Matt Brown

san francisco, ca, usa

currently

  • investing in and helping early-stage companies at matrix
  • focusing on fintech, vertical software, and adjacent areas

previously

  • founded bonsai (acquired by zoom)
  • founded seiza (acquired by adzuna)
  • led product at afterpay (acquired by block)
  • studied politics, philosophy, and economics at uc berkeley and oxford

selected writing

Your data model is your destiny When code is commoditized, your data model is the last durable moat
B2B payments aren't payments, they're workflows The real money in B2B payments is in the workflow, not the transaction
Interchange in 1,000 words How card fees work, who keeps what, and why margins keep compressing
Payfac in 1,000 words What payfacs actually do, how they make money, and when to build one
The future of interchange Where payment revenue moves when interchange runs out of room
Stablecoins in 1,000 words What stablecoins are, how they work, and why they matter for payments
Why VC and software have PE envy Three hybrid models blurring the line between VC and PE
Invisible asymptotes in vertical software Every generation of vertical software must solve harder problems to win
Vertical AI: beware what you wrap AI commoditizes fast. The moat is the system of record, not the model
Vertical software already won the context graph Vertical software already owns the most valuable context graphs
Dark software When software is cheap and distribution is expensive, bundle, don't build
Undifferentiated heavy lifting Fintech infra rarely differentiates, so stop building it

all writing

2026 The 150-pound computer
2026 Fintech's moats don't compile
2026 Vertical software already won the context graph
2026 The thermodynamics of risk
2025 Your data model is your destiny
2025 Why VC and software have PE envy
2025 Vertical AI: beware what you wrap
2025 Stablecoins in 1,000 words
2024 Cross-border payments in ~1,000 words
2024 Pricing payments in vertical software
2024 verticalsoftware.fyi
2024 Invisible asymptotes in vertical software
2024 Price and shape risk that others can't or won't
2024 The future of interchange
2024 Investing in Rainforest
2024 Real-time payments in 1,000 words
2024 The new fintech stack is… open source?
2024 Data on fintech adoption in vertical software
2024 A chat with Toast's GM of Fintech
2024 Dangerous language in startups
2024 Payfac in 1,000 words
2024 Dark software
2024 Fintech from first principles
2023 Hedgehogs, foxes, and VCs
2023 B2B payments aren't payments, they're workflows
2023 Vertical, horizontal, and ghost markets
2023 Fundraising for fintech infra is different
2023 The iron triangle of embedded fintech
2023 Bundling, unbundling, and timing
2023 The best fintechs turn risk into leverage
2023 Winner-take-all dynamics in fintech
2023 Interchange is a burning platform
2023 Interchange in 1,000 words
2022 How to index an entire business model
2022 The power of point-of-sale products
2022 Undifferentiated heavy lifting
2022 VERP product strategy
2022 Building category-defining VERPs
2022 The golden age of vertical ERPs

elsewhere

@mattbrown twitter
@matttb linkedin
notes.mtb.xyz substack
matttbrown github
mb @ matrix.vc email
/llms.txt agents
/posts.json api

snake!

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