TL;DR
- Guest: Frank Rotman (QED, ex-Capital One) on building durable fintech empires.
- Frameworks: unit-economics first; 'earned secrets' through credit cycles.
- Contrarian: Growth without hard credit chops is borrowed time.
What you’ll learn
- How Capital One-style rigor translates to modern fintech.
- Signals investors watch beyond top-line growth.
- Portfolio construction when cycles turn.
Key takeaways
- Moats: proprietary data and disciplined underwriting.
- Risk: chasing valuation heat during easy-money periods.
- Hiring: operators fluent in risk, collections, and product.
By the numbers
- ~45–70 minutes
- 3–6 named companies
- 1–2 named frameworks
Quotes
FAQ
- Who is the guest?
- Frank Rotman, cofounder of QED Investors; early Capital One operator.
- What’s the guest’s edge?
- Decades of cycle-tested credit and growth pattern recognition.
- Actionable steps mentioned?
- Codify risk taxonomies; instrument leading indicators; price risk precisely.