# Matt Brown

San Francisco, CA, USA

## Currently

- Investing in and helping early-stage companies at [Matrix](https://www.matrix.vc)
- Focusing on fintech, vertical software, and adjacent areas

## Previously

- Founded [Bonsai](https://www.zoom.com/en/products/bonsai/) (acquired by Zoom)
- Founded [Seiza](https://www.seiza.co/en/) (acquired by Adzuna)
- Led product at [Afterpay](https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/01/square-to-buy-buy-now-pay-later-giant-afterpay-in-29b-deal/) (acquired by Block)
- Studied politics, philosophy, and economics at UC Berkeley and Oxford

## Selected writing

- [Your data model is your destiny](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/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](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/b2b-payments-workflows) — The real money in B2B payments is in the workflow, not the transaction
- [Interchange in 1,000 words](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/interchange-in-1000-words) — How card fees work, who keeps what, and why margins keep compressing
- [Why VC and software have PE envy](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/vc-pe-envy) — Three hybrid models blurring the line between VC and PE
- [Invisible asymptotes in vertical software](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/invisible-asymptotes-vertical-software) — Every generation of vertical software must solve harder problems to win
- [Stablecoins in 1,000 words](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/stablecoins-1000-words) — What stablecoins are, how they work, and why they matter for payments
- [Vertical AI: beware what you wrap](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/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](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/context-graph-vertical-software) — Vertical software already owns the most valuable context graphs
- [Dark software](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/dark-software) — When software is cheap and distribution is expensive, bundle, don't build
- [Undifferentiated heavy lifting](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/undifferentiated-heavy-lifting-in) — Fintech infra rarely differentiates, so stop building it

## All writing

- 2026 · [The 150-pound computer](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/150-pound-computer) _(ai, frameworks)_
- 2026 · [Fintech's moats don't compile](https://matttbrown.substack.com/p/fintechs-moats-dont-compile) _(fintech, ai, frameworks)_
- 2026 · [Vertical software already won the context graph](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/context-graph-vertical-software) _(vertical-software, ai, frameworks)_
- 2026 · [The thermodynamics of risk](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/thermodynamics-risk) _(fintech, frameworks)_
- 2025 · [Your data model is your destiny](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/your-data-model-is-your-destiny) _(frameworks, vertical-software)_
- 2025 · [Why VC and software have PE envy](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/vc-pe-envy) _(investing, frameworks)_
- 2025 · [Vertical AI: beware what you wrap](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/vertical-ai-beware-what-you-wrap) _(vertical-software, ai, frameworks)_
- 2025 · [Stablecoins in 1,000 words](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/stablecoins-1000-words) _(fintech, payments)_
- 2024 · [Cross-border payments in ~1,000 words](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/cross-border-payments-1000-words) _(payments, fintech)_
- 2024 · [Pricing payments in vertical software](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/secrets-pricing-payments) _(payments, vertical-software, fintech, frameworks)_
- 2024 · [verticalsoftware.fyi](https://www.verticalsoftware.fyi) _(vertical-software)_
- 2024 · [Invisible asymptotes in vertical software](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/invisible-asymptotes-vertical-software) _(vertical-software, frameworks)_
- 2024 · [Price and shape risk that others can't or won't](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/make-money-selling-money) _(fintech, frameworks)_
- 2024 · [The future of interchange](https://sacra.com/research/the-future-of-interchange/) _(payments, fintech)_
- 2024 · [Investing in Rainforest](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/rainforest) _(investing, payments, fintech, vertical-software)_
- 2024 · [Real-time payments in 1,000 words](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/real-time-payments-1000-words) _(payments, fintech)_
- 2024 · [The new fintech stack is… open source?](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/fintech-stack-open-source) _(fintech, frameworks)_
- 2024 · [Data on fintech adoption in vertical software](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/fintech-adoption-vertical-software) _(vertical-software, fintech)_
- 2024 · [A chat with Toast's GM of Fintech](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/michel-rbeiz-toast) _(fintech, vertical-software, payments)_
- 2024 · [Dangerous language in startups](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/dangerous-language) _(frameworks)_
- 2024 · [Payfac in 1,000 words](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/payfac-1000-words) _(payments, fintech)_
- 2024 · [Dark software](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/dark-software) _(vertical-software, frameworks)_
- 2024 · [Fintech from first principles](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/fintech-first-principles) _(fintech, frameworks)_
- 2023 · [Hedgehogs, foxes, and VCs](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/hedgehog-fox-vc) _(investing, frameworks)_
- 2023 · [B2B payments aren't payments, they're workflows](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/b2b-payments-workflows) _(payments, vertical-software, frameworks, fintech)_
- 2023 · [Vertical, horizontal, and ghost markets](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/ghost-markets) _(frameworks, vertical-software)_
- 2023 · [Fundraising for fintech infra is different](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/fintech-infra-fundraising) _(fintech, investing, frameworks)_
- 2023 · [The iron triangle of embedded fintech](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/iron-triangle-embedded-fintech) _(fintech, frameworks, vertical-software)_
- 2023 · [Bundling, unbundling, and timing](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/bundling-unbundling-and-timing) _(frameworks, fintech)_
- 2023 · [The best fintechs turn risk into leverage](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/turning-risk-into-leverage) _(fintech, frameworks)_
- 2023 · [Winner-take-all dynamics in fintech](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/why-arent-there-more-winner-take) _(fintech, frameworks)_
- 2023 · [Interchange is a burning platform](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/interchange-is-a-burning-platform) _(payments, fintech, frameworks)_
- 2023 · [Interchange in 1,000 words](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/interchange-in-1000-words) _(payments, fintech)_
- 2022 · [How to index an entire business model](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/how-to-index-an-entire-business-model) _(frameworks, investing)_
- 2022 · [The power of point-of-sale products](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/the-power-of-point-of-sale-products) _(payments, vertical-software, frameworks)_
- 2022 · [Undifferentiated heavy lifting](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/undifferentiated-heavy-lifting-in) _(frameworks, fintech, vertical-software)_
- 2022 · [VERP product strategy](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/verp-product-strategy-vertical-software-payments) _(vertical-software, frameworks, payments, fintech)_
- 2022 · [Building category-defining VERPs](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/how-to-build-a-category-defining-verp) _(vertical-software, payments, fintech, frameworks)_
- 2022 · [The golden age of vertical ERPs](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/the-golden-age-of-vertical-erps) _(vertical-software, frameworks)_

## Elsewhere

- Twitter / X: [@mattbrown](https://x.com/mattbrown)
- LinkedIn: [@matttb](https://www.linkedin.com/in/matttb/)
- Substack: [notes.mtb.xyz](https://notes.mtb.xyz)
- GitHub: [matttbrown](https://github.com/matttbrown)
- Email: mb [at] matrix [dot] vc

## Machine-readable indexes

- [/posts.json](https://www.mtb.xyz/posts.json) — structured posts index
- [/posts.md](https://www.mtb.xyz/posts.md) — flat Markdown list of all writing
- [/posts/starred.json](https://www.mtb.xyz/posts/starred.json) — Matt-curated "best of"
- [/llms.txt](https://www.mtb.xyz/llms.txt) — curated llms.txt entry point
- [/sitemap.xml](https://www.mtb.xyz/sitemap.xml) — sitemap