. Digital assets are risky and may result in the total loss of your capital.=======================Simple Mining makes Bitcoin mining simple and accessible for everyone. We offer a premium white glove hosting service, helping you maximize the profitability of Bitcoin mining. For more information on Simple Mining or to get started mining Bitcoin, visit https://www.simplemining.io/pomp=======================0:00 - Intro1:05 - What really happened at BlockFi?8:09 - Celsius, Voyager collapse & the run on BlockFi10:01 - The FTX acquisition, Sam Bankman-Fried & discovering the fraud13:32 - Lessons applied to risk management at Galaxy16:08 - Silvergate, SVB & the "war on crypto"18:49 - Regulatory politics & the future of crypto policy22:10 - Rebuilding: what Zac learned post crypto war26:36 - What is Galaxy One? 41:43 - AI agents & the future of banking

Fluent Fiction - Swedish: Rekindling Family Ties: A Homecoming in Stockholm Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/sv/episode/2026-09-09-07-38-20-sv Story Transcript:Sv: Höstens färger spred sig över skärgården som en tavla av röd, gul och orange.En: The autumn colors spread across the archipelago like a painting of red, yellow, and orange.Sv: Det kalla men friska brisen rusade runt klipporna i Stockholm skärgård där Lars åter klev av båten på en liten brygga.En: The cold but fresh breeze rushed around the rocks in the Stockholm archipelago where Lars once again stepped off the boat onto a small dock.Sv: Det var länge sedan han sist var här, över tio år.En: It had been a long time since he was last here, over ten years.Sv: Han andades in den svala luften och såg sig omkring.En: He inhaled the cool air and looked around.Sv: Det var underbart men ändå främmande.En: It was wonderful yet unfamiliar.Sv: Lars var tillbaka för en familjesammankomst.En: Lars was back for a family gathering.Sv: Hans hjärta slog lite nervöst.En: His heart beat a bit nervously.Sv: Han hade inte sett sin yngre syster Annika på flera år.En: He hadn't seen his younger sister Annika for many years.Sv: Hon stod på bryggan och vinkade.En: She stood on the dock and waved.Sv: Hennes leende var varmt men glansen i hennes ögon var svår att läsa.En: Her smile was warm, but the sparkle in her eyes was hard to read.Sv: "Välkommen hem, brorsan", ropade Annika när han närmade sig.En: "Welcome home, brother," shouted Annika as he approached.Sv: Hon kramade honom hårt och Lars kände en plötslig våg av känslor.En: She hugged him tightly, and Lars felt a sudden wave of emotions.Sv: "Det är bra att vara tillbaka", svarade Lars, men han kände den inre osäkerheten.En: "It's good to be back," Lars replied, but he felt the inner uncertainty.Sv: Vad skulle hans familj tänka om honom nu?En: What would his family think of him now?Sv: De promenerade tillsammans till det gamla familjehuset, byggt av trä, med stora fönster som blickade ut över havet.En: They walked together to the old family house, built of wood, with large windows that gazed out over the sea.Sv: "Allt är sig likt", sa Lars och försökte ta in alla bekanta dofter och ljud.En: "Everything is just the same," said Lars, trying to take in all the familiar smells and sounds.Sv: "Ja, men du har förändrats", sa Annika och log svagt.En: "Yes, but you've changed," Annika said, smiling faintly.Sv: De spenderade dagen med familjen, pratade och åt.En: They spent the day with family, talking and eating.Sv: Men Lars kunde känna spänningen mellan honom och Annika.En: But Lars could feel the tension between him and Annika.Sv: På kvällen bestämde de sig för att ta en båttur, kanske skulle havet hjälpa dem att prata ärligt.En: In the evening, they decided to take a boat ride; maybe the sea would help them speak honestly.Sv: Medan båten lätt gled över det spegelblanka vattnet, öppnade Annika äntligen upp.En: As the boat gently slid over the mirror-like water, Annika finally opened up.Sv: "Jag var arg när du åkte.En: "I was angry when you left.Sv: Jag kände mig övergiven."En: I felt abandoned."Sv: Lars suckade och tittade på henne med en tung blick.En: Lars sighed and looked at her with a heavy gaze.Sv: "Jag vet.En: "I know.Sv: Jag var tvungen att lämna, men jag missade er alla.En: I had to leave, but I missed all of you.Sv: Jag insåg inte hur mycket förrän nu."En: I didn't realize how much until now."Sv: Vågorna kluckade mot båten och tystnaden låg djup.En: The waves lapped against the boat, and the silence was deep.Sv: "Jag vill försöka mer", sa Lars till slut.En: "I want to try more," Lars said at last.Sv: "Besöka oftare, vara en del av familjen igen."En: "Visit more often, be part of the family again."Sv: Annika såg ut över vattnet och tog sedan ett djupt andetag.En: Annika looked out over the water and then took a deep breath.Sv: "Jag vill också försöka.En: "I want to try too.Sv: Vi kan börja om."En: We can start over."Sv: Båten gungade mjukt när de styrde tillbaka mot ön.En: The boat rocked gently as they steered back toward the island.Sv: De hade brutit igenom den osynliga muren mellan dem.En: They had broken through the invisible wall between them.Sv: Lars kände sig lättare, nästan som om han återupptäckte en del av sig själv.En: Lars felt lighter, almost as if he had rediscovered a part of himself.Sv: När de steg i land fanns det en ny förståelse mellan dem.En: As they stepped ashore, there was a new understanding between them.Sv: Lars kände sig hemma igen, och det var en känsla han inte ville mista.En: Lars felt at home again, and it was a feeling he didn't want to lose.Sv: Annika log och tog hans hand.En: Annika smiled and took his hand.Sv: "Vi klarar det här."En: "We can do this."Sv: För första gången på länge kändes det som en ny början för dem båda.En: For the first time in a long while, it felt like a new beginning for both of them.Sv: Skärgårdens höstlöv verkade lysa ännu starkare i natten, som ett löfte om en ljusare framtid.En: The archipelago's autumn leaves seemed to shine even brighter in the night, like a promise of a brighter future. Vocabulary Words:archipelago: skärgårdendock: bryggaabandoned: övergivengazed: blickadesteered: styrderocked: gungadeunfamiliar: främmandetension: spänningenmirror-like: spegelblankasighed: suckadeinhaled: andades inbrisk: friskbreeze: brisenshore: landsparkle: glansenwaved: vinkadehugged: kramadeuncertainty: osäkerhetengazed out: blickade utfaintly: svagtlapped: kluckadeascent: stegrediscovered: återupptäckteunderstanding: förståelsepromised: löftegently: mjuktrediscover: återupptäcktepart: delglide: glidanakłoń back: styra tillbaka

Fluent Fiction - Swedish: Unveiling Family Secrets: A Stroll Through Stockholm's Past Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/sv/episode/2026-09-09-22-34-02-sv Story Transcript:Sv: Gamla Stan i Stockholm var magisk på hösten.En: Gamla Stan in Stockholm was magical in the autumn.Sv: De smala gatorna var fyllda med guldgula och röda löv.En: The narrow streets were filled with golden-yellow and red leaves.Sv: Husen var gamla, som berättelser från en annan tid.En: The houses were old, like stories from another time.Sv: Elin gick med raska steg nerför Västerlånggatan.En: Elin walked briskly down Västerlånggatan.Sv: Hon höll ett gammalt brev i handen.En: She held an old letter in her hand.Sv: Brevet var från hennes mormor, en kvinna full av hemligheter och visdom.En: The letter was from her grandmother, a woman full of secrets and wisdom.Sv: Johan gick bredvid henne.En: Johan walked beside her.Sv: "Elin, varför bryr du dig om det här gamla brevet?"En: "Elin, why do you care about this old letter?"Sv: frågade han.En: he asked.Sv: Hans röst var skeptisk.En: His voice was skeptical.Sv: Han kände inte att familjens förflutna angick dem i deras moderna liv.En: He didn't feel that the family's past concerned them in their modern lives.Sv: Elin såg på sin bror och kände både frustration och kärlek.En: Elin looked at her brother and felt both frustration and love.Sv: "Det är viktigt, Johan.En: "It's important, Johan.Sv: Mormor ville att vi skulle veta om vår historia," sa Elin mjukt.En: Mormor wanted us to know about our history," Elin said softly.Sv: De stannade vid en liten bokhandel som nästan dolde sig mellan de andra gamla byggnaderna.En: They stopped at a little bookstore that almost hid itself among the other old buildings.Sv: Enligt brevet fanns här en avgörande ledtråd.En: According to the letter, there was a crucial clue here.Sv: Elin öppnade dörren, och en liten klocka ringde när de gick in.En: Elin opened the door, and a small bell rang as they walked in.Sv: Bokhandeln var som ett annat universum.En: The bookstore was like another universe.Sv: Böcker travade högt och damm dansade i luftstrimmorna.En: Books stacked high and dust danced in the sunbeams.Sv: Bakom disken stod en äldre man med glasögon.En: Behind the counter stood an older man with glasses.Sv: "Kan jag hjälpa er?"En: "Can I help you?"Sv: frågade han vänligt.En: he asked kindly.Sv: Elin visade mannen brevet.En: Elin showed the man the letter.Sv: "Vi letar efter något som min mormor nämnde," sa hon.En: "We are looking for something my mormor mentioned," she said.Sv: Mannen log och ledde dem till en hylla fylld med gamla fotoalbum.En: The man smiled and led them to a shelf filled with old photo albums.Sv: Elin och Johan bläddrade igenom sidorna tillsammans.En: Elin and Johan flipped through the pages together.Sv: Plötsligt såg de en bild från 1950-talet.En: Suddenly, they saw a picture from the 1950s.Sv: Det var deras mormor, ung och leende.En: It was their grandmother, young and smiling.Sv: Bredvid henne stod en man som de aldrig hört talas om.En: Next to her stood a man they had never heard of.Sv: "Vem är det?"En: "Who is that?"Sv: undrade Johan, nu mer intresserad.En: wondered Johan, now more interested.Sv: Elin läste en anteckning vid sidan av bilden.En: Elin read a note beside the picture.Sv: "Det här är vår morfar," sa hon förvånat.En: "This is our grandfather," she said surprised.Sv: De hade alltid trott att deras morfar dog ung, men här fanns bevis på en tidigare okänd del av familjens historia.En: They had always thought their grandfather died young, but here was evidence of a previously unknown part of the family's history.Sv: Johan lade sin arm om Elin och log.En: Johan put his arm around Elin and smiled.Sv: "Jag antar att det finns mer att upptäcka än vad jag trodde," medgav han.En: "I guess there's more to discover than I thought," he admitted.Sv: Elin nickade.En: Elin nodded.Sv: "Vår familj är som dessa gator," sa hon och såg ut genom fönstret mot Gamla Stan, "full av vinklar och vrår som väntar på att bli upptäckta."En: "Our family is like these streets," she said, looking out the window towards Gamla Stan, "full of nooks and crannies waiting to be discovered."Sv: De lämnade bokhandeln tillsammans, med hjärtan lite tyngre av hemligheter men också varmare av nyvunnet släktskap.En: They left the bookstore together, their hearts a little heavier with secrets but also warmer with newfound kinship.Sv: De hade funnit mer än bara en hemlighet; de hade funnit en del av sin identitet.En: They had found more than just a secret; they had found a part of their identity.Sv: Och så, mitt i Gamla Stans magi, inledde Elin och Johan resan mot att utforska sina rötter, hand i hand.En: And so, in the magic of Gamla Stan, Elin and Johan began the journey to explore their roots, hand in hand. Vocabulary Words:magical: magisknarrow: smalabriskly: med raska stegskeptical: skeptiskconcerned: angickfrustration: frustrationcrucial: avgörandeclue: ledtråduniverse: universumstacked: travadesunbeams: luftstrimmornakindly: vänligtflipped: bläddradeyoung: ungevidence: bevisdiscovered: upptäcktaheavier: tyngresecrets: hemligheterwisdom: visdommodern: modernabookstore: bokhandelalbums: fotoalbumnote: anteckningidentity: identitetkinship: släktskaproots: rötterjourney: resanexplore: utforskahand: handlooked: såg

When Silicon Valley Bank collapsed in March 2023, it took with it a bank that had quietly become infrastructure for the startup ecosystem, holding the majority of the venture debt market and serving as the one relationship founders and fund managers trusted for everything from a wire transfer to an introduction. Bigger banks and a wave of neobanks moved fast to fill the void. Three years later, the question is whether either one actually replaced what SVB was. Today I'm joined by Katya Kohen, managing director at Stifel, where she leads investor coverage nationally for the firm's venture and fund banking group. Katya's path into banking runs through venture, not around it. She built and exited a tech company, invested as an angel in immigrant founders, built her own accelerator, and spent years at Techstars before joining Stifel as, in her words, its first non-traditional banker. That mix of operator, investor, and now banker shapes what she calls venture banking 3.0, a founder-first model built after the SVB meltdown. We get into what actually broke in the founder-bank relationship, how Stifel has grown its venture banking book toward $12 billion in commitments, and why venture debt has become essential capital for AI companies given how capital intensive the category has become. Let's get into it.

Episode 443 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Allison Byers, Founder & CEO of Scroobious. There is a lot that goes into raising venture capital. You have to have the right idea, market size, traction, and it's incredibly helpful to be networked with VCs ahead of your fundraise. Plus, it's very important that entrepreneurs are aligned with an investor's expectations and motivations for funding a business because they are ultimately trying to provide returns for LPs. However, venture capital isn't the only option for financing a company. There are lots of other avenues and some are non-dilutive like bootstrapping, revenue-based financing, traditional loans, and more. It was Allison's own experience of leading a medical device company that was trying to raise its Series B round of funding after hitting every milestone, paying customers, and an FDA registration that opened her eyes to the challenges of raising capital. It led her to start a company and author a book to demystify the fundraising process and build a more equitable innovation economy. Through her company, Scroobious, she's building a capital access platform where founders, investors, mentors, and advisors meet to build real relationships that unlock opportunity, innovation, and growth. Her recently published book, Fundraising for the Rest of Us, is a practical guide for raising capital on your own terms. In this episode, we cover: * Allison's background growing up and how she got her career started. * Her personal story of being forced out of her job after returning from maternity leave, which ultimately led her down the entrepreneurial path. * The story of Digital Cognition Technologies, a neurodiagnostics product, and its attempted Series B fundraise and ultimate asset sale. * The inspiration behind Scroobious and how its platform helps founders. * The details of the Core 10 Pitch Deck Framework. * Her experience writing the book and what it was like recording the audiobook. * And so much more! Podcast Sponsor: This podcast is brought to you by one of the strongest longtime supporters of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors and $44B in loans as of Q4 2025 – SVB delivers expert guidance, specialized products and a team that knows the innovation economy inside and out. Learn more at SVB.com.

Brazil banned crypto players from moving big money, so this founder got a bank license instead. Now Trace Finance processes over $10B in cross-border volume and powers the top 4 global payment companies in Latin America.On this episode of The Index Podcast, Bernardo Brites, Co-Founder & CEO of Trace Finance, breaks down how stablecoins plus real bank infrastructure (not stablecoins alone) are quietly becoming the backbone of global money movement, and why the US dollar's dominance might depend on it.

