What Is My Problem with Payments?
For the last 6 months, I have posted on LinkedIn every business day, except for the days I was kicked off because I was too honest talking about a certain company.
And in that time, I have received hundreds or even thousands of messages, which could be summarized by one of the following statements:
- "Love what you do"
- "Big fan of your work"
- "Finally someone who isn't afraid to tell the truth"
or my personal favorite…
"What is your problem?"
Let me explain…
First of all, I have had an amazing career in payments over the last twenty years, while also dabbling in other things on the side.
But Payments is my passion.
Sounds weird, if I say it out loud, but it actually is.
It was the first “real” job I had after High School, even before I started college.
It was the job I got back to ever single time, one of my "business ventures" wasn’t as successful as I hoped it to be.
Even when I 180-degree changed the direction of my career and went back to University to study Data Science, I still ended up with Payments.
But why am I so opinionated about Payments, and about the companies in Payments?
Short answer…
Because ever since I stepped out of Payments, since selling my last company, I had the ability to be objective about my previous employers, clients, and the industry as a whole.
And what I noticed is that the Payments industry as a whole is struggling.
Struggling with Innovation
Struggling with Leadership
Struggling with 3rd Party companies absorbing the value out of the industry
And by looking at the data, researching and analyzing strategies, and comparing them with other industries, I see trends and patterns that could predict that the industry that I have loved working in for the last 20 years might not be as robust and dynamic in the next 20.
Proof of that is plentiful.
There has been and will be more consolidation,
There has been and will be more embeddification, and
There has been and will be more disintermediation.
So there you have it.
My problem with Payments is that instead of sitting on the sidelines or putting on a red cape, I rather speak up.
I have an opinion about Payment companies I admire for what they have done, and what I believe they could do.
And I wish some of the “leaders” in the industry would stop being afraid and write or speak about them as well, as I believe if they did, the whole industry would benefit from it.
Let me know what you think.
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