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Solo-GP @ Cambrian (pre-seed & seed fintech), ex A16Z (Partner - Fintech)
San Francisco Bay Area
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52K followers
500+ connections
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Articles by Rex
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Mike Cagney just tokenized public equity for the first time in history. Here's why that matters more than you think.
Mike Cagney just tokenized public equity for the first time in history. Here's why that matters more than you think.
Wall Street's post-trade infrastructure is from the 1970s. I recently sat down with Mike Cagney, founder of Figure…
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Brex CFO Erica Dorfman on the largest bank-fintech deal in historyMar 11, 2026
Brex CFO Erica Dorfman on the largest bank-fintech deal in history
Brex just sold to Capital One for $5.15 billion.
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I Finally Broke Up with my Bank of America Checking AccountMar 2, 2026
I Finally Broke Up with my Bank of America Checking Account
I’m a fintech VC. I’ve spent years betting that neobanks would displace the incumbents.
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Watch This Before Robinhood's Earnings TonightFeb 10, 2026
Watch This Before Robinhood's Earnings Tonight
Robinhood reports earnings today after the bell. Before you read the numbers, watch my new interview out this morning.
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The U.S. Dollar's Next Weapon: StablecoinsFeb 4, 2026
The U.S. Dollar's Next Weapon: Stablecoins
No posts this week since I've been on vacation but new video is out now with James Currier of NFX. The rise of…
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An exclusive interview w/ the CEO of the latest Stablecoin unicornJan 27, 2026
An exclusive interview w/ the CEO of the latest Stablecoin unicorn
👋 Hi all! Welcome back to another episode of Fintech Stuff. In case you missed it, I just dropped my exclusive…
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The startup that hit $1B revenue faster than HubSpot, Palantir, Salesforce and StripeJan 20, 2026
The startup that hit $1B revenue faster than HubSpot, Palantir, Salesforce and Stripe
👋 Hi all! Welcome back to another episode of Fintech Stuff. I just released a new video on YouTube, and all about what…
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Big Predictions for 2026Jan 12, 2026
Big Predictions for 2026
👋 Hi all! Welcome back to another episode of Fintech Stuff. The first of 2026! Speaking of the new year, lots of big…
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A Year of Fintech MilestonesDec 22, 2025
A Year of Fintech Milestones
👋 Hi all! Welcome back to another episode of Fintech Stuff. As we wrap up 2025, I wanted to thank everyone for…
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A company that hit $1B revenue faster than Stripe, Palantir or SalesforceDec 15, 2025
A company that hit $1B revenue faster than Stripe, Palantir or Salesforce
👋 Hi all! Welcome back to another episode of Fintech Stuff. About to sit down with Alex Bouaziz, CEO of Deel.
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Activity
52K followers
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Rex Salisbury reposted thisRex Salisbury reposted thisToday we announced our $8M Seed funding for Cara to build the industry-leading AI platform for insurance brokerages. But the number I keep coming back to is 80%. Eighty percent of our customers found us through word of mouth. Insurance professionals are using the product, then calling a colleague and telling them to try it. In an industry that runs on trust, that's the only growth signal that matters to me. We built Cara because we ran a digital insurance brokerage and lived every workflow it now automates. When we sold, our acquirer became one of our first enterprise customers. Cara is an AI platform for insurance operations that automates manual workflows across agencies and brokerages—coverage comparisons, proposal generation, ACORD/COI creation, and voice/email request handling—while integrating with AMS and CRM systems so teams can focus on premium production and client relationships. In addition, we’re excited to welcome Sriram Krishnan and Sunil Chhaya at Kearny Jackson as lead investors, alongside world-class operators at the intersection of AI, fintech, and insurance as part of this round: Claire Hughes Johnson (former COO of Stripe), Kevin Patrick Mahaffey (founder of SNR), Sam Hodges (CEO of Vouch Insurance), and Colin M Evans (Startups and Partnerships at OpenAI). Seven-figure ARR in seven months. We're just getting started. To every agency and brokerage already on Cara: this announcement is yours. To every agency and brokerage still running these workflows by hand: we built Cara for you.
