Searching for Mana with Lloyd Wahed

Head of Product, Visa Cross-Border Solutions - Piers Marais | Searching for Mana

In this episode of the Searching for Mana podcast, hosts Dan O'Riordan and Sachin Doshi have an insightful conversation with Piers Marais, Head of Product, Visa Cross-Border Solutions. Piers Marais shares his Currencycloud journey and how this Visa solution is transforming the way people and businesses pay and are paid globally. They also engage in an enlightening discussion on the importance of visualization and looking into the future, touching on topics such as the power of product manage...

The Missing Link, a Nayms podcast with Searching for Mana - Martin Carrica, Mountain Protocol

On this episode of The Missing Link, we're joined by Martin Carrica, Co-Founder and CEO of Mountain Protocol. Mountain Protocol are the issuer of USDM, the first regulated permissionless yield-bearing stablecoin. Mountain Protocol like Nayms, is a Bermuda licensed Digital Asset Business. Although regulated in Bermuda, you'll be surprised to hear how many jurisdictions he considered before he landed in Bermuda! During the episode, we dive into Martin's background and origins of his desire to l...

Flying into Overlooked Areas: Inside Silverbird's Revolution in Finance | Searching for Mana

In this episode, we welcome Max Faldin from the well-regarded fintech company, Silverbird. Quickly becoming the cynosure of all tech enthusiasts, Silverbird is a digital bank alternative for cross border trade. They are making substantial waves with its exceptional growth and unwavering commitment to addressing enduring challenges of financial inclusion. Max is dedicating extensive resources to a market sector typically overlooked due to entrenched views within traditional financial instit...

The Missing Link, a Nayms podcast with Searching for Mana - Mona Tiesler, Tokentus Investment

Mona Tiesler is an investor at tokentus investment AG, a leading VC firm in the German blockchain ecosystem, where she invests in start-ups that leverage blockchain technology globally. She joins the Missing Link as our tenth guest where we cover the state of venture markets - she gives tips to founders currently raising - and the macroeconomic factors at play. We discuss upcoming regulations and which jurisdictions crypto companies should to pay attention to. Don’t miss out on her thoughts o...

Blockchain and Beyond: Fintech Evolution as Viewed by Daniel Seifert | Searching For Mana

This episode of "Searching For Mana" features an enlightening conversation with Daniel Seifert, Coinbase's VP and Regional Managing Director. Stepping into his role just a fortnight before the infamous crypto-exchange FTX crash, Seifert's introduction to the volatile world of cryptocurrency was certainly a baptism by fire. Despite the initial turbulence, he remained undeterred, ready to take on the inherent challenges of the industry and skillfully steer his team through the uncertainties. A...

"A New Era: UK's Emergence as a Web 3.0 Superpower"

In this episode, join us as 'Searching for Mana' robustly explores the UK’s digital asset landscape with our host, Dan Roberts, CEO of Nayms, Tom Duff Gordon, VP of international policy at Coinbase, and Lachlan Douglas Ferguson, business operations manager at Nayms. The trio tackles significant discussions around the country's regulatory approach and its implications for fostering digital asset innovation. Key highlight of the discussion is the comparison between the UK and US regulatory fra...

The Missing Link, a Nayms podcast with Searching for Mana - Brian Mosoff, Ether Capital

The Missing Link, a podcast produced by Nayms aimed at uncovering the vital connection between blockchain and insurance. In the most recent episode, they are joined by Brian Mosoff, the CEO of Ether Capital. Ether Capital, a notable player in the cryptocurrency space, has taken a bold step by staking over 50% of its balance sheet through Ethereum. In this episode, listeners get a glimpse into the rationale behind this decision and the ongoing debate surrounding the issue of excessive central...

WorkMotion: Reshaping Talent Acquisition Across Borders | Searching for Mana Future Of Work

Welcome to a thrilling episode of Searching for Mana, brought to you by our series host, Lloyd Wahed, CEO and Co-founder of Mana Group. In this episode, we have in store an exceptional conversation with Carsten Lebtig, one of the minds behind WorkMotion. Born from a desire to crack open the globe for employers hunting for talent, WorkMotion is a startup that's scaling incredible heights in the world of work today. Committed to revolutionizing talent acquisition, WorkMotion is taking giant s...