Michael Tannenbaum is the CEO of Figure, the blockchain lending company he took public in 2025.He was employee #1 at Brex, and before that ran the mortgage business at SoFi. Mike Cagney, who founded both SoFi and Figure, pulled him back to take Figure public in 2025.This is a conversation on how to think and act like a founder, the framework he uses to run Figure, plus a look at how a lending business works under the hood, why he ran the broken mortgage business at SoFi to prove himself, the time Masa offered him a billion dollars, how he nearly walking away from Brex right before they launched, inside the SVB collapse, how Figure originates loans for $1,000 instead of $12,000, their recent Kiavi acquisition, and the gas station test his dad taught him.Thank you to Mike Cagney, Art Levy, and Sam Blond for helping brainstorm topics for the conversation!Thanks to this episodes sponsors!Numeral: Sales tax on autopilot https://www.numeral.comFlex: Premium banking, 60-day credit, 0% APR https://home.flex.one/referral/bananacapitalAmplitude: AI analytics https://www.amplitude.comMerge: Every model, one API https://www.merge.dev/turnerMonaco: The revenue engine for startups https://www.monaco.com/Timestamps:(0:00) From Brex employee #1 to public-company CEO(1:28) Operating vs managing a career(3:23) Why he took the worst business at SoFi(9:33) The Big Rock framework(11:02) How to get real customer feedback(14:58) The best nose for value in fintech(17:49) Why banking the affluent beats down-market(21:12) Figure: cutting mortgage cost from $12k to $1k(25:41) Do you actually need to use blockchain?(28:03) Why memecoins took over crypto(32:17) Masa's billion-dollar offer(36:29) Leaving SoFi for two kids in a kitchen(39:05) Six months from almost quitting to a unicorn(44:09) The finance guy who ran Brex's marketing(47:03) Inside Brex during the SVB collapse(51:09) The two SoFi insights behind Figure(54:40) From direct-to-consumer to B2B marketplace(56:41) AI can't get you better credit ratings(58:50) Figure is a modern Fannie Mae(1:01:28) Buyers who commit before the loan exists(1:03:59) Following customers into new products(1:06:35) Buying Kiavi, the fix-and-flip leader(1:12:15) Why more fintech's don't become marketplaces(1:14:46) The AI risk in outsourcing customer acquisition(1:18:23) What going public actually takes(1:20:14) Life as a public-company CEO(1:22:38) Getting shorted(1:24:12) The gas station test(1:25:42) The reverse pyramid of big corporatesReferencedFigure: https://www.figure.com/Careers at Figure: https://www.figure.com/careers/Kiavi: https://www.kiavi.com/Follow MichaelTwitter: https://x.com/MBTannenbaumLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeltannenbaum/Follow TurnerTwitter: https://twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/

Fluent Fiction - Swedish: Rainy Rendezvous: A Perfect Pairing of Art and Storytelling Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/sv/episode/2026-08-24-22-34-02-sv Story Transcript:Sv: Regndropparna föll som små diamanter mot de kullerstensbelagda gatorna i Gamla Stan i Stockholm.En: The raindrops fell like small diamonds onto the cobblestone streets of Gamla Stan in Stockholm.Sv: Färgglada hus kantade gatorna och skapade en idyllisk fond för dagens små händelser.En: Colorful houses lined the streets, creating an idyllic backdrop for the day's small events.Sv: En lätt doft av nybakade bullar svävade i luften, och de gamla gatlyktorna kastade ett varmt sken över den våta marken.En: A light scent of freshly baked buns floated in the air, and the old street lamps cast a warm glow over the wet ground.Sv: Johan sökte skydd i ett litet café när regnet överraskade honom.En: Johan sought shelter in a small café when the rain surprised him.Sv: Han var en tystlåten konstnär, förlorad i sina tankar om nästa konstprojekt.En: He was a quiet artist, lost in thoughts about his next art project.Sv: Med sin skissbok under armen såg han sig omkring och fann en ledig plats vid ett litet bord nära fönstret.En: With his sketchbook under his arm, he looked around and found a vacant spot at a small table near the window.Sv: Samtidigt tog en ung kvinna, Linnea, sig också in i caféet med en suck av lättnad.En: At the same time, a young woman, Linnea, also entered the café with a sigh of relief.Sv: Hon var en resande bloggskribent, ivrig att upptäcka Skandinavien, men hennes hjärta värkte av hemlängtan.En: She was a traveling blogger, eager to discover Scandinavia, but her heart ached with homesickness.Sv: Hon letade efter en plats att vila och skriva sina intryck.En: She was looking for a place to rest and write down her impressions.Sv: När hon såg den lediga platsen mittemot Johan, frågade hon försiktigt: "Är det okej om jag sitter här?"En: When she saw the empty seat across from Johan, she cautiously asked: "Is it okay if I sit here?"Sv: Johan nickade med ett vänligt leende.En: Johan nodded with a friendly smile.Sv: Snart förenades deras samtal av ljudet av kaffe som hälldes upp och skratt från andra gäster.En: Soon, their conversation mingled with the sound of coffee being poured and laughter from other guests.Sv: "Jag letar efter ny inspiration", erkände Johan efter en stund.En: "I'm searching for new inspiration," Johan admitted after a while.Sv: "Min konst har fastnat i ett mönster, och jag vet inte hur jag ska bryta det."En: "My art has gotten stuck in a pattern, and I don't know how to break it."Sv: Linnea såg medkännande på honom.En: Linnea looked at him with compassion.Sv: "Att resa hjälper mig att hitta nytt perspektiv.En: "Traveling helps me to find new perspectives.Sv: Men ibland känner jag mig ensam, fastän jag är omgiven av vacker kultur."En: But sometimes I feel lonely, even though I'm surrounded by beautiful culture."Sv: De började dela sina historier, sina drömmar, och sina rädslor.En: They began to share their stories, their dreams, and their fears.Sv: Johan beskrev hur han brukade måla landskap och porträtt, men att något inom honom längtade efter förnyelse.En: Johan described how he used to paint landscapes and portraits, but something inside him longed for renewal.Sv: Linnea talade om hur hon älskade att upptäcka kulturen i olika länder, men hur hemlängtan ibland tog udden av glädjen.En: Linnea talked about how she loved discovering the culture of different countries, but how homesickness sometimes put a damper on the joy.Sv: Medan regnet fortsatte att falla utanför, födde ett spontant beslut en idé mellan dem.En: As the rain continued to fall outside, a spontaneous decision sparked an idea between them.Sv: Linnea föreslog att de skulle göra ett gemensamt projekt - en kombination av hans konst och hennes berättelser.En: Linnea suggested they should do a joint project—a combination of his art and her stories.Sv: De skulle frigöra sina känslor och uttrycka sina upplevelser genom både bild och text.En: They would free their emotions and express their experiences through both image and text.Sv: Både Johan och Linnea blev inspirerade.En: Both Johan and Linnea were inspired.Sv: De såg hur deras olikheter och gemensamma intressen kunde skapa något nytt och spännande.En: They saw how their differences and shared interests could create something new and exciting.Sv: Samarbetet kändes som en perfekt symbios, där ord och färg möttes och skapade magi.En: The collaboration felt like a perfect symbiosis, where words and color met and created magic.Sv: När regnmolnen skingrades, och solen åter lyste över Gamla Stans gator, hade både Johan och Linnea förändrats.En: When the rain clouds scattered, and the sun once again shone over Gamla Stan's streets, both Johan and Linnea had changed.Sv: Johan fann en ny riktning i sin konst genom Linneas perspektiv, och Linnea upptäckte att resandet inte bara handlade om platser utan också om banden man knyter.En: Johan found a new direction in his art through Linnea's perspective, and Linnea discovered that traveling wasn't just about places but also about the connections you make.Sv: De lämnade caféet med leenden, lade grunden för en långvarig vänskap och gemensamma framtida projekt.En: They left the café with smiles, laying the foundation for a lasting friendship and future projects together.Sv: Solen torkade den blöta kullerstenen, och cafégästerna spred ut sig över Gamla Stan.En: The sun dried the wet cobblestones, and the café guests spread out across Gamla Stan.Sv: För Johan och Linnea hade den oväntade regnskuren i Stockholm gett dem en gåva – en ny början och en ny inspiration.En: For Johan and Linnea, the unexpected rain shower in Stockholm had given them a gift—a new beginning and new inspiration. Vocabulary Words:raindrops: regndropparnacobblestone: kullerstensbelagdaidyllic: idylliskscent: doftshelter: skyddvacant: ledigcautiously: försiktigtpattern: mönstercompassion: medkännandeperspectives: perspektivspontaneous: spontantrenewal: förnyelseache: värktehomesickness: hemlängtandamp: uddenbonds: bandenguests: gästernascattered: skingradescollaboration: samarbetetfoundation: grundencompanionship: vänskappour: hälldeslight: lättspark: föddeexpress: uttryckaexperiences: upplevelsersymbiosis: symbiosmagic: magiunexpected: oväntadeemotions: känslor

Avsnitt 329. Nyligen skrev tidningen the Guardian en lång artikel som tog heder och ära av en författare vilket fick till följd att Bonnier i Storbritannien tvärt avbröt alla förbindelser med författaren och drog in dennes böcker, skickade ut ett pressmeddelande och stängde dörren. Så hamnade frågan i knäet på förläggaren. Hur tänka? Hur reagera? När SD – politikern Richard Jomshof skrev en bok såldes i stort sett hela upplagan via Bokus på ett knappt dygn. På Adlibris gick inte boken att beställa. Både Bokus, nej framförallt Bokus men också Adlibris fick höra rop om censur. Men det var allt annat än. Vi går igenom vad som hände. Claes de Faire, Norstedts vd, har släppt sitt ägande i Kaunitz och Olssons förlag och SvB får leta nya lekkamrater. Två små nyheter – bara i Förlagspodden. En amerikansk grupp med grävande journalister avslöjade nyligen att Amazon fulskannar böcker som de köper upp i smyg. Vi funderar på varför. Slutligen. Ryssland bombar Ukraina in i framtiden och bokbranschen är en av de kulturyttringar som är mest utsatta. Hur ska vi förhålla oss till det? Göra något? Göra inget? Prata? Handla? Vi försöker hitta ett fungerande förhållningssätt och diskuterar vem som borde agera.   00 21         Rättelse om Adlibris 01 34         När skiten hamnar i fläkten 07 36         Bokus, och Rickard Jomshofs nya bok 14 23         Claes de Faire rensar i sina åtaganden 15 33         Ny Teknik säljs och SvB får hitta nya lekkamrater 17 20         Amazon fulskannar böcker 20 16         Bokbranschen attackeras i Ukraina

Fluent Fiction - Swedish: A Library Encounter: Where Books Sparked an Unexpected Friendship Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/sv/episode/2026-08-17-22-34-01-sv Story Transcript:Sv: Solen sken in genom de stora fönstren i Stockholms stadsbibliotek.En: The sun shone in through the large windows of the Stockholms stadsbibliotek.Sv: Sommardagarna var långa och ljusa, och läsarna sökte en fristad i bibliotekets svala inre.En: The summer days were long and bright, and the readers sought refuge in the library's cool interior.Sv: Den imponerande runda läsesalen med högt i tak och rader av böcker bjöd in till tyst eftertanke.En: The impressive round reading room, with high ceilings and rows of books, invited quiet contemplation.Sv: Alma satt vid ett bord nära mitten av den stora salen.En: Alma sat at a table near the center of the large room.Sv: Framför henne låg en samling av skandinaviska romaner.En: In front of her lay a collection of Scandinavian novels.Sv: Hon var djupt försjunken i "Röda rummet" av Strindberg.En: She was deeply immersed in "Röda rummet" by Strindberg.Sv: Alma var en litteraturstudent som älskade den nordiska kulturen, men hon kände sig ofta ensam i sin passion.En: Alma was a literature student who loved Nordic culture, but she often felt lonely in her passion.Sv: Andra i skolan delade inte samma intensitet för hennes älsklingstema.En: Others at school did not share the same intensity for her favorite theme.Sv: I närheten satt Viktor.En: Nearby sat Viktor.Sv: Han var en grafisk designer, där för att söka inspiration inför sitt nästa projekt.En: He was a graphic designer, there to seek inspiration for his next project.Sv: Hans blick svepte över läsesalen innan den landade på en bok av Selma Lagerlöf.En: His gaze swept over the reading room before landing on a book by Selma Lagerlöf.Sv: Viktor hade alltid fascinerats av hur konst och litteratur kunde vävas samman.En: Viktor had always been fascinated by how art and literature could be woven together.Sv: Båda var tysta och letade efter den stillhet som bara en plats fylld med böcker kan ge.En: Both were quiet, searching for the tranquility that only a place filled with books can provide.Sv: Men ändå, när Alma tänkte att hon skulle vända blad, märkte hon Viktor.En: Yet, as Alma thought she would turn the page, she noticed Viktor.Sv: Hans närvaro väckte en nyfikenhet.En: His presence stirred a curiosity within her.Sv: Viktor såg upp och upptäckte att Alma tittade på hans bok.En: Viktor looked up and discovered that Alma was looking at his book.Sv: En trevande tyst kommunikation började mellan dem båda.En: A tentative silent communication began between them.Sv: Alma, som vanligtvis var reserverad, tog ett steg av mod.En: Alma, who was usually reserved, took a step of courage.Sv: "Selma Lagerlöf är fantastisk, eller hur?"En: "Selma Lagerlöf is amazing, isn't she?"Sv: hörde Viktor Alma säga, rösten var mjuk men bärande i den tysta salen.En: Alma said, her voice soft yet carrying in the quiet room.Sv: Han log, lättad över det inbjudande tilltalet.En: He smiled, relieved by the inviting address.Sv: "Ja, absolut.En: "Yes, absolutely.Sv: Hennes berättelser är så vivid."En: Her stories are so vivid."Sv: Det var inledningen till en oväntat intensiv diskussion.En: It was the beginning of an unexpectedly intense discussion.Sv: Alma delade med sig av sina insikter om Strindberg, och Viktor pratade om hur konstnärliga element kunde visualiseras genom litterära teman.En: Alma shared her insights about Strindberg, and Viktor talked about how artistic elements could be visualized through literary themes.Sv: De upptäckte att de hade mer gemensamt än de hade vågat tro.En: They discovered they had more in common than they had dared to believe.Sv: När samtalet fördjupades, insåg Alma att hon inte behövde känna sig separerad från andra som inte alltid delade hennes passion.En: As the conversation deepened, Alma realized she didn't need to feel separated from others who didn't always share her passion.Sv: Viktor kände en ny styrka i att öppna sig för någon annan, en motivation som han inte hade förväntat sig.En: Viktor felt a new strength in opening up to someone else, a motivation he hadn't expected.Sv: Efter timmar av samtal, när biblioteket började stänga för kvällen, lämnade de byggnaden tillsammans.En: After hours of conversation, as the library began to close for the evening, they left the building together.Sv: Utanför, i den ljumma sommarkvällen, kände sig både Alma och Viktor förändrade.En: Outside, in the mild summer evening, both Alma and Viktor felt changed.Sv: De hade inte bara delat sina tankar, utan också inlett något nytt.En: They had not only shared their thoughts but also started something new.Sv: "Vill du fortsätta samtalet på ett kafé?"En: "Would you like to continue the conversation at a café?"Sv: föreslog Viktor försiktigt.En: Viktor suggested cautiously.Sv: Alma log ett varmt och genuint leende.En: Alma gave a warm and genuine smile.Sv: "Gärna, det låter fantastiskt."En: "Sure, that sounds fantastic."Sv: Så, med den enkla gesten att dela ett intresse, hade två själar funnit en oväntad vänskap.En: So, with the simple gesture of sharing an interest, two souls found an unexpected friendship.Sv: Tillsammans gick de mot kaféet, med framtiden öppen och fler berättelser att utforska.En: Together, they walked towards the café, with the future open and more stories to explore. Vocabulary Words:shone: skenwindows: fönstrenrefuge: fristadinterior: inreimpressive: imponerandecontemplation: eftertankeimmersed: försjunkengraphic: grafiskdesigner: designerinspiration: inspirationgaze: blickwoven: vävastranquility: stillhetcuriosity: nyfikenhettentative: trevandecommunication: kommunikationreserved: reserveradcourage: modintense: intensivinsights: insiktervisualized: visualiserasdepth: fördjupadesmotivation: motivationchanged: förändradegenuine: genuintgesture: gestfriendship: vänskapunexpected: oväntadcafé: kaféexplore: utforska

Fluent Fiction - Swedish: Sven's Serendipity: From Sweden to Savannah's Art Scene Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/sv/episode/2026-08-16-07-38-19-sv Story Transcript:Sv: Sven stod på den gamla kullerstensgatan i Savannahs historiska distrikt.En: Sven stood on the old cobblestone street in Savannah's historic district.Sv: Han tittade upp mot de vackra ekerna täckta av spansk mossa.En: He looked up at the beautiful oak trees draped in Spanish moss.Sv: Det var som att träda in i en annan värld, långt bort från hans hem i Sverige.En: It was like stepping into another world, far from his home in Sweden.Sv: Sven var en aspirerande konstnär på jakt efter inspiration och en plats att ställa ut sina verk i USA.En: Sven was an aspiring artist in search of inspiration and a place to exhibit his work in the USA.Sv: Elsa, en lokal curator på ett välkänt galleri, gick förbi och stannade till när hon såg Sven betrakta miljön omkring honom.En: Elsa, a local curator at a well-known gallery, walked by and stopped when she saw Sven observing his surroundings.Sv: Hon var känd för att hålla fast vid traditionell konst, men nu och då drogs hennes nyfikenhet till det nya och okända.En: She was known for adhering to traditional art, but now and then her curiosity was piqued by the new and unknown.Sv: Sven hade hört talas om Elsa.En: Sven had heard of Elsa.Sv: Han visste att hon hade stor inflytande i konstvärlden här, och han hoppades inombords att hans konst skulle få henne att våga satsa på det oväntade.En: He knew she had great influence in the art world here, and he hoped deep down that his art would encourage her to take a chance on the unexpected.Sv: Efter att ha samlat mod närmade han sig henne.En: After gathering some courage, he approached her.Sv: "Hej," sa Sven försiktigt, "jag är Sven, och jag är konstnär från Sverige."En: "Hi," Sven said cautiously, "I'm Sven, and I'm an artist from Sweden."Sv: Elsa gav honom ett varmt leende.En: Elsa gave him a warm smile.Sv: "Hej, Sven.En: "Hello, Sven.Sv: Ser du något särskilt som inspirerar dig här?"En: Do you see anything in particular that inspires you here?"Sv: "Ja, allt.En: "Yes, everything.Sv: Miljön, ljuset... det känns så magiskt."En: The environment, the light... it feels so magical."Sv: Sven bjöd in Elsa till sin lilla studio för att visa sina målningar.En: Sven invited Elsa to his small studio to show her his paintings.Sv: Han hade kämpat med tvivel.En: He had struggled with doubts.Sv: Hans konst var abstrakt och inte alltid förstådd av alla.En: His art was abstract and not always understood by everyone.Sv: Ibland funderade han på att ändra sin stil för att passa in bättre.En: Sometimes he considered changing his style to fit in better.Sv: När Elsa klev in i studion såg hon genast den passion och känsla som strålade från hans konstverk.En: When Elsa stepped into the studio, she immediately saw the passion and emotion emanating from his artworks.Sv: Färgerna dansade på duken och formen gav historia åt odefinierbara känslor.En: The colors danced on the canvas, and the form gave history to indefinable emotions.Sv: Hon stod där tyst en stund, betagen av synen.En: She stood there silently for a moment, captivated by the sight.Sv: "Det är annorlunda," erkände Elsa, "men det rör mig."En: "It's different," Elsa admitted, "but it moves me."Sv: Sven kände en våg av lättnad skölja över honom.En: Sven felt a wave of relief wash over him.Sv: Han förstod att han inte behövde ändra på sig själv eller sin konst för att bli accepterad.En: He understood that he didn't need to change himself or his art to be accepted.Sv: Elsa insåg vikten av att ibland ta risker, att omfamna det nya och oförutsägbara.En: Elsa realized the importance of sometimes taking risks, embracing the new and unpredictable.Sv: Hon bestämde sig för att ge Sven en chans.En: She decided to give Sven a chance.Sv: De arbetade tillsammans för att planera en utställning.En: They worked together to plan an exhibition.Sv: När sommardagen för utställningen kom, fylldes galleriet med en mångfald av människor.En: When the summer day of the exhibition arrived, the gallery was filled with a diverse crowd.Sv: Alla var nyfikna och intresserade av den fräscha perspektiv Sven hade att erbjuda.En: Everyone was curious and interested in the fresh perspective Sven had to offer.Sv: Utställningen fick positiv kritik, och Sven kände för första gången att han blivit sedd för sin egen stil.En: The exhibition received positive reviews, and Sven felt for the first time that he was seen for his own style.Sv: Elsa lärde sig att öppna sitt galleri för nya talanger kunde leda till underbara och oförutsedda resultat.En: Elsa learned that opening her gallery to new talents could lead to wonderful and unforeseen results.Sv: Sven fann styrkan i att vara trogen sitt konstnärliga uttryck.En: Sven found strength in staying true to his artistic expression.Sv: Både Sven och Elsa lämnade utställningen med ett nytänt hopp och en tro på framtiden.En: Both Sven and Elsa left the exhibition with a renewed hope and faith in the future.Sv: Och så, bland de historiska gatustråken i Savannah, började ett nytt kapitel för båda.En: And so, among the historic streets of Savannah, a new chapter began for them both. Vocabulary Words:cobblestone: kullerstensdistrict: distriktdraped: täcktamoss: mossaaspiring: aspirerandecurator: curatoradhering: hålla fast vidpiqued: drogscautiously: försiktigtabstract: abstraktcanvas: dukenemanating: stråladeindefinable: odefinierbaracaptivated: betagenwave: vågrelief: lättnadrisks: riskerembracing: omfamnaunpredictable: oförutsägbaraexhibition: utställningdiverse: mångfaldperspective: perspektivrenewed: nytäntfaith: trofuture: framtidenstrength: styrkanexpression: uttryckunforeseen: oförutseddatalent: talangerchapter: kapitel

