The world in which we’re currently living has never before seen consumer behavior change so quickly. We expect to continue to see these seismic changes over the next decade. At M13, we invest in companies that are building defensible businesses around emerging consumer behaviors in the essential areas of consumer’s daily lives: food, healthcare, entertainment, and financial services.
For our 2020 Summer Series “Future Perfect” conversations, we’ve brought together founding leaders who have shaped and are shaping current and future generations of great businesses. Together, we seek to further understand how today’s health and economic crises are accelerating behaviors and white spaces for new necessities, innovations, and investments.
As technology advances and the world continues to move toward digital mediums, legacy banking environments are becoming increasingly obsolete. Before the global pandemic, the U.S. was heading toward a cashless economy, and this has only been further accelerated once walking into a bank branch and using cash for transactions was deemed a health risk. We’re also experiencing a variety of emerging technologies that are enabling real-time digital payments and new forms of currency.
M13 Managing Partner Karl Alomar sits down with three leaders in financial services to discuss The Future of Financial Services specifically, what’s broken with legacy banking institutions, why we need disruptive solutions, and what the future holds for democratizing financial services. This conversation features insights from:
- Elizabeth Stark, Founder and CEO of M13 portfolio company Lightning Labs, the market leader of the Lightning Network, a second-layer protocol that enables users to send and receive money more efficiently to bridge the world of open-source software and the next generation of Bitcoin financial software.
- Sheena Allen, Founder and CEO of CapWay, creating financial opportunities for the unbanked and underbanked by bridging the gap to today's cashless economy, providing the tools, access, and opportunity needed for financial health and generational wealth.
- Travis Holoway, Founder and CEO of SoLo Funds, the leading alternative financial solution providing the fastest loan option to borrowers and options for lenders to obtain significant value. SoLo Funds launched as a unique and proprietary lending marketplace and has since grown to a multifaceted advanced community banking solution powered by individual capital and enabled by insurance, banking products, and dynamic AI underwriting.
What is broken about legacy banking options? Why do we need disruptive solutions?
I know people who have a few thousand dollars in their Venmo account, but they don't have much in their traditional bank account. There’s a very different way we're functioning and evolving in the world today from a financial perspective.
Travis Holoway
As a digitally-native currency, Bitcoin is helping drive this revolutionary change in the financial environment. What is the ultimate goal as it relates to Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is, at its core, digital money. The idea that money can be natively digital makes sense to the generations who grew up with the internet. These generations also saw financial institutions crumble in 2008, so there’s a lack of trust toward legacy institutions. This is what drives us to alternative solutions.
Elizabeth Stark
Speaking of access, why is it important to think about the power of the transaction and the power of liquidity living in the hands of the community?
Without question, we're going to be moving away from the way that things have been done in traditional banking. And we're going to rely more on the community and building those connections through technology.
Sheena Allen
What other trends or innovative solutions can we expect in the future?
The world in which we’re currently living has never before seen consumer behavior change so quickly. We expect to continue to see these seismic changes over the next decade. At M13, we invest in companies that are building defensible businesses around emerging consumer behaviors in the essential areas of consumer’s daily lives: food, healthcare, entertainment, and financial services.
For our 2020 Summer Series “Future Perfect” conversations, we’ve brought together founding leaders who have shaped and are shaping current and future generations of great businesses. Together, we seek to further understand how today’s health and economic crises are accelerating behaviors and white spaces for new necessities, innovations, and investments.
As technology advances and the world continues to move toward digital mediums, legacy banking environments are becoming increasingly obsolete. Before the global pandemic, the U.S. was heading toward a cashless economy, and this has only been further accelerated once walking into a bank branch and using cash for transactions was deemed a health risk. We’re also experiencing a variety of emerging technologies that are enabling real-time digital payments and new forms of currency.
M13 Managing Partner Karl Alomar sits down with three leaders in financial services to discuss The Future of Financial Services specifically, what’s broken with legacy banking institutions, why we need disruptive solutions, and what the future holds for democratizing financial services. This conversation features insights from:
- Elizabeth Stark, Founder and CEO of M13 portfolio company Lightning Labs, the market leader of the Lightning Network, a second-layer protocol that enables users to send and receive money more efficiently to bridge the world of open-source software and the next generation of Bitcoin financial software.
- Sheena Allen, Founder and CEO of CapWay, creating financial opportunities for the unbanked and underbanked by bridging the gap to today's cashless economy, providing the tools, access, and opportunity needed for financial health and generational wealth.
- Travis Holoway, Founder and CEO of SoLo Funds, the leading alternative financial solution providing the fastest loan option to borrowers and options for lenders to obtain significant value. SoLo Funds launched as a unique and proprietary lending marketplace and has since grown to a multifaceted advanced community banking solution powered by individual capital and enabled by insurance, banking products, and dynamic AI underwriting.
What is broken about legacy banking options? Why do we need disruptive solutions?
I know people who have a few thousand dollars in their Venmo account, but they don't have much in their traditional bank account. There’s a very different way we're functioning and evolving in the world today from a financial perspective.
Travis Holoway
As a digitally-native currency, Bitcoin is helping drive this revolutionary change in the financial environment. What is the ultimate goal as it relates to Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is, at its core, digital money. The idea that money can be natively digital makes sense to the generations who grew up with the internet. These generations also saw financial institutions crumble in 2008, so there’s a lack of trust toward legacy institutions. This is what drives us to alternative solutions.
Elizabeth Stark
Speaking of access, why is it important to think about the power of the transaction and the power of liquidity living in the hands of the community?
Without question, we're going to be moving away from the way that things have been done in traditional banking. And we're going to rely more on the community and building those connections through technology.
Sheena Allen
What other trends or innovative solutions can we expect in the future?
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