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Rex Salisbury shared thisFigure just made history with the first public equity listed, traded, and settled entirely on blockchain. I sat down with Mike Cagney to break down what that means. Full interview below 👇Mike Cagney just tokenized public equity for the first time in history. Here's why that matters more than you think.Mike Cagney just tokenized public equity for the first time in history. Here's why that matters more than you think.Rex Salisbury
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Rex Salisbury posted thiswhat's the moat for financial planning software? one of my portfolio companies ripped it out and built their own...it was not hard.
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Rex Salisbury shared thisThoma Bravo says "We believe AI Adoption Favors Incumbents". can't stop chuckling.
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Rex Salisbury shared thisEXCLUSIVE: Plaid is acquiring This Week in Fintech. Here's my conversation w/ TWIF founder Nik Milanović! Nik has done tremendous work in building and supporting the fintech community. I'm incredibly excited for what he and the team get up to next. In our chat we cover - his reflections on the acquisition - what isn't changing (quite a lot will be the same!) - what is changing (more content types and more investment!) love that! big thanks to Nik to all the work he's done bootstrapping TWIF into what it is today. can't wait to see what he and the team do w/ more resources! Bloomberg the tech company has Bloomberg the media company. Plaid has TWIF, let's go!
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Rex Salisbury reposted thisRex Salisbury reposted thisWhere is commerce headed? I recently joined Rex Salisbury to talk about agentic commerce. We moved past the buzzwords to discuss where the technology is and what that means for the future of fintech. A few things we covered: - Why the "buy" button is becoming invisible. - Building the infrastructure for agents to spend real money. - How brands must adapt when the "customer" is an algorithm. Check out the full video here: https://lnkd.in/guGtgb63 Rex Salisbury, huge thank you for the great conversation. Always a blast.AI Agents Are About to Control Trillions - How Adyen prepares!AI Agents Are About to Control Trillions - How Adyen prepares!
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Rex Salisbury shared thisStablecoins are not stable. Robert Shiller has the answer — and it was invented by the Chilean government in the 1960s. Stables reference the dollar. But inflation erodes the dollar's value. What we actually need isn't a "Unit of Account" for a currency. We need a "Unit of Price." It already exists. In the 1960s, Chile was drowning in inflation. Nobody would sign a long-term contract. Mortgages were impossible. Landlords wouldn't commit to rent for more than a month. On January 20, 1967, the government created something radical: the Unidad de Fomento (UF) — a non-circulating unit of account that referenced the price level, not the currency. The UF's exchange rate against the peso adjusts daily for inflation so that its purchasing power stays nearly constant. It's not spendable — it's purely abstract. But today it's the standard unit for mortgages, pension payments, alimony, commercial real estate, and most long-term contracts in Chile. It's been copied in Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, and Uruguay. Shiller calls it his favorite underrated financial innovation. He tried to design an American version. It never took off — because the US never had enough inflation pain to build a political coalition around solving the problem. Fast-forward to 2025. The stablecoin market is $250B+ and growing — but 99% is pegged to the dollar. USDC. USDT. DAI. They're stable-ish, but silently depreciate with inflation. A handful of projects are explicitly reinventing the UF on-chain. Flatcoin designs like Nuon and Frax Price Index (FPI) use censorship-resistant inflation oracles to peg to purchasing power rather than politics. Reflexer's RAI tried a crypto-native approach (since wound down). The direction is right. But here's what most flatcoin builders are missing — and what Shiller understood deeply: *The killer app isn't the token. It's the contracts denominated in it.* Chile's UF worked because it became the standard unit for writing obligations. The token is just a vessel. The durable innovation is the unit-of-account layer embedded in legal and commercial agreements — like LIBOR or SOFR embedded in credit contracts. That's what took the UF ~20 years to achieve. No flatcoin has cracked it yet. The meta-point: most of crypto's monetary experiments are rediscovering problems economists solved decades ago — inflation indexation, seigniorage, reserve requirements — but with programmable, permissionless rails that aren't blocked by a sclerotic regulatory aparatus.
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Rex Salisbury shared thisOur mortgage system sucks. One under appreciated reason why is that it reduces labor market flexibility. People won’t move to a better job b/c they are locked into a low priced mortgage. Want to eliminate the labor market penalty? Here’s the danish fix.