Fluent Fiction - Swedish: From Lone Wolf to Team Spirit: Lars's Summer Transformation Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/sv/episode/2026-08-14-07-38-20-sv Story Transcript:Sv: Sommarsolen strålade genom de höga tallarna vid det stora skogsträningslägret.En: The summer sun beamed through the tall pines at the large forest training camp.Sv: Luften var frisk och doftade av barr och jord.En: The air was fresh, scented with pine needles and earth.Sv: Det var mitt i sommaren, och lägret sjöd av liv och aktivitet.En: It was the middle of summer, and the camp buzzed with life and activity.Sv: Men Lars, en tillbakadragen ung man, kände sig inte helt hemma i vimlet av unga vuxna.En: But Lars, a reserved young man, didn't quite feel at home in the bustling crowd of young adults.Sv: Lars gick sakta längs en grusväg, med händerna djupt ner i fickorna.En: Lars walked slowly along a gravel road, his hands deep in his pockets.Sv: Han såg de andra deltagarna som skrattade och pratade med varandra, som om de alltid hade varit vänner.En: He watched the other participants laughing and talking with each other, as if they had always been friends.Sv: Precis då bestämde han sig—han skulle ge det här sin bästa chans.En: Just then, he made a decision—he would give this his best shot.Sv: Målet var att känna att han hörde till och kanske till och med träffa en riktig vän.En: The goal was to feel like he belonged and maybe even meet a true friend.Sv: Vid lägrets anslagstavla läste Lars om olika aktiviteter.En: By the camp's bulletin board, Lars read about various activities.Sv: En rubrik stack ut: "Anmäl dig till gruppens hinderbana!".En: One headline stood out: "Anmäl dig till gruppens hinderbana!".Sv: Det var värt ett försök, tänkte han.En: It was worth a try, he thought.Sv: Det kunde vara hans chans att träffa någon ny.En: This could be his chance to meet someone new.Sv: När dagen för hinderbanan kom, kändes luften ljummen och fylld av spänning.En: When the day for the obstacle course arrived, the air felt warm and filled with excitement.Sv: Lars närmade sig samlingsplatsen och såg två personer i full gång med att stretcha.En: Lars approached the meeting spot and saw two people busy stretching.Sv: Det var Karin och Erik.En: They were Karin and Erik.Sv: Båda var kända för sina utåtriktade personligheter och glada skratt.En: Both were known for their outgoing personalities and cheerful laughter.Sv: "Hej, ska vi köra tillsammans?"En: "Hey, should we tackle this together?"Sv: frågade Erik och gav Lars ett vänligt leende.En: Erik asked, giving Lars a friendly smile.Sv: Lars nickade och kände hur nervositeten började släppa lite.En: Lars nodded and felt his nerves begin to ease a bit.Sv: "Ja, jag heter Lars," sa han tyst.En: "Yes, my name is Lars," he said quietly.Sv: Karin log och gav honom en tummen upp.En: Karin smiled and gave him a thumbs-up.Sv: "Vi klarar det här!"En: "We've got this!"Sv: Hinderbanan slingrade sig genom skogen.En: The obstacle course wound through the woods.Sv: Det fanns rep att klättra, klätterväggar och diken fyllda med vatten.En: There were ropes to climb, climbing walls, and ditches filled with water.Sv: Allt verkade enkelt när man såg de andra, men när Lars skulle klättra över en hög vägg, fastnade han.En: Everything seemed easy when watching the others, but when Lars had to climb over a tall wall, he got stuck.Sv: Hans händer skakade av ansträngning och han kände hur rädslan började ta över.En: His hands shook from the effort, and he felt fear beginning to take over.Sv: "Du klarar det, Lars!"En: "You can do it, Lars!"Sv: ropade Karin.En: shouted Karin.Sv: Hon och Erik var redan över väggen, men de kom tillbaka för att hjälpa honom.En: She and Erik were already over the wall, but they came back to help him.Sv: Tillsammans drog de honom över kanten.En: Together, they pulled him over the edge.Sv: Lars andades tungt och tackade dem med ett nervöst leende.En: Lars breathed heavily and thanked them with a nervous smile.Sv: Deras pepp gav honom kraft, och resten av banan gick lättare.En: Their encouragement gave him strength, and the rest of the course went more smoothly.Sv: När de korsade mållinjen, kände Lars en överväldigande känsla av glädje och tillfredsställelse.En: As they crossed the finish line, Lars felt an overwhelming sense of joy and satisfaction.Sv: Med Karin och Erik vid sin sida, var han inte längre ensam.En: With Karin and Erik by his side, he was no longer alone.Sv: När dagen gick mot sitt slut, satt Lars, Karin och Erik vid lägerelden.En: As the day drew to a close, Lars, Karin, and Erik sat by the campfire.Sv: De delade historier, skrattade och planerade fler gemensamma aktiviteter.En: They shared stories, laughed, and planned more activities together.Sv: Lars insåg att han inte bara hade övervunnit sitt hinder på banan, utan också sitt hinder i hjärtat.En: Lars realized he had not only overcome the obstacle on the course but also the barrier in his heart.Sv: Han hade hittat sina första vänner på riktigt.En: He had found his first real friends.Sv: Lars återsåg skogsträningslägret med ett nytt, öppet sinne.En: Lars looked at the forest training camp with a new, open mind.Sv: Han kände sig hemma, och när de sista solstrålarna försvann bakom träden, visste han att han vågat bryta sig ur sin bubbla.En: He felt at home, and as the last rays of sun disappeared behind the trees, he knew he had dared to break out of his bubble.Sv: Han hade lärt sig att lita på andra och vågat sträcka ut sin hand för att möta någon annans.En: He had learned to trust others and dared to reach out to meet someone else's hand.Sv: Det var bara början på hans nya, sociala resa.En: It was just the beginning of his new, social journey. Vocabulary Words:beamed: stråladetall: högapines: tallarnafresh: friskscented: doftadebustling: vimletreserved: tillbakadragengravel: grusvägbulletin board: anslagstavlaparticipants: deltagarnaobstacle: hinderbanawarm: ljummenexcitement: spänningstretching: stretchaoutgoing: utåtriktadepersonalities: personlighetertackle: köranerves: nervositetenwound: slingradeeffort: ansträngningfear: rädslanedge: kantenstrength: kraftcrossed: korsadejoy: glädjesatisfaction: tillfredsställelsebarrier: hinderopen mind: öppet sinnereach out: sträcka utsocial journey: sociala resa

Fluent Fiction - Swedish: Turning Mistakes into Opportunity: A CEO's Bold Move Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/sv/episode/2026-08-04-07-38-20-sv Story Transcript:Sv: På våningen i startup-inkubatorn i Stockholm, i det vibrerande hjärtat av sommaren, satt Linnéa vid sitt vita skrivbord.En: On the floor of the startup incubator in Stockholm, in the vibrant heart of summer, Linnéa sat at her white desk.Sv: Hon tittade bortom rader av tegelväggar, där andra startups kämpade och växte, och hon kände spänningen i luften lika tydligt som solen som strålade genom de stora fönstren.En: She looked beyond rows of brick walls, where other startups were struggling and growing, and she felt the excitement in the air as clearly as the sun streaming through the large windows.Sv: Rummet ekade av tangentbordsknatter och dämpade samtal.En: The room echoed with the tapping of keyboards and muted conversations.Sv: Linnéa var på väg att skicka det viktigaste mejlet i sitt liv - en noggrant utformad pitch till potentiella investerare.En: Linnéa was about to send the most important email of her life - a carefully crafted pitch to potential investors.Sv: Vid hennes sida satt Erik, med håret lite på sned och blicken djupt fäst vid datorskärmen.En: At her side sat Erik, with his hair slightly askew and his gaze deeply fixed on the computer screen.Sv: Han var djupt försjunken i något tekniskt, som vanligt.En: He was deeply engrossed in something technical, as usual.Sv: Kajsa, den ordningsamma projektledaren, dubbelkollade deras plan.En: Kajsa, the orderly project manager, double-checked their plan.Sv: Inget skulle gå fel.En: Nothing would go wrong.Sv: Trodde de.En: Or so they thought.Sv: Men en blick bort och ett snabbt klick senare, insåg Linnéa att mejlet hade gått iväg.En: But one glance away and a quick click later, Linnéa realized that the email had been sent.Sv: Fel mejllista.En: Wrong email list.Sv: Försent att ångra, hade deras hemliga presentation landat i inkorgen hos deras konkurrenters styrelseledamöter.En: Too late to undo, their secret presentation had landed in the inbox of their competitors' board members.Sv: Kajsa spärrade upp ögonen och Erik stirrade förvånat.En: Kajsa widened her eyes, and Erik stared in shock.Sv: Stämningen var plötsligt lika laddad som en elektrisk storm i luften.En: The atmosphere was suddenly as charged as an electric storm in the air.Sv: "Vi måste göra något," sade Linnéa med en röst som bar en blandning av panik och bestämdhet.En: "We have to do something," said Linnéa with a voice that carried a mixture of panic and determination.Sv: Istället för att låtsas som ingenting, tog hon ett djärvt beslut.En: Instead of pretending nothing had happened, she made a bold decision.Sv: Hon bestämde sig för att vända situationen.En: She decided to turn the situation around.Sv: "Låt oss bjuda in dem alla!En: "Let's invite them all!Sv: Vi visar vad vi är gjorda av."En: We'll show what we're made of."Sv: Rivalens styrelse, smått förvånade och nyfikna, tackade ja till inbjudan.En: The rival board, somewhat surprised and curious, accepted the invitation.Sv: En solig eftermiddag samlades alla, både de avsedda investerarna och de oväntade gästerna, i ett ljust konferensrum.En: One sunny afternoon, all gathered—both the intended investors and the unexpected guests—in a bright conference room.Sv: Linnéa öppnade mötet med ett leende som kunde lysa upp hela staden.En: Linnéa opened the meeting with a smile that could light up the entire city.Sv: "Och nu," sade hon med självsäkerhet, "vill vi dela vår vision om framtiden."En: "And now," she said with confidence, "we want to share our vision for the future."Sv: Linnéas presentation var både klar och karismatisk.En: Linnéa's presentation was both clear and charismatic.Sv: Hon visade hur deras nya hållbara teknik kunde förändra spelplanen.En: She showed how their new sustainable technology could change the playing field.Sv: Både hennes entusiasm och Eriks djupa kunskap lyste genom deras ord.En: Both her enthusiasm and Erik's deep knowledge shone through their words.Sv: Kajsa nickade godkännande i bakgrunden, övertygad om deras framgång.En: Kajsa nodded approvingly in the background, convinced of their success.Sv: Förvåningen bland rivalernas styrelse vändes snabbt till beundran.En: The surprise among the rival's board quickly turned to admiration.Sv: När Linnéa och Erik avslutade sin presentation, började applåder fylla rummet.En: When Linnéa and Erik concluded their presentation, applause began to fill the room.Sv: En av rivalernas styrelsemedlemmar reste sig och sa: "Vi är intresserade.En: One of the rival's board members stood up and said, "We're interested.Sv: Vi ser potentialen."En: We see the potential."Sv: En oväntad chans hade öppnat sig.En: An unexpected opportunity had opened up.Sv: Och precis som Stockholm badade i sommarsolen, insåg Linnéa att misstag ibland är dörrar till nya möjligheter.En: And just as Stockholm bathed in the summer sun, Linnéa realized that mistakes are sometimes doors to new opportunities.Sv: Hon log mot sina medarbetare, säkrare på att framtiden var deras.En: She smiled at her colleagues, more confident that the future was theirs.Sv: Från den dagen var hon inte bara en lysande entreprenör utan också en mästare i att hantera oväntade situationer.En: From that day, she was not just a brilliant entrepreneur but also a master at handling unexpected situations. Vocabulary Words:incubator: inkubatornvibrant: vibrerandedesks: skrivbordbrick: tegelechoed: ekadekeyboard: tangentbordconversations: samtalcarefully: noggrantengrossed: försjunkenorderly: ordningsammaclick: klickundo: ångrainbox: inkorgencompetitors: konkurrentercharged: laddaddetermination: bestämdhetbold: djärvtrival: rivalencurious: nyfiknagathered: samladesconference: konferensrumcharismatic: karismatisksustainable: hållbaraadmiration: beundranopportunity: chansbathed: badaderealized: insågmistakes: misstagdoors: dörrarvision: vision

Episode 437 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Nick LaRovere, CEO & Co-Founder of Pryzm. It seems obvious that selling to the U.S. federal government is complex, especially if you aren't one of the traditional defense prime contractors… but it doesn't have to be that way. Pryzm is out to help companies level the playing field. As I was preparing for this podcast, I learned about things like “J-Books” – the massive justification documents that outline the federal spending budget. While this budget information is public, these documents are notoriously long, dense, and difficult to navigate. This seems like a logical use case for AI. But while many AI tools attempt to simply wrap public data to write proposals, Pryzm goes far deeper. Founded by a team of Colby alumni with backgrounds at Palantir and Lockheed Martin, Pryzm has built an AI-powered command center. The platform unifies market intelligence, relationship insights, and real-time program awareness into a single, actionable view, making it the operating system for federal capture and acquisition. The company recently closed a $12.2M seed funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) through its American Dynamism fund, with participation from XYZ Venture Capital, Amplify.LA, and Forum Ventures. Armed with IL5 and FedRAMP High authorizations, Pryzm is actively modernizing the federal procurement industry. In this episode, we cover: 00:00 Introducing Nick LaRovere, CEO & Co-Founder of Pryzm 04:23 Advice for Building a Startup in the DefenceTech sector 08:55 Nick's Background, Early Influences, & Attending Colby 15:36 Getting his career started 20:06 Early Experiences, including Tesla and Palantir 26:48 Founding Prysm and Its Mission 33:42 Details on the Prysm Platform 36:50 Growth and Scaling of Prysm 40:47 Raising funding from Andreessen Horowitz 45:23 The Importance of Storytelling in Entrepreneurship 46:54 Future Growth and Hiring Plans 47:50 3 Essential Apps 50:25 Book / Podcast Recommendations for Entrepreneurs 52:28 Nick's Hobbies Outside of Work Podcast Sponsor: This podcast is brought to you by one of the strongest longtime supporters of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors and $44B in loans as of Q4 2025 – SVB delivers expert guidance, specialized products and a team that knows the innovation economy inside and out. Learn more at SVB.com.

