Fintech Takes

Your Favorite Fintech Creators’ Favorite Fintech Creators

Alex Johnson · MAY 1

Happy Friday, Fintech Takers!

And Happy May Day!

Growing up, my family celebrated May Day by leaving baskets of flowers on our neighbors doorsteps. 

Apparently, in recent years May Day has also become a day for celebrating international workers and their contributions to employee welfare, such as the push for the 8-hour work day.

Seems odd to combine an ancient spring festival of renewal with a celebration of workers rights, but perhaps there is a way to square the circle? Maybe we should all leave a basket in our Chief People Officer’s office, filled with flowers and a list of our demands?

I’ll tell you what: I’ll try this with Hebba and see how it goes.

- Alex

Your Favorite Fintech Creators’ Favorite Fintech CreatorsCopy anchor linkCopied

One of my rules for Fintech Takes is that content creation is not a zero-sum game. 

I compete with other content creators — reporters, analysts, newsletter writers, podcasters — for your attention, but that’s a competition that I cherish because those other creators make me much better at my job. 

By reading and listening to them, I get to learn. I get the opportunity to build on top of the great work that they have already done. I get to be inspired by their creativity and dedication to their craft. And when I’m very lucky, I get to collaborate with them.

The least I can do, in exchange, is to highlight their work and to encourage you to subscribe to it.

There is a set of names that I’m guessing you already know:

If you’re not reading and listening to everything that these folks publish, start immediately. You’ll become much smarter and better at your job.

Same goes for the big names in finance and technology, folks like Matt Levine and Ben Thompson. I assume you are already reading and listening to them. If not, I’d highly recommend it.

But I assume you know all of this already. 

After all, you’re here. You’re reading this. I’m guessing you read or listen to much of the content created by the people I just listed. 

But have you ever wondered who those folks read and listen to?

Where do the people you trust to help you get smarter about banking and fintech turn when they need to get smarter about banking and fintech?

I know how I would answer this question, but I was curious to learn what my peers would say. 

So, I asked them this question: 

Who do you read/listen to in order to get smarter on banking and fintech?Copy anchor linkCopied

Here’s what they (and I) said:

CardsFTW by Matthew Goldman

[Commentary from Alex] Niche newsletters are the best newsletters! Matthew has forgotten more about credit cards than I will ever know. Even better, he genuinely loves this product category. You can tell, reading his writing, that he is going to write a version of this newsletter forever, regardless of whether he makes money from it or not.

The Free Toaster by Carlos Caro

[Commentary from Alex] Another niche newsletter! This one is on marketing and customer acquisition in consumer finance (hence the name) and it rules. A newsletter, a podcast, and (most recently) events!

Net Interest by Marc Rubinstein

[Commentary from Simon] A classic, but his ability to consistently just tell a single, coherent, clear story staggers me.

[Comment from me] 100% agree. Marc’s newsletter is incredible and is absolutely worth paying for. If you’d like a sample of his brain, I’d recommend this Fintech Takes podcast episode.

Mike Hsu by Mike Hsu

[Commentary from Rob] It’s rare — maybe unprecedented — to watch a former head of an agency dive into the nitty-gritty of a subject, but that’s what former acting Comptroller of the Currency Mike Hsu is doing with AI. He’s not opining from a mountaintop in generalized language a consultant would use, he’s testing tools, coding things (even though he’s not a coder) and generally trying to get his arms around how AI will change not just financial institutions but their supervision.

Popular Fintech by Jevgenijs Kazanins

[Commentary from Alex] I feel pretty confident in saying this: All of your favorite fintech content creators read Jev and really appreciate the level of detail he brings to his analysis of public fintech companies.

Fintech Under The Hood by Jas Shah

[Commentary from Alex] As the name suggests, Jas’s content is nerdy, detail-oriented, and super valuable for product builders. And he just started a podcast, which I highly recommend!

Perspectives on Risk by Brian Peters

[Commentary from Kiah] Brian writes about central banking, regulation and supervision, digital assets, AI and demographics. It's more connected than you might initially think.

5 Points by Sam Haskell

[Commentary from Kiah] I am not a bank investor, but I think Sam makes really interesting points about bank performance in the context of stock performance and value.

Lombard Notes by Giorgio Giuliani

[Commentary from Alex] Formerly called Fintech Ruminations, Giorgio’s blog where he writes on banking, fintech, and, more recently, stablecoins and tokenization is A+.

Matt Brown’s Notes by Matt Brown

[Commentary from Alex] If you read my Monday 3-2-1 newsletter, you probably already know about Matt’s blog. It is featured in the content recommendations section A LOT. Infuriatingly insightful and clear analysis of what’s happening in fintech and vertical SaaS.

Leda Glyptis

[Commentary from Jim] She writes great articles on LinkedIn that I read every week. Without leaning into a corporate affiliation, her style differs from almost all of her peers, combining a bit of Simon Sinek and other personal growth leaders.