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Rex Salisbury liked thisRex Salisbury liked thisToday we announced our $8M Seed funding for Cara to build the industry-leading AI platform for insurance brokerages. But the number I keep coming back to is 80%. Eighty percent of our customers found us through word of mouth. Insurance professionals are using the product, then calling a colleague and telling them to try it. In an industry that runs on trust, that's the only growth signal that matters to me. We built Cara because we ran a digital insurance brokerage and lived every workflow it now automates. When we sold, our acquirer became one of our first enterprise customers. Cara is an AI platform for insurance operations that automates manual workflows across agencies and brokerages—coverage comparisons, proposal generation, ACORD/COI creation, and voice/email request handling—while integrating with AMS and CRM systems so teams can focus on premium production and client relationships. In addition, we’re excited to welcome Sriram Krishnan and Sunil Chhaya at Kearny Jackson as lead investors, alongside world-class operators at the intersection of AI, fintech, and insurance as part of this round: Claire Hughes Johnson (former COO of Stripe), Kevin Patrick Mahaffey (founder of SNR), Sam Hodges (CEO of Vouch Insurance), and Colin M Evans (Startups and Partnerships at OpenAI). Seven-figure ARR in seven months. We're just getting started. To every agency and brokerage already on Cara: this announcement is yours. To every agency and brokerage still running these workflows by hand: we built Cara for you.
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Rex Salisbury liked thisRex Salisbury liked thisTreeline is solving problems in the largest market in tech: IT and security services. I am thrilled to announce we've led their Series A! This investment is special as it brings me back together with Peter Doyle, who I started my career with over a decade ago, and our close friend Hussain Kader. Solving big problems with friends is the greatest privilege life can afford. I am beyond excited about what the team is building and the impact Treeline is having on customer operations. If you're looking for an IT and security partner, look no further! More on our investment below 👇
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Rex Salisbury liked thisRex Salisbury liked thisAbby Falik once said that in another life she might have been a forest monk, a rabbi, or a rockstar. Somehow, that feels exactly right. She brings the contemplative patience of a monk, the moral clarity of a rabbi, and the charisma of a rockstar to one of the defining questions of this moment: how do we cultivate the wisdom and courage to navigate a world in transition? That is why I was so excited to sit down with Abby, founder of The Flight School. In this conversation, we talk about why schools shouldn’t prepare students to fit the world but to remake it, why high-agency people are made rather than born, why Abby believes 100% of high school should be experiential, and what becomes more important as AI reshapes learning, work, and human aspiration. One line that has stayed with me: “High-agency people are not born that way. They are people who have had opportunities at an early age to leave the secure base and come back, to try and fail.” Full Q&A is linked in the comments.
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Rex Salisbury liked thisRex Salisbury liked thisYou can now prepare your taxes in Claude! Tax software has had the same interaction model for 30 years. Forms on paper ▶️ forms on screens. That means you click through hundreds of pages to move data from your head & tax documents into the right box on a 1040. Last week we shipped the first MCP server for tax preparation with Anthropic, it’s live as a Claude connector today. Claude walks you through a full 1040 and the UI gets built in real-time as you go. The calculations run through the Aiwyn tax engine; same engine that's filed over a million returns. It’s so fun to see tax pros and individuals using it to prepare returns this season. Link in the comments:
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Rex Salisbury liked thisRex Salisbury liked thisI built the top chart: Snowflake --> Tableau --> Figma --> Publish Claude built the bottom chart: ...with Claude. I've been fighting with the model to build a version of our data insights content I'd be proud to publish without a lot of back and forth. Soon it will be ready. And then quickly after that we'll see an explosion of quality data storytelling on startup data at the speed of ideas. And then we can build you data for your pitch meeting or your AGM or your market update or your LP presentation, custom to your world, effectively on demand. Psyched.
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Rex Salisbury liked thisRex Salisbury liked this#tbt with Benjamin Fernandes!!! Good encouraging word from Benjamin Fernandes (Benji) from NALA this morning. He's had great success (recent $40mm raise) and great scale across 11 countries....and it all drives from a great faith. He joins us this morning to give us an overview of the Faith Driven Entrepreneur movement and opportunity in Africa in how technology companies are changing the landscape there. You get a sense, I believe, after listening to him that you don't want to miss out on this opportunity to help shape culture and provide capital to a continent that is doubling well faster than any other on the planet.