Fluent Fiction - Swedish: Midsummer Adventures: Navigating Friendship Through Storms Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/sv/episode/2026-07-25-07-38-19-sv Story Transcript:Sv: Det var en het sommardag i Stockholms skärgård.En: It was a hot summer day in the Stockholms skärgård.Sv: Solen glittrade på vattnet och fåglarna sjöng från träden.En: The sun sparkled on the water, and the birds sang from the trees.Sv: Elin, Johan och Klara stod på en liten brygga i Vaxholm med förväntan i blicken.En: Elin, Johan, and Klara stood on a small pier in Vaxholm with anticipation in their eyes.Sv: Det var Midsommar och de hade hyrt en segelbåt för att fira på en avlägsen ö.En: It was Midsummer, and they had rented a sailboat to celebrate on a remote island.Sv: Elin log brett.En: Elin smiled broadly.Sv: "Vi är redo!En: "We're ready!Sv: Jag har koll på hur man styr båten genom dessa vatten," sa hon med ett självsäkert leende.En: I know how to navigate the boat through these waters," she said confidently.Sv: Johan, som alltid var mer försiktig, rynkade pannan.En: Johan, who was always more cautious, frowned.Sv: "Vi borde hålla ett öga på vädret.En: "We should keep an eye on the weather.Sv: Skärgården kan bli farlig snabbt.En: The archipelago can become dangerous quickly."Sv: "Klara, alltid optimistisk, klappade Johan på axeln.En: Klara, always optimistic, patted Johan on the shoulder.Sv: "Kom igen, det här blir en fantastisk dag!En: "Come on, this will be a fantastic day!Sv: Elin har det under kontroll.En: Elin has it under control."Sv: "Med seglet hissat gled båten mjukt bort från bryggan.En: With the sail hoisted, the boat smoothly glided away from the pier.Sv: Öarna omkring dem var täckta av frodiga tallar och röda klippor.En: The islands around them were covered in lush pine trees and red cliffs.Sv: Deras mål var en liten, tyst ö där de skulle dansa runt midsommarstången och sjunga traditionella sånger.En: Their destination was a small, quiet island where they would dance around the maypole and sing traditional songs.Sv: Men plötsligt mörknade himlen.En: But suddenly, the sky darkened.Sv: Vindarna bar med sig ett kyligt, skrämmande brus.En: The winds carried a chilly, ominous noise.Sv: "Det ser inte bra ut," sa Johan och pekade mot horisonten.En: "It doesn't look good," said Johan, pointing toward the horizon.Sv: En mörk storm närmade sig.En: A dark storm was approaching.Sv: Elin greppade ratten hårt.En: Elin gripped the wheel tightly.Sv: "Vi måste fatta ett beslut.En: "We need to make a decision.Sv: Antingen söker vi skydd nu, eller så fortsätter vi och försöker hinna till festen.En: Either we seek shelter now, or we continue and try to make it to the celebration."Sv: " Klara såg orolig ut, men även fast besluten att fira.En: Klara looked worried but was still determined to celebrate.Sv: "Jag litar på dig, Elin.En: "I trust you, Elin."Sv: "Båten började kränga i vinden.En: The boat began to lurch in the wind.Sv: Regnet öste ner och vågorna blev allt högre.En: The rain poured down, and the waves grew higher.Sv: Det var nu eller aldrig.En: It was now or never.Sv: Elin tog ett djupt andetag och styrde båten mot en närliggande, skyddad vik.En: Elin took a deep breath and steered the boat toward a nearby sheltered bay.Sv: Vinden tjöt, men Elin höll blicken fokuserad.En: The wind howled, but Elin kept her focus.Sv: Med Johan vid hennes sida för att hjälpa till och Klara som hejade på gav de allt de hade.En: With Johan by her side to help and Klara cheering them on, they gave it their all.Sv: Efter en kamp mot elementen styrde de in båten bakom en skyddande klippa, där vattnet blev lugnare.En: After a battle against the elements, they steered the boat behind a protective cliff, where the water became calmer.Sv: De tre andades ut när stormen rasade vidare på öppet vatten, men de hade klarat det.En: The three sighed with relief as the storm raged on the open water, but they had made it.Sv: Genomblöta men vid gott mod satte de kurs mot midsommarfirandet.En: Soaked but in good spirits, they set course for the Midsummer celebration.Sv: När de klev i land på ön sprack molnen upp och solen kikade fram.En: As they stepped onto the island, the clouds parted and the sun peeked through.Sv: De hann precis till dansen runt midsommarstången, fnittrande och tacksamma för varandra.En: They arrived just in time for the dance around the maypole, giggling and grateful for each other.Sv: Elin stod stolt och glad över att ha klarat utmaningen.En: Elin stood proud and happy to have met the challenge.Sv: Hon visste nu att hon kunde lita på sina färdigheter, och bandet mellan henne, Johan och Klara var starkare än någonsin.En: She now knew she could rely on her skills, and the bond between her, Johan, and Klara was stronger than ever.Sv: Midsommarkvällen var full av skratt och sånger, ett perfekt avslut på deras äventyr i skärgården.En: The Midsummer evening was full of laughter and songs, a perfect ending to their adventure in the archipelago. Vocabulary Words:sparkled: glittradeanticipation: förväntanremote: avlägsennavigate: styracautious: försiktigfrowned: rynka pannanhoisted: hissatglided: gledlush: frodigaominous: skrämmandehorizon: horisontgripped: greppadedecision: beslutshelter: skyddlurch: krängapoured: östewaves: vågorprotective: skyddandehowled: tjötbattle: kampelements: elementensoaked: genomblötastepped: klevpeeked: kikadegiggling: fnittrandechallenge: utmaningbond: bandrelief: lättnadadventure: äventyrarchipelago: skärgård

Andrew, Ben, and Tom discuss the Houthis targeting Saudi tankers Encelia and Layla in the Red Sea with Trump vowing to destroy a bridge or power plant for every Strait attack, a mixed AI earnings print with ServiceNow up 6% cementing itself as the AI control tower while Google fell 4% on heavy cloud spend without ad acceleration and TPU revenue pushed to 2027, STMicroelectronics dropping 14% on a big margin miss, strong railroad growth from CSX raising numbers with FCF up over 80%, Norfolk Southern posting solid revenue growth, the 30-year yield nearing 5.2%, the ECB holding rates at 2.25% while warning on energy inflation, Uber cutting 10% of customer service jobs, and Bessent moving to oust Fed Vice Chair Barr over SVB.Join our live YouTube stream Monday through Friday at 8:30 AM EST:http://www.youtube.com/@TheMorningMarketBriefingPlease see disclosures:https://www.narwhal.com/disclosure

Episode 435 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Kojo Osei, Partner at Matrix. The venture capital industry originated back in 1946 in the Boston area, when The American Research and Development Corporation was founded by MIT president Karl Compton and Harvard professor Georges Doriot. From that point, an industry was born, and firms were created, but very few have had the lasting impact and track record as Matrix, one of the OG firms that helped institutionalize this industry. The firm has a tremendous track record through the years making investments in legendary companies like Apple and FedEx… plus category creators like HubSpot, Zendesk, and Oculus… or current investments like Canva, Suno, GOAT, and Flock Safety. Matrix is investing out of its 12th fund, an $800M fund for seed and Series A investments, and the firm continues to have a strong presence on both coasts. Kojo is a Stanford grad, who was the Head of Product at Sirona Medical, the AI operating system for radiologists, before becoming a VC. Now based in NYC, Kojo has been an investor with Matrix for over five years. Some areas of interest these days for investments include agent-driven commerce, how the software infrastructure is getting rebuilt for agents, and model application integrated companies. His investments include companies like Channel3, BoldVoice, Ampersand, and LM Studios. Chapters: 00:00 Introducing Kojo Osei, Partner at Matrix 03:24 What is Agent Driven Commerce 09:45 Koji's background & Early Career 13:20 Joining Matrix as a VC 14:37 Advice for Aspiring Venture Capitalists 17:05 The First Year in Venture Capital 20:26 Details about Matrix's 25:01 Investment Areas of Interest for Kojo 27:48 The Art of the Cold Email to a VC 34:17 Exploring the 'Why Now' Philosophy 37:59 AI: Current State and Predictions 42:06 Common Mistakes Founders Make 44:23 GTM for Developer Products 48:11 Leveraging AI in Daily Workflow 49:23 Kojo's Recommendation & Personal Interests Podcast Sponsor: This podcast is brought to you by one of the strongest longtime supporters of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors and $44B in loans as of Q4 2025 – SVB delivers expert guidance, specialized products and a team that knows the innovation economy inside and out. Learn more at SVB.com.

In this episode, Bri Conn, CFP® sits down with Ilaria Rawlins, CEO of Fortuna Bank, to talk about why female entrepreneurs are denied business loans three times more often than their male counterparts, what it actually took to build one of only 15 women-owned banks in the country, and what every woman building a business needs to know about finding a banking partner who is genuinely in their corner. Fortuna Bank is only the second bank in U.S. history ever intentionally created to be women-owned, and Ilaria spent 30 years in banking before making it happen.In This Episode, You'll Learn:Why female entrepreneurs are denied commercial loans three times more often than men and what the network gap between male and female business owners actually looks like in practiceWhat questions to ask when interviewing a banker, why community banks are often a better fit for startups than large national banks, and how to find a lender who will look at your business holistically rather than running your application through an AI underwriting systemWhat it actually takes to start a bank from scratch, including raising $20 million in capital, navigating a 500-page regulatory application, and launching in the same month that SVB and First Republic failedWhy Fortuna dropped its minimum shareholder investment from $50,000 to $10,000 and how 350 shareholders -- 75% of them women -- came together to build something that had almost no precedent in the industryOut of 4,300 banks in the United States, only 15 are women-owned -- and why that number tells you everything you need to know about where the gaps in capital access actually liveResources Mentioned:Building Your Bench with Maddy Roche and Bri Conn, CFP®https://childfreeinsights.com/resources/podcast/episode-175/ Episode Guest:Ilaria Rawlins is the CEO of Fortuna Bank, a newly launched women-owned de novo bank dedicated to expanding access to capital, fostering community impact, and supporting entrepreneurs who have historically faced capital barriers. With over 30 years of banking experience and recognition as 2025 CEO of the Year by Columbus CEO magazine, she is a leading advocate for women in business and financial empowerment.Connect with Ilaria on her website: fortunabank.comEpisode Host:Bri Conn, CFP® is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, Childfree Wealth Specialist® at Childfree Wealth®, and Customer Experience Manager at Childfree Trust®.About Childfree Insights:Childfree Insights is a trusted resource for life planning without children. It explores financial planning, estate planning, relationships, and long-term decisions for adults building a future without kids. Home of Childfree Wealth® and Childfree Trust®.Connect with Us:Ready to work on building better financial habits? Connect with our financial planning team at childfreewealth.com or learn more about estate planning at childfreetrust.com.Follow Childfree Life by Design on your favorite podcast platform and join the conversation on social media:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/childfreeinsightsFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChildfreeInsights/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/childfreeinsightsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChildfreeInsightsDisclaimer: This podcast is for educational & entertainment purposes. Please consult your advisor before implementing any ideas heard on this podcast.

"They're funding institutional businesses with lower interest rates by stealing from retail and they don't want you to know this." BitGo CEO Mike Belshe criticizes the traditional banking system in this episode of the Bitcoin Magazine Podcast. He explains why depositors earn 0% while the risk-free rate sits near 4%, how bank failures like SVB keep happening, and why stablecoins and reserve banks offer a safer path forward. Plus: his response to Elizabeth Warren's attack on OCC trust charters.

Fluent Fiction - Swedish: Fearless in the Archipelago: A Midsummer's Bonding Journey Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/sv/episode/2026-07-06-22-34-02-sv Story Transcript:Sv: I Stockholms skärgård, när sommarsolen hängde högt på himlen, förberedde Kajsa, Lennart och Märta sig för ett äventyr.En: In the Stockholms skärgård, when the summer sun hung high in the sky, Kajsa, Lennart, and Märta prepared for an adventure.Sv: De skulle tillbringa några dagar med camping på olika öar.En: They were going to spend a few days camping on different islands.Sv: Luften var fylld med doften av tallar och ljudet av sjöfåglar som ekade över vattnet.En: The air was filled with the scent of pines and the sound of seabirds echoing over the water.Sv: Kajsa reste alltid ut på sådana äventyr med sina bästa vänner.En: Kajsa always embarked on such adventures with her best friends.Sv: Hon älskade naturen men hade alltid varit lite rädd för att vara på vattnet.En: She loved nature but had always been a bit afraid of being on the water.Sv: Hon höll sin hemlighet för sig själv, orolig för att det skulle förstöra stämningen.En: She kept her secret to herself, worried that it would ruin the mood.Sv: Lennart, den praktiske, hade redan planerat resor mellan öarna med en liten båt.En: Lennart, the practical one, had already planned trips between the islands with a small boat.Sv: Märta, den äventyrslystna, såg alltid fram emot nästa spänning.En: Märta, the adventurous one, always looked forward to the next thrill.Sv: Vid första dagens gryning kom Kajsa, Lennart och Märta till bryggan, där båten låg förtöjd.En: At dawn on the first day, Kajsa, Lennart, and Märta arrived at the dock where the boat was moored.Sv: Havet glittrade i solens ljus och såg lockande ut, men Kajsa kände hur hennes hjärta slog snabbare.En: The sea glittered in the sunlight and looked enticing, but Kajsa felt her heart beat faster.Sv: Hon ville verkligen njuta av resan och knyta starkare band med sina vänner.En: She really wanted to enjoy the trip and strengthen the bonds with her friends.Sv: Därför samlade hon sitt mod och bestämde sig för att trotsa sin rädsla.En: So, she gathered her courage and decided to face her fear.Sv: "Jag följer med," sa hon och försökte låta bestämd.En: "I'm coming along," she said, trying to sound determined.Sv: Båtfärden började lugnt.En: The boat trip started calmly.Sv: De passerade gröna öar och formlösa klippor.En: They passed green islands and shapeless rocks.Sv: Lennart berättade historia efter historia om öarna, fylld med fascination.En: Lennart told story after story about the islands, filled with fascination.Sv: Märta satt längst fram, med vinden i håret, och skrattade av glädje.En: Märta sat at the front, with the wind in her hair, and laughed with joy.Sv: Kajsa, trots att hennes hjärta ibland rusade, började känna en viss frid.En: Kajsa, although her heart sometimes raced, began to feel a certain peace.Sv: Hon höll sig fast i relingen, tittade på sina vänner och vågade le.En: She held onto the railing, looked at her friends, and dared to smile.Sv: Men plötsligt drog mörka moln in över himlen, och en sommarregnskur slog ned över havet.En: But suddenly dark clouds rolled over the sky, and a summer rain shower poured down over the sea.Sv: Båten gungade till av en kraftig vindstöt.En: The boat rocked with a strong gust of wind.Sv: Kajsa grep tag i båtsidan och kände paniken smyga sig på.En: Kajsa grabbed the side of the boat and felt panic creeping in.Sv: Men då hörde hon Lennarts lugna röst, "Det är okej, vi klarar det här."En: But then she heard Lennart's calm voice, "It's okay, we can manage this."Sv: Tillsammans höll de båten stadig, och Kajsa tvingade sig själv att andas djupt.En: Together, they kept the boat steady, and Kajsa forced herself to breathe deeply.Sv: När regnet lättade och båten nådde en liten strand, kom de alla iland, skakiga men oskadda.En: When the rain eased and the boat reached a small beach, they all came ashore, shaky but unharmed.Sv: De satte upp ett tält och tände en brasa.En: They set up a tent and lit a fire.Sv: Runt elden delade de sina historier, fyllda med skratt och lättnad.En: Around the fire, they shared their stories, filled with laughter and relief.Sv: De dekorerade sina huvuden med blomsterkransar och sjöng traditionella Midsommarsånger när natten närmade sig, omgivna av det mjuka ljuset från elden.En: They decorated their heads with flower crowns and sang traditional Midsummer songs as night approached, surrounded by the soft light of the fire.Sv: Kajsa kände en djupare koppling till Lennart och Märta.En: Kajsa felt a deeper connection to Lennart and Märta.Sv: Hon hade övervunnit sin rädsla och insåg att äventyret var lika mycket värt som hon hade hoppats på.En: She had overcome her fear and realized that the adventure was just as valuable as she had hoped.Sv: Den lilla ön i skärgården blev en symbol för hennes nya mod.En: The little island in the skärgården became a symbol of her newfound courage.Sv: När hon blickade upp på stjärnorna, kände hon en tacksamhet över att ha delat denna Midsommar med sina vänner, och att tillsammans hade de skapat minnen för livet.En: As she looked up at the stars, she felt grateful to have shared this Midsummer with her friends, and together, they had created memories for a lifetime. Vocabulary Words:embarked: reste utadventure: äventyrscent: doftenseabirds: sjöfåglarembarked: reste utruin: förstöramood: stämningenpractical: praktiskethrill: spänningdawn: gryningmoored: förtöjdenticing: lockandedetermined: bestämdcalmly: lugntshapeless: formlösafascination: fascinationpeace: fridgust: vindstötcreeping: smyga sigsteady: stadigbreathe: andaseased: lättadeshaky: skakigaunharmed: oskaldafire: brasarelief: lättnadflower crowns: blomsterkransarcourage: modgrateful: tacksamhetmemories: minnen

