Every Company Is Becoming a Token Factory
Key takeaways from David Senra's Founders podcast interview with Ribbit Capital founder Micky MalkaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → (August 2026):
Fintech's next act is money meeting AI. Malka argues that while frontier labs became the first "token factories" for knowledge, money has stayed largely outside AI — and the next wave will pair blockchains and intelligent agents so an AI can make investment, commerce and payment decisions on your behalf.
Conviction comes from writing. Ribbit's investment theses start as long essays that can take a year to write; Malka says if you cannot distil a complex idea onto a napkin, you haven't studied it enough — and the essays give the firm the conviction to "be wrong for a long time."
Backing the founder's DNA over the category. Ribbit's framework, the "eye of the tiger," looks for the energy of a scientist, the conviction of a missionary, the heart of a partner, the dreams of an athlete and the obsession of an owner — a filter refined over roughly a decade.
Incumbent neo-brands win the AI era. Malka expects still-founder-led fintechs — Revolut, Stripe, Nubank and Robinhood — to pull ahead again, saying AI is a "nitro rocket" for founders still operating in day-one mode.
A decade backing Revolut's Nik Storonsky. Malka recalls handshaking Revolut's Series A over vodka shots ten years ago; he prizes founders whose original mission still permeates the company's offices and culture years later.
The Walmart bet echoing Lemon Bank. Ribbit co-built OnePay, a joint venture with Walmart now offering pay, debit, lending and credit across its stores — a move Malka links back to Lemon Bank, the branchless Brazilian bank he founded in 2003 and later sold.
The next generation builds differently. Malka says founders in their early 20s are the fastest-learning generation ever, self-organise into "chaotic" structures, are capital-efficient enough to keep more equity, and increasingly want to build physical products — but must relearn "taste" and beautiful design, which he says Silicon Valley lost.
Read more: Ribbit Capital · Founders podcast
