Miguel Armaza sits down with Shamir Karkal, Co-Founder of Sila, a fintech company that’s raised over $20m to modernize payments. Shamir is also a true OG in fintech. He previously co-founded Simple, the first US neobank built for the smartphone era, and sold it to BBVA in 2014 for $117 million.

We discuss:

Selling Simple to BBVA and the post-acquisition challenges of integrating to a big bank
Company building lessons and the importance of good timing
The real reason why banks do not buy fintech companies too often
Why Shamir is bullish on consumer fintech making a comeback… and a lot more!!

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Miguel Armaza is Co-Founder and General Partner of Gilgamesh Ventures, a seed-stage investment fund focused on fintech in the Americas. He also hosts and writes the Fintech Leaders podcast and newsletter.

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