Sheila Lynch has been in the room for three of the biggest financial shocks of the last five years — COVID at CQS, the Russian invasion of Ukraine at BlackRock with live Eastern European assets in the funds, and the SVB collapse. When systems go under stress, what's actually there gets revealed. Culture, training, processes — either they hold or they don't.This episode is about what founders consistently get wrong before those moments arrive. Treasury after a raise, legal as a checkbox, wind-down plans that sit on a shelf and are never tested, equity structures that aren't optimised until it's too late. Sheila shares the story of a GC who called a law firm partner the day after closing a $50 million round to ask where to put the money. The room went silent. It's that kind of episode.Sheila Lynch: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheila-lynch-27264726/Partners for Growth: https://www.pfgrowth.com/Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4F8uOLxiscYVWVGEfNxTndChapters00:00 Cold open00:21 Intro01:02 Three systemic shocks, one pattern04:13 The $50 million question07:26 Legal as a checkbox, and what it actually costs09:45 Building the right governance from day one12:51 What every founder should know before signing a term sheet13:37 Where to find SheilaMoneyNeverSleeps. Sharp riffs, big ideas, and real insights from smart people. Hosted by early-stage investor Pete Townsend. moneyneversleeps.iePete on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petetownsendnv/Pete on X: https://x.com/PeteTownsendNVPete on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/petetownsend353/Email: info@norioventures.com

Welcome back to Fintech Recap. I'm Alex Johnson, joined as always by my partner in recapping, Jason Mikula. We start with Parker Card, an SMB charge card startup that abruptly shut down in early May. The failure itself wasn't the story. The SVB lawsuit against issuing partner Patriot Bank is, and what it reveals about $21 million in receivables that fell into contested no-man's-land when Parker's acquisition talks collapsed. If Synapse taught us anything, we apparently didn't learn it. Then prediction markets, a topic Jason forced me to cover. Fake Polymarket videos, Zuckerberg's play-money prediction app called Arena, and the CFTC's proposed rule, which would give the industry nearly everything it wants (while drawing the line at contracts on assassination). We examine a specific loophole in that last point very carefully … From there, we get into debanking. A cluster of recent developments (from the DOJ investigating big banks and reputation risk being formally eliminated as a supervision tool to Lead Bank CEO Jackie Reses calling the whole narrative an absolute crock of shit) gave us enough to work with. Jason and I have both written extensively on this topic, and we land somewhere that might surprise some listeners. Finally, in our Can't Let It Gos: incomplete charter applications and a credit card pulled directly from my fintech nightmares. --- This episode is brought to you by Ocrolus.  Every small business is different — but most lenders only see a snapshot. Ocrolus gives SMB lenders the cash flow analytics, borrower behavior and peer context to fund more, faster, with confidence. Visit https://www.ocrolus.com/ for 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 Jason: Newsletter: https://fintechbusinessweekly.substack.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonmikula/   Follow Alex:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson

Brandon Sedloff and Aaron Gershenberg sit down in California's wine country to explore three decades of venture capital evolution. Aaron, CEO and managing partner at Pinegrove Venture Partners, shares his unconventional path from economic development work and real estate consulting to building SVB Capital into a $10 billion platform, then relaunching after the bank's collapse as Pinegrove, backed by Sequoia Heritage and Brookfield. They discuss: - How Aaron used Monte Carlo analysis to project fund performance and justify additional capital during the dot-com crash - Why he structured distribution-only fee models for anchor LPs instead of traditional management fees and carry - The mechanics of becoming a FOIA blocker to attract pension fund capital - How Pinegrove positions across seed, Series A, Series B, credit, and secondaries to capture alpha at different stages - Why the 2024–2026 vintage may deliver the fastest value creation Aaron has seen in his career This episode offers a roadmap for institutional investors navigating venture exposure, LP sentiment shifts, and the structural innovations that have reshaped fund economics over the past 25 years. Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:03:20) - Growing up between Uganda, Kenya and New Jersey (00:10:50) - Africa's influence and giving back (00:15:40) - Question authority and the unstructured path (00:18:30) - Real estate consulting and the sales pivot (00:21:10) - Breaking into venture in the mid-'90s (00:32:00) - Joining Silicon Valley Bank (00:33:30) - Building community through cycling and kiteboarding (00:37:00) - Launching SVB Capital (00:40:15) - Innovative fund structures and FOIA blockers (00:44:20) - Scaling through three eras: 2000–2023 (00:49:00) - SVB's collapse and rebuilding as Pine Grove (00:50:20) - Partnering with Sequoia Heritage and Brookfield (00:56:30) - Pine Grove's platform and strategies today (01:02:30) - AI conviction and the 2024–2026 vintage (01:09:10) - What keeps you up at night Links: Aaron on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-gershenberg-7361b23/ Pinegrove Venture Partners - https://pinegrove.vc/ Brandon on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonsedloff/ Juniper Square - https://www.junipersquare.com/

Fluent Fiction - Swedish: Midsommar Adventure: Unearthing Secrets in Kronoberg's Ruins Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/sv/episode/2026-06-25-07-38-19-sv Story Transcript:Sv: Solen sken klart över ruinerna av Kronobergs slott.En: The sun shone brightly over the ruins of Kronobergs slott.Sv: Det var Midsommar och luften var fylld av blomsterdoft och ljudet av fågelkvitter.En: It was Midsommar, and the air was filled with the scent of flowers and the sound of birdsong.Sv: Sigrid och Albin var syskon, mitt i en stor familjesammankomst.En: Sigrid and Albin were siblings, in the midst of a large family gathering.Sv: Familjerna hade samlats för att fira Midsommar med dans runt midsommarstången, sill och potatis och jordgubbstårta.En: The families had gathered to celebrate Midsommar with dancing around the maypole, herring and potatoes, and strawberry cake.Sv: Sigrid, den äldre och mer ansvarstagande av de två, kände pressen att hålla traditionerna vid liv.En: Sigrid, the older and more responsible of the two, felt the pressure to keep the traditions alive.Sv: Hon hade alltid gillat att se sina släktingar samlade, glada och sjungande de traditionella sångerna.En: She had always liked seeing her relatives gathered, happy and singing the traditional songs.Sv: Men Albin, hennes yngre bror, kände annat.En: But Albin, her younger brother, felt differently.Sv: Hans ögon lystes av nyfikenhet.En: His eyes shone with curiosity.Sv: Slottruinerna lockade honom, tysta och mystiska.En: The castle ruins tempted him, silent and mysterious.Sv: Han drömde om äventyr.En: He dreamed of adventure.Sv: "Sigrid!"En: "Sigrid!"Sv: ropade Albin plötsligt.En: Albin suddenly shouted.Sv: "Vi borde utforska ruinerna.En: "We should explore the ruins.Sv: Tänk om vi hittar något spännande!"En: Imagine if we find something exciting!"Sv: Sigrid suckade.En: Sigrid sighed.Sv: Hon ville hålla alla glada och samlade för firandet.En: She wanted to keep everyone happy and gathered for the celebration.Sv: Men något i Albins röst fick henne att stanna upp.En: But something in Albin's voice made her pause.Sv: "Okej," sa hon till slut, med ett leende.En: "Okay," she finally said with a smile.Sv: "Men jag följer med dig.En: "But I'm coming with you.Sv: Vi kan inte komma vilse där borta."En: We can't get lost over there."Sv: Albin sken upp och tillsammans smög de iväg från folkmassan.En: Albin beamed, and together they sneaked away from the crowd.Sv: Gräset vajade mjukt när de närmade sig ruinerna, där vildblommor blomstrade under sommarsolen.En: The grass swayed gently as they approached the ruins, where wildflowers blossomed under the summer sun.Sv: De gick försiktigt genom de gamla stenarna, deras steg ekande tyst.En: They walked carefully through the old stones, their footsteps echoing quietly.Sv: Plötsligt stannade de.En: Suddenly, they stopped.Sv: Framför dem fanns en del av slottet de aldrig hade sett.En: In front of them was a part of the castle they had never seen.Sv: En undangömd gång öppnade sig.En: A hidden passage opened up.Sv: "Wow," viskade Sigrid, överväldigad av den dolda skönheten och historien i dessa gamla murar.En: "Wow," Sigrid whispered, overwhelmed by the hidden beauty and history in these ancient walls.Sv: I det ögonblicket band äventyret dem samman.En: In that moment, the adventure bonded them together.Sv: Båda förstod plötsligt värdet av både tradition och nya upptäckter.En: Both suddenly understood the value of both tradition and new discoveries.Sv: Med ett gemensamt skratt vände de tillbaka mot familjen.En: With a shared laugh, they turned back toward the family.Sv: När de kom tillbaka kände sig Sigrid lättad och gladare.En: When they returned, Sigrid felt relieved and happier.Sv: Albin var också förändrad.En: Albin was changed, too.Sv: Han pratade ivrigt om vad de hittat, och hans entusiasm smittade av sig till hela familjen.En: He talked eagerly about what they had found, and his enthusiasm spread to the whole family.Sv: Till och med de äldre släktingarna log och lyssnade intresserat.En: Even the older relatives smiled and listened with interest.Sv: Midsommarnatten fortsatte, men nu med en ny glädje.En: The Midsommar night continued, but now with a new joy.Sv: Sigrid insåg att hon kunde balansera ansvar och spontanitet.En: Sigrid realized she could balance responsibility and spontaneity.Sv: Albin lärde sig också att uppskatta traditionernas värme.En: Albin also learned to appreciate the warmth of traditions.Sv: Deras äventyr hade inte bara fört dem närmare varandra utan också gett Midsommarfirandet en ny livsgnista.En: Their adventure not only brought them closer together but also gave the Midsommar celebration a new spark of life. Vocabulary Words:shone: skenruins: ruinernasiblings: syskongathering: sammankomsttraditions: traditionernaresponsible: ansvarstagandecuriosity: nyfikenhettempted: lockadeadventure: äventyrexplore: utforskasneaked: smögbeamed: sken uppblossomed: blomstradefootsteps: stegpassage: gångoverwhelmed: överväldigadbonded: banddiscoveries: upptäckterrelieved: lättadenthusiasm: entusiasmspark: livsgnistabrightly: klartfields: fältcaptivated: fängsladekeep: hållamysterious: mystiskaencounter: möteappreciate: uppskattabond: bandspontaneity: spontanitet

Fluent Fiction - Swedish: Storms & Reconciliation: A Midsommar Sailing Journey Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/sv/episode/2026-06-17-22-34-02-sv Story Transcript:Sv: En svag bris svepte över öarna i den svenska skärgården.En: A gentle breeze swept over the islands in the svenksa archipelago.Sv: Solen glittrade i det klara vattnet och himlen var oändligt blå.En: The sun sparkled in the clear water and the sky was endlessly blue.Sv: Det var sommar och Midsommarfirandet väntade.En: It was summer, and the Midsommar celebration awaited.Sv: Nils, en pensionär med havet i blodet, stod på däck.En: Nils, a retiree with the sea in his blood, stood on deck.Sv: Han var där med sin dotter Astrid och hennes partner Oskar, redo för en seglingstur.En: He was there with his daughter Astrid and her partner Oskar, ready for a sailing trip.Sv: Nils suckade djupt.En: Nils sighed deeply.Sv: Han hoppades att denna resa skulle laga broar med Astrid.En: He hoped that this trip would mend bridges with Astrid.Sv: De hade haft sina dispyter genom åren.En: They had had their disputes over the years.Sv: Astrid hade alltid haft äventyrslusta i hjärtat, medan Nils ofta föredrog sina tysta konversationer med havet.En: Astrid always had a sense of adventure in her heart, while Nils often preferred his quiet conversations with the sea.Sv: Oskar, däremot, var alltid med en praktisk blick på saker.En: Oskar, on the other hand, always had a practical outlook on things.Sv: Båten gled mellan öarna.En: The boat glided between the islands.Sv: Fåglar svävade ovanför och fiskar hoppade glatt i vågorna.En: Birds soared above, and fish jumped happily in the waves.Sv: Det var perfekt.En: It was perfect.Sv: Men under ytan fanns stormar av känslor och outredda konflikter.En: But beneath the surface, there were storms of emotions and unresolved conflicts.Sv: Plötsligt mörknade himlen.En: Suddenly, the sky darkened.Sv: En storm närmade sig oväntat.En: A storm approached unexpectedly.Sv: Starka vindar och regn svepte över dem.En: Strong winds and rain swept over them.Sv: Båten krängde oroligt.En: The boat rocked uneasily.Sv: "Astrid, vi måste samarbeta!"En: "Astrid, we have to work together!"Sv: ropade Nils över bruset.En: shouted Nils over the noise.Sv: Han kände trycket av andan i halsen.En: He felt the pressure of anxiety in his throat.Sv: Det var dags att konfrontera verkligheten.En: It was time to confront reality.Sv: Astrid grimaserade men nickade.En: Astrid grimaced but nodded.Sv: Rädslan vilade i hennes ögon.En: Fear rested in her eyes.Sv: Nils grep chansen och talade med henne.En: Nils seized the opportunity and spoke with her.Sv: "Ingen av oss är felfri," sa han.En: "Neither of us is without fault," he said.Sv: "Jag önskar vi kunde förstå varandra bättre."En: "I wish we could understand each other better."Sv: Medans vinden ven runt dem, arbetade de tillsammans.En: As the wind whistled around them, they worked together.Sv: Deras händer styrde båten och deras ord flödade som gamla minnen och nya insikter.En: Their hands steered the boat, and their words flowed like old memories and new insights.Sv: Regnet sköljde bort gamla sorger.En: The rain washed away old sorrows.Sv: Efter vad som kändes som en evighet, fann de en lugn vik.En: After what felt like an eternity, they found a calm bay.Sv: Stormen bleknade och kvar fanns en fridfull plats, inramad av den vackra naturen.En: The storm faded, leaving a peaceful place framed by beautiful nature.Sv: De förtöjde båten, lättade och tomma på ilska.En: They moored the boat, relieved and empty of anger.Sv: Midsommarstången stod färdig på land.En: The Midsommarstång stood ready on land.Sv: Blommor och grönska omfamnade den stolta stången, och människor samlades för den stora festen.En: Flowers and greenery embraced the proud pole, and people gathered for the great celebration.Sv: Astrid såg på sin far.En: Astrid looked at her father.Sv: "Tack, pappa," sa hon mjukt.En: "Thank you, Dad," she said softly.Sv: Nils log svagt.En: Nils smiled faintly.Sv: Gamla sår läkte, förenade musik av skratt och firande.En: Old wounds healed, united by the music of laughter and celebration.Sv: Nils fann hopp i sin dotters blick.En: Nils found hope in his daughter's gaze.Sv: De dansade små grodorna runt stången, hand i hand.En: They danced the "små grodorna" around the pole, hand in hand.Sv: En ny början bland björkar och midnattssol.En: A new beginning among the birches and the midnight sun.Sv: Och där, i skärgårdens hjärta, firade de livets sommar igen.En: And there, in the heart of the archipelago, they celebrated the summer of life again. Vocabulary Words:gentle: svagbreeze: brisarchipelago: skärgårdsparkled: glittraderetiree: pensionärmend: lagadisputes: dispyteradventure: äventyrslustapractical: praktiskglided: gledsoared: svävadeunresolved: outreddaconflicts: konflikterdarkened: mörknaderocked: krängdeuneasily: oroligtanxiety: andangrimaced: grimaseradeseized: grepfault: felfristeered: styrdeflowed: flödadeinsights: insiktersorrows: sorgereternity: evighetmoored: förtöjderelieved: lättadeembraced: omfamnadefaintly: svagtunited: förenade

In this episode, we sit down with entrepreneur, investor, and fintech innovator Joshua Summers to discuss startups, venture capital, private credit, artificial intelligence, and what founders need to know to survive today's fundraising environment. Josh is a serial entrepreneur with successful exits to PayPal and AT&T, and the co-founder of EnFi, a company modernizing credit risk assessment for the rapidly growing $2+ trillion private credit market. He is also the co-founder of TBD Angels, an angel investing community that has grown to more than 300 members and invested in over 80 startups. The conversation explores lessons learned from multiple exits, the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the evolution of fintech, how AI is changing startup economics, and what separates companies that survive difficult markets from those that disappear. In This Episode From Startup Founder to Multiple Successful Exits Josh reflects on his entrepreneurial journey and the major lessons learned from building and scaling companies that were ultimately acquired by PayPal and AT&T. The discussion covers: What changes after a successful exit Common founder mistakes during growth phases Building teams that scale Why culture matters more than most founders realize The Silicon Valley Bank Collapse and the Birth of EnFi During the SVB crisis, Josh worked directly with startups attempting to move funds and navigate uncertainty in real time. What he discovered exposed a major weakness in modern lending infrastructure: Opaque credit monitoring Manual underwriting processes Covenant complexity Limited real-time portfolio visibility These insights ultimately led to the creation of EnFi, which is focused on transforming risk analysis and monitoring in private credit markets. Building an Angel Investing Community As co-founder of TBD Angels, Josh shares insights into what it takes to build and sustain a successful angel investing organization. Topics include: How to start an angel group Why most angel groups fail Creating long-term engagement and trust The benefits founders gain from becoming investors themselves Building a high-quality investment community Fundraising in a Difficult Market The episode dives into the realities founders face when capital markets tighten. Josh discusses: How founders can "manufacture momentum" during fundraising The psychology of investors in difficult markets Managing down rounds and flat rounds Maintaining team morale during capital pressure The KPIs investors now consider mandatory Investment Bankers: Advisors or Expensive Middlemen? Many founders question whether investment bankers truly add value during fundraising or M&A processes. Josh offers a candid perspective on: The real role of an investment banker What bankers do behind the scenes Why process management matters How founders should evaluate potential banking partners The difference between a transactional banker and a strategic advisor The Future of Fintech The conversation explores how financial technology continues to evolve and why many businesses are increasingly becoming fintech-enabled companies. Topics include: Embedded finance Infrastructure APIs Lending technology Risk management AI-driven financial products The convergence of software and financial services AI-Enabled vs AI-First Companies One of the most important discussions in the episode focuses on the difference between: Companies adding AI features to existing products Businesses fundamentally built around AI from day one Josh explains: Why the distinction matters Which companies may have defensible advantages The risks of superficial AI positioning What investors are really looking for Key Themes Entrepreneurship • Venture Capital • Angel Investing • Private Credit • Fintech • Artificial Intelligence • Startup Fundraising • Silicon Valley Bank • Investment Banking • Company Building • Leadership • Risk Management About Joshua Summers Joshua Summers is a serial entrepreneur, fintech founder, and angel investor with successful exits to PayPal and AT&T. He is the co-founder of EnFi, a company focused on modernizing credit risk assessment and monitoring for private credit markets, and co-founder of TBD Angels, a 300+ member angel investing network that has invested in more than 80 startups. Josh is passionate about combining technical excellence with human insight to build companies that create meaningful impact. #Fintech #ArtificialIntelligence #PrivateCredit #Startups #VentureCapital #AngelInvesting #Entrepreneurship #JoshuaSummers #InvestmentBanking #Fundraising #AI #FintechInnovation Disclaimer: The views expressed in this podcast are for informational purposes only. They do not constitute financial or legal advice, nor do they necessarily reflect the views of Finalis Inc. or Finalis Securities LLC, Member FINRA/SIPC.   

