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Aug 6, 2017 · 19m · top-founders

743: Will 28yo Privacy.com Founder Replace Credit Cards?

Nathan Latka · 8m spoken Bo Jiang · 8m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

In this episode of The Top Podcast, Nathan Latka interviews Privacy.com co-founder and CEO Bo Jiang to dissect how the fintech startup monetizes through payment interchange fees, secures high-value digital assets with equity, and scales virtual debit card security for over 50,000 users.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Nathan holds 51.2% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 3.6 Guest teaching 2.2 Guest disagreement 1.6 Nathan pushing back 2.8
05100:0010:003:30–6:30 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Privacy.com Product Mechanics and Interchange Revenue Nathan walks through hypotheticals of transaction processing fees and the interchange model. Bo gently corrects Nathan regarding virtual credit cards versus debit cards linked directly to checking accounts.6:30–10:36 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Business Metrics, Growth, and Team Operations Nathan pushes hard on user metrics, refusing to accept vanity user totals and demanding active volume. Bo deflects the specific active user count by pivoting to double-digit monthly transaction volume growth.10:36–13:10 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Startup Incubators and the Tinder Experience Nathan probes Hatch Labs' equity arrangements and assumes standard incubator terms. Bo clarifies that Hatch Labs was a bespoke venture studio investing around a million dollars per project rather than a typical accelerator.13:10–18:27 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Sponsor Break: GetLatka Database and TheTopInbox Includes Nathan's sponsor pitch and the Famous Five routine. The dynamic is cooperative and conversational with minimal friction.18:27–19:25 · Nathan as informed peer 0/10 Episode Recap and Next Episode Teaser Monologue outro summarizing Bo Jiang's metrics and teasing the next guest.3:30–6:30 · Guest teaching 4/10 Privacy.com Product Mechanics and Interchange Revenue Nathan walks through hypotheticals of transaction processing fees and the interchange model. Bo gently corrects Nathan regarding virtual credit cards versus debit cards linked directly to checking accounts.6:30–10:36 · Guest teaching 3/10 Business Metrics, Growth, and Team Operations Nathan pushes hard on user metrics, refusing to accept vanity user totals and demanding active volume. Bo deflects the specific active user count by pivoting to double-digit monthly transaction volume growth.10:36–13:10 · Guest teaching 3/10 Startup Incubators and the Tinder Experience Nathan probes Hatch Labs' equity arrangements and assumes standard incubator terms. Bo clarifies that Hatch Labs was a bespoke venture studio investing around a million dollars per project rather than a typical accelerator.13:10–18:27 · Guest teaching 1/10 Sponsor Break: GetLatka Database and TheTopInbox Includes Nathan's sponsor pitch and the Famous Five routine. The dynamic is cooperative and conversational with minimal friction.18:27–19:25 · Guest teaching 0/10 Episode Recap and Next Episode Teaser Monologue outro summarizing Bo Jiang's metrics and teasing the next guest.3:30–6:30 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Privacy.com Product Mechanics and Interchange Revenue Nathan walks through hypotheticals of transaction processing fees and the interchange model. Bo gently corrects Nathan regarding virtual credit cards versus debit cards linked directly to checking accounts.6:30–10:36 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Business Metrics, Growth, and Team Operations Nathan pushes hard on user metrics, refusing to accept vanity user totals and demanding active volume. Bo deflects the specific active user count by pivoting to double-digit monthly transaction volume growth.10:36–13:10 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Startup Incubators and the Tinder Experience Nathan probes Hatch Labs' equity arrangements and assumes standard incubator terms. Bo clarifies that Hatch Labs was a bespoke venture studio investing around a million dollars per project rather than a typical accelerator.13:10–18:27 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Sponsor Break: GetLatka Database and TheTopInbox Includes Nathan's sponsor pitch and the Famous Five routine. The dynamic is cooperative and conversational with minimal friction.18:27–19:25 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Episode Recap and Next Episode Teaser Monologue outro summarizing Bo Jiang's metrics and teasing the next guest.3:30–6:30 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Privacy.com Product Mechanics and Interchange Revenue Nathan walks through hypotheticals of transaction processing fees and the interchange model. Bo gently corrects Nathan regarding virtual credit cards versus debit cards linked directly to checking accounts.6:30–10:36 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Business Metrics, Growth, and Team Operations Nathan pushes hard on user metrics, refusing to accept vanity user totals and demanding active volume. Bo deflects the specific active user count by pivoting to double-digit monthly transaction volume growth.10:36–13:10 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Startup Incubators and the Tinder Experience Nathan probes Hatch Labs' equity arrangements and assumes standard incubator terms. Bo clarifies that Hatch Labs was a bespoke venture studio investing around a million dollars per project rather than a typical accelerator.13:10–18:27 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Sponsor Break: GetLatka Database and TheTopInbox Includes Nathan's sponsor pitch and the Famous Five routine. The dynamic is cooperative and conversational with minimal friction.18:27–19:25 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Episode Recap and Next Episode Teaser Monologue outro summarizing Bo Jiang's metrics and teasing the next guest.

