EP8: Shamir Karkal, founder Bank Simple (first neobank) and Sila, on how fintech has evolved over the last decade, what he's most excited about, and predictions for the next decade

Summary:Conversation with Shamir Karkal, co-founder of Sila. Prior to Sila, he was co-founder of Bank Simple, which was the first US neobank and early fintech pioneer. For many it was one of the most exciting and groundbreaking products of the last decade. We talk about the Bank Simple story, banking and fintech landscape, and his new company Sila. Sila makes it easy for any business to program money through APIs for digital wallets, linked accounts, ACH, money storing, transferring and payouts.Episode Highlights:Career path from software engineer to consultant at McKinsey with financial services clientsFounding story and vision for Bank Simple — first US neobank, founded in a Brooklyn basementWhy starting a bank in 2009 was crazy, and how the landscape evolved after the 2008 financial crisisInventing the modern fintech bank partnership model and path to market with a simpler bank that replaced retail branches with software and no-feesStory behind selling to BBVA for $117m after raising only $20mGetting excited about building fintech platforms to make access to banking infra easier, and founding SilaHow Sila makes it easy for any business to program money through APIs for digital wallets, linked accounts, ACH, money storing, transferring and payoutsHistory of regulatory landscape around getting a full banking charter — 100s a year before 2008 to just a handful in the following decade, and how its becoming more feasible againPros and cons to having a banking charter— ability to lend FDIC insured deposits and fully leverage the "3, 6, 3" business modelHow cyclical nature of credit industry and credit crunches makes stable FDIC deposits high-value for the lending business model of banksBank Simple's business model, unit economics and strong early growthActivation and direct deposit as a key product lever for newer neobanksLooking forward, why global financial services industry is exciting— $17T annual revenue industry, 30x larger than $600b global advertising industry (out of ~$100T global GDP)Opportunity for fintech to go from 1% market share to 10% this decadePrediction: fintech and crypto in 2030 could be as big as all of tech in 2020, with few $1T+, few dozen $100B+, and 100s of $1B+ companiesCrypto doesn’t change underlying trends but might accelerate through faster/easier permissionless innovation on a global scaleRegulators can’t control on chain work but can regulate on/off ramps and how Sila enables on/off ramps and connectivity between crypto and traditional banking through flexible APIsLinks:Read more about Sila: https://silamoney.com/Follow Shamir on Twitter: https://twitter.com/shamir_kHit subscribe to keep up with new episodes!Follow Ashish and Zane on Twitter for summariesClick here to give feedback — it only takes a minute.