The Missing Link, a Nayms podcast with Searching for Mana - Sebastian Banescu, Chainproof

Joining Dan and Danielle on this edition of The Missing Link is Dr. Sebastian Banescu, CEO of Chainproof and Managing Director of Quantstamp Germany. At Chainproof, security excellence means more than just providing insurance. Chainproof’s novel approach to smart contract security and insurance offers web3 companies unparalleled safety and protection from start to finish. Having recently worked with Chainproof to provide Nayms with an insurance policy to cover smart contracts against hack...

The future of hiring: will technology and AI help us? | Searching for Mana Future Of Work

Searching for Mana FinTech | Michael Whitehead, Freemarket

On this episode of Searching for Mana FinTech, joining Lloyd Wahed is Michael Whitehead, Chief Banking and Product Officer of Freemarket. Join Michael as he shares how Freemarket’s technology-driven approach has led to its consistent growth over the past years. Michael presents an intriguing perspective on this pioneering entity that is disrupting traditional banking norms, especially in the cross-border payments and foreign exchange domains. Including insights on their digitisation, autom...

The Next Frontier of the Future of Work | Ben Wright, Founder & Executive Chairman, Velocity Global

What is the next frontier in the Future of Work? Is it AI? Is it remote work? Ben Wright of Velocity Global joins Lloyd Wahed on the newest episode of Searching for Mana Future of Work to discuss what his take on this is - the ability to enable people everywhere to access fair employment and opportunities that will become life-changing. Ben is the Founder of Velocity Global, and has just moved from CEO to Executive Chairman. Speaking about the future of work, as well as his past experi...

The Missing Link, a Nayms podcast with Searching for Mana - Dan Thomson, InsurAce

Episode 7 of The Missing Link by Nayms, and it's the second episode of their Sponsor Series. Dan Thomson joins the team to speak about his journey of launching InsurAce and how they ramped up from 20 covered protocols at launch to 147 covered protocols now. Dan and Danielle also discuss the opportunities for embedded insurance in the crypto ecosystem and get a behind the scenes look at the claims process after the Terra/Luna depeg. The Nayms Sponsor Series highlights guests who are users of...

Hybrid Financial Planning | Ruth Handcock, CEO, Octopus Money

On this episode of Searching for Mana, we sit down with Ruth Hancock, CEO of Octopus Money, a pioneer in the FinTech space dedicated to redefining personal finance. Ruth offers listeners an insider's view of her journey from her humble beginnings to becoming an influential figure in the finance world. From her upbringing in the Midlands to navigating the complexities of the finance industry, Ruth shares her unique insights into what it takes to disrupt an industry and pave the way for finan...

Superhuman Financial Wellbeing | Barney Hussey-Yeo, Founder & CEO, Cleo

In this compelling episode of Searching for Mana, joining Lloyd Wahed is Barney Hussey-Yeo, the visionary CEO and Founder of Cleo. A pioneering FinTech company, Cleo are leveraging AI and Machine Learning to create the world's leading financial management app. Through an engaging conversation, Barney provides deep insights into Cleo's mission to transform the landscape of personal finance. Discover how Cleo's innovative platform not only helps individuals manage budgets and track expenses bu...

Creating Trust in Blockchain | Pratima Arora, Chief Product Officer, Chainalysis

We're excited to bring you a second Searching for Mana guest from Chainalysis, the world's leading intelligence and risk management entity in blockchain. Pratima Arora, Chief Product Officer, joins Lloyd Wahed in an episode sponsored by Freemarket. Having been previously joined by Michael Gronager, Founder & CEO, this marks a special continuation of the highly pressing topics of consumer trust and fraud within Web3. From the fact that less than 1% of all activity on blockchain is illicit ac...

The Missing Link, a Nayms podcast with Searching for Mana | Episode 6

A special mid-season episode for the Nayms podcast - The Missing Link. Hosts Dan Roberts and Danielle Wall Elliott walk through a recap of the season so far, and a reflection on some of the previous episodes. There's also some big news. The Nayms Marketplace has gone live on the Ethereum Network - signifying a defining moment in the future of insurance. Dan and Danielle speak about some of this, and what to expect in the next phase of their journey.

