CAC/LTV can be used to do comparables analysis across both bank incumbents and Fintech upstarts. A business with low CAC and high LTV should be worth a lot and vice versa, regardless of the label. CAC/LTV = Customer Acquisition Cost/Life Time Value. CAC/LTV can be used to do comparables analysis across both bank incumbents and…
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I could have said Crypto is bad for traditional finance but – disclosure – I am a Bitcoin maximalist and own some. Bitcoin is part of a Web3 vision of an Internet that is not controlled by a few big centralised players such as Google, Facebook and Amazon ie the Web2 we use every day.…
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During the Cambrian explosion phase, lots of Neobanks were funded. It was a period of high excitement, full of hopes and dreams. Cambrian explosion is usually followed by consolidation when: A. Lots of startups fail. For investors with a portfolio, this is difficult. For entrepreneurs, this is traumatic. B. A few startups make it to the…
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Fintech is not immune from the macro environment and unless you live in blissful ignorance of the markets, you will have noticed some macro turbulence. High inflation leads to higher rates which is bad news for anybody with a variable rate mortgage but good news for banks who make their money from lending. It is…
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There is a big difference between philanthropy/ charity and impact investing. Philanthropy/charity has no revenue model. Such pure giving is needed at the lower levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs where the donees have no capacity to pay anything. The big problem with philanthropy/charity is the continuous need for fund raising. However, impact ventures have…
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People often talk about getting onto the property ladder, but property is only one type of asset used for wealth creation. Equities is the primary asset used by the wealthy. Imagine somebody born into a poor family who on her/his 21st birthday receives a certificate that in real inflation adjusted terms represents more money than…
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Before looking at what real democratization of Wall Street could look like, today’s Part 2 looks at how purely profit oriented ventures that dress up the pitch in one of 3 democratization of Wall Street lies. Lie 1 = smaller units access. This pitch typically touts the investment returns of an asset class that requires a…
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The fix for wealth inequality is the democratization of “Wall Street” which is the subject of this 4-parter to kick off 2022. “Wall Street” is short hand for the global financial system, which includes many other cities such as London, Zürich, Geneva, Amsterdam, Berlin, Hong Kong, Singapore, San Francisco. Wealth Inequality is behind a lot of…
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The law of large numbers is brutal in investing aka pity rich Mr Buffet and Mr Munger. Think about what it takes to go 10x from: 10k to 100k 100k to 1m 1m to 10m 10m to 100m 100m to 1b 1b to 10b 10b to 100b All numbers assumed in US$ but actually the…
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What happened to Motif? If you believe that copy trading can disrupt fund management you have to answer this question. “Motif allows individuals and investment advisors to invest in stock and bond portfolios built around everyday ideas and economic trends” (source Crunchbase). Despite Motif raising $126.5M from top tier investors such as Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan,…
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