New Delphi pod with Alex Wilson, co-founder of Cyclops and The Giving Block
Sold The Giving Block to Shift4 ONE YEAR after raising. Now building stablecoin payment rails.
Shift4 = customer AND investor. Out of stealth March, Series A July. 10+ customers in year one when target was 3.
His thesis: Most of the world's 200 currencies won't survive. Less than 25 left in 5-10 years.
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
04:39 Door-to-door eBay hustle
15:59 $50M anonymous donation
17:41 Beat Coinbase by going narrow
19:55 Sold to Shift4 year later
25:23 Shift4 to NASA
27:31 Lessons from Jared
29:33 Hiring to scare people away
31:08 Why Cyclops
36:22 Ticket to space in stablecoins
37:54 Who stablecoins cut out
40:15 Agents need new checkouts
43:04 200 currencies → 25
46:12 Seed to Series A in a year
49:38 Swinging for $10B exit
Sold The Giving Block to Shift4 ONE YEAR after raising. Now building stablecoin payment rails.
Shift4 = customer AND investor. Out of stealth March, Series A July. 10+ customers in year one when target was 3.
His thesis: Most of the world's 200 currencies won't survive. Less than 25 left in 5-10 years.
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
04:39 Door-to-door eBay hustle
15:59 $50M anonymous donation
17:41 Beat Coinbase by going narrow
19:55 Sold to Shift4 year later
25:23 Shift4 to NASA
27:31 Lessons from Jared
29:33 Hiring to scare people away
31:08 Why Cyclops
36:22 Ticket to space in stablecoins
37:54 Who stablecoins cut out
40:15 Agents need new checkouts
43:04 200 currencies → 25
46:12 Seed to Series A in a year
49:38 Swinging for $10B exit