Searching for Mana FinTech Episode 0 | Tom McGillycuddy, Circa5000

A new series brought to you by Searching for Mana. This is Searching for Mana FinTech. Searching for Mana FinTech is going to look at some of the most intriguing, important, and industry-changing businesses in the financial and technology world right now, and how they are tackling the challenges of markets, culture, teams, and much more. With a brilliant guest to kick off our very special Episode 0 introduction to the new series, please join us as Lloyd speaks to Tom McGillycuddy, Co-Foun...

Scalable Philanthropy - The Future of Work | Tony Jamous, CEO & Founder, Oyster

The inaugural Future of Work episode by Searching for Mana. And what an episode it is. Founder and CEO of Oyster, Tony Jamous, speaks to Lloyd Wahed and Antonietta Pugliese about the future of work. From the essence of what challenges our future workplaces are facing, to how remote work is not a failure and the Blue Zone, to AI and tooling's impact in the journey ahead. This is an absolutely fascinating edition to kick off our new series with, as Tony gives us some expert insight and brill...

The Missing Link, a Nayms podcast with Searching for Mana - Jaskanwar Singh, UnoRe

Joining Dan and Danielle on this edition of The Missing Link is the Co-Founder of DeFi's first risk-based insurance and reinsurance protocol - Jaskanwar Singh. A pioneer in the insurance x Web3 space, and with a partner of Nayms, UnoRe is one of the most innovative projects out there. Jaskanwar provides a brilliant and enlightening episode for us, speaking in a large part to risk and the reinsurance of cryptocurrency. The Missing Link is now into it's 5th episode, and the Searching for Ma...

The Future of Work: Introduction

What is the Future of Work? How is technology and innovation reshaping our careers and workplaces? Are you ready to adapt to this changing landscape? Welcome to Searching for Mana's newest production: The Future of Work. We are going to be talking to some of the world's leading experts and pioneers in the tech space, and beyond, uncovering why it's so crucial for us to get the future of work right. Joining the host of Searching for Mana, Lloyd Wahed, will be Antonietta Pugliese, COO of Ma...

The Missing Link, a Nayms podcast with Searching for Mana - Alex Thorn, Galaxy

The Missing Link is the show that uncovers the vital connection between insurance and crypto. Dan and Danielle of Nayms sit down with Alex Thorn, Head of Firmwide Research at Galaxy Digital. At Galaxy, Alex leads a team of researchers dedicated to understanding and unpacking developments in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, producing insights for internal and external audiences. With over 15+ years of experience in blockchain research, crypto ventures, and exploring the intersection of traditi...

Building the Culture of a FinTech Unicorn | Laura Spiekerman, Co-Founder & President, Alloy

There's few challenges greater when scaling a successful FinTech company than retaining a strong culture. Laura Spiekerman, Co-Founder & President of Alloy, speaks to host Lloyd Wahed about her story from childhood through to her founding one of the most successful stories in FinTech over the last decade. Alloy are an identity decisioning platform for FinTechs and Banks. They tackle risk and compliance for some of the largest institutions in the world. It's likely they've ensured your pro...

A Masterclass in Building a Startup and Writing Headlines | Veronica Wong, CEO & Co-Founder, SafePal

Veronica Wong, CEO & Co-Founder of SafePal, joins host Lloyd Wahed to speak on building a company right from the ICO boom of 2017, across two bull/bear market cycles, and into the bumpy start of 2023. Despite the macroeconomic challenges in their way, Veronica and SafePal have worked to put themselves in a position to achieve their long-term goal of onboarding a billion users into Web3. This is truly an eye-opening episode, with much to learn from an inspiring leader. From an environment ...

Accelerating Web3 & the Metaverse | Jamie Burke, CEO & Founder, Outlier Ventures

Outlier Ventures are a market leading Web3 accelerator. With 185 investments last year and a steady dose of bullish sentiment towards crypto, Outlier CEO and Founder Jamie Burke is well positioned to talk about where Web3 and Crypto in 2023 is going to go. Jamie sat down with Lloyd Wahed a few weeks ago to speak about the market from 2022 up to now, and then beyond. We wanted to share this highly topical show with you in accordance with the release of Jamie's 2023 thesis for the market. Th...

