# All writing — Matt Brown A flat Markdown list of every post indexed on mtb.xyz. Most posts live on [notes.mtb.xyz](https://notes.mtb.xyz); some on external publications. Last generated: 2026-05-14T17:20:26.910Z For structured access, see [/posts.json](https://www.mtb.xyz/posts.json). For filtered views, see [/posts/starred.json](https://www.mtb.xyz/posts/starred.json), [/posts/topic/{topic}.json](https://www.mtb.xyz/posts/topic/payments.json), and [/posts/year/{year}.json](https://www.mtb.xyz/posts/year/2024.json). ## 2026 - [The 150-pound computer](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/150-pound-computer) — What 'computer' means once cognition itself becomes programmable [ai, frameworks] _(popular, new)_ - [Fintech's moats don't compile](https://matttbrown.substack.com/p/fintechs-moats-dont-compile) — Fintech moats don't behave like software moats. What actually compounds [fintech, ai, frameworks] _(new)_ - [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 [vertical-software, ai, frameworks] _(popular, new)_ - [The thermodynamics of risk](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/thermodynamics-risk) — Risk in fintech can't be destroyed. It transfers until someone owns it [fintech, frameworks] ## 2025 - [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 [frameworks, vertical-software] - [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 [investing, frameworks] - [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, ai, frameworks] _(popular)_ - [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 [fintech, payments] _(popular)_ ## 2024 - [Cross-border payments in ~1,000 words](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/cross-border-payments-1000-words) — Why cross-border payments are slow and expensive, and what is starting to change [payments, fintech] - [Pricing payments in vertical software](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/secrets-pricing-payments) — How to price payments inside vertical software so margins survive [payments, vertical-software, fintech, frameworks] - [verticalsoftware.fyi](https://www.verticalsoftware.fyi) — A reference site cataloging public vertical software companies by category [vertical-software] _(popular)_ - [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 [vertical-software, frameworks] - [Price and shape risk that others can't or won't](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/make-money-selling-money) — Fintech's wedge is pricing risk that others can't or won't [fintech, frameworks] - [The future of interchange](https://sacra.com/research/the-future-of-interchange/) — Where payment revenue moves when interchange runs out of room [payments, fintech] _(popular)_ - [Investing in Rainforest](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/rainforest) — Why Matrix invested in Rainforest, a payfac built for vertical software [investing, payments, fintech, vertical-software] - [Real-time payments in 1,000 words](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/real-time-payments-1000-words) — How real-time payment rails work and why their adoption curve is uneven [payments, fintech] - [The new fintech stack is… open source?](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/fintech-stack-open-source) — Why open source is starting to work as fintech infra distribution [fintech, frameworks] - [Data on fintech adoption in vertical software](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/fintech-adoption-vertical-software) — Hard data on how vertical software companies are adopting fintech [vertical-software, fintech] - [A chat with Toast's GM of Fintech](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/michel-rbeiz-toast) — An interview with Toast's fintech GM on building fintech inside vSaaS [fintech, vertical-software, payments] - [Dangerous language in startups](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/dangerous-language) — Phrases founders and investors use that hide real problems [frameworks] - [Payfac in 1,000 words](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/payfac-1000-words) — What payfacs actually do, how they make money, and when to build one [payments, fintech] _(popular)_ - [Dark software](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/dark-software) — When software is cheap and distribution is expensive, bundle, don't build [vertical-software, frameworks] - [Fintech from first principles](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/fintech-first-principles) — A first-principles framework for thinking about what fintech actually is [fintech, frameworks] _(popular)_ ## 2023 - [Hedgehogs, foxes, and VCs](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/hedgehog-fox-vc) — Two investor archetypes and which one your fund actually needs [investing, frameworks] _(popular)_ - [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 [payments, vertical-software, frameworks, fintech] - [Vertical, horizontal, and ghost markets](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/ghost-markets) — How to tell a real market from a ghost market that disappears under you [frameworks, vertical-software] _(popular)_ - [Fundraising for fintech infra is different](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/fintech-infra-fundraising) — Why fintech infra fundraising plays by different rules than SaaS infra [fintech, investing, frameworks] - [The iron triangle of embedded fintech](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/iron-triangle-embedded-fintech) — The three constraints embedded fintech can't optimize at once [fintech, frameworks, vertical-software] - [Bundling, unbundling, and timing](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/bundling-unbundling-and-timing) — When bundling beats unbundling and how to read the cycle in fintech [frameworks, fintech] - [The best fintechs turn risk into leverage](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/turning-risk-into-leverage) — How the best fintechs convert risk from a cost into compounding leverage [fintech, frameworks] - [Winner-take-all dynamics in fintech](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/why-arent-there-more-winner-take) — Why most fintech categories aren't winner-take-all, and where they are [fintech, frameworks] - [Interchange is a burning platform](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/interchange-is-a-burning-platform) — Interchange revenue is in secular decline. Build with that in mind [payments, fintech, frameworks] - [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 [payments, fintech] _(popular)_ ## 2022 - [How to index an entire business model](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/how-to-index-an-entire-business-model) — A framework for indexing every assumption that drives a business model [frameworks, investing] _(popular)_ - [The power of point-of-sale products](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/the-power-of-point-of-sale-products) — Why the point of sale is the most underrated wedge in vertical software [payments, vertical-software, frameworks] - [Undifferentiated heavy lifting](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/undifferentiated-heavy-lifting-in) — Fintech infra rarely differentiates, so stop building it [frameworks, fintech, vertical-software] - [VERP product strategy](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/verp-product-strategy-vertical-software-payments) — Product strategy for vertical-software companies that monetize via payments [vertical-software, frameworks, payments, fintech] _(popular)_ - [Building category-defining VERPs](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/how-to-build-a-category-defining-verp) — What it takes to build a category-defining VERP [vertical-software, payments, fintech, frameworks] - [The golden age of vertical ERPs](https://notes.mtb.xyz/p/the-golden-age-of-vertical-erps) — Why this is the golden age for vertical ERPs [vertical-software, frameworks]