Episode 431 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Cathy Lewenberg, CEO of Bevi. When most people think of a beverage company, they immediately think of a traditional consumer brand fighting for shelf space at the grocery store. But the real magic behind Bevi is its highly defensible B2B business model and it's brilliant. Bevi has made the old corporate water cooler cool again with its high quality platform which combines smart hardware, software, data, and customized flavors & enhancements to create a delightful experience. Oh, and its units are directly installed into your office, gym, hotel, or elsewhere. On top of their success, Bevi is also helping out our planet. The company recently hit a historic milestone, officially surpassing 1 billion single-use bottles and cans saved from ending up in landfills. Cathy stepped in as Bevi's CEO almost two years ago to lead the company's next phase of growth. As you'll hear, she is uniquely qualified to scale this business. She spent years driving digital transformation and healthy convenience initiatives at CVS Health, before serving as Chief Operating Officer and then CEO at Drizly, where she helped lead this hypergrowth company to a $1.1B acquisition by Uber. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * Cathy's advice on joining a founder-led company as CEO. * Her background growing up in upstate New York and her competitive experience rowing crew at Princeton. * Her impactful tenure at CVS Health, where she ran the food and beverage business, led the shift toward healthy convenience retail, and helped play a key role in the decision to exit the tobacco category. * Why she joined Drizly and the dramatic “COVID moment” that triggered rocketship growth for alcohol delivery, leading all the way up to the Uber acquisition. * All the details about Bevi, what's next, and the company's culture. * The burning question: Is a residential Bevi machine coming to our homes anytime soon? * Cathy's advice to the next generation of women aspiring to step into the CEO seat. * And, so much more! Podcast Sponsor: This podcast is brought to you by one of the strongest longtime supporters of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors and $44B in loans as of Q4 2025 – SVB delivers expert guidance, specialized products and a team that knows the innovation economy inside and out. Learn more at SVB.com.

This week on the CFO 4.0 Revisited series, host Hannah Munro is joined by Isaac Strulowitz, Alternative Investments CFO, who offers his unique perspective on risk management, providing valuable insights into how CFOs can protect their firms against unforeseen challenges, a conversation that remains as timely and essential as ever.In this episode, we cover:Isaac's first-hand account of navigating the SVB collapse and the proactive steps his team took to protect investor capital.Risk management strategies that have proven effective, such as creating redundancies, maintaining a robust disaster recovery plan, and evaluating all firm relationships for potential risks.The delicate balance a successful CFO must strike between budget management, operational duties, and strategic oversight.Isaac's concept of a "cockroach" company, one built to survive and continue functioning even after major crises.Links mentioned in this episodeExplore other CFO 4.0 Podcast episodes here.Subscribe to our Podcast!

Every day, billions of transactions settle between strangers who have no idea which bank the other uses. That lack of friction is not automatic. Nine-tenths of the money in daily circulation has been created by commercial banks, but it stays trustworthy only because central banks stand behind it, and keep the system in balance.In this week's episode Tim Phillips talks to Stephen Cecchetti (Brandeis University, CEPR) about what happens when new forms of digital money test that architecture. Cecchetti is one of the authors of the eighth Barcelona Report in The Future of Banking series, part of the Banking Initiative at IESE Business School, just published by CEPR as a free download.Will retail central bank digital currencies, tokenised deposits, and stablecoins upset the delicate balance of system that has been running for decades? Stablecoins, for example, do not create money, but they claim the status of money without the institutional guarantee that makes money trustworthy. Three jurisdictions — the US, the EU, and the UK — are each resolving the same underlying contradiction in different ways. None has fully resolved it.The research behind this episode:Niepelt, Dirk, Stephen G. Cecchetti, Hélène Rey, and Xavier Vives. 2026. Digital Money: The Future of Banking 8. London: CEPR Press. Available as a free download from CEPR.To cite this episode:Phillips, Tim, and Stephen G. Cecchetti. 2026. “The digital money supply.” VoxTalks Economics (podcast). Assign this as extra listening. The citation above is formatted and ready for a reading list or VLE.About the guestStephen Cecchetti is the Rosen Family Chair in International Finance at Brandeis University, a Research Fellow of the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), and a Research Associate at the NBER. He was previously Economic Adviser and Head of the Monetary and Economic Department at the Bank for International Settlements, and Director of Research at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. His research spanning monetary policy, financial stability, and banking regulation has shaped both academic and policy debate over three decades. He blogs at moneyandbanking.com.Research cited in this episodeWalter Bagehot's lender of last resort doctrine. In Lombard Street: A Description of the Money Market (1873), Bagehot argued that a central bank under stress should lend freely against good collateral at a penalty rate. The prescription remains the intellectual foundation for how central banks manage runs and systemic crises. Cecchetti invokes it to make the point that no private substitute for a central bank backstop has ever proved durable, and that the doctrine is now, one hundred and fifty years on, being tested by instruments its author could not have imagined.Monetary uniformity, mobility, and elasticity. The three institutional conditions underpinning general acceptance of money, developed in analysis by the Bank for International Settlements and discussed extensively in the report. Uniformity means a pound is a pound regardless of which bank holds it. Mobility means claims move between users and institutions at low cost and settle with finality. Elasticity means the supply of money can expand when it is under stress. Together they explain why we accept a deposit at face value without doing any analysis of the bank that issued it; and together they identify exactly where new forms of digital money create institutional gaps.Silicon Valley Bank failure, March 2023. SVB's collapse illustrates both the lender of last resort functioning and the limits of no-bailout commitments. Cecchetti notes that SVB's liabilities were still trading at par on the Thursday before its Friday failure because the Federal Reserve stood behind them. He also notes that Circle, the issuer of USDC, held $3.3 billion of its reserves at SVB and was effectively bailed out in the resolution. The episode is one of two occasions in the past twenty years where money market fund-like instruments have been backstopped by the Federal Reserve under stress.Genius Act (United States). Principle-based stablecoin regulation expected to come into effect in the US around 2027. Under its provisions, only stablecoins issued by bank-affiliated issuers will have access to the Federal Reserve; only those will therefore have the institutional backing needed to function as money. Stablecoins issued by non-bank entities will not.Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA), European Union. The EU framework for crypto assets, which entered into force in 2024. For stablecoins, MiCA requires issuers to hold 30 to 60% of their reserves in bank deposits, with no provision for central bank backing. The stated rationale is to keep deposits within the banking system; Cecchetti notes this creates a different category of vulnerability and leaves the question of what happens under stress unresolved.Bank of England stablecoin proposal (United Kingdom). The Bank of England's approach differs from both US and EU frameworks by explicitly requiring large stablecoin issuers to hold significant reserve deposits at the Bank of England, making them in effect narrow banks with a direct central bank backstop. Cecchetti regards this as the most coherent of the three approaches in terms of institutional logic, though the same fundamental question applies: whether holding to that design under stress would be politically sustainable.Tether and the jurisdictional challenge. Tether, the largest stablecoin issuer, is registered in El Salvador having previously operated out of the British Virgin Islands. Its tokens are held by users in multiple countries, traded on exchanges in multiple jurisdictions, and backed by US Treasury securities. Cecchetti uses this to illustrate why local regulation, however well-designed, is necessary but not sufficient; effective oversight of instruments that are genuinely global requires international standards and coordination.Fractional reserve banking and the goldsmith model. The institutional structure described in the episode has roots in mid-seventeenth century England, when goldsmiths began issuing more paper receipts than they had gold in their vaults. The goldsmiths became bankers; the paper became money; the vulnerability to runs became a structural feature of private money creation that persists today. Cecchetti uses the history to make the point that while technology changes how we store and transmit information, the underlying architecture of trust in private money is as old as Newtonian physics.More VoxTalks Economics episodesMaking banking safe, Stephen Cecchetti and Kermit Schoenholtz. Our financial system is supposed to be more resilient than before the global financial crisis, but that didn't save Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank or First Republic. So what went wrong?Related reading on VoxEUNew coins on the block: Digital currencies and the financial system. The authors of the Barcelona Report warn that “Digital money will be reliable only where sound institutions and robust technology come together.”

Episode 429 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Lior Div, CEO & Co-Founder of 7AI. One of the most exciting parts of this platform shift to AI is watching elite, repeat founders get back into the arena. It's often these experienced builders who have the appetite and the playbook to swing for the fences and create a truly category-defining company. Lior is exactly one of those entrepreneurs. Along with his co-founder, Yonatan Striem-Amit, this duo is uniquely qualified to build the leading agentic AI security platform. They have deep expertise in the cybersecurity industry and… by the way, they've done this before with their prior unicorn, Cybereason. 7AI empowers enterprises to shift security tasks to AI agents. The company recently made waves across the entire tech ecosystem by announcing a massive $130 million Series A round of funding led by Index Ventures, with participation from Blackstone Innovations Investments, Greylock, CRV, and Spark Capital. To put that into perspective: a $130 million Series A is the largest Series A round in the history of the cybersecurity industry. It is exactly that type of aggressive funding, along with blue-chip investors, that creates market leaders. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: A discussion around the rapidly changing landscape of AI and how that affects cybersecurity. Lior's background story, including being part of Israel's elite Unit 8200 intelligence group and how he got involved in the cybersecurity industry. Scaling Cybereason, plus why he chose to build his companies in Boston. The background story of 7AI and all the details on the company & platform. The distinct operational differences between building a traditional software business versus building a native AI company. 7AI's aggressive growth plans ahead, a look inside their company culture, and what it takes to build a trusted brand in security. The most important skills someone needs to be a successful CEO. And more! This podcast is brought to you by one of the strongest longtime supporters of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors and $44B in loans as of Q4 2025 – SVB delivers expert guidance, specialized products and a team that knows the innovation economy inside and out. Learn more at SVB.com.

Episode 428 of The VentureFizz #podcast features Mike Pappas, CEO & Co-Founder of Modulate. Is Boston the best place to build a voice AI company? Based on its rich history in this category, I would have to say 1000%. From the early days of ScanSoft and Dragon to SpeechWorks and Vlingo—all of which eventually fell under the voice juggernaut Nuance, which worked on the early days of Siri and was acquired by Microsoft—the pedigree in this city is unmatched. Add in players like Bose, Vivox, and the sizable presence of Amazon Alexa in the area, and it's clear: Boston is the voice capital of the world. Mike Pappas and his co-founder Carter Huffman are adding a massive new chapter to that legacy and thatis Modulate, a venture-backed voice intelligence company building AI models and APIs designed to understand real-world conversational audio at scale. Modulate is the company behind ToxMod, the world's most advanced proactive voice moderation platform. If you've played Call of Duty lately, you've likely interacted with their tech. And, the company recently launched a new product called Velma, the leading AI-platform for real-world voice intelligence. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: Mike's perspective on the shift from license-based to usage-based pricing models. Mike's background story—from his physics studies at MIT to his early career at Bridgewater Associates. Entering "startup land" at Lola and the critical hiring lessons he learned while working alongside Paul English. The founding of Modulate and the pivotal moment when they realized the tech they built was actually the solution to a massive safety problem in gaming which led to a relationship with Activision. All the details about ToxMod and Velma, including customer examples and use cases. Why their dataset is a "moat" that makes their technology uniquely defensible in the age of generic LLMs. Mike's advice for first-time founders on raising capital and building a high-performance culture. Plus, so much more! This podcast is brought to you by one of the strongest longtime supporters of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors and $44B in loans as of Q4 2025 – SVB delivers expert guidance, specialized products and a team that knows the innovation economy inside and out. Learn more at SVB.com.

Marc Rubinstein joins Excess Returns to explain what private credit, bank earnings, insurance balance sheets, fintech growth, and arbitrage firms reveal about the modern financial system. The conversation covers why private credit risks may not be systemic in the traditional banking-crisis sense, but still matter for investors because of redemption gates, hidden leverage, opaque structures, incentive conflicts, and correlations that can spike when markets are under stress.Marc Rubinstein on Xhttps://x.com/MarcRubyNet Interesthttps://www.netinterest.co/In this episode, we discuss:Why the Fed says private credit redemption risks are limited and manageableWhat Blue Owl's redemption gates reveal about private credit liquidityHow post-2008 bank regulation pushed risk into private credit, hedge funds, trading firms, and exchangesWhy banks and private credit firms are both competitors and collaboratorsThe “layer cake” of leverage connecting banks, private credit, and borrowersHow HSBC's loss tied to Atlas and MFS highlights hidden credit risksWhy insurance companies have become increasingly tied to private creditWhy rapid growth can be dangerous in financial businessesWhat bank earnings show about the gap between weak consumer confidence and resilient spendingWhy post-mortem reports from SVB, Credit Suisse, and other failures reveal what investors could not see in real timeHow Revolut became one of the most interesting fintech stories in global bankingWhy Marc calls this a potential golden age of arbitrageWhat Jane Street, public BDC discounts, private asset valuations, and geopolitical fragmentation tell us about market structureWhy investors may still be too anchored to the 2008 banking playbookWhere Marc sees risk and opportunity in financials, banks, Europe, and non-bank financial institutionsTimestamps:00:00 Private credit, hidden risks, and correlation spikes05:03 Why Blue Owl became a private credit warning sign10:20 How private credit grew after the 2008 financial crisis15:30 Banks and private credit as financial “frenemies”19:44 HSBC, Atlas, MFS, and the layer cake of leverage24:11 Apollo, Athene, insurance assets, and private credit incentives29:20 Why higher rates have not broken more of the financial system33:40 Bank earnings, consumer confidence, and resilient spending37:20 Why “I don't know” can be a powerful signal from bank CEOs41:46 Revolut and the ambition to build a truly global bank47:38 Why growth can be dangerous in finance52:19 Private assets, public BDC discounts, and arbitrage opportunities56:34 What investors misunderstand about banks today59:31 How Marc would think about financials as a long-short investor

There is a long-standing stigma in venture capital that debt is a "company killer." This week on The Data Minute, Peter Walker sits down with Marshall Hawks, former SVB expert and author of “Venture Debt Deals,” to debunk the myths and explain why debt is often the smartest addition to a founder's equity mix.Marshall breaks down the tactical reality of how these deals actually get done, from the "sniff test" lenders perform during office visits to the critical differences between venture banks and private credit funds. He explains how founders can use debt to survive 15-year exit timelines while minimizing dilution, and shares the specific red flags that indicate a startup is becoming over-leveraged.Plus, Marshall offers a rare look at the "workout groups" that step in when things go wrong and explains why a company's General Counsel might not be the right person to lead a debt negotiation. Whether you are an early-stage founder or a late-stage operator, this episode is a definitive guide to capitalizing your business in a shifting market.Subscribe to Carta's weekly Data Minute newsletter: https://carta.com/subscribe/data-newsletter-sign-up/Explore interactive startup and VC data, with Carta's Data Desk: https://carta.com/data-desk/Chapters:00:16 – Intro: Marshall Hawks and the Venture Debt stigma01:10 – Why Marshall wrote "Venture Debt Deals"03:26 – Addressing the Paul Graham view: Is debt dangerous?06:40 – When (and when NOT) to touch venture debt09:14 – The "Insurance" Play: Why many founders never draw the capital10:48 – Venture Banks vs. Private Credit Funds13:00 – Understanding draw periods and interest-only terms17:34 – Why your lender wants to visit your office (The Sniff Test)22:28 – The market after March 2023: Life after SVB26:09 – The "Workout Group": What happens when things go sideways? 30:31 – Green flags: How to diligence your lending partner33:50 – The legal process: Why GC's need outside support37:13 – Hidden costs: Why the company pays everyone's legal fees42:31 – Using debt to survive 15-year exit timelines44:49 – Red flags: Debt service vs. opex ratios48:06 – Final advice: Fundraising is not successThis presentation contains general information only and eShares, Inc. dba Carta, Inc. (“Carta”) is not, by means of this publication, rendering accounting, business, financial, investment, legal, tax, or other professional advice or services, and is for informational purposes only.  This presentation is not a substitute for such professional advice or services nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business or interests. © 2026 eShares, Inc., dba Carta, Inc. All rights reserved.