The Missing Link, a Nayms podcast with Searching for Mana - Kain Warwick, Synthetix

The Missing Link, a podcast by Nayms designed to uncover the crucial synergy between blockchain and insurance. Kain Warwick, Founder of Synthetix and blueshyft, joins this most recent edition to discuss the state of the market right now, decentralised governance, the future of insurance, and of course - his take on the missing link. Kain is seen as the “father of modern agriculture”, having pioneered yield farming and his stablecoin project was one of the limited 2017 Initial Coin Offering...

The Future of Fraud, Crypto and AI | Soups Ranjan, CEO & Founder, Sardine

Searching for Mana is back with Sardine CEO and Co-Founder Soups Ranjan. Join host Lloyd Wahed and we dive into why fraud, AI, machine learning, payments, and crypto are inextricably linked and crucial to financial infrastructure in the future. Soups has had a brilliant career, from one of the very first employees at Coinbase, to a fintech giant such as Revolut, before embarking on a personal journey as a founder of Sardine. The project is attempting to battle the ongoing issue of fraud w...

The Missing Link, a Nayms podcast with Searching for Mana - Kevin de Patoul

The Missing Link, a podcast by Nayms designed to uncover the crucial synergy between blockchain and insurance. Kevin de Patoul, CEO and Co-Founder of the cryptocurrency market makers Keyrock, joins Dan and Danielle this week on The Missing Link. Will we reach a stage where every single asset is digital? How do we achieve regulatory clarity? How do we open up Web3 in a more accessible way, for widespread use? Find out how Kevin sees the tokenisation of illiquid assets advancing over the nex...

Why Crypto Needs Insurance | Dan Roberts, CEO Nayms

Bringing together crypto and insurance, Dan Roberts CEO at Nayms kicks off the new Searching for Mana season with a special episode. Lloyd and Dan sit down together in Las Vegas to talk all things Web3, AI, bearish markets, gratitude and affirmation, and Michael Jordan. Nayms are building the future of on-chain insurance. They are launching a crypto-native insurance marketplace to provide flexible digital infrastructure for insurance players to build digital carriers. Dan brilliantly takes u...

The Missing Link, a Nayms podcast with Searching for Mana - Steven Becker, UDHC

The Missing Link's first guest is Steven Becker, CEO of UDHC and former President & COO of MakerDAO. From early beginnings in derivatives and trading, the initial stages of MakerDAO, early pioneering of on-chain auditing and smart contracts, to the future of DeFi - it's a corker.

The Missing Link, a Nayms podcast with Searching for Mana - Meet Your Hosts

Welcome to The Missing Link, in partnership with Searching for Mana, a podcast where crypto and insurance come together. Join Dan Roberts and Danielle Wall Elliott of Nayms to explore the vital role insurance plays in crypto, and how blockchain will disrupt insurance. Whether you're in crypto, traditional finance or just in need of a new podcast, join us in finding the 'missing link'. Get to know your co-hosts in this first episode of The Missing Link. Nayms CEO Dan Roberts, and COO Daniell...

Unlocking Financial Freedom for Everyone, Head of Plaid Europe Ripsy Bandourian

This week’s guest on the Searching for Mana show is Head of Plaid Europe, Ripsy Bandourian. A journey from Goldman Sachs, McKinsey, Apple and Booking.com has led Ripsy to her most recent role at Plaid, helping to strengthen a Trans-Atlantic bridge for the open-banking leader.   How does open-banking enable the goal of accessible fiscal liberty for everyone, and what are Plaid doing to achieve that?   One of the tropes this podcast has covered across episodes is culture, and with Ripsy we...

Pascal Gauthier, Ledger: On a pathway to hiring Apple CEO Tim Cook?

On a pathway to hiring Apple CEO Tim Cook? Pascal Gauthier is the CEO and co-founder of Ledger, a global leader in security and infrastructure solutions for cryptocurrencies and blockchain applications.   Now one of the most respected, outspoken and well-known leaders in web3, Lloyd walks us through Pascal’s founding journey and how he has scaled Ledger from zero to over 1000 employees.    Pascal discusses the importance of Ledger’s hardware and software security, which offers complete p...

Creating more liquidity in private markets, Martijn de Wever, CEO Floww

Joining Lloyd this week is Floww CEO & FinTech expert Martijn de Wever. Partnered with The London Stock Exchange, Floww provides data to increase transparency & liquidity across private markets.   Former Venture Capitalist and trader Martijn sheds brilliant light into the state of UK FinTech, the pros and cons of private vs public companies, and how his contrarian style has fuelled his success.   Highly insightful, honest and always with a touch of humour, Martijn is a brilliantly entert...