speaking balance: gold is Nathan, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Nathan 65% · guest 35%0:00 · Nathan 65% · guest 35%3:00 · Nathan 30.6% · guest 69.4%3:00 · Nathan 30.6% · guest 69.4%6:00 · Nathan 45.1% · guest 54.9%6:00 · Nathan 45.1% · guest 54.9%9:00 · Nathan 41.6% · guest 58.4%9:00 · Nathan 41.6% · guest 58.4%12:00 · Nathan 73.3% · guest 26.7%12:00 · Nathan 73.3% · guest 26.7%15:00 · Nathan 42.2% · guest 57.8%15:00 · Nathan 42.2% · guest 57.8%18:00 · Nathan 66.5% · guest 33.5%18:00 · Nathan 66.5% · guest 33.5%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 8:51 Deflecting vanity user critique

When Nathan challenges the 50,000 user figure as potentially meaningless free accounts, Bo rejects the premise and steers the focus entirely onto transaction volume growth.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 8:51 Challenging free vs active user value

Nathan refuses to let Bo rest on a raw user count, explicitly stating that reported user numbers are frequently empty vanity metrics.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 4:14 Correcting credit card assumption to checking-linked debit

Bo clarifies that Privacy.com does not issue credit cards but creates unique debit cards tied directly to checking accounts, correcting Nathan's technical framing.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 10:22 Instantly computing monthly revenue run-rate

Nathan synthesizes Bo's earlier statements about transaction volume and the 1% interchange take rate to immediately deduce Privacy.com's monthly revenue floor.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Privacy.com Product Mechanics and Interchange Revenue 5423 Nathan walks through hypotheticals of transaction processing fees and the interchange model. Bo gently corrects Nathan regarding virtual credit cards versus debit cards linked directly to checking accounts.
Business Metrics, Growth, and Team Operations 6336 Nathan pushes hard on user metrics, refusing to accept vanity user totals and demanding active volume. Bo deflects the specific active user count by pivoting to double-digit monthly transaction volume growth.
Startup Incubators and the Tinder Experience 4324 Nathan probes Hatch Labs' equity arrangements and assumes standard incubator terms. Bo clarifies that Hatch Labs was a bespoke venture studio investing around a million dollars per project rather than a typical accelerator.
Sponsor Break: GetLatka Database and TheTopInbox 3111 Includes Nathan's sponsor pitch and the Famous Five routine. The dynamic is cooperative and conversational with minimal friction.
Episode Recap and Next Episode Teaser 0000 Monologue outro summarizing Bo Jiang's metrics and teasing the next guest.

Statements from this episode (7)

Disclosure
Privacy.com gave under 10% equity to acquire its premium domain name
“Less than 10%.”
Bo Jiang Aug 6, 2017 ▶ 3:28
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Privacy.com earns approximately 1% on average from transaction interchange fees
“It's, yeah, so on average it gets very messy, but without doing too much specifics, it's about one percent.”
Bo Jiang Aug 6, 2017 ▶ 6:04
Disclosure
Jiang: Privacy.com has raised $3.5 million in venture capital
“Three and a half million.”
Bo Jiang Aug 6, 2017 ▶ 6:50
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Jiang: Privacy.com has reached around 50,000 users
“We're at around 50,000 users right now.”
Bo Jiang Aug 6, 2017 ▶ 8:34
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Jiang: Privacy.com volume is growing double digits month-over-month
“Measuring that is based on our transaction volume, which has basically been growing, you know, double digit month over month since since we launched about a year ago.”
Bo Jiang Aug 6, 2017 ▶ 9:11
Assertion Supported
Jiang: Hatch Labs ran 5 to 10 mobile projects simultaneously
“Hatch Labs is a venture studio or was a venture studio and basically they had you know, between five to 10 projects running at one time. They were all mobile based, but they kind of spanned everything from, you know, messaging to delivery to dating, obviously.”
Bo Jiang Aug 6, 2017 ▶ 11:54
Assertion Not checkable as stated
IAC's Hatch Labs invested approximately $1 million per incubator project
“No, it was a more hands-on model, and I think it was something that was negotiated on a company-by-company basis. So, you know, they, I think they put in you know, closer to a million dollars.”
Bo Jiang Aug 6, 2017 ▶ 12:41
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