What would happen to your company if its primary bank disappeared overnight?In this episode of Corporate Finance Explained, we break down the hidden architecture of corporate banking relationships, treasury management, and liquidity strategy through the lens of one of the most important financial events of recent years: the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in March 2023.For many companies, banking feels invisible during stable markets. Payroll clears, vendors get paid, credit remains available, and treasury operations quietly function in the background. But when a banking institution fails, companies suddenly discover that access to liquidity is not guaranteed. It is engineered through years of strategic banking relationships, diversification, and risk management.We explore how firms like Roku, Roblox, Etsy, and Circle were exposed to SVB's collapse, and why counterparty concentration risk became a matter of corporate survival almost overnight.

Episode 426 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Natan Linder, CEO & Co-Founder of Tulip. There are very few entrepreneurs in Boston who have built multiple tech companies to a billion+ valuation (Tulip & Formlabs), but Natan is one of them. He is a “builder” in the truest sense of the word, focusing on building what he calls “important things” rather than just the latest “shiny object.” In our conversation, we have a discussion about Physical AI, meaning AI that lives outside of the digital domain in things like robotics and self-driving cars. Natan believes we are hitting a “ChatGPT moment” for the physical world, so it was interesting to hear his perspective on this trend. Tulip is the leader in frontline operations. They help companies of all sizes and industries equip their workforces with connected, composable, and intelligent tools. With Tulip's no-code platform, manufacturers can digitize processes, collect real-time data, and drive continuous improvement by using AI and without writing a line of code. The company recently announced a $120M Series D round of funding at a $1.3B valuation. In this episode of our podcast, we also cover: Chapters: 00:00 Intro - Natan Linder, Co-Founder & CEO, Tulip 03:30 The Physical-AI Moment 10:56 Natan Linder's Early Life and Curiosity 14:58 Early leadership role with Samsung 19:07 Getting involved with Rethink Robotics 25:34 Natan's thoughts on humanoid robots 28:55 Revolutionizing 3D Printing at Formlabs 33:49 Landing Mitch Kapor as an Investor in Formlabs & The "Elevator" Pitch Story 39:38 The Genesis of Tulip & Details of the Platform 50:31 Customer Use Cases 57:11 Tulip's Growth and Future Direction 01:04:30 Why Now Is a Good Time to Join Tulip 01:07:28 Boston is an Epicenter of Advanced Technology This podcast is brought to you by one of the strongest longtime supporters of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors and $44B in loans as of Q4 2025 – SVB delivers expert guidance, specialized products and a team that knows the innovation economy inside and out. Learn more at SVB.com.

Fluent Fiction - Swedish: Finding Balance: Nils' Journey from Bunker to Bonfire Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/sv/episode/2026-05-01-22-34-02-sv Story Transcript:Sv: Det var en stilla vår kväll i Sverige.En: It was a quiet spring evening in Sverige.Sv: Dofterna av nyklippt gräs och vårblommor fyllde luften.En: The scents of freshly cut grass and spring flowers filled the air.Sv: Men djupt under marken hände något annorlunda.En: But deep underground, something different was happening.Sv: Nils befann sig i sin underjordiska bunker, omgiven av burkar med bönor, torkad frukt och flaskor med vatten.En: Nils was in his underground bunker, surrounded by cans of beans, dried fruits, and bottles of water.Sv: Ljuset där nere var svagt och svalt.En: The light down there was dim and cool.Sv: Till och med fågelkvitter från ovan mark nådde inte hit ner.En: Even the birdsong from above ground did not reach this far down.Sv: Nils tittade runt och inventerade sitt lager, kontrollerade listan han precis skrivit klart.En: Nils looked around and inventoried his stock, checking the list he had just finished writing.Sv: Han tänkte på världen utanför, nyheterna som gjort honom orolig.En: He thought about the world outside, the news that had made him anxious.Sv: ”Bättre att vara förberedd än sårbar”, sa Nils för sig själv, fast han mindes att Elsa ofta skrattade när han sa så.En: "Better to be prepared than vulnerable," Nils said to himself, although he remembered that Elsa often laughed when he said so.Sv: Elsa hade ett annat synsätt.En: Elsa had a different perspective.Sv: Hon älskade traditioner och den glädje de förde med sig.En: She loved traditions and the joy they brought.Sv: Just denna kväll tänkte hon på Valborgsmässoafton, den magiska natten där våren välkomnas med brasor och sång.En: This evening, she thought about Valborgsmässoafton, the magical night where spring is welcomed with bonfires and song.Sv: Hon kom ner för trappan till bunkern, hennes papper lyktor i handen gav ett varmt ljus i kontras till den kalla betongen.En: She came down the stairs to the bunker, her paper lanterns in hand providing a warm light in contrast to the cold concrete.Sv: "Varför sitter du här nere och bekymrar dig?"En: "Why are you sitting here worrying?"Sv: frågade hon och log.En: she asked, smiling.Sv: "Det är vår där uppe, folk samlas vid brasan, sjunger och firar.En: "It's spring up there, people are gathering around the bonfire, singing and celebrating.Sv: Kom, låt oss njuta av kvällen."En: Come, let us enjoy the evening."Sv: Nils skakade på huvudet.En: Nils shook his head.Sv: "Jag måste se till att vi har tillräckligt med förnödenheter.En: "I need to ensure we have enough supplies.Sv: Tänk om något händer?En: What if something happens?Sv: Jag kan inte slappna av."En: I can't relax."Sv: Elsa suckade och satte sig bredvid honom.En: Elsa sighed and sat next to him.Sv: "Att förbereda sig är bra, Nils, men inte på bekostnad av livet som händer nu.En: "Preparing is good, Nils, but not at the expense of life happening now.Sv: Kom ut, vi kan balansera det.En: Come out, we can balance it.Sv: Fira och sedan förbereda."En: Celebrate and then prepare."Sv: Nils, fortfarande tveksam, kände hur Elsas optimism delvis smittade av sig.En: Nils, still hesitant, felt Elsa's optimism partially rubbing off on him.Sv: "Kanske har du rätt," sa han till sist.En: "Maybe you're right," he finally said.Sv: "När man firar Valborg, finns det något extra i luften.En: "When you celebrate Valborg, there's something extra in the air.Sv: Kanske skulle lite frisk luft göra mig gott."En: Maybe some fresh air would do me good."Sv: Elsa log brett, och tillsammans började de upp för trappan mot markens färger och ljud.En: Elsa smiled broadly, and together they began to climb the stairs toward the colors and sounds of the surface.Sv: På vägen upp kände Nils solljuset mot sitt ansikte, firandets sånger och doften av vårvinden.En: On the way up, Nils felt the sunlight on his face, the songs of the celebration, and the scent of the spring breeze.Sv: När natten kom och lågor dansade mot himlen, kände Nils en ny känsla.En: When night came and flames danced against the sky, Nils felt a new sensation.Sv: En blandning av tillfredsställelse och frihet.En: A mix of satisfaction and freedom.Sv: Han visste nu att balans var nyckeln.En: He now knew that balance was key.Sv: Både förberedd och närvarande.En: Both prepared and present.Sv: En kvälls paus hade inte bara erbjudit honom glädje, utan en insikt om att leva i varje stund, utan att förlora sikten på framtiden.En: An evening pause had not only offered him joy but an insight into living in each moment without losing sight of the future.Sv: Detta skulle bli den första Valborg som gjorde honom till en bättre man, en mer balanserad man.En: This would be the first Valborg that made him a better man, a more balanced man.Sv: En man som, liksom Elsa, kunde se skönheten i både förberedelse och firande.En: A man who, like Elsa, could see the beauty in both preparation and celebration.Sv: När de sedan vandrade hemåt, hand i hand, var Nils förberedd – både i bunkern och i livet.En: As they then walked home, hand in hand, Nils was prepared—both in the bunker and in life. Vocabulary Words:quiet: stillascents: dofternafreshly: nyklipptunderground: underjordiskabunker: bunkerdim: svagtbirdsongs: fågelkvitterinventory: inventeradestock: lageranxious: oroligvulnerable: sårbartraditions: traditionerjoy: glädjebonfires: brasorpaper lanterns: papper lyktorcontrast: kontrassupplies: förnödenheterhesitant: tveksamoptimism: optimismextra: extrasunlight: solljusetcelebration: firandetssensation: känslasatisfaction: tillfredsställelsefreedom: frihetbalance: balansinsight: insiktmoment: stundbeautiful: skönhetenprepared: förberedd

In this episode, Michael explores one of the most overlooked risks in crypto today: Are stablecoins actually safe? As billions flow into stablecoins, most users don't realize the hidden layers of risk from custodians and intermediaries to complex yield strategies happening behind the scenes. This conversation breaks down the difference between centralized vs decentralized stablecoins, and why that distinction matters more than ever. From early Ethereum days to building in DeFi, Michael shares how crypto unlocks true financial sovereignty giving individuals the ability to opt out of fragile systems. Topics covered: • What inspired Michael to build in Ethereum • Peer-to-peer finance & financial sovereignty • What "resilience" and "anti-fragility" really mean • Stablecoins explained (simple breakdown) • Centralized vs decentralized stablecoins • Hidden risks in yield farming ("trust me bro" zone) • Why your stablecoin is "traveling" behind the scenes • Counterparty risk vs code-based trust • Silicon Valley Bank & real-world failures • Why optionality is the key to financial freedom • Liquity, BOLD & decentralized stablecoin design • The future of money, regulation & crypto systems The core idea: Not all dollars are equal. Not all stablecoins are safe. If you don't understand where your money is going, you're taking risks you didn't sign up for. Greenpill isn't just about building new systems. It's about building systems you can actually trust. greenpill.network vdao.org https://x.com/JoinVDAO https://x.com/greenpillnet https://x.com/svobodamichael https://x.com/LiquityProtocol Timestamps  00:00 – Introduction 00:11 – Michael's "why" & discovering Ethereum 01:36 – Peer-to-peer finance & removing intermediaries 02:29 – Journey into crypto & early DAO era 03:31 – Early crypto vs traditional finance mindset 04:22 – Ethereum community & early DeFi innovation 05:28 – Resilience, sovereignty & optionality 08:27 – Why financial independence matters 10:16 – Introduction to stablecoins 10:58 – What is a stablecoin (simple explanation) 12:00 – Centralized vs decentralized stablecoins 13:25 – The "trust me bro" risk zone 14:09 – On-chain vs off-chain backing explained 15:04 – Why decentralization matters in stablecoins 16:28 – Stablecoins for payments vs savings 17:04 – Risk comparison: CeFi vs DeFi 19:17 – Sovereignty, control & censorship resistance 21:05 – Why most stablecoins don't give real claims 21:29 – Human systems vs code-based systems 21:56 – Risks in centralized finance (SVB example) 23:05 – Optionality & monetary systems 25:25 – Regulatory risks & future scenarios 26:58 – Why decentralized stablecoins matter 27:47 – Pegging to the dollar explained 30:39 – Scalability limits of crypto-backed stablecoins 31:24 – Stablecoins as "last resort" money 32:12 – Risk & resilience in DeFi systems 33:14 – How to earn yield on stablecoins 35:39 – The "journey" your stablecoin takes 37:46 – Why chasing yield increases risk 38:32 – Terra Luna & unsustainable yields 39:48 – Where yield actually comes from 40:20 – Risk vs reward in DeFi 42:45 – Regulation vs code-based trust 43:11 – Understanding hidden dependencies 44:19 – Rehypothecation & hidden risks 47:34 – Who should use decentralized stablecoins 49:00 – Network states & financial systems 50:23 – Why stablecoin adoption is hard 52:38 – The idea of an "Ethereum-native dollar" 53:48 – Future of stablecoins & regulation 56:43 – Risks of over-regulation 59:08 – Why decentralized systems need support 01:00:03 – Stablecoins & Ethereum security 01:00:58 – Why this matters for Ethereum's future 01:01:46 – Aligning with crypto values 01:03:40 – The need for stronger community voice 01:05:24 – Final thoughts & closing

Fluent Fiction - Swedish: Conquering Heights and Hearts: A Spring Adventure in Sweden Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/sv/episode/2026-04-22-22-34-01-sv Story Transcript:Sv: Det var en klar och frisk vårmorgon på den svenska landsbygden.En: It was a clear and fresh spring morning in the Swedish countryside.Sv: Solens strålar bröt genom skogsdungen och fåglar sjöng glatt i taket av gröna löv.En: The sun's rays broke through the grove, and birds sang happily in the canopy of green leaves.Sv: Bäcken brusade svagt i bakgrunden medan Elin, Oskar och Lova började sin vandring.En: The brook murmured softly in the background while Elin, Oskar, and Lova began their hike.Sv: De skulle gå genom skogen för att nå det gamla utsiktstornet, ett ståtligt landmärke som stoltserade över landskapet.En: They would walk through the forest to reach the old observation tower, a magnificent landmark that proudly overlooked the landscape.Sv: Elin, alltid hungrig på äventyr, såg fram emot dagens utmaning.En: Elin, always hungry for adventure, looked forward to the day's challenge.Sv: Men djupt inom sig visste hon att tanken på att klättra upp i tornet fyllde henne med oro.En: But deep inside, she knew that the thought of climbing up the tower filled her with anxiety.Sv: Oskar märkte det och gav henne ett uppmuntrande leende.En: Oskar noticed this and gave her an encouraging smile.Sv: "Det kommer att gå bra," sa han med lugn röst.En: "It will be alright," he said calmly.Sv: Lova, med sin kamera redo, fnittrade och stannade var och varannan meter för att fotografera vårens blommor.En: Lova, with her camera ready, giggled and stopped every few meters to photograph the spring flowers.Sv: När de gick längs stigen började de prata om kvällens planer.En: As they walked along the path, they began to talk about the evening's plans.Sv: Valborgsmässoafton skulle firas med en tradi-tionell brasa vid foten av tornet.En: Valborgsmässoafton would be celebrated with a traditional bonfire at the foot of the tower.Sv: Oskar hade pratat så mycket om det hela veckan.En: Oskar had talked about it all week.Sv: Det var ett viktigt tillfälle att fira vinterns slut och hälsa våren välkommen.En: It was an important occasion to celebrate the end of winter and welcome spring.Sv: Plötsligt hördes ett mullrande ljud, och ett regn av tunga droppar började falla.En: Suddenly, a rumbling sound was heard, and a rain of heavy drops began to fall.Sv: Skogen blev blöt och lerig, och stigen blev hal.En: The forest became wet and muddy, and the path grew slippery.Sv: Elin och de andra stannade upp och diskuterade sina alternativ.En: Elin and the others stopped and discussed their options.Sv: “Ska vi fortsätta?” frå-gade Lova och kastade en blick mot himlen.En: “Should we continue?” asked Lova, casting a glance at the sky.Sv: Oskar, alltid den försiktige, föreslog att de skulle vänta en stund.En: Oskar, always the cautious one, suggested they wait a while.Sv: Men Elin, fast besluten att övervinna sin rädsla, skakade på huvudet.En: But Elin, determined to overcome her fear, shook her head.Sv: "Vi kan göra det," sa hon, och hennes beslutsamhet inspirerade de andra att fortsätta.En: "We can do it," she said, and her determination inspired the others to continue.Sv: Efter vad som kändes som timmar, bröt de äntligen genom träden och såg tornet torna upp sig framför dem.En: After what felt like hours, they finally broke through the trees and saw the tower looming before them.Sv: Det var majestätiskt och inbäddat i ett vackert grönt landskap med vida ängar och blåklockor i sina fötter.En: It was majestic and nestled in a beautifully green landscape with wide meadows and bluebells at its feet.Sv: Just då skingrades molnen, och solens gyllene strålar värmde deras ansikten.En: Just then, the clouds parted, and the sun's golden rays warmed their faces.Sv: Det var tecknet Elin behövde.En: It was the sign Elin needed.Sv: Med skakande ben började hon klättra tornets trappor.En: With trembling legs, she began to climb the tower's stairs.Sv: Oskar och Lova stod nedanför, ropade uppmunt-rande ord.En: Oskar and Lova stood below, shouting encouraging words.Sv: Sakta men säkert nådde Elin toppen.En: Slowly yet surely, Elin reached the top.Sv: Luften kändes friare där uppe, och hennes hjärta svämmade över av triumf.En: The air felt freer up there, and her heart swelled with triumph.Sv: Nedanför tändes en liten brasa, och människor började samlas för att fira Valborgsmässoafton.En: Below, a small bonfire was lit, and people began to gather to celebrate Valborgsmässoafton.Sv: Elin såg ut över vidderna, en känsla av överväldigande glädje och sinnesro infann sig.En: Elin looked out over the expanses, a feeling of overwhelming joy and peace washed over her.Sv: Hon hade övervunnit sin rädsla och nu, tillsammans med sina vänner, välkomnade hon våren med öppna armar.En: She had conquered her fear, and now, together with her friends, she welcomed spring with open arms.Sv: Traditionen och gemenska-pen fyllde henne med en ny uppskattning för livet och de enkla glädjeämnena det erbjöd.En: The tradition and community filled her with a new appreciation for life and the simple joys it offered.Sv: När elden sprakade och kvällen sakta sänkte sig över landskapet, blickade Elin ut över sin värld och visste att detta var början på en ny årstid – både i naturen och i hennes eget hjärta.En: As the fire crackled and the evening slowly descended over the landscape, Elin gazed out over her world and knew this was the beginning of a new season—both in nature and in her own heart. Vocabulary Words:grove: skogsdungencanopy: taketbrook: bäckenmurmured: brusadeobservation tower: utsiktstornetlandmark: landmärkeanxiety: oroencouraging: uppmuntrandegiggle: fnittradephotograph: fotograferaValborgsmässoafton: Valborgsmässoaftonbonfire: brasarumbling: mullrandeslippery: haldetermined: fast beslutenovercome: övervinnalooming: torna upp sigmajestic: majestätisktnestled: inbäddatmeadow: ängarbluebell: blåklockortrembling: skakandetriumph: triumfoverwhelming: överväldigandeexpanses: viddernapeace: sinnesroconquered: övervunnittradition: traditioncommunity: gemenskapenappreciation: uppskattning

