A 25-year-old Venezuelan is using AI to compete with the biggest banks in the US.
His name is Victor Cardenas, founder of Slash.
$250M in revenue. 65 people. Profitable.
2% of all Facebook ad spend runs through Slash. More than 5,000 businesses spend almost $10B a year on its corporate cards.
A year ago, Mickey Malka of Ribbit Capital, the world’s #1 fintech investor (Robinhood, Nubank, Coinbase), said, “fintech is dead.”
Today, Ribbit is leading Slash’s $100M round at a $1.4B valuation.
Why?
Because Victor is executing something no traditional bank can copy.
More than 50% of Slash’s engineering hours go into building internal software. Agents that automate what banks solve by hiring hundreds of people: processing documents, managing disputes, and responding to bank partners.
15% of PRs going to production today are initiated by non-technical people on the team.
Meanwhile, less than 5% of companies in the US use a fintech. Everyone else is still on interfaces that, in Victor’s words, “were last updated in 2003.”
That is the opportunity.
Victor wants Slash to be this generation’s JP Morgan. When you hear Victor’s story and how Slash is being built, you’ll believe him.
[YouTube] → [Spotify] → [Apple Podcast]
Also in this episode:
[6:45] - How to adapt and compete in Silicon Valley’s high-performance environment
[13:25] - How AI is reshaping startup strategy and execution
[15:05] - How to scale niche vertical fintech products using AI
[22:05] - How to build defensibility when AI commoditizes everything
[32:05] - Why Venezuela could become a major business opportunity