RegFi Podcast by Jerry Buckley, et al.

[Commentary from Peter] Jerry knows fintech regulation better than just about anyone and his folksy style makes an often dry topic very easy to understand.

The Bank Treasury Newsletter by Ethan Heisler

[Commentary from Kiah] If my banking newsletter isn't quite long enough or nerdy enough for you, Ethan writes this newsletter from the CFO perspective. I got into it during the whole AOCI thing and I don't understand everything yet, but it's one way I learn about treasury and investment strategy issues.

[Commentary from Alex] This one is new to me, but I’m excited to start reading it. Although if it is as nerdy as Kiah says, I likely will have no hope of understanding it!

Brendan Pedersen at Punchbowl News

[Commentary from Rob] One of the best financial services reporters out there, constantly ahead of the curve and able to score scoop after scoop about what’s happening in D.C. that will impact financial services policy.

Nick Anthony at Cato Institute

[Commentary from Alex] Nick writes as well as anybody out there on topics like CBDCs, financial privacy, cryptocurrency, and the use of money in society. However, the real reason he’s on this list is because he is consistently willing to say exactly what he thinks, even when it’s unpopular or politically disfavored. I don’t always agree with his takes, but I respect them.

Evan Weinberger at Bloomberg Law

[Commentary from Alex] Financial services policy nerds’ favorite reporter. Also an excellent podcast guest.

Emily Flitter at Bloomberg

[Commentary from Alex] Consistently doing great reporting on important topics. Read her stuff! 

Buying Power by Amanda Mull

[Commentary from Kiah] I think Amanda writes about consumer and retail incentives and impulses in a really compelling, interesting way, and she's great at connecting dots. I've followed her ever since she was at The Atlantic.

Penny Crosman at American Banker

[Commentary from Rob] One of the first banking podcasters and still one of the best. Penny has a great eye for spotting the next thing coming down the pike and predicting what will happen next.

Hegemoney by Jess Hoversen & Sean Satterthwaite 

[Commentary from Alex] First of all, props on the name. Genuinely great. Also props on coming up with a very unique and important lens through which to write about banking, fintech, and fiscal policy. As the introductory post says, “The United States is sleepwalking our way through a financial cold war.”

Rebank Podcast by Will Beeson

[Commentary from Peter] Will and his podcast has been around a long time but doesn’t get the recognition it deserves.

[Commentary from Alex] I agree! I’m a big fan of Rebank!

Event Horizon by Dustin Gouker

[Commentary from Alex] The folks working at Kalshi and Polymarket really don’t like Dustin, which would be reason enough for me to subscribe and closely follow his work. His reporting and analysis of the prediction market space, and how it overlaps with the sports betting industry, are top-notch.

For The Plot by Cokie Hasiotis

[Commentary from Simon] Her marketing blog is exceptional, fun to read and always lands.

[Commentary from Alex] Also, just an exceptional name for a newsletter, the full version of which is “For The Plot: Marketing, branding & PR in the post-AI world”.

Atomic Settlement by Stuart Cook

[Commentary from Alex] People who have done serious stints at banks and mature fintech companies always have the best opinions about emerging technologies like tokenization because their excitement about the tech is grounded in an understanding of how the world actually works. Stuart personifies this and I’m glad he’s sharing his thoughts in public!

MORE QUESTIONS TO PONDER TOGETHER

Big news for the endlessly curious (yes, you): I’m collecting your fintech questions on a rolling basis. 

What’s keeping you up at night? What great mysteries in financial services beg to be unraveled? Think of it this way, if a stranger is a friend you just haven't met yet, your question is a Fintech Takes conversation waiting to happen. 

One that could headline a Friday newsletter or be answered in an upcoming Fintech Office Hours event.

Drop your question here, whenever inspiration strikes!

WHERE I'LL BE

There are many fun events — virtual and in-person — coming up in the next few months. Here’s where I’ll be!

✈️ Emerge | May 19 - 21Copy anchor linkCopied

I can’t believe this will be my first time attending Emerge. This will be a big one to cross off my fintech bucket list!

🏔️ Fintech Frontier Summit | May 31 - June 3 Copy anchor linkCopied

Talk about a great topic and a great venue. We’ll be talking about bank - fintech partnerships at a ranch in the mountains in northern Montana. In June. Fuck yes. Space is very limited, but let me know if you apply, and I’ll put in a good word!

✈️ Open Banker Salon | June 5Copy anchor linkCopied

OK, I’m cheating a bit on this one. I won’t be attending this event (too close to my son’s birthday) but I really wish I was. John, Ashwin, Casey, and the rest of the Open Banker team have done a great job pulling together a compelling group of speakers and topics, and the format (a salon!) sounds exactly like what we need more of in D.C.

Thanks for the read! Let me know what you thought by replying back to this email.

— Alex  

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By Alex Johnson

Fintech Takes

The weekly read for the people who build fintech and the banks that carry it.