Episode 423 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Sasha Hoffman, Partner at Remus Capital. I first met Sasha over ten years ago, when she was the Chief Operating Officer at Piaggio Fast Forward. VentureFizz helped cover the launch of Gita, the cargo carrying robot named Gita. Thus, this interview was long overdue and I was excited to interview Sasha as her career has been so prolific. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 02:46 Tips For Creating High Impact, Curated Events 17:33 Sasha's Background 20:59 Career Path: From Finance to Startups 22:09 Experience at Goldman Sachs 22:14 Joining Startup - Plastiq 26:03 Sasha's Time at Piaggio Fast Forward 29:09 Navigating Challenges During COVID at Uber 33:05 Insights on Loyalty Programs and User Retention 37:27 Transitioning to Venture Capital and Investing 40:42 The Future of AI and committing to Voice AI 44:02 Remus' "Say, See, Do" Thesis 45:14 Thoughts on OpenClaw and AI 49:19 EquipmentShare IPO and the Overall Market 51:00 Angel Investing 53:14 How to Get Started as an Angel Investor? 56:06 Balancing Work and Having Fun Traveling 01:01:01 Resources for travel deals and incentives This podcast is brought to you by one of the strongest longtime supporters of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors and $44B in loans as of Q4 2025 – SVB delivers expert guidance, specialized products and a team that knows the innovation economy inside and out. Learn more at SVB.com.

Patrick McKenzie (patio11) reads his classic Bits About Money essay on why your bank deposit is not what you think it is. He explains the capital stack that makes deposits appear riskless while funding genuinely risky businesses, and why the "no questions asked" property of money took the United States roughly a hundred years to engineer.Patrick updates the essay with commentary on SVB's collapse, the Voyager collapse and emergency injunctions about the finer points of ACH plumbing, and the GENIUS Act's stablecoin interest ban. He argues that crypto keeps rediscovering the same hard truth: things that behave like deposits without being deposits eventually break. When they break, they will break other structures they have wormed into, and they will tend to have wormed into a lot, because deposits are extremely useful and are perceived to never break.–Full transcript available here: www.complexsystemspodcast.com/your-bank-balance-isnt-in-the-bank/–Presenting Sponsors: Mercury, Meter, & GranolaComplex Systems is presented by Mercury—radically better banking for founders. Mercury offers the best wire experience anywhere: fast, reliable, and free for domestic U.S. wires, so you can stay focused on growing your business. Apply online in minutes at mercury.com.Networking infrastructure has a way of accumulating technical debt faster than almost anything else in IT. Meter handles the full stack (wired, wireless, and cellular) as a single integrated solution: designed, deployed, and managed end-to-end so there's only one vendor to call when something goes wrong. Visit meter.com/complexsystems to book a demo. If meetings consistently leave you with hazy action items and lost context, Granola handles the transcription so you can actually participate and gives you searchable notes afterward. Try it free at granola.ai/complexsystems with code COMPLEXSYSTEMS–Links:The alchemy of deposits: https://www.bitsaboutmoney.com/archive/the-alchemy-of-deposits/ Deposit Insurance: https://www.bitsaboutmoney.com/archive/deposit-insurance/ Gift Cards: https://www.bitsaboutmoney.com/archive/gift-card-accountability-sink/ Debanking (and Debunking?) https://www.bitsaboutmoney.com/archive/debanking-and-debunking/ –Timestamps:(00:00) Intro(00:20) Why revisit this essay now(02:03) Deposits are money(06:53) Heavily engineered structured products pretending to be simple(09:11) Credit card charge-offs as an underappreciated welfare program(10:16) Deposits as pink slime(13:08) Silicon Valley Bank and information sensitivity in the real world(19:06) Many things are quasi-deposits(20:00) Sponsors: Mercury | Meter(23:13) Many things are quasi-deposits (cont'd)(25:10) Voyager bankruptcy(32:29) How the FDIC resolves bank failures over weekends(34:49) Making the magic happen(35:13) The GENIUS Act and the stablecoin interest debate(40:31) Sponsor: Granola(47:45) Wrap

Venture debt might be the most misunderstood tool in startup finance. Ask ten founders to explain it, and you will get ten different answers, most of them wrong.In this episode of Tank Talks, Matt Cohen sits down with Marshall Hawks, a 16-year Silicon Valley Bank veteran who structured hundreds of venture debt deals, including for Airbnb, Twitch, and Fitbit. After SVB's collapse in 2023, Marshall stepped away to write the playbook founders had been missing: Venture Debt Deals: How to Fund Growth with Less Dilution.He breaks down what is actually happening in the 2026 venture debt market, including bigger facilities, new players in private credit, and what terms really look like today. They also get into when debt actually makes sense and when it does not, the biggest mistakes founders make on term sheets, and why the right lending partner matters more than squeezing out the lowest rate.If you want to grow faster without giving up more equity, or just understand how the full capital stack really works, this one is worth your time.Marshall's Early Lessons in Finance and Entrepreneurship (02:30)* Learning secured lending basics in his grandfather's Arkansas pawn shop* Reading people, judging value, and knowing what you don't know, including the cubic zirconia story* Growing up with a venture-backed CEO father who later became a VC, building empathy for foundersLife at SVB and the 2023 Collapse (08:24)* 16+ years, nine roles, including helping build SVB Canada* Inside the third-largest bank failure in U.S. history* The power of simply answering the phone during a crisisVenture Debt vs. Private Credit (15:58)* The key differences: venture banking (customer acquisition model) vs. private credit (deployed capital seeking returns)* Why banks offer smaller deals tied to revenue multiples, while private credit writes $50M–$150M+ checks* The role of warrants (equity kickers) in almost every venture debt dealWhat Lenders Actually Underwrite (20:58)* Why the cap table and investor syndicate matter more than financial models (models are always wrong)* How lenders assess whether a company can raise its next equity roundKey Case Studies and Lessons (23:53)* Airbnb: The energy you could feel walking into the office* Subtle signals Marshall looks for: office vibe, founder energy, and the “Airbnb Rhode Island office” effectClearco: A Cautionary Tale (28:03)* How Clearco used venture debt to scale rapidly and how over-leveraging nearly broke the company* The surprising role SVB's own failure played in saving Clearco* Why revenue-based financing models can become burdensome when revenue becomes less predictableThe State of the Venture Debt Market in 2026 (35:30)* Recorded $62 billion in volumes, recovered faster than expected* More choices than ever, including Stifel, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, BlackRock, Apollo, KKR, and Blue Owl* AI companies largely do not need debt right nowBreaking Down Venture Debt Term Sheets for Founders (40:47)* Founders do not understand what motivates venture banks vs. private credit firms* Getting the right partner trumps any term sheet detail* Price and economics matter, but choosing the wrong lender is a disaster* The right lender can be meaningfully impactful as a company ramps up* Most founders think about terms first. They should think about their partner first.When to Start Building Lender Relationships (47:05)* It's never too early, meet lenders 6–12 months before you need capital* Most venture debt deals happen after an equity round closes (serial, not parallel)* Send regular updates to lenders just like you would to investorsHybrid Rounds: Will Venture Debt and Equity Merge? (49:37)* Traditional SaaS players are stuck. They need to incorporate AI to survive.* Inside rounds with debt and equity stapled together feel like bridge rounds to buy time.* Marshall's view: this will not become the norm.* Timing is wonky. Getting equity investors and lenders to work together is cumbersome.* Separate events work better: raise equity first, then raise debt.Marshall's Closing Advice for First-Time Founders (51:22)* Treat venture debt as a tool, not a silver bullet* Prioritize finding the right long-term partner over optimizing every last termAbout Marshall HawksMarshall Hawks spent 16 years at Silicon Valley Bank, where he originated and closed hundreds of venture debt deals with companies like Airbnb, Twitch, and Fitbit. Following SVB's collapse in 2023, he left banking to write Venture Debt Deals: How to Fund Growth with Less Dilution, the practical guide he wished every founder had before opening a term sheet. He now serves as an independent voice on venture debt, helping founders navigate the post-SVB landscape of banks, private credit, and alternative financing.Connect with Marshall Hawks on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marshallhawks/Buy Venture Debt Deals: https://www.amazon.com/Venture-Debt-Deals-Growth-Dilution/dp/B0FZYQ53MWConnect with Matt Cohen on LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/matt-cohen1Visit the Ripple Ventures website: https://www.rippleventures.com/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

Episode 422 of The VentureFizz Podcast features David Fialkow, Co-Founder & Managing Director of General Catalyst. Entrepreneur, venture capitalist, philanthropist, and Oscar winner - those are just a few of the words that describe David's legendary career. As you'll hear from this interview, he emphasizes the importance of storytelling, which he originally learned from filmmaking, but it goes beyond making a compelling documentary. It is an often-overlooked but essential skill for every entrepreneur. Whether you are hiring, winning over customers, or raising capital, being able to align everyone with your mission through a powerful narrative is critical for success. Most of you are likely familiar with General Catalyst. They are one of the top VC firms in the world, having backed a "Who's Who" of tech giants including Stripe, Anduril, Circle, Airbnb, HubSpot, Snap, Canva, and Discord - just to name a few. In this interview, we cover a lot of ground, plus David shares lots of stories and interesting advice along the way, such as: What it's like to win an Oscar and making impactful documentary films. David's thoughts on the Boston tech scene. His long standing partnership with Joel Cutler (which I didn't know they met when they were seven years old) and the details on their entrepreneurial initiatives in the travel industry including building the largest tour & cruise business in the U.S. The story of how a donation to Children's Hospital led him to compete in the Ironman triathlon with just 90 days to train. How General Catalyst got started during the 2001 VC winter after dot-com bubble burst. The firm's myopic focus on founders and their approach to building a firm with long term, intergenerational value. Investing in pillar Boston companies like HubSpot, Circle, ITA Software, KAYAK, and others… and their thought process around expanding the firm to the West Coast. The importance of surrounding yourself with people who know more than you do. And so much more! Podcast Sponsor: This podcast is brought to you by one of the strongest longtime supporters of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors and $44B in loans as of Q4 2025 – SVB delivers expert guidance, specialized products and a team that knows the innovation economy inside and out. Learn more at SVB.com.

"Companies designing for agents, not humans, are going to get a lot of lift."ClickHouse started as an internal tool at Yandex. Today it's the database Anthropic, OpenAI, Meta and Tesla all run on.In this episode, CEO Aaron Katz joins Lukas Biewald to talk about how he turned an open source project into a $15B company, why he acquired LangFuse knowing it could cost him customers, and what he's actually building for the agent era.Snowflake, Datadog and Databricks all come up. He doesn't shy away.Connect with us here:Aaron Katz: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-katz-5762094ClickHouse: https://www.linkedin.com/company/clickhouseinc/Lukas Biewald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lbiewald/Weights and Biases: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wandb/00:00 Trailer00:57 The Origin Story: From Yandex to ClickHouse Inc.04:43 Building ClickHouse Cloud & Raising $300M10:36 Growing Up Around Xerox PARC12:51 Salesforce, Mark Benioff & the Dot-Com Bust15:32 Cloud Skeptics vs. AI Skeptics | History Repeating18:05 Building a Modern Go-To-Market Playbook21:57 The SaaS Crash, Agents & the Future of Infrastructure27:09 The Datadog Love-Hate Story35:21 Hardest Moments: Russia, SVB & Sleepless Nights43:16 Outro

Episode 419 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Chip Hazard, General Partner at Flybridge. Before we get into the details of Chip's career, I have to call out a random fun fact: Chip is the only VC with his own action figure, yes – it's true. There's a DreamWorks animated movie called Small Soldiers. The lead character is named Chip Hazard, voiced by Tommy Lee Jones. As you'll hear in this episode, there's a great story suggesting that the character's name was actually inspired by Chip himself, which absolutely makes sense once you hear the story. But beyond the fun facts, as you'll hear, Chip has a major leg up on most investors because he's successfully navigated multiple platform shifts – from the internet and mobile to the cloud and now AI. What's impressive is that Chip and the team at Flybridge saw this latest AI shift coming long before the hype. For proof, you just have to look at his blog post titled “Applied AI: Beyond the Algorithms” which he published all the way back in 2019. Chip has backed some of the most impactful companies in tech, like MongoDB back when it was still called 10Gen. Today, it's a public company with a $20B+ dollar market cap, and Chip still serves on the board. His portfolio also includes Nasuni which was valued at $1.2 billion following a strategic investment led by Vista Equity Partners in 2024. If you aren't familiar with Flybridge, they are a seed-stage firm investing in ambitious founders leveraging the power of AI. Last September, they announced their latest fund, a $100M seventh fund. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 04:15 A movie character named after Chip in Small Soldiers 05:39 The Current AI Platform Shift & Patterns he has seen 09:48 Decades of blogging experience and how they stayed ahead of the curve 11:23 Chip's background 12:49 Stanford and Athletics 14:00 How Chip got his career started 15:29 Discovering Venture Capital and Landing at Greylock 19:27 A Walk Through His Investments at Greylock 24:50 Starting Flybridge 28:18 The Details about Flybridge 29:46 What gets you to the point of saying YES to entrepreneurs 32:20 Company storytelling at the seed stage 34:11 Investing in MongoDB 36:46 Key Decisions for MongoDB 42:38 Investing in Nasuni 43:41 Other company investments 46:05 Why They Invested in VoiceRun 48:38 Details on xfactor ventures 51:12 Advice for Entrepreneurs on Conducting Due Diligence on Investors 53:01 How VCs Handle an Investment Post-IPO 55:12 Three apps Chip can't live without 57:08 Podcast Recommendations Podcast Sponsor: This podcast is brought to you by one of the strongest longtime supporters of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors and $44B in loans as of Q4 2025 – SVB delivers expert guidance, specialized products and a team that knows the innovation economy inside and out. Learn more at SVB.com.

Richard Berner is the former director of the Office of Financial Research and was a counselor of the Treasury Secretary. In Richard's first appearance on the show, he discusses a career that included public service and Wall Street, the fragility of global liquidity, the implications of fiscal dominance, the expansion of private credit, the 2023 SVB banking turmoil, and much more. Check out the transcript for this week's episode, now with links. Recorded on January 7th, 2025 Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Check out our Macro Musings merch! Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel  Timestamps 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:57- Dick's Career 00:07:46 - Fragility of Global Liquidity 00:17:29 - Post-GFC Regulations 00:25:29 - Fiscal Dominance 00:36:23 - Private Credit 00:48:09 - Banking Turmoil of 2023 01:01:149 - Outro

Is the Federal Reserve's independence a pillar of democracy or a convenient shield that allows elected officials to duck their responsibilities? This week on Capitalisn't, we confront a shift in Washington after the Justice Department served subpoenas on the Fed. Joining the conversation is Former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, Sir Paul Tucker, who complicates the definition of central bank autonomy. If monetary policy is a "latent instrument of taxation," should it be shielded from the King—the executive branch—and reclaimed by the legislature? We explore the provocative argument that the Fed has become dangerously wary of its relationship with Congress, acting as a self-governing entity rather than a delegated authority. Does the U.S. model, where the Fed defines its own version of price stability, explain the accountability gap we see when supervisory failures like the SVB collapse result in zero consequences for leadership?Finally, we address an unsettling mystery regarding the global financial system. If Fed independence is truly degrading, why are the markets so strangely sanguine? Are global investors simply anesthetized by the AI boom, or does the dollar's global monopoly allow the U.S. to decay without paying an immediate price? We debate whether the market has ceased to be a barometer for institutional health and instead become a tool for protecting shareholder rents—failing to interpret a "catastrophic forecast" until it is already too late.Tucker is also the author of "Unelected Power: The Quest for Legitimacy in Central Banking and the Regulatory State" & "Global Discord: Values and Power in a Fractured World Order". Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.