Building the Future of E-Commerce, Bolt CEO Maju Kuruvilla

This week’s podcast episode guest is Bolt Financial CEO Maju Kuruvilla. A former executive at Amazon, where he helped launch Amazon Fresh, Maju has taken over at Bolt to help build the future of e-commerce.     Searching for Mana is about finding future category leading tech firms in real-time. Almost every business goes through ups and downs, and the path to the top is never completely smooth.   Bolt has scaled to great heights already, but also faced challenges, competing against the l...

0 to Unicorn in 5 months | Austin Allison | CEO, Pacaso

Joining Lloyd this week, is Austin Allison, CEO of Pacaso, the fastest-growing tech unicorn of all time.   From humble beginnings, and an unusual path, Austin Allison, founder at Pacaso, has taken an unconventional path to the top. A self-proclaimed “troubled teen” and near high-school drop-out, Austin, on the back of an epiphanical moment, turned his life around to become a top performer at college, and become a multi-unicorn founder.   Son of a carpenter, with a clear entrepreneurial s...

Blockchain will become like a public good | Solana CEO, Anatoly Yakovenko

Joining Lloyd this week is Solana Founder and CEO Anatoly Yakovenko, in this fascinating, candid and eye-opening episode.   Solana really needs no introduction.   One of the most prominent and popular blockchain platforms, particularly amongst developers, Solana is able to run over 6,000 transactions per second and 30 million app transactions per day. For context, that’s more than all other blockchains combined!   Diving into the rise of Solana, as well as speaking honestly on the stru...

Working for and backing generational businesses | Amy Wu | Head of Ventures, FTX

Amy Wu, Head of Ventures, M&A and Gaming at FTX represents one of the best-known and most successful Venture Capitalists in the crypto and web3 spaces. Having had FTX’s US President Brett Harrison on as our opening guest of the series, Amy is another individual leading this generational business, with a mandate of investing in further generational businesses. Formerly a Partner at Lightspeed, where she served on the Board at FTX, Amy switched sides at the start of the year, moving to Baham...

Achieving perfect founder-market fit | Diogo Monica, Co-Founder, Anchorage Digital

Few others’ experiences and career path have left them so destined to found their business, with Andreessen Horowitz General Partner Chris Dixon coining “perfect founder-market fit” to describe him, than this week’s guest, Diogo Monica, Co-Founder of Anchorage Digital.   With a resume boasting a PhD in Network Security, working as an early employee at Square, and rounding out his skill-set at Docker, Diogo’s rise to the top has been meteoric.   Diogo is now in charge of a leading crypto ...

“The person who saw the future of music and steered the industry” | Mike Weissman, CEO SoundCloud

Mike Weissman, CEO of music and tech giant SoundCloud needs no introduction. Leading one of the most prominent and well-known consumer tech companies on the planet, SoundCloud sits at the forefront of innovation within the music industry. Empowering the next generation of artists to launch their tracks and musical career, SoundCloud is connecting communities of fans and artists to transact directly. Lloyd and Mike walk us through the technology underpinning SoundCloud’s success, their cult...

The Art of Storytelling Within Tech | David Shriver, Head of Communications, Ocado Group

David Shriver, Head of Communications at Ocado Group, knows how to formulate and tell a story. Exceptionally eloquent and adept at forming narratives within high-growth tech businesses,  David joins Lloyd to walk through the cruciality of telling consistent and coherent stories. With over 35 years of experience in communications, this episode represents an absolute  masterclass in storytelling, so critical to the success of entrepreneurs, both internally and externally, as David elucidates...

Bringing a Billion People to Web3 | Illia Polosukhin, CEO, NEAR Protocol

Illia Polosukhin, Founder & CEO of NEAR Protocol, is this week’s guest on Searching for Mana. Following on from the brilliant earlier episode with Marieke Flamant, Lloyd gets to the bottom of building a company sitting at the forefront of this potential paradigm shift to web3.   Lloyd and Illia guide us through the technical intricacies of the platform, the wider NEAR ecosystem, building a leading developer community and bringing mass user adoption to blockchain, impacting the future of wo...