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JT Benton
9point8 Collective • 8K followers
Hot take: lot's of #LP's are growing underwhelmed with traditional venture investing. 💰 Fees are high given the level of engagement with the company operators. ❓ Access is opaque - LP's are unclear on the portco operations and outcomes. Outcomes are scattered - power law investing can certainly work, but many feel that venture capital investing is just a numbers game. There's another way. I'm biased, but I think it's better: #VentureStudios as an asset class. They blend: 🤜 🤛 Control and ownership 💡 Thematic focus 👬 Partnership with operators Studios offer a fund-like structure — but with more alignment, higher value conversion and less noise. If you're interested in understanding more about the studio model, we have resources to share. Please reach out and let's connect!
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Matt Rappaport
Future Frontier Capital • 8K followers
Don't Build a Better Wheat Farm" - Why Defensibility Stakes Are Higher in Deep Tech Just published a new piece on my "Ignore the Confusion" blog, building on thoughtful insights from Eric Ver Ploeg at Tunitas Ventures about startup defensibility. Eric's core thesis: Too many startups pitch like wheat farmers - "huge TAM, slow incumbents, growing market, domain expertise" - but fail to think through long-term defensibility until it's too late. From a deep tech perspective, the stakes are even higher: ** Unlike software, deep tech founders must commit to defensibility strategies from day one - their funding depends on it ** Patent vs. trade secret decisions are often difficult to reverse and shape your entire competitive strategy ** Even "picks and shovels" providers (the tools that make industries more efficient) become commodities without proper moats The key insight that resonates: Defensibility can't be retrofitted. Whether you're building software or deep tech, your moat must be architected into the business model from the start. Thanks to Eric Ver Ploeg for sharing these insights on startup strategy and letting me build on his framework from a deep tech lens. Read the full post: https://lnkd.in/dEj_iF-Q #DeepTech #StartupStrategy #Defensibility #VentureCapital #Innovation
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Ravi Chachra
10K followers
The YC W26 batch is settling into rhythm, and week by week, the direction of this cohort is becoming clearer. As always, Y Combinator selection process acts as a powerful market filter: thousands of applications distilled into a small group of founders whose focus often hints at what’s coming next. This week’s launches suggest a batch leaning into complexity, regulation, and the real-world systems that actually keep the economy running. What stood out: 🧬 Healthcare & life sciences are gaining momentum Companies like Ruma Care, Rhizome AI, and Strand AI reflect renewed founder interest in regulated healthcare, biotech, and life-science workflows. From prior authorization and regulatory intelligence to biological datasets and financial crime prevention, these teams are tackling high-stakes problems where accuracy and trust matter deeply. 🏭 Manufacturing, logistics, and the physical world are being supercharged by AI Startups including Kyten Technologies, Servo7, Inviscid AI, and Pollinate are applying AI to atoms — battery manufacturing, adaptive warehouse robotics, building and data-center optimization, and ERP-layered supply chains. This is practical AI, focused on efficiency and resilience. 🏢 Enterprise operations continue their AI-native rebuild General Legal, FullSeam, Oximy, Orthogonal, Librar Labs, and Booko are rethinking legal services, finance ops, AI governance, API infrastructure, inventory management, and dynamic pricing. Less dashboard-watching. More execution. Taken together, this feels like a turning point. Early-January experimentation is giving way to conviction — companies built for regulated environments, physical infrastructure, and enterprise-scale execution. This week’s Fund Manager Picks: 🔹 Rhizome AI — Always know what the FDA thinks Citation-backed, hallucination-free regulatory intelligence for life sciences. Already generating six-figure revenue and becoming indispensable for regulatory affairs teams. 🔹 Inviscid AI — Real-time building simulations Physics-informed AI and digital twins that optimize energy use, HVAC efficiency, and air quality — pushing building management beyond rule-based systems. 🔹 General Legal — The AI-native law firm Flat-fee, high-quality contract drafting and negotiation for growth-stage companies. Contracts in hours, not days. 🔹 Servo7 — Autonomous warehouse robots Flexible, learning-based robotics that adapt as warehouse needs change — increasing value over time rather than becoming obsolete. 🔹 Booko — Dynamic pricing for service businesses Bringing marketplace-style pricing to appointment-based services, unlocking ~20% revenue uplift by monetizing perishable time slots. More to come — but this week’s launches made one thing clear: YC W26 founders are building for the hard, regulated, and deeply operational parts of the economy. And that’s where things get interesting. https://lnkd.in/edAyRgRk
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Jason Shuman
Primary Venture Partners • 38K followers
I’ve spoken to over 2 dozen MDs at PE firms I can confidently say that the arb of figuring out how to implement Vertical AI at portfolio companies is very real right now It will fundamentally change underwriting for those who can do it predictably and unlock generational returns. Most are aware they need to act. Very few have.
