Networks, Flywheels, and why Fintech is Thriving with Rex Salisbury

Rex Salisbury is the Founder and General Partner of fintech-focused Cambrian Ventures. We talked about how Rex built a big community and following in the fintech world, why fintech startups are on a roll, disruption versus partnership, and how the venture world is evolving.

The episode is now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, and YouTube Music.

Chapters from Networks, Flywheels, and why Fintech is Thriving with Rex Salisbury

00:00 Building a FinTech Community

03:27 The Evolution of FinTech Startups

12:23 Disruption vs. Partnership in FinTech

22:23 The Future of Mortgages in FinTech

29:50 Portfolio Construction in FinTech Investing

Takeaways from Networks, Flywheels, and why Fintech is Thriving with Rex Salisbury

• Rex’s origin story: quit i-banking, taught himself to code, moved to SF (Dec 2014), and embedded in early fintech (Sindeo) before building Cambrian’s community.

• Why community first works: 10+ years of Bay Area “openness,” monthly events with founders (Plaid, Stripe, Wealthfront, Betterment), scaling to ~5k meetup members and ~20k newsletter subs; community → deal flow.

• From community to fund: joined a16z as first external fintech partner, then launched Cambrian Fund I (2021) and raised Fund II amid a tough EM environment.

• Market take: worst time in years for emerging managers to raise, best time to deploy at pre-seed; fewer active pre-seed funds → less competition, better pricing.

• Momentum over data at Fund II: ~50% graduation from pre-seed to Series A (vs ~15% base rates), driven by stronger talent, better infra, and AI-enabled product velocity.

• “Fintech is still early”: only a small share of financial-services revenue has shifted to fintech; founders now have playbooks, networks, and tooling that compress time to Series A.

• AI as force multiplier: from dev environment boosts to previously-hard tasks (e.g., accurate data extraction from PDFs), enabling multi-product launches from day one.

• Disrupt vs. partner: sentiment leans “partner,” but Rex argues real share shift is finally happening—consumer (e.g., Robinhood’s evolution) and especially B2B via vertical SaaS.

• Vertical SaaS > banks for SMBs: “single pane of glass” systems (e.g., Toast) bundle payments, payroll, lending—stealing customer touchpoints before banks ever see them.

• Bank “deposit franchise” under pressure: rising yield awareness erodes cheap funding; inertia is breaking as users move to higher-yield, better UX alternatives.

• What Rex changed his mind about: mortgages—brutal as a first act (CAC, cyclicality, automation limits), but likely to work as a second act product for scaled consumer fintechs—with AI smoothing ops.

• Series A reality check: round sizes/prices near highs; typical bar is ≥$1M ARR and ~4x YoY growth; sub-$1M possible for exceptional teams, but not a strategy.

• Playbook to help founders: Cambrian specializes in accelerating to Series A—targeted customer/channel intros and precision matchmaking to the right seed/A investors fast.

• Capital efficiency > speed: hire fewer engineers with AI + proven offshore models; avoid over-dilution traps that limit optionality on strategic exits.

• Quick take on follow-ons: timing bias exists—early-year portfolio companies come back first; be intentional with reserves to avoid missing later standouts.

The content here is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment, legal or tax advice. The opinions expressed by guests are their own and do not reflect the views of Seaplane Ventures. Our host, guests and clients may hold investments discussed in this podcast. Please invest responsibly.