Changing the World through Crypto & Safe-Keeping the World of Finance | Michael Gronager, CEO, Chainalysis

From discussing the meaning of life, to the cruciality of atomic habits, to genuinely aiming to change the world, this week’s guest, Michael Gronager - CEO of crypto behemoth Chainalysis - shares fascinating insights. With a valuation of upwards of $8 Billion, following their latest funding round in May this year, Chainalysis is providing critical financial data to enable governments, banks and blockchain companies to understand how people are using cryptocurrency. Drawing comparisons to G...

Building for the long-term in Blockchain | Sendi Young, European MD, Ripple

Sendi Young is the European Managing Director for global crypto payments leader Ripple, with  an extensive background across payments with traditional corporate powerhouses. Growing up  in Istanbul in the 1980s, Sendi’s background has helped her acclimatize to the volatility of the crypto world, becoming accustomed to cycles of economic growth and rapid declines, sparking  her curiosity and passion for macroeconomics. From here, Sendi built out expertise across global payments with marquee ...

The State of Diversity within FinTech & VC, Eileen Burbidge, Founding Partner Passion Capital

Eileen Burbidge is the founding partner of Passion Capital, an early-stage venture capital fund  that has backed FinTech giants including the likes of Monzo, Tide and GoCardless among  others. As part of Mana Search’s event presenting their State of Diversity report, Eileen joins  Lloyd to walk through the homogeneity and inequality within the current Tech and Venture  Capital industries. From the intrinsic gendering of children’s toys, to how to build a team, to the astronomic rise but also...

Why I love recessions and what the military taught me, Arik Shtilman, Co-founder Rapyd

Arik Shtilman heads up global payments solution Rapyd – one of Europe’s most highly valued fintechs.  Arik’s first rung on the career ladder was the Israeli army, which taught him a ‘carpe diem’ approach to business that has since helped him win over investors and turn Rapyd into  Israel’s most valuable private company (it recently achieved a 15bn dollar valuation). Arik explains that the genesis for Rapyd lies in a fellow founder being stung on FX charges on a stag do to the Czech Republic...

Clinically Inappropriate Obsessiveness and Open Mic Comedy Nights, Wei Lei, Chief Investment Strategist, BlackRock

The Searching for Mana show with Lloyd Wahed has featured several ‘one of a kind’ guests – and this show is no exception.  Wei Lei is not only a global leader for one of the biggest companies on the planet, she is also a two-time mathematical Olympiad who enjoys karaoke sessions, ran a marathon without training for it and overcame her fear of public speaking by taking part in an open mic comedy night.   Clearly not one for half measures, Wei also says she is obsessive to the point of it bei...

Sweatcoin: the answer to nature’s orgasm failure, Oleg Fomenko, Founder Sweatcoin

Being paid to get fit may sound too good to be true, but it’s exactly what this week’s Searching for Mana guest Ole Fomenko is doing for his app’s more than 70 milllion users.  Sweatcoin tracks a user’s steps and this summer will covert them into free crypto currency.  Watching a movie with his children was the inspiration for the app; his motivation for driving it lies in repenting for previous professional sins.  It’s a great episode, enjoy… Oleg Fomenko, founder of health currency app Sw...

Title: Sweatcoin: the answer to nature’s orgasm failure, Oleg Fomenko, Founder Sweatcoin

Being paid to get fit may sound too good to be true, but it’s exactly what this week’s Searching for Mana guest Ole Fomenko is doing for his app’s more than 70 milllion users.  Sweatcoin tracks a user’s steps and this summer will covert them into free crypto currency.  Watching a movie with his children was the inspiration for the app; his motivation for driving it lies in repenting for previous professional sins.  It’s a great episode, enjoy… Oleg Fomenko, founder of health currency app Sw...

Failure to code led to success in tech, Marieke Flament, CEO NEAR foundation

As CEO of the NEAR protocol foundation, Marieke Flament is currently one of the most successful female leaders working in fintech. But it took some convincing for her to give up an established, super successful corporate career; she was even told she was ‘full on crazy’ for considering it. As she tells presenter Lloyd Wahed in this episode, she defied her critics to join Circle in 2015 where she stayed until being inspired by another female CEO to move to banking app Mettle.   The traj...