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Alex Menn
Begin Capital • 10K followers
Over the past few years, fundraising has become significantly tougher, especially for smaller funds. This, unfortunately, is the case even for VCs delivering solid returns. In my recent Crunchbase piece, I talk about how emerging managers can survive (and even thrive!) in a challenging fundraising environment. I discuss why the process today is more about familiarity than performance, and highlight places where managers should look for capital that others ignore. Check out the full column via link in comments. Curious to hear from other managers who have recently raised successfully. Which part of this rings true?
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Astasia Myers
Felicis • 6K followers
Two trends in fundraising that I’m seeing on a daily basis: 1/ The "we'll monetize later" era for infrastructure startups is dead "We'll figure out revenue once we have users" / "we're focused on adoption first"/ "monetization comes later" This worked in 2021. It doesn't work now. Today’s market won’t reward research organizations or companies that believe in perfection over getting it in users' hands. If you don't have a clear path to revenue… you won't get funded. period. VCs aren't writing checks hoping you'll figure it out later. 2/ "Vibe ARR" is everywhere Remember Jasper? hyper growth, but the model companies ate them alive. We're seeing this again. Companies growing really quickly on point-in-time technology that isn't defensible These companies look amazing on paper. Growth charts going up and to the right. But if you think models are getting better and becoming platform companies, many solutions become obsolete.
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Dave Lambert
Right Side Capital Management • 5K followers
Founders often scramble to prep materials *after* a VC shows interest. That’s backward. You should be ready for diligence before your first meeting with a VC. Smart founders: 🗂 Have their data room ready 📊 Can share a clear KPI dashboard if asked 💸 Keep clean, up-to-date financials 📣 Track and communicate metrics Flailing around getting your files in order can erode investor trust. Put in the work ahead of time and it will build confidence in you and your company. #FundraisingAdvice #StartupTips #RSCMFounderFriday
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Maddi Holman
Daring Ventures • 9K followers
💡Emerging GP Fundraising Insight #8: Rolling Closes Keep You Moving Small funds can't always afford to sit still until the target is hit. Rolling closes let you start deploying earlier, build a track record, and show momentum to prospective LPs. One GP told me that for Fund I ($5M target), he took capital as it came, signed, wired, and got to work. It wasn't perfect, but it kept the lights on and the deals moving. Sometimes the "sign and wire as it comes" approach is the only way to get moving. Takeaway: Momentum is a fundraising asset and rolling closes can help you keep it. Has anyone here used rolling closes as a strategic advantage?
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Jason Calacanis
All-In Podcast • 700K followers
Noticed that VC funds are getting looooooonger? Special VC roundtable guests Tomasz Tunguz, Dave McClure, and Grady Buchanan discuss a noteworthy trend: venture funds that once extended around 10 years are now stretching to more like 12-15 (mainly because startups are staying private longer). Find out why some companies are remaining private for decades… or even FOREVER in this TWiST highlight.
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Wes Lyons
Eagle Venture Fund • 5K followers
Capital is never neutral. It either accelerates flourishing or fuels exploitation. That’s why I resonated with my friends at Access Ventures and TJ Abood’s recent article on “Conscious Portfolio Construction: Aligning Capital With Mission”. Some managers of foundations treat the 5% charitable distribution as “mission” while ignoring the other 95%. It’s a model that’s efficient on paper, but leaves impact on the table and in some cases runs against the values of the foundation. Capital is never neutral. Every dollar deployed is building some version of the world. At Eagle, we’ve rejected the false trade-off between impact and return. Our Eagle Freedom Fund backs founders whose tech protects kids online, enforces supply chain transparency, and dismantles trafficking networks. These aren’t concessions, they’re high-growth opportunities in a market expanding at over 40% annually. The truth? Values alignment isn’t a drag on returns. It can be a driver of returns. The question every investor must ask is simple: If the capital entrusted to me is shaping the world, what world is it building? At Eagle, our answer is clear: a world where children are safe, survivors thrive, and exploitation is unprofitable. #ImpactInvesting #CapitalWithConviction #EndTrafficking #JusticeDrivenInnovation #